:00:10. > :00:15.Hello, I'm Ros Atkins, welcome to Outside Source. Pressure mounting on
:00:16. > :00:18.US Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Donald Trump was asked about his
:00:19. > :00:26.position not long ago, this was the reply. Do you still have confidence
:00:27. > :00:30.in your Attorney General? Total. The truth, the whole truth and nothing
:00:31. > :00:36.but the truth, so help you guard. I do. This is the issue. That was Jeff
:00:37. > :00:42.Sessions in January speaking under oath at a Senate hearing. I did not
:00:43. > :00:47.have communications with the Russians. The problem is, he had met
:00:48. > :00:51.the Russian ambassador twice. Mr Sessions is about to hold a press
:00:52. > :00:54.conference in Washington, DC. The moment it begins at the Department
:00:55. > :01:00.of Justice you'll see it here live an outside source. We report from
:01:01. > :01:03.Brussels as $200 million is raised for family planning schemes in
:01:04. > :01:08.developing countries to counter cuts introduced by Donald Trump. Marine
:01:09. > :01:13.Le Pen could face charges relating to treating graphic images of
:01:14. > :01:17.Islamic State atrocities. Emmanuel Macron has launched his manifesto
:01:18. > :01:22.and Francois Fillon has had more bad news today, a property of his raided
:01:23. > :01:25.by police. We'll have the latest on the French presidential election. If
:01:26. > :01:29.you bought shares in the company that owned Snapchat you probably had
:01:30. > :01:31.a good day, the stock jumping by more than 40% just since the company
:01:32. > :01:50.floated. There were a few hours after Donald
:01:51. > :01:54.Trump's speech to Congress where something resembling calm had
:01:55. > :02:00.descended on Washington, DC. But it didn't last long. There is now huge
:02:01. > :02:04.pressure on Mr Trump's Attorney General Jeff Sessions and what
:02:05. > :02:08.relationship and connections he has had with the Russians. Mr Trump has
:02:09. > :02:13.been talking about this in the last few hours, he says he has total
:02:14. > :02:18.confidence in Jeff Sessions, that he thinks there's no need for the
:02:19. > :02:21.Attorney General to recuse himself from an investigation into contact
:02:22. > :02:26.between the Trump campaigner Russian officials during the election. He
:02:27. > :02:30.told reporters he wasn't aware Mr Sessions had these two meetings with
:02:31. > :02:35.the Russian ambassador in Washington. That is the President's
:02:36. > :02:39.analysis. There are a significant number of people who do not agree
:02:40. > :02:43.with it, that includes senior Republicans. For instance this is
:02:44. > :02:49.the US House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy. This is the main Senator
:02:50. > :02:56.Susan Collins. Both say Mr Sessions should recuse himself from this
:02:57. > :02:59.investigation. And this is why. In January Mr Sessions was being
:03:00. > :03:02.questioned under oath by senators as part of the confirmation hearing
:03:03. > :03:10.that led to him being approved Attorney General. This exchange took
:03:11. > :03:14.place. Ivanovic any evidence that anyone affiliated with the Trump
:03:15. > :03:21.campaign communicated with the Russian government in the course of
:03:22. > :03:27.this campaign, what will you do? I am not aware of any of those
:03:28. > :03:31.activities. I have been called a celibate a time or two in that
:03:32. > :03:36.campaign and I did not have communications with the Russians.
