some of the things mr. trumpas done may have been illegal -- legal but inappropriate. some of the things mr. trump has done such as terminating mr. .omey, may have been legal house speaker paul ryan and mitch mcconnell can no longer duck these issues in an effort to focus on the gop agenda. the russia-comey fiasco is now the country's agenda. mr. trump, if his denials are true, should welcome an independent inquiry. linda on our independent line in little falls, minnesota. caller: i agree fully with the last two. they stole my thunder, just about every word practically i was going to say, the last two calls. ,ne thing i could add is everybody in the whole united states had better get on their knees and start praying. that is the only thing that is going to help this nation. host: herald in tacoma, washington, republican line. caller: am i on? host: you are on, go ahead. caller: i think it is the russians playing us. they have very intelligent people, but they are too close to the situation. at, basicallyook they

comey and what was it about mr. trump that really concerned mr. comey, and in the process of that i learned that there was a series of memos that comey had written about every single interaction with that he had had with trump because comey was so concerned about what trump may try and do to the fbi. >> well, the "times" detailed another suggestion by mr. trump to comey. speaking about leaks to the media, mr. trump reportedly floated the idea that mr. comey should consider putting reporters in prison for publishing classified information. >>> adam schiff is the ranking democrat on the house intelligence committee. in that role he met with former fbi director james comey often. nancy cordes caught up with the congressman at the capitol. >> have you seen this memo and and did you ever discuss with director comey about his concerns about the president? >> i did not see the notes or the me ho or have a conversation about the president ever suggesting that he drop the investigation. this is obviously a very serious charge, the heart of which would be in

last week mr. trump fired mr. trump's own justice department appointing a special counsel to investigate. margaret brennan is at the white house. >> there was no collusion, and everybody, even my enemies, have said, there is no collusion. >> reporter: president trump said the appointment of special counsel robert mueller to probe russian election meddling is dividing the country. >> well, i respect the move, but the entire thing has been a witch-hunt, and there is no collusion between certainly myself and my campaign, but i can only speak for myself and the russians -- zero. >> reporter: the president strongly denied interfering with the f.b.i.'s investigation. >> did you at any time urge former f.b.i. director james comey in any way, shape, or form to clez or to back down the investigation into michael flynn? and also -- >> no. no. next question. >> reporter: and mr. trump dismissed democrats' claims that he may have obstructed justice. >> i think it's everybody thinks so. >> reporter: despite saying last week tha

so why did mr trump do it? white house has linked the sacking to mr comey‘s treatment of hillary clinton back when the fbi was investigating her e—mail use as secretary of state. many democrats think it's about something else. anger at the current fbi inquiry into alleged links between the trump campaign and russia. this is the view of the leading democratic senator, chuck schumer. i have said from the get go i think schumer. i have said from the get go ithinka schumer. i have said from the get go i think a special prosecutor is the way to go, but now with what's happened it is the only way to go, only way to go, to restore the american people's faith. are people going to suspect cover—up? absolutely. if an independent special prosecutor is appointment there still can be some faith we can get to the bottom of this. if not, eve ryo ne get to the bottom of this. if not, everyone will suspect cover—up. chuck schumer isn't the only senator urging the appointment of an independent special prosecutor to delve into an

often mr. trump would watch these hearings and he would pick up a phrase or two and he would choose to see that as exalted him. he would tweet something about it. i don't think he is a target of the fbi investigation. i think probably mr. comey said something to that effect, but they were looking -- they are looking at the campaign ties. they are looking at the financial ties. you have other figures like the former campaign manager, paul manafort, and the shell corporations he created. mr. trump comes out and is still part of a financial empire. looking at that is part of what the fbi is doing. host: let's go to chicago, where linda's waiting. good morning. linda, are you with us? got to stick by your phone. ron and west chesterfield, new hampshire. caller: good morning. thank you for c-span. i love the show. host: appreciate it, ron. caller: i think director comey has been put into an incredibly difficult position by both the kratz and republicans over the -- the democrats and repentance over the pa

mr. comey because he mishandled the clinton email investigation when they praised the way it was handled. if there is dissatisfaction among the trump people about that you melt investigation -- about the email investigation, it is that mr. comey chose not to indict ms. clinton. to say that you are firing him after 100 days -- >> we know that we have many more colleagues coming to join us, but we will get started in the interest of time. we want to think our wonderful guests and witnesses who have come here today to share their stories. as we look at the panel, it looks like the great lake states.

