08/03/2018 Beyond 100 Days

You're watching Beyond 100 Days.

The President is showing his mettle

- amid widespread concern

in Congress, he is pressing ahead

with his tarrifs on

steel and aluminium.

There will be exemptions for Canada

and Mexico - maybe Australia.

The plan is evolving, as it tends

to do with this President.

The President's in a hurry to put

these tarrifs in place ahead

of a visit this weekend to the state

that helped him to the White House -

the Keystone State of Pennsylvania.

We're going to be very fair,

we're going to be very flexible

but we are going to protect

the American worker,

as I said I would do

in our campaign.

But what about the other

Trump state, Wisconsin,

where they make the Harley Davidson

- just one of the American

exports that Europe

is threatening to punish?

Also on the programme...

A brazen, reckless act is how

the UK's Home Secretary describes

the poisoning of the Russian double

agent and his daughter,

police say 21 people

are being treated for side effects.

So just what is Russia thinking?

We have a special report

on Moscow's relations

With the West and of history can get

any lessons ahead of the election.

Get in touch with us

using the hashtag #Beyond100Days.

Hello and welcome -

I'm Christian Fraser in London

and Jane O'Brien is in Washington.

A core commitment of the Trump

campaign was to bring

home the steel jobs.

And the executives of the metal

industry, invited to the White House

today, have already responded

to the President's

commitment on tarrifs.

In Kentucky and here at Granite City

in Illinois they are firing

up the blast furnaces,

re-hiring steelworkers

in anticipation of new orders.

But during a cabinet meeting

the president dangled the prospect

of short term exemptions for Mexico

and Canada while Nafta trade

negotiations continue.

And he also mentioned Australia,

saying he reserved the right to add

and drop other countries too.

That may come as welcome news

to more than a hundred Republican

congressmen who signed

a letter on Wednesday urging

the President to change course.

Mr Trump, though,

defended his position.

Aluminum, steel they are

the backbone of our nation.

They are the bedrock

of our defence industrial base.

Our greatest presidents...

They protected our country

from outside influence

and from other coutnries coming

in and stealing our wealth and jobs.

We're going to be very fair,

we're going to be very flexible

but we are going to protect

the American worker,

as I said I would do

in our campaign.

Someone who agrees with

the President's tariff plan

is Republican Congressman Tom Reed

from New York.

I spoke to him earlier.

Congressman, thank you for joining

us. Why do you support the

President's plan for tariffs?

You

know, what the President is doing is

exactly what he promised the

American people. He is going to

change the trade agenda going

forward, through disruption. Decades

of status quo policy has left many

American interests behind. What you

see with the potential imposition of

tariffs is a message that enough is

enough, we will have free and open

trade with partners across the

world, as long as American interests

are protected and we have an even

playing field, enforceable, to keep

everybody on their toes.

But the

economy is doing well, you have just

passed tax reform, unemployment is

at all-time low. Why do you need to

shake up the status quo on trade

now?

Now is an opportunity, enough

is enough. The President was clear

on the campaign and that is why I

support what he's doing here. He is

trying to change the dynamic of what

decades of policy has shifted, the

folks back home from the position of

opportunity, to one where they have

lost opportunity. That has to end.

We have to put American interests on

the same field, an uneven playing

field, as the stakeholders across

the world.

But the EU and other

allies of America are warning that

this could spark a massive global

trade war. Is it worth it?

I don't

believe we will have a trade war at

the end of the day. What we will see

here is a conversation which

recognises that if we play by the

rules and our trading partners

recognise that the rules need to be

enforceable, that it is an even

playing field, we are going to

embrace them. We are going to

embrace the opportunity to compete.

Country against country, interest

against interest, but as long as the

playing field is even, this

imposition of any tariff is

something we can avoid.

What is it

that has convinced you that this is

the way to go, especially in your

state of New York?

I represent an

area of New York that is essentially

the rust belt. I have seen

first-hand, talking to families,

jobs leaving from the manufacturing

base. I have seen people suffering

from these policies. What we need to

do is change the policies, change

the agenda, disrupt the status quo.

At the end of the day, we can all

win. We can all compete. Our trading

partners, as well as American

interests, in a way that advances

the course for the residents of

those countries and the people we

represent in New York.

You are going

against a lot of your fellow party

members. How big a rift is this

within the Republican party?

You

know, obviously we are sending a

message that some other folks

outside of the aisle in the party

are concerned about. I recognise, I

represent the people that are

suffering from these decades of

policy. We want to be a voice for

them to say we cannot continue the

status quo policy of decades before.

What we need to do is go down a new

path. But the new path comes with an

anxiety and fear that the long-term

goal we are trying to achieve, and

the President is trying to achieve,

is good for all of our trading

partners, as well as us here in

America. That is fair, enforceable

trade, once and for all.

Thank you

very much for joining us. Thank you

for having me on.

Soon after President Trump

announced his intention

to impose these tariffs -

the EU produced a list of those

American goods on which they would

be imposing tarrifs.

Tit for tat.

On the list is American whisky,

peanut butter, blue jeans,

and Harley Davidson motorcycles.

The BBC's Barbara Plett Usher

is in Milwuakee, Wisconsin outside

of the Harley headquarters for us.

So, the steelworkers are very happy.

What about the workers at

Harley-Davidson?

