:00:08. > :00:09.Hello, I'm Ros Atkins, this is Outside Source.
:00:10. > :00:11.Donald Trump in under increasing pressure as he faces
:00:12. > :00:17.the most serious allegations of his Presidency.
:00:18. > :00:19.He's accused of trying to stop an FBI investigation
:00:20. > :00:20.into links between his former National Security
:00:21. > :00:26.But the President has come out fighting.
:00:27. > :00:30.No politician in history - and I say this with great surety -
:00:31. > :00:37.has been treated worse or more unfairly.
:00:38. > :00:46.They're demanding an independent commission into the Trump
:00:47. > :00:50.But the people who voted for the President in
:00:51. > :01:03.The media is left-wing, Democrats, they do not want to see him do well.
:01:04. > :01:06.Nada Tawfik has sent us a report from Nashville where she's been
:01:07. > :01:11.Emmanuel Macron has unveiled the new French government.
:01:12. > :01:16.It's gender balanced and politically diverse.
:01:17. > :01:19.And in Outside Source Sport, the fallout over the decision not
:01:20. > :01:22.to give Maria Sharapova a wild card in the French Open continues.
:01:23. > :01:40.Donald Trump has always relied on his core base for support.
:01:41. > :01:46.Most politicians who get to the top or near to it do need a core base of
:01:47. > :01:50.But according to two recent polls that support is slipping.
:01:51. > :01:53.This from Politico and Morning Consult shows
:01:54. > :02:02.his approval has sunk to a new low of 42%.
:02:03. > :02:07.That is as low as approval ratings have gone. This is a completely
:02:08. > :02:14.Again his approval is at a record low - 36%.
:02:15. > :02:19.Both polls were conducted before the latest controversies.
:02:20. > :02:23.Tim Malloy from Quinnipiac University says it is the erosion
:02:24. > :02:31.of white men, white voters without college degrees
:02:32. > :02:33.and deepening concerns about Trump's honesty,
:02:34. > :02:36.intelligence and level headedness are red flags that the
:02:37. > :02:45.administration simply can't brush away.
:02:46. > :02:49.They are also red flags that are hard to respond to because some of
:02:50. > :02:52.these are reactions to Donald Trump's personality.
:02:53. > :02:54.Earlier I spoke with Elizabeth Price Foley, a professor of law
:02:55. > :02:57.at Florida International University, about whether Mr Trump's
:02:58. > :03:01.alleged actions constituted obstruction of justice.
:03:02. > :03:12.She said people were overreacting to the sacking of Jim Foley. But some
:03:13. > :03:15.people are saying he may have obstructed
:03:16. > :03:26.The statutes require a very specific mindset. But even more important, as
:03:27. > :03:32.a lawyer, as a textual matter, the statutes simply do not apply for
:03:33. > :03:37.various reasons. There are several different obstruction statues. Some
:03:38. > :03:43.prohibit corrupt influence of ground Jewry 's or court officials. Some
:03:44. > :03:50.require physical use of force or threats of use of physical force.
:03:51. > :03:58.Some require a quid pro quo bribery attempt and even the broadest
:03:59. > :04:01.obstruction statute, which is section 1505 of the United States
:04:02. > :04:08.code would not apply because it uses very specific language that requires
:04:09. > :04:14.a pending proceeding, which means a pending court or quasi court action,
:04:15. > :04:19.which is simply not applicable here. Nonetheless the president issued a
:04:20. > :04:24.tweet saying to Jim Komi, do not think that leaking because it would
:04:25. > :04:28.not be a good idea. You could say that was threatening. If this memo
:04:29. > :04:32.exists and if it is true that he told James Komi to let the
:04:33. > :04:36.investigation go, whether it was technically obstruction of justice
:04:37. > :04:45.or not, it was not a good idea, was it? No, but those are two different
:04:46. > :04:48.things. One is prudent behaviour for a politician and the other is what
:04:49. > :04:55.is legally prohibited by written laws. Yes, although there is an
:04:56. > :05:06.obstruction statute that prohibits threatening behaviour, again it only
:05:07. > :05:11.applies to threats to ground Juror or a official. His reactions may be
:05:12. > :05:16.reprehensible or showed poor judgment, but in terms of technical
:05:17. > :05:21.violation of Justice statues it has not occurred under the facts as we
