restore were able to do that and restore those dollars to the treasury. i have been very honoured. all we have accomplished here, credit goes to a great team and the hundreds of volu nteers great team and the hundreds of volunteers who have put in hours and hours to support this effort. our executive committee, vice chairs and staff. of the credit i can tell you goes to our president elect. sometimes people stop and on the street and say, how are you holding 7 street and say, how are you holding up? ican‘t street and say, how are you holding up? i can't imagine how busy you are. you have to understand that the energy and enthusiasm of donald trump is contagious. his energy and expectation has driven this transition effort. i'm proud to say we are at a place where we can name oui’ we are at a place where we can name our entire cabinet before that historic day tomorrow. ourjob was to make sure the president—elect had the opportunity to make decisions and assembled a team around him to make america great again. i have

been doing a small part of that. our job is to be ready on day one. the american people can be confident we will be. let me say to all of you, we look forward to seeing you tomorrow. it's going to be a very humbling and moving day. the president elect, his family, me and my family. we are all ready to go to work. we can't wait to get to work for the american people to make america a great again. thank you very much. studio: that is the vice president—elect saying the administration is going to be ready from day one. we are truly excited for tomorrow, there is an historic change coming, and it is infectious, the entire team is looking forward to this now we are 2a hours out of this. the president—elect continues

to make edits and additions to his inaugural address. we will have further updates for you on that but i know it was asked yesterday in the speech, it's going to be a very personal and sincere statement about his vision for the country. you'll discuss what it means to be an american, the challenges we face as members of the middle class. he'll talk about infrastructure, education, the manufacturing base. i think it's going to be less of an agenda, more a philosophical document, a vision of where he sees the country. the proper role of government committee role of citizens. look forward to that tomorrow. with respect to the action on capitol hill the vice president—elect was mentioning, the nominees continue to go to capitol hilland nominees continue to go to capitol hill and impressed the american people and united states senator with the calibre and quality of people the president—elect has chosen. scott pruitt was the best

choice for the epa, he'll restore it to its initial lawful mission. wilbur ross‘s experience will help turn the country around. his business know—how will make him a great commerce secretary. marco rubio said governor nikki haley will stand up for american values at the un. doctor tom pryce, stand up for american values at the un. doctortom pryce, it has stand up for american values at the un. doctor tom pryce, it has been said, if someone americans can finally work towards a patient centred health care with. today we have more activity on capitol hill, rick perry and stephen minish and will be on their, capitol hill, testifying. nobody understands the intersection of the us energy industry like former governor rick perry of texas. he is well—known to the senate and american people, there is a great deal of reform coming to washington and nothing sends the message stronger than nominating a leader like rick perry to ta ke nominating a leader like rick perry to take the helm will do. over his

30 year career in finance, stephen has a reputation of being a solution orientated leader and an excellent communicator. these qualities will serve him well as he works with congress and the administration to hand out a tax package that will spur economic growth, create jobs and help hard—working americans and businesses to compete on a global basis. we will have further staff announcements today, on the commission staff, the special assistance, deputies assistance, assistance, deputies assistance, assistance to the president, and we'll release some of the non—commissioned support staff. this morning we have officially filled a cabinet with the announcement of sonny perdue as the next secretary of agriculture. more staff announcements, personal notes i want to get through. we will announce today that dab kernel will remain as deputy assistant to the president and director of the... he has been

serving during the obama administration, the president—elect intends to make it a permanent position. the president—elect understands it's important to ensure the continuity of government so in addition to the appointments we've announced and will announce, the president—elect has asked over 50 individuals to stay in critical posts in government, included dark rob work, deputy secretary of defence. chuck rosenberg. nick rasmussen. thom shannon, under secretary of state for political affairs. susan, pitch, department of state, the office to monitor and combat trafficking of persons. brett mcguirk, special envoy for the global coalition to counter isis. cody kinsley, assistant secretary of management department treasury. of the individuals who will be staying aboard. for the time being,

until a replacement can be named. here's the rundown for events occurring today and tomorrow. keep in mind timing is approximate and continue to check the official schedule. today the president—elect, reince priebus, sarah armstrong, ceo of the presidential inaugural committee, mitch mcconnell, kevin mccarthy manned cabinet designee ‘s and white house senior staff will attend a leadership luncheon at the trump international hotel, a pool event. at 3pm the vice president elect and their families will attend a wreath—laying cemetery at arlington national cemetery. as 4pm they will attend the america great again rally and concert at the lincoln memorial. tomorrow the big day for everyone, the next inauguration day. begin with the