Well, I think the

workers at Harley-Davidson will

suffer a setback if these tariffs,

if the steel and aluminium tariffs

come through, because costs will

rise in general. Also, the

retaliatory tariffs that might come

against Harley-Davidson will be

significant, the company says. There

is concern among the workers. But we

have been at a club of

Harley-Davidson fans, speaking to

people there to see what they

thought. By and large, they thought

Trump should stand up for America,

but that this tariff move was to

blunt a weapon, and they didn't want

Harley-Davidson caught up in a trade

war. They didn't think that they

themselves would be effective,

because they have their bikes

already. They said anybody got

really wants a Harley-Davidson will

probably get one, the cost will not

go up much in America. I was

reminded again and again that this

was about a lifestyle, not just a

motorcycle. There was some concern

expressed about their friends in

Europe. They thought the cost would

go up there quite a bit. There was

quite a lot of connection, Europeans

can hear for events, some members of

the club said they were going to

Prague for a big anniversary event

later this summer. Not a lot of

support for tariffs in this

Harley-Davidson crowd, although some

do think it is just political

manoeuvring at this stage, like this

biker, Steve Godfrey.

I think it's a bad thing,

I generally believe in free trade

and I don't think he's

serious about this.

I think he's just trying to scare

people into getting some

concessions, which is how he rolls.

Barbra, that person does seem to

have a point, we know that the

President's plan is evolving. What

are they most concerned about?

They

are most concerned about the

retaliation tariff. Harley-Davidson

issued a statement saying that if

the steel and aluminium tariffs were

imposed, costs would go up, as they

would with any company using steel

and aluminium. A retaliatory,

punitive tariff would have a

significant impact on sales. You

know, 16% of their sales go to

Europe. That is important,

especially because domestic sales

are declining. The baby-boomer

generation is dwindling, millennials

are not really interested in

motorcycles. We went to a dealership

and saw how they are trying to

target that market dig market with

cheaper and smaller bikes, they also

have an electric bike that they are

hoping they will launch. But they do

feel that it will have an impact.

"We know what you are doing.

And you will not succeed",

the Prime Minister's warning

to Russia back in December.

But do we know to what

lengths Russia will go?

The home secretary Amber Rudd

was careful today not to point

the finger of blame at Moscow.

But this was a rare type of nerve

agent, not easily acquired,

not easily transported or stored.

Which quite obviously

increases the likelihood

there was some state involvement.

Police say tonight that 21 people

are still being treated as a result

of the attack. The Government says

all of the facts must be

established. But if it is proved

that Russia was involved, Theresa

May has signalled that it will not

go unanswered. Tom Symons has more.

Detective Sergeant Nick Bailey is 38

years old, a decorated officer

with plenty of experience

on the front line of policing.

He's still in a serious condition

but the good news today

is he is awake and talking.

He's a great character.

He is a huge presence

in Wiltshire Police, well loved

and massively dedicated officer.

He is clearly receiving high,

specialist treatment.

He is well, sat up.

He is not the Nick I know

but he is receiving

a high level of treatment.

The inquiry's not letting up.

Police began what appeared

to be a major search

and possible decontamination

of Sergei Skripal's house today.

For a while, they even taped off

the graves of his wife and son.

We are committed to doing

all we can to bring

the perpetrators to justice,

whoever they are and

wherever they may be.

The investigation is moving

at pace and this government

will act without hesitation

as the facts become clearer.

The BBC's been told the nerve agent

used was not sarin or VX,

which have been used as weapons

in the past, but rarer.

Decontamination teams were heavily

protected on Sunday.

Look at this picture

from earlier that day.

No respirators or suits.

These officers could not have known

they were about to deal with the use

of a chemical weapon in their city.

I guess it really brings home to us

and the public again

that we run towards danger

while others walk away.

Sometimes we run to

something we don't know.

The risk they face became

obvious today when a bench,

on which the Skripals were sitting,

was exposed by gusts of wind.

Just look at the operation needed

to go in and peg it down again,

four days on from the incident.

And it wasn't just police

officers who risked being

exposed that afternoon.

I've spoken to a doctor

who was there.

She's asked us not to name her

but she says she came

across Yulia Skripal slumped over

the bench, unconscious,

not breathing, vomiting

and having a fit.

She stepped in.

She got Yulia onto the floor,

she got her breathing

and handed her patient

over to paramedics.

She's concerned about what she's

come into contact with,

but she feels fine.

Sergei and Yulia Skripal,

attacked as she came to Britain

from Russia to visit him,

are not getting better.

They remain in a critical

condition, as the race

to find their assailant -

or assailants - continues.

Tom Symonds, BBC News, Salisbury.

Well that suggestion

that the Kremlin may have ordered

this attack has been met

with an angry response in Moscow.

The state media has

complained of an anti-Russian

campaign by the West.

And among ordinary Russians there's

seems to be little sympathy

for the former double agent,

Sergei Skripal who

remains seriously ill.

Our Moscow correspondent

Steve Rosenberg reports.

Moscow feels a world away

from the drama of Salisbury.

Relaxed Russians are out

enjoying a public holiday,

determined not to allow a spy

scandal to spoil their day.

People here are short

on sympathy for Sergei Skripal.

TRANSLATION:

The fewer secrets

you sell, the longer you'll live.

TRANSLATION:

Don't

betray your motherland.

Then you'll have no problems.

