i'm hugh hewitt. monday through friday you hear me on salem radio network, saturday morning here on msnbc. later this morning, what does sean spicer's departure from the white house mean? is the gop health care bill really dead? my take on president trump's first six months. my first guest today is, gasp, an elected democrat, not just any democrat, but house of representatives's tim ryan, representing the heart of the country's historic western reserve. the steel valley, those of us from #theland. ryan is a graduate of this famed institution, john f. kennedy high school, which is also my high school. ryan played quarterback a few years after graduating from kennedy. i did not. ryan, you may recall, challenged nancy pelosi to be the house minority leader earlier this year. thank goodness he lost and house liberals returned her to her job. i think ryan would be well along in collecting democrats to their blue collar union roots and may be sitting on special election wins right now, not an unbroken recor

hugh hewitt, we're beyond fl flabbergasted this morning. >> i am.ost of the country is center right. combativeness towards the media plays well. cruelty does not. and when the president crosses the line between combativeness into cruelty, he loses some of his base. yesterday afternoon at probably leaning towards trump and everybody is appalled at cruelty. that is the line he's got to measure in. >> i'll just say the standard thing i say about so many shows. these are not tweets, these are official communications from the president of the united states. >> the cruelty aspect. i guess he's back on trashing cnn which inexplicably the "washington post" reported that some aides were upset that the president picked a fight with mika brzezinski because it was takingng away from what they fe was a successful fight with cnn. >> i guess we've never consumed something like this -- yes, when that video was originally filmed, he was an entertainer. that's what he was doing then, and now he's the president of the united states. the reality is the media, okay, the

i'm hugh hewitt. my only guest this morning, admiral james stavridis, head of the fletcher school of law and diplomacy at tufts university and author of "sea power: the history of geopolitics of the world's oceans." my sincere desire is all the senators considering the nda, spend time unwinding from the obamacare debacle by taking up "sea power." it will be a much better and enlightening debate next week on defense than we saw on obamacare last week if they read "sea power." admiral, let's focus on russia. on page 157, russia will never give up crimea. you go on to write about the black sea. in light of that, russian sanctions bill is going to the president's desk. you say he's going to sign it. how do we deal with russia going long-term when you admit in "sea power" they're never going to give us crimea back. >> i think crimea is gone. we don't need to accept that overtly, but in our strategic thinking, we should simply recognize it. that means we continue to put pressure on russia, around the periph

gavin hewitt, bbc news, washington.our north america correspondent rajini vaidya nathan. nice to have you decide of the pond. how much of a big deal is this? the press secretaries, and go, wejust happen to have got to know sean spicer better than others. —— come and go. sean spicer was met to just be the messenger eight he became the story, not just the be the messenger eight he became the story, notjust the story but the parody in a way, the comedy. the president trump that became a distraction. you may remember the first time sean spicer stood on the podium at the white house briefing room was a day after the inauguration. he got into a back and forth with the journalists in the room about the crowd size, before storming off. it set a frosty code between the white house press corps and the white house. —— frosty tone. this wasn't a surprise. there was talk for a while that sean spicer wouldn't be the job for much longer. in recent weeks we haven't even been him come out and do an on camera briefing. the circumstances

gavin hewitt, bbc news, washington.e "fair and decent," according to a government commissioned review of employment practices. it looks particularly at the so—called gig economy, a growing sector of people who currently work flexibly but do not receive employee benefits, though the review says they should. it also examines the use of zero—hour contracts and recommends that everyone should enjoy a "baseline" of protection. with more, here's our economics editor kamal ahmed. whatever work we do, we spend half our waking hours doing it. steady or insecure, full—time or self—employed, high pay or low pay, the world of work is changing. appearing alongside theresa may, matthew taylor said it was time for a reset. our national performance on the quantity of work is strong. but quantity alone is not enough for a thriving economy and for a fair society. so we believe now is the time to complement that commitment in creating jobs with the goal of creating better jobs. victor likes his job for uber. flexible, works the hours he w

