by strong winds and dry forest. more than 28 square miles have burned in an area to the north of sacramento. just after 3:30am. now on bbc news, panorama. i. i, donald john tom. i, richard nixon. -- donald driver trump. america's president is being investigated for the gravest of crimes. could trump, like nixon, be forced out of office? well, the similarities between watergate and what's happening with regard to trump tower disturbingly similar. that i will faithfully... trump tower disturbingly similar. that i will faithfully. .. execute the office. or is it a witch-hunt? they're not going to find anything. they're not going to find anything. they're going to try to get him out of office. it would be unconstitutional to impeach

president trump based on this alleged conduct. i don't think president trump is morally fit to be president trump is morally fit to be president of the united states. ousting a president is never easy. clinton pulls group —— pulled through. but tomorrow america votes for a new congress. if the senate tries to remove president trump, he will be... there will be protests in this country like you've never seen since the sixties. we ask, will trump survive? iam i am thrilled to be back with all of my friends in the great state of west virginia. thank you. president trump, an all—american hero in his heartland, campaigning for tomorrow's crucial midterm elections. a vote that will determine the make—up of congress

and the future of trump's presidency. thank you very much. i love you too. it's a guy, but i love you too. this is a president accused of the most serious of crimes, conspiring with russia to skew crimes that could see him forced out of office by congress, but the story he tells his supporters is simple, that none of it is true. fake news and the russian witch—hunt. where is the collusion? you know, they're still looking for collusion. where is the collusion? find some collusion. we want to find the collusion. in fayette county, west virginia, local republican candidate austin halewood is getting ready for tomorrow's vote. donald trump's

republican party currently controls congress, everything is at stake now. if the democrats do well, austin fears they could kick out from or impeach him on charges many here say as bogus. they see this as the democrats in washington trying to ta ke the democrats in washington trying to take president trump out. how do you impeach somebody that's doing a great job, you impeach somebody that's doing a greatjob, that hasn't done anything wrong? our economy is good, how do you do it? when you have an outsider like president trump, they'rejust trying to take him out because they wa nt trying to take him out because they want power back because i think that's played a part in the russia allegations. this is the one road town of mindon. a quiet west virginia coalmining community. it's only a few hours' drive from washington but a world

away from its frenzied politics. here, president trump is seen as the one person who could bring back america's glory days. if only washington's liberal elite would stop hounding him. hi, how are you doing? good, how to? darryl thomas used to work in the industry. he thinks the links into parking how —— good, how ru? it isa it is a waste of taxpayer money. the man can't do anything. house by house, the views were the same. susiejenkins lives house, the views were the same. susie jenkins lives down house, the views were the same. susiejenkins lives down the road. they're doing this stuff to make him look bad. do i think there's something going on with russia? no, i don't. the reason i don't is the man is not stupid, and i do not

think he would put himself in that position. i really don't. what trump has done hasn't necessarily helped us. chris pennington, local teacher, necessarily helped us. chris pennington, localteacher, is a democrat supporter. a lonely business around here. the allegations against the president have polarised america. chris wants donald trump impeached. impeachment is the way to go. the allegations of colluding, the allegations of colluding, the allegations of colluding, the allegations of sexual misconduct. i don't see how we can get lied to so often. we're talking about a man who is lying to protect himself. impeaching a president means the lower house of congressman is the side that treason, bribery, high crimes or misdemeanours have been committed —— must such —— congress must decide. no president in history has ever been removed in this way.

but 49% of americans today want their president impeached. so, will president trump survive the russia scandal or could he faced this ordeal? impeach president trump! backin ordeal? impeach president trump! back in 1974, richard nixon resigned rather than face the humiliation of impeachment. he became the only american president ever forced impeachment. he became the only american president everforced out of office midterm. he was brought down by the biggest political scandal in america's history, watergate. five people have been arrested and charged with breaking into the headquarters of the democratic national committee in the middle of the night. we confiscated electronic eavesdropping dear. today's russia scandal appears to have echoes of the watergate break—in. have echoes of the watergate break-in. my sense that we must have

the tapes themselves... elizabeth holtzman sat on the congressional committee that initiated the improvement of president nixon. the similarities between watergate and what's happening with mr trump are disturbingly similar. what you had with watergate is a break—in to the democratic national committee in order to get information that was going to affect the 1972 presidential election. what you have with regard to the trump campaign was an effort by the russian government to break into the democratic national committee headquarters. they didn't take any locks, but they sent in electronic impulses and they broke into the servers of the democratic national committee for the purposes of influencing the outcome of the 2016 presidential race. so the objectives we re presidential race. so the objectives were the same in watergate and here,