TRANSLATION:

When he was in prison

in Russia, he was healthy.

He goes to Britain

and gets poisoned.

He should have stayed here.

It's a similar message

from Russian TV.

The Kremlin-controlled media have

been mocking Boris Johnson

and making fun of Britain.

If you're a professional traitor,

he says, my advice,

don't move to England.

Something's not right there,

the climate, perhaps.

But too many bad things go on there,

people are hanged, poisoned,

helicopter crashes or they fall

out of windows.

Under Vladimir Putin,

the Kremlin has sent a very clear

message to the Russian people

that their country is besieged

fortress, threatened by enemies

abroad and traitors at home.

That's why is little sympathy

here for Sergei Skripal.

And if Moscow did target

Sergei Skripal...

Most Russian people, not me,

of course, most Russian people

would take pride in it

because there is a very

black and white world,

it's us against them.

Putin has brought us

back in a big way.

Today, the president

delivered a special address.

No mention of spies.

He congratulated Russian women

on International Women's Day.

Moscow knows it's under suspicion

but the Kremlin is acting

as if it's business as usual.

Steve Rosenberg, BBC News, Moscow.

Bill Browder is considered to be one

Vladimir Putin's number one enemies

and deported from Russia

for exposing corruption there.

He's been speaking to the BBC's

Victoria Derbyshire programme.

At the moment nobody has

tried to shoot at me

or blow me up in a car.

But this nerve agent stuff

and the fact that they can do this

in a foreign country and get away

with it is absolutely

terrifying for me and every

person that is at odds

with the Russian government.

How do you protect yourself then?

Because at any moment, you could be

in a bar or a restaurant,

your food could be spiked,

your drink could be spiked,

you could be walking to the train

station and someone drops something

on your skin and you

could end up in a coma.

That is the whole purpose

of what they've done.

It's called terrorism.

It's to try and create terror

in every one of their enemies.

And people say "Why did

they do this to this man?"

The answer is he was probably

one one-thousandth of

the reason they did it.

They did it for everyone

else, to say here's

what we're capable of.

Well joining us now is Mark Stout,

a former intelligence

analyst for the CIA.

Thank you very much for joining us.

The British say they want all of the

facts before they say who did this.

Who do you think did this?

Well, we

don't know for certain. But I have a

hard time imagining it was anybody

other than somebody associated in

some way, shape or form with one of

the Russian intelligence services.

It's really hard to come up with an

alternative explanation.

Must be

easier ways to try to assassinate a

body? This is so dramatic, is it

conceivable that this could be done

without state involvement?

It is

possible, but hard to imagine. If

you go back to the 1990s, a Japanese

group created nerve agents,

theoretically it can be done by a

non-state actor. But then they had

to have multiple experiments never

got the formula right. There are so

many ways, if it is not done by a

state, it can go wrong, the

presumption has to be if it is nerve

agents it was done by a state, even

if that is not 100%.

I understand

you are the former historian at the

International spy museum there. How

does this compare with the Cold War?

Are there goes? Are we going back in

time?

Well, there are some echoes.

What is interesting to me,

particularly interesting about this

murder and the rash of suspicious

deaths that there have been in

Britain in recent years of Russians

and people associated with Russia,

it really goes back a long way into

the Cold War, right? The last couple

of decades of the Cold War, with the

interesting and prominent examples

of the assassination in 77, the last

couple of decades, the Russians were

not assassinating a lot of people

abroad. There were historical

precedents, but it tends to go back

to the 50s and even before that.

This is really a dramatic turn if

this is what it appears to be and it

is a throwback to the very worst

periods, I would argue, of Soviet

history.

Doesn't have implications

for the United States? I am slightly

surprised. I've been following the

coverage in the United States and it

has not been picked up as widely as

you might imagine?

There are a lot

of other things going on in the

United States. We have a President

allegedly sleeping with a pawn star.

As Lou Reed as it is, it has serious

competition here, it has had media

attention but it has not generally

been on the front pages, just

because we have had a lot of things

going on here. -- as luird.

How

worried should former spies be?

Unless they are given personal,

direct protection by Scotland Yard

or private bodyguards, they would

potentially happen to be... It would

be wise for them to be worried if

they are not in hiding. Ultimately,

does not take much, whether it is to

give you a nerve agent, shoot you in

the head, that does not take much

interaction. It takes a lot of

intelligence collection of fronts to

find out where you live, your

pattern of life, how to get it to

you, it takes a lot of planning. But

the actual execution, when you know

you need to be right there, my

target will be there, it is pretty

trivial, really. If I were one of

these folks that had been swapped

with Skripal, I would be looking at

security.

It was Anna Chapman, the

spy returned from the United States

from New York back to Russia. As I

understand it, there is a rule of

ethics when you are swapping spies.

Why do you think Skripal might have

been targeted now?

Yes, well, if we

assume it is the Russians, and I do,

there are a couple of possibilities.

First off

there are a couple of possibilities.

First off, Skripal and the others

that were pardoned, that was a brief

four year period when Putin was

Prime Minister. It is possible that

Putin thinks it was a horrible idea

and has reversed it. The other

possibility is that there have been

lower level changes in leadership in

the Russian intelligence services by

people that don't necessarily feel

themselves bound by old promises and

are vengeful. A third possibility,

it seems to me, is that the Russians

that might have recently learned

that maybe Skripal's espionage was

moored deeper and damaging than they

knew when they prosecuted him and

swapped him, now they are saying,

well, you didn't come clean, the

dealers off. We don't know. I

wouldn't be surprised if it was

something along one of those three

scenarios.

