:00:07. > :00:07.Tonight, the President's son-in-law tells the press
:00:08. > :00:11.We hear from Jared Kushner, as he's called to give evidence
:00:12. > :00:18.Let me be very clear - I did not collude with Russia,
:00:19. > :00:21.nor do I know of anyone else in the campaign who did so.
:00:22. > :00:31.And we ask President Obama's legal counsel if there's any more to this
:00:32. > :00:35.Also tonight: The fate of the Northern Powerhouse.
:00:36. > :00:38.It was George Osborne's pet project, designed to upgrade the trains
:00:39. > :00:40.of Northern England, but did it almost get
:00:41. > :00:56.I was a Minister up when it was pretty obvious that those two
:00:57. > :01:00.advisers to Theresa May were purely out of animosity trying to
:01:01. > :01:01.discourage her from continuing get and apparently doing things without
:01:02. > :01:03.her knowledge. We'll ask the Mayor of Manchester,
:01:04. > :01:07.Andy Burnham, what he makes of that. We're all talking
:01:08. > :01:11.about women's cricket. We'll be talking about women's
:01:12. > :01:14.sport more generally, We'll ask a sports executive
:01:15. > :01:18.and a former Ashes winner Washington is reeling from
:01:19. > :01:44.an extraordinary public appearance from someone they hear much of,
:01:45. > :01:47.but see very little. Jared Kushner is President
:01:48. > :01:49.Trump's senior advisor. He's also his son-in-law,
:01:50. > :01:52.husband of Ivanka. Today, he was called to give
:01:53. > :01:55.evidence over four meetings he had Meetings critics say
:01:56. > :01:57.could have interfered We'll ask whether the sound and fury
:01:58. > :02:14.that surrounds team Trump and Russia At the Senate, were also hearing
:02:15. > :02:20.protests about health reform, the bill in its last stages may not get
:02:21. > :02:23.past with certainty this week. First, the day as we saw it here.
:02:24. > :02:25.A man whose name is whispered throughout Washington,
:02:26. > :02:33.But today, Jared Kushner unwillingly entered the limelight,
:02:34. > :02:36.aiming to dispel rumours of collusion with Russia.
:02:37. > :02:43.I am senior adviser to President Donald J Trump.
:02:44. > :02:46.For many, it was the first time we'd heard his voice.
:02:47. > :02:51.It sounded for a moment like a resignation speech.
:02:52. > :02:54.The record and documents I have voluntarily provided will show that
:02:55. > :02:58.all of my actions were proper and occurred in the normal course
:02:59. > :03:06.Let me be very clear - I did not collude with Russia,
:03:07. > :03:10.nor do I know of anyone else in the campaign who did so.
:03:11. > :03:12.Earlier, Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser had been
:03:13. > :03:19.He arrived low-key, no motorcade, to give evidence
:03:20. > :03:30.The press were not fed as handsomely as they'd hoped.
:03:31. > :03:43.I think one of the interesting dynamics of this process has been
:03:44. > :03:48.the degree to which, from our point of view as reporters, if you look at
:03:49. > :03:54.the York of this, when we ask questions over the months and longer
:03:55. > :04:00.than months now, where their meetings with Russians? Did you talk
:04:01. > :04:04.about these things? We will always told, no, no, no, absolutely not.
:04:05. > :04:07.Then when you've find out such a thing happened, you have to say, why
:04:08. > :04:13.were you guys denying this for so long? And what else would you deny
:04:14. > :04:15.now that might later proved to be true?
:04:16. > :04:17.He was grilled about his four meetings with Russian
:04:18. > :04:19.contacts before the election and pre-empted his speech
:04:20. > :04:22.with an extraordinary 11-page statement to the Select Committee,
:04:23. > :04:29.insisting nothing inappropriate had occurred.
