:00:10. > :00:16.Hello, I'm Ros Atkins, this is Outside Source.
:00:17. > :00:21.Jeremy Bowen is right beside me and we will talk to him in a moment.
:00:22. > :00:24.Let's look through some of the main stories here in the BBC Newsroom.
:00:25. > :00:26.We start in Syria, where Syria's President has responded
:00:27. > :00:29.to American accusations that he used chemical weapons to
:00:30. > :00:36.The United States is hand in glove with the terrorists, they fabricated
:00:37. > :00:39.the whole story. This means we now have three
:00:40. > :00:43.completely different explanations - one American, one Russian and one
:00:44. > :00:46.Syrian - for how an attack that Our correspondent is inside
:00:47. > :00:50.North Korea, amid speculation the country could be preparing
:00:51. > :01:02.for its sixth nuclear test. Donald Trump has said that
:01:03. > :01:05.North Korea is a problem that Speaking of Mr Trump,
:01:06. > :01:10.we'll be taking a look back at the last seven days
:01:11. > :01:12.of his presidency. He's met the President
:01:13. > :01:14.of China, as well as He's also launched an airstrike
:01:15. > :01:17.against the Syrian government. But what does this tell us
:01:18. > :01:20.about how his policies have changed And more violence has broken out
:01:21. > :01:33.between European football fans - tonight, the start of
:01:34. > :01:51.the match between Besiktas We can speak with Jeremy Bowen, the
:01:52. > :01:54.BBC's BBC Middle east editor now. I'm Soyuz all the interview with
:01:55. > :01:59.President Assad, what did you make of it? I watched the whole interview
:02:00. > :02:03.and I read the transcript as well. In a way, he is very consistent in
:02:04. > :02:09.the line he has always taken, which is that he is fighting a conspiracy,
:02:10. > :02:12.directed from abroad, that has sent terrorists, and he never makes a
:02:13. > :02:16.distinction between different groups, he just calls them
:02:17. > :02:21.terrorists, who are out to smash the Syrian state. This is a line that he
:02:22. > :02:24.has come up with consistently, adapted to different circumstances,
:02:25. > :02:28.since the war started in 2011. But he also contradict in the country
:02:29. > :02:33.which is helping him to be so secure, the conflicting emotions on
:02:34. > :02:36.this? He seemed to me to be an anxious man, a man under pressure. I
:02:37. > :02:41.have interviewed him a couple of times before the war, and a couple
:02:42. > :02:46.of years ago, and at that time, he was under a lot of military
:02:47. > :02:52.pressure, when I spoke to him at the beginning of 2015. But he seemed
:02:53. > :02:59.pretty calm. I thought, it is very hard to tell through a TV screen but
:03:00. > :03:03.I thought that he looked a little bit at bay, shocked, under pressure.
:03:04. > :03:10.And I think that's because things have moved very quickly in the last
:03:11. > :03:15.week or so. If you think back, after his forces, helped by the Russians
:03:16. > :03:19.and others, got hold of the whole of Aleppo at the end of last year, he
:03:20. > :03:24.was in a better position than he had been in at any time since the war
:03:25. > :03:28.started. And in, well, it is only a week since those American attacks,
:03:29. > :03:32.you sense the thing is unravelling. Because once more, the Americans are
:03:33. > :03:36.talking about regime change fish before the chemical attack, they
:03:37. > :03:40.were saying he could be part of the solution when it comes to dealing
:03:41. > :03:45.with Islamic State. Talking about regime change, but there is no
:03:46. > :03:48.evidence that Mr Trump is about to launch further military action, and
:03:49. > :03:51.Russia has not moved an inch? No, and while the Russians are
:03:52. > :03:56.supporting him, while there are Russian forces there, the tempo of
:03:57. > :04:03.military operations is not going to be affected. But I think it is a
:04:04. > :04:08.worry he didn't have. Having the Americans saying nasty things about
:04:09. > :04:13.you is one thing, but when they are that up by a cruise missile attack,
:04:14. > :04:16.when in 2013, when there was that big chemical weapons attack in
:04:17. > :04:22.Damascus, healing well over 1000 people, Obama threatened to use
:04:23. > :04:27.weapons against him and he didn't. Now, Trump has done it. So, the
:04:28. > :04:32.thing about Trump's unpredictability is, it puts the uncertainty factor
:04:33. > :04:35.into the minds of his potential adversaries, along the lines of,
:04:36. > :04:39.what on earth is he going to do next coverage something a lot of viewers
:04:40. > :04:42.will be wondering, what are the practicalities of getting into the
:04:43. > :04:48.same room as Bashar al-Assad? It is complicated. This one which AFP did
:04:49. > :04:52.must have happened fairly quickly, bearing in mind... It is another
:04:53. > :04:56.sign that he's worried, he had to get his version out there. When we
:04:57. > :04:59.did it, we had to negotiate the terms of how we would use the
:05:00. > :05:04.material, we didn't accept any restrictions on how we used it with
:05:05. > :05:09.them, although we did say that we would broadcast an uncut version, 23
:05:10. > :05:12.minutes, so I had to do the interview to time. There is
:05:13. > :05:16.obviously a lot of security. I did it in a different room to the one
:05:17. > :05:20.they used for this, I noticed. But before all the interviews I have
:05:21. > :05:24.done with him, and it has been three, he always gives you a little
:05:25. > :05:28.bit of time, one on one beforehand, ten minutes, where you have a chat.