:03:37. > :03:39.And I'm unable to comment. The problem was, he had had
:03:40. > :03:42.communication with the Russians. This is the Washington post which
:03:43. > :03:46.was the first to report he had met the Russian ambassador to America
:03:47. > :03:50.doing a presidential campaign. After that story came out a spokesperson
:03:51. > :03:56.for Mr Sessions confirmed that that was the case. But Jeff Sessions is
:03:57. > :04:01.adamant he's done nothing wrong. Have a look at this exchange on US
:04:02. > :04:06.television. Well, I have not met with any Russians at any time to
:04:07. > :04:12.discuss any political campaign. And no remarks -- those remarks are
:04:13. > :04:16.unbelievable to me and false. I don't have anything else to say
:04:17. > :04:21.about that. What about reducing yourself from your agency... I've
:04:22. > :04:26.said whenever is appropriate I will recuse myself, there is no doubt
:04:27. > :04:30.about that. Remember in all the best that it was communications with the
:04:31. > :04:33.Russian ambassador that led to the firing of the national security
:04:34. > :04:38.adviser Michael Flynn, surrounding how he reported those conversations
:04:39. > :04:43.with the ambassador to the vice president. Also remember in his
:04:44. > :04:47.capacity as Attorney General, Jeff Sessions ultimately overseas that
:04:48. > :04:52.investigation into allegations of Russian interference in the US
:04:53. > :04:54.elections. Now, end of the Democrats. Nancy Pelosi is one of
:04:55. > :05:03.the most senior Democrats, she says...
:05:04. > :05:08.Building on those points, here is the Democratic leader in the Senate.
:05:09. > :05:14.Did the president know about the meetings between then Senator
:05:15. > :05:20.Sessions and the Russian ambassador? Were these the only two meetings
:05:21. > :05:24.between the now Attorney General and the Russian ambassador? Or other
:05:25. > :05:29.Russian officials? Did the Attorney General disclose these meetings
:05:30. > :05:35.during the FBI background check for his nomination? There has been a
:05:36. > :05:45.revelation after revelation. Mistruths after mistruths. Stories
:05:46. > :05:51.shifting like quicksand. If they is truly no there there, why weren't
:05:52. > :05:55.they tell the truth? As ever in Washington there are two narratives.
:05:56. > :05:59.This is the speaker of the house Paul Ryan, a senior Republican, this
:06:00. > :06:02.is his take. First I will refer to the Senate Judiciary Committee. I
:06:03. > :06:06.checked the transcript on all of that, so I can't speak to what the
:06:07. > :06:11.Judiciary Committee transcriptase, frankly I haven't read it. Should he
:06:12. > :06:16.recuse himself, I think he answered that question this morning. Which is
:06:17. > :06:19.if he himself is subject of an investigation, of course he could,
:06:20. > :06:24.but if he's not I don't see any purpose or reason of doing this.
:06:25. > :06:29.Let's bring in Anthony Zurcher as we always do. From Washington, DC. So
:06:30. > :06:33.many elements to this story, what is your reading of it? As you said,
:06:34. > :06:40.pressure is mounting on Jeff Sessions to recuse himself. The
:06:41. > :06:42.ground underneath him as far as staying involved in this
:06:43. > :06:47.investigation in his capacity as Attorney General overseeing the FBI
:06:48. > :06:51.is crumbling, with leaders of the Republican party in Congress, Kevin
:06:52. > :06:55.McCarthy, the second-in-command in the House of Representatives, arming
:06:56. > :06:59.out and saying he needed to recuse himself. It has allowed Democrats to
:07:00. > :07:04.go step further and start calling for his resignation. We got a couple
:07:05. > :07:08.of stories out of Sessions own press secretary about that meeting in
:07:09. > :07:12.September. First it was an in-person meeting, then over the phone, then
:07:13. > :07:18.in person. If it was over the phone with the Russian ambassador, Michael
:07:19. > :07:21.Flynn's phone conversations with the Russian ambassador were recorded by
:07:22. > :07:24.US intelligence agencies so I wouldn't be surprised if a phone
:07:25. > :07:28.conversation with Jeff Sessions also had a transcript that also leaked.
:07:29. > :07:34.It'll be interesting to see where the story goes from here. A tweet
:07:35. > :07:38.from Michael Floyd says one was put up ahead of the US national
:07:39. > :07:42.security- Michael Flynn- the other is head of the department
:07:43. > :07:48.responsible for masticating domestic espionage. The point is that these
:07:49. > :07:54.stories an incredibly damaging so early in Mr Trump's presidency.
