top story... you are watching bbc world news. the top story... north and south korea have agreed to march under the same flag at next month's winter olympics in south korea. the arrangement is a sign of thawing relations which began with north korean leader kim jong and offering to send a team to the games in the new year speech. a former cia officer has been arrested in the us on charges retaining classified information that is linked to a case thought to be linked to a case thought to be linked to a case thought to be linked to the crippling of spies operations in china. this video is trending on the website... to celebrate, images have been projected onto the window of a skyscraper. more to come here and bbc world news. you are watching bbc news, it has just gone bbc world news. you are watching bbc news, it hasjust gone half bbc world news. you are watching bbc news, it has just gone half past midnight. it is time for hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk,

i'm stephen sackur. the white house has never before seen a president like donald trump. he doesn't play by any conventional political rules. that much is obvious from his twitter feed, from his hiring and firing of staff, and his apparent relish for outrage. my guest today is anthony scaramucci, the white house director of communications for all of 11 days before he was fired in a media firestorm. but the mooch has stayed loyal to his former boss. why? anthony scaramucci, welcome to hardtalk.

it's good to be back. do you believe that donald trump is a president that the american people can be proud of? yeah, i mean listen, we're in a polarised country, so certainly 40—60% of the people are not going to like the president at any given time, i think that's been true unfortunately for the last 30 years. but yeah, if you look at the diagnostics of what's going on in the last year in terms of the economic growth, the wage increases, the fact that he's tackling, or at least handling, are adverse areas, and trying to build strong alliances with our allies, i think yes. there's a lot to be proud of. we'll talk economy and foreign policy, but i want to begin with the style and tone of this presidency.

arguably the most important job in the world. do you believe that he is handling it in the right way? you have to remember, go back to the campaign, the candidate then was front of 17 other potential candidates and the constant remark... i don't want you to go back to the campaign, what happens... i think it's important. stephen, he would have never been president... this whole notion of acting presidential, tweeting presidential versus not acting presidential, he would have never been president if he didn't take his combative style into that campaign, knock out the 17 competitors, knock out secretary clinton, then arrive in the white house. the man is the president. you call it combative style, but if we're going to be specific, we talk about the kind of behaviour which leads him in a meeting with congressional leaders on immigration to use a word that i'm not even

going to use, that is so directly to so many people. so disgusting that it has caused furore around the world. have you ever used that word before? i've never been president of the united states. ok, but have you used the word before? it's not a word i use, no. even if i had what has that got to do with it? here is the sanctimony with the whole thing for me, ok, i grew up in a neighbourhood, we used tough language in the neighbourhood i grew up in. he grew up in a neighbourhood, in queens. he used tough language. he's used tough language his entire career. so now he's in a private setting, we're in this sort of crazy world now of social media and constant leaking. everybody is now their own media expert and their cellphone is effectively a recording studio. and so now the president can't have a private conversation. he's speaking to the australian prime minister, there's three people in the room, it gets leaked to the washington post. so you're telling me that president obama

never used a curse word? rahm emanuel never used a curse word. you're missing my point. it's not the fact that it's a curse word, it's the context in which it was used. he was basically saying, why do we have... i'm not missing the point, i'm addressing the sanctimony and the righteousness, ok. because what we're doing now in our society is we're tabulating every syllable and tabulating what people say. we've now decided we want a portal into everybody‘s personal life and a portal into everybody‘s private discretionary conversations, and then when they say something that isn't discreet, we set our hairs on fire, we run around the world with our hair on fire. let me stop you. you've got viewers that talk like that. let me stop you for a second. what you seem to be saying is that a comment which in context was seen to be racist, notjust by his democratic opponents, but by republicans, some of them in that room as well, by the united nations, by the african nations he appeared to be referring to... around the world the

feeling was this was racism. and you're telling me you can't call up racism when it comes from the president of the united states. first of all it's not racism. i don't know if you said it all he didn't, because i wasn't in the room. there is mixed reports on whether or not he said it. senator cotton didn't hear it. senator durbin said that he heard it. let's just litigate and stipulate that he said it for the point of this conversation. the point is, he's not a racist. i've known the guy for 25 years, people in our community here in new york know he's not a racist. let's look at some of mr trump's words and actions in the course of his presidency. he characterised mexican immigrants as rapists and criminals. he pardoned joe arpaio, the arizona sheriff who was convicted federal court of using, in an unacceptable fashion, racial profiling. he responded to a neo—nazi rally