:04:30. > :04:36.When you talk to those in the Trump administration, they accuse critics,
:04:37. > :04:41.Democrats, we the mainstream media, of a certain level of hysteria over
:04:42. > :04:45.this issue. Political campaigns are tawdry things, one source told me
:04:46. > :04:50.who has run a fuel himself. If someone offers you dirt on an
:04:51. > :04:56.opponent, you take it, it is hard to turn a deaf ear. There is a certain
:04:57. > :04:57.truth to that, but where does grubby politics start being something a
:04:58. > :04:59.little more sinister? Something that, in the words
:05:00. > :05:14.of former CIA Director John Brennan, There is a great deal of alarm among
:05:15. > :05:16.foreign policy experts, over different administrations like John
:05:17. > :05:22.Brennan, that this case is about if nothing else the weakening of
:05:23. > :05:29.American power and influence internationally. Because we are as a
:05:30. > :05:32.country if not being snookered by Russia, then at least going along
:05:33. > :05:34.with and agreeing with Russia and a host of issues where we have not
:05:35. > :05:36.previously agreed with them. So, what exactly is being
:05:37. > :05:38.alleged about the Trump Well, Donald Trump's always been
:05:39. > :05:41.much more favourably disposed towards Vladimir Putin
:05:42. > :05:44.than his fellow Republicans. American intelligence agencies
:05:45. > :05:51.all agree that not only was Russia behind the e-mail hacks on Democrats
:05:52. > :05:53.last year that were so damaging to Hillary Clinton,
:05:54. > :05:56.but that the hacks were designed specifically to help
:05:57. > :05:57.Donald Trump win. A dossier compiled by ex-MI6 agent
:05:58. > :06:01.Christopher Steele on behalf of Trump's opponents made various
:06:02. > :06:05.salacious, albeit so far unverified, allegations about what motives
:06:06. > :06:07.Donald Trump might have for working A number of Trump's closest advisers
:06:08. > :06:15.and relatives have been caught lying about or omitting to mention
:06:16. > :06:20.contacts they had with Russian officials or Russians
:06:21. > :06:22.with Kremlin links. President Trump's attitude
:06:23. > :06:24.to the investigation has He fired the FBI Director
:06:25. > :06:28.James Comey because of - And he's been publicly
:06:29. > :06:33.critical of the team assembled by Robert Mueller,
:06:34. > :06:38.the special counsel tasked with investigating
:06:39. > :06:45.those Russia ties now. Kushner maintained he joined those
:06:46. > :06:48.meetings late, half-briefed. Protestations some heard as him
:06:49. > :06:56.throwing Don Junior, When the family business
:06:57. > :07:08.is running America, things get Here, Washington's summer has
:07:09. > :07:12.erupted into the rain. That is the sound. We're sitting in a place
:07:13. > :07:16.literally called the swamp. Familiar to viewers more as a metaphor for
:07:17. > :07:22.somewhere Trump has promised to drain. We will talk about that now
:07:23. > :07:23.with Obama's legal counsel when he was President and Ron Christie the
:07:24. > :07:32.Republican strategist. Thank you for sitting through a
:07:33. > :07:35.soaking wet shower. Jared Kushner, extraordinary intervention today
:07:36. > :07:40.when he came in front of the cameras because we had not seen him because
:07:41. > :07:46.the hearing was closed. And he made that point of saying, this was
:07:47. > :07:50.basically sour grapes, he won a good campaign, Trump did it and anybody
:07:51. > :07:56.suggesting anything else was just sort of being bitter about it. He
:07:57. > :07:59.probably knows better. Ten days ago now, we had the release of e-mails
:08:00. > :08:06.indicating where conversations between people claiming to be
:08:07. > :08:10.members of the Russian government and the Trump campaign for some
:08:11. > :08:14.collaboration to the presidency campaign, so we have genuine
:08:15. > :08:19.questions and Mr Kushner understands that, I think. This is the trouble,
:08:20. > :08:22.there had been so many inconsistencies, you can call them
:08:23. > :08:27.lies or certainly on troops. People saying they have not had meetings we
:08:28. > :08:31.now know they did, why would you believe any of this? Good evening,
:08:32. > :08:36.Bob and I understand that having filled out security clearance forms,
:08:37. > :08:40.you have to have a good sense of who you have spoken to and what you
:08:41. > :08:44.spoke about and the fact he has had to amend this a couple of times
:08:45. > :08:48.makes you wonder what else are you not disclosing to the American
:08:49. > :08:52.people? So you are nervous as a Republican watching this? As a
:08:53. > :08:56.Republican watching this, get it out early, tell the truth. Disclosed to
:08:57. > :08:58.the American people everything you have done and if you have nothing to
:08:59. > :09:04.hide, there is nothing to worry about. These amendments make me
:09:05. > :09:08.think, what else will we uncover from this investigation? Even if a
:09:09. > :09:12.lot of stuff is uncovered, we have an extraordinary statement from
:09:13. > :09:17.Donald Trump saying he has the ability as President to pardon. Yes,
:09:18. > :09:19.I don't know where he get that idea, there is significant disagreement
:09:20. > :09:24.about it and there is nothing to suggest that. There is no precedent
:09:25. > :09:27.for that? There is no precedent and serious reason to doubt it. It is
:09:28. > :09:31.certainly a matter if he chose a course like that that would go
:09:32. > :09:36.before a United States Supreme Court and I don't know he would be very
:09:37. > :09:41.happy with the outcome. If they meeting has taken place, has it been
:09:42. > :09:45.illegal? Why are we talking about this in terms of collusion? Many
:09:46. > :09:48.Republicans would say these were four meetings in good faith by
:09:49. > :09:53.anyone trying to work out if there was dirt on their opponent, what is
:09:54. > :09:58.wrong with that? Let's take the meeting in June, arranged by Donald
:09:59. > :10:01.Trump Junior, in Trump Tower, he received an e-mail saying Russia
:10:02. > :10:04.wanted to help their government support Donald Trump and they came
:10:05. > :10:08.from Moscow for the purpose of having that conversation. So right
:10:09. > :10:14.there, you have fundamentally a question under the law prohibiting
:10:15. > :10:16.campaigns from soliciting support from Front National is and prohibits
:10:17. > :10:25.foreign nationals from providing support to American political
:10:26. > :10:30.campaigns. -- soliciting support from foreign nationals. How much
:10:31. > :10:34.more will come out? How long will the Republican Party and loyal
:10:35. > :10:37.supporters such as yourself stand back and find excuses always to
:10:38. > :10:43.explain what is going on? As a lawyer, I look at this and say, a
:10:44. > :10:47.meeting does not collusion make. You need to have a sustained campaign
:10:48. > :10:51.and effort to get something of value from a foreign sourced and we have
:10:52. > :10:57.not seen that yet. But I will say this, a lot of people in this
:10:58. > :10:59.building behind us nervous as Republicans, from swing districts,
:11:00. > :11:03.and when do we cut the chord with the President and run more
:11:04. > :11:06.independent from him for real action rather than stick with this
:11:07. > :11:11.administration? That is coming very quickly. I look at September at the
:11:12. > :11:19.latest, a lot of Republicans fleeing from this administration. Just go?