mr. trump's budget plan will follow through a bill that cut more than $800 billion over ten years. congressional budget office messmatesmostmate -- estimated this could cut off medicaid for 10 million people. cnn picked up the story about the bill. under that bill in 2020 that states that expanded the program will no longer receive enhanced funding to cover low income adults which states did not expand previously will not be able to do so. some 11 million adults gained coverage. the bill reduce federal funding for the medicaid program which covers millions of low income adult and children. the state will receive a set amount of funding known as per capita grant for a fixed funding. medicaid being one of those things potentially seeing some cuts when the budgets is released tomorrow. to get your thoughts on it. on the phone line. if you're a democrat 202-748-8000. republican 202-748-8001. independent, 202-748-8002. perhaps you use medicaid or you receive some other type of assistance, you want t

mr trump has also extended an invitation to rodrigo duterte, the controversial president of the philippinesa busy schedule. and this video is trending on bbc.com: at least 27 people were injured after a passenger flight from moscow to bangkok experienced severe turbulence. several passengers suffered broken bones. that's all from me now. stay with bbc world news. now on bbc news, it is time for hardtalk.

that sayays of the possibility r someone like mr. trump. mr. won a promising things he can't deliver. he won by being a good speaker it had cyber help from foreign powers. there are many reasons why he won. for one reason he could win as he could say, look, it is nala guard the out there. i am an oligarch, but i am your oligarch. that is not true. he doesn't care about americans. there are plenty of other oligarchs behind them, they just weren't americans. it you can only tell that story in a situation of radical inequality. that radical inequality has its roots, i think, in the false story we told ourselves since 1989, that history came to an end capitalism brings a margarethe and so forth. history never comes to an end. there was a moment in 1989 that we had to reshape things. he missed that moment and betrayed younger generations. why don't i mentioned mr. trump? it is largely because i think he is not going to change. mr. trump is not a young man. he has from sets of ideas. he has a certain kind of personality. he is going to push against th

mr trump said he was doing a bad job. o in charge of the fbi investigation into collusion between the trump campaign team and russia. the next day mr trump met russia's foreign minister and the russian ambassador to the us. fast forward to monday and the washington post published this article. it alleged donald trump shared classified information in that meeting. and that intelligence officials were shocked and concerned at what the president had done. the next morning, donald trump confirmed information had been shared — but said it was appropriate. while that political maelstrom played out, the new york times entered the fray yesterday. its story claimed a memo written byjames comey after a meeting with the president details mr trump saying, "i hope you can let this go". that is referring to the investigation into michael flynn. that is with reference to these flynn investigation. allegedly asking for an investigation to be let go. the white house refutes that claim. even for a man for whom controversy is a constant comp

we just saw the motorcade of mr. trump. e people we saw come out of the car was jared kushner, sister-in-law and senior adviser, and his wife, his daughter, ivanka trump. we're keeping an eye on the live pictures of the trump team, the trump family and mr. trump, being welcomed in saudi arabia. and oren, what i was going to ask, is you referred to the middle east peace process. and you said they're relaxed about this. is there anyhance that mr. trump gets traction on this? gets going on this? it's been frozen for so long, and frozen despite numerous efforts and attempts by the obama administration. >> reporter: it's had fits and starts. after nine months, talks broke down. what can we expect from trump? the expectations from the beginning were try. a meeting between netanyahu, apa abbas and trump. that would have been a big deal. but those expectations have been severely scaled back. trying to get traction. it look like he's going to make an effort. the speculation here is that the arab leaders, including abbas, will present

hen mr. trump in july, asked russia to get those 30,000 emails. and it ended when mr. comey said to senator leahy that discrimination on trump's website makes his job harder. and that ticked him off. and he was fired. so listen to your tapes again. thank you very much. host: so how do you connect those dots specifically? caller: it's -- it's -- it's right in your face, and you saw it on tv yourself. it was trump running the show, and he's trying to run it still. and it's not working. host: so all this hour will be focused mainly on the f.b.i. firing of jim comey and related issues like russia. one piece of news to show you about healthcare, specifically when it comes to major insurer and the decision they're making. this is aetna saying they're going to exit their a.c.a., the affordable care act program that they've been in. according to a spokesman, they'll not sell individual health plans next year in delaware and nebraska. the announcement came a week after the company said it would stop offering health plans in virginia in 2018, and a month later said it would leave