:05:22. > :05:25.know right now. I assume he will face some pretty serious political
:05:26. > :05:33.fallout for his lapse of judgment again. But isn't the lesson that we
:05:34. > :05:36.learned from Richard Nixon that with President and senior politicians it
:05:37. > :05:41.is not just about the law, it is about politics as well. When they
:05:42. > :05:46.start intertwining, even though an offence has not been proven, it
:05:47. > :05:52.could still prove fatal politically? It certainly can. Politics to play a
:05:53. > :06:00.role certainly an talk about impeachment. But in article two of
:06:01. > :06:05.the Constitution impeachment is reserved for conviction of high
:06:06. > :06:10.crimes and misdemeanours. So, for example, President Nixon resigned
:06:11. > :06:16.because the evidence showed that he had in fact violated several
:06:17. > :06:20.criminal statutes at that point. The evidence was somewhat overwhelming
:06:21. > :06:25.that if prosecutors chose to prosecute, he would have been
:06:26. > :06:28.successfully prosecuted and convicted. In order to avoid that
:06:29. > :06:33.embarrassment he resigned for the good of the country. President
:06:34. > :06:38.Clinton was impeached by the House, although not ultimately convicted by
:06:39. > :06:42.the Senate, because of his lying under oath to a ground jury which is
:06:43. > :06:49.prohibited by a perjury statute. So even historically when there have
:06:50. > :06:52.been threats of impeachment, it has been because there has been
:06:53. > :06:54.overwhelming evidence of criminal activity, as there should be as
:06:55. > :06:58.activity, as there should be as required by our Constitution.
:06:59. > :07:04.Here's Nada Tawfik with some of Mr Trump's supporters there.
:07:05. > :07:12.In Nashville it is the twang of the guitar that moves this music city.
:07:13. > :07:17.And unlike Washington politics is not the topic in the buyers. In the
:07:18. > :07:34.capital of country music the tune is spelt out the concerns of
:07:35. > :07:35.finding love. And those who voted everyday
:07:36. > :07:37.They view the headlines as simply image of the White House in crisis.
:07:38. > :07:38.They view the headlines as simply noise. You cannot tell me all these
:07:39. > :07:46.leaks that come to almost daily, hourly, are not because people are
:07:47. > :07:50.trying to subvert this president? The near daily revelations,
:07:51. > :07:52.including how the president has possibly interfered with the
:07:53. > :07:59.investigations into his associates' ties to Russia, do not raise red
:08:00. > :08:03.flags to his supporters. Obviously we care whether he is colluding with
:08:04. > :08:06.the Russians and trying to affect the election and if real hard
:08:07. > :08:11.evidence comes out about that, then we will have to reassess. But in
:08:12. > :08:16.terms of Donald Trump, he is doing exactly what he has done for the
:08:17. > :08:20.last year and people love him for that. When you speak to Donald
:08:21. > :08:25.Trump's most ardent supporters, their views on the man they elected
:08:26. > :08:28.have not changed. Instead they are convinced that the constant leaks
:08:29. > :08:36.and revelations are part of a concerted effort to undermine his
:08:37. > :08:39.presidency. Phil Valentine hosts a conservative talk show, directed at
:08:40. > :08:44.those who do not trust the mainstream media. He says Donald
:08:45. > :08:47.Trump needs only to worry about delivering on his campaign promises.
:08:48. > :08:51.If he does not cut captors and lower the corporate rate and do the things
:08:52. > :08:56.he said he would do in his campaign, there will be trouble. What has
:08:57. > :09:01.these hockey fans on pins and needles is whether the national team
:09:02. > :09:06.will reach the Stanley cup. The conservatives here have no fears
:09:07. > :09:10.about President Trump. The media is Democrats, left-wingers, they do not
:09:11. > :09:15.want to see him do well or America do well, they want to give America a
:09:16. > :09:21.way. The things they are saying our total lies. The media blows things
:09:22. > :09:26.out of proportion. There is no doubt the President's approval rating is
:09:27. > :09:29.taking a hit, but there is no sign of an erosion of trust from his
:09:30. > :09:36.supporters, they feel empowered by his presidency and his defiance.
:09:37. > :09:41.Let's go to Anthony Zurcher in Washington.