:11:20. > :11:23.Just go. If you are hearing cheering off-camera, it is a protest about
:11:24. > :11:31.the health care bill that Donald Trump is trying to pass this week.
:11:32. > :11:35.Mike has just driven in to bully the senators into going his way. A lot
:11:36. > :11:40.of this has been forgotten in this talk of Russia. Is that something he
:11:41. > :11:44.gets through? What is your sense of this? It does not appear there is
:11:45. > :11:49.any unified Republican support for an alternative for the health gap
:11:50. > :11:52.bill passed in the Obama Administration. Senator McConnell
:11:53. > :11:58.and speaker Ryan tries to find common ground and it is not there.
:11:59. > :12:00.The Republican a little constituency is not comfortable with having the
:12:01. > :12:14.health care provided under the previous statute. I think we have
:12:15. > :12:19.lost family. That was a rainfall, not a feeble British drizzle! That
:12:20. > :12:22.really was quite something. We will move on.
:12:23. > :12:24.Time was you couldn't avoid the words 'Northern Powerhouse'
:12:25. > :12:30.But then George Osborne was sacked by Theresa May
:12:31. > :12:33.and, as it was his pet project, it seemed to fade somewhat.
:12:34. > :12:36.And there are new worries about it now, because the Government has
:12:37. > :12:38.announced it's potentially scaling back some earlier promised
:12:39. > :12:39.basic upgrades of rail services around Manchester.
:12:40. > :12:46.This goes back to a precursor to the Northern Powerhouse,
:12:47. > :12:49.which was a project called the Northern Hub, which involved
:12:50. > :12:51.extra platforms at Piccadilly station, better connections
:12:52. > :12:52.between the stations within Manchester and electrification
:12:53. > :13:00.Some of this has now been questioned by the Transport
:13:01. > :13:03.Ironically, though, Mr Grayling did give today a tentative thumps-up
:13:04. > :13:08.to a hugely expensive project in London, Crossrail 2.
:13:09. > :13:21.The Northern Powerhouse very much back in the news, and you have been
:13:22. > :13:28.speaking to one of the early Fathers of this project. This evening I
:13:29. > :13:34.spoke to Jim O'Neill, one of the fathers of the Northern Powerhouse
:13:35. > :13:39.project, and he told me that Theresa May is strongly committed to this
:13:40. > :13:43.project, but interestingly, he told me that he believes that the former
:13:44. > :13:48.joint chiefs of staff, Fiona Hill and Nick Timothy, had attempted to
:13:49. > :13:52.discourage the Prime Minister from continuing with it. He talked about
:13:53. > :13:57.his annoyance in government, he resigned in September over
:13:58. > :14:01.frustration on a number of fronts, but Nick Timothy has denied these
:14:02. > :14:06.claims, he has told me tonight it is categorically untrue and I was
:14:07. > :14:13.responsible for saying we needed more of the same for more of our
:14:14. > :14:17.cities. So that is the debate around Jim O'Neill, but new concerns around
:14:18. > :14:22.the Northern Powerhouse because of these announcements. That is right,
:14:23. > :14:26.this green light for Crossrail 2, North- South in London, and a
:14:27. > :14:30.question over the electrification of the East- West links in the north.
:14:31. > :14:33.So with those questions, I have been taking a look at the proposed
:14:34. > :14:47.modernisation of northern railways. We are a nation of, if not exactly
:14:48. > :14:53.train spotters, then certainly train lovers - back to the cards of the
:14:54. > :14:57.1960s, our leaders have learned that they tamper with our railways at
:14:58. > :15:02.their peril. Today the Transport Secretary, Chris Grayling, ushered
:15:03. > :15:07.in end of the era of rail travel when he gave strong support to
:15:08. > :15:12.Crossrail 2, a new link through London. But is the attention being
:15:13. > :15:16.lavished on our capital also being matched in the North of England?