:07:55. > :07:58.Absolutely, Michael Flynn, like Sessions, is a close adviser to
:07:59. > :08:02.Donald Trump during the campaign. Jeff Sessions was one of the first
:08:03. > :08:06.prominent politicians to endorse Donald Trump early in the campaign
:08:07. > :08:10.before he became a front runner when he was more of a sideshow in the
:08:11. > :08:13.Republican primary process, he helped devise Donald Trump's
:08:14. > :08:20.immigration strategy, much of his foreign policy. It was clear he
:08:21. > :08:23.would have a key role in the Administration and Attorney General
:08:24. > :08:31.is the top law enforcement official in the US government. There are ties
:08:32. > :08:34.between these two and the fact they had contacts with Russia oil
:08:35. > :08:39.officials during the campaign and after the election lends a view that
:08:40. > :08:43.there may be more here, that they went direct about it, didn't ask --
:08:44. > :08:47.Hansa questions directly when they could have, it raises suspicions and
:08:48. > :08:52.casts doubt that there could be a bigger story behind us. We're told
:08:53. > :08:55.Jeff Sessions is imminent at the Department of Justice. While we wait
:08:56. > :08:57.for the press conference to begin, let's remind you while these
:08:58. > :09:01.elements we've already discussed have played out, a cross-party
:09:02. > :09:05.congressional committee whose website you can find online, I'll
:09:06. > :09:07.post this because Jeff Sessions is stepping out. Let's bring the live
:09:08. > :09:19.feed. Thank you for being with me. My
:09:20. > :09:26.chief of staff. Jodie has been almost 20 years in the Department of
:09:27. > :09:32.Justice. Let me share a few thoughts. First, about the comments
:09:33. > :09:40.that I made to the committee that have been said to be incorrect and
:09:41. > :09:43.false. Let me be clear, I never had meetings with Russian operatives or
:09:44. > :09:50.Russian intermediaries about the Trump campaign. And the idea that I
:09:51. > :09:56.was part of a" continuing exchange of information" during the campaign
:09:57. > :10:04.between Tromso gets and intermediaries for the Russian
:10:05. > :10:07.government is totally false. That is the question Senator Frank and asked
:10:08. > :10:15.me at the hearing and that's what got my attention, as he noted, it
:10:16. > :10:21.was the first... Breaking news. It got my attention. And that is the
:10:22. > :10:26.question I responded to. I did not respond by referring to the two
:10:27. > :10:30.meetings, one very brief after a speech, and one with two of my
:10:31. > :10:35.senior staffers, professional staffers, with the Russian
:10:36. > :10:40.ambassador in Washington. Where no such things were discussed. In my
:10:41. > :10:49.reply to the question of Senator Frank and, it was honest and correct
:10:50. > :10:54.as I understood it at the time. I appreciate that some have taken the
:10:55. > :11:00.view that this was a false comment, that is not my intent, that is not
:11:01. > :11:03.correct. I will write the Judiciary Committee soon, today or tomorrow,
:11:04. > :11:12.to explain this testimony for the record. Secondly, at my confirmation
:11:13. > :11:20.hearing, I promised that I would do this... Is a specific matter arose
:11:21. > :11:26.where I believed my impartiality might reasonably be questioned, I
:11:27. > :11:31.would consult with the Department ethics officials regarding the most
:11:32. > :11:38.appropriate way to proceed. That's what I told them at the confirmation
:11:39. > :11:43.hearing. I've been here just three weeks today. A lot has been
:11:44. > :11:47.happening in this three week period. I wish I'd had more of my staff on
:11:48. > :11:57.board, but we're still waiting for now. Much has been done, much needs
:11:58. > :12:01.to be done, but idea down and have done as I promised. I have met with
:12:02. > :12:07.senior officials, shortly after arriving here, we evaluated the
:12:08. > :12:12.rules of ethics and recusal. I've considered the issues at stake. In
:12:13. > :12:20.fact, on Monday, of this week, we set a meeting for a final decision
:12:21. > :12:25.on this question and on Monday we set that meeting today. So this was
:12:26. > :12:33.the day that we planned to have a final discussion. I asked for their
:12:34. > :12:43.candid and honest opinion about what I should do about investigation,
:12:44. > :12:47.certain investigations. My staff recommended recusal, they said that
:12:48. > :12:52.since I had involvement with the campaign I should not be involved in
:12:53. > :12:56.any campaign investigation. I have studied the rules and considered
:12:57. > :13:00.their comments, and evaluation. I believe those recommendations are
:13:01. > :13:07.right and just. Therefore, I have recuse myself in the matters that