in cha rlottesville by referring to some fine people. when there was violence afterwards he said there was blame on many sides. he retweeted anti—muslim propaganda videos from an extreme far right british organisation. this is a pattern. last week he signed declarations to widen the ceremony of the martin luther king birthday, which we are celebrating today in the united states. he's got guys like pastor darrell scott and pastor mark burns on his side. nfl football player jim brown said he would be the quarterback of urban renewal in the united states. he campaigned in the urban areas and said give me a chance. and so what has happened now, which no one wants to report about, is that african—american unemployment in the united states is at the 35 year low. when african—americans like the former chief of the republican national committee, michael steele, say, quote, trump has captured the racist underbelly of american life and

given voice to it... does that not give you pause? well again... there is a question on the table about his style. there is a 40—60% of the american people, michael steele could be one of them, doesn't like his style. now we've got to talk about substance and you have to look at the substance, as you said, actions over words. the guy does not act as a racist. the guy does not act as a racist. the policies that he has put in place are not racist. as i said, african american unemployment is at a35 african american unemployment is at a 35 year low. he is doing something right in that community. so, listen. you do not like his style? most people, the american media do not like his style and i understand that but the style he has got him to the american presidency. i could be in the oval office with him, i was only there 11 days but they were pretty eventful, for me. i can tell you

that you could talk to him about his tweeting and he would have a joke about it, asking, did it sound presidential? i'm an upfront guy, i ama presidential? i'm an upfront guy, i am a new yorker like him and i said no, but he said, if it sounded presidential, i would no, but he said, if it sounded presidential, iwould not no, but he said, if it sounded presidential, i would not be the president. you have introduced the melodrama that came with your hiring and pretty rapid firing as communications... it was like a telephone of other! it had a soap opera feel to it. you can look back on it. it seems that what happened with you in body is everything that michael wolff talks about in the book, fire and fury. it is about a white house that was utterly dysfunctional, chaotic and failing in its basic tasks of governments. —— governance. in its basic tasks of governments. -- governance. it is they totally ridiculous book. i would say that

there was truth in it but why would he let truth get in the wake of a good story? he would regard you as probably the most preposterous hiring in the west wing?” probably the most preposterous hiring in the west wing? i know what he wrote about me, god bless him. the truth was i was in the west wing and he wasn't. this guy is a terrible journalist. i and he wasn't. this guy is a terriblejournalist. i give him credit that he wrote a salacious and fictionalised book that he characterised as nonfiction. and he got himself to the top of the bestseller list. he made himself some money. he hurt you, stephen. he heard me? yes, because you are a credible journalist and he heard me? yes, because you are a crediblejournalist and he is in your community. you went down in flames having come into the office and indeed, you told a bbc colleague of mine that you were sick of the backstabbing. he said, where i come from, iam a backstabbing. he said, where i come from, i am a front stabber and implying that you would be straight, you would not indulge in the leaks, you would not indulge in the leaks, you saw those coming from previous

and steve bannon, all of those around you —— rhys previous. but you we re around you —— rhys previous. but you were saying the most extraordinary things about your colleagues in the white house... you think i wouldn't say those things to those people directly? hold on a second. i said every single thing that i said to that reporter to reince priebus and the report directly. i went right after those guys. as you told the new yorker, i cannot use the phrase but it involves a contortion and a sex act... i used the words but they we re sex act... i used the words but they were off the record... exactly, you we re were off the record... exactly, you were backstabbing off the record. were off the record... exactly, you were backstabbing off the recordlj were backstabbing off the record.” was front stabbing, you think i didn't tell those guys to their face is how i felt? you were the director

of communications, you were meant to be putting a new and efficient face on the white house. the president hired me to help him to remove several of the biggest the cup throw inside of the administration. let's go back to that time —— the biggest lea kers. go back to that time —— the biggest leakers. the go back to that time —— the biggest lea kers. the warfare go back to that time —— the biggest leakers. the warfare taking place in the months of april, may, june, mid—july, they were ridiculous. it was unfair to the president. they we re was unfair to the president. they were leaking every bit of information. the guy couldn't have a private phone conversation without it being late. you are trying to accuse me of doing something behind their back. i didn't do anything behind their back. i have met with them at 9:30am in the chief of staff's office and told them exactly how i felt. and what of staff,

reince priebus, got fired... don't accuse me of backstabbing when i hit them in the face and told them exactly how i feel. you were involved in the firing of reince priebus and he was replaced by generaljohn kelly. his number one priority when he walked into the west wing was to fire you. absolutely right. what a humiliating episode of your life. in some ways but understanding in others. i'm an american business person, not a politician. i went in, the president gave me a job, i handled it how a ceo and entrepreneur award. i didn't handle it as a deft political operative. the president told me to ta ke operative. the president told me to take control of the leakers. general kerry is more of a military person andi kerry is more of a military person and i am an entrepreneur. it wasn't going to work. he fired me quickly. i give going to work. he fired me quickly. igive him going to work. he fired me quickly. i give him a lot of credit. this is what is interesting about you. you