gavin hewitt, bbc news, washington. at buckingham palace tonight for the visiting king and queen of spain. this afternoon, king felipe addressed both houses of parliament. he said he was confident the uk and spain can reach an agreement over the future of gibraltar. our royal correspondent nicholas witchell reports. a state banquet at buckingham palace, where hospitality is deployed in pursuit of diplomacy. tonight, one of the world's oldest monarchs, elizabeth of the united kingdom, accompanied one of its newest and tallest, felipe of spain, to dinner. a lavish occasion, but an opportunity for britain to cultivate another important european nation. the queen didn't mention the word brexit in her speech. but she did dwell on the power of the anglo—spanish connection. a relationship like ours, founded on such great strengths and common interests, will ensure that both our nations prosper, now and in the future, whatever challenges arise. the state visit had begun on horse guards parade, with a greeting between two monarc

hugh hewitt? >> before now, there has been no evidence of collusion.ves a path to collusion. i do think it adds -- it's smoke. >> it's smoke and there's a gun, we just don't know if the smoke and the gun -- >> and they put out do not destroy memos to everyone and flynn will be questioned about this, and if there is flynn, there is a path to collusion. but there is no collusion evidence yet. >> exactly, but i think what this does is it illustrates the fact that people who have said, oh, there is no collusion, nothing to see here, let's move on. in fact, there is an investigation that's going on, and there is a lot of smoke, and, you know, the trump side speaks as if it has been proved that there was no collusion. in fact, it is just being investigated. again, there is no smoke. it may not pan out, it may not be anything. >> it does give the case for the investigation. >> i think one of the questions it's going to raise on the hill, too, is the president was so defensive of mike flynn. there was a suggestion in the journal's story that, look, this may ha

percent or more. >> welcome back to "hardball" my ears perked up, maybe you we heard it, too, hue hewittaid if the washington post report is true about attorney general jeff sessions and about his conversations with the russian ambassador during last year's campaign, if that report is true, hue hewitt said, sessions should resign. let's bring in tonight's "hardball" senior editor for the "new york times," a columnist for the washington post, a senior reporter for politico. the timing on this, i can't get over. because up with of the stories of the week has been a president in ap unprecedented move saying i regret appointing jeff sessions attorney general. if he wants to get right rid of him. the story tonight, at least we have to see if it's true. if it's true at all, he's bought the fwroundz to do that? i mean, to be clear, cabinet president-elect bushs serve at the pleasure of the president. he could get rid of him without giving a reason? so he dsp actually need to establish why he would ditch this guy t. question is, what itself the context? how much of a blowback is he going to get

today" and hugh hewitt, the host of the popular radio program the hugh hewitt show here in new york, frank bruni, columnist for "the new york times." i'm pleased to have all of them. hugh hewitt, let me begin with you. tell me about the appearance today and what might happen this week with respect to this testimony before the senate intelligence committee. >> i think jared kushner did about as well as anyone could in a difficult situation, charlie. i read his entire 11 page letter over the air this morning so that commuters could hear it. it was not a nondenial denial it was specific and detailed. it was explanatory and for those inclined to give trump the benefit of the doubt they will find it to be comforting. i found specifically interesting the fact that he said he had never met certificate guy corkov before nor any after that meeting set up by ambassador kislyak in december. and i found interesting that he specifically said no collusion, the two stories aimed at him is he got russian money, and he denied that specifically and that he colluded on data, and he said he did not coll

gavin hewitt, bbc news, washington. our top story this evening.—ill baby charlie gard alive continues, as his case returns to the high court. and still to come... a pay gap on teachers will stay but there are warnings that is putting off new recruits. coming up on bbc news, the latest on a big day for andy murray and johanna konta, at 6:30pm. the birmingham pub bombings in 1974 — it was one the worst ira attacks in england during the many years of the troubles. 21 people were killed and almost 200 were injured. now, decades later — a self—confessed ira bomb maker has finally admitted that he was part of the group responsible for the explosions. in an exclusive interview with the bbc, he has apologised to the families of those who were killed. but he has refused to say exactly what role he played in the notorious bombing. today, a relative of one of the victims called him a coward. here's our ireland correspondent chris buckler. the bombs were left in the heart of birmingham on a thursday night. placed inside pubs to cause destruction. explosions t