mr. trump signed 31 executive orders. that's the most for any president in his first 100 days. eme court justice neil gorsuch confirmed. major garrett has more. >> i donald john trump do solemnly swear -- >> reporter: it began with an inaugural address more sour than soaring. >> this american carnage stops right here and stops right now. >> reporter: what followed, a fractious tenure that occasionally strayed from the facts and put the white house at odds with congress, the courts and at times itself. the president's spokesman sean spicer. >> this was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration, period. >> reporter: trump's inaugurationro president's twitter account. professional protesters, he said. very unfair. >> ho, ho -- >> reporter: the president spawned more protest with an executive order that tried to ban travel from seven muslim-majority countries. but federal courts blocked it. the order illuminated white house divisions. advisers like steve bannon pushing trump in a nationalist direction, while son-in-law jared kushner and chief of staff reince priebus urged

mr. trump then asked mr. comey for his loyalty, but mr. comey only promised to provide his honesty or his honest loyalty. why did the president allegedly ask director comey for his loyalty? on march 4 president trump tweeted without evidence that, quote, how low has president obama gone on tapping my phones during the very sacred election process. this is nixon watergate, bad or sick guy, end quote. on march 20, mr. comey testified he has no information to support mr. trump's claim. why does the president try to distract the public's attention by blaming president obama for the russian investigation? on april 12 an interview, mr. trump said that mr. comey saved hillary clinton during the campaign and said it's not too late to remove mr. comey. mr. trump continued but, you know, i have confidence in him. well, see what happens. you know, it's going to be interesting. what changed between mr. trump having confidence in mr. comey in april and firing him in may? may 3 mr. comey testified before the senate judiciary committee and said it makes m

mr. trump is here flow as president for a contentious meeting of the leaders of the nato alliance. but his words about muslims haunted him back home today. a federal appeals court voted 10-3 to block his partial ban on travel to the u.s. by citizens of six mostly muslim nations. the reason, according to the chief judge, bigotry. jeff pegues is following this. >> reporter: the president's executive order would have temporarily suspended visas from iran, libya, somalia, sudan, syria and yemen. the decision from the fourth circuit court of appeals keeps it from going into fek, writing for the majority, chief judge roger gregory wrote, mr. trump's order speaks with vague words of national security. but in context drips with religious intolerance, animus and discrimination. the travel ban was a cornerstone of president trump's campaign. >> donald j. trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of muslims entering the united states. >> reporter: shortly after taking office the president signed

let's listen to what mr trump is saying.eek, people would like to get to the bottom of a couple of things, give you a chance to go on record. did you a chance to go on record. did you urge former fbi director, james komi to back down the investigation into michael flynn and also... no, next question. next question. as you look back over the past six months or year, have you had any recollection where you have wondered if there is anything you have done would be worthy of criminal investigations or impeachment as others are implying? it is ridiculous and we have to get back to working our country properly so we can take care of the problems. we have done a fantasticjob, we have a tremendous group of people, millions of people out there looking at what you have just said and saying, what are they doing? james comey was very unpopular with most people. i actually thought when i made the decision, and i also got a very, very strong recommendation, as you know, from the deputy attorney general, ron rosenstein, but when i made the

mr. trump publicly berated the allies for not paying their fair share for defense, and the chief of the alliance complained that mr. trump isn't worried enough about the threat from russia. major garrett covered the summit. >> reporter: president trump responded to the british prime minister by calling the intelligence leaks deeply troubling. he said, "these leaks have been going on for a long time" and promised a full justice department investigation. as a ceremony with nato leaders including prime minister may the president observed a moment of silence for the victims of the manchester terror attack. >> all people who must unite in finding, exposing extremists and, yes, losers. >> reporter: while terrorism has taken center stage at the summit, confronting russia is also a dominant theme. but the 28-nation alliance originally formed as a counterweight to the soviet influence is showing cracks. european council president donald tusk. >> i am not 100% sure that we can say today, we means mr. pre