Fascinating stuff.

A Danish inventor accused

of murdering a Swedish journalist

on his submarine last August has

gone on trial in Copenhagen.

Peter Madsen has admitted

dismembering Kim Wall's body

and disposing of it at sea,

but denies murder.

He says her death was an accident

and that she died of carbon

monoxide poisoning.

Ms Wall was working on a story

about Madsen when she went

missing last August.

The US Secretary of State Rex

Tillerson is currently on a tour

of Africa and was today

speaking in Ethiopia.

He did miss a chance to mention

North Korea.

At the event he warned

that despite progress,

the prospect of talks

with North Korea is still some way

off, despite President Trump

indicating potentially positive

signals coming from North Korea

by way of the South.

Russia's relations with the West

have cooled dramatically over

Vladimir Putin's 18 years in power.

But it's his most recent term that's

marked the low point -

including the annexation

of Crimea and war in Ukraine.

With President Putin

set to win re-election

by a landslide next week,

our Moscow correspondent,

Sarah Rainsford, has travelled

to Rostov to explore the depth

of the East-West divide.

They see themselves

as born warriors.

The Cossacks, defenders of

the country through the centuries.

It's a past they are fiercely proud

of, replayed in the muddy

borderlands of southern Russia.

These days, the Cossacks' brand

of patriotism is on the rise.

TRANSLATION:

Cossacks

want to serve their country

and protect their land.

I think that's important.

And to raise our

children as defenders.

It was that impulse that sent many

other Cossacks to fight in Ukraine

just across the border.

Alexander went, too.

One of thousands of volunteer

fighters from across the country

who claimed Ukraine's Russian

speakers were in danger.

He paints the uprising in Kiev

as a coup backed by the West,

views that sound radical

are now mainstream here.

TRANSLATION:

Volunteer fighters felt

they had to take part in the war,

because if they didn't,

their cities will be shelled next.

Ukraine was just beginning.

We know who this is done by.

It's the West that wants

to divide up our country.

In Rostov, there is a memorial to

those who died fighting in Ukraine.

Despite all the evidence, Russia

still denies sending soldiers there.

Russia's relations with the West

have been cooling for some time,

but it was the war in Ukraine that

really marked a breaking point.

While to many here those who fought

are seen as patriots and as heroes.

For the West, this was the moment

that marked Russia as an aggressor.

The West imposed sanctions,

but Russia didn't buckle.

It retaliated.

It banned fresh meat from Europe,

among other things.

So no-one here is too

flustered by sanctions.

They've boosted local production

and staff think western

firms would struggle

to recapture the market.

We're ready for the

competition, Dmitri says.

Russia today looks more

Western than ever,

with similar tastes and styles.

The crowd in this bar see

the country as European, culturally.

The young owner would like to be

closer politically, too.

But the climate has

cooled dramatically.

Maria also has a fashion label

and big plans for the future,

including expanding sales

to the West.

But under Vladimir Putin,

she fears Russia will only

increase its isolation,

with assertive policies

sold to the public by

a powerful state-run media.

TRANSLATION:

Instead

of talking about problems

we have inside the country,

they talk about how

we are surrounded by enemies

who all want the worst for us.

It's really scary, because it

works everything up,

then people think they need to push

back, otherwise we will be

overrun and destroyed.

That siege mentality is growing

here, as is the sense that Russia

has chosen a deliberate path away

from the West, with no sign

that it plans to turn back.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have

been visiting Birmingham in the UK,

to launch a project to mark

International Women's Day,

aimed at inspiring female

students to take up careers

in science, technology

and engineering industries.

The royal couple spoke

to crowds outside the event -

some of whom had waited for several

hours to see them on the latest leg

of their tour of the country,

in advance of their wedding in May.

She is really rather good at this,

isn't she?

She slotted into it very

well, she looks very at ease. She

has a slightly easier role than Kate

Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge,

because she is not the first couple,

if you will, not the direct air to

the throne. She can be a bit more

relaxed. But she has adapted very

well. The wedding is made a 19th, at

St George's Chapel.

This is Beyond 100

Days from the BBC.

Coming up for viewers

on the BBC News Channel

and BBC World News -

we'll have more on International

Women's Day, from protests with pots

and pans to new boxing-inspired

Barbies.

Good evening. We say goodbye to most

of the snow as we head towards the

weekend, because we are about to say

hello to some higher temperatures.

Snow cause some disruption across

parts of northern England though,

bringing beautiful scenes as well.

For many more places today, it is

turning into a sunny one. That

weather watcher picture came from

Wiltshire, where we have had the

sunny skies by date and we will have

clear skies by night. That will

allow temperatures drop away.

Showers feeding across the North

West of Scotland. Still wintry

across the high ground. A bit more

the far south-west. Not as cold

here, four degrees in Plymouth. Most

other areas will get down below

freezing. A widespread frost,

perhaps icy stretches and the odd

mist patch to take us do tomorrow

morning. Through tomorrow, after any

early mist has cleared, the majority

will see large amount of sunshine.