you didn't need words to know what happened there, hugh hewitt. this is a defeat that has a lot of mothers and fathers, is there not? >> yes, it's an ernest byner fumble if i use my analogy. it was so unexpected. three republicans voted for the status quo, senators collins, murkowski and mccain. the status quo is not working. people can disagree -- five different discussions is right. but this was a decision to stand pat. there isn't regular order. people's medical situations do not wait for the regular order of the senate. and i think unless and until they decide that they have got to get to conference to take in the best expert opinion and fix this, they're not serious and the senate isn't serious. mcconnell and mccain have been going around for years. this goes back before trump. it was mcconnell who brought down mccain-feingold. there may be another element in this too. >> but a bill doesn't become a law by pass whatever you can and write it -- >> that's actually regular order. >> that's not how it should happen. senator mccain was right. we s

joining me for inside analyst is hugh hewitt and katie hunt. welcome to sunday, it is "meet the press. >> nbc news, washington, the longest running show in television history celebrating its 70th year. this is "meet the press" with chuck todd. >> good sunday morning and happy july 4th weekend. who knew healthcare can be so complicated. mcconnell had a simple plan. repeal and replace, doing it behind close door and pass it quickly. go home for the 4th of july with the party having been made good on a key campaign promise. well, one by one, republican senators began to announce their opposition of the bill. that said 22 million fewer people would wine up being covered that that projected medicaid spending would fall over 35% over the next 40 years. last night at an event honoring veterans here, the president focused on attacking the med ia and not on healthcare. the fake media is trying to silen silence us. we'll not let them. people know the truth. fake media trying to stop us from going in the white house but i am president and they're not. >>

gavin hewitt, bbc news, washington. the other top stories. organisations have pledged more than $2 billion to make contraception more widely available. donors in london including the bill and melinda gates foundation. milestone is not a finish—line. we have a lot of work ahead of us. our advocacy is needed now more than ever. this is a difficult political climate for family planning, and ever. this is a difficult political climate forfamily planning, and i am deeply troubled, as i am sure you are, by donald trump budget cuts. empowering women is more thanjust rhetoric for the president? prove it? a day after iraq declared mosul clear of islamic state, the human observatory for human rights claims the leader of islamic state is dead, al—baghdadi. however, this is not verified. there has been a lot of media interest in the whereabouts and status of al—baghdadi. despite all of the helpful reports to us and resources , all of the helpful reports to us and resources, i am unable to confirm or deny where he is and whether he is alive or dead. let m

gavin hewitt, bbc news, washington.st hour, he has given his first interview to fox news while the president publicly thanked his former press secretary on twitter. he said this. our north america correspondent is in los angeles for us now. correspondent is in los angeles for us now. what did sean spicer stay in this interview? it is clear he is determined to be loyal until the end. his former boss, the president, president trump, he is still staying in the role, and said he would help bring a smooth transition. he said it was a privilege to serve the president. on fox news he said he believes he is leaving the job in capable hands, the woman who was his secretary. he says he wants to be supportive. he said he wants to give the president a clean slate. he did not want any dissent at all, which is not the story being told by certain media outlets in the united states tha n certain media outlets in the united states than he resigned from hisjob because he was unhappy with the appointment of the new communications chief. o

gavin hewitt, bbc news, washington.ments and private organisations have pledged more than $2 billion to make contraception more widely available. donors at a conference in london included the bill & melinda gates foundation. let me be really clear. a milestone is not a finish—line. we have a lot of work ahead of us. 0ur advocacy is needed now more than ever in this community. this is a difficult political climate for family planning, and i am deeply troubled, as i am sure you are, by the trump administration's proposed budget cuts. if empowering women is more than just rhetoric for the president, he'll prove it by funding family planning. also making news: a day after iraq declared it had driven islamic state from its stronghold of mosul, the syrian 0bservatory for human rights has claimed the is leader, abu bakral—baghdadi, is dead. the 0bservatory says it has obtained the information from is commanders, but the us—led coalition says it can't verify al—baghdadi's death. there's been a lot of media interest in the where

gavin hewitt, bbc news, canada.en seeing a ceremony where carrie lam has been sworn in. she is giving a speech at the moment. the chinese president has been attending. it is his first visit to hong kong since becoming president and he is believed to be leaving shortly after the ceremony. there is going to be a day of lavish celebrations because hong kong is marking 20 years since the colony was handed over to china asa the colony was handed over to china as a territory. the deal was that one country, two systems and there has been much controversy over how much china has stuck to that deal and how much autonomy hong kong has. there is a lot to come there. well, saturday does not look bad at all across most of the uk. we're certainly in for some sunshine and some warm weather. there is a little bit of rainfall on the way in the north—west, but it shouldn't be too heavy. now, in the short term, actually a fair bit of cloud out there, and some light rain. damp weather just across east anglia in the south—east to end th

