:00:14. > :00:14.Hello, I'm Ros Atkins, this is Outside Source.
:00:15. > :00:17.The fallout from the sacking of the FBI director is gathering pace.
:00:18. > :00:21.The FBI has been in turmoil, you know that, I know that,
:00:22. > :00:26.The man who worked directly under James Comey disagrees
:00:27. > :00:32.I can tell you that I hold director Comey
:00:33. > :00:36.I have the highest respect for his considerable
:00:37. > :00:44.The acting FBI director also says the agency
:00:45. > :00:46.will continue its investigation into claims of Russian collusion
:00:47. > :00:48.in the Trump campaign vigorously and completely.
:00:49. > :00:57.The party of the French president-elect has unveiled a list
:00:58. > :00:59.of fresh faces to stand at next month's parliamentary elections.
:01:00. > :01:02.More than half have never held elected office and half
:01:03. > :01:07.We'll be live in Alaska, where the foreign ministers
:01:08. > :01:09.of the eight Arctic Council nations are meeting.
:01:10. > :01:17.Climate change is top of the agenda.
:01:18. > :01:25.The business will be live in New York talking about the latest
:01:26. > :01:36.developments relating to the free trade agreement in North America.
:01:37. > :01:39.Donald Trump has given his first interview since he sacked FBI
:01:40. > :01:55.He is a showboat. He is a grandstand. The FBI has been in
:01:56. > :02:02.turmoil. You know that, everybody knows that. You take a look at the
:02:03. > :02:09.FBI a year ago, it was in virtual turmoil. Less than a year ago. It
:02:10. > :02:15.hasn't recovered from that. Monday, e-mail with Rosenstein. It was my
:02:16. > :02:23.decision. I was going to fire Comey. Donald Trump calling Mr Comey
:02:24. > :02:25.a showboat and saying This was the view of
:02:26. > :02:28.Mr Comey's replacement - acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe,
:02:29. > :02:46.who appeared before the senate We have heard in the news that
:02:47. > :02:52.claims that director Comey had lost the confidence of rank and file FBI
:02:53. > :02:58.employees. You have been there for 21 years. In your opinion, is it
:02:59. > :03:07.accurate that the rank and file no longer supported director Comey? No,
:03:08. > :03:13.sir. That is not accurate. I can tell you that I worked very closely
:03:14. > :03:19.with director Comey. From the moment he worked at the FBI was his
:03:20. > :03:23.assistant national director. I worked for him, running the
:03:24. > :03:29.Washington Field office. I served as his deputy for the last year. I can
:03:30. > :03:34.tell you I hold director Comey in the highest regard. I have the
:03:35. > :03:39.highest respect for his abilities and integrity. It has been the
:03:40. > :03:42.greatest privilege and honour in my professional life to work with him.
:03:43. > :03:43.There's a ringing endorsement of James Comey.
:03:44. > :03:45.That's doesn't match this assessment from White House spokeswoman
:03:46. > :03:51.She told CBS News Mr Comey had lost the confidence of the rank
:03:52. > :04:06.Earlier I spoke with with Aaron Blake from the Washington Post.
:04:07. > :04:14.Here is the update. We have certainly heard a lot about concerns
:04:15. > :04:20.over what Jim Coric did during the 2016 campaign. We have not had a
:04:21. > :04:24.recording saying there was a revolt against him in the FBI. This seems
:04:25. > :04:28.to be reasoning is offered by the Trump Administration for his firing,
:04:29. > :04:36.more so than something we have actually seen bubbling up from
:04:37. > :04:42.inside Europe. We can see the Washington Post website behind you.
:04:43. > :04:48.Your article is at the top of the most red list, looking at why Mr
:04:49. > :04:52.Comey was sacked. What is your understanding of the real reasons?
:04:53. > :04:58.From the very beginning, it looked like this was a situation where Jim
:04:59. > :05:03.Comey was somebody who is president Trump did not trust. It was not his
:05:04. > :05:09.pointy, it was somebody who had been put in there by President Obama.