:09:42. > :09:48.First, here is a message from Tony watching in Chicago. He says how
:09:49. > :09:51.many Republicans are speaking about this story and which ones are
:09:52. > :09:58.raising the prospect of impeachment? Can you help Tony out? We are
:09:59. > :10:01.hearing from the leaders of the Republican Party, Mitch McConnell,
:10:02. > :10:07.the speaker in the Senate, we have not had a lot of Republicans speak
:10:08. > :10:11.out about impeachment. A congressman has called out for an independent
:10:12. > :10:16.enquiry, he is from Michigan. He seems to be a constant Donald Trump
:10:17. > :10:21.critic, but a lot of Republicans are keeping their heads down. This is a
:10:22. > :10:31.question from David watching in Milton Keynes. I'm sure we have no
:10:32. > :10:37.idea if the Russians recorded the meeting. I think Vladimir Putin was
:10:38. > :10:40.joking when he was making comments on Russian television earlier today
:10:41. > :10:45.about having a transcript and giving it over to the US. I do not think
:10:46. > :10:51.the US wants that and I do not think Donald Trump wants his help right
:10:52. > :10:56.now. Then in London is asking this, if we are talking about impeachment,
:10:57. > :11:00.what would be the next steps? Impeachment would start in the House
:11:01. > :11:04.of representatives in a committee that would hold hearings and draft
:11:05. > :11:08.articles and hold a vote and it would go to the floor of the House
:11:09. > :11:13.of representatives. A simple majority and it goes to trial and
:11:14. > :11:15.Senate. First it would start in a committee and would require
:11:16. > :11:21.Republicans getting on board because they have the majority in the House.
:11:22. > :11:25.We are way away from that? Very far away. We have not seen a break in
:11:26. > :11:32.the Republican ranks yet that would require that. Ross is asking, what
:11:33. > :11:37.is the deal with the Donald Trump bashing? I hope we are not doing
:11:38. > :11:46.that, we are doing and reporting on what we have. The story of the leaks
:11:47. > :11:51.is hardly being mentioned. We did discuss the leaks yesterday, but in
:11:52. > :11:54.terms of what happened in the oval office, can we say categorically
:11:55. > :12:01.whether it was appropriate or not? We do not know. Right now we have a
:12:02. > :12:06.word of a memo that James Comey wrote. We have not heard from Comey
:12:07. > :12:11.himself about what happened. We have Donald Trump in the White House
:12:12. > :12:18.flatly denying what took place. We really do not know. We do not know
:12:19. > :12:23.whether he had gone up to James Comey and said, back up. That is
:12:24. > :12:29.highly inappropriate. Donald Trump is James Comey's boss. Maybe if
:12:30. > :12:34.Donald Trump as a citizen says one thing, but as a president what he
:12:35. > :12:35.says carries a lot of weight particularly with an investigation
:12:36. > :12:53.by the FBI. Anthony is in Washington and I am in
:12:54. > :13:03.London. Let's turn to spot. Real are currently in second place,
:13:04. > :13:07.level on points with Barcelona. Let's go to Tulsen Tollett
:13:08. > :13:15.at the BBC Sport Centre. Who else would the opening two goals
:13:16. > :13:20.for the club, Cristiano Ronaldo. He was on target twice with a left foot
:13:21. > :13:28.in this game. Just when Celta Vigo got back into which it was 2-1
:13:29. > :13:39.minute later. Real Madrid are away to Malaga on Sunday. As it stands,
:13:40. > :13:46.if it remains as it is, 3-1. With a victory at the weekend it would mean
:13:47. > :13:48.they win the Spanish title. Very exciting, thank you.
:13:49. > :13:53.Yesterday on OS sport, we talked about Maria Sharapova not
:13:54. > :13:59.It would have been her first Grand slam since a 15-month doping ban.
:14:00. > :14:01.Well, since then the Women's Tennis Association chief executive has
:14:02. > :14:07.I don't agree with the basis for their decision.
:14:08. > :14:12.There are no grounds to penalise any player beyond the sanctions set
:14:13. > :14:16.forth in the final decisions resolving these matters.
:14:17. > :14:24.If this is what it takes to rise up again, then I am in it
:14:25. > :14:28.No words, games, or actions will ever stop me from
:14:29. > :14:36.If only she'd brought the same commitment to reading the e-mails
:14:37. > :14:40.that advised her of a change to the list of banned medications.
