Sees its biggest fall on record. And all this airline wants for christmas is. Some pilots. Why you might not be home for christmas if youve bought an American Airlines ticket. Get in touch with us using the hashtag, beyond100days. Hello, i am katty kay in washington, Christian Fraser is in london. Calmly, deliberately and very clearly, the british Prime Minister roundly criticised the american president today. I cant remember such a direct rebuff in this relationship in modern history. Mrs may, on camera, told the american president hed done the wrong thing in retweeting far right videos. Her decision to speak out followed his decision to attack her on twitter late last night. theresa may, dont focus on me, he wrote, focus on the destructive radical islamic terrorism that is taking place within the united kingdom. We are doing just fine but london was focusing on him. In the Uk Parliament they postponed normal business for an urgent debate on the president s tweets and what the diplomatic response should be. There were calls for President Trumps state visit to the uk to be cancelled. Our Political Correspondent alex forsyth reports. This was a trip focused on building relationships around the world, but while theresa may was meeting kings and ministers injordan. Yes, there are many challenges. A major diplomatic row was brewing elsewhere. President trump had been personally rebuked by downing street for sharing far right videos online. His response to theresa may on twitter, of course dont focus on me, focus on the destructive radical islamic terrorism thats taking place in the uk. Her tour of the middle east suddenly required diplomacy of a different kind. The fact that we Work Together does not mean that we are afraid to say when we think the United States has got it wrong, and be very clear with them. And im very clear that retweeting from britain first was the wrong thing to do. He tweeted, effectively telling you to stay out of his business. Is that acceptable behaviour from a supposed ally . Its an enduring relationship thats there because its in both our national interests. So what of the much anticipated state visit to the uk by President Trump . An invitation for a state visit has been extended and has been accepted. We have yet to set a date. Thank you. In her speech here, theresa may had little choice but to respond to this tweet. It was aimed directly at her. This, another test of her leadership, how to maintain authority, yet de escalate a potential row with a friend. The us president forging friendships of his own. You have been a great friend and we appreciate it very much. Has so far shown little regret for his original tweet sharing videos from the far right Group Britain first. Thank you very much, everybody, thank you. The communities secretary said hed endorsed the view of a vile, racist organisation and hed refused to let it go and say nothing. And he wasnt the only politician to express a view. She should never have invited him within a few weeks of him being elected. Every other american president has had to wait for years. They have to settle down and weve had to be sure about who it is that we are inviting. Its very difficult to see how you can continue to rely on the goodwill of somebody who is fundamentally evil, racist, completely contrary to our own set of values. So while the Prime Minister practised diplomacy in the middle east, relations elsewhere were tested. Theresa may, once again under scrutiny, notjust at home but around the globe. Alex forsyth, bbc news, jordan. With me is the former British Ambassador to the United States sir christopher meyer. Good to have you with us. Thank you. Said kim darragh has made a formal and led to the white house. How would he go about that and who is he speaking to . It is essential that the government backs him up on Something Like this. If i was in washington i would expect to see the chief of staff may be, in that case general kelly or maybe the National Security adviser, general mcmaster. I would not ask to see the president himself. Maybe kim did try to see the president. I would be some prized. That is how he would feed it into the white house machine, so they understand, they clock that this is a serious matter that needs to be dealt with. The concern there and here is those people might not seem to have his ear. They do not seem to have his ear. They do not seem to have his ear. They do not seem to be listening to anyone. The white house is like everyone else around the world, you either try to work with trump or a round trump. It isa work with trump or a round trump. It is a problem for them and it is a problem for us. It is a problem for other countries. There is nothing novel about this. I think whether this comes as a tiny blip on the backside of the British American relationship, or whether it continues to be a difficult issue and depends entirely on how much rancour, how much irritation there is inside the strange personality thatis is inside the strange personality that is donald trump. If he wants to continue this, he will continue this. If he doesnt, he will bring it to this. If he doesnt, he will bring ittoa this. If he doesnt, he will bring it to a halt. Today you are his friend, tomorrow you are his enemy and vice versa. In practical terms, what suffers when you have a spat diplomatic relations. In my time living in washington, i do not remember a british Prime Minister calling out an american president like this on camera so clearly and so like this on camera so clearly and so directly. What are the downsides . To be frank with you, i think theresa may has played this exactly right. She has struck a thatcher like to, standing up for everybody and reminding everyone of the Important Role at the heart of this relationship. If you go back to 1945 you will see these thats happening all the time. The water is usually close over them pretty fast. The difference this time is that this bat has been fought out, if i can use this word, in public. Previously, we have got out of them pretty fast because they have tended to be in private. But now in the age of social media trump and his 45 million followers had seen his tweets. The Prime Minister has been obliged to rebuke him in public. I cannot remember any time in my career as a diplomat, a british Prime Minister calling out an american president in public. It is unusual but it is the way things are done today. She has struck the right balance between striking a balance between firmness and reminding everybody that there are common interests at stake. Sir christopher, good to see you. Come back soon. The recently arrived us ambassador, robert woodyjohnson is settling in to his new home here in london. And like all good ambassadors, currently getting a feel of what his adopted country is like, what the people are thinking. So on his twitterfeed he has invited people to get in touch askwoody with their questions which he is going to answer live on periscope next week, take a look. I think it is important to get all the points of view that you can and find out what people are thinking across this country. I am willing to listen to what you have