president—elect and his family, the vice president—elect and his family, cabinet designee ‘s, family and friends, an 8:30am church service right across from the white house. at 9:30am the president—elect and his family will attend a white house tea on the south portico of the white house. at 10:30pm they travel to the capital for the swearing—in. at 11pm the president—elect, vice president—elect and his family, attend the swearing—in on the west lawn of the us capitol building. at 1pm the president—elect, vice president—elect, first lady melania trump, second lady karen pence, will attend a luncheon at the us capitol. at 2:30pm they will attend a military review located at the us capitol at east front. at two and they will attend the inaugural parade in stands just outside of the white house. at 7pm, president trump, vice president pence, first

lady melania and second lady karen will attend the liberty and freedom what the washington convention centre. following that, the military ball. on saturday at approximately 10am, the president, vice president and their families will attend the national prayer service. at the washington national cathedral. over the weekend the incoming staff will be located here at the ptt to help support the transition. on the eve of the inauguration one point that is important, we have over 536 beachheads team members, individuals being placed into agencies and departments through the government. they've been identified to support those things. this is an unprecedented number of individuals who will be ready on day one as far back as we can see. it's important, as well as the individuals i met earlier, to ensure continuity of government and that we're ready on day one to get things happening. we intend to have the first briefing at

the white house on monday in the james brady briefing room. time to be announced. as a logistical note, i would say, during this weekend, we intend to have worked with the white house correspondents association so a pool camera is located here. should there be a need for briefing, this would be the location it would ta ke this would be the location it would take place to facilitate much easier logistics getting in and out. i know some of you are interested in getting your passes. we're working with the current white house, they've been very helpful, e—mail oui’ they've been very helpful, e—mail our team to help facilitate reporters who don't have hard passes to get in and out of the white house complex through the weekend. on monday the greater leeway we have in terms of timing is important. with respect to the cabinet, no question, we've noted before, the high quality and calibre of the individuals the president—elect has selected to leave his government. i think even the senate leadership on the democratic side admitted so much,

they talked about going out a few of them. what a shame right now is to see some of those individuals who we would call consensus candidates, people they didn't even find a problem with, like elaine chao, ben carson, nikki haley, suddenly not being part of senator schumer‘s list that he will work with to get done on day one. it's disappointing, these are people highly qualified, considered "consensus candidates" prior to a few weeks ago. it speaks volumes the democratic leadership is not working with us to ensure continuity of government. this was not the precedent set by senate republicans when they worked with the obama administration in 2008 to ensure president obama despite political differences got the cabinet of his choosing because they we re cabinet of his choosing because they were qualified individuals. i expect the same standard for our individuals and senator schumer should do the same, recognise this is more about continuity of government and ensuring qualified

individuals get voted on a sin as possible so we can lead the country forward. i'd be glad to take some of your questions, john roberts. yesterday you promised you would be able to shed more light on the first orders to the president. maybe give us some orders to the president. maybe give us some idea what's coming up on monday. i'll have to continue to update you, the president—elect is continuing to get briefed on some of the orders he wants to do. i think we've talked about that for a few months now. obamacare with the fight against isis. talked about immigration, key issues important to him through the campaign which will continue to be important in this administration. he is committed to not just a administration. he is committed to notjust a one but they administration. he is committed to not just a one but they too, administration. he is committed to notjust a one but they too, day three of enacting an agenda of real change. you'll see that in the days and weeks to come, he's trying to ensure a proper sequence of staff meeting with him about that. you'll see activity both tomorrow, over the

weekend, then monday, tuesday, wednesday. it's going to be a robust not just a wednesday. it's going to be a robust notjust a one, but first wednesday. it's going to be a robust not just a one, but first week, first month, probably first term. do you know how many of tomorrow's orders... i think the president—elect is still working through which ones he wants to deal with tomorrow versus monday or tuesday. we'll try to get a readout of those going forward. there is a lot to be done. i would like to know if we are going to the white house press, the press corps, if they are still going to work at the west wing. as you can tell by today, there is a tremendous interest. an unprecedented interest in covering this president. the demand and enthusiasm to understand the agenda he has underway is going to be doing it is frankly unprecedented. we've tried to be accommodating and looked at additional room space. as previously announced, we'll post the first meeting in the james briefing