:05:10. > :05:17.President Trump is big on loyalty. He likes to have people around him
:05:18. > :05:20.he feels he can depend upon. He has an FBI director investigating his
:05:21. > :05:26.alleged ties with Russia. That was always the underlying assumption
:05:27. > :05:32.that maybe that was the deep-seated reason. The White House said this
:05:33. > :05:37.was basically the recommendation of the Justice Department, of the
:05:38. > :05:40.deputy Attorney General who had come to Donald Trump saying this man
:05:41. > :05:48.should be fired. We found out from the clip that Trump is not
:05:49. > :05:56.pretending that is what happens. It seems clear that this is a situation
:05:57. > :05:59.that Trump did not like James Comey. It is about whether Coric was doing
:06:00. > :06:06.it for his own political purposes whether he thought James Comey was
:06:07. > :06:25.not a good FBI director. I want to play little more of what we played
:06:26. > :06:30.from Andrew McCabe. The work of the FBI continues. There has been no
:06:31. > :06:40.effort to impede our investigation today. Do you feel like you have the
:06:41. > :06:44.adequate resources for the existing investigations that the bureau is
:06:45. > :06:49.invested in right now to follow them wherever they may lead? If you are
:06:50. > :06:53.referring to the Russian investigation, I do. I believe we
:06:54. > :07:02.have the adequate resources to do it. I know we have resource that
:07:03. > :07:04.investigation adequately. He also said this investigation is highly
:07:05. > :07:11.significant. It is directly in line with what the White House has been
:07:12. > :07:18.saying. The president last week said it was a tax payer funded, basically
:07:19. > :07:24.waste of time. That has been the line from Trump for a while. Not a
:07:25. > :07:28.lot of Republicans acknowledge this was an issue worth looking into.
:07:29. > :07:34.They say it is more about Russian hacking as opposed to allege it ties
:07:35. > :07:40.with the Trump campaign. The White House is on an island in saying it
:07:41. > :07:44.was a waste of time. The FBI was pressing for investigations led by
:07:45. > :07:51.publicans, including one in the Senate he said he was troubled by
:07:52. > :07:55.the timing of Comey's firing. It is progressing forward. The real
:07:56. > :08:01.question is who will be in charge of the FBI investigation if and when
:08:02. > :08:06.President Trump chooses a replacement? What is the process
:08:07. > :08:10.from where we are now to having a new director of the FBI? It depends
:08:11. > :08:15.on when he will make the nomination. It is a big nomination for a couple
:08:16. > :08:19.of reasons. One is the investigation. It'll be very
:08:20. > :08:22.difficult at this point for the president to install somebody who is
:08:23. > :08:31.a political ally of his, someone like Chris Christie, I'm not sure
:08:32. > :08:37.even some Republicans would go along with that. The other thing is it is
:08:38. > :08:41.a ten-year appointment. Director Comey was fibre in the midst of a
:08:42. > :08:46.ten-year term. This decision will not be taken lightly by anyone in
:08:47. > :08:50.the Senate. I presume the White House make a very careful decision.
:08:51. > :08:54.The Senate will take time in deciding this is the right person
:08:55. > :08:56.for the job because it is such a lengthy term relatively speaking for
:08:57. > :09:00.any political appointee. Emmanuel Macron will become
:09:01. > :09:04.President of France on Sunday. All along he's promised to bring
:09:05. > :09:06.new blood into French politicis. His Republique en Marche party
:09:07. > :09:16.has announced the names exactly half are women,
:09:17. > :09:25.and 52% are from civil society with no prior experience
:09:26. > :09:30.of political office. France will vote for all the seats
:09:31. > :09:34.in its National Assembly next month. Richard Ferrand, Secretary General
:09:35. > :09:48.of the party was speaking earlier. TRANSLATION: Candidates come from
:09:49. > :09:53.the entire Republican political spectrum which reflects the
:09:54. > :10:03.political landscape that the president wants to hold for the
:10:04. > :10:09.country. Regarding the parity, 214 candidates are women, 214 are men.
:10:10. > :10:18.428 candidates are included in the list provided to you.
:10:19. > :10:27.I have been speaking about Mr Macron and his mission to reshape French
:10:28. > :10:36.politics. Most of the candidates are complete unknowns. Half of them are
:10:37. > :10:41.women. That is very important in a country where only one in four MPs
:10:42. > :10:51.are women. It is a very male dominated world. There are retired
:10:52. > :10:55.people, lawyers. A farmer. A famous mathematician. A broad spectrum.