These showers are still feeding in

across the western side of Scotland,

with some over high ground. All the

while, southern part of a learned

and a good part of Wales will cloud

over without breaks of rain

beginning to splash in by the middle

part of the afternoon. Friday's

rush-hour looks like a pretty soggy

one from Plymouth to Cardiff, to

London, as the outbreaks of rain

push northwards. Much of the rain

will be light and patchy initially,

but it could turn heavier as we get

deeper into the evening. That rain,

courtesy of this frontal system

which will be working its way

northwards, all driven by an area of

low pressure sitting down to the

south-west. The positioning of this

low pressure means that as we get

into the weekend, we are going to be

bringing southerly wind across the

country, feeding in some very mild

air indeed. I think mild as the big

theme for the weekend forecast.

There will be some rain at times,

but not all the time. Certainly some

rain to start on Saturday, part of

the Midlands, northern England and

Northern Ireland, the heavy burst.

As that drift into Scotland it could

give some snow over the high ground.

At low levels we are expecting this

to be falling as rain. All the while

we will see milder air pumping up

from the south, 14 or 15, maybe 16

degrees of things brighten up to the

south-east. South-eastern areas may

get a glancing blow from this area

of rain on Sunday. Generally,

southern parts will see some

showers. Further north, after any

early fog has cleared, it might take

time to do so and we should see some

spells of sunshine. Temperatures,

for most, in double figures.

This is Beyond 100 Days,

with me Christian Fraser in London

and Jane O'Brien in Washington.

Our top stories -

Ignoring divisions

within his own party,

President Trump pledges to push

through with tariffs on steel

and aluminium imports -

one Republican told us

they're long overdue.

And what you see here with the

And what you see here with the

potential position of tariffs is a

message that enough is enough.

The attempted murder of a former

Russian spy was brazen

and reckless says the UK Government,

as investigations continue

into who was behind it.

Coming up in the next half hour:

I sit down with a senior American

official who tells me why

keeping up with Russia is every bit

the challenge for the West.

We are in a situation of playing

whack-a-mole, basically.

We have to stay one

step ahead of where the

Russians are on this.

The super ages. How these long

distant cyclists, some of them in

their 80s, have the immune system of

a 20-year-old. Let us know your

thoughts using the hashtag...

Who does the President listen

to when it comes to foreign policy?

The Secretary of State Rex Tillerson

reportedly speaks to him every day.

But the general feeling

here in Washington is that the

wider role of the State department

has been downgraded

under President Trump.

In embassies around the world,

there are still key posts

that remain unfilled,

and more than once the President has

overruled his closest advisors.

It is no longer

straightforward interpreting

where American foreign policy

is headed, so its useful to sit

where American foreign policy

is headed, so it's useful to sit

down with a man who works

with Rex Tillerson every day.

Steve Goldstein is the US

Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy

and Public Affairs.

I have been asking him what he makes

of the current debate on tarrifs,

the poisoning of Sergei Skripal,

and of course the links that

are being drawn with Russia.

In the three days I've been here,

I've heard quite a lot about this

and I talked to a number of people

in the UK Government to have

and I talked to a number of people

in the UK Government who have

mentioned this episode to me

and it is very

concerning and we respect

the work of the British

investigators in trying to get

to the bottom of this.

But people look at what the State

Department is doing.

There was a story this week

in the American papers that

you were granted $120 million

to fight Russian meddling

and the State Department

has spent nothing.

So people naturally worry

that you are not taking

the Russian threat seriously.

Well, we take the Russian

threat very seriously.

At my own hearing, I talked

about the fact that the Russians had

interfered in the 2016 elections.

The Secretary of State indicated

in an interview that he did

in South America that he understood

that that interference

would continue likely in 2018.

Does the boss take it seriously?

I think we all take it seriously

and we are doing a lot of work.

The Department itself has spent

over $1 billion trying

to work on these issues.

40 million is being allocated

specifically

to fight disinformation,

but to be very clear,

this is a specific and ongoing

problem and we are in a situation

of playing whack-a-mole, basically.

We have to stay one step ahead

of where the Russians are a mess

We have to stay one step ahead

of where the Russians are on this

and it's not just the Russians.

The Chinese and many other

countries are trying

to participate in disinformation.

And just with specific

reference to the nerve agent,

if it was proven that there

was a link to the Kremlin,

would the United States,

as a close ally of the UK,

be doing something about that?

I think we would be very

supportive of whatever

decision that United Kingdom

would decide to make.

OK.

You are here building

relationships...

Yes.

Do tariffs, and we are expecting

an announcement from Donald Trump

today on steel and aluminium,

does that make your

job more difficult?

We understand the concern

of our allies regarding that issue

and Boris Johnson and others have

spoken with the Secretary of State.

I can tell you that the secretary

has passed that information

on to Secretary Ross and others

within the administration and has

expressed concerns people have,

but we also have to look

at this more broadly

and that's

what we're trying to do.

But we do understand the concerns

expressed by the United Kingdom.

Theresa May has spoken

of a deep concern.

If Canada and Mexico were exempted,

then surely your closest ally

would be exempted as well?

Well, that's a decision that

would be made by the President

but you are our closest ally,

there's no question about that.

I think the Foreign Minister,

who has a very close

relationship with the Secretary,

they like each other quite a bit,

has made that point and I think

the Secretary has passed that along.

OK.

Let's turn to North Korea.

They have said they will sit down

for talks with the United States.