mr. trump's national security adviser shortly after the election. the u.s. lligence community became especially concerned during the transition that sensitive information being provided to the trump team could be passed on to the russians. flynn was also fired by president trump just 24 days into his term for lying to vice contacts with russian ambassador sergey kislyak. former director of national intelligence james clapper said flynn changed after leaving the military. what do you think changed him? was it that he was fired? >> i don't know. that could be. i'm speculating. i really don't know whether he -- he just became angry about it. i don't know. >> but there was something changed? >> well, it appeared to me, yes. >> reporter: the white house staff is reportedly in crisis mode, bracing for personnel changes that could see top aides shown the door. margaret brennan has that story. >> there was no collusion, and everybody, even my enemies, have said there is no collusion. >> reporter: president trump said the appointment of special counsel robert mueller

mr. trump said he got a little when mr. trump was with mr.and front of the cameras, this is what they said. take a listen. >> we had a great call. guys exaggerated that call, a big exaggeration. we had a great call. right?a great call, we had a very, very good call. that was fake news. >> exactly right. best call was the ever come a good call, all those smiles. spin room potentially, but in this case, it was the smile room. rishaad: i will take it from here. didn't lookbull particular you comfortable there. how is this being seen? can it be considered a win for the austrian prime minister? ramy: i have been wondering that myself. or so, the hour optics are pretty good. everyone seems to be having a good time, talk of this refugee deal between the u.s. and australia. looking back at the past 24 hours, it has been an interesting time. mr. turnbull has been here for the past 24 hours, and mr. trump came in late to this meeting. they were supposed to have one hour together, then squeezed to 30 minutes. in the meantime, it seems that mr. turnbull

president obama controlling the international agenda but, also in other ways it is more difficult with mr trumpnd as far as he is concerned hea trump, and as far as he is concerned he a huge deal with saudi arabia and deals with iran, where there are huge opportunities as well, pale into insignificance. absolutely. one way to look at this $110 billion arms contract is that it is a transparent effort to put a dollar value on the strategic relationship. compared to what iran can offer, they have to pending comparable contracts with a us entity to sell commercial airlines to two iranian airlines. the total value of those two deals is only $11 billion. in one single agreement that donald trump has announced, he delivers ten times more economic value for the united states. it is clear that iran will not be able to compete for the us influence in that way. so realistically the iranian administration will need to find other ways to engage with both the international community and, perhaps, with us stakeholders but it is unlikely that they will be able to create a relationship with the us government. a

those striking comments come after mr. trump described a january 27th dinner with comey during an interview with lester. >> we had a very nice dinner and at that time he told me you're not under investigation. >> reporter: that is in dispute and so is the president taping discussions? today mr. trump didn't deny it. >> i won't talk about that. all i want is for comey to be honest. >> reporter: a similar dodge from press secretary. >> are there recording devices in the residence? >> as i said for the third time, there is nothing further to add on that. >> there is no example of any modern white house recording any conversations that take place inside it unless you go back to the dark sinister time of nixon. >> reporter: the white house is still also trying to explain what led to comey's firing after initially blaming the clinton investigation, the president now admitting -- >> i said, you know, this russia thing with trump and russia is a made-up story. it's an excuse for the democrats for having lost an election they should have

mrtrump is not mr trump is not just mr trump is notjust meeting the most senior israelis but the mostr palestinians as well. what is his approach to those discussions? he will need mark wood abbas in bethlehem, they figured that was an easier place to get to —— mahmoud abbas. that is another surprising thing about donald trump since coming to power, and some israelis have been taken aback and his standing in the polls has dropped because he has had a meeting in the white house with president abbas. i spoke to people who are part of the delegation and they were surprised by how warm president trump was and how he has moderated some of his statement about settlements, but example used to say they are not an obstacle example used to say they are not an o bsta cle to example used to say they are not an obstacle to peace but made it clear to be israelis he would like to see at least a pause in the settlement building. the fact he will not announced in this visit the move of the embassy from tel aviv to jerusalem, that also came after talks with thejordanian king. he is listening to the pal

an american israeli led the local election campaign for mr trump.nship with israel has been repaired and, again, 8 years of obama, the american—israel relationship was discouraged. putting daylight between the united states and israel, i mean, that's not daylight anymore. we work together, as we should be. but what will the president say about settlements like this one, where mr zell lives? they're seen as illegal under international law but israel disagrees. in ramallah, palestinians want president trump to show commitment to the idea of creating a palestinian state. to move forward in a two state solution, it starts with recognising the state palestine and getting the boot of occupation off of our neck. that is something that the us could pressure israel into doing if they would be serious about holding israel accountable. there is official optimism here about president trump's visit. but on both sides there is also doubt about whether his unconventional businesslike approach can achieve a peace deal where so many others have failed. yolande knell