:05:29. > :05:33.The thing about Assad is, Trump has been calling him a butcher. When you
:05:34. > :05:38.meet him, he's very polite, rather charming. He stands back when you go
:05:39. > :05:45.through the door, he opens doors for you. He's got rather old-fashioned,
:05:46. > :05:49.courtly manners. But he does sometimes say things which frankly
:05:50. > :05:52.don't stack up when you put the evidence against them and. He denied
:05:53. > :05:59.they had ever used barrel bombs, and I said, Mr President, there's video
:06:00. > :06:03.evidence of it. He still denied it. And the same way he's saying now
:06:04. > :06:07.that those scenes, really shocking scenes, and I have seen all of the
:06:08. > :06:13.video, including the bits which we deemed too horrible to broadcast, it
:06:14. > :06:19.could not have been faked, even I think with a full Hollywood crew and
:06:20. > :06:27.with Steven Spielberg directing, it was incredibly graphic. And those
:06:28. > :06:31.kids were not acting, those ones who I saw pictures of, suffocated to
:06:32. > :06:36.death in the back of pick-ups, with foam coming out of them mouths, and
:06:37. > :06:41.they're eyes, showing signs of people suffering from exactly that,
:06:42. > :06:46.the experts say. Jeremy Bowen, the BBC's Middle east Tadic -- Middle
:06:47. > :06:52.east editor, thank you very much. On Saturday, North Korea
:06:53. > :06:56.celebrates the anniversary of the birth of its founder,
:06:57. > :06:58.Kim il-Sung. Foreign journalists
:06:59. > :07:02.have been invited - though their every move
:07:03. > :07:30.is decided for them. He was right - the big event turned
:07:31. > :07:56.out to be the North Korean People are coming in their
:07:57. > :08:00.thousands. You can see the senior army officers, people are carrying
:08:01. > :08:03.balloons and flowers, all here to celebrate the opening of this new
:08:04. > :08:10.development. But the message, of course, is about economic
:08:11. > :08:14.resilience, about a north Korea that is surviving against the odds, a
:08:15. > :08:21.message that the young leader is bringing these sorts of benefits to
:08:22. > :08:27.his people, and everywhere you look in this city, there are these small
:08:28. > :08:33.signs of economic reform, the wing shoots of private enterprise. Of
:08:34. > :08:37.course, all of this goes hand-in-hand with the nuclear
:08:38. > :08:42.brinkmanship of the sense of crisis, but the two messages go together.