call it humiliating, i call it a reality —based decision that someone made as they try to reorganise staff andi made as they try to reorganise staff and i took it like a man. people around the president, in the administration, the secretary of state, finance secretary, former senior staffers, they all say that this guy is fundamentally not suited orfit to be president. this guy is fundamentally not suited or fit to be president. you are sourcing that outside of the michael wolff book? yes. i know each of those people individually, i don't believe they have said that about the president. maybe they have but i do not believe it. people say things in conversation and it could be colloquial orjoking but what happens now, there is an open mike and a hot mike everywhere in our society. every syllable is measured and every society. every syllable is measured a nd every sylla ble society. every syllable is measured and every syllable becomes tattooed ink in yourforum. i do think it is a bit ridiculous that we are doing back to each other at this point in our civilisation. in all honesty,

now that you are away from the white house, does the president have the intellect and character, and the temperament, to be commander—in—chief and president of the united states. he obviously does... obviously? looking at the economic and national security and you picked the responsibilities that the president has... there is a vital point about the state of the economy. what about the national security situation? the north koreans are negotiating with the south koreans. for 25 years, we let that go. the former administration called the strategic patience, the president of the united states said no more. he has the bomb, he has the capabilities to launch a large mystic missile into the united states. —— ballistic missile. mystic missile into the united

states. -- ballistic missile. when president trump... tweets out... saying that my nuclear button is bigger than yours and it works, he refers to the leader of north korea as "little rocket man", you are telling me this is part of a well thought out strategy? let me put your viewers at ease and the global community. when he is doing that, somebody like don junior or myself, we look at that and we laugh. we get thejoke embedded we look at that and we laugh. we get the joke embedded inside we look at that and we laugh. we get thejoke embedded inside of we look at that and we laugh. we get the joke embedded inside of that and get the sarcasm laced inside of it. we do not mike reiner lies it like liberal journalists —— do we do not mike reiner lies it like liberaljournalists —— do not micro a nalyses liberaljournalists —— do not micro analyses it like liberal journalists. when he says it is a bigger button than the others, it is pa rt bigger button than the others, it is part of his personality. you might not like it but he is 71 years old and he believes, and i also believe, that he uses twitter to jump over mainstream media, to directly

message the people who voted for him. he will continue to do that. use that phrase about the mainstream media, it's fair to say that donald trump continues to fight a war against what he routinely calls "the fa ke against what he routinely calls "the fake news media". as director of communications for all of ii fake news media". as director of communications for all of 11 days but if you were still in the job, would you say to donald trump, mr president, it isn't wise to dismiss the so—called mainstream media as nothing more than peddlers of fake news? let's offer a balanced perspective, in the first year of his presidency, about 73—74% of the mainstream media is negatively biased towards the president. that is an objective standard, not me saying it. it creates some soreness inside of the administration but still, despite that, if i was there and in the time that i was there i thought it was absolutely a bad

strategy to declare war on the media. steve bannon declared war on the media. he made that statement earlier on and said that they were an opposition party... day after day, week after week... he describes the media as the fake news media.” do think that unfortunately, until you are a victim of fake news, you do not really totally understand it. you seem to suggest that donald trump's strategy right now isn't working for him and it is a mistake? i suggested inside and outside of the white house that the president does not need to declare war on the media. i was only there i! does not need to declare war on the media. i was only there 11 days but one of the first things i did was turned the camera is back on the lights on in the press room. the way the system is setup, we have a fourth estate known as the american media, the first moment of the

united states, the freedom of speech, to hand check people in power. the president is media savvy. you should take a step back from that, and say, i can have an adversarial relationship with the media without war declaration. what iam media without war declaration. what i am worried about is good news for the president, he had roughly the same approval rating is barack obama at the end of the year. you can dispute the polling but, let me finish, i will make the point even better than you would make it. this is what i worry about. barack obama lost 63 seats in the 2010 mid—term congressional elections. some of that as a supporter of the president, someone who is a lifelong republican, i would make the case that we had to reinvigorate the party and switch strategies right now, because of his popularity and if it does not improve going into those elections, they will be tough elections. you seem to say if the

republicans do not find a strategy of distancing themselves from mr trapp, they will be in trouble?” think the opposite, the candidates who have embraced him have done better. those distancing themselves have done worse. you have to start connecting now with the american people and what i am calling the dashboard of success for the trump administration and the republicans in congress. if you do not do that, history is up against you. if you look at ronald reagan, or barack obama, or george w bush, i will use an obama term, they were all shall act in the mid—term elections. an obama term, they were all shall act in the mid-term elections. you said that you were a media circuit when you needed to be and would be more involved but in every election capability then from inside of the

