you're watching beyond 100 days... a no good, very bad, terrible day for donald trump as his legal problems explode. he tries to shrug it off with a tweet but this is the most tumultuous moment in his presidency so far. after his former lawyer pleads guilty to campaign finance violations, mr trump, for the first time is implicated in a crime. and michael cohen could have more damaging information to spill. and trump's former campaign manager has his own calculation to make — found guilty of financial crimes he can now only hope for a presidential pardon. also... the white house strategy is to cast cohen as a liar. the president says he only knew about the payments after the event. did you know about the payments? later on i knew. you have to understand, what he did, he didn't ta ke understand, what he did, he didn't take it out of the campaign finance,

thatis take it out of the campaign finance, that is a big thing. we'll ask what damage it may do politically ahead of the mid terms. within the president's core base they appear, for now, to be sticking by him. millions of people break the law here. but he's the president of the united states? well, he's human too. get in touch with us using the hashtag... 'beyond—one—hundred—days' hello and welcome. i'm katty kay in washington and christian fraser is in london. donald trump is trying to brush off the events of the past 2a hours, but make no mistake, this has been the most consequential day in his presidency so far. it is possibly also the most damaging. there are still a lot of questions about what this means for donald trump, both politically and legally and we will get to them all in this programme. what we do know is that two men who were both close to mr trump got tangentially swept up in the mueller investigation and have now been declared guilty. it is not good news for the white house. here's our north america editorjon sopel like an episode of 2a,

a blockbuster drama played out in a most momentous five minutes that could shake this gene presidency. at a courthouse in new york donald trump's long—term lawyer and mr fixit michael cohen pleads guilty to a series of crimes and implicates the president. 200 miles south in another federal courtroom, his one—time campaign manager paul manafort is found guilty of a series of tax fraud charges. in washington itself the president is being swept out of the white house to fly to west virginia, rocked by the unfolding events. paul manafort, who ran the campaign in the run—up to the election faced a lengthy jail sentence. but no doubt the big deal is michael cohen because of what he said in court. under oath he said in effect the president instructed him to breakfederal law in buying the silence of a porn star and playboy model. what he did was he worked to pay

money to silence two women who had information that he believed would be detrimental to the 2016 campaign and the candidate and the campaign. and mr cohen's lawyer is making clear he has more to say on other issues. he has matters that would be of interest to the special council relating to pre—knowledge of computer hacking by donald trump. which, if true, if true, would constitute knowledge of a crime committed by a foreign government in hacking our computers which was part of the indictment of 12 russians that the special council has already published. when donald trump arrived in west virginia he did not talk about michael cohen, only his former campaign manager. i feel very badly for paul manafort, he worked for bob dole and ronald reagan, he worked for many people. this is the way it ends up. at the rally there were familiar

chants which seemed a little ironic given the circumstances. chanting: drain the swamp, they chanted. and this from the president. fake news and the russian witchhunt, we've got a whole big combination. where is the collusion? you know, they are still looking for a collusion, where is the collusion? find some collusion. this morning he took to twitter, taking aim at michael cohen and defending paul manafort. and with some gallows humour, this... donald trump returned last night

to a storm tossed washington. it's been his darkest 2a hours as the legaljeopardy around him grew significantly. well, just a short time ago president trump sat down for an interview with fox news and had this to say about the michael cohen case. didn't you know about the payments? later on i knew, later on. what you have to understand, what he did, and they weren't taken out of campaign finance, that is a much bigger thing, they didn't come out of the campaign and it came from me. i tweeted about it. i tweeted about the payments. that was the first response from donald trump. let's show you the white house briefing room. and jon joins us now

from the white house. what do you think the emerging white house strategy is? i think you have got kind of two fold strategy. 0n the one hand you have everything being done to discredit michael cohen as large as possible, paint him asa cohen as large as possible, paint him as a liar, someone flaky and unreliable. in the hope then that robert miller is not interested in the test to me michael cohen has got to give. what you have got, it is my man is available anything you want to discuss with him, the trump tower meeting, the hacking of e—mails and all the other issues, were a p pa re ntly all the other issues, were apparently michael cohen has things to say. the other part of it is to build up manafort. paul manafort has come out as a victim of this as if tax fraud didn't matter because it was 12 years ago and it's not a big

problem. what we havejust was 12 years ago and it's not a big problem. what we have just heard from backlit is for the president to say, i did have limited knowledge and is not a campaign issue because he paid out of his own pocket. that would still require some legal exploration. he is trying to say to his supporters, i am in charge of this, it is fine, it is a witchhunt, even though the problems have become more intense. that conversation and talk today in washington that this isa talk today in washington that this is a watergate moment for this administration. is there a sense in the white house that things have quantifiable he shifted in terms of legal jeopardy for the quantifiable he shifted in terms of legaljeopardy for the president? people bandy around the phrase, it isa people bandy around the phrase, it is a watergate moment and people put on the word gate as a suffix with any sniff of a scandal in the past.