:13:08. > :13:13.deal with the Trump campaign. The exact language of that recusal is in
:13:14. > :13:22.the press release that we will give to you. I have said this "I have now
:13:23. > :13:26.decided to recuse myself from any existing or future investigations of
:13:27. > :13:31.any matter relating in any way to the campaign for president of the
:13:32. > :13:34.United States. Rose group I went on to say, this announcement should not
:13:35. > :13:40.be interpreted as confirmation of the existence of any investigation
:13:41. > :13:47.or suggestive of the scope of any such investigation. Because we in
:13:48. > :13:52.the Department of Justice resist confirming or denying the very
:13:53. > :13:58.existence of the investigation. So, in the end, I have followed the
:13:59. > :14:03.right procedure, just as I promised the committee I would. Just as I
:14:04. > :14:09.believe any good Attorney General should do. And a proper decision, I
:14:10. > :14:14.believe, has been reached. So I thank you for the opportunity to
:14:15. > :14:20.make those comments, and would be pleased to take a few questions. OK.
:14:21. > :14:25.To clear up any confusion over this, could you just explain a little bit
:14:26. > :14:28.about the September eight meeting, who in your staff was there, and
:14:29. > :14:35.what was discussed with the Russian ambassador? The Russian ambassador
:14:36. > :14:39.apparently sent a staffer to my office, I did not see him, and asked
:14:40. > :14:47.for a meeting, as so many of the ambassadors were doing. We set up a
:14:48. > :14:53.time, as we did, as we normally did. And we met with him. Two of my
:14:54. > :15:01.senior staffers were there. Maybe a younger staffer, too. And they both
:15:02. > :15:07.were retired ani kernels, not politicians, and we listened to the
:15:08. > :15:18.ambassador, and what his concerns might be. Well, it was just normal
:15:19. > :15:22.things, such as I started off by saying, I don't remember a lot of
:15:23. > :15:27.it, but I do remember saying I had gone to Russia with a church group
:15:28. > :15:30.in 1991. He said he was not a believer himself, but he was glad to
:15:31. > :15:38.have church people come there. Indeed, I thought he was pretty much
:15:39. > :15:44.of an old-style of Soviet type ambassador. So we talked a little
:15:45. > :15:50.bit about terrorism. Somehow the subject of Ukraine came up, I'd had
:15:51. > :15:58.the Ukrainian ambassador in my office the day before. To listen to
:15:59. > :16:02.him. Nothing... Russia had done nothing that was wrong in any area,
:16:03. > :16:08.and everybody else was wrong with regard to the Ukraine. It got to be
:16:09. > :16:15.a little bit of a testy conversation at that point, it wrapped up, he
:16:16. > :16:23.said something about inviting me to have lunch. I did not accept that.
:16:24. > :16:28.That never occurred. INAUDIBLE I don't recall but most of these
:16:29. > :16:32.ambassadors are pretty gossipy. And they like... This was in campaign
:16:33. > :16:44.season. But I don't recall any specific political discussions. Do
:16:45. > :16:49.you recall meeting with ambassador any other time? It is possible. I'm
:16:50. > :17:00.on the armed services committee and things happen but I don't recall
:17:01. > :17:04.having met him before. Did he consider you a representative of the
:17:05. > :17:10.Trump campaign? They think ambassadors are always out trying to
:17:11. > :17:16.find out things and advance their agenda. Most of the ambassadors out
:17:17. > :17:20.there would lay out the case for Ukraine, lay out his case, Poland
:17:21. > :17:27.laid out his case, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Japan, Canada,
:17:28. > :17:34.Australia, I met with all of those ambassadors over the year. So I
:17:35. > :17:38.think that's why... Did you consult with the White House about your
:17:39. > :17:43.decision was too much and to follow on the last question, with hindsight
:17:44. > :17:47.do you believe it is a coincidence the Russians ask you for a meeting
:17:48. > :17:54.or do you believe you were targeted because it came at the height of
:17:55. > :17:57.Russia's interference? And Trump was giving an interview to say he didn't
:17:58. > :18:04.think there was anything to the report. I don't recall and have a
:18:05. > :18:10.sense of any connection whatsoever about that. I'm not sure I even
:18:11. > :18:17.knew, when we set up the meeting, what was going to be going on in the
:18:18. > :18:24.world at the time. I can't speak for what the Russian ambassador had in
:18:25. > :18:26.his mind. Have you met with any Russian officials or folk associated
:18:27. > :18:30.with the Russian government since you endorsed President Trump? I
:18:31. > :18:38.don't think so. We meet a lot of people, so... From those two
:18:39. > :18:43.meetings you discussed with the ambassador... I don't believe so.