to affect the outcome of the presidential election surreptitious lee and illegally. what did the president know, and when did he know it? —— surreptitious lee. we need to be investigating exactly what went on here, what the president knew and when he knew it. the watergate burglars were found to be directly connected to the white house. but when russia hacked the democratic party e—mails, where president trump and his campaign involved? special prosecutor robert mueller is heading a federal investigation looking into just that. sam nundah was a political adviser to donald trump during his presidential election campaign. to donald trump during his presidential election campaignlj knew presidential election campaign.” knew mueller would consider collusion and conspiracy, but that's not going to pass muster with the

general american public. you're going to have to show something that would shock the american conscience, andi would shock the american conscience, and i don't think there is anything like that. so, what crimes may have been committed? so, what crimes may have been committed ? charge so, what crimes may have been committed? charge one, did president trump conspire with the russian government to win the presidency? as the campaign battle raged between hillary clinton and donald trump in 2006 team, it's now known members of trump's campaign were secretly communicating with the russians, and at least one member knew the russians have the hacked democratic party e—mails. and then onjune three, donald trump's um, donaldjr, was offered damaging information about hillary clinton. —— son. he was told the crown prince maha vajiralongkorn of roger had: —— the crown to tour of russia had: ——

crown to tour of russia had: —— crown prosecution —— crown prosecutor. this is in my view much more serious than watergate. this democrat is on the senate intelligence committee. he's deeply involved into its own probe into the president's links with russia. in that e—mail that donald jr scent, there was a clear intent to collude. i think there was practically a rabid fascination in trying to couude rabid fascination in trying to collude with the russians. there is a culture of corruption surrounding the president and his advisers. soon after, ad campaign headquarters, trump tower in new york, there was a meeting —— at. donaldjr and trump tower in new york, there was a meeting —— at. donald jr and two other members of the trump campaign met a

other members of the trump campaign meta group, other members of the trump campaign met a group, including a russian lawyer, linked to the kremlin. we begin tonight with donald trump lawyer, linked to the kremlin. we begin tonight with donald trumer and acknowledging he did meet with a russian who he thought had damaging information on hillary clinton. news of the meeting didn't break until a year later. president trump quickly said he had not known about the meeting in advance. under pressure to explain it, he then dictated a misleading statement for his son to read, saying the meeting had primarily been about americans adopting russian children. he didn't mention the offer of of dirt to hillary clinton —— on hillary clinton. the offer of of dirt to hillary clinton -- on hillary clinton. the fa ct clinton -- on hillary clinton. the fact the president didn't want the public to know, yes they had met with russians. why was the probes and in trying to hide it if there was nothing wrong with it? because of the way it looks to the american public, because it looks bad ash why was the president trying to hide it if there was nothing wrong with it? —— why was the president trying to

hide it if there was nothing wrong with it? leading harvard law professor alan dershowitz has written a book arguing the case against impeaching president trump. in order to prove a crime, you have to prove a lot more than collusion. for it to be a crime, you have to prove something actually illegal, and the illegal thing would be if he had called and said, hey, glad, got a dealfor you, i want you to hack the democratic headquarters, here are the people i want you to hack. that would clearly be a crime. but elizabeth holtzman believes merely receiving damaging information on an opponent from a foreign power could be a serious crime. you cannot receive, under the federal election laws, money or support, things of value from a foreign government, so it could well have been a federal crime to have

received that information. president trump says nothing came of the trump tower meeting in the end, and complains the whole drama is being fuelled by lies. like nixon, he's convinced he is being hunted down by a nation of hostile forces. is history repeating itself?” is history repeating itself? i call the fake news the enemy of the people, and they are, the enemy of the people. but in the end, what sealed the fate of president nixon wasn't so much the watergate burglary as his attempt to obstruct the investigation. the president has fired the special watergate prosecutor, archibald cox. that's a stunning development and nothing even remotely like it has happened in all of our history.