but it is a watergate moment. what we have is a lawyer, the president's mrfix it, but he we have is a lawyer, the president's mr fix it, but he was directed by the president to break the law. it is as serious an allegation as you can make. the president cannot be indicted, according to most constitutional experts, but he can be impeached. there are a whole pile of legal questions that have piled up of legal questions that have piled upfor of legal questions that have piled up for the president as a result of the testimony michael cohen has given. that is why there is an effort to discredit him and why it is so serious because of what michael cohen has said. as well they would look at what the president said on air force one about the payments and they will look up the paper trail. now they have his former council on oath saying he was directed to do this. so it is a very difficult line to spin he only knew about these payments afterwards?

this may not be about the law, this may be about public relations, this may be about public relations, this may be about convincing enough republican supporters there is nothing to see, to move on. which was broadly speaking the rudy giuliani line last night. the government haven't accused him of anything and michael cohen is a liar. that was the approach from rudy giuliani last night. it is about convincing enough donald trump supporters that this is a getup, nothing to see here and the president hasn't done anything wrong. what we see as a legal argument is now being played out in the of public relations. jon sopel, thank you very much. and for more on the legal and political fallout of this we are joined now by constitutional law professorjonathan turley and ron christie who served as an advisor to george w bush. ron christie, at the same question i gave tojon sopel, people are talking about watergate moments, is this one for one of this president?

no, it is too soon. we have manafort who was convicted in a trial. but you have mr cohen, the fix it guy who never went to trial, he took a deal. the notion the president cannot defend himself in the court of law against these accusations, i don't think it rises to a watergate moment at this point. yet we have michael cohen's own lawyer saying he can give more to prosecutors. what more does michael cohen know about his years of relationship with donald trump and during the campaign that could be potentially damaging to this president? there had better be more because i think cohen does wa nt be more because i think cohen does want a deal. you can cooperate at any point, even after a year of your sentence and get a cut in sentencing. he gave a lot up in the courtroom, he seemed eager to implicate the president and that testimony is logged in. the plea bargains are not going to buy the

cow bargains are not going to buy the cow for giving the milk away for free. he went in and he gave the most damaging thing he had on the record, without any prompting. he clearly wanted to do that. can he deliver on some of these issues? no one is that certain that cohen has anything that could justify a cutdown on time, but he is shopping for a deal. this is an important moment in terms of the president legally, because for the first time the president is implicated in a proven crime, is that correct? but those supporters saying it is not that serious, they are not paying attention. michael cohen isn't a credible witness. if what he was saying yesterday is true, then what he has been saying for the last year isa he has been saying for the last year is a lie. if he has some corroboration to what he said in that courtroom, we will look at something that will metastasise very quickly and something that will go

badly. the republicans haven't been great in holding this administration to account, but these are very serious charges and they may amount to high crimes and misdemeanours, so what do the chairs of thejustice committee and the oversight committee, what do they do about this? the reaction on capitol hill has been very muted. ronald hatch, one of the most senior republicans has said it hasn't reached impeachment. we will see a lot of people take a look back and say, let's watch and wait and see what develops in the coming weeks. jonathan, i know you set in the camp that a sitting president can be indicted, andi that a sitting president can be indicted, and i think you are in the minority, but do you think for the first time, perhaps through a years of this presidency, it might be tested at the supreme court?|j of this presidency, it might be tested at the supreme court? i would bet against it because i don't think

they will take that course. limitations will go on beyond the first time. as a criminal defence attorney, the last you want to be is the last in a prosecution lie because that is the strongest case the prosecution will bring. in the meantime he can dump this evidence into a report to congress, just as the house might be switching hands over to the democrats. jonathan, both of these cases are tangential to the centre of the robert mueller investigation which is did donald trump collude with the russians to get himself elected? this has not been discussed in the case of michael cohen and paul manafort, so why is this being seen as a good day for robert mueller? it is entirely removed from the original mandate and carrying around the manafort conviction is curious, it is an impressive trophy, just not the one

you are supposed to be going for. so he nailed a guy who has a lot of sleazy clients and background on something that is entirely removed from trump and his campaign. what he got in return, the special council, is leveraged. what manafort wants is a walk away deal. he will not get that from mueller, he's not going to give him nojail that from mueller, he's not going to give him no jail time. there is only one guy in the city he will give him walk away and that guy lives on pennsylvania avenue, donald trump. i think manafort who is holding on to that strategy. i don't think the federal prosecutors would have offered michael cohen a plea deal u nless offered michael cohen a plea deal unless they do what he had to say was credible. maybe the president will have to speak on both because stormy daniels are going to try to get the president into court to swear on oath, his version of events ? swear on oath, his version of events? as i sit next to my