:15:17. > :15:19.Only last week, Chris Grayling appeared to cast doubt over the
:15:20. > :15:23.Government's commitment to the Northern Powerhouse by suggesting
:15:24. > :15:31.that an upgraded line between Leeds and Manchester may not be fully
:15:32. > :15:34.electrified. George Osborne, who championed the Northern Powerhouse
:15:35. > :15:38.in government, may be disappointed. We want to build the Northern
:15:39. > :15:43.Powerhouse, we want to make sure that our country is going across the
:15:44. > :15:46.nation, not just in London and the south-east, not just putting all of
:15:47. > :15:50.our bets on the City of London, and that means investing in the
:15:51. > :15:54.transport of the North, and we are publishing a comprehensive transport
:15:55. > :15:58.strategy that includes faster routes between Manchester and Leeds. But
:15:59. > :16:02.the father of the Northern Powerhouse says electrification of
:16:03. > :16:08.that line isn't everything. I kind of sympathise with many other
:16:09. > :16:15.council leaders in the North who are saying this sort of thing, as they
:16:16. > :16:20.have done before when previous plans for a electrification have been
:16:21. > :16:24.delayed. I think they are being a little bit too emotional and that
:16:25. > :16:29.they are probably not focusing on the real substantive matters. The
:16:30. > :16:35.electrification issue over the Pennines is not really... It is a
:16:36. > :16:39.bit of a red herring. The key to the speed is the straightness of the
:16:40. > :16:44.line. Jim O'Neill resigned last year. Tonight, the former Goldman
:16:45. > :16:48.Sachs executive tells Newsnight he believes that Theresa May's former
:16:49. > :16:52.Joint Chiefs of Staff, Fiona Hill and Nick Timothy, tried to downgrade
:16:53. > :16:58.the Northern Powerhouse out of spite towards George Osborne. He became
:16:59. > :17:03.suspicious when the former communications director accused
:17:04. > :17:07.Fiona Hill of encouraging staff to strip out references to the Northern
:17:08. > :17:15.Powerhouse. Well, of course I saw that report, and it justified my
:17:16. > :17:21.annoyance when I was a minister, when it was pretty obvious that that
:17:22. > :17:26.those two advisers were, purely out of animosity, trying to discourage
:17:27. > :17:33.it from continuing, and apparently doing things without her knowledge.
:17:34. > :17:38.But now that they are gone, I think it is more likely that this Prime
:17:39. > :17:42.Minister will be more supportive of it. Nick Timothy has told Newsnight
:17:43. > :17:47.these claims are categorically untrue. The former Number Ten
:17:48. > :17:50.adviser said he was responsible for saying the Government needed more of
:17:51. > :17:55.the spirit of the Northern Powerhouse for more cities. The
:17:56. > :18:00.former minister believes Theresa May is now wholly committed to the
:18:01. > :18:04.project. We have a new Northern Powerhouse minister, who I have
:18:05. > :18:10.spoken to, and I think he feels quite empowered by the PM. I think
:18:11. > :18:13.it is going to get more notoriety than it has done for the past few
:18:14. > :18:19.months without those two add advisers around. So perhaps our
:18:20. > :18:24.nation of train lovers can be reassured that the Northern
:18:25. > :18:28.Powerhouse is back on track. But George Osborne has this evening put
:18:29. > :18:32.down a marker - if Britain is serious about its future, it needs
:18:33. > :18:34.to recommit to those Northern Rail links.
:18:35. > :18:36.Andy Burnham, the Labour Mayor of Greater Manchester,
:18:37. > :18:48.Good evening to you. Did you get the sense, in period from last summer to
:18:49. > :18:52.this summer, that there was a sidelining of the whole Northern
:18:53. > :18:56.Powerhouse thing in central government? Oh, very much so, and I
:18:57. > :18:59.heard a rumour in Westminster that the phrase Northern Powerhouse had
:19:00. > :19:03.been banned from press releases and speeches, and that was confirmed at
:19:04. > :19:08.the weekend by the former press officer at Number Ten. And it
:19:09. > :19:12.worries me greatly, because we have sensed ever since George Osborne
:19:13. > :19:15.left that there has been oh real commitment to the north in the
:19:16. > :19:19.current government. I cannot see anyone speaking up for the North,
:19:20. > :19:24.and to be fair to George Osborne, he did at least do that, and he
:19:25. > :19:28.deserves credit for that, but I have become buried worried about the lack
:19:29. > :19:33.of commitment to the North, and indeed the promises it made. It
:19:34. > :19:38.promised people a powerhouse, and everyone is asking, where is it? How
:19:39. > :19:41.serious do you think the announcement is that there may not
:19:42. > :19:45.be the extra platforms at Piccadilly station and there may not be the
:19:46. > :19:50.entire electrification of the Trans-Pennine route? I think the
:19:51. > :19:55.Government would be making a major mistake if it and estimates the fury
:19:56. > :19:59.that people here feel when they see those announcements last week and
:20:00. > :20:07.then here today that billions more will be spent on London. You know,
:20:08. > :20:10.number one, Crossrail 2 was not in the Conservative manifesto, so on
