:00:07. > :00:08.Hello, I'm Ros Atkins, this is Outside Source.
:00:09. > :00:10.The pressure is mounting on Donald Trump as he faces
:00:11. > :00:13.the most serious allegations of his Presidency.
:00:14. > :00:15.He's accused of trying to stop an FBI investigation
:00:16. > :00:17.into links between his former National Security
:00:18. > :00:24.But the President has come out fighting.
:00:25. > :00:27.No politician in history - and I say this with great surety -
:00:28. > :00:35.has been treated worse or more unfairly.
:00:36. > :00:37.Leading Democrats are now demanding an independent commission
:00:38. > :00:39.into the Trump team's links with Russia.
:00:40. > :00:47.TRANSLATION: We are prepared to provide the Senate and the US
:00:48. > :00:53.congress with a transcipt of the conversation
:00:54. > :00:59.between our Foreign Minister and President Trump.
:01:00. > :01:01.It is reasonable to say Vladimir Putin enjoyed making that offer.
:01:02. > :01:04.That offer comes on the back of claims that Donald Trump leaked
:01:05. > :01:06.classified information to the Russians last week.
:01:07. > :01:11.We'll be live in Washington for more on all those developments.
:01:12. > :01:17.Any questions you've got, the hashtag is #BBCOS.
:01:18. > :01:20.US soldier Chelsea Manning has been freed from jail.
:01:21. > :01:22.We'll report from the military prison where she was held for seven
:01:23. > :01:24.years for passing thousands confidential documents to Wikileaks.
:01:25. > :01:27.And Emmanuel Macron has unveiled his new gender-balanced Cabinet chosen
:01:28. > :01:43.We'll find out who's in his top team.
:01:44. > :01:59.It is not a statement to -- an overstatement to say there is next
:02:00. > :02:04.essential threat to the Trump per 70. That is not to say that Mr Trump
:02:05. > :02:06.has done anything wrong, but there are profound and pressing about his
:02:07. > :02:09.conduct. Let's start by considering
:02:10. > :02:14.the last eight days. Last Tuesday Donald Trump fired FBI
:02:15. > :02:16.Director James Comey. Mr Trump said he was
:02:17. > :02:18.doing a bad job. He was also in charge of the FBI
:02:19. > :02:21.investigation into collusion between the Trump campaign
:02:22. > :02:23.team and Russia. The next day Mr Trump met Russia's
:02:24. > :02:25.foreign minister and the Russian Fast forward to Monday
:02:26. > :02:28.and the Washington Post It alleged Donald Trump
:02:29. > :02:43.shared classified And that intelligence officials were
:02:44. > :02:44.shocked and concerned at what the president had done.
:02:45. > :02:46.The next morning, Donald Trump confirmed
:02:47. > :02:49.information had been shared - but said it was appropriate.
:02:50. > :02:50.While that political maelstrom played out,
:02:51. > :02:57.the New York Times entered the fray yesterday.
:02:58. > :03:00.Its story claimed a memo written by James Comey after a meeting
:03:01. > :03:02.with the President details Mr Trump saying, "I hope
:03:03. > :03:24.That is referring to the investigation into Michael Flynn.
:03:25. > :03:27.That is with reference to these Flynn investigation. Allegedly
:03:28. > :03:28.asking for an investigation to be let go.
:03:29. > :03:32.Even for a man for whom controversy is a constant companion,
:03:33. > :03:51.Look at the way I have been treated lately. Especially by the media. No
:03:52. > :03:59.politician in history, and I say this with great surety, has been
:04:00. > :04:04.treated worse or more unfairly. You can't let them get you down. You
:04:05. > :04:06.can't let the critics and the naysayers get in the way of your
:04:07. > :04:16.dreams. We have spoken to you about any
:04:17. > :04:21.number of pressures on the president in recent months, am I right in
:04:22. > :04:26.saying this is different? It is very different, I have been here on the
:04:27. > :04:30.Hill all day speaking to senators. Republicans and Democrats have both
:04:31. > :04:34.told me this is the most serious allegation against the president yet
:04:35. > :04:38.because it does not involve just an error of judgment, it could stray
:04:39. > :04:44.into the realms of obstruction of justice. That, of course, is a
:04:45. > :04:48.criminal accusation. We have not got there yet and it is very difficult
:04:49. > :04:55.to prove because you have to prove intent. Certainly it is increasing
:04:56. > :05:00.calls from the Democrats for possible impeachment if it is proved
:05:01. > :05:04.true. There is a real sea change, there has been a lot of
:05:05. > :05:09.embarrassment for the Republicans, lots of I wish he had not said that
:05:10. > :05:14.in that way from the Republicans, but this is very, very different.
