for more, i spoke with the bbc's north america editor jon sopel at the white house short time ago. art from the rhetoric which sounds incredibly dramatic, has president trump done anything that radical? jon: yes, let's distinguish between the signal and the noise, because in his white house there is a great deal of noise, it is dramatic, there are bangs and crashes around the place. and then you have to look a bit deeper. yes, did donald trump take stern action against iran? absolutely, he did. was it further than barack obama would have gone? probably. but it was carefully calibrated as well. he clearly didn't want to do anything that would upset the iran nuclear deal even though he has professed it to be the worst deal signed by the united states. he wanted to keep it in place. that looks rather cautious on his part. and there are other signals that all the noise, there is some sort of normalcy and continuity. if you look at what happened at the united nations, yesterday you have nikki haley, the new u.s. ambassador to the u.n., saying there have to be sanctions against russia and

jon sopel, bbc news, washington.e president has hosted a meeting at the white house, with the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu. and mr trump seems to have cast aside two decades of american policy in the middle east by suggesting that the creation of a new palestinian state, alongside israel, the so—called two—state solution, is no longer the only peace plan under consideration by america. our middle east editor jeremy bowen has more details. when mr and mrs netanyahu arrived at the white house there seemed to be real warmth. benjamin netanyahu hopes so. he had a sour relationship with barack obama and wants this visit to be a new start. before he was elected president, mrtrump seemed ready to give israel a blank check on the palestinians. mr neta nyahu authorised thousands more homes forjews in the occupied territories in defiance of international law within days of mrtrump‘s inauguration. but now he's in the white house the president has changed his tune. he sees himself as america's greatest deal—maker an

jon sopel, bbc news, washington.the president has hosted a meeting at the white house with the israeli prime minister, benjamin netanyahu. mr trump seems to have cast aside two decades of american policy in the middle east by suggesting that the creation of a new palestinian state alongside israel, the so—called two—state solution, is no longer the only peace plan under consideration by america. our middle east editor, jeremy bowen, has more details. when mrand mrs when mr and mrs netanyahu arrived at the white house there seemed to be real warmth. binyamin netanyahu hopes so. he had a sour relationship with barack hopes so. he had a sour relationship with ba rack obama hopes so. he had a sour relationship with barack obama and wants this visit to be a new start. before he was elected president, mrtrump seemed ready to give israel a blank cheque on the palestinians. binyamin netanyahu cheque on the palestinians. binyamin neta nyahu authorised thousands cheque on the palestinians. binyamin netanyahu authorised thousan

jon sopel reports. jon: 4 days since president vettinggned the extreme policy and the administration is trying to clarify who will be affected and he won't, and what the executive order is and is not. it was left to the secretary of homeland security to offer reassurance. on muslims.ot a ban it is to safeguard the american people, our homeland, our values. religious liberty is one of our most fundamental values. jon: donald trump is meeting with leaders from the pharmaceutical industry after delivering a lethal injection to the attorney general. it is being done the monday -- dubbed the monday night massacre. sally yates said she was not convinced the executive order was lawful. as went on "consequently for long as i'm acting attorney general the department of justice will not present arguments in defense of the executive order." this drama was unfolding as protesters have taken to the streets to oppose the ban on refugees coming to the u.s. she was fired for defying the president, it was hardly surprisi

our north america editor jon sopel has more. jon: these are not the best of times. not yet four weeks in his travel ban has been blocked, his national security adviser is fired, and questions about links with russia are piling up. when the president is angry he vents on twitter. he let rip this morning. "this russia connection nonsense is an attempt to cover up the steps made in hillary clinton's losing campaign. the real scandal is that classified information is illegally given out by intelligence like candy. very un-american. the fake news media is going crazy with conspiracy theories and blind hatred." >> the president of the united states of the united states and the prime minister of israel. jon: at his news conference with the israeli prime minister, no mention of concerns about links with russia, and he would never guess it was the president who forced general flynn's resignation. pres. trump: general flynn is a wonderful man who has been treated unfairly by the media, as i call it the fake media in many cases. it is a sad thing that he was treated so badly.