mr. trump will have a high-profile conversation with russian president vladimir putin today as critics question his coziness with dangerous leaders. >>> good morning from studio 57 newsroom at cbs news headquarters here in new york. good to be with you. i'm anne-marie green. we begin in the pacific northwest where may day demonstrations protesting president trump's immigration policies turned violent. in washington, the capital, in washington state rather, capital olympia police said what they described as members of a mob threw bottles and to fire rocks overseas. nine people were arrested and charged with felony riot. [ gunshot ] in portland, police used flash grenades to break up a protest they said had become a riot. more than two dozen people were arrested. several businesses suffered damage. tens of thousands protested across the country. >>> this afternoon president trump is scheduled to speak by phone with russian president vladimir putin. last month mr. trump said u.s.-russia relations

mr. trump is going tonight the arabs, the jews, and all of those abroad to fight a common enemy, like the isis and al qaeda. i believe the fake news in the united states sometimes might contradict the success of mr. trump. mr. trump for me is like behind reagan, a great president we should be proud of his effort to unite and to bring jobs to the united states. at the same time, save money in the fight against isis by getting arab nations together to with the use of american effort. host: thank you. kenneth from beaumont, texas. go ahead on the independent line. caller: thank you for c-span. i have been fortunate. i spent a lot of time in the middle east and all around the world. in this part of the world, this is how they are. formalities is important. it shows respect and president trump is going out to do lots for this country. there are so many folks in this country that did not want to recognize them for what he is doing. online how to stop trump, you'll be amazed at the dollars and cents t

mr. trump described the deal as "tremendous investments in the united states." >> hundreds of billions of dollars of investments into the united states, and jobs, jobs, jobs." >> stewart: u.s. secretary of state rex tillerson said the arms deal will bolster joint efforts to deter regional threats from iran, and to combat islamic extremists groups in syria and yemen. >> this huge arms sales package reduces the burden on the united states to provide the same equipment to our own military forces, and will strengthen saudi forces for the future, so that saudi arabia is more capable of carrying a greater share of the burden of their own security. which, as i indicated, is important to the u.s. national security as well. >> today was a truly historic day in the relationship between the kingdom of saudi arabia and the united states, and we believe the beginning of a turning point in the relationship between the united states and the arabic and islamic world. >> stewart: tomorrow, the president will de

mr. trump's son-in-law, jared kushner, wanted to set up a secret communications line between the trump transition team and the kremlin, something he proposed to the russian ambassador during a meeting in trump tower during the transition. no sooner had the president stepped off the helicopter to the white house lawn saturday than he was asked about that question. take a listen. >> mr. president, is there a plan to set up a back channel to the russians? >> earlier on saturday, mr. trump's top economic and security advisers shut down any questions about the allegations. here's how they did it. >> we're not going to comment on jared. we're just not going to comment. >> generally speaking, general, would you be concerned if somebody on security council were to seek a back channel with the kremlin? would that generally concern you not to even address kushner specifically but in general terms? >> no, we have a number of communications with many countries. it allows you to communicate in a discreet manner. so no, i would not be concerned about it. >> as the leaks and allegations of russian connections p

mr. trump is the first president since richard nixon to fire a law enforcement official investigating the white house. the timing raises questions. comey had just asked for more resources for his investigation of russian interference in the u.s. election, including possible collusion by team trump. we'll start at the white house tonight with major garrett. >> reporter: as comparisons to watergate office with president richard nixon's secretary of state, henry harteveldt. -- henry kissinger. mr. trump offered a brief explanation for his firing of f.b.i. director james comey. >> because he wasn't doing a good job very simply. he was not doing a good job. >> reporter: the white house described it as an erosion of confidence. defence secretary press secretary sarah huckabee sanders. >> frankly, he had been considering letting director comey go since the day he was elected. director comey has shown

mr trump is leaving behind fresh controversy in washington. there are claims he said that by firing the fbi chief, james comey, it relieved great pressure on him. a very public disagreement within labour over trident here comes the bride. the middleton marries james matthews. a very public disagreement within labour over trident after shadow foreign secretary emily thornberry says the party could abandon its support for the nuclear deterrent. the tories defend their pledge to cut net migration to "tens of thousands" after it comes under fire from former chancellor george osborne. hassan rouhani is re—elected as iranian president, defeating his conservative rival in the first round. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. donald trump has arrived in saudi arabia this morning on his first foreign tourjust arabia this morning on his first foreign tour just as arabia this morning on his first foreign tourjust as a married —— embarrassing new claims are made about the sacking of james embarrassing new claims are made about the sacking ofjames komi.