:05:15. > :05:20.Jane, we would like to explore that a bit more in a moment. As she was
:05:21. > :05:26.to, until now President Trump has had a political firewall around him,
:05:27. > :05:31.the Republicans control both houses of Congress but cracks are beginning
:05:32. > :05:34.to show. Some Republicans are calling for an independent
:05:35. > :05:38.prosecutor to be appointed at one has suggested Mr Trump should be
:05:39. > :05:44.impeached if the allegations are true, a Democrat has already called
:05:45. > :05:47.for him to be impeached. There is a feverish atmosphere in Washington.
:05:48. > :05:54.Before we go back there, here are some of the main statements. It is
:05:55. > :05:58.not too late that the administration needs to take stock of what it is
:05:59. > :06:04.doing and the president needs to listen to his advisers and better
:06:05. > :06:09.appreciate the nuances of government and the different roles that the
:06:10. > :06:16.three branches of government play. We need the facts. It is obvious
:06:17. > :06:19.people out there want to harm the president, but we have an obligation
:06:20. > :06:23.to carry out our oversight regardless of which party is in the
:06:24. > :06:27.White House, meaning that before rushing to judgment we get all the
:06:28. > :06:31.pertinent information. It seems like we are learning
:06:32. > :06:36.disturbing new allegations about President Trump, not just everyday
:06:37. > :06:44.but, ladies and gentlemen, every hour. In the house, Republicans have
:06:45. > :06:47.shown repeatedly that they refuse to conduct credible, robust oversight
:06:48. > :06:50.over this president. A US Senate panel is investigating
:06:51. > :07:03.both the alleged Russian -- U.S. Senate panel is requesting
:07:04. > :07:11.that James Komi testifies before its members. Now look at this, a
:07:12. > :07:18.Republican member of Congress saying that the part of the Congress that
:07:19. > :07:24.he represents also wants to speak to the former director. So both houses
:07:25. > :07:28.of Congress want to speak to him. Jane, I guess this means we will get
:07:29. > :07:33.a lot closer to understanding what was said or what is in the memo if
:07:34. > :07:40.it exists? That is the idea but I think there is a real irony that FBI
:07:41. > :07:45.Director James Comey was sacked by Donald Trump in parts because he
:07:46. > :07:49.considered him a showboat. He is out of the job but Republicans and
:07:50. > :07:54.Democrats, lawmakers, still want to speak to him. He is the man of the
:07:55. > :07:59.moment who holds the answers to lots of these questions swirling around
:08:00. > :08:02.Washington, the biggest one is what's did the president say? A
:08:03. > :08:08.couple of other things going on, we have heard in the last hour or so
:08:09. > :08:12.that a couple of candidates for the new job of director of the FBI will
:08:13. > :08:17.be in the White House in the next hour. Of course, getting a
:08:18. > :08:22.replacement for James Comey will be tough, Democrats say it is just not
:08:23. > :08:27.going to happen because there is so much contention about the whole
:08:28. > :08:32.thing. Interesting movements. And demands for members, e-mails,
:08:33. > :08:38.anything documenting conversations that Mr Comey had with Mr Trump at
:08:39. > :08:41.any moment, congressmen want to hear about that. A lot going on and a lot
:08:42. > :08:47.of fact gathering at the moment. Thank you, Jane.