:10:56. > :11:02.There are also some outgoing MPs. 24 of them. They are all from the
:11:03. > :11:07.Socialist Party. It has a strength. It is wide open. In terms of opening
:11:08. > :11:15.to all sides of the political spectrum, it is only to the left at
:11:16. > :11:20.the moment. This party has not been around for very long at all. All
:11:21. > :11:26.people he has found, do they have a shared vision of France? They were
:11:27. > :11:35.asked to share Macron's reformist agenda. He is trying to redraw the
:11:36. > :11:40.political landscape into a broad, reformist, progressive camp. He is
:11:41. > :11:46.calling on all the progressives. That is how he is trying to redraw
:11:47. > :11:50.the map. The other political parties, the traditional ones, are
:11:51. > :11:54.generally in prices, some worse than others. The Socialist Party is
:11:55. > :12:01.dying. The National Front did lose the election but it is going through
:12:02. > :12:06.its own crisis. Do you ever stop for a moment and think, I cannot believe
:12:07. > :12:09.this is happening. Have a 39 your president who has created a party
:12:10. > :12:17.from nothing which has suddenly dominated. It is historic. To
:12:18. > :12:22.succeed he will need a majority in parliament next month. In terms of
:12:23. > :12:26.changes in the political landscape, it is extraordinary. It is a dream
:12:27. > :12:32.of a political centre in France which never really happened. It is
:12:33. > :12:37.happening now and is fascinating. We will keep you right up to date with
:12:38. > :12:39.everything Emmanuel Macron is doing and have full coverage of his
:12:40. > :12:57.inauguration on Sunday. We will be live in Alaska. There is
:12:58. > :13:02.a meeting to discuss the future of the region.
:13:03. > :13:04.Waiting times for a number of key NHS services in England
:13:05. > :13:07.were the worst in five years, according to analysis of figures
:13:08. > :13:11.For the year 2016-2017, 2.5 million patients waited longer
:13:12. > :13:15.The figure five years ago was just over 700,000.
:13:16. > :13:19.The target for cancer treatment is to be seen within 62 days,
:13:20. > :13:34.The NHS is treating more and more people and that is what has always
:13:35. > :13:40.happen. Funding must keep up with that. The figure they have with put
:13:41. > :13:46.on it is funding has to increased by 4%. Since 2010 funding has increased
:13:47. > :13:50.by around 1%. The Labour Party today said the failure on the targets is
:13:51. > :13:55.about the funding. There is not enough of it. The Conservatives said
:13:56. > :14:04.today at the Labour government was in place, it is economic policy that
:14:05. > :14:06.the NHS would be worse off and have less Lib Dems said they were the
:14:07. > :14:11.anyone's with a clear strategy in terms of investment.
:14:12. > :14:14.This is Outside Source live from the BBC newsroom.
:14:15. > :14:17.Donald Trump has been defending his decision to fire
:14:18. > :14:21.In an interview with a US TV network, he called James Comey
:14:22. > :14:23.a showboat and a grandstander and said the FBI had
:14:24. > :14:28.The Chinese leader has told the new president of South Korea
:14:29. > :14:33.to cancel the deployment of a US missile defence shield.
:14:34. > :14:40.The shield is designed to counter possible missiles from North Korea.
:14:41. > :14:43.The Iraqi army chief says his forces are only days away from completing
:14:44. > :14:46.the operation to recapture Mosul from the Islamic State Group.
:14:47. > :14:49.And among the most read on our website,
:14:50. > :14:52.a Russian billionaire has been ordered to pay his estranged
:14:53. > :14:57.wife ?453 million in a divorce settlement.
:14:58. > :15:07.One of the biggest awards ever made by a UK court.
:15:08. > :15:10.The land that makes up the Arctic Circle is owned by eight
:15:11. > :15:14.Today their foreign ministers are meeting in Alaska -
:15:15. > :15:19.and some of them are worried about Donald Trump's intentions.
:15:20. > :15:31.That meeting is under way in Fairbanks.
:15:32. > :15:35.The BBC's James Cook joins us from Fairbanks in Alaska.