constitutional law professor from law school, it is going to be difficult for mueller to get the president to testify under oath. don mcgann has set with mueller for 30 hours and they allowed a white house official to speak with the special counsel, said the notion we will have the president coming in any time soon, is a bit far—fetched. i am not saying it is impossible but unlikely at this juncture. am not saying it is impossible but unlikely at thisjuncture. thank am not saying it is impossible but unlikely at this juncture. thank you both very much. it is complicated. we are all agreed it is a significant moment but the trump presidency have spoken a lot about michael cohen and paul manafort. paul manafort was hired by donald trump as his campaign chairman in march 2016. he brought with him to the campaign his protege rick gates, who rose to become the vice chair of the president s inaugural committee. the prosecutors flipped gates and in the first trial he was their star witness, revealing explosive detail

on manaforts wealth, where it had come from, and where they had hidden it. the money that manafort earned from his lobbying work in ukraine, was funnelled through shell companies, ?to?offshore accounts. his biggest benefactor, victor yanukovych, the former ukrainian president who manafort helped propel to power. he was also close to some very powerful russians; in 2006 it's reported he received ten million dollars from 0leg deripaska, a russian oligarch who is close to vladimir putin and is now under us sanctions. when yanukovych was deposed, manaforts biggest paymaster was gone. donald trump was his route back into washington. in an email he sent to one of 0leg deripaska's intermediarys, manafort offered campaign information: "if he needs private briefings", he wrote, "we can accommodate". but did manafort bring russian influence to the trump campaign and how central is he to this mueller investigation? jonathan turley, how important is

paul manafort in this? he is important in the critical sense that he is one of the top people working around trump. for those who think there is a russian collusion, if you look at the usual suspects, his name is on the top. he worked for people who were quite frankly, blood—soaked and also had ties strongly with the kremlin. essentially the ukrainian you talked about fled to moscow in exile. if the russians were to find somebody to get to donald trump, ma nafort‘s somebody to get to donald trump, manafort‘s resume would pop out right away. does that mean he has anything? we're not sure. the fascinating dynamic here, if trump is going to pardon manafort, he would be do wise to do it before the next trial. this trial in virginia was the best shot manafort had. the

one waiting for him in dc is a parade of horrible is. it has about four times the documents and gets into this nasty business involving manafort. he is not going to look very pardon ready after that trial. when we hear about paul manafort, his background and dealings with shady characters and michael cohen, what he is prepared to do, making payments to women. you wonder about the president's choices in terms of the president's choices in terms of the people he has selected to work with him. let me ask you a political question, 87% of republican voters say they still support donald trump. do you expect, what we have heard over the course of the last 2a hours, to impact that number?” really don't. i think his base support is very strong. his people will stick with him and say it is a political witchhunt that has been manufactured and they are trying to

re move manufactured and they are trying to remove him from office. rather than diminish with his base, it will be solidified. what will prosecutors do, jonathan, we have talked about mueller might do and the house committees, but what will prosecutors do because they are bound by law to go after everybody who michael cohen has worked with? can these charges also be raised at donald trump when he's not president? they believe this narrative, this description of facts is true and if that is the case, there should be a number of people deeply discomfited around the country, because the narrative talks about other people involved. it wasn't some immaculate crime committed by cohen alone. the indictment refers to the person who owfis indictment refers to the person who owns the national enquirer. refers to the president from cohen himself. all of these individuals would

normally be pursued by these prosecutors. they don't just stop at the first guy willing to take a plea. a penny for ted cruz' thoughts because he was dismissed in 2016 as a man who had five mistresses, by the national enquirer. yesterday we find out that there is michael cohen stitching up the deal with the national enquirer prior to the primary is and also committing bank fraud to get the deal over the line? truth is stranger than fiction and we have seen it bear out in this particular case. if you look at both ma nafort particular case. if you look at both manafort and cohen, non—are very credible. nobody will look at them and think they are the most honourable and scrupulous lawyers you can find. they have a shady past from some of their gatherings. to piggyback on what ron turley was saying, if i am a prosecutor and i am looking at these two do i give

ma nafort am looking at these two do i give manafort a deal and an arrangement? you have to be careful of what the individual might tell you based on the voracity of what they have, or more importantly, what they don't have. thank you both very much, a lot of political and legal questions. let's look at the politics of this more closely, how do people, especially president trump's supporters say they are feeling about these latest allegations. nick bryant has been to staten island in new york to assess the impact. across the waters from lower manhattan, the trump stronghold of staten island. the only borough of new york to vote for the hometown presidential candidate. from here you can almost see the court complex where michael cohen made the explosive claim that donald trump directed him to commit a crime. but do people here care? you know, he is what this country needed at this time. local businessmen steve believes donald trump is making america great again, and yesterday's bombshell allegations don't trouble him. so yesterday, donald trump's