:08:48. > :08:54.Jane mentioned he might take over from James Comey. Sean Spicer, the
:08:55. > :08:59.press secretary for the White House, saying the president will meet
:09:00. > :09:05.Andrew McCabe, the current acting FBI director, former Oklahoma
:09:06. > :09:09.Governor Frank Keating, former Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman
:09:10. > :09:15.and former senior FBI official Richard McCready. Anthony Zurcher is
:09:16. > :09:24.in the Washington News you. Those four candidates, are you surprised
:09:25. > :09:27.at them? I am. Frank Keating was a former FBI agent and governor of
:09:28. > :09:32.Oklahoma but he has been out of the political scene for quite some time,
:09:33. > :09:35.I believe he was on the board of Regents at University of Oklahoma,
:09:36. > :09:40.so that is plugging a name from nowhere. Joe Lieberman was on
:09:41. > :09:47.everyone's rips back in the early 2000s, he was Al Gore's vice
:09:48. > :09:50.president shall nominee when Al Gore had Democratic nomination. He became
:09:51. > :09:54.persona non grata in the Democratic party over his support for the Iraq
:09:55. > :10:00.war, he lost a primary and had to run as an independent and he has
:10:01. > :10:07.been a think tank guy and law firm board. The others are current or
:10:08. > :10:14.past FBI agents. McCabe is the acting FBI director since Comey was
:10:15. > :10:19.fired. I think there will be a lot of resistance to use and former
:10:20. > :10:24.politicians like Lieberman, I'd have heard from some Democrats saying
:10:25. > :10:27.those names are non-starters. Democrats particularly seasonably
:10:28. > :10:32.from the law-enforcement community, someone with a real independent
:10:33. > :10:37.streak that has grounding within the agency. I will be curious to see if
:10:38. > :10:43.they are really the finalists or if one of the earlier names pops up
:10:44. > :10:49.again. Another thing I wanted to ask you about, this is an online
:10:50. > :10:59.magazine called The Federalist, one of its headlines is Tips For Reading
:11:00. > :11:04.Washington Post Articles About Trump With Tip Of Strong Anonymous
:11:05. > :11:08.Sources. It says do not trust anonymous sources. Unless someone is
:11:09. > :11:11.willing to put his or her name with the league, beyond God. Lots of
:11:12. > :11:17.these stories have been based anonymous sources. -- unless someone
:11:18. > :11:21.is willing to put his or her name with the leak, be on guard. Many
:11:22. > :11:26.people are saying why trust this league, we do not know where it
:11:27. > :11:31.comes from? It is journalism 101, if you can get a named source that is
:11:32. > :11:34.much better than an anonymous source, if you are going to cite
:11:35. > :11:38.someone anonymously you'd have a good reason, whether it is because
:11:39. > :11:45.they are afraid of repercussions from superiors or some other reason,
:11:46. > :11:49.fallout from what they are sharing. Sometimes all you can get is
:11:50. > :11:53.anonymous sources, if you have further information to back them up
:11:54. > :11:56.then you run with them, if you have multiple sources from different
:11:57. > :12:02.areas saying the same thing, that is a way to flesh out the reporting. It
:12:03. > :12:06.is a question of trust in the media, the reason that lots of
:12:07. > :12:09.conservatives doubt this is they think the mainstream media, the New
:12:10. > :12:13.York Times and Washington Post, they have an agenda so they are using
:12:14. > :12:20.anonymous sources to advance that agenda. Once again I think it goes
:12:21. > :12:26.back to the partisan divide. Thank you, Anthony.
:12:27. > :12:32.The Washington Post story alleged the information had been shared, Mr
:12:33. > :12:35.Trump agrees that it had. The disagreement was not about whether
:12:36. > :12:39.it happened but whether it was appropriate. With reference to the
:12:40. > :12:43.New York Times story, based on an anonymous source, both houses of
:12:44. > :12:48.Congress want to speak to James Comey, the man who allegedly wrote
:12:49. > :12:51.that memo and allegedly said the president asked him to deal with the
:12:52. > :12:58.Michael Flynn inquiry. We shall find out from him whether he agrees with
:12:59. > :13:01.the New York Times report. Don't for a moment think that is it.
:13:02. > :13:03.To make things murkier, Russia is denying that any
:13:04. > :13:06.confidential information was shared in that meeting in the Oval Office.
:13:07. > :13:13.And President Putin commented earlier.