room, it'll be cramped, i imagine, but that's where we'll hold the first couple of briefings. hope that a nswe rs first couple of briefings. hope that answers you. can you confirm the president—elect has plans to go to the cia to "make nice" after everything that has happened. i'm sorry? cecilia asked whether he had plans to go to the cia. i'm sure at some point shortly he will. notjust the cia, but a lot of the departments. i mentioned during the briefing the president continues to be humbled by the people who served this nation and the work they do, so many times, without proper recognition for the sacrifices they make in terms of time. many could make in terms of time. many could make more in the private sector but they continue to serve the government. their enthusiasm to serve in government and be part of this administration has got great by the day. so many people have submitted a resume and said they wa nt to submitted a resume and said they want tojoin submitted a resume and said they want to join the military because they've been inspired by the

president—elect‘s message. notjust cia, but several departments, he's going to visit and make sure he tells them how much he appreciates their service to our country, commitment to acting an agenda of change. and recognise how much they do for this country. it's notjust going to be the cia, but a lot of activity throughout not just the first week, the first month and the first week, the first month and the first year, making it a priority to thank so many of the people who serve our government. so many people who volunteer time in various ways to serve this nation. paid and unpaid. does the president-elect feel there needs to be some fence mending on behalf of bug with the intelligence community. he's been clear in the statement he put out the friday he got the briefing, he respects the work and diligence of the intelligence community. the men and women who so often serve in the intelligence community without recognition because of the nature of the work they do something he has a

true understanding of the sacrifice they make. he's been very clear while he may have differences with the leadership of the intelligence community, the work of the individuals, the men and women who tirelessly support the analysis and readings of the intelligence community, it's something he'll continue to show his support and banks for. your list of cabinet picks is the first since 1988 that doesn't include any hispanics. you got a question about this yesterday as well. what do you say to hispanic groups concerned about that, and what do you say about the criticism this undercuts president trump's argument he's here to serve all americans? he and keep the question. when you look at the totality of his administration, the people he's talked to, the people he's met with, he's appointing, you see a president committed to unite in this country, bringing the best and brightest together. look at the cabinet. elaine chao, doctor ben carson,

governor nikki haley, the first indian—american. number one thing americans should focus on, is he having the best and brightest, people committed to enacting real respecting taxpayers, bringing about an agenda that will create jobs and wages? what you're seeing and going to continue to seek notjust through the cabinet, is a diversity in gender, in thinking, a diversity of ideology. it's not just gender, in thinking, a diversity of ideology. it's notjust about skin colour, ethnic heritage, look at the totality of this cabinet, indian—american, african american, asian american, it's about a lot of things. you could start to pick out one things. you could start to pick out u things. you could start to pick out one group and say, where is the percentage of that? look at the totality of the people he's bringing infour totality of the people he's bringing in four senior staff positions, cabinet, subcabinet, we're going to have 5000 positions. you can pick out one subset but if you look at the totality of the diversity he's

bringing in, i would say it's probably something to hold up second to none. given some of his comments about latinos come immigration, it's such a hot button topic. why not make it a priority? it is a priority. it's a very narrow way to look at it and say if you don't appoint people to this particular position it's a problem. i mentioned the level of diversity throughout, not just the cabinet, the level of diversity throughout, notjust the cabinet, his staff, the other appointments he's going to make. i guarantee as we continue to announce this that problem will be something people look out and respect the level of diversity through his entire administration. inaudible studio: we'll leave that news conference, sean spicer, the incoming press secretary at the white house, giving an idea of what we might expect as donald trump's

inauguration speech tomorrow, saying it would be an exploration, a philosophical exploration of the nature émf—fca" what america stands - sean it is america stands for. sean spicer, the incoming white house press secretary. you can watch coverage of donald trump's inauguration as 45th president of the us on bbc news, coverage beginning at 3pm from washington, with katty kay. with the new president due to be sworn in at 5pm uk time. the foreign office has confirmed six britons have died following a road accident in saudi arabia. a spokesman said several more british nationals who were injured were receiving help. the victims are all thought to have been on a pilgrimage when their minibus crashed while travelling between mecca and medina. with me is our middle east analyst sebastian usher. what more can you tell us?|j

what more can you tell us? i spoken to the company which arranged the tour, which is based in manchester, they say they had 12 people on the money best —— minibus. six people died on the way between the two holy cities in saudi arabia, an infant among those killed. the driver has also been injured. he's not in a state to give any information about what happened in the accident. they'd been in mecca for five days doing the "lesser pilgrimage", no way to medina where they would go to the mosque of the prophet muhammad and then they were due to fly back from jeddah, where people flying to saudi arabia to do pilgrimage as saudlarabia to do pilgrimage as , , saudlarabia to do oilgrimags as , , as..- any aas any sense i what road safety is like in saudi arabia? very bad, it's been a problem for many years. it's interesting because it's not that the roads are bad, they are