administration. why are you suggesting that with your record, and donald trump with his record, kurt seriously expect —— could seriously expect to be re—elected? it would be a landslide real action. the way that the american political system works, it is nearly impossible to defeat a sitting president unless you have a calamitous situation like a depression or a historic rise... you are standing with the american public in the middle of historic lows! i said is roughly the same approval rating that barack obama had... he may not even completely first term. we live in the same universe, that's why i want him to fight back and when he wins we will p0p fight back and when he wins we will pop champagne together. he will win the re—election because he has the right policies for the american people and, by the way, before the cameras were rolling we were talking

about governor romney, who i supported. he was a great candidate for president but almost impossible to be an incumbent president in a rising economic situation. you can go back to 1880 and it doesn't happen. you are an extraordinary promoter of the trump cause but i will end with this quote...” promoter of the trump cause but i will end with this quote... i am talking facts with you. this is a republican, senatorjeff flake, he has split with donald trump, he thinks that trump is very bad for america. he knows that he will not be renominated. he cannot get re—elected. be renominated. he cannot get re-elected. because he has basically killed his own career by making a stand, he said that there are times when we must risk our careers in favour of principle, and when the next generation asks us, why did you do something? and he means, do something about trump, why did you speak up? what are you going to say?

that i enabled the sky? again, you don't like his style. the senator does not like his style, i grew up with people like him, i get the difference between the brashness and style a nd difference between the brashness and style and capability and action. i predict that over the next three yea rs, predict that over the next three years, the capability and process and the action will overwhelm people. he is going to switzerland next week, he is embracing the global community and is at the intersection of globalism where he wa nts pea ce intersection of globalism where he wants peace and prosperity for the world. he has an america first strategy for workers. you don't like his style, i get that. or his tweeting, i get that. senator flake does not like it but let's measure him on substance and when he wins real action, you will invite me back. we can have and i told you so moment, like everyone had when he

they said he would not win in the first place. come what may, we will invite you back. anthony scaramucci, we will invite you back. i'm talking fa ct we will invite you back. i'm talking fact promotion, not trump promotion. let's make that clear. top son of a bitch, you see why we call him bbc break balls? hello, the weather will cause problems for commuters first thing on thursday morning thank you to a rapidly deepening area of low pressure. squeeze together across eastern counties of england, the winds will be at their strongest there, especially across east anglia and the south—east. coastal areas

with wind gusts of potentially 75 miles an hour, not far off inland areas. that could bring down some trees. power cuts a possibility, due to the windy weather. across the far north of england, southern areas of scotland, there will be snow causing problems. with 5—10 centimetres of fresh know around, we could have some disruption across high—level brutes first thing in the morning. —— high—level routes. you may want to be extra time for your commute. icy conditions first thing in the morning. snow showers in western areas. a number of snow showers piling in across northern ireland. and high ground, the pennines and the peak district of northern england. strong winds in easter knowing —— in east anglia. there will be a few showers working into southern wales and across south—west england. as i say, it is going to be one of those mornings whether it is due to the snow locally or strong

winds, either way we could see a couple of problems out and about. through the rest of the day, the weather becomes straightforward as the fierce winds work across the netherlands. that could bring some disruption at schiphol airport, if you are flying there, check before travelling. through the day, it stays wintry. wintry showers in the north and west. temperatures struggling in northern areas. it is even colder when you factor in the strength of the wind. as we go through thursday evening and overnight, snow showers, if anything, could get heavy across scotla nd anything, could get heavy across scotland and northern ireland, with further significant accumulations of snow building up. elsewhere, temperatures take a dive. ice could be an issue as we head into the first part of friday morning. on friday, a similar look to the weather. brisk winds, plenty of wintry showers in the north—west of the uk. some sunshine but even across parts of england we could see across parts of england we could see a couple of wintry showers fishing in from time to time. at the weekend, this ridge of high pressure

is followed by this atlanta weather front. the weekend comes in a package of two halves. largely dry, a spell of rain, telling milder. potentially some snow on the leading edge of this weather system. that's all you weather. i'm rico hizon in singapore. this is newsday. the headlines: thawing relations as north and south korea agree to march together under one flag at the winter olympics. the us arrests a former cia officer suspected of exposing its spy network in china. i'm babita sharma in london. also in the programme: powerful stories of abuse at the sentencing of a usa former gymnastics team doctor. and sharing a stitch in time: france is set to loan britain the world—famous bayeux tapestry.