gavin hewitt, bbc news, 0ttawa.taken part in gay pride events across the world. a parade of 52 floats took the celebrations through the spanish capital madrid. the rally was led by all of spain's major political parties. behind them came people decked out in rainbow flags and colourful outfits. the massive outdoor gathering was the highlight of the 10—day world pride 2017 festival, which wraps up on sunday. let's catch up with the sports news. we start with rugby union, and the british and irish lions have become the first side to beat the all blacks on home soil since 2009. the 2a points to 21 victory levelled the series ahead of next saturday's third test. 0ur sports correspondent katie gornall reports from wellington. many said it could not be done. not against the world champions and certainly not here on home turf. but they have pulled off one of the great wins in history and kept the series alive. when sonny bill williams was sent off in the first half for a shoulder charge, he wasn't just the first all black

gavin hewitt bbc news washington. and a brief time ago i spoke with alexi simmons inga white house correspondent for real quick politics. good to have you with us alexis how much of a surprise blows shown spices resignation. well you know i think of those of us who were in the white house. almost every day were not that surprised bought one of the reasons that we weren't surprised has to do with what you are describing in the set up to this matter is that. the president has had a rocky communications and i kind of a. lack of confidence in sean spicer from the very beginning. but in this particular case we also knew that he was close friends with anthony scaramucci had known him for a long period time he's friendly scaramucci is with. donald trumps children. and the he had been seen in the white house and the president been looking for an opportunity to give him a job. for quite some time so we had seen. some of the makings of the search for the replacement and lots and lots of run up to why the president was so frustr

gavin hewitt bbc news washington. and a brief time ago i spoke with veteran diplomats and former us ambassador to russia thomas pickering. let began by asking him if he agrees with the white house official he described the meeting with vladimir putin. it's perfectly normal. i would think that it is more normal than the press. in the united states to tumble amid is allowing mr trump to convince us. but perhaps a little unusual in the sense that. he used only the translation services of the russian side but up moving around is a very big new york habit. even if it isn't much and diplomacy. are and opportunities that heads of state have often. to do what we would call pulled asides or stop buys are is something that's not so unusual that it doesn't happen at all. now and i would suspect that in some ways this is a little bit overblown on that side. and perhaps a little bit under blown on the side that. the president didn't seem to have any help there. and one wonders in fact whether the russian interpreter will be though

gavin hewitt bbc news washington. and for more on the state of us russian relations of these revelations about donald trump junia come to light. my colleague candy canes spoke earlier with richard holmes. he's the president of the council on foreign relations an offer a wild in disarray. richard has how serious. is this latest. reporting that donald trump son had a meeting with the russian operative does it look bad for the president. well it looks bad and it opens up. the argument that they were interested in receiving material that they ought not to be have been interested in and receiving. but as i read the piece i didn't see any transfer of information. so it. i'm not sure actually how much substance legally eh it has butter reinforces the sense that people were. motivated to do things they ought not to have been motivated to do. does it account for the fact that this president has been reluctant to be hauled shown in russia and president putin to think. hehe i think that that's that's still a mystery for which we

gavin hewitt, bbc news, washington.is a republican strategist who previously worked in the administration of president george w bush. he says changing personnel in the white house is not that unusual. every white house has a certain amount of organised chaos in it. people come and go, people are expendable. the only people who are not are the president and vice president. after four years they're at the will of the people. six months in? absolutely. historically we've seen changes at this level almost in every administration this early on. people are just getting their feet wet and establishing themselves and some jobs just don't fit. anthony scaramucci will have a tough job being a communicator and a communications dog in a white house that's extremely fluid, more fluid and less organised than probably any modern presidency. but also the timing of appointing him just before this week that's coming up, with the president's son—in—law due to give testimony to a committee — potentially his own son giving testimony to a co