:20:11. > :20:14.what basis has it gone to the front of the queue haired of the North? I
:20:15. > :20:22.think many people in our country would see those links across the
:20:23. > :20:28.North as a high priority. But number two, all of this has been announced
:20:29. > :20:34.since Parliament went up. I would have loved to see Chris Grayling
:20:35. > :20:37.announced the scrapping of various schemes for electrification
:20:38. > :20:41.alongside Roswell two, because there would have been uproar. I will
:20:42. > :20:46.contact MPs in Greater Manchester and across the North, because while
:20:47. > :20:50.this may be the Government's view that it can cancel the schemes and
:20:51. > :20:56.give the green light to Crossrail, I do not think it will be Parliament's
:20:57. > :20:59.view, and MPs need to seek a vote to see whether MPs agree that this is
:21:00. > :21:03.the way to proceed with rail investment in our country. Jim
:21:04. > :21:08.O'Neill, the one who was saying that he thought it was being sidelined,
:21:09. > :21:15.he didn't think it was any longer necessarily being sidelined and that
:21:16. > :21:17.the short-term staff around a electrification and the Northern Hub
:21:18. > :21:22.project, the predecessor project, that is not the point, and it has
:21:23. > :21:27.not been abandoned - you are talking like they have abandoned it, but
:21:28. > :21:33.they are still officially committed to it, right? I very much hope that
:21:34. > :21:37.Jim is right, I am not necessarily here to play party politics. If they
:21:38. > :21:41.had said that they would make commitments to the north and honour
:21:42. > :21:46.that, I would be the first to say thank you, because this is where the
:21:47. > :21:50.need is, the North cannot become a powerhouse economy unless there is
:21:51. > :21:52.serious investment in our rail and transport infrastructure, and that
:21:53. > :21:58.is the point that Jim O'Neill has correctly made this evening. But we
:21:59. > :22:01.can't wait forever, we need improvements now, that is why
:22:02. > :22:04.electrification is important, and it is why we need more capacity at
:22:05. > :22:08.Manchester Piccadilly. People travelling across northern cities
:22:09. > :22:12.who will have other long commute home tonight, they will be furious
:22:13. > :22:16.watching your programme, hearing the news that the Government has cut
:22:17. > :22:19.back on rail investment in the North on the day it has given the green
:22:20. > :22:24.light to Crossrail 2. I think they will peel that the Government is not
:22:25. > :22:28.listening to what people are saying, they are not governing for the whole
:22:29. > :22:31.country. Do they have any other vision for the North? Post-Brexit
:22:32. > :22:35.Britain, coming up with an economic model for the whole country is what
:22:36. > :22:40.everybody says is the gold - do they have a plan for the North of
:22:41. > :22:45.England? Well, if they do, I have not heard it yet, and if everyone
:22:46. > :22:49.would hear it, it is me, because I am listening very carefully to what
:22:50. > :22:53.they say. Another example of why I am getting worried - David Davis
:22:54. > :22:56.gave me a commitment that he would meet me shortly after the mayoral
:22:57. > :23:01.election alongside that newly elected mayors to talk about Brexit,
:23:02. > :23:05.and that has not happened. We are hearing rumours about education
:23:06. > :23:10.funding post-16, that they may try to change that. So we have no
:23:11. > :23:14.evidence at the moment that they are committed or have a vision for the
:23:15. > :23:19.North, but they need one, they need to help the Northern economy have a
:23:20. > :23:24.positive future outside of the European Union, they need to help us
:23:25. > :23:27.invest in new industries like digital, advance manufacturing, but
:23:28. > :23:31.I have not seen any evidence of that yet. But none of it is possible
:23:32. > :23:34.without investment in 21st century infrastructure. Andy Burnham,
:23:35. > :23:36.thanks. In Kabul, dozens were killed
:23:37. > :23:39.in a suicide car bombing today. The numbers killed in terror attacks
:23:40. > :23:42.there are horrifying. 49 dead in March when gunmen
:23:43. > :23:45.attacked a military hospital. 150 killed by a truck
:23:46. > :23:48.bomb at the end of May. The people of Afghanistan
:23:49. > :23:52.are bearing an insufferable burden, caught between the Taliban and IS,
:23:53. > :23:54.who sometimes claim responsibility for attacks,
:23:55. > :23:56.and an unpopular central government in Kabul that doesn't
:23:57. > :24:00.control the whole country. Remember, the Afghan war
:24:01. > :24:02.goes back to 2001, so it's 16 years
:24:03. > :24:04.of unresolved conflict now. The British withdrew in 2014,
:24:05. > :24:07.the Americans still have a presence. Our diplomatic editor,
:24:08. > :24:10.Mark Urban, has been looking
:24:11. > :24:19.at the state of things. this time attacking
:24:20. > :24:24.government workers in a bus. and it comes at a time when policy
:24:25. > :24:30.in Washington is deadlocked and the Afghan security
:24:31. > :24:34.situation worsening. The Afghan national security forces
:24:35. > :24:38.are suffering completely unsustainable casualties in the war