jon sopel, bbc news, washington. saying,s jon was just there are questions about michael flynn's role as future as national security advisor. david ignatius is a columnist post" and heington joined me a short time ago. is he on his way out or not on his way out? david: it appears after kellyanne conway's statement that he is here to stay, unless there is significant of evidence about what he said to the russian ambassador in his conversations in late december. it is apparent that at least some of those conversations were monitored by u.s. intelligence. if there was evidence that he said things that are contradicted by other statements, this could come back. for the moment, yeah, it seems the president stood by his man. katty: let's go back a little bit for our viewers around the world and talk about why this has been controversial, not just because of the conversations he had but what he said to the vice president and what the vice president told the american people. david: general flynn, the national security advisor

the bbc's north america editor jon sopel reports. jon: at the white house this morning, a full ceremonial welcome for the japanese prime minister, even an awkward bear hug for a man he has only met once before. the focus of the conversation was meant to be about trade, not the subject that journalists wanted to talk about. >> i'm curious of by yesterday's ruling in the ninth circuit court. has it caused you you to rethink executive power? president trump: well, your question was unrelated to what we are here for but i will answer it. jon: he steered clear of attacking the judges and promised victory eventually. : we will beump doing something for additional security for our country and you will be seeing that sometime next week. in addition, we will continue to go through the court process and ultimately i have no doubt we will win that particular case. jon: last night there was a furious reaction to the judgment with the president tweeting in block capitals, a sure sign of irritation, "see you in court, the security of our nation is

our north america editor jon sopel starts our coverage. jon: the trappings of office are impressive. the reality is burdensome. last night, president trump and daughter ivanka went to an air base were the remains of a navy seal were being returned, killed after an operation in yemen, the first one ordered by america's new commander-in-chief. at a prayer breakfast this morning in washington, that experience seemed to weigh heavy. president trump: greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. we will never forget the men and women in uniform, believe me. jon: but overwhelmingly, the tone on foreign policy is abrasive. president trump: when you hear tough phone calls i'm having, don't worry about it. just don't worry about it. it is time we be a little tough, folks. we are taken advantage of by every nation in the world, virtually. it is not going to happen anymore. we: in the past day or so, have seen a warning shot fired at iran. general flynn: we are putting iran on notice. jon: details emerge of a shouti

here is our north america editor jon sopel. been neat, it hasn't been easy, but senator jeff sessions, hugely controversial choice over and allegedly racist past, has finally won approval to be donald trump's attorney general, and it is clear that he on the president are on the same page. a.g. sessions: you have an increased threat since i was united states attorney from terrorism. mr. president, you have spoken firmly on that. you have lead this nation to say we will respond effectively to the threat of terrorism, and you can count on your department of justice to do so in an effective way. jon: but donald trump's plan to ban migrants from seven mainly muslim countries is not going to be decided by the justice department. it will end up here at the supreme court. and his recent denunciation of federal judges involved in the case is doing him no favors. astonishingly, even his pick for the supreme court has called the move disheartening and demoralizing. judge gorsuch, who has been touring capitol hill offices to win support fo

north america editor jon sopel was there. >> ladies and gentlemen, the president of the united states. jon: at short notice, news conference was announced to be given by the president. highly unusual. ostensibly to announce the new choice of labor secretary, it really was to get a whole lot of his chest, and his principal target was the media. president trump: the press has become so dishonest and we don't talk about it. we are doing a tremendous disservice to the american people. tremendous disservice. we have to talk about it to find out what is going on because the press, honestly, is out of control. the level of dishonesty is out of control. jon: and the idea that his administration is in meltdown, nothing could be further from the truth. president trump: i turn on the tv, open the newspaper, and i see stories of chaos, chaos. yet it is the exact opposite. this administration is running like a fine-tuned machine. jon: but how could he reconcile that with the travel ban blocked by the courts? a question i asked after a little back-and-forth. can i just ask you -- thank you very muc

jon sopel, bbc news, washington. you're watching newsday on the bbc.'s prime minister that establishing a palestinian state is no longer the only option that america favours in the middle east. the troops were finally coming home. mall, was murdered. that has had a terrible effect on the morality of the people. one wonders who is next. as the airlift got under way, there was no letup in the destruction itselfit went away from the town for the time being, but it could start again atany the time being, but it could start again at any time. the russians heralded venue space station with a spectacular launch. they called it peace. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm rico hizon in singapore. i'm babita sharma in london. thank you forjoining us. our top stories: north korea has asked malaysia to hand over the body of a man thought to be the half—brother of the north korean leader, kim jong—un. he's believed to have been poisoned. residents of the indonesian capital, jakarta, have voted for a new governor in an election overshadowed by the incumbant‘s blasphemy t

