17/05/2017 Outside Source

Hello, I'm Ros Atkins, this is Outside Source.

The pressure is mounting on Donald Trump as he faces

the most serious allegations of his Presidency.

He's accused of trying to stop an FBI investigation

into links between his former National Security

But the President has come out fighting.

No politician in history - and I say this with great surety -

has been treated worse or more unfairly.

Leading Democrats are now demanding an independent commission

into the Trump team's links with Russia.

TRANSLATION: We are prepared to provide the Senate and the US

congress with a transcipt of the conversation

between our Foreign Minister and President Trump.

It is reasonable to say Vladimir Putin enjoyed making that offer.

That offer comes on the back of claims that Donald Trump leaked

classified information to the Russians last week.

We'll be live in Washington for more on all those developments.

Any questions you've got, the hashtag is #BBCOS.

US soldier Chelsea Manning has been freed from jail.

We'll report from the military prison where she was held for seven

years for passing thousands confidential documents to Wikileaks.

And Emmanuel Macron has unveiled his new gender-balanced Cabinet chosen

We'll find out who's in his top team.

It is not a statement to -- an overstatement to say there is next

essential threat to the Trump per 70. That is not to say that Mr Trump

has done anything wrong, but there are profound and pressing about his

conduct. Let's start by considering

the last eight days. Last Tuesday Donald Trump fired FBI

Director James Comey. Mr Trump said he was

doing a bad job. He was also in charge of the FBI

investigation into collusion between the Trump campaign

team and Russia. The next day Mr Trump met Russia's

foreign minister and the Russian Fast forward to Monday

and the Washington Post It alleged Donald Trump

shared classified And that intelligence officials were

shocked and concerned at what the president had done.

The next morning, Donald Trump confirmed

information had been shared - but said it was appropriate.

While that political maelstrom played out,

the New York Times entered the fray yesterday.

Its story claimed a memo written by James Comey after a meeting

with the President details Mr Trump saying, "I hope

That is referring to the investigation into Michael Flynn.

That is with reference to these Flynn investigation. Allegedly

asking for an investigation to be let go.

Even for a man for whom controversy is a constant companion,

Look at the way I have been treated lately. Especially by the media. No

politician in history, and I say this with great surety, has been

treated worse or more unfairly. You can't let them get you down. You

can't let the critics and the naysayers get in the way of your

dreams. We have spoken to you about any

number of pressures on the president in recent months, am I right in

saying this is different? It is very different, I have been here on the

Hill all day speaking to senators. Republicans and Democrats have both

told me this is the most serious allegation against the president yet

because it does not involve just an error of judgment, it could stray

into the realms of obstruction of justice. That, of course, is a

criminal accusation. We have not got there yet and it is very difficult

to prove because you have to prove intent. Certainly it is increasing

calls from the Democrats for possible impeachment if it is proved

true. There is a real sea change, there has been a lot of

embarrassment for the Republicans, lots of I wish he had not said that

in that way from the Republicans, but this is very, very different.

Jane, we would like to explore that a bit more in a moment. As she was

to, until now President Trump has had a political firewall around him,

the Republicans control both houses of Congress but cracks are beginning

to show. Some Republicans are calling for an independent

prosecutor to be appointed at one has suggested Mr Trump should be

impeached if the allegations are true, a Democrat has already called

for him to be impeached. There is a feverish atmosphere in Washington.