did either of you ever review classified documents in which mr. trump, his associates or members of congress had been unmask told? >> yes. >> you have. >> can you give us details here? >> no. i can't. >> miss yates, have you? >> yes, i have, and no, i can't give you details. >> did either of you ever share information about unmasked trump associates or members of congress with anyone else? >> well, i'm thinking back over six and a half years, i could have discussed it with either my deputy or my general counsel. >> miss yates? >> in the course of the flynn matter, i had will discussions with other members of the intel community. i'm not sure if that's responsive to your question. >> in both cases, you can't give details here. >> no. >> no. >> the fbi, the democratic national community of the russians are' intrusion into their systems in august of 2015, but the dnc turned down the offer to get the russians out and refuse the fbi access to their servers. instead, it evidently eventually hired a private firm in the ring of 2016, wikileaks began releasing t

mr. trump's qualls the foreign leaders have leaked and mr. trump wanted the fbi to do something about it. he was really frustrated by it. and he talked about the details and mr. trump said, look, when we were putting people in prison for this many years ago about, ten years ago, there were some results here. and that was the suggestion about putting reporters in prison. >> whether we're talking about leaks from the intelligence committee or leaks within the white house, is it not iron hike the first businessman to president, wasn't new managing a company, the issues he is facing about are about managing people. >> yes. and he has not assembled a team that either he is listening or the or that is capable of directing the president's actions. there are three things here. one is, has he committed a high crime or misdemeanor that justifies his removal, one is has he violated the criminal statutes that justifies his criminal punishment, and the third as suggested in your question srgs he capable of governing? that's an issue squarely ratsed by the

the wall street journal published a plan for republican convention delegates to revote to prevent mr. trump from securing the nomination. wasn't the russian release of harmful information about mr. ,rump addressed in the report and was this even evaluated during the review? i would have to consult with the analysts that were involved in the report to definitively answer that. i don't know personally with is a consider that or not. >> can you submit that as an answer in writing? >> well, i'm a private citizen now. i don't know what the rules are. potentially classified information. i will look into it. >> mr. clapper, you testified that the intelligence community conducted an exhausting review theussian interference and analysts involved had complete unfettered access to all sensitive raw intelligence data. do you have any reason to believe that any agency withheld any relevant information? so with oneelieve potential copy not which is that gete is the possibility, i acknowledging this role that the fbi plays in straddling both intelligence and law enforcement, that for whatever reason they

. >> reporter: mr. trump was, in fact, in pennsylvania, holding a rally and roasting the press, which he often calls fake news. >> the media deserves a very, very big, fat failing grade. >> reporter: cbs news contributor and white house correspondent ed o'keefe says the president's absence made the annual dinner a little less flashy. this was the first time in 36 years that a sitting president has not been at the dinner. what difference did it make? >> i think it, you know, it allowed more of a focus on the press. and on the first amendment. >> reporter: watergate reporters reminded the world and the president of the theme. >> mr. president, the media is not fake news. >> our job is to put the best obtainable version of the truth out there, period. especially now. >> reporter: minaj also highlighted the first amendment, ending the evening with this reflection. >> only in america can a first-generation, indian american, muslim kid get on this stage and make fun of the president. >> reporter: the last president

the picture shows mr trump standing with turkish president erdogan.n tuesday. and the straits times reports on how hackers have pirated disney's latest pirates of the caribbean film, dead men tell no tales. the hackers are demanding a whole lot of booty for not releasing the film online before it hits the cinemas on 26 may. now, kasia, what stories are sparking discussions online? rico, if you are ever stuck for a birthday present for me, look no further. this pair of diamond earrings have just been sold in geneva. as you can see, the flawless, pear—shaped diamonds are not matching colours. they were sold separately because blue diamonds are much rarer than pink ones. but the i6—carat gems will remain a pair, as they eventually went to the same buyer. and i know, rico, you are waiting for the price tag. they fetched an eye—watering $58 million. wow. not bad. i like the blue one. i like both! let's return to the developments coming from the white house. the new york times is reporting that james comey, who mr trump sacked as head of the fbi, was asked