jon sopel, bbc news, washington. defend his travel ban against seven mainly muslim countries, as the courts consider its legality. mr trump is claiming that american public opinion is strongly in his favour. he made immigration one of his main campaign themes. one of the states where mr trump gained particular support was montana. our correspondent aleem maqbool has been there, to find out what people make of the argument over travel and immigration. beautiful alpine montana is the size of germany. it's got a population ofjust 1 million, but fewer than 20 refugee families have been resettled in the entire state since the mid—90s. and yet this is where some of the strongest views against immigration can be found. i believe that what we have seen with our president is a phenomenal performance so far. this is a man who couldn't be happier. he voted for donald trump. hollis is heavily involved in local politics and he's a preacher. his christian compassion, though, does not extend to those he feels are a threat to his wa

jon sopel, bbc news, washington.hinese counterpart, xijinping, have held theirfirst telephone conversation. during the call, described as "cordial", mr trump agreed to honour the so—called "one china" policy, which he'd previously threatened to re—examine. it relates to the status of the island of taiwan, which has its own government but which beijing sees as a breakaway province. the one china policy acknowledges there is only one chinese government and that diplomatic relations must be with china, not taiwan. our china editor, carrie gracie, reports from the taiwanese capital taipei. people in taiwan have more freedom of expression than people in china. after 70 years of governing itself, this noisy democracy has a mind of its own. taiwan even has political satire. in this animation studio, they are notjust mocking their own president but mr xi and mr trump as well. we have 1800 missiles pointed our way but at the same time in taiwan we have absolute freedom to do anything we want, so satire is one of the good thin

jon sopel, bbc news, washington.me the latest of the big six energy companies to raise its prices. it's increasing the cost of electricity by almost 11 per cent and gas by nearly five per cent. but british gas says it's freezing prices until august. 0ur personal finance correspondent simon gompertz is here — why the difference in prices from these two companies? why the difference in prices from these companies? british gas says it is evidence of competition at work and that is important for them because it means it is less likely that they will have mps and even ministers breathing down their necks about high gas and electricity prices. scottishpower putting up prices. scottishpower putting up prices from more than 1 million of its customers on standard tariffs, not the fixed once and then british gas saying it is winter price freeze will now be extended through until august. evidence that they do not move as they herd as they are often accused of doing. scottishpower say it is harder to get hold of gas and electric

our north america editor jon sopel was there and sent this report.the of § united ladies and the of i: united §fflfti ladies and the of é united % ati press c0 nfe re nce was notice a press conference was announced, highly unusual. ostensibly to announce his new secretary but really to get a lot out of his chest. the press has become so dishonest that if we do not talk about it, we are doing a tremendous disservice to the american people. we have to talk about it to find out what is going on because the press is out of control, the level of dishonesty is out of control. nothing could be further from the truth that his presidency was in meltdown.” further from the truth that his presidency was in meltdown. i turned to stories of chaos yet it is the exact opposite. this administration is of running like a fine tuned machine. but how could he reconcile that with the travel ban blocked by the courts, a question i asked after a little back and forth. where are you from? here is another beauty. impartial free and fair. sure, just like cnn. we can banter bac

jon sopel there on capitol hill, ahead of that speech by the president. which could be the oldest iron age gold ever found in britain. the three necklaces and a bracelet are believed to be over 2,500 years old. the metal detectorists made the discovery last december. the british museum has said the find is of "international importance. " the us aerospace company, spacex, has announced plans to fly two fee—paying passengers around the moon. the mission, planned for the middle of 2018, will be the first manned flight into deep space for over a0 years, although it will not involve a lunar landing. 0ur science editor, david shukman, reports. a spacex promotion, bold and often boastful, this young company knows how to whip up excitement. the rocket is the falcon heavy, it's yet to be launched, this is an animation, but already two tourists are promised seats on it to fly around the moon as early as next year. archive: houston, this is america, you can breathe easier... not since the last apollo mission, back in 1972, have any humans flown anywhere near the moo