Before we go back there, here are some of the main statements. It is

not too late that the administration needs to take stock of what it is

doing and the president needs to listen to his advisers and better

appreciate the nuances of government and the different roles that the

three branches of government play. We need the facts. It is obvious

people out there want to harm the president, but we have an obligation

to carry out our oversight regardless of which party is in the

White House, meaning that before rushing to judgment we get all the

pertinent information. It seems like we are learning

disturbing new allegations about President Trump, not just everyday

but, ladies and gentlemen, every hour. In the house, Republicans have

shown repeatedly that they refuse to conduct credible, robust oversight

over this president. A US Senate panel is investigating

both the alleged Russian -- U.S. Senate panel is requesting

that James Komi testifies before its members. Now look at this, a

Republican member of Congress saying that the part of the Congress that

he represents also wants to speak to the former director. So both houses

of Congress want to speak to him. Jane, I guess this means we will get

a lot closer to understanding what was said or what is in the memo if

it exists? That is the idea but I think there is a real irony that FBI

Director James Comey was sacked by Donald Trump in parts because he

considered him a showboat. He is out of the job but Republicans and

Democrats, lawmakers, still want to speak to him. He is the man of the

moment who holds the answers to lots of these questions swirling around

Washington, the biggest one is what's did the president say? A

couple of other things going on, we have heard in the last hour or so

that a couple of candidates for the new job of director of the FBI will

be in the White House in the next hour. Of course, getting a

replacement for James Comey will be tough, Democrats say it is just not

going to happen because there is so much contention about the whole

thing. Interesting movements. And demands for members, e-mails,

anything documenting conversations that Mr Comey had with Mr Trump at

any moment, congressmen want to hear about that. A lot going on and a lot

of fact gathering at the moment. Thank you, Jane.

Jane mentioned he might take over from James Comey. Sean Spicer, the

press secretary for the White House, saying the president will meet

Andrew McCabe, the current acting FBI director, former Oklahoma

Governor Frank Keating, former Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman

and former senior FBI official Richard McCready. Anthony Zurcher is

in the Washington News you. Those four candidates, are you surprised

at them? I am. Frank Keating was a former FBI agent and governor of

Oklahoma but he has been out of the political scene for quite some time,

I believe he was on the board of Regents at University of Oklahoma,

so that is plugging a name from nowhere. Joe Lieberman was on

everyone's rips back in the early 2000s, he was Al Gore's vice

president shall nominee when Al Gore had Democratic nomination. He became

persona non grata in the Democratic party over his support for the Iraq

war, he lost a primary and had to run as an independent and he has

been a think tank guy and law firm board. The others are current or

past FBI agents. McCabe is the acting FBI director since Comey was

fired. I think there will be a lot of resistance to use and former

politicians like Lieberman, I'd have heard from some Democrats saying

those names are non-starters. Democrats particularly seasonably

from the law-enforcement community, someone with a real independent

streak that has grounding within the agency. I will be curious to see if

they are really the finalists or if one of the earlier names pops up

again. Another thing I wanted to ask you about, this is an online

magazine called The Federalist, one of its headlines is Tips For Reading

Washington Post Articles About Trump With Tip Of Strong Anonymous

Sources. It says do not trust anonymous sources. Unless someone is

willing to put his or her name with the league, beyond God. Lots of

these stories have been based anonymous sources. -- unless someone

is willing to put his or her name with the leak, be on guard. Many

people are saying why trust this league, we do not know where it

comes from? It is journalism 101, if you can get a named source that is

much better than an anonymous source, if you are going to cite

someone anonymously you'd have a good reason, whether it is because

they are afraid of repercussions from superiors or some other reason,

fallout from what they are sharing. Sometimes all you can get is

anonymous sources, if you have further information to back them up

then you run with them, if you have multiple sources from different

areas saying the same thing, that is a way to flesh out the reporting. It

is a question of trust in the media, the reason that lots of

conservatives doubt this is they think the mainstream media, the New

York Times and Washington Post, they have an agenda so they are using

anonymous sources to advance that agenda. Once again I think it goes

back to the partisan divide. Thank you, Anthony.

The Washington Post story alleged the information had been shared, Mr

Trump agrees that it had. The disagreement was not about whether

it happened but whether it was appropriate. With reference to the

New York Times story, based on an anonymous source, both houses of

Congress want to speak to James Comey, the man who allegedly wrote

that memo and allegedly said the president asked him to deal with the

Michael Flynn inquiry. We shall find out from him whether he agrees with

the New York Times report. Don't for a moment think that is it.

To make things murkier, Russia is denying that any

confidential information was shared in that meeting in the Oval Office.

And President Putin commented earlier.