gavin hewitt bbc news canad. now you may not have realized this but today is wait for it. troy day marking the anniversary of the biggest recorded impacts on earth in nineteen oh eight and asteroid exploded over siberia flattening a forest the size of a large city. neither hasn't been anything like it since but many scientists say it's only a matter of time. well earlier i spoke to doctor carrie corrigan a geologist at the national museum of natural history here in washington. carrie thanks for coming in wire asteroid so important what do they tell us when as meteorites they for to us. so actually each of these is a piece of a relief. much bigger puzzle about how the asteroids formed how our solar system formed and then in turn how the earth forme. we have four in front of us can i touch any of them you can touch this one. until we do we know where this came from we don't know exactly which after that came from no it fell in russia. but it's part of the core of an asteroid it's the metal inside of an asteroid that that differentiated through the layers like the earth so mu

gavin hewitt, bbc news, 0ttawa.the british & irish lions have become the first side to beat the all blacks on home soil since 2009. the 24 points to 21 victory levelled the series ahead of next saturday's third test. 0ur sports correspondent katie gornall reports from wellington. many said it could not be done — not against the world champions and certainly not here on home turf. but they have pulled off one of the great wins in history and kept the series alive. when sonny bill williams was sent off in the first half for a shoulder charge on antony watson, he wasn't just the first all black to be sent off in 50 years, but he gave the lions hope. however, a man advantage is no guarantee against the all blacks. ill disciplined cred into their game and bowden barrett was able to kick them to lead. they had an 8—9 lead. hope was beginning to fade but the lions sprang into life. first, a crash over the corner and then a converted try brought them level. with minutes remaining, 0wen farrell held his nerve to kick the lio

gavin hewitt, bbc news, washington.spondent, david willis, gave me the latest updates in washington, on reports of how trumpjunior‘s links and meetings with the russian lawyer were formed. this story is moving, another development. the new york times, which broke the story of this meeting on sunday, is now reporting that donald trump junior was informed by e—mail that the compromising information he was to receive about hillary clinton from this russian lawyer was all part of a russian government attempt to basically assist the donald trump candidacy. it has been seen by three people and information was passed on to the new york times. that report is unconfirmed at this time. the e—mail is said to have come from a man called rob goldsten. it was he who brokered the meeting between donald trump junior and the russian lawyer, according to the new york times, a former publicist and tabloid journalist. it is clear this e—mail would be of interest to congressional investigators. today, both democrat and republican senators c

this from the bbc‘s gavin hewitt.early six months, there has been a shadow over the trump administration, with the allegation that the trump campaign last year somehow colluded with the russians. but today, a series of highly damaging e—mails were published, suggesting that russian officials were actively trying to help the trump campaign. congratulations, dad. we love you! donald trumer was at the heart of his father's election campaign. today, he embarked on a high—risk strategy. fearing more revelations about a meeting at trump tower with a russian lawyer in june of last year, he decided to disclose the e—mails between himself and the publicist who arranged the meeting. the e—mails raise serious and disturbing questions. the four pages of e—mails reveal exchanges between trumer and a british publicist, rob goldstone. in one e—mail, mr goldstone offers to put him in contact with a lawyer linked to high—level russian officials, who are promising official documents and information that would incriminate hillary clinto

i'm hugh hewitt. that was president donald trump first in riyadh in late may of this year speaking to arab leadership both political and religious. and the second donald trump was in poland before g-20 got underway in hamburg. people view the speeches along with that to congress in february as his historical high points of his presidency. liberals and in conservatives or anti-trumpers, those willing to give the president a hearing, don't seem to be watching the same movie when it comes to the president. worse, they are shouting about the different movies that they are watching at each other, on line, 24/7. joining me to discuss this, anna maria cox, host of the podcast "with friends like these," contributor to "the new york times" and original wonket, and director of 538 and a political correspondent for nbc news, welcome to you both. anna maria, i'll start with. i think you're of the left. i'm of the right. perry in the center. what do you make of this two -- the world views of donald trump that -- s