jon sopel, bbc news, washington. six people were sent to prison today for a majorfraud.l businesses run by customers of halifax bank of scotland, now owned by lloyds banking group. the fraud was facilitated by two employees of the bank, which for years has refused to acknowledge responsibility for what happened, or offer to compensate the victims. 0ur economics correspondent, andy verity, has uncovered evidence that in covering up the fraud, the bank also misled the police. four greedy and devious consultants, who bribed two discouraged hbos bankers. in exchange the bank forced small business company is to pay for the consultants, who plundered the businesses to buy foreign holidays and yachts. this has been the longest and most compact casing thames valley police history. lyndon schofield, struggling small companies would approach him for advice to turn their businesses around. is of offering help that he should have done, he led them more and more of the bank's money. he also referred them to his consultancy friends, who weeks charged him extortionate fees and stripped

jon sopel, no apprentice. he can hold his own against anyone. a line on the travel ban. that. they are not getting a lot of that done they promised they would get down this week. we spoke about the attacks on the media. there were attacks on inelit generals agencies and people leaking information. well, for more on this, let's speak to peter ahearn, an intelligence expert who's spent 29 years at the fbi and was a senior adviser with the office of the director of national intelligence. he's also the president and founder of the ahearn consulting group. thank you very much forjoining us. we heard the president again, there in that press conference. attacking intelligence agencies for leaking information about his campaign's contacts with russia. do you think it is intelligence agents that are doing the leaking? you can only speculate. i think though, in defence of the intelligence chunt community, i think they are much more understanding of what can happen if you are caught doing any lea ks happen if you are caught doing any leaks of happen if you are caught doing any lea

our north america editor jon sopel reports.nnouncer: the president of the united states and the prime minister of canada. this is the neighbour just dropping by. but were there ever two elected leaders so different in style and substance than donald trump and justin trudeau? both men were on their best behaviour, because on one particular issue they are thousands of miles apart — and that is whether to allow those fleeing persecution into the country. on the day after president trump signed his controversial executive order banning refugees and travellers from seven mainly—muslim countries, justin trudeau tweeted this: "to those fleeing persecution, terror and war, canadians will welcome you, regardless of your faith. diversity is our strength. welcome to canada." so how would they deal with this obvious policy difference at theirjoint news conference? we cannot let the wrong people in, and i will not allow that to happen during this administration. and people, the citizens of our country, want that, and that's their attitude t

jon sopel, bbc news, washington.dent report has concluded u nsafe an independent report has concluded unsafe construction at schools in edinburgh was the fault of the council and the building contractor. it was apparently just luck that no one was killed just over a year ago when a wall collapsed. it was closed after safety concerns. more than 8000 pupils were affected. we report. spread across an entire city, 17 schools closed for months, because the buildings weren't safe. it began last january with a storm. nine tonnes of masonry blown to the ground at 0xgangs primary, a question of timing and luck that no one was killed. i eat breakfast... back to school. the bad memory is fading for the mackle family, but they're still wary. it's a lot quieter in the playground than it used to be. you have faith that people who are building public buildings are doing it to an acceptable standard. it makes you... it does make you question, i guess. you know, and ask the question, is this building safe. explaining why thousands of

i'm christian fraser in london, jon sopel is in washington.ding to the polls, a majority of british people are in favour of donald trump coming to the uk on a state visit. but there's a sizeable number of people who stand opposed. almost two million people signed a petition calling for the invitation to be withdrawn. that petition — in line with the law — forced a parliamentary debate currently under way in westminster hall. here's a flavour. we are in a position unlike any faced by any previous parliament, where we have a person of a unique personality running the united states. there are great dangers in attempting to give him the best accolade we can offer anyone, only been offered twice before, of a state visit. this would be terribly wrong, because it would appear that the british parliament, the british nation, the british sovereign is approving of the acts of donald] trump. outside that debate — in westminster, in parliament square, there's a demonstration under way tonight. let's get more now from our correspondent nick beake, who's am

north america editor jon sopel starts our coverage. jon: they were oh so close, politically inseparable. after three weeks as national security advisor, michael flynn has gone in a stunning fall from grace after a day of chaos and confusion at the white house. the camera-loving president suddenly becoming camera shy when asked about his future. >> you don't feel confident in him? jon: today the president's spokesman came out all guns blazing. the former close friend had lost the president's trust. >> we got to a point not based on a legal issue but a trust issue were the level of trust between the president and general flynn had eroded to the point where he felt like he had to make a change. the president was very concerned that general flynn had misled the vice president and others. the evolving and eroding level of trust as a result of this situation and a series of other questionable instances is what led the president to ask for general flynn's resignation. jon: the republican leadership, always uncomfortable about the unorthodox ge