to say. I am interested in your point of view, particularly the people outside of london. Send me your questions using hashtag ask woody. Of course, perhaps he did not anticipate was the events of this week, cue a barrage of sarcastic tweets. Yes, here are a couple that are fit for family viewing. Paul oreilly asks the ambassador how can the country of lincoln, twain, fdr, mlk, edison, jfk, steinbeck et al have such an inarticulate and unintelligent potus . Meanwhile Nicolas Jones wonders, do you find it easier, in the current climate, to pretend youre a canadian . Askwoody. Ambassadorjohnson seems to have taken it in his stride. This is his response. Thank you for your questions and feedback. I have relayed your concerns to washington. The us uk have a long history of speaking frankly with each other, as all Close Friends do. Our relationship is strong, vital and enduring. Interesting he did not use the word special. Heather conley is a former state Department Official for european affairs. She is now at the center for strategic and international studies. Shejoins me now. Is there any upside you can see with the president picking this fight with britain and re tweeting these anti islamicfar britain and re tweeting these anti islamic far right videos . Britain and re tweeting these antiislamic far right videos . Are absolutely none. He is putting into question one of our most valuable relationships, and he is spreading hate, whether that comes from britain first, or whether it comes from within our own country. As leaders, we have to stand up against hate and incitement to violence, and u nfortu nately, hate and incitement to violence, and unfortunately, the president does not view his role in that way. What shocks me the most in some ways, not that we are having this back and forth, he attacks and counterattacks, whether you are kim jong un or theresa may. But what shocks me is there is not the outrage by all members of congress, by members of the cabinet, to say this is not right. We protect speech, even hate filled speech, but we have to speak out when we say it is not right. That is what is missing here in washington and the president does not suffer political consequences. And here is what is confusing, there are plenty of people on capitol hill who have extensive background in foreign affairs, they know the damage Something Like this does needlessly to the United States. At what point does the party or someone close to the president , mattis, kelly or mcmaster, stand up and say the price that you are paying for these tweets is not worth it . I think there was an expectation at the beginning of the administration that the generals, as we like to call them, would be the stabilising force that would be the stabilising force that would bring the gravitas and intelligence to this, and it seems that force cannot be the stabilising presence we wanted. The president is going to use that twitter account, not what time, no matter what subject, and they cant control it, but what they do need to be reminded of, andi but what they do need to be reminded of, and i think Prime Minister may understand that, others need to do it as well, there is continued damage to us relationships. The most important military relationships we have as he keeps doing this. This is a pattern. The manchester tweets, the london tweets, this is an area where the president continues to do damage to our valuable relationships. Heather, while we have got you with your state department hat on, let me talk about another person he has a difficult relationship with, seemingly so, that is the secretary of state Rex Tillerson. There is speculation that he is going to be replaced by the cia director. He was asked about this today at a press briefing. Lets see what he had to say. Thank you very much everybody. Thank you. I think Rex Tillerson has cancelled an event. The speculation cannot do him any good. But it undermines him. There has been speculation about Rex Tillersons longevity for some time. As katty knows this is a city with lots of rumours. It is ironic because Rex Tillerson just delivered a speech on the us uk special lotion ship again. They cannot get more ironic against the backdrop of questions about how long secretary tillerson can remain in power the us uk special relationship. After a year in administration of thing has settled down. We do not have clear policies on pressing issues and potentially we have another leadership change. Morale in the state department is extremely low. Secretary tillerson had a contentious relationship with the president. Once again, we are thrown into great uncertainty at a time of extraordinary global instability. Again, our hearts sink for our colleagues at the state department but again, us Foreign Security policy is not as strong as we need it to be today. Heather connolly, thank you for coming in. We will keep watching Rex Tillerson. The talk is weeks, but why would you sit in office for weeks when you know your successor is being lined up know your successor is being lined up around the . As heather said it is such a critical time when you are dealing with north korea. I have been looking on twitter today and there has been all sorts of reaction to the re tweeted videos. Let me show you one. This is from a senior general. He was the commanding general. He was the commanding general of the us army europe. It is extraordinary that he felt he had to tweak that and someone else had to tweak that and someone else had to tweak that and someone else had to get in contact. It is pulling up had to get in contact. It is pulling up the strings of the relationship. On one side you could set where are all those people on capitol hill and the senators, and in the administration even, who are calling the president out on this. I have to say i was at a meeting early this morning and i bumped into two senators and one congresswoman and the first thing they asked me, is President Trump still going to be invited to the uk and you could see the look of shock and sadness on theirfaces. The look of shock and sadness on their faces. They are dismayed. There are plenty of people in this town who are dismayed by what is happening and what has happened in the last 24 hours. Interesting. Lets move on and look at some other stories. Dutch authorities are investigating how a lethal chemical was smuggled into a court in the hague enabling a Bosnian Croat war criminal to kill himself. Slobodan praljak drank the small vial of liquid during a televised court appearance. He had just learned that his appeal against a 20 year sentence for war crimes in bosnia had been rejected. Pope francis has thanked bangladesh for its humanitarian response to muslim refugees fleeing myanmar but again avoided using the term rohingya. The pope was criticised for not using the term on his visit to myanmar where they do not recognise rohingya as an ethnic group but he said its a grave crisis. Criticism of hollywood that studios are whitewashinq. Thousands took part in an Online Campaign calling for an asian actress to take the role of the chinese heroine hua mulan
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