:15:36. > :15:43.The meeting has in fact broken up in the last few minutes. I can tell you
:15:44. > :15:48.that the declaration has been issued, the Fairbanks Declaration.
:15:49. > :15:54.It is several pages long full you will be interested to learn that the
:15:55. > :15:58.key part, about climate change, with the United States except language
:15:59. > :16:03.that recognised human contribution to climate change and the need of
:16:04. > :16:09.action? It goes very close to doing so. Activities taking place outside
:16:10. > :16:15.the Arctic region, including those occurring outside of Arctic states.
:16:16. > :16:17.Saying they are the main contributors to climate change
:16:18. > :16:21.effects and contributors in the Arctic. It says the Arctic is
:16:22. > :16:27.warming up more than twice the rate of the global average and says it is
:16:28. > :16:33.having a big impact. It also accepts the pressing need for adaptation
:16:34. > :16:38.actions. It fudges essentially on Paris, the climate change agreement
:16:39. > :16:41.in Paris, which agreed to reduce emissions in 2015. With the US
:16:42. > :16:48.withdrawal? It is still the question. It does reiterate the need
:16:49. > :16:55.for global action to reduce long-lived greenhouse gases and
:16:56. > :17:07.short lived climate products? That is what has been agreed by these
:17:08. > :17:12.nations, including the US. Professor, what make of what has
:17:13. > :17:24.just been agreed that the United States seven other members want to
:17:25. > :17:29.reduce June -- greenhouse gases. There was a lot of hedging on
:17:30. > :17:37.whether or not we were going to accept climate change, about whether
:17:38. > :17:42.it was about the cost -- there was a human cost. I am hopeful hearing
:17:43. > :17:50.this statement. I am part of the Arctic social sciences that oration.
:17:51. > :17:56.We are working hard to understand what it means to respond to climate
:17:57. > :18:00.change. -- federation. The place which invests the largest amount of
:18:01. > :18:06.money in Arctic research will continue to support our efforts to
:18:07. > :18:12.look at this. It does not go so far as to permit all of the Nations cup
:18:13. > :18:17.all eight nations, Russia, Canada, the US, Scandinavian nations,
:18:18. > :18:20.including Iceland as well. It does not commit them explicitly to
:18:21. > :18:26.implementing the Paris agreement. That will be crucial in coming days
:18:27. > :18:31.and weeks. Will the US pull-out of that agreement? We are wondering
:18:32. > :18:37.ourselves as US and international research is what action the US will
:18:38. > :18:40.take. The comments that were made by ministers from the other Arctic
:18:41. > :18:47.nations clearly acknowledged that we needed to be working on climate
:18:48. > :18:52.issues. I don't anticipate active opposition to Paris will stop the
:18:53. > :18:56.other conversation we are having is a lot of actions have been taken
:18:57. > :19:01.which will not be reversed, regardless of the rhetoric. What we
:19:02. > :19:09.are most concerned about is whether there will not be investment in the
:19:10. > :19:15.work needed on the research side and the change in business practices. On
:19:16. > :19:20.that note, Rex Tillerson, who was chairing this meeting and has handed
:19:21. > :19:27.over to Finland, did not mention climate change. In terms of science,
:19:28. > :19:33.they are committing themselves to continuing the scientific endeavour.