personal lawyer stood up in court and implicated the president and said, "he told me to break the law." that doesn't worry you? no. the people that hate him are going to use it and that's all you're going to hear for the next six months and through the elections. that's all you're going to hear. the people that like what he's doing, whether or not they like him as a human being, are going to care less. 0n the beaches of staten island, what is widely viewed by donald trump's critics as the darkest day of his presidency casts few shadows. i think he's great. he's doing wonderful for the country. and for the world. and i can't find anything wrong with him. yesterday his lawyer has said he told him to break the law, does that worry you? no, not really. they all break the law, you know? millions of people break the law here. but he's the president of the united states. well, he's human too. donald trump once claimed he could shoot somebody on 5th ave and his supporters would still vote for him.

an extravagant boast maybe, but one that speaks of his unshakeable belief in the unwavering devotion of his loyalists. nick bryant, bbc news, staten island. the bbc‘s rajini vaidyanathan is writing about the reaction of trump supporters for our website and joins us now. you have been speaking to trump supporters all morning, what are you hearing, the same as the people nick brya nt hearing, the same as the people nick bryant was speaking to? it is, impassioned support for donald trump. 0ne quote from a trump supporter called james who says it is more important to get new north korea to give up their nuclear arms to worry about whether he had sex with somebody years ago. kathy in new hampshire said, i don't care if he paid off a porn star or a playboy bunny, it doesn't impact his

policy—making. people say tax cuts, building the wall and the policies his base support love, they say let's talk about this because everything else is a distraction. where this will matter is in the blue and red states, among suburban voters and particularly white, suburban voting women, are you getting a feel about them? yes, a number of white women who voted for donald trump in key states, including florida and also michigan. they are very much behind him. also, another common thread is how they believe the fbi is corrupt and they have cooked this up and it is just to target donald trump. so having no faith in the intelligence services and the fbi, which in many ways, is astonishing but there is a common thread through the half a dozen people i have spoken to. absolutely

fascinating. we will be watching those trump supporters and also we will be watching the white house because the press secretary sarah huckabee sanders, will be out giving her take on what is happening behind the scenes at the white house and defending the president. we have already heard him say he only knew about those payments later on. that will be some briefing, stay with us for that. coming up the people on the bbc news channel and bbc world news, with michael cohen saying happy to speak to speak to the enquiry into alleged collusion with russia, we will talk more about how damaging this could be for the president. facebook and twitter push forward the fight against fake news by shutting down hundreds of accou nts by shutting down hundreds of accounts linked to russia and iran. all that is still to come. hello. the next few days will see a

significant change in how the weather feels. today we have had this band of cloud and that is bringing outbreaks of rain and it is pushing slowly southwards. the head of it we have had temperatures into the high 20s with humidity but behind the band of cloud we are getting progressively cooler air coming down in an north—westerly breeze as we head into tomorrow. right now we have this band of cloud moving away from northern england and away from wales. moving across east anglia and lincolnshire into the heat. we have still got the fresher conditions to the north of that and another band of rain arrives in the far north—west but single figure temperatures across the north—east of the uk but the south—east, still another warm and muqqy south—east, still another warm and muggy night. but the last of the warm and muggy night. two weather fronts moving slowly southwards on thursday. the first one brings rain for most of the morning across east anglia and the south of england. sunshine follows on from that and

the rain further north tends to peter out as it runs southwards across northern england and wales. behind that we get sunshine and some showers and it is here it is particularly chilly. what a contrast across the uk. 23 possibly in the south—east quite early in the day. but further north those temperatures are significantly lower. as we move into the evening we keep those showers. this is beyond one hundred days, with me, katty kay, in washington. christian fraser is in london. sarah huckabee sanders is in the white house. this morning, the president had a phone call with the prime minister of japan and president had a phone call with the prime minister ofjapan and they are committed to maintaining strong sanctions on north korea and they expressed they look forward to seeing each other later this year

and continue these important conversations with allies. lastly on behalf of the administration, i want to extend prayers to the family, friends and loved ones of molly tibbetts. the nation has watched for 30 days as local, state and federal officials have searched for molly. sadly, the individual believed to be responsible for her murder is an illegal immigrant making this an u nfortu nate illegal immigrant making this an unfortunate reminder of why we need to strengthen our immigration laws. the bible tells us the hills are brokenhearted and bind is up their wounds. the family is hurting and they are in the hearts of all americans and we are grieving with them. now i will take your questions. michael cohen under oath pleaded guilty to among other things, paying stormy daniels and karen mcdougal during the campaign and says he did it under the direction of the president of the united states. did the president