:14:41. > :14:49.She didn't, she tested positive and was suspended.
:14:50. > :14:54.Coming up: We are talking about Chelsea Manning who has been
:14:55. > :14:59.released from a military prison where she has been serving a prison
:15:00. > :15:00.sentence for the last seven years. We will bring you the latest on
:15:01. > :15:05.that. There's a warning about a squeeze
:15:06. > :15:08.in living standards today. It follows official figures that
:15:09. > :15:10.show the cost of living - inflation - is outstripping wages
:15:11. > :15:13.for the first time in three years. Meanwhile another set of figures
:15:14. > :15:16.show that unemployment has fallen Here's our economics
:15:17. > :15:32.editor Kamal Ahmed. A business fair in Leeds and good
:15:33. > :15:42.news for jobs. Firms hiring plenty of people as economic growth remains
:15:43. > :15:56.positive. We have just employed a new manager and we have also
:15:57. > :16:15.employed new ground staff. At this moment in time on our company
:16:16. > :16:15.was this low was in 1975. The price posted. The
:16:16. > :16:16.of a pint of milk was 7p, but it was of a pint of milk was 7p, but it
:16:17. > :16:17.incomes growth is falling. Let's also an era of high inflation
:16:18. > :16:19.incomes growth is falling. Let's look at the more recent history of
:16:20. > :16:25.pay and rising prices in Britain. If we go back to the year 2000, you can
:16:26. > :16:29.see that earnings were consistently above the rate of inflation. On
:16:30. > :16:36.average people were better off. That came to an abrupt halt in 2008 when
:16:37. > :16:40.the financial crisis hit. Wages fell sharply and inflation rose as things
:16:41. > :16:46.like the cost of petrol went up. That led to this long period of pay
:16:47. > :16:52.squeeze. That did not come to an end until September, 2014. Until today
:16:53. > :16:57.wages have stayed above the cost of living, but the gap has been closing
:16:58. > :17:03.and today those lines crossed. Individual incomes on average are
:17:04. > :17:09.going down again. The big question for 2017 is whether wages respond to
:17:10. > :17:13.those two big pressures, fast rising inflation and very low unemployment.
:17:14. > :17:19.If they do not, we will see the pay freeze continue for some time and
:17:20. > :17:24.that is concerning. Is there a spark to the UK economy, away to produce
:17:25. > :17:29.more wealth from the hard hours we work? That relies on productivity
:17:30. > :17:33.going up, but the figures are down again. Until that problem is solved,
:17:34. > :17:40.the danger of a continued income freeze remains.
:17:41. > :17:44.This is Outside Source live from the BBC newsroom.
:17:45. > :17:53.President Trump has come out fighting after a week of damaging
:17:54. > :18:02.reports. He says no politician has ever been treated worse by the
:18:03. > :18:04.media. Let's take a breather from American politics and tell you about
:18:05. > :18:07.the new French government. The new French government
:18:08. > :18:09.has been announced. Women have been appointed to 11
:18:10. > :18:17.of the 22 positions, including those of defence,
:18:18. > :18:19.health and labour ministers. Secondly, Emmanuel Macron has been
:18:20. > :18:22.good to his word and recruited For example, here are
:18:23. > :18:26.the new economy, justice One is a socialist, another
:18:27. > :18:31.a centrist, another form the right The Republicans, by
:18:32. > :18:37.the way, aren't happy. The secretary general
:18:38. > :18:42.of Republican party says any of its members in the government
:18:43. > :18:47.will be kicked out. On French politics we often
:18:48. > :18:49.turn to Henri Astier He explained whether this
:18:50. > :19:04.was a surprising move. Usually the announcement of a new
:19:05. > :19:11.government after a presidential election is boring. People who are
:19:12. > :19:16.interested in who is in and who is out, who has been fast tracked will
:19:17. > :19:21.be interested, but usually it follows a fairly predictable script.
:19:22. > :19:27.The main event is the presidential election. After that you have a
:19:28. > :19:30.government that is nominated. A few weeks later the party of the
:19:31. > :19:37.president has got momentum and wins the legislative election and there
:19:38. > :19:43.we go. But now the announcement of the Cabinet is interesting. Why?