:24:39. > :24:42.over the past year as well. They also simply can't sustain
:24:43. > :24:45.in terms of replacing lost troops or troops lost to casualties
:24:46. > :24:48.or simply leaving the army. And they're losing
:24:49. > :24:55.territory as well. There's been a slow rolling back
:24:56. > :25:01.of government authority from 72% of the country's districts in
:25:02. > :25:06.November 2015 to 60% this February, and an expansion
:25:07. > :25:08.of insurgent-held districts Things this year
:25:09. > :25:14.have deteriorated further. For the British, insurgent gains
:25:15. > :25:20.in Helmand province have proven particularly
:25:21. > :25:22.hard to swallow. Guerilla groups taking over
:25:23. > :25:24.districts like Sangin or Musa Qala, where hundreds of British soldiers
:25:25. > :25:33.lost their lives. There have been
:25:34. > :25:34.other Taliban gains, major attacks have happened in
:25:35. > :25:43.Ghor and Badakhshan provinces. What I'm seeing there, really,
:25:44. > :25:46.is what has always been the case, It's being held, the Afghans
:25:47. > :25:50.are doing a fantastic job there, but at the extremities
:25:51. > :25:55.it's much harder. to see Afghanistan's security
:25:56. > :26:00.in isolation from Pakistan. The Afghan government has often
:26:01. > :26:04.blamed a major attacks in Kabul on proxies of Pakistan
:26:05. > :26:06.military intelligence, and the Trump administration wants
:26:07. > :26:10.to increase pressure on Pakistan - So that ranges from withholding
:26:11. > :26:18.more military assistance but also much more sort of robust,
:26:19. > :26:25.hard-nosed options. They're trying to put
:26:26. > :26:28.the screws on Islamabad, including things like expanding
:26:29. > :26:31.the scope of drone strikes to try and target Taliban
:26:32. > :26:33.and other militant leaders in parts of Pakistan outside
:26:34. > :26:38.of the Tribal Areas, where drones have previously
:26:39. > :26:39.not been flown, and that would provoke a real sort
:26:40. > :26:45.of crisis in US-Pakistan relations. And as the campaign
:26:46. > :26:47.against government bases in rural Afghanistan has stepped up,
:26:48. > :26:49.insurgents have used the type of tactics
:26:50. > :26:56.we've seen in Syria and Iraq. Here, you can see a light truck,
:26:57. > :27:02.circled there, heading into a police base in
:27:03. > :27:05.Helmand province late last year. It penetrates right into the base
:27:06. > :27:07.through the gate there Now, late last week,
:27:08. > :27:18.a more sophisticated tactic one of the key places in the British
:27:19. > :27:28.campaign to secure Helmand province. There's a ring of security posts
:27:29. > :27:32.around the town, and the Taliban attacked it
:27:33. > :27:34.with three truck bombs, captured Humvees,
:27:35. > :27:36.lightly armoured vehicles, one of them driven by the son
:27:37. > :27:40.of a local Taliban leader. They then followed up
:27:41. > :27:45.with an infantry attack. It's very hard for lightly
:27:46. > :27:47.armed police and troops I think what's needed is to continue
:27:48. > :27:52.to invest in the specialist capabilities which will make
:27:53. > :27:55.all the difference for the Afghans in this campaign and will give them
:27:56. > :27:58.the edge over the Taliban. So the British have
:27:59. > :27:59.announced, I think, The Americans, as you say,
:28:00. > :28:06.are considering their options - I think General McMaster,
:28:07. > :28:13.James Mattis, General Nicholson, these are very competent,
:28:14. > :28:14.wise individuals US Marines have been involved
:28:15. > :28:20.in the recent Helmand fighting, drawn in by the deterioration
:28:21. > :28:22.in security. President Trump and his military
:28:23. > :28:27.advisers, meanwhile, are deadlocked about whether thousands
:28:28. > :28:29.more should be sent - but what none of them want
:28:30. > :28:31.is for the Afghan government to collapse under this
:28:32. > :28:38.new insurgent onslaught. Mark Urban with a rather grim
:28:39. > :28:42.assessment of the situation. Lord Dannatt oversaw Britain's
:28:43. > :28:45.operations in Afghanistan as Chief of the Defence Staff
:28:46. > :28:47.from 2006 to 2009. He is now a crossbench peer,
:28:48. > :28:59.and he joins me from Norwich. A very good evening to you. Do you
:29:00. > :29:03.recognise that the country there is slipping away? Well, I certainly
:29:04. > :29:09.recognise, on the basis of the film you have just shown, that the
:29:10. > :29:14.situation remains very difficult, and as is expected, it remains one
:29:15. > :29:20.that we have to fight, or the Afghan security forces have to fight with
:29:21. > :29:27.great intensity. I think the proportion of the country that the
:29:28. > :29:33.film showed, of 10-12% under Taliban control, is entirely consistent with
:29:34. > :29:41.what we expected. Kandahar province, Helmand province, these were always
:29:42. > :29:45.the heartlands of the insurgency against the Kabul government, so it
:29:46. > :29:49.is not at all surprisingly this is where the focus of the fighting is.
:29:50. > :29:56.And then of course you have got very, very sallies forth by the
:29:57. > :30:00.Taliban into Kabul to catch the headline - very successfully, I may
:30:01. > :30:09.say, courtesy of the international media - of what goes on in Kabul.