:18:44. > :18:46.The White House press secretary and President Bush said today they think
:18:47. > :18:55.you should not recuse yourself from these investigations. INAUDIBLE
:18:56. > :19:02.Idea to share with White House counsel and my staff that I intend
:19:03. > :19:08.to recuse myself this afternoon. But I feel like because they don't know
:19:09. > :19:17.the rules, the ethics rules, most people don't bother but when you
:19:18. > :19:22.evaluate the rules I feel like I should not be involved investigating
:19:23. > :19:27.a campaign I had a role in. One more question and we wrap this up. Ferri
:19:28. > :19:30.two questioned if I may. You were already considering recusal before
:19:31. > :19:33.today, is that correct? And when you've answered Senator Frank and's
:19:34. > :19:37.question were you just not thinking of the meeting with the Russian
:19:38. > :19:42.ambassador or did you not consider it relevant?
:19:43. > :19:48.I was taken back a little bit about this new information, this
:19:49. > :19:52.allegation that surrogates, and I have been called a surrogate for
:19:53. > :20:00.Donald Trump, had been meeting continuously with Russian officials.
:20:01. > :20:06.And that's what struck me very hard and what I focused my answer on. In
:20:07. > :20:10.retrospect, I should have slowed down and said, but I did meet one
:20:11. > :20:17.Russian official a couple of times. That would be the ambassador. Thank
:20:18. > :20:21.you all, take care. There goes the Attorney General of America, Jeff
:20:22. > :20:24.Sessions. Let's immediately turn to Anthony Zurcher, who has been
:20:25. > :20:29.watching it. A number of important lines, let's go through them, what
:20:30. > :20:32.would you pick out? Interesting he said he decided to recuse himself
:20:33. > :20:36.after consulting with Justice Department officials and they said
:20:37. > :20:40.he should do that based on his ties to the Trump campaign. If you take
:20:41. > :20:43.him at his word, he was going to recuse himself anyway regardless of
:20:44. > :20:48.the story that came out last night about his specific contacts with the
:20:49. > :20:51.Russian ambassador. That is a little different. He said in a written
:20:52. > :20:55.statement during his confirmation process that he didn't talk with
:20:56. > :20:59.Russian officials about elections matters. When he was asked, you
:21:00. > :21:02.heard him say, he couldn't recall whether politics and elections ever
:21:03. > :21:05.came up, but that the Russian buzzard tends to be a gossip,
:21:06. > :21:11.ambassadors in general tend to be gossipy. -- the Russian ambassador
:21:12. > :21:17.tends to be a gossip. The person taking over the investigation is the
:21:18. > :21:23.acting deputy Attorney General. He was the acting Attorney General last
:21:24. > :21:31.month after Sally Yates was fired after she wouldn't enforce his
:21:32. > :21:43.immigration ban. Dame Ben Te'o defended it in court. He served as
:21:44. > :21:48.acting Attorney General. Said his answer was honest and correct as he
:21:49. > :21:54.understood the answer at the time. Is it good enough? When it when it
:21:55. > :21:58.comes to allegations of perjury, for perjury charges to be brought up you
:21:59. > :22:03.have to have intent to deceive. For him to say he did everything he
:22:04. > :22:06.could to be honest and open, did not intend to deceive or mislead the
:22:07. > :22:11.investigators Bourdy interrogating senators, I think it is a very
:22:12. > :22:16.carefully chosen word to picture he doesn't open himself up to any
:22:17. > :22:21.allegations of perjury. I'll let you continue on the story, maybe we'll
:22:22. > :22:28.talk later. Anthony Zurcher live from Washington, DC. To remind you
:22:29. > :22:30.where we are with the story, the US Attorney General Jeff Sessions has
:22:31. > :22:37.finished a press conference in Washington, DC in which he's paying
:22:38. > :22:41.he's going to recuse himself from any investigations there may be into
:22:42. > :22:49.the relationship between Russia and Donald Trump's campaign. -- Jeff
:22:50. > :22:53.Sessions saying. He understands the recommendation that he would recuse
:22:54. > :22:56.himself from any such investigation. Whether it's enough to keep him in
:22:57. > :23:02.the job we shall have to see. Donald Trump has said earlier, before
:23:03. > :23:06.speaking, before giving a speech to the Navy, he has full support
:23:07. > :23:10.directed towards Jeff Sessions. We shall see if it proves to be enough.