:08:43. > :08:47.They are all about regime survival against the odds and they are sent
:08:48. > :08:49.to the outside world to anybody whom he be thinking of changing this by
:08:50. > :08:51.force. A Reuters journalist quoted
:08:52. > :08:58.the North Korean premier, who spoke at the event,
:08:59. > :09:00.as saying this opening was, quote, "a very significant, great event,
:09:01. > :09:03.more powerful than the explosion of hundreds of nuclear bombs
:09:04. > :09:09.on the top of the enemies' heads". Interesting that he
:09:10. > :09:14.should mention bombs. Analysts think North Korea may
:09:15. > :09:16.be planning its sixth nuclear test as part
:09:17. > :09:25.of the celebrations on Saturday. If it happens, it'll be
:09:26. > :09:28.at Mount Mantap, where all nuclear This is 38North, a website
:09:29. > :09:42.run by Korea experts. They've been looking at satellite
:09:43. > :09:45.images and they've noticed a wide range of activity around
:09:46. > :09:52.Mount Mantap in the last few weeks. Of course we have no idea weather
:09:53. > :09:53.that actually means anything will happen this Saturday. We shall have
:09:54. > :09:58.to see. Time for some sport. Last night, there were violent
:09:59. > :10:00.incidents between Leicester supporters and Spanish
:10:01. > :10:12.police in Madrid. We can bring in Mark Edwards from
:10:13. > :10:19.BBC Sport. The game is between Lyon and Besiktas. It is in Lyon in
:10:20. > :10:23.France. The game was delayed for 45 minutes due to some crowd
:10:24. > :10:26.disturbances. It started in the city beforehand, and sadly the
:10:27. > :10:32.hooliganism reared its ugly head once more, violence breaking out
:10:33. > :10:36.behind the goal. Reportedly, Besiktas fans in the top tier
:10:37. > :10:40.launching objects down below. Even the Lyon president had gone into the
:10:41. > :10:43.crowd to try to calm things down. Both sets of players stayed in the
:10:44. > :10:51.middle of the pitch, applauding all four sides of the Lyon stadium to
:10:52. > :10:58.try and calm the stadium down. They kicked off 45 minutes late. Besiktas
:10:59. > :11:01.ended up scoring in the first half, Ryan Brobbel, the ex-Liverpool man
:11:02. > :11:21.scoring. Hooliganism rearing its ugly head once again. -- Ryan Babel.
:11:22. > :11:25.He plays for the Portland Trailblazers in the NBA.
:11:26. > :11:33.And he did so by not shooting a single three-pointer in the final
:11:34. > :11:41.There is an article from the Washington Post.
:11:42. > :11:45.At the start of the season, Harkless was told he would get a $500,000
:11:46. > :11:47.bonus if he finished the season having made 35% of his
:11:48. > :11:54.He begun the last game with a percentage of 35.1 -
:11:55. > :11:59.meaning if nothing changed, the money was his.
:12:00. > :12:03.Of course, the easiest way to do that was by not attempting
:12:04. > :12:05.He posted this picture to Instagram afterwards -
:12:06. > :12:08.with the caption, "I guess dinner is on me."
:12:09. > :12:11.Another sport for you this evening that doesn't get as much coverage
:12:12. > :12:21.These are pictures we've got in from a World Kiteboarding League
:12:22. > :12:26.event being held in the south of France right now.
:12:27. > :12:31.Many will be familiar with the sport.
:12:32. > :12:37.it involves competitors strapped to specially designed boards,
:12:38. > :12:40.who use use giant kites to pull themselves through the water,
:12:41. > :12:43.and as you can see, out of it as well.
:12:44. > :12:45.The location for this event is known for its strong winds.
:12:46. > :12:48.That makes it hard, but you can aim for bigger tricks.
:12:49. > :12:54.This event runs for a few more days, so hopefully we can
:12:55. > :13:07.If there's a sport you want us to cover, let us know.
:13:08. > :13:29.In a few minutes, we will talk about President Trump's last seven days.
:13:30. > :13:32.A record number of people who went to A departments in England
:13:33. > :13:35.this winter had to wait at least four hours to be admitted.
:13:36. > :13:37.Almost 200,000 people had to wait much longer
:13:38. > :13:41.than they should for a bed - a big rise on last year's figures.
:13:42. > :13:56.Spring is here, but the NHS won't forget this winter in a hurry.
:13:57. > :14:00.More patients coming in, problems moving
:14:01. > :14:03.them out, even if they were medically fit, and intense,
:14:04. > :14:08.Hospital managers here, like many others, say
:14:09. > :14:12.The hospital has been functioning most
:14:13. > :14:20.And that has put a huge strain on the services.
:14:21. > :14:23.I think it is important to note that this was a mild winter.
:14:24. > :14:29.And despite that, it has been very tough.
:14:30. > :14:31.The latest figures for England show longer waiting
:14:32. > :14:40.135,000 people had to wait longer than four hours to be found a
:14:41. > :14:47.For planned treatment, including routine surgery, 264,000 were
:14:48. > :14:50.waiting more than 18 weeks in February 2016 but it was 367,000
:14:51. > :15:00.In recent years, hospitals have noted
:15:01. > :15:02.that the pressure never eases off in the summer.
:15:03. > :15:06.And in the months ahead, there could be an extra challenge in
:15:07. > :15:15.the shape of possible industrial action by nurses.
:15:16. > :15:17.The largest nursing union is consulting members
:15:18. > :15:18.on whether they're prepared to go on strike
:15:19. > :15:20.over a 1% pay offer, which is
:15:21. > :15:24.Most nurses are unhappy with their income.
:15:25. > :15:25.So, they're working harder than ever.