TRANSLATION: We are prepared to provide the Senate and the US

Congress with a transcript of the conversation between Foreign

Minister and President Trump, but only if the American administration

wanted. Yes, that's right - he's saying

he can provide a transcript. The Russian president saying he can

provide that for the US Congress about a discussion which took place

in the Oval Office of the White House. No wonder there was a twinkle

in his eye! He is quite right, we do not know if

there is a recording. It is not clear what Mr Putin's comments Meta,

you can be certain he was causing mischief. Here is Steve Rosenberg in

Moscow. You cannot help feeling that the

criminal absorbers. As the US administration staggers from one

crisis to another, all seemingly linked to Moscow, Russia is sitting

back and watching a political rival terror itself apart. President

Putin's comments were full of jokes, sarcasm and the downs. Among the

jokes he said he would have to reprimand his Foreign Minister

Sergei Lavrov, who met Donald Trump earlier this month, because he said

Mr Lavrov had not passed on the secrets he was allegedly given to Mr

Putin or the Russian secret services, he joked, and that was

very bad of Mr Lavrov, said Putin. There were many put-downs. He said

there was political schizophrenia in the United States, he said those

people in America spreading anti-Russian sentiments were either

stupid or dangerous and dishonest. He talked about the internal

political struggle in America. As for his offer to provide a

transcript of the meeting, to provide that to the Congress and the

Senate, I don't think you see Risley believes that if Russia was to

provide a transcript on Kremlin headed notepaper that it would make

the crisis go away. I think it was another attempt to have a dig at

America while the scandals were swirling around the lighthouse. --

the White House. Stay with us on Outside Source -

still to come... There has been documentation of how

the damage to a liberal's electric system has affected the light

available to the people who live there.

Lloyds Bank, which was bailed out by the taxpayer at the height

of the financial crisis, has returned to full

It was confirmed to the Stock Exchange this morning

that the government has sold its last remaining

The bank says taxpayers made a profit out of the deal.

We gave taxpayers money back, around ?900 million more which is, I think,

a big moment of pride. What changes for the bank as a result of today?

What do you do differently? It is a big moment of pride but then we go

back to our process, to help the country prosper. Six years ago we

designed a strategy which I thought was the right one which was to

refocus this bank back to the United Kingdom, helped the real economy, so

families and small and medium-size companies, focus our resources,

which were very scarce at the time, in helping Britain to recover.

We are live from the BBC Newsroom Live. President Trump has been

responding to reports that he is the FBI to end the inquiry into Michael

Flynn. He says he is being treated worse than any political leader in

history by the press. Some of the main stories from BBC World

Service... Nine people were injured in two

arrested outside the Turkish Embassy in Washington. A fight broke out

between enemies and supporters of President Erdogan. He had been

meeting with President Trump. That is from BBC Turkish. The Tornado in

western Oklahoma has destroyed hundreds toe dozens of homes and

killed at least one person. Police have told residents to stay home

until power is restored. Now the UK election campaign.

Just over two years ago, the Liberal Democrats

were the junior partner in the British coalition government.

Then came the 2015 vote, and electoral meltdown -

leaving them just eight parliamentary seats

On Wednesday, their leader Tim Farron launched

the manifesto which he hopes will bring voters back.

. At the heart it is that we do not just have to accept whichever deal

we get back from the Brexit negotiations were due, the British

people should have the final say, if you do not like what Theresa May

comes back with, you should have the right to votes Tremain. Three

quarters of younger people in this country voted to Remain, they are a

reminder of why there is so much dismay at what Theresa May plans to

do, the most extreme version of Brexit that Jeremy Corbyn and Ukip

backed as well. The Lib Dems are the only people offering hope that

Britain's future could be brighter and better.

Yes, you heard that right - he expects Theresa May's

Conservatives to win, and he wants the British

people to have another referendum on Brexit.

As with all of the main parties in this election,

you can find the whole Lib Dem manifesto online.

But let's take a quick look at some of the other headline promises.

Cannabis would be legalised and subject to taxation.