:19:34. > :19:40.That is from your perspective. What is, from an Alaskan point of view,
:19:41. > :19:47.what is Alaska experiencing? How does it affect all walks of life? We
:19:48. > :19:53.are seeing a lot of impact from climate change. That is part of the
:19:54. > :19:57.biggest issue, that it is not predictable. Our experience has been
:19:58. > :20:04.winters where we have had very little snowfall, her great deal of
:20:05. > :20:09.ice. Absolutely horrid windstorms coming in following torrential
:20:10. > :20:14.downpours. In one case they have not doubt one third of the trees in our
:20:15. > :20:18.beautiful city. Others can definitely speak first hand to what
:20:19. > :20:25.is happening in rural and remote communities. Certainly, we have
:20:26. > :20:28.entire villages that are making very difficult decisions about relocating
:20:29. > :20:34.from places they have been for thousands of years. There are a lot
:20:35. > :20:40.of other issues that matter to the Arctic. What is the most important
:20:41. > :20:46.being the Arctic Council should look at, other bank climate change? We
:20:47. > :20:50.must look at the sustainability of communities, not just economically
:20:51. > :21:02.but well-being as well. Well being very broadly on our young people,
:21:03. > :21:09.who are experiencing ger Matic social problems, whether suicide,
:21:10. > :21:14.domestic violence. Also issues and causes which had to do with a loss
:21:15. > :21:19.of culture, a loss of self-determination. That, for me, is
:21:20. > :21:23.the big thing. Indigenous communities have more control over
:21:24. > :21:29.their own lives. If that happened we would see less of the negative
:21:30. > :21:37.outcomes which have to do in some parts with where your future is
:21:38. > :21:41.going. Interesting to speak to you. Just to reiterate what has happened
:21:42. > :21:44.in the past few minutes. An agreement has been reached among the
:21:45. > :21:50.eight nations with territory in the Arctic. They have agreed activities
:21:51. > :21:54.taking place in their own states contribute to climate change and
:21:55. > :22:01.they have agreed to take urgent action to reduce greenhouse gases as
:22:02. > :22:07.a result. We appreciate the update and the interview. Fascinating to
:22:08. > :22:10.listen to James and his guest. Also the beautiful location as well.
:22:11. > :22:16.Donald Trump has been talking a lot about trade since he became
:22:17. > :22:35.He does not like the North American Free Trade Agreement. He said it was
:22:36. > :22:39.one of the worst deals ever done and said he was going to ditch it. Now
:22:40. > :22:47.he has said he will change it. This man is crucial to how he can change
:22:48. > :22:56.that. In the last couple of hours, he has been confirmed by the Senate
:22:57. > :23:01.as the new US trade Representative. Over the last few weeks, we have
:23:02. > :23:05.been trying to see where the president is taking theirs. With
:23:06. > :23:11.this appointment, do we get a better picture of the direction he may go?
:23:12. > :23:16.We get a better picture in terms of action. Part of the problem has
:23:17. > :23:21.always been, we have heard President Trump is talking a lot about Nafta
:23:22. > :23:29.but there has been no action. In this appointment as US trade
:23:30. > :23:33.Representative, he will push the US closer to being able to start
:23:34. > :23:37.negotiations with Canada and Mexico. The problem has always been the
:23:38. > :23:45.White House has to notified Congress they will be doing this. Having a
:23:46. > :23:49.trade representative is crucial of starting that process of alerting
:23:50. > :23:54.conquests. The United States has someone who will be able to take
:23:55. > :23:57.charge in terms of renegotiating, so it seems like we might be getting
:23:58. > :24:01.there soon. Sticking with Canada,
:24:02. > :24:02.Mexico and the USA. Those three countries
:24:03. > :24:04.will almost certainly get That's something we learnt from
:24:05. > :24:18.Fifa's Congress in Bahrain today. But big changes are on the cards
:24:19. > :24:21.when it comes to sponsorship of the tournament, with the cash
:24:22. > :24:23.increasingly coming from China Last year Fifa managed
:24:24. > :24:28.to make a loss of $369m. A significant reason why
:24:29. > :24:36.was the cost of the corruption Bear in mind the World Cup
:24:37. > :24:51.is the most profitable If you look where the new money is
:24:52. > :24:57.coming from, it is coming from China and the Middle East. In the short
:24:58. > :25:01.term, I think big, global, western European brands web based in Western
:25:02. > :25:06.Europe and the US will be fearful about their image. I think we will
:25:07. > :25:13.wait until the World Cup 2026 is revealed. I think they are fast
:25:14. > :25:19.tracking that. Once that goes out, if it goes back into the US, Canada
:25:20. > :25:25.and Mexico is a joint bid, I think that will have an effect. I think
:25:26. > :25:29.they will want to take a punt on it. It is arguably the biggest sports
:25:30. > :25:37.event in the world for them it is quite a small window of activity. I
:25:38. > :25:45.think brands will step back in. Whether they will lose out to China
:25:46. > :25:53.and the Middle East and the emerging markets remains to be seen. In the
:25:54. > :25:58.next half of the programme, we will hear an interview with one of the
:25:59. > :26:02.Chibok fathers who has been reunited with his daughter.