:15:26. > :15:30.But there's been years now of absolutely no pay increase.
:15:31. > :15:32.And then this whole cap of 1%, when we know all their
:15:33. > :15:38.they're actually struggling to pay the bills.
:15:39. > :15:45.The Department of Health says it's going along
:15:46. > :15:48.with an independent pay review body's recommendation, and it can
:15:49. > :15:51.Thus argue that with all the pressure on
:15:52. > :15:53.the NHS, patients won't get the right
:15:54. > :15:56.care from a workforce that is short on numbers and low on role.
:15:57. > :16:11.care from a workforce that is short on numbers and low on morale.
:16:12. > :16:13.This is Outside Source live from the BBC Mewsroom.
:16:14. > :16:17.Syria's President Assad says reports of a chemical attack by his forces
:16:18. > :16:19.last week are "100% fabrication", and there was no order
:16:20. > :16:24.Let's just pause to consider the last seven days
:16:25. > :16:37.There are always differences between what a politician says
:16:38. > :16:39.on the campaign trail and what they do
:16:40. > :16:42.The differences though are not always this pronounced,
:16:43. > :16:48.and don't always come this thick and fast.
:16:49. > :16:50.So, let's consider the significant actions
:16:51. > :16:54.Last Thursday, Mr Trump began a summit with
:16:55. > :16:57.And he launched a strike on a Syrian Government air base.
:16:58. > :16:59.Something he'd warned President Obama not to do
:17:00. > :17:24.Mr Trump also called for Bashar al-Assad must go.
:17:25. > :17:25.A week before this, Sean Spicer saying...
:17:26. > :17:27."With respect to Assad, there is a political reality
:17:28. > :17:34."Once again, Obama fails to classify China as a currency manipulator.
:17:35. > :17:39.He just helped China steal even more jobs and money from us."
:17:40. > :17:51.about tweet was sent while President Obama was still in the White House.
:17:52. > :17:54.But then, in an interview in the Wall Street Journal
:17:55. > :17:59.And remember this is an interview with a German newspaper recently.
:18:00. > :18:10.But this is what the President said in a press conference
:18:11. > :18:17.with the Nato Secretary-General this time yesterday.
:18:18. > :18:24.I complained about back a long time ago and then made a change. And now
:18:25. > :18:25.they do fight terrorism. I said it was obsolete. It's no longer
:18:26. > :18:37.obsolete. So, that has changed. Mr Trump is heading to Mar-a-Lago,
:18:38. > :18:40.his resort, for the weekend. He would often attack
:18:41. > :18:42.President Obama over similar breaks. President @BarackObama's vacation
:18:43. > :18:43.is costing taxpayers But look at this graph
:18:44. > :18:47.from the Washington Post. Donald Trump is set
:18:48. > :18:52.to outstrip the travel costs of President Obama's entire
:18:53. > :19:05.Presidency, in one year. At this current rate, Mr Trump will
:19:06. > :19:07.reach the equivalent expenditure by the end of his first year in the
:19:08. > :19:10.White House. Our troops are being killed
:19:11. > :19:16.by the Afghanis we train Today, the President dropped
:19:17. > :19:29.the largest non-nuclear bomb It's the first time
:19:30. > :19:44.it has been used. Let's bring in the BBC's Jane
:19:45. > :19:48.O'Brien, live from Washington, DC. The speaker, all politicians change
:19:49. > :19:53.positions, but in the last seven days, there have been some
:19:54. > :19:58.remarkable turnarounds? Yes it is quite a litany. It is like Donald
:19:59. > :20:01.Trump has dipped his toe in the pool of foreign policy but has not quite
:20:02. > :20:05.made up his mind which direction to swim in. Really, even though he
:20:06. > :20:10.seems to be changing his view and changing his mind, we're still not
:20:11. > :20:13.entirely certain to what. Because there hasn't been any clearly
:20:14. > :20:17.articulated policy on any of these issues. Take Syria, for instance.
:20:18. > :20:22.Suddenly, the Assad government matters to him, and he orders a
:20:23. > :20:29.strike on an airbase. Danny hasn't said what else he's going to do, but
:20:30. > :20:33.we do know that he did want to send a message to Russia, whom initially
:20:34. > :20:37.he said he was cosying up to and wanted to be friends with, but now
:20:38. > :20:42.admits that the relations between the US and Russia are at an all-time
:20:43. > :20:45.low and that the element of trust has completely disintegrated. But
:20:46. > :20:50.where do we go from here? And that's what's missing in this whole piece.