commita united states. did the president commit a crime? as we have said, the president didn't do anything wrong. why not report these payments?” president didn't do anything wrong. why not report these payments? i am not going to get into the back and forth details. as the president has stated, he did nothing wrong, there are no charges against him in this. just because michael cohen made a plea deal, it does mean that implicates the president on anything. are you saying the president has never lied to the american people because so many people look at the tape of him on air force one saying he knew nothing about those payments. but now we know he knew everything, so has he lied? that is a ridiculous accusation. the president hasn't done anything wrong and there are no charges against him. the president said to fox news this morning this could not have been an illegal campaign contribution because he paid the money, he put more than $60 million of his own money into the campaign, so how do you draw the

line between it didn't flow through the campaign, but how do you draw the campaign, but how do you draw the line as to what was a campaign contribution and what might have beena contribution and what might have been a payment to somebody for other purposes? get into the back and forth all the legal arguments of this. what i can tell you is what the president stated a number of times. he did nothing wrong and there are no charges against him. because michael cohen has made a deal does not mean anything in terms of the president. there is an implication that michael cohen gave up something the president would rather state secret. is that what we should read into this? the president has expressed his views on that. i don't have anything further to add. the president is now intent on pardoning -- is president is now intent on pardoning —— is the president now intent on pardoning paul manafort? —— is the president now intent on pardoning paul manafort7m —— is the president now intent on pardoning paul manafort? it doesn't have anything to do with the

president, his campaign or the white house. even if it has nothing to do with the president, he still could have the power to pardon paul manafort. is it something he has been discussing with the team? i'm not aware of any conversations about that. other than when he was asked bya that. other than when he was asked by a news outlet this week, and he said that he hadn't been thinking about that at all. in times like this, the white house is often trying to figure out whether they need to be any internal adjustments to deal with some of the political issues you're going to have with photos, internally with lawmakers — is the white house making any adjustments in terms of responsibilities of chiefs of staff, communications to donors, how you intoned to respond protectively and

offensively to the questions you are now in? i wouldn't view it that way at all. i would disagree with the premise of your question. the white house is focused on the same things that we were focused on the first day we got here, and that is growing the economy, which is doing extremely well, protecting our borders, strengthening the safety and security of all americans. those of the things that we are focused on. i'd like to congratulate you on your 100th briefing, and there is no way what you do every day is easy. 0ur colleague jonathan swan recently wrote, operatives working on the midterms said the turnout could be depressed. are you aware of any

republican operatives who would concur with this? i think the thing that will encourage people is a lack ofa that will encourage people is a lack of a message by democrats. they have nothing to run on, other than attacking this president. not only does the president and the record of republicans over the last year and a half under his leadership, it is a great one to run on, we have a great story to tell, the economy is booming, record numbers today, and we will continue to focus on what americans care about, and that will certainly be what encourages them, and certainly what will help push republicans to do well in november. yesterday, the president stated that israel will pay a price for the jerusalem embassy move. we think the president's decision was the right one, to move the embassy. it was something that other presidents had promised and fail to do, and he is

delivering on the promises he made. what price are we talking about?” don't have anything further on that. the president has said some things about paul manafort, that he is a good man. retweeted today, unlike michael coen, he refused to break stories to get a deal. such respect for a brave man. stories to get a deal. such respect fora brave man. is paul stories to get a deal. such respect for a brave man. is paul manafort is a candidate for a presidential pardon? once again, that has not been up for discussion. some democrats are saying that nominations should be put on hold because of the legal developments yesterday. a hawaiian senator but out a statement saying the president did not deserve the courtesy of a meeting with his nominee. what is

your reaction? it is a desperate and pathetic attempt by democrats to obstruct a very highly qualified nominee. the hearing date has been set for the 11th of september, and judge kavanagh will be there. the lightweight talks between the us and china are resuming. the president is suppressed low expectations for the talks. i wondered that has changed and what you would like to see come out of these discussions. these conversations are continuing. i don't have announcements on them. they are ongoing. we would like to see better trade deals for the united states. the president wants to see free, fair and more reciprocal trade between other countries, particularly with china, and will continue in these conversations. ashman we'll continue. is the president is betrayed by michael coen?” continue. is the president is betrayed by michael coen? i don't think the president is concerned.