gavin hewitt, bbc news, canada. community organiser, and says she is among those who will not be celebrating canada day. erica, this is a difficult day for a lot of indigenous people. can you explain why? 50 canada is propagating this myth that it is only 150 years old, and while that may be true for canada as a colony, our nation, those indigenous nations, have been here for much, much longer. and the 150 years, that marco is a marker meant to erase and further subjugate indigenous peoples on our own lands. so what should canada be doing, then? should they not be celebrating the 150 year mark, or they celebrate in a different way? i think that most canadians think about canada day is a time to be patriotic, is a time to go and watch fireworks. but the indigenous people that i know, my family and friends, i doing things like occupying a teepee on parliament hill grounds, currently. a bunch of indigenous students have set upa a bunch of indigenous students have set up a tepee and they were actually faced with police

gavin hewitt, bbc news, canada.d his title when the tour de france begins later today. he is hoping to complete his third straight win, and a fourth victory in five years, but he faces stiff competition from some the world's leading cyclists. the race begins in dusseldorf, in germany, from where richard conway reports. chris froome becomes the first briton to retain the tour de france title... chris froome knows what it takes to win the tour de france. tomorrow, he starts his quest for a fourth victory in this famous race. media interest is always sky—high, but this year, froome's team roll off the start line the subject of an ongoing doping investigation, and with questions looming over their leader's credibility. i've been involved in this sport a long time, and i've tried to do it absolutely the way that i've always thought it should be done. and i'm proud of what we've achieved in this sport, and i'm proud of this team. evidence from sir dave brailsford and other team sky officials to mps earlier this year revea

bill hewitt and david packard were to walk around today, they'd be surprised. pleased, but surprised by what the work force looks like now, a reflection of society now, a perfect reflection of society to be sure, but h-p is working hard to make that a more perfect mirror. the person in charge of that very big task is leslie clayton brown, chief diversity officer at h-p, and connie of c-net as well, editor in chief there. normally this is where i'm beginning to ask you questions but i have a couple of things i want to point out. that is, and i said this last time we had a diversity officer on the show, it is my job to ask you really hard questions and they will be about diversity. i don't want you to misconstrue that somehow i am against diversity. i am conscious i am a white anglo-saxon male challenging you about diversity. that's why it could seem awkward. i am not making an audition tape for fox and friends. >> absolutely. >> let's get started. let me ask you a tough question as long as we're talking about race diversity. could i be a diversity officer? >> ab

gavin hewitt.canada's declaration of independence was drafted — not in north america — but here in the uk. the venue — highclere castle, where the british tv series downton abbey is filmed. ben moore explains. the libraries of england's grand houses harbour many secrets. but amongst the 8,000 books at highclere, better known to billions as downton abbey, was a corker. this was the birthplace of a nation. at the bottom of this page are three names, which i didn't really know. john macdonald, ge cartier, and galt. so i did a bit of research, and within one second realised what i was about to find. john a macdonald became the first prime minister of canada, and led this delegation hosted by the fourth earl. over the year, they drafted the british north america act. actually, quite a bit of the constitution was written here in this library. perhaps they discussed it around this dining room table, perhaps they stood by the saloon fire on a cold, wintry day. and i feel so lucky. i discovered it all by ch

gavin hewitt reports. this is donald trump's eldest son. i'm donald trump jr.astjune, after his father's nomination, he met with a russian lawyer who promised damaging material on hillary clinton's campaign. the meeting was here at trump tower in new york. until this weekend, trump jr hadn't mentioned it, but it wasn't a casual encounter, he brought along trump's campaign manager and his son—in—law. then his story has changed. on saturday he said, "we primarily discussed a programme about the adoption of russian children." by the following day he said, "the woman lawyer stated that she had information that individuals connected to russia were funding the democratic national committee and supporting mrs clinton." he was told there would be information that may be helpful to the campaign. there was no such information. but, again i want to ask you a question, if we are going to use the word collusion, where is the evidence of collusion? trump jr pushed back sarcastically on twitter today to say, "obviously i'm the first person on a campaign to ever take a meeting

gavin hewitt, bbc news, washington.t washington a few hours ago, leaving the storm behind him as he heads for paris to celebrate france's bastille day on friday as president macron‘s guest of honour. our correspondent, david willis, gave me this update on the situation in washington. there is word from the white house that the whole administration, if you like, is in a state of paralysis. president trump is said to be furious and frustrated with the fact the russia probe seems to be dominating the headlines and just won't go away. according to news channels, he has been holed up in the white house virtually since returning from the g20 trying to figure out what to do about all of this that, of course, has stalled the domestic agenda, including moves to revise and replace obamacare. there is a feeling that he really cannot work out how to move the agenda on from this. now, he is currently on his way to france for a meeting with emmanuel macron to celebrate bastille day. tomorrow there will be the first chance for journal