often extraordinary committed huge, great highways. the enforcement of rules is not good. people speech, people do all sorts of crazy things on the road. i mean, there are many saudi families who have been touched by tragedy is on the road. the latest figures from a couple of yea rs latest figures from a couple of years ago were that almost 7000 people died in road accidents in one year, about 17 per day. the saudis have long pushed to do something about this. but they are dealing, in about this. but they are dealing, in a sense, with this problem within society itself of rules and obeying rules. there is some discrepancy between what saudis can do and get away with and expatriates, which is away with and expatriates, which is a complicating factor. the tour company says it's the first accident they've been involved in in almost 15 years of running tours there. sebastian usher, middle east a nalyst, sebastian usher, middle east analyst, thanks for that. conservative—controlled surrey

council is to hold a referendum on whether to increase council tax by fifteen per cent — to fund improved social care in the county. the council says it has a "huge gap" in its budget as a result of cuts by westminster. the area includes the constituencies of the chancellor philip hammond and the health secretaryjeremy hunt. we can talk to alex wilde, research director of the taxpayers alliance, which campaigns for lower taxation. thanks for being with us, what are your thoughts on this referendum, then? 15% rise, how would you vote? i would vote against it and i think a lot of people will be voting against it. it's the first time an actual council has tried this but the only sort of thing we've got to go on, how this may go, was a referendum in bedfordshire, police and crime commission wanted 15% increase to their precept and it was

rejected by 70—30. i don't think it's going to be a particularly competitive referendum but if anyone was going to do it, it was going to be surrey council. they've increased council tax in 19 of the past 20 yea rs. council tax in 19 of the past 20 years. it's 85% higher than 1996. it's not a council which... years. it's 85% higher than 1996. it's not a council which. .. they are not doing it because they want to, they are doing it not doing it because they want to, they are do lagers", —— not doing it because they want to, they are do lagers", 5“ the — bodgsthastrmnafo’rfhf government, the central government, by £170 million. they say they have a huge gap in the budget, particularly they need to be able to pay for adult social care, learning disabilities and children's services. those are not unique challenges to sorry council. if we

had accounts like windsor and maidenhead, wandsworth, hammersmith and fulham, saying this, we would have given it more credibility. this isa have given it more credibility. this is a council that routinely hikes council tax, they waste huge amounts of money. i think it's probably sorry is a bit of a 1—party state. they think they can get away with this but i think they are going to get a bloody nose because 15%, £200 is just get a bloody nose because 15%, £200 isjust an get a bloody nose because 15%, £200 is just an extraordinary amount. get a bloody nose because 15%, £200 isjust an extraordinary amount. you it only sorry but the local government association say many town halls have found themselves with a shortfall and may have to ask for more council tax. saying the local government association, it can't be left to council tax payers alone to fix these problems. some of that is fairenough, fix these problems. some of that is fair enough, this is going to

require, the social care situation, a longer term solution. in the interim, the government has already given councils the opportunity to go toali% given councils the opportunity to go to a 4% increase. without having to call a referendum. many councils are doing that, indeed, so we did it last year. it really is a case of some councils being a lot better than others. early in the week we heard hammersmith and fulham council, a labour council, is freezing council tax. why is it they are able to cope so much better than sorry council, which routinely increases tax and waste huge amounts of money and paid themselves a lot of money and paid themselves a lot of money? if you look at the chief executive a couple of years ago, his pay package was worth £247 a year, it was deemed insufficient, so it went up to £252,000 a year, not a council with a good track record of

providing value and running things efficiently. thank you very much. specialist mountain rescue teams are shovelling through huge mounds of snow and debris after a hotel in italy was hit by an avalanche. at least three people have died and 30 more are still missing from the mountain resort in the central region of abruzzo. the area was hit by four earthquakes yesterday — and further tremors were reported overnight. bad weather from recent storms has brought down power lines and cut off villages. the first rescuers arrived at the hotel on skis frankie mccamley reports. buried in snow, barely visible, this is the 3—storey hotel hit by last night's avalanche. unrecognisable to what it had looked like before. now inside, the extent of the damage is becoming clear. up to 20 people were staying in the

hotel rigopiano along with seven members of staff. but faced with bad weather, it took rescuers hours to get here. translation: the hotel was reached at 4:30am by courageous men who faced unbearable situations. they reached a place and saved two people. they are now working to bring the means of transport that are difficult to bring. on skis, in the early hours, mountain rescue teams faced snowstorms to get to the area hit.