:13:14. > :13:19.TRANSLATION: We are prepared to provide the Senate and the US
:13:20. > :13:21.Congress with a transcript of the conversation between Foreign
:13:22. > :13:22.Minister and President Trump, but only if the American administration
:13:23. > :13:23.wanted. Yes, that's right - he's saying
:13:24. > :13:33.he can provide a transcript. The Russian president saying he can
:13:34. > :13:36.provide that for the US Congress about a discussion which took place
:13:37. > :13:37.in the Oval Office of the White House. No wonder there was a twinkle
:13:38. > :13:52.in his eye! He is quite right, we do not know if
:13:53. > :13:57.there is a recording. It is not clear what Mr Putin's comments Meta,
:13:58. > :14:01.you can be certain he was causing mischief. Here is Steve Rosenberg in
:14:02. > :14:05.Moscow. You cannot help feeling that the
:14:06. > :14:10.criminal absorbers. As the US administration staggers from one
:14:11. > :14:15.crisis to another, all seemingly linked to Moscow, Russia is sitting
:14:16. > :14:21.back and watching a political rival terror itself apart. President
:14:22. > :14:30.Putin's comments were full of jokes, sarcasm and the downs. Among the
:14:31. > :14:32.jokes he said he would have to reprimand his Foreign Minister
:14:33. > :14:35.Sergei Lavrov, who met Donald Trump earlier this month, because he said
:14:36. > :14:38.Mr Lavrov had not passed on the secrets he was allegedly given to Mr
:14:39. > :14:42.Putin or the Russian secret services, he joked, and that was
:14:43. > :14:47.very bad of Mr Lavrov, said Putin. There were many put-downs. He said
:14:48. > :14:50.there was political schizophrenia in the United States, he said those
:14:51. > :14:55.people in America spreading anti-Russian sentiments were either
:14:56. > :14:58.stupid or dangerous and dishonest. He talked about the internal
:14:59. > :15:05.political struggle in America. As for his offer to provide a
:15:06. > :15:08.transcript of the meeting, to provide that to the Congress and the
:15:09. > :15:13.Senate, I don't think you see Risley believes that if Russia was to
:15:14. > :15:17.provide a transcript on Kremlin headed notepaper that it would make
:15:18. > :15:20.the crisis go away. I think it was another attempt to have a dig at
:15:21. > :15:23.America while the scandals were swirling around the lighthouse. --
:15:24. > :15:25.the White House. Stay with us on Outside Source -
:15:26. > :15:36.still to come... There has been documentation of how
:15:37. > :15:39.the damage to a liberal's electric system has affected the light
:15:40. > :15:45.available to the people who live there.
:15:46. > :15:48.Lloyds Bank, which was bailed out by the taxpayer at the height
:15:49. > :15:50.of the financial crisis, has returned to full
:15:51. > :15:53.It was confirmed to the Stock Exchange this morning
:15:54. > :15:57.that the government has sold its last remaining
:15:58. > :16:08.The bank says taxpayers made a profit out of the deal.
:16:09. > :16:16.We gave taxpayers money back, around ?900 million more which is, I think,
:16:17. > :16:21.a big moment of pride. What changes for the bank as a result of today?
:16:22. > :16:26.What do you do differently? It is a big moment of pride but then we go
:16:27. > :16:29.back to our process, to help the country prosper. Six years ago we
:16:30. > :16:33.designed a strategy which I thought was the right one which was to
:16:34. > :16:38.refocus this bank back to the United Kingdom, helped the real economy, so
:16:39. > :16:41.families and small and medium-size companies, focus our resources,
:16:42. > :16:54.which were very scarce at the time, in helping Britain to recover.
:16:55. > :17:10.We are live from the BBC Newsroom Live. President Trump has been
:17:11. > :17:14.responding to reports that he is the FBI to end the inquiry into Michael
:17:15. > :17:19.Flynn. He says he is being treated worse than any political leader in
:17:20. > :17:20.history by the press. Some of the main stories from BBC World
:17:21. > :17:36.Service... Nine people were injured in two
:17:37. > :17:39.arrested outside the Turkish Embassy in Washington. A fight broke out
:17:40. > :17:46.between enemies and supporters of President Erdogan. He had been
:17:47. > :17:50.meeting with President Trump. That is from BBC Turkish. The Tornado in
:17:51. > :17:53.western Oklahoma has destroyed hundreds toe dozens of homes and
:17:54. > :18:04.killed at least one person. Police have told residents to stay home
:18:05. > :18:05.until power is restored. Now the UK election campaign.