Do you think the President's tough

rhetoric is working?

I do think the tough

rhetoric is working.

I think the President is very

serious on what we are trying

to achieve here and we are welcoming

that, but whatever North Korea comes

to the table with, it has to be

verifiable and irreversible.

Because we had the former

ambassador Christopher Hill

on the programme yesterday.

He said you can't do

diplomacy without diplomats.

You've lost your top man in Seoul,

the ambassador has left.

The incoming ambassador has

withdrawn his application.

You don't have a senior diplomat

in Seoul at the moment.

Well, that is not the case,

we have a charges de mission,

who is in charge of the entity

that we have within South Korea.

We also have Susan Thornton,

who has been nominated to be

assistant secretary and is an expert

in this area.

In addition to that,

we have other people

within the department and outside

who can come in as negotiators.

I think people should

understand that at the point

that they are ready to negotiate

under the standards

that the President has set

and the Secretary has set,

we will have an appropriate

negotiator at the table.

But you know there is

a wider issue here.

The last count, 41 of 188 embassies

around the world still don't

have a US Ambassador.

There is a misnomer in believing

that most of these embassies

are staffed with political people.

That is not the case.

Most of them are staffed with very

experienced career and foreign

service representatives.

While we don't have ambassadors

at some embassies who are political,

we do have very qualified

and competent people

who are doing an excellent job.

Did they have an ambassador before

this administration came

in, these embassies?

They did, but as each

administration begins,

frequently the ambassadors resign

and new ambassadors are appointed,

that's how our system operates.

OK.

But you look at Mexico and you've

just lost Roberta Jacobsen there,

three decades of experience in Latin

America.

Hugely experienced person,

helped set up the embassy in Cuba.

Can the State Department really

lose talent like that?

Well, Roberta Jacobsen's retiring

and that is surely within her right.

Most of the people that

are retiring have been

with the Department for over 30

years and they have a right to have

a life after the State Department

but we will be naming

a new ambassador to Mexico very

soon, I know that something

that the White House is working on,

along with the Department

and Roberta Jacobsen has agreed

to stay through May to help

with that early transition.

with that orderly transition.

The reason I am pushing

you on it is because there

is a general concern,

the President says, look,

it is not chaotic, there is huge

energy the White House,

it is not chaotic, there is huge

energy in the White House,

but there's a lot of people

leaving the administration.

39 people have left key posts

in this administration.

The concern is if you are building

relationships, how can your allies

depend that secretary Tillotson

is going to be there,

that they are going to follow

through the stewardship

of many of the policies

you are trying to set out.

Well, the Secretary

of State will be here.

As a matter of fact,

I know there was a period of time

last year where some people

euphemistically referred

to the Secretary of State as Rexit,

a take-off on Brexit

and with the belief

that he was leaving.

He was never leaving that post,

he serves at the pleasure

of the President and I think I'd

like to put that part

to bed and let people know

he is the Secretary of State.

And he is staying.

How are you adapting to the job?

Because it is tough, isn't it?

You told me a little earlier that

you get up at five in the morning.

How do you cope?

It is a little tougher

than I realised and I'm trying

to figure out how to operate

with much less sleep than I used

to get beforehand and to not be

quite as stressed when reporters

and other people call me...

People like me come calling!

They say they need

an answer right away.

But it's an honour to serve

the President of the United States

and Secretary.

It's a great pleasure

to have you here in London.

Thank you very much

were talking to us.

Thank you for having

me, I appreciated it.

Steve Goldstein, the undersecretary

of state, fascinating talking to him

today. I am going to call in the

phrase Rexit, because a lot of

people thought the Secretary of

State would be out of there before

Hope Hicks Gary Cohn or the rest,

but he is still hanging in there.

What sort of power does he have, do

you think?

It is very interesting

relationship because he does get

sent out as America's top diplomat

but then he is often undermined by

President Trump. We have seen this

in instances across a variety of

issues, North Korea being one. Rex

Tillerson says America may be open

to direct negotiations with the

North Korean regime and President

Trump says, no we're not. So the

problem is for diplomats in other

countries wondering who it is they

are actually talking to, who does

hold the reins here and when Rex

Tillerson says something, can they

actually believe it? So it makes it

very difficult for diplomatic

relationships in a lot of cases.

He

is meticulous, Rex Tillerson. Steve

Goldstein was making this point that

he is fastidious about certain

things and will keep going back to

the White House, even though he gets

the brush up, and keep pushing for

those things he believes in. One

other interesting titbit he told me,

over here Boris Johnson gets a lot

of bad press from time to time and

as been getting some more this week

that he said if you put these two

figures together, Johnson and Rex

Tillerson, you would think they

don't get on. Quite the reverse, he

says and they speak practically

every week and he does listen to

Boris Johnson. So you have the Prime

Minister and the president, who have

had their issues of late and the

special relationship has been under

a bit strained but the channels

between the Foreign & Commonwealth

Office and the State Department very

much alive very useful to both sides

of the party. So it is worth hearing

things like that from people who

work with Boris Johnson day-to-day.

Donald Trump's former campaign

manager Paul Manna Ford has pleaded

not guilty to charges filed against

him by the Special Counsel Robert

Mueller. He will appear before a

federal judge before July the 10th,

we are reading.

Mr Manna Ford is accused of 23

offences, including preparing,

filing and subscribing to Sachs

could lead false tax returns and

bank fraud.