gavin hewitt, bbc news, washington. couple of hours, mr spicer has given his first interview to us television while the president took to twitter to publicly thank his now former press secretary. he said "sean spicer is a wonderful person who took tremendous abuse from the fake news media — but his future is bright!" our north america correspondent peter bowes was watching spicer‘s interview and gave me his analysis from los angeles a little earlier. it is very clear that he is determined to at least publicly be loyal to the very end to his former boss, the president, president trump. in fact, boss, the president, president trump. infact, he is boss, the president, president trump. in fact, he is staying on any role for another few weeks, he says to enable a smooth transition. he said it had been an honour and a privileged to serve the president. the tenor of the conversation we heard on fox news is that he believes he is leaving the job in capable hands, essentially to the woman who has been his deputy, sarah huckaby c

gavin hewitt, bbc news, canada.hour being raised to mark 20 years of chinese rule in the former british territory and within the next hour president xi jinping will inaugurate the new leader, carrie lam. protesters are planning to march in a rally to demand democracy. mainland officials have repeated the government's view that a treaty which governed the handover no longer has any practical significance. this is bbc news. well, saturday does not look bad at all across most of the uk. we are in for some sunshine and some warm weather. there is a little bit of rainfall on the way in the north—west, but it should not be too heavy. in the short term, actually a fair bit of cloud out there, and some light rain. damp weather across east anglia in the south—east overnight. many northern and north—western areas actually a lot clearer, so this is where we will have fresh weather early in the morning. in fact, in parts of northern ireland, maybe even in ruralareas, a touch of grass frost. temperatures in the towns and cities

gavin hewitt, bbc news, washington.nce of children as young as nine being groomed on the live streaming app periscope. launched just two years ago, the app allows its millions of users to broadcast live from their phones and can reveal their location. but our team found children streaming video live from their classrooms and even their bedrooms, and clearly being groomed for sexual abuse. despite this, twitter — which owns the app — claims it has "zero tolerance" for this kind of conduct. angus crawford investigates. not learning, but broadcasting. live from the back of a lesson. viewers send her direct messages. another school, another class. more questions from total strangers. but this isn'tjust an innocent chat. are you in high school? yes. we found pupils live streaming across the country. and they've all been using this, periscope, an app owned by twitter, which allows users to broadcast live from anywhere. and our investigation from children using it in their own bedrooms and being groomed in front of our eyes. t

gavin hewitt, bbc news, washington.ater, a self—confessed ira bomb maker admits being part of the group that killed 21 people in the birmingham pub bombings — we'll have a special programme at 11:30. a conservative mp is suspended from the party after a recording emerged of her using a racially—offensive term. the judge hearing the case of the terminally ill baby charlie gard, says he'll need dramatic and new evidence to change his mind and allow experimental treatment in america. let's have a quick look at some of tomorrow mornings front pages. the telegraph leads with a warning from teaching bodies of a risk to the education system, following the government's announcement that the 1% pay cap will stay for teachers. the metro's front page has the suspension of the mp anne marie morris from the conservative party, for using a racially offensive word. the ft shows an image of the russian lawyer who is reported to have met with president donald trump's son. drinking coffee could lead to a healthier life, says the daily ex

gavin hewitt, bbc news, washington.the former brazilian president lula da silva has been sentenced to nine and a half years in prison after being convicted of corruption. he was found guilty of accepting bribes worth over $1 million linked to the secret renovation of a beach resort. he will remain free while he appeals the verdict but his campaign to run for the presidency again next year could be affected. the bbc‘s katy watson is in rio. this is a nine and a half year sentence for corruption and money—laundering and it relates to a beachside apartment that he allegedly received and it was in return for bribes of more than $1 million from a construction company in exchange for some contracts, and again it relates to the state owned oil company petrobras. this is all pa rt oil company petrobras. this is all part of a bigger operation carwash, the country's biggest ever corruption investigation that started just over three years ago. it's really spread its tentacles far and wide and a lot of politicians and wide and a lo