there was no collusion, and we will continue to focus on the things that americans care about. do you anticipate a deal between the united states and mexico on nafta this week? nafta has found american workers and cost the us millions of dollars. we are focused on making sure we deal with and address those problems. we will let you know when we have an announcement. the president said he found out about those payments that michael coen made later on, but he is on tape discussing how to make one of the payments with michael cohen, so before the payment was made. how do you explain that? i have commented on this extensively, and what i can tell you is that the president did nothing wrong. there are no charges against them and there is no collusion will stop beyond that, i would refer you to the president's council. the president seemed to

contradict an audio that has been confirmed of the president saying that. i have addressed this number of times. just because you continue to ask over and over, i won't give a different answer. the president has done nothing wrong, there is no charge against him, no collusion. if you want something further, i would refer you to the presidentoutside counsel. does the white house maintain that the president did not have affairs with the two women? we have affairs with the two women? we have addressed this a number of times. you said there have been no discussions about the pardon for paul manafort, so you are not ruling it out. it is possible that there could be a pardon for him in the future, correct? the only comment the president has made on this was when he was asked by a news outlet earlier this week, and he said he was not considering that. beyond that, there have been a other

discussions. that was before paul manafort was convicted on eight of the 18 counts. that is why i'm asking now, now that he has been convicted. and i am answering you know that there have been no discussions at the white house on that matter. on a different one, the la st that matter. on a different one, the last time we were here, you read some officials whose security clearance was being taken away. who was conducting the review to determine whether or not the clearances we re determine whether or not the clearances were being taken away? and i wanted to ask you about a tweet is where the president said that he thought potentiallyjames clapper was being nice to him so he doesn't lose his security clearance. is that a threat that if he isn't nice to him, he will lose his clearance? i don't have any other announcements on that front. who is doing the reviews? there are a

number of people involved that the white house. the president seemed to praise paul manafort for not cooperating with federal prosecutors ina way cooperating with federal prosecutors in a way that could implicate him. is that what he was suggesting, that he thinks loyal to him personally is more important than the law? the paul manafort does not involve the president, his campaign and does not have anything to do with the white house will stop michael coen's lawyer has suggested there is new evidence they would like to present about foreknowledge of election hacking, so does the white has maintained was none? none that i'm aware of. given that five convicted felons are now linked to the president for his campaign, and given that the president promised to hire the best people, did he fail to

live up to that promise? the president has employed thousands of people in his lifetime and that incredible successes both in business and in the public service. he is the president of the united states. i think he's doing quite well. i understand you don't want to answer the same question a million times, and you said the present dilys price president did nothing illegal, but i didn't hear an answer — did he lie to the people? illegal, but i didn't hear an answer - did he lie to the people? no. i'll —— you said the president did nothing illegal. one man was guilty of tax crimes that rocked the american public of tax dollars. why does he feel bad for either of these men? once again, the president has expressed his views on this matter, andi expressed his views on this matter, and i have nothing to add. does he believe there is an intrinsic problem with the justice department, or does he only believe if someone

who was close to him is a victim of the justice department? we have certainly seen a lot of concerns come out of the activities of people that worked at the department of justice, whether it is lisa page, james comey for others. we have what throw those a number of times, and i think it has given cause for a lot of americans, some of the activities they engaged in. i wonder why the president paints them as victims, as if the justice department is not doing itsjob. if the justice department is not doing its job. the president has ex presses views doing its job. the president has expresses views and has raised concerns about the number of other problems that he has seen within the department ofjustice. problems that he has seen within the department of justice.” problems that he has seen within the department ofjustice. i wanted to follow u p department ofjustice. i wanted to follow up about the president's comments on fox news with regard to payments to mr daniels and miss mcdougall — when did he learn about them, and also, are there any other payments he has now become aware of, are rather is the only two women who

have received money for agreeing not to repeat their stories of alleged affairs with the president? once again, i have addressed all that i'm going to say on the michael coen issue. for those specific questions with more details, i would refer you to the president's outside counsel. can we bring them in here for the briefing? they don't work here at the white house. going back to security clearances, all signs are that this is the first time a president personally has been handling the removal of security clearances. it is usually done by superiors, even in the last espionage cases of the cold war. the secretary of state pulled the security clearances of people accused of espionage. he said the

president and others are reviewing it. who are these others reviewing it, and does the president take a personal role in potential removal of security clearance ? personal role in potential removal of security clearance? the president has the constitutional authority to do so. i know it will come as a shock, but i'm not aware of the details of those specific cases that you outlined. but the president has the authority to make that decision. he is also consulting with members of his national security team and members of his legal team here at the white house. izzy also considering a policy ofjust simply having all security passes turned on when someone leaves government service? —— is he... when someone leaves government service? -- is he... they do feel the team here that we should look at the team here that we should look at the security clearance process as a whole. my understanding is that there are roughly 5 million people

that have security clearances here in the united states, and we would like to take a look at the overall process of who has and who maintains a security clearance. you're right about the president having constitutional authority on security clearances as well as pardons, so my question is, even though he has that authority, is anybody in the white house thought about looking at security clearances for former personnel and pardons as well? the present the president doesn't seem to be consulting people. has he thought about doing something more transparent, perhaps? certainly, as the review of security clearances goes, there is a working group that is looking at the overall security clea ra nce process is looking at the overall security clearance process and who maintains those, and whether or not those are needed across the board within government. in terms of the pardon