for more on the nomination i spoke to our north american editor, jon sopel. question is how much of a fight the democrats are going to put up over the appointment. jon: it will be quite a fight. not everyone is going to say, good guy, impeccable credentials, let's march him through. overemocrats are seething the fact that barack obama -- remember justice scalia died last february. barack obama had the duty to appoint the next supreme court justice, and the republicans would not hear from him, point blank refused. there is an appetite for the democrats to say "you expect us to play ball now?" raceave the democratic saying let's not do anything to help this process. even though he has the credentials, they will try to make it difficult. it?e 100% guaranteed to get no, but the republicans have a majority in the house and senate . i cannot help thinking it will go through in the end. laura: donald trump got his way with rex tillerson being nominated despite concerns initially overhead being too close to russia. does it look like iran could be the first big test? t

i spoke with jon sopel on capitol hill. many in washington are expecting president trump to put meat on the bones of his agenda. what is the meat going to be? , firstlittle bit of tone of all. we remember the speech from his inauguration with the talk of carnage and the dystopian view of the united states of america. this is going to be up the heat and optimistic -- upbeat and optimistic. we caught some clues. he wants to have an increase in defense spending. he wants to see medicare and medicaid protected and social security payments for the elderly protected. we don't know where the money is going to be cut, where is the fall?ing to a lot of people are worried, not the least republicans who want to see the budget balanced. willd trump says he turbocharge the economy and growth will pay for a lot of it. the issue of obamacare where republicans are split and concerned about repealing it without a proper replacement, will he provide parity? jon: he will say progress is being made and we will be soon it.dy to unveil i think t

jon sopel, bbc news, washington.ident trump's new secretary of state rex tillerson was confirmed a few hours ago. this came as the new us defence secretary, james mattis, starts a four day visit to south korea and japan. before being elected, mr trump angered politicians in both countries by suggesting that they weren't doing enough — or paying enough — to defend themselves against north korea. here's steve evans in seoul. as we heard, president trump's new secretary of state rex tillerson was confirmed a few hours ago. this came as the new us defence secretary, james mattis, starts a four day visit to south korea and japan. before being elected, mr trump angered politicians in both countries by suggesting that they weren't doing enough — or paying enough — to defend themselves against north korea. here's steve evans in seoul. donald trump has his fans in south korea, a small but fervent demonstration of loyalty outside the us embassy in seoul. we love the united states of america. the united states of america and ko

minister over a deal to bring a group of mostly muslim refugees to the us. 0ur north america editor jon sopeltrappings of office are impressive. the reality is burdensome. last night, the president trump and daughter ivanka left the white house to fly to an airbase where the remains of a us navy seal were being returned, killed after a military operation in yemen. the first one ordered by america's new commander in chief. at a prayer breakfast this morning in washington, that experience seemed to weigh heavy. greater love hath no man than this, that a man laid down his life for his friends. we will never forget the men and women who wear the uniform, believe me. but overwhelmingly, the tone of a foreign policy is abrasive. when you hear about the tough phone calls i'm having, don't worry about it. just don't worry about it. they're tough, we have to be tough, it's time we have to be a bit tough, folks. we're taken advantage of from every nation in the world, virtually. it is not gonna happen any more. in the past day or so, we have seen a warning shot fired towards iran. we are officially put

our north america editor jon sopel reports. they were oh—so—close, politically inseparable.ing fall from grace, after a day of chaos and confusion at the white house. the camera—loving president suddenly becoming camera—shy when asked about his future. do you have full confidence in him? but today, the president's spokesman came out all guns blazing. the former close friend had lost the president's trust. we got to a point, not based on a legal issue, but based on a trust issue, where the level of trust between the president and general flynn had eroded to the point where he felt he had to make a change. the president was very concerned that general flynn had misled the vice president, and others. the evolving and eroding level of trust, as a result of this situation, and a series of other questionable instances, is what led the president to ask for general flynn's resignation. the republican leadership, always uncomfortable about the unorthodox general, were relieved to see him go. you cannot have a national security adviser misleading the vice president, and others. so i t

jon sopel, bbc news, washington. i spoke to paul farhi, media reporter with the washington post, and i played devil's advocate, saying the media has over hyped the stumblings of a new administration, and this is not watergate. well, it's not necessarily watergate, but we've never seen anything quite like this in washington, certainly in the 28 years i've been in washington. no administration has gotten off to a start quite like this, and no administration seems quite as flummoxed by all of the events that keep coming out, and all of the leaks that keep coming out. this is unprecedented. we're in new territory. so where do you think it goes, where do you think it ends up? i mean, the president has a point, doesn't he? this media turmoil is stopping him getting thejob done, to some extent. well, i disagree with that. the media turmoil is simply reporting the facts that are known within the administration, and we in the media are certainly grateful for the people who are leaking the information to us. i think the americ