in1973, as happened in all of our history. in 1973, as the watergate scandal closed in on president nixon, he fired the man injured up the investigation. that was the act that triggered moves to impeach him. this isa triggered moves to impeach him. this is a fox news alert. fbi directorjames comey has been fired by the president. he has informed fbi director... james comey that he's been to terminate terminated and remove from office. last year president trump fired the man originally investigating his campaign. fbi directorjames comey. so, charge two. did president trump fire the fbi director to save his own skin and obstructjustice? months earlier, comey‘s alarm bells went off at a one—on—one white house dinner. the president, he says, asked for his loyalty. it reminded

him of his days prosecuting the mafia. the family, the mafia, is led by the boss. and it is all about the boss. there are no external reference point except your loyalty and service to the boss. and i saw, in my early interactions with president trump and his team, exactly that the normanton, an effort to make all of us, the intelligence leaders, a part of the family. trump denies it amended the fbi's director's loyalty. two weeks after the dinner comey says the president asked him to stop investigating a senior white house official and his links to russia. and it took him a while to get to the point of the private one and one, which was that request that idropa and one, which was that request that i drop a criminal investigation. but james comey didn't drop any part of the investigation. instead, he went

public. the fbi is investigating the nature of any links between individuals associated with the trump campaign and the russian government. in the uproar after comey‘s sacking, the white house denied it was anything to do with russia. why did you via director comey? he was not doing a good job. then, in may last, the president i should words that may come to be seen should words that may come to be seen as should words that may come to be seen as incriminating. he seemed to suggest, after all, he had fired james comey because of the russia allegations. and, in fact, when i decided tojust do allegations. and, in fact, when i decided to just do it, allegations. and, in fact, when i decided tojust do it, i said to myself, there is right being with trump and russia is a made up story. the firing was triggered by his irritation of the russian investigation. did you ask him to drop the investigation? no. he lies all the time. i think that is not shocking. even his supporters acknowledge he lies all the time. so

one count two, has president trump one count two, has president trump on like nixon, obstructed justice? and in all of my years in public life i have never obstructed justice. if you fight back today it is called obstruction. no, no no, we fight back. call it whatever the hell you want, we fight back. the president's lawyers went out he has the constitutional right to play the fbi director. the professor agrees. you can't be guilty of a crime if you are the president of the united states and you engage in a constitutionally protected act, the president is not above the law, that is the law. it would be unconstitutional to impeach president trump based on this alleged conduct. the president has the right to fire people, but he can't say i buy ring you because you're looking into who committed a

crime. that's an impeachable incense. and that is what watergate was about. —— offence. the fact of the matter is, if you abuse your power and usable purposes of cover—up you can be impeached for that. special prosecutor robert mueller‘s investigation has been ramping up in recent months, moving closer in on the president. the ring of criminality surrounding president trump includes his campaign chair, his national security advisor, and his national security advisor, and his personal lawyer. four of trump was my closest associates facing prison sentences on various charges are now co—operating with the mueller‘s investigation. they may know critical missing details about trump's relationship with russia. mueller, under pressure to deliver his report soon, is looking into donald trump's financial dealings. in watergate's later stages, too,

all the president's men began to. you good evening, the men who were closest to richard nixon in the white house and in politics today we re white house and in politics today were sentenced to prison for their role in the watergate cover—up. robert mueller may clear president's name, but even if he does find evidence of crimes, removing a sitting president is difficult. a majority in the house of representatives must first vote to impeach the president. then the senate needs to vote for conviction with a two thirds majority. it's and high bar. i did not have sexual relations with that woman. back in 1998, president bill clinton was accused of inappropriate behaviour with a 22—year—old white house intern, monica lewinsky. he was impeached by the house of representatives for, amongst other things, lying under oath. indeed i

did have a relationship with ms lewinsky that was inappropriate. but he wasn't forced to stand down because he had enough support in the senate. many saw him as that —— as the victim of a political witch—hunt. bill clinton completed his second term, the most popular president in american history. maybe that's why most democrats aren't campaigning for these elections on the trump's impeachment. talk of impeachment has hurt democrats. just the way talk of impeachment and the impeachment of president clinton at the republicans. impeachment is a very powerful 2—edged sword and he can really cut the person will set. and that's what happened in recent yea rs. and that's what happened in recent years. applause. but guess who has brought up impeachment on the campaign trail? president trump the entire thing has been a witch—hunt. it's a witch—hunt. the witch—hunt continues. so will be rallying cry

of witch—hunt helping matip ultimo? all the witch—hunt, no matter what they do, they just all the witch—hunt, no matter what they do, theyjust want all the witch—hunt, no matter what they do, they just want to all the witch—hunt, no matter what they do, theyjust want to gain power. but we're not going to let gain power. here in west virginia the message has hit home. like he states, it's a witch—hunt. a man can't do anything, it's just a witch—hunt. they are trying to find something to get him out of office. in this town, trump's supporters are unsha keably loyal. president in this town, trump's supporters are unshakeably loyal. president trump has visited west virginia eight times since he took office. he is campaigning here are now on his success in bringing back coaljobs. we are putting our great coalminers back to work. when somebody comes in and they make big campaign promises,