The Irish Parliament -

known as the Dail -

is this evening debating a bill

for the planned abortion referendum.

The Irish Government has published

legislation for the planned abortion

referendum, paving the way

for the voters to decide

whether to liberalise

the country's abortion laws.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar met

with his Cabinet this morning

to finalise the wording

of the referendum bill,

which would formally establish

a referendum commission.

The vote will be held

at the end of May.

Chris Page reports from Dublin.

This is a nation which was once seen

as the most socially

conservative in western Europe,

but it feels like

change has been swift.

In the next few months, Ireland

will make a defining decision.

Tens of thousands of Irish women

have travelled to other

countries to have abortions.

Gaye Edward's baby,

who she and her husband

named Joshua, had a fatal

condition called anencephaly.

She says having to go away

to end her pregnancy

magnified her grief.

While I knew that I had come

to the right decision for me,

it made me feel that society

viewed my decision as

being somehow wrong.

When you really need to be taken

care of you feel like you're just...

Pushed aside and into a corner.

Stories like Gaye's have helped

to bring about the referendum.

Voters will decide whether to remove

the Eighth Amendment

of the Irish Constitution,

which gives an unborn child

and a pregnant woman

an equal right-to-life.

These canvassers are campaigning

to repeal the Eighth.

Abortions are happening in Ireland,

they're happening dangerously

and they're happening illegally.

We are on the shoulders

of generations of women who have

been organising and working

for this shift forward.

If the change to the Constitution

is approved in the referendum,

the Parliament in Dublin

will determine how available

terminations will be.

Ministers want to allow

abortions up to 12 weeks

into a pregnancy and in some

limited circumstances afterwards.

But the Government does

haven't a majority.

But the Government

doesn't have a majority.

The two main parties

are divided on the issue.

The Catholic Church's strongly

defending the Eighth Amendment.

Its power has diminished,

but it certainly hasn't disappeared.

Life begins at conception and ends

and death and we have

Life begins at conception and ends

at death and we have

to protect all life.

If it's repealed, all the rights

are gone from the baby.

Women who support the current

law are speaking about

their experiences too.

Vicky's daughter, Liandan,

was still-born at 32 weeks.

She recalls what happened

when a doctor told her he didn't

expect her baby to live.

He said that my only option

was to pop to England -

insinuating an abortion.

That was never going

to be an option.

We spent the summer

just being with her.

The Eighth Amendment

showed to me that not

only did we value her,

but our country

valued her like that.

For people on both sides,

the referendum's about what sort

of society they want to live in.

It is a personal,

passionate, emotive debate.

Chris Page, BBC News, Dublin.

The International Red Cross has

postponed an aid convoy due to

travel

to the

Syrian rebel-held

enclave of Eastern Ghouta, saying

it's too dangerous to go there.

Fighting is intensifying

in the region near Damascus,

as government forces advance.

An estimated 400,000 people

are trapped in the area.

The Irish Prime Minister has

demanded more details

from the British Government on how

it plans to avoid border checks

between Northern Ireland

and the Republic once the UK

leaves the EU.

Leo Varadkar said Northern

Ireland should stay part

of the European Single Market

if the UK can't find

a solution to the problem.

a second winter storm in a week will

continue to dump heavy snow in

England and in the north-east. The

230 centimetres of snow are expected

from eastern New York through

northern Maine after the storm

slammed the region on Wednesday.

This is Beyond 100 Days.

Still to come...

CACKLING

Alex Lowe, please stop laughing.

While Amazon's digital assistant is

bursting into fits of laughter...

That is still to come.

Here, a jury at the

Old Bailey has seen

the moment a bomb partially exploded

on a tube in south-west London.

Some of the passengers on board have

been describing how their hair

and clothes caught fire when it went

off in a packed carriage

last September.

30 people were injured in the

incident at Parsons Green station.

18-year-old Ahmed Hassan

denies attempted murder.

From the Old Bailey,

here's June Kelly.

This was a day of dramatic

and distressing evidence

as the court heard from those

who work on the train under attack.

as the court heard from those

who were on the train under attack.

A bomb had been left in a bag.

It failed to fully go off but it

created a ball of flame

which terrified scores of early

morning commuters as it

rolled down the carriage.

One, Amy Coalville,

described to the courthouse

how her hair caught fire.

She said she'd heard a loud bang

and seen a wall of glass.

A flame came over

her right hand side.

Earlier the evidence focused

on the movements that

morning of Ahmed Hassan,

the teenager on trial

for the attack.

Here setting off on his journey

with his bomb in a Lidl bag,

the court's been told.

One passenger, Victoria Holloway,

told the jury there was a whooshing

sound as if someone had lit Bunsen

burner she said the flames

sound as if someone had lit Bunsen

burner and she said the flames

were touching her legs

and wrapping around her skin.

In his evidence, an Army explosives

expert, Craig Palmer,

who was further down the train,

went to the scene of the blast.

He said...

Two of the passengers were in tears

as they gave their evidence.

They testified from behind

a screen and could be

seen by only the judge,

jury and lawyers.

One of them, known only as Miss S,

described how on that

morning her coat was burning

and her tights were melting.

She has been left scarred after

burns to her hands, legs and face.

You're watching Beyond 100 Days.