:23:11. > :23:15.At the moment he's not leaving his job but is recuse in himself. We'll
:23:16. > :23:18.keep you up-to-date on that. In the meantime let's turn from American
:23:19. > :23:23.politics to French politics because we have three important stories from
:23:24. > :23:26.the French presidential election campaign. Emmanuel Macron unveiled
:23:27. > :23:32.his manifesto and turning his centrist policies. Lorraine the pen
:23:33. > :23:35.is leading in the polls. She leads the National front party. She's lost
:23:36. > :23:38.immunity from prosecution for treating graphic images of
:23:39. > :23:46.atrocities committed by the Islamic State group. Those images involve
:23:47. > :23:52.pictures of James Foley being beheaded by the Islamic State group.
:23:53. > :23:55.She could face criminal enquiry if that was the case. This offence
:23:56. > :23:58.carries a penalty of three years in prison. We're a long way away from
:23:59. > :24:03.anything like that. The decision remove her immunity was taken by the
:24:04. > :24:11.European Parliament. Let me show you what Emmanuel Macron said as he
:24:12. > :24:15.delivered this new manifesto. We in our project have chosen first of all
:24:16. > :24:19.to look to the future. The transformation of the world of work,
:24:20. > :24:24.the transformation of our productive model. The digital transition. These
:24:25. > :24:30.are risks. But they are also brilliant opportunities. And so, at
:24:31. > :24:34.the heart of this project, there is the refusal to acknowledge defeat. I
:24:35. > :24:40.will not say in this project that we have already lost the battle over
:24:41. > :24:45.the nature of work. No, work is going to change, and we will be part
:24:46. > :24:50.of that change. We will go with it, and we will transform the balance of
:24:51. > :24:55.forces. Emmanuel Macron. We talked about Marina pen, leader of the
:24:56. > :25:02.front Nationale. They are the main candidates. Francois Fillon is in a
:25:03. > :25:05.lot of trouble with his campaign because of allegations he created
:25:06. > :25:09.fake jobs for relatives, in particular his wife and two of his
:25:10. > :25:17.children. The Socialists are struggling in the polls. Francois
:25:18. > :25:20.Fillon continues to have problems, all relating to whether his support
:25:21. > :25:26.stays firm going into the first round of the presidential election.
:25:27. > :25:30.Some states to tell you. Which Microsoft updates. Police raided the
:25:31. > :25:34.home of Francois Fillon as part of a probe into allegations of a fake
:25:35. > :25:41.Parliamentary job given to his wife. According to several sources. This
:25:42. > :25:44.from the Spectator index Twitter feed Saint Emmanuel Macron leaves
:25:45. > :25:49.Marina pen by 26% in the second round. The way the French system
:25:50. > :25:52.works if there is a first round and the top two candidates go into a
:25:53. > :25:58.second round and it is whoever wins that who becomes president. An
:25:59. > :25:59.interesting first half-hour of Outside Source, see you in a couple
:26:00. > :26:03.of minutes.