no explanation has been given as to why mr trump could not make the event. t arab twitter into overdrive and is currently trending with the top hashtag in arabic, #trumpsdaughter. still to come, also will have failed to qualify for the champions league for the first time in 20 years, despite a 3—1 victory over everton. welcome back. donald trump has called on muslim nations to take the lead on combating terror in saudi arabia. in scotland leaders of six political parties have taken part in a televised debate ahead of next month's general election on 8th june. britain's exit from the eu and the issue of scottish independence from the uk have been central topics in the debate. what are the key moments? you said that independent and the decision for the uk to leave the eu would be key, we always thought they would be, and so they were. we had an independence referendum in 2014, most voters voted to stay in the uk, but the snp leader nicola sturgeon has been saying that since then the brexit vote, where most voters in scotla nd wa nted brexit vote, where most vot

a powerful committee of the us congress has demanded to see all communications between mr trump and jamesing wrong in sharing sensitive intelligence with two senior russian diplomats. his current national security adviser says the president's conversation was "wholly appropriate," and he hadn't known the material had been provided by a foreign ally. responding to north korea's latest missile test, the un security council has been meeting in emergency session. the us ambassador has said she will "call out" states backing pyongyang's nuclear programme. north korea claims its latest rocket could carry a nuclear warhead. now, coming up in a minute it'll be hardtalk, but first let's have a quick look at the front pages of this morning's newspapers.

and drive them out of this earth. >> reporter: mr. trump also helped to inaugurate a center to counter extremist messaging and online recruitment. standing beside the king of saudi arabia, the president abandoned the rhetoric of his campaign platform. >> donald j. trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of muslims entering the united states. >> reporter: while he softened that language, president trump did offer a gentle nudge to the mostly-male leaders that he hoped for a bright future for both men and women. >> when young muslim men and women should have the chance to build a new era of prosperity for themselves, it has to be done. >> reporter: first lady melania trump spent the day at events focussed on women's empowerment in the conservative kingdom. but from the podium, the president firmly said they were not here to criticize human rights abuses. >> we are not here to lecture. >> reporter: and just a day after signing a $110 billion arms deal with saudi arabia, touted as the biggest sale in u.s. history he promised more tra

and mr. trump said i guess i have your honest loyalty, and and he said yes, my honest loyalty, but this is seen as an early sign that the relationship was not going to work out. >> let's make this clear, part of the contradiction, michael, is who invited who to dinner, right? >> correct, it's our understanding that mr. trump invited mr. comey to the white house. he did not want to come to the white house. even under president with obama. he didn't want to play basketball with mr. obama because he didn't want to appear too chummy. >> so he told lester holt that he already decided to fire hymn no matter what the recommendation was. and i want to play just a sample of what they say in the course of several days. >> my understanding is the president was presented with the recommendation from the attorney general. >> he did his own analysis, he came to these conclusions, gave his recommendations to the attorney general, to the president of the united states who took decisive action. this one is an easy

mrs. yates, have you? >> yes, i have. no, i can't give you details. >> okay. did either of you ever share information about unmasked trump associated or members of congress with anyone else? >> well, i'm thinking back 6 1/2 years. i could have discussed it with either my deputy or my general counsel. >> mrs. yates? >> in the course of the flynn matter, i had discussions of the intel community. i'm not sure if that is responsive. >> in both cases, you can't give details here? >> no. >> no. the fbi notified the democratic national committee of the russian's intrusion into their systems in august of 2015. the dnc turned down the fbi's offer to get the russians out and refuse the fbi access to their servers. instead, evidently eventually hired a private firm in the spring of 2016. wikileaks began releasing the hacked dnc e-mails last july. it took roughly 27,000 of the 27,500 dnc e-mails it released, or e-mailed sent after the fbi notified the dnc of the breach. mr. clapper, would you agree that one of the lessons of this episode is that people should cooperate with the fbi when notified of foreign hacks instead of stone wal

then, with that backdrop, mr. trumpoffice, welcomes russia's foreign minister and their ambassador to the u.s., someone at the center of collusion allegations with the trump campaign. we devote the bulk of the program to this story, as we unpack what we do and don't know this day after the firing. that's tonight's pbs newshour.