From trade to freedom

of religious expression,

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince has

quite the agenda as he meets

with the most senior

figures in Britain

as part of his UK charm offensive.

Today, Mohammed bin Salman met

with the Archbishop of Canterbury,

Justin Welby, to promote

Saudi Arabia as a tolerant kingdom.

The leader of the Church of England

did raise concerns -

like the freedom of Christian

expression in Saudi Arabia,

and the dire humanitarian

situation in Yemen,

where a Saudi-led coalition

is fighting rebels.

Many haven't warmed to this visit,

with pockets of protests

across London,

but they've not

swayed the Prime Minister.

The Crown Prince met with

Theresa May on Wednesday, with talks

of a $90 billion trade deal.

No doubt that will be a key

topic when the pair meet

at the PM's official country house

tonight, Chequers, where she's

hosting a private dinner.

Well, it's all about modernising

It is International Women's Day and

there have been strikes across the

globe as women and men campaign for

gender equality and an end to

discrimination.

We have been tracking some noisy

street protests and the more unusual

ways that companies around the world

have responded. One famous brand was

quite literally turned on its head.

Take a look.

THEY CHANT

Some of the protests there around

the world. Outside the BBC in

London, staff gathered to demand

equal pay. They chose they -- said

they chose to stand at 4:22pm, nine

to represent the 9% discrepancy.

Carrie Gracie was there, who

resigned earlier this year as the

China editor. Now, running a

marathon or long-distance cycling,

how often you hear older people

saying such sports are just for the

young. Well, it seems it is not the

case. Researchers have been

following a big group of older

cyclists, some in their who have

remained active. Some of the results

are surprising, as Fergus Falls has

been finding out.

I have arranged a

60 mile ride through the Surrey

Hills.

This is what healthy ageing looks

like. The cyclists, aged 64-82,

think nothing of spending five hours

or more in the saddle.

Room for one

more?

I do it for reasons, for

health, because I enjoyed, because

it is sociable, it is just a

wonderful life.

They have all been

examined as part of a trial which is

challenging perceptions of ageing.

One of the first result I got from

the medical study was I was told my

body fat was comparable to that of a

19-year-old.

Leading the peloton is

professor Norman Lazarus. At 82, a

prime example of healthy ageing.

If

exercise was a pill, everybody in

the world would be taking an

exercise pill.

He not only took part

in the study, but helped lead the

research. This test shows his

excellent lung function.

Last little

bit, keep pushing.

An MRI scan gives

another indication of how well

Norman is ageing. These are his

thighs. Now compare Norman's

muscular legs on the right with that

they said and tree 50-year-old on

the left, which is mostly fat. If

more of us could do the recommended

150 minutes of moderate physical

activity each week, it would pay

huge dividends.

Across a whole come

at of different levels, what

exercise is doing in older

individuals is giving them higher

levels of function and better

quality of life -- across the whole

gamut.

The most remarkable findings

came when scientists in Birmingham

examined blood samples from the

cyclists. They found their immune

system, which normally declines with

age, was still as strong as a young

person's.

The immune system is

really key in the body, it has

several roles. It protects us from

infections but it also helps us to

fight things like cancer, so the

fact that the cyclists have the

immune system of a 20-year-old and

not a 70 or 80-year-old means they

are protected from infections and

cancer potentially.

The advantages,

then, of exercise in later life are

profound. So if cycling is not your

thing, try another sport. What about

dancing? Gardening? Even brisk

walking. Most of the health benefits

of these super agers are easily

achievable if we just did a bit more

physical activity.

Isn't that fascinating? I mean, it

is really confirming what we all do

know, that exercise is good for us

but I was saying this a few weeks

ago, my grandad used to walk

regularly and when he stopped

walking, things started to go

downhill but he just couldn't walk

anymore because his legs seized upon

his back seized up and he is nearly

94, but still, the moment that the

exercise finished, that is the point

where he started to go downhill, so

there is a lesson there for all of

us, isn't there?

And it is a lesson

that, as you say, we know, they say

use it or lose it and it's nice to

see that science is finally

confirming our innate knowledge on

that.

Get back on the bike, get

moving. And I say that because we

are going to seamlessly move into

something that I have in my house

which means I don't move very much,

I don't move off the couch because I

have Amazon Alexa and some say there

device has been letting out an

unprompted creepy cackle.

CREEPY CACKLE

Some people have described it as a

sort of witchlike cackle. It is

reported to happen even without the

device being given the wake-up

command, so you say at Alexa and you

give it a command. What really

concerns me is that mine is in my

bedroom so if I was in my bedroom

getting dressed in the morning and I

heard that, I would develop a bit of

a complex.

I think it is very

worrying first of all virtue can't

get up and use a switch like

everybody else, including me, and

that you would have one of these

things in your bedroom. What does

happen when she suddenly switches on

and start cackling?

All of my

friends are dumping them because

they are always listing and they are

terrified they are listening in on

their secrets but I have one

upstairs and one downstairs and

because I am an early adopter, I had

one downstairs that turns on my

lights so I don't even have to get

up to turn them off for Ron.

This is

totally alien to me because I am the

sort of person that puts a sticky

tape over the camera lens of my

computer because I'm so worried

about technology.

Then you appear on

television and tell everybody your

secrets! I don't know, I am an open

book. I am here all week. We will be

back for the same time on Monday,

thank you to Jane for her company.

Caddy will be