:30:10. > :30:19.You said the Afghan army needs to fight. Let me be clear. We, the
:30:20. > :30:23.British Government, may have ended our combat operations in 2014, but
:30:24. > :30:27.the British Government did not end its support to the Afghan
:30:28. > :30:30.government. There were over 500 British servicemen still serving in
:30:31. > :30:35.Afghanistan. Principally running the Afghan National Army officer
:30:36. > :30:38.training Academy. Many international diplomats and other experts
:30:39. > :30:44.supporting the Government activities. We have not abandoned
:30:45. > :30:47.Afghanistan. We have changed our support to Afghanistan because
:30:48. > :30:52.frankly, Afghanistan remains an extraordinarily important player in
:30:53. > :30:57.the stability of that part of the wider region in that part of the
:30:58. > :31:02.world. You can go to districts like Musa Qala in Helmand Province, many
:31:03. > :31:07.British troops died trying to keep those districts. They are now
:31:08. > :31:14.occupied by the Taliban. How much does that upset you? Of course, in
:31:15. > :31:19.the narrow context of the families of those who lost their loved ones
:31:20. > :31:24.in fighting those tactical battles, it upsets me hugely. But in the
:31:25. > :31:29.wider context of the wider operational and strategic effort to
:31:30. > :31:33.try and stabilise Afghanistan, to become a significant player in that
:31:34. > :31:41.part of the world, it is understandable. The loss of life of
:31:42. > :31:44.any individual leaves a shattered family and extraordinarily
:31:45. > :31:48.regrettable. But in the bigger picture, I'm afraid casualties have
:31:49. > :31:54.to be accepted. Afghanistan is very important in that part of the world,
:31:55. > :31:59.Musa Qala tactically is important, as is Sangin, but if we lose control
:32:00. > :32:02.of those places, in the wider picture, it matters a lot but it
:32:03. > :32:06.does not necessarily matter in the big picture. Do you have an idea of
:32:07. > :32:11.what we should do about Pakistan? By all accounts, it is causing much of
:32:12. > :32:15.the instability in Afghanistan. We were not sorting out the one without
:32:16. > :32:19.finding a solution to what the other one is trying to get out of that? I
:32:20. > :32:26.cannot agree this wider issue means test needs to be tackled
:32:27. > :32:27.energetically on the wider diplomatic circuit and extraordinary
:32:28. > :32:32.pressure should be brought on Afghanistan. The ambivalent attitude
:32:33. > :32:39.that Pakistan has had towards the situation in Afghanistan, the ISI
:32:40. > :32:44.has played both sides against the centre, this is quite extraordinary,
:32:45. > :32:47.quite unacceptable, and the United States, United Kingdom, united
:32:48. > :32:52.European Union, anybody else with influence should bring it on to
:32:53. > :32:59.Pakistan to say, let's get settled on this. Because you not helping.
:33:00. > :33:03.And I also, a parallel conversation, with slightly less intensity, should
:33:04. > :33:07.be brought on India as well. Do we have much influence in this, does
:33:08. > :33:10.the Foreign Office have the power to knock heads together? You would
:33:11. > :33:14.think in Pakistan, you might have, but I wonder whether we do. In the
:33:15. > :33:18.bigger context of Brexit, we think we want to be a big player in the
:33:19. > :33:25.world, maybe we should be, maybe we are a big player in the world. India
:33:26. > :33:29.and Pakistan are part of a sort of heritage, we do have influence in
:33:30. > :33:32.those parts of the world, I think our international diplomats should
:33:33. > :33:37.be on and off the jets very rapidly banging heads together in that part
:33:38. > :33:40.of the world to say Afghanistan mattered in the 19th century, it
:33:41. > :33:41.mattered in the 20th century and it sure as hell matters in the
:33:42. > :33:47.21st-century. Thank you very much. You will already know that England
:33:48. > :33:49.won the Women's Cricket It was a well-timed victory
:33:50. > :33:54.in a dramatic match, giving a big push to women's team
:33:55. > :33:57.sports, ahead of the women's Euro football tournament
:33:58. > :34:01.and the Rugby World Cup this summer. It feels like it's been a year
:34:02. > :34:04.in which there has been growing spectator interest in women's sports
:34:05. > :34:06.but, true as that is, we are still clearly at the stage
:34:07. > :34:09.where, on programmes like this, we often end up discussing women's
:34:10. > :34:12.sport as a progressive social trend, So where does women's sport go,
:34:13. > :34:17.and how fast can the business, With me now is the former England
:34:18. > :34:26.bowler Isa Guha and Joanne Adams, the Chief Executive
:34:27. > :34:36.of England Netball. Good evening. Am I right, Isa, it
:34:37. > :34:44.has been a big year for women's sport? You were playing in the World
:34:45. > :34:48.Cup when? In 2005. Won in 2009 in Sydney and we did get a fair bit of
:34:49. > :34:52.coverage, but it quickly dwindled away and that is where I think
:34:53. > :34:58.cricket can really learn from that. A successful campaign for the
:34:59. > :35:00.England women, still recovering from yesterday, to be honest! A truly
:35:01. > :35:05.special moment for everyone involved. You got a sense everybody
:35:06. > :35:09.was pulling together. But we were speaking of air about the fact that
:35:10. > :35:16.the significant change was around the 2012 Olympics. The 2012
:35:17. > :35:21.Olympics? Absolutely, the focus on women in sport. The Government made
:35:22. > :35:26.a big push to try to include women's sport in the media. And as a result,
:35:27. > :35:30.we have had a knock-on effect. It gets trajectory and people get
:35:31. > :35:35.interested? There has been a change perception. Does it feel like a
:35:36. > :35:40.moment, Joanne, is tipping point? Yes, I think so, sport been working
:35:41. > :35:45.hard for many years. But there does seem to be now a point where there
:35:46. > :35:49.is a magic moment in time. We have just had the Cricket World Cup, we
:35:50. > :35:54.have the hockey World Cup in 2018 and the netball World Cup in 2019.