our north america editor jon sopel reports. they were oh—so—close, politically inseparable.michael flynn has gone, in a stunning fall from grace, after a day of chaos and confusion at the white house. the camera—loving president suddenly becoming camera—shy when asked about his future. do you have full confidence in him? but today, the president's spokesman came out all guns blazing. the former "close friend" had lost the president's trust. we got to a point, not based on a legal issue, but based on a trust issue, where the level of trust between the president and general flynn had eroded to the point where he felt he had to make a change. the president was very concerned that general flynn had misled the republican leadership, always uncomfortable about the unorthodox general, were relieved to see him go. you cannot have a national security adviser misleading the vice president, and others. so i think the president was right to ask for his resignation, and i believe it was the right thing to do. this all goes back to action taken over the christmas period by the former pres

let's join our north america editor jon sopel at the white house. ambassador here in washington, and what he told people was that the call was purely about arranging another call between vladimir putin and donald trump, but last week, intelligence intercepts emerged which showed that he had discussed lifting sanctions that iraq 0bama had imposed just before he left office, leaving mike pence, the vice president,, furious. office, leaving mike pence, the vice president, , furious. —— office, leaving mike pence, the vice president,, furious. —— that barack 0bama. today, it was the donald trump and justin trudeau show. this is the neighbourjust dropping by, but whether ever two elected leaders so but whether ever two elected leaders so different in style and substance than donald trump and justin trudeau? 0n than donald trump and justin trudeau? on one particular issue, they are thousands of miles apart: whether to let those fleeing persecution into the country. on the day after president trump signed his controversial executive order banning refugees

jon sopel reports.r days since president tramp signed the extreme vetting policy and the administration is trying to clarify whether it was a ban or a pause, who was consulted, who will be affected and what the executive order is and is not. it was left to the secretary of homeland security to offer reassurance. this is not a ban on muslims. the homeland security mission is to safeguard the american people, our homeland and values. religious liberty is one of our most fundamental and treasured values. donald trump was today meeting leaders from the pharmaceutical industry after last night delivering a lethal injection to the country's most senior law officer, the acting attorney general. it's already being dubbed the "monday night massacre." the offence of sally yates was to issue this memo to her staff at the department ofjustice. she said she wasn't convinced that the executive order was lawful, and went on, consequently, "for as long as i'm the acting attorney general, the department ofjustice will n

our north america editor jon sopel reports. the trappings of office is impressive.. last night, the president trump and daughter ever car returned to the us. there was a military operation in yemen. the first one ordered by america's first commander in chief. at a prayer brea kfast commander in chief. at a prayer breakfast this morning in washington, that experience seemed to weigh heavy. greater love hath no man than this than a man laid down his life for his friends. we will never forget the his life for his friends. we will neverforget the men his life for his friends. we will never forget the men and women who wear the uniform, believe me. but overwhelmingly, the tone of a foreign policy is abrasive. when you hear about the tough phonecalls i'm having, don't worry about it. just don't worry about it. they are tough. it's time we have to be a bit tough. it's time we have to be a bit tough. we are being taken at vantage of from every nation in the world, virtually. it is not going to happen any more. in the past day, we have seen a warning shot fired towards a run

jon sopel, bbc news, washington. paul farhi is media reporter with the washington post.e both in the same business, so i have to play devils advocate with you a bit. i have a whole bunch of people on my timeline saying yes, this administration is stumbling all over the place but new administration ‘s do. these people are not used to being in the white house. as someone put it to me, get over yourselves, your lot, this is not watergate. well, it is not necessarily watergate, but we have never seen anything quite like this in washington, certainly in the 28 yea rs i have in washington, certainly in the 28 years i have been in washington. no administration has gotten off to a start quite like this, and no administration seems quite as flummoxed by all of the events that keep coming out and all of the leaks that keep coming out. this is unprecedented. we are in new territory. so where do you think it goes, where do you think it ends up? the president has a point, doesn't he? this media turmoil is stopping him getting thejob done, to some extent. well, i disagree with that. t