:18:06. > :18:07.Just over two years ago, the Liberal Democrats
:18:08. > :18:09.were the junior partner in the British coalition government.
:18:10. > :18:12.Then came the 2015 vote, and electoral meltdown -
:18:13. > :18:13.leaving them just eight parliamentary seats
:18:14. > :18:21.On Wednesday, their leader Tim Farron launched
:18:22. > :18:24.the manifesto which he hopes will bring voters back.
:18:25. > :18:43.. At the heart it is that we do not just have to accept whichever deal
:18:44. > :18:46.we get back from the Brexit negotiations were due, the British
:18:47. > :18:51.people should have the final say, if you do not like what Theresa May
:18:52. > :18:54.comes back with, you should have the right to votes Tremain. Three
:18:55. > :18:58.quarters of younger people in this country voted to Remain, they are a
:18:59. > :19:02.reminder of why there is so much dismay at what Theresa May plans to
:19:03. > :19:08.do, the most extreme version of Brexit that Jeremy Corbyn and Ukip
:19:09. > :19:10.backed as well. The Lib Dems are the only people offering hope that
:19:11. > :19:12.Britain's future could be brighter and better.
:19:13. > :19:14.Yes, you heard that right - he expects Theresa May's
:19:15. > :19:16.Conservatives to win, and he wants the British
:19:17. > :19:28.people to have another referendum on Brexit.
:19:29. > :19:31.As with all of the main parties in this election,
:19:32. > :19:33.you can find the whole Lib Dem manifesto online.
:19:34. > :19:36.But let's take a quick look at some of the other headline promises.
:19:37. > :19:38.Cannabis would be legalised and subject to taxation.
:19:39. > :19:42.They have said that could generate to ?1 billion a year. The current
:19:43. > :19:43.voting age is 18 in Britain. Young people would be able
:19:44. > :19:46.to vote from the age of 16, and be offered state help to get
:19:47. > :19:49.on the housing ladder. And a large part of the funding
:19:50. > :19:52.would come from tax increases - including a penny in the pound
:19:53. > :20:01.on income tax. Tom, good to have you on the
:20:02. > :20:05.programme. Lots of policies that might attract younger voters, but it
:20:06. > :20:10.is a bit of a gamble given that younger voters tend to turn up less
:20:11. > :20:14.than others? The Lib Dems have dispatched with the idea of doing a
:20:15. > :20:19.coalition deal with any other party, which is the thing that got them
:20:20. > :20:23.into power in 2010. They have to find a new place for themselves,
:20:24. > :20:28.this referendum deal where they are simply saying if you don't like the
:20:29. > :20:32.deal that the British government does, you can votes against it and,
:20:33. > :20:37.in effect, I think they hope there will be a big number of Leave voters
:20:38. > :20:41.who suddenly decides they are not interested in leaving. I think Tim
:20:42. > :20:46.Farron also hopes that the youth vote like that idea, lots of young
:20:47. > :20:51.people did not votes in the referendum, they might not like the
:20:52. > :20:55.idea of leaving the EU no, there this benefits and that it might
:20:56. > :20:59.cause. The hope is that that will bring them on side. But when the Lib
:21:00. > :21:05.Dems weren't Government they agreed to increase radically the cost of
:21:06. > :21:10.going to university in the UK, the tuition fees, which was deeply
:21:11. > :21:15.unpopular. I covered the rioting that happened in central London when
:21:16. > :21:19.that was voted through Parliament. There was enormous anger. The
:21:20. > :21:23.concern, I think, among Lib Dems is that some of those young people who
:21:24. > :21:28.went through that period and now have big debts, they have been to
:21:29. > :21:33.university, will not be interested in voting Liberal Democrat. Another
:21:34. > :21:36.problem is that the Lib Dems is pushing away, potentially, voters
:21:37. > :21:40.who did vote to leave the EU, they may well move to the Conservatives,
:21:41. > :21:46.who currently have a big lead in the polls. With the Labour Party moving
:21:47. > :21:50.to the left, the Conservatives moving to the right, you look at
:21:51. > :21:53.France and the success of the centrist candidate like a Emmanuel
:21:54. > :21:58.Macron, it is interesting that the Lib Dems are not making more ground