:20:51. > :20:53.Jane, I wonder if this is partly because Mr Trump is an instinctive
:20:54. > :20:58.operator, he was during the campaign and many people saw it as a
:20:59. > :21:01.strength, and he's continued to be spontaneous, responding to events,
:21:02. > :21:07.since becoming president? Yes. Very much so. And we know that television
:21:08. > :21:12.affects him, we know that he goes with his gut, in his own words, and
:21:13. > :21:16.that seems to be the motivation behind his decision to strike the
:21:17. > :21:21.Syrian government's airbase. Saw pictures on television of the
:21:22. > :21:26.victims of a chemical gas attack and that's what spurred him to action.
:21:27. > :21:31.And he continues to refer to that. But it doesn't explain why he would
:21:32. > :21:38.suddenly change course on Nato, saying that Nato was once obsolete
:21:39. > :21:42.but just a a few days later, it isn't any more, and it is thanks to
:21:43. > :21:45.him. He did not say why it was thanks to him, what he suddenly did
:21:46. > :21:53.you make Nato relevant. Jane O'Brien, thank you very much.
:21:54. > :21:55.One of the Mr Trump's biggest promises was to reform healthcare.
:21:56. > :21:58.You may remember that a Republican plan to repeal and replace
:21:59. > :22:00.Obamacare failed to make it through the Republican controlled
:22:01. > :22:04.That was largely due to the freedom caucus who said the plan
:22:05. > :22:07.didn't go far enough - leading to a split in
:22:08. > :22:10.Laura Trevelyan has been to Lima, Ohio, a district represented by one
:22:11. > :22:13.of the Freedom Caucus, to find out what his constituents
:22:14. > :22:23.The sound of an economy that's growing.
:22:24. > :22:24.PalletS move goods around America, shifting everything
:22:25. > :22:28.And at the Lima Pallet Company in north-west Ohio plans to expand
:22:29. > :22:34.Owner Tracy Sanchez can't employ more people until the cost of health
:22:35. > :22:36.insurance comes down and she was frustrated
:22:37. > :22:38.to see the Republicans botch their first attempt.
:22:39. > :22:41.I was a little disappointed that we'd had eight years to work
:22:42. > :22:43.on this, and I would hope that the Republicans in eight
:22:44. > :22:50.Your representative here in Lima was very opposed to the bill,
:22:51. > :22:53.and the President now is blaming him and other members of
:22:54. > :22:55.the Freedom Caucus for the failure, is that fair?
:22:56. > :23:00.We know they are working on it on a daily, if not hourly, basis.
:23:01. > :23:03.I really feel confident, as most of us in this area do,
:23:04. > :23:08.You're not ever going to get all you want, but if you push,
:23:09. > :23:11.He's a conservative Republican, a member of the Freedom Caucus group
:23:12. > :23:16.who helped torpedo the White House's attempt at health care reform.
:23:17. > :23:20.The president directly singled out Jim Jordan
:23:21. > :23:27.with his furious tweet storms, but the Congressman is unmoved.
:23:28. > :23:30.Tweets and statements and blame don't change facts, and the facts
:23:31. > :23:35.remain that there are concerns with this legislation, real concerns
:23:36. > :23:37.that we have, and we're trying to make it better.
:23:38. > :23:41.Lima is in a county where more than two thirds of the electorate
:23:42. > :23:43.voted for both Donald Trump and Congressman Jim Jordan
:23:44. > :23:48.The message from Republicans here is loud and clear,
:23:49. > :23:56.time for the party to work together and deliver on its promises.
:23:57. > :23:59.At Lima's QP Diner, they've served burgers and shakes
:24:00. > :24:04.And the regulars are keen observers of politics.
:24:05. > :24:07.I really don't understand why they're fighting.
:24:08. > :24:09.If it's to help the American people, help them.
:24:10. > :24:12.Quit this crap about the Republicans and Democrats.
:24:13. > :24:21.Trump's not a politician, I want to tell you, but he's going
:24:22. > :24:27.Back at the pallet factory, they're outgrowing their surroundings.
:24:28. > :24:29.Tracy wants to build a new warehouse and provide affordable health
:24:30. > :24:33.care for the new workers she is itching to hire.
:24:34. > :24:36.She's relying on President Trump, who has a construction
:24:37. > :24:38.background after all, to lay the political foundations.
:24:39. > :24:41.Sometimes he flies off the handle a little too quick,
:24:42. > :24:49.I think things are coming around and I think they'll work together
:24:50. > :25:04.Thanks for watching Outside Source this week. I will see you next time.