process , government. in terms of the pardon process, again, the president has the authority to carry out those decisions. he takes input and looks at them on a case—by—case basis. decisions. he takes input and looks at them on a case-by-case basis. can you tell us who the people who are at clearances? i noticed the -- inode chief of involved. the president said earlier this week to reuters that he could run it, in reference to the mueller investigation. the president said he has chosen many times to remain uninvolved in this process, and that is where we are. is that an indication he is taking a thinking action against robert mueller, such as revoking his security clearance? i'm not aware of that. does he think

he is above the law? certainly not. many experts are saying that the president is corrupt and that there are grounds for impeachment. is the white house concerned that that could have an effect in the mid—term elections? also, does the white house take these allegations seriously? certainly, we take allegations seriously. the idea of an impeachment is, frank witt, a sad attempt by democrats. it is the only message they seem to have going into the mid—terrace. it is a great reminder of why americans should support other like—minded candidates, like the president, who are focused on growing the economy, continuing to secure our borders, and to focus on the safety and security of all americans. i think the biggest contrast you could possibly make is the message of the democrats, which is nothing more than attacking the president and looking at cheap political stunts, while this white house, and

republicans in the house and senate, are focused on doing things for the american people. earlier this week, that president had tough words for the federal reserve chairman. can you tell me the last time he and the president met face—to—face and whether he brought up that criticism directly? i would have to double check, but i believe it was around the time that powell took his place. has he spoke to him about his concern about raising interest rates? i'm not aware they have spoken about that at all. on venezuela, is the president planning to get involved ? venezuela, is the president planning to get involved? there are millions fleeing the country. what is the sta nce fleeing the country. what is the stance at this point? yellow might be knighted states continues to support —— be knighted states continues to support -- the united states continues to support venezuelan's neighbours, and continues to stand with the people of venezuela. we will keep all options on the table.

thank you so much. we will wrap up here so that we can alljoin the president. that was sarah sanders at the white house during a briefing that was dominated by all of the cases that we have been talking about during the course of the programme, michael cohen, paul manafort. the line from the white house: the president has done nothing wrong, there are no charges against him, and there is no collusion. to any further questions, sanders said she would refer you to outside counsel, so not answering the specific questions about michael coen and anything that he may have said would say to prosecutors. ifi said would say to prosecutors. if i ever get in a street fight, i am taking sarah sanders with me. she is robust, isn't she? some of the a nswe rs. is robust, isn't she? some of the answers. the question on whether his judgment was suspect about who he can employ. he employed thousands of

people, she said, he has that make is doing well. his former campaign check his former vice—chair of his inaugural committee, his former personal lawyer, an adviser during the campaign on foreign relations — is he doing well? well, i'll leave you tojudge, but i don't think many people will think that donald trump has chosen wisely on those who surround him in his administration. what are we going to do? i was going to say, a small crumb for donald trump is that for the moment, special counsel robert mueller has not proven any collusion with the russians, a point that the president has made time and again. while he has made time and again. while he has dismissed the investigation as a witchhunt, there are the five people i was telling you about. mr mueller continuing to go quietly about his business. those are the condemned men that surround the president. lanny davis, mr cohen's

lawyer, said last night that his client has information that ‘should be' of interest to the special counsel, on what the president knew about the hacking of democratic computers. and detail relating to the trump tower meeting in 2016, between members of the campaign and a kremlin—linked lawyer. one man who has been investigating donald trump's rise to power, and the alleged links to russia, is craig unger — he is the author of the book ‘house of trump, house of putin'. in your book, you have drawn a clear line between donald trump and russia, saying that the russians have been cultivating donald trump for yea rs have been cultivating donald trump for years and years, but there is a very different issue, is now, between donald trump perhaps having some financial dealings with russia that might be suspect and the idea that might be suspect and the idea that he colluded with russia to get him elected. nobody has produced any evidence of that. you included. well, i went back to the beginning.

i think we have been bombarded with new stories about this, and i wanted to show the big picture, so i went back more than 3a years and showed how the russians allied with donald trump and used trumped real estate to launder hundreds of millions of dollars. —— trump real estate. 0ne thing i want to get across about the russian mafia is that it is a state actor. i talked to a general who had been head of counterintelligence for the kgb, and when i asked him about the kgb, and when i asked him about the russian mafia, he said, that's just another part of the kgb, of russian intelligence. they have been in and around trump tower on and off for more than 30 years. it is a spectacular security breach, when you think about it. we have heard all this talk aboutjohn brennan's security clearance being revoked. i believe donald trump would never in a million years get the security