:19:44. > :19:47.Because the president has no party, odd does not have a party in
:19:48. > :19:52.parliament. He is creating one and he has got nothing in Parliament. So
:19:53. > :19:57.the announcement of this government is all about laying the groundwork
:19:58. > :20:02.towards the legislative election which will allow him to have a
:20:03. > :20:05.Parliamentary majority. Can a cabinet like that pulled from across
:20:06. > :20:13.the political spectrum be cohering in the way it pursues an agenda?
:20:14. > :20:20.That is the challenge. It really speaks to his whole outlook. He says
:20:21. > :20:24.the old left- right divide is over. We want to work with people, the
:20:25. > :20:30.moderates from the right and the centre, and the rest will be on the
:20:31. > :20:34.extreme. He wants to divide and rule his opponents on the right and left
:20:35. > :20:37.and work with them and he wants to create this big space in the centre
:20:38. > :20:42.and that is what this government is all about. It reminds me of the
:20:43. > :20:47.1990s and Tony Blair and Peter Mandelson talking about the third
:20:48. > :20:53.way. Yes and what Emanuel Macron stands for is this third way. He has
:20:54. > :20:58.got a Prime Minister who is on the centre-right. It is very important
:20:59. > :21:03.because his main challengers will be on the right. The left is in
:21:04. > :21:07.disarray and he does not need to divide it any more, that is already
:21:08. > :21:14.done. He wants to divide the right and he has done that and he has also
:21:15. > :21:19.given one of the leading jobs, the economy, to a centre-right figure.
:21:20. > :21:22.It was a pleasure to get him on, we will be talking to him again as
:21:23. > :21:24.Emanuel Macron goes about his business.
:21:25. > :21:27.She was jailed for leaking confidential documents to Wikileaks
:21:28. > :21:30.when she was an intelligence analyst for the US army.
:21:31. > :22:06.She's been released - Barack Obama commuted her sentence
:22:07. > :22:07.Amongst the information she passed to Wikileaks were hundreds
:22:08. > :22:07.of thousands of diplomatic cables like this one, published
:22:08. > :22:07.in the Guardian newspaper, detailing how diplomats were told
:22:08. > :22:10.to gather intelligence on the UN leadership.
:22:11. > :22:12.There was also this - video footage of an Apache
:22:13. > :22:15.helicopter killing 12 civilians in Baghdad in 2007.
:22:16. > :22:18.Rajini Vaidyanathan has been at the prison where Ms Manning spent
:22:19. > :22:29.Chelsea Manning was released under the cover of darkness in the early
:22:30. > :22:36.hours of this morning from the military prison here at Fort leave
:22:37. > :22:40.and wide in Kansas. She spent seven years inside, some of that in
:22:41. > :22:44.solitary confinement. Even though she was given a dishonourable
:22:45. > :22:47.discharge from the US military as part of her sentence, she will
:22:48. > :22:52.actually remain in active service and without pay and that is because
:22:53. > :22:56.her lawyers are appealing her conviction. While that appeal
:22:57. > :23:02.process takes place, she will stay on the US Army's books. Her
:23:03. > :23:04.supporters have hailed her a hero and the whistle-blower, but it is
:23:05. > :23:09.important to note that Chelsea Manning's release has divided
:23:10. > :23:16.opinion in America with many people, including Donald Trump, labelling
:23:17. > :23:24.perpetrated the compromised American security. Let's turn to Aleppo and
:23:25. > :23:28.we want to tell you what BBC Arabic has been doing with Nasa. It has try
:23:29. > :23:34.to document the impact of the six-year war on the city by looking
:23:35. > :23:40.at it from the sky. This is what Aleppo looked like in January 20 12.
:23:41. > :23:46.This video was released to show how the amount of light given off by the
:23:47. > :23:54.city decreases as the war increases and that is because of damage to the
:23:55. > :23:58.electrical grid. You may well recall last government forces made
:23:59. > :24:04.significant gains and the rebels had to leave and tens of thousands of
:24:05. > :24:08.civilians were also evacuated. BBC Arabic has been speaking to some of
:24:09. > :24:41.those people who fled the city about the experience of losing light.
:24:42. > :24:50.That report ends this edition of Outside Source. If you have a
:24:51. > :24:57.smartphone you can download the BBC app. All the latest information we
:24:58. > :24:59.will publish online from the BBC newsroom. I will see you tomorrow.
:25:00. > :25:02.Goodbye.