which he did, it's hard not to have hope. 4 million jobs have been created under trump, america's economy is booming. and this is a truly amazing time for our nation, our economy is booming like never before. and, by the way, your state is booming like never before. applause. but in west virginia will coalminers have closed and reopened under trump. and there is evidence that rich americans have benefited from trump's economy more than the poor. chris pennington, the local democrat, police trump's just a show man. he will come down, he will put his little hard hat on, he will pretend to be a coalminerjust to get the rallying cry, just to get, but the truth is that he's and entertainer. he uses props like any other entertainer would do. my hair look ok? the only thing he did for

west virginia, in my mind, is give us west virginia, in my mind, is give usa west virginia, in my mind, is give us a false hope. does it make you angry? how do you feel about this, personally? i look makers, right, andi personally? i look makers, right, and i wonder, what's going to be here for them? —— look at my kids. so why do most people still love trump ypres? says he believes he will bring change because he's strong and different. -- susie. can i say what i want is it? is exactly what you want to say. because he's and as whole. but i think is personality like that is what it ta kes to personality like that is what it takes to bring back the factories and bring things back to this country again. i think people looked at him is not a politician. he is a straight shooter to me. —— look at him. nobody knows the system better than me. which is why i alone can

fix it. election after election we have elected solely from the establishment. and they don't see any results —— somebody. and now he is the president and they want him to stand up to those people that didn't give them any results were so many years. donald trump trades on his image as a man who loves a good brawl with the establishment. and now at a criticaljunction in his presidency the russian investigation gives him a way to energise his supporters. and we will make america great again. thank you, west virginia, thank you. when he comes to west virginia and talks about the witch—hunt, that's gets people fired up, because now it all comes back to the establishment trying to take out the outsider. so

it works for him, it helps to be accused of these things. it does. it does. chanting: road usa, usa, usa! impeachment is serious. but i do think his popularity will skyrocket. so, what's next four president trump is mac if the democrats do well in tomorrow's elections will they try tomorrow's elections will they try to impeach him? no decision is expected until mueller‘s investigation is completed. having been dead during the nixon impeachment, we had more evidence when we move forward and within our —— having been badgering. as much as i disagree with president's on dark, i think what you need to do before you start on impeachment enquiry is to have more evidence. even if crimes are proven, the democratic party leadership may not have the stomach for the fight. they and many americans recognise the dangers of impeachment. it would drive a

division into the fabric of america that would be very hard to pull out, because one third of americans, his co re because one third of americans, his core supporters, would conclude there had been a coup, that's what they would be told, and a lot of them would believe that nonsense, and that their president had been removed from office by a deep state coup. so tonight, to you, the great silent majority, and my fellow americans, i ask for your support... it's a term that i haven't heard for years, but i really think it applies maybe more than ever before, the silent majority is back and we are going to take the country back! cheering. if the senator rice remove donald trump from office there will be riots and protests that you have not

seen riots and protests that you have not seen since the 1960s. riots and protests that you have not seen since the 19605.” riots and protests that you have not seen since the 1960s. i think the silent majority would no longer be silent. i think they were actually start taking to the streets and there would be violence. i think it would come to that. chanting: impeach, impeach, impeach! and embolden president trump would be able to push forward his controversial agenda, his critics he might also find a way to shut down or bury mueller‘s investigation —— embolden. i think it is disastrous for the country. we are a country of laws. if the president is above the law, who isn't above the law? and then what happens, we are down the law —— ruutu tyranny. then what happens, we are down the law -- ruutu tyranny. i shall reside the presidency. donald trump will never leave that presidency based on the robert mueller report. they are going to have to drag him out of there. america stands on a cusp. tomorrow's elections the nation's

first chance to cast a verdict on donald trump's presidency. the vote could determine his political survival. i know this guy and i saw him up close, i have a strong view, i don't think president trump is morally fit to be president of the united states. my prediction is, based on the evidence that we now know about the obstruction of justice, collaboration with the russians, i don't see any possibility of impeachment or removal. so what's it to be? the beginning of the end four president trump or a stronger, more invincible president? —— for. welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers

in north america and around the globe. my name is mike embley. our top stories: us authorities announce they will block asylum claims by people who enter the country illegally. civil liberties groups say the move is illegal. a former us marine with suspected mental health problems is named as the gunman who shot and killed 12 people in a bar in california. tens of thousands are ordered to evacuate as a fast—moving california wildfire explodes in size, threatening several communities. and none of us is getting any younger, orare we? meet the dutchman fighting a legal battle to take 20 years off his official age.