clea ra nce. a million years get the security clearance. $:/startfeed. but this still doesn't get to this issue that robert mueller may or may not have evidence about, and we are no closer to that, even after the events of the last 2a hours, which is whether trump colluded with russia. it is still a different question from his financial dealings. this is a man who is owned by russia. he was $4 million in debt after his the ask you in atlantic city. they started a real estate firm in trump tower, he was $4 billion in debt, couldn't get a bank loan, and suddenly money sta rts a bank loan, and suddenly money starts going in, with trump tower being financed by russian money, and hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars. at least 1500 trump branded

condominiums involved in what appeared to be money—laundering. if thatis appeared to be money—laundering. if that is not collusion, i beg to differ. he would not be president without the russian mafia. how involved you think michael coen was? he has been with the president a long time and his lawyer is suggesting that he has more information to give up. absolutely. in my book, you will see that michael cohen has been at the nexus of trump and the russian mafia for a long time. his family owned restau ra nt long time. his family owned restaurant and social club in brooklyn that has been the headquarters of the russian mafia. you will see that he travelled with another colleague on behalf of trump, trying to put up trump towers in moscow, right up through the election. ok, thank you very much indeed for your thoughts. sorry to

cut you shop, but we're close to the end of the programme. there we are, we're getting an idea about the white house strategy: paint michael coen is alive. it is a strategy they have followed before. donald trump is going to come out fighting. you heard it last night when he was speaking in west virginia, one of the states they gave him one of his biggest victories in the country, and you have heard it during the course of this programme from supporters of donald trump who say that they believe the president is innocentin that they believe the president is innocent in this. the white house is saying there are no charges and that there was no collusion, but one thing i thought was interesting from his supporters was, even the idea that donald trump may have been implicated in a campaign finance violation, which is a crime under american law, even that was not enough to convince them that there was a problem with the president. there they were saying everybody has committed some kind of crime. that

gives you some of the idea of the solidity of his support. this does not mean that it is not an important moment in his presidency, because there are legal implications to come from this. we don't know what prosecutors have and what michael coen has. they will try to push it away and they might be able to until the midterms, but if they lose the house, the democrats will be in charge of the committees, then we will get subpoenas, and we will get people around the administration brought in front of those committees, and then it willjust go on and on. it will get very dirty for the president. impeachment is a valid word at the moment. democrats are being careful because they don't want to be targeted with that being their only approach at the moment. thank you for joining approach at the moment. thank you forjoining us on a very busy day in washington. we will see you tomorrow. the next few days will see a

significant change in how the weather feels. today we have had this band of cloutier, and that is bringing with it outbreaks of rain. it is continuing to push —— this band of cloud here. it is continuing to push south and behind it, cooler aircoming down in to push south and behind it, cooler air coming down in a north—westerly breeze as we head into tomorrow. this band of cloud and rain is moving away from northern england and wales, into east anglia and lincolnshire into the heat. we still have the fresh conditions to the north of that, and another band of rain arriving in the north—west. single figure temperatures across the north—east of the uk. the south—east, still another warm on monday night. the last of those. two weather fronts on the scene, all moving south slowly. sunshine follows on behind the first one. the

rain further north peters out as it moves south across northern england and wales. then behind that, we get sunshine and showers. it is here it is particularly chilly air. quite a contrast across the uk, 23 celsius early in the day in the south—east. further north, the temperatures are significantly lower. in the evening, we keep the showers going in the north—west of the uk. elsewhere, some clearer skies, temperatures tumbling away. at last, we get more co mforta ble, tumbling away. at last, we get more comfortable, cooler, fresh air across southern parts of england, and across east anglia. a chilly night in northern parts of the uk. where we see some showers on friday, frequent heavy showers coming into northern ireland, scotland and northern england. further south, the temperatures significantly lower than in recent days, and fewer showers. saturday sees most of the showers. saturday sees most of the showers clearing away, and a decent

start of the bank holiday. it will be rather cool. cooler than the last couple of bank holiday weekends. high pressure is pushing away those showers, but it means quite a cold night across the north—east of the uk on saturday night before these weather fronts bring in uk on saturday night before these weatherfronts bring in more cloud on sunday. the western areas... this is bbc news i'm shaun ley. the headlines at eight. president trump says he's done nothing wrong as his former lawyer pleads guilty in court to breaking the law on election finance — michael cohen claims mr trump ordered him to pay hush—money to two alleged former mistresses. did you know about the payment?‘ later on i knew. later on. but what he did, and they weren't taken out of campaign finance. president trump directed that michael: used yesterday under oath, directed michael: to make illegal payments. it is not a dispute.

michael cohen's lawyer says he has more damaging information to spill. we'll be live in the states getting reaction from both republican and democrat shortly over 1,000 children born in the uk to eu nationals have been told they can't renew their passports because of a home office error.