They have said that could generate to ?1 billion a year. The current

voting age is 18 in Britain. Young people would be able

to vote from the age of 16, and be offered state help to get

on the housing ladder. And a large part of the funding

would come from tax increases - including a penny in the pound

on income tax. Tom, good to have you on the

programme. Lots of policies that might attract younger voters, but it

is a bit of a gamble given that younger voters tend to turn up less

than others? The Lib Dems have dispatched with the idea of doing a

coalition deal with any other party, which is the thing that got them

into power in 2010. They have to find a new place for themselves,

this referendum deal where they are simply saying if you don't like the

deal that the British government does, you can votes against it and,

in effect, I think they hope there will be a big number of Leave voters

who suddenly decides they are not interested in leaving. I think Tim

Farron also hopes that the youth vote like that idea, lots of young

people did not votes in the referendum, they might not like the

idea of leaving the EU no, there this benefits and that it might

cause. The hope is that that will bring them on side. But when the Lib

Dems weren't Government they agreed to increase radically the cost of

going to university in the UK, the tuition fees, which was deeply

unpopular. I covered the rioting that happened in central London when

that was voted through Parliament. There was enormous anger. The

concern, I think, among Lib Dems is that some of those young people who

went through that period and now have big debts, they have been to

university, will not be interested in voting Liberal Democrat. Another

problem is that the Lib Dems is pushing away, potentially, voters

who did vote to leave the EU, they may well move to the Conservatives,

who currently have a big lead in the polls. With the Labour Party moving

to the left, the Conservatives moving to the right, you look at

France and the success of the centrist candidate like a Emmanuel

Macron, it is interesting that the Lib Dems are not making more ground

in the centre? Tim Farron gave a speech in London tonight to launch

the manifesto and said that if you look at the French elections, the

previous two main parties in France came third and fifth, leaving the

voters of France with a choice between Macron and the National

front. He said that was not something the Lib Dems were prepared

to stand for in the UK, they will continue the fight. Looking at the

manifesto, it is very similar in some ways to the Labour manifesto,

we will reverse the cuts to tax and spending that the Conservatives saw

through in 2010 onwards. Interestingly, with the help of the

Lib Dems, we will spend more on schools, hospitals, caring for the

elderly. It is fair to say the Liberal Democrat format is likely

less radical than Labour, which will do a lot more tax-and-spend than has

been popular or stunted in British politics in the last 20 years, but

it is quite similar. A couple of policies stand out. They are

planning to directly invest, the Government doing this, in

house-building. Housing problems are enormous, a lack of housing,

especially for young people. In general it is similar to Labour.

They are building the manifesto on the offer of a referendum, trying to

make in themselves a home for people who want to remain in the EU, saying

votes followers of that is what you want. Thank you, Tom.

Let's take a closer look at the fallout from the contorversy

surrounding Donald Trump in Washington.

BBC business tell us that the Wall Street stock markets fall as

political uncertainty intensifies. You can see the reflection of this

concern. This graph is Bloomberg's Dollar

Spot Index which measures how the US currency is doing against ten

leading global currencies. See how the dollar peaks in line

with Donald Trump's victory and inauguration and has been going

gently down ever since. Explain the correlation between

confidence in Donald Trump and a strong dollar? Generally people go

to the US dollar because it is seen as a very strong and stable place.

If you have money and want to keep it safe, keep it in the US dollar.

That confidence is eroding because of what has happened in Washington.

There are even words of possible impeachment being thrown around in

Washington with regards to what is happening with Donald Trump and the

reports that he may have suggested that he and the Federal

investigation into the former national security adviser Michael

Flynn and his ties to Russia. What is really worrying Wall Street with

regards to that is that it all acts as a distraction from the kinds of

things Wall Street wants to see, and that is tax reform and that big

spending for infrastructure. If he is paroled in all these other sagas,

lawmakers will not be able to put the attention to some of the

regulatory matters that Wall Street wants to see happen. It is not just

about the US currency falling, the markets have come back a bit from

the peaks we saw earlier in the year? Absolutely, US markets have

closed and we are seeing nothing but red across-the-board, the Dow Jones

and the other indexes have fallen by about 1.7 1.8%, the Nasdaq is down

by 2.5%. That said, we have not seen what we call a correction, pull back

from the markets, in a very long time. Some people say we are due

this sort of correction and this may be the impetus for that to happen.

Thank you for taking us through that.

I will be back in a couple of minutes with more Global News from

the BBC Newsroom Live.