:21:59. > :22:02.in the centre? Tim Farron gave a speech in London tonight to launch
:22:03. > :22:07.the manifesto and said that if you look at the French elections, the
:22:08. > :22:11.previous two main parties in France came third and fifth, leaving the
:22:12. > :22:16.voters of France with a choice between Macron and the National
:22:17. > :22:19.front. He said that was not something the Lib Dems were prepared
:22:20. > :22:24.to stand for in the UK, they will continue the fight. Looking at the
:22:25. > :22:31.manifesto, it is very similar in some ways to the Labour manifesto,
:22:32. > :22:34.we will reverse the cuts to tax and spending that the Conservatives saw
:22:35. > :22:39.through in 2010 onwards. Interestingly, with the help of the
:22:40. > :22:44.Lib Dems, we will spend more on schools, hospitals, caring for the
:22:45. > :22:48.elderly. It is fair to say the Liberal Democrat format is likely
:22:49. > :22:53.less radical than Labour, which will do a lot more tax-and-spend than has
:22:54. > :22:57.been popular or stunted in British politics in the last 20 years, but
:22:58. > :23:03.it is quite similar. A couple of policies stand out. They are
:23:04. > :23:08.planning to directly invest, the Government doing this, in
:23:09. > :23:11.house-building. Housing problems are enormous, a lack of housing,
:23:12. > :23:16.especially for young people. In general it is similar to Labour.
:23:17. > :23:20.They are building the manifesto on the offer of a referendum, trying to
:23:21. > :23:26.make in themselves a home for people who want to remain in the EU, saying
:23:27. > :23:29.votes followers of that is what you want. Thank you, Tom.
:23:30. > :23:32.Let's take a closer look at the fallout from the contorversy
:23:33. > :23:35.surrounding Donald Trump in Washington.
:23:36. > :23:46.BBC business tell us that the Wall Street stock markets fall as
:23:47. > :23:47.political uncertainty intensifies. You can see the reflection of this
:23:48. > :23:48.concern. This graph is Bloomberg's Dollar
:23:49. > :23:50.Spot Index which measures how the US currency is doing against ten
:23:51. > :23:58.leading global currencies. See how the dollar peaks in line
:23:59. > :23:59.with Donald Trump's victory and inauguration and has been going
:24:00. > :24:08.gently down ever since. Explain the correlation between
:24:09. > :24:13.confidence in Donald Trump and a strong dollar? Generally people go
:24:14. > :24:19.to the US dollar because it is seen as a very strong and stable place.
:24:20. > :24:24.If you have money and want to keep it safe, keep it in the US dollar.
:24:25. > :24:29.That confidence is eroding because of what has happened in Washington.
:24:30. > :24:33.There are even words of possible impeachment being thrown around in
:24:34. > :24:37.Washington with regards to what is happening with Donald Trump and the
:24:38. > :24:40.reports that he may have suggested that he and the Federal
:24:41. > :24:45.investigation into the former national security adviser Michael
:24:46. > :24:50.Flynn and his ties to Russia. What is really worrying Wall Street with
:24:51. > :24:53.regards to that is that it all acts as a distraction from the kinds of
:24:54. > :24:59.things Wall Street wants to see, and that is tax reform and that big
:25:00. > :25:04.spending for infrastructure. If he is paroled in all these other sagas,
:25:05. > :25:06.lawmakers will not be able to put the attention to some of the
:25:07. > :25:13.regulatory matters that Wall Street wants to see happen. It is not just
:25:14. > :25:17.about the US currency falling, the markets have come back a bit from
:25:18. > :25:22.the peaks we saw earlier in the year? Absolutely, US markets have
:25:23. > :25:27.closed and we are seeing nothing but red across-the-board, the Dow Jones
:25:28. > :25:36.and the other indexes have fallen by about 1.7 1.8%, the Nasdaq is down
:25:37. > :25:41.by 2.5%. That said, we have not seen what we call a correction, pull back
:25:42. > :25:46.from the markets, in a very long time. Some people say we are due
:25:47. > :25:49.this sort of correction and this may be the impetus for that to happen.
:25:50. > :25:54.Thank you for taking us through that.
:25:55. > :25:55.I will be back in a couple of minutes with more Global News from
:25:56. > :25:58.the BBC Newsroom Live.