:35:55. > :35:59.There is a three-year span when we can maximise from a commercial and
:36:00. > :36:05.broadcast point of view. We have seen netball is the team game that
:36:06. > :36:09.does not have the men's counterpart, on my cricket and football. Does
:36:10. > :36:15.that make it easier to promote, or harder? It is a double-edged sword.
:36:16. > :36:20.We do not have the millions of pounds are backing the men's game it
:36:21. > :36:24.can give. They did not previously, but they are now investing. So
:36:25. > :36:30.everything we have to create on our own. And it is our USP, it is women
:36:31. > :36:34.that play it, with predominantly administrated, the volunteers are
:36:35. > :36:41.nearly all women, so it does have a unique position within a woman's
:36:42. > :36:46.life. It is double-edged. Isa, what drives some sports, especially the
:36:47. > :36:50.non-team sports in the Olympics, it is virtual parity, and in other
:36:51. > :36:55.sports, it is a long way between the men's game and the women's game.
:36:56. > :37:01.What counts for how much parity or equality there is? Yes, I think
:37:02. > :37:09.individual sports, you look at Jessica Ennis, she is constantly out
:37:10. > :37:12.in the media and she is a singular entity, but has been the kind of
:37:13. > :37:18.champion and has done so well for Great Britain. Whereas team sports,
:37:19. > :37:23.you only have one or two stars and that has been the case with cricket
:37:24. > :37:27.in the past. But now, when the ICC decided to broadcast every single
:37:28. > :37:34.game of the Women's World Cup, we suddenly were able to see all of
:37:35. > :37:37.these girls on the bigger stage and certainly throughout England's
:37:38. > :37:41.campaign, it was not down to one or two individuals, it was every single
:37:42. > :37:46.person contributing at different times. And I think on the back of
:37:47. > :37:51.that, the media and the broadcast cottoned onto it and everyone was
:37:52. > :37:55.talked about. Joanne, you must know in netball, there is a chicken and
:37:56. > :37:58.egg and the media do not arrive until there is the interest and the
:37:59. > :38:05.interest does not happen without the media? We cannot just say, oh, woe
:38:06. > :38:09.is me, we have to create stories and an interest and that is what we have
:38:10. > :38:13.done really well. In netball, we look at ways women can play the game
:38:14. > :38:17.and we find the right form of the game for the right form of women so
:38:18. > :38:21.we have turned ourselves into a sports business and we have created
:38:22. > :38:25.the interest. Once we do that, we can take the products to the
:38:26. > :38:29.broadcasters and sponsors. We have to take responsibility for that and
:38:30. > :38:32.we have done it really well in women's sport. Now it is time to
:38:33. > :38:37.push on, we need the broadcasters and the money, the investment. It
:38:38. > :38:43.seems to me, I'm not clear about the audience. Is it men interested in
:38:44. > :38:48.cricket? Women interested in cricket? Women who are not
:38:49. > :38:53.interested in cricket, but who are interested in women's sport? A bit
:38:54. > :38:57.of both, the final was played in front of a sell-out crowd, 50% of
:38:58. > :39:03.the tickets were women in going down to watch. A completely new audience
:39:04. > :39:08.and I think across the world globally, it is not just women, it
:39:09. > :39:13.is men as well. You look at India and how much the male counterparts
:39:14. > :39:16.got behind their team. 1.2 billion people living in India and everybody
:39:17. > :39:22.is glued to the screens throughout the Indian campaign. It appeals to
:39:23. > :39:26.everyone. More importantly, it is the legacy that is being created and
:39:27. > :39:30.trying to appeal to young boys and girls. There is no better time for
:39:31. > :39:36.women and girls to get involved in cricket. Joanne, do you think in
:39:37. > :39:39.team sport, netball being the exception, do you think there is a
:39:40. > :39:45.day when parity, anything like parity will be achieved between
:39:46. > :39:49.women's soccer or cricket and men's? It is our dream. Across sport,
:39:50. > :39:53.people do not want to say it is the women's or the men's version, it is
:39:54. > :39:57.just great sport and people wanting to watch it as a great spectacle and
:39:58. > :40:00.to be administered throughout the game. Thank you both very much.
:40:01. > :40:03.That's it for tonight, but we leave you with news
:40:04. > :40:14.If you were worried about Emily and the downpour in Washington, they did
:40:15. > :40:19.not completely disappear, but they sent this photograph taken a couple
:40:20. > :40:22.of minutes after they went off air! Clearly, the weather moves as
:40:23. > :40:27.quickly in Washington as the politics. But that is it for
:40:28. > :40:29.tonight. News from the community -- but news from the Computerworld.
:40:30. > :40:31.An innocuous looking document has been published by Microsoft called
:40:32. > :40:35.But it foretells the demise of Microsoft Paint, one
:40:36. > :40:37.of the iconic pieces of 20th-Century graphic design software.
:40:38. > :40:39.The fact that the software remained so utterly basic is apparently
:40:40. > :40:42.what made it redundant, but it was that which also
:40:43. > :40:45.spurred the creative juices in its many users.
:40:46. > :40:49.So we leave you with a few masterpieces from the Microsoft