Elections this november. In his First International interview, mike pompeo suggested too that north korea would have the ability to deliver a Nuclear Weapon to the United States in a handful of months. A trump ally, a former congressman from the Tea Party Wing of the republican party, he also strongly defended the president. He sat down with our security correspondent, gordon corera. It is one of the most famous and yet secret buildings in the world the headquarters of the Central Intelligence agency. Everyones seen this, its in all the movies. Showing me round is mike pompeo, whos just marked a year as its head. A tumultuous time around the world, and in washington. Hes not shy about the cias mission, saying hes unleashed the agency to take more risks. Were the worlds finest espionage service. Im incredibly proud of that. Were going to go out there and do our damnedest to steal secrets on behalf of the american people. In the room where americas most secret operations are planned, i asked him about russia and claims it interfered in americas last election, as well in europe. Do you see signs that russian activity is lessening, in terms of subversion in europe and the United States . I havent seen significant decrease in their activity. Do you have concerns that they might try and interfere in the us midterms, which are coming up . Of course. I have every expectation that they will continue to try and do that. But im confident that america will be able to have a free and fair election. We will push back in a way that is sufficiently robust, that the impact they have on our election wont be great. Do you ever find yourself having to walk a fine line with a president who has said that talk about russian, particularly collusion is fake news, and an agency which has said that there were attempts in 2016 to influence the election . I dont do fine lines. I do the truth. We deliver nearly every day, personally, to the president , the most exquisite truth that we know. A recent book, of which im sure youre aware, suggested that the president wasnt quite up to it, that he might not quite have the faculties. Whats your response to that, as someone who sits in the room with him many mornings . Yeah. Its absurd. The claim that the president isnt engaged and doesnt have a grasp on these important issues is dangerous and false. And it saddens me that someone would have taken the time to write such drivel. Is it tricky for you, though, when youve been in these briefings and then you might come out and there might be some tweet about a Foreign Policy issue . I mean, when the president talks about rocket man, isnt there a danger that its raising the temperature with Something Like north korea and it could actually lead to some kind of escalation . Kim jong un has never appreciated the risk that he presents to the world in the way that he does today. And so when you see this language that the president chooses to use, the many audiences for it, and i can share with your audience today that i assure you kim jong un understands the message, that america is serious about this. The cia director says that his job is to find other ways of stopping america being at risk from a Nuclear Armed north korea should diplomacy fail. Are there options that are available, do you think, that are short of all out war . Because a lot of people think that option was cause massive destruction and loss of life. Well, theyre right about that. There is a set of military tasks that might have to be undertaken and they would, in fact, cause enormous damage and our president and our Senior Leaders are very mindful of that. How much time do you think there is, because in the past, people have talked about it being an imminent threat . We talk about him having the ability to deliver a Nuclear Weapon to the United States in a matter of a handful of months. Stopping attacks and stealing secrets is the cias mission. The stars on this wall mark those who died carrying it out. The way in which the agency has gone about its work has always reflected the president it serves. And Donald Trumps cia under mike pompeo will be an agency that wont hold back, wherever that might take it. Gordon corera, bbc news, langley, virginia. The Deputy Director of the fbi, Andrew Mccabe, is stepping down, even though he was due to retire within weeks. Hes been the focus of intense criticism from President Trump and his republican allies for what they claim is political bias towards hillary clinton. From fbi headquarters in washington, our north america editorjon sopel explained how much political pressure Andrew Mccabe has been under. On one level, you can say, what is the big deal . Andrew mccabe, he was due to retire in march. He has gone a few weeks early. Does it really matter . Well, yes, it does. Because he has been under sustained pressure and attack from donald trump because the president thought he was partisan, pro democrat. His wife had stood for the state senate in virginia. And, of course, this comes after the firing of the fbi director james comey, and it looks now that Andrew Mccabe has gone under pressure. It depends whether you are a democrat or republican. The democrats are saying this is a sustained assault on the independence of the fbi and Thejustice Department in an attempt to undermine the russia investigation. That we were just hearing about. The republicans are saying the russia investigation is deeply flawed, that there is bias in the fbi and theyre calling for the release of this very controversial memo written by the house chairman of the Intelligence Committee which is reported to allege that there is corruption in the mueller investigation. There are plenty of allegations and very few facts apart from the one that mr mccabe stood down today. After years of debate, the Irish Government has agreed to a referendum, at the end of may, on whether to reform the countrys strict abortion laws. Its long been a hugely contentious issue. The republic has a near total ban on terminating pregnancies, except when doctors consider a Womans Health is at risk. Andrew plant reports. chanting it is an issue that polarises opinion in ireland now set to be the subject of a referendum on changing the law. At the moment, ireland has a near total ban on abortion, even when a pregnancy is the result of rape or incest or if a fetus has no chance of survival. At the moment, thousands of women travel overseas to terminate their pregnancy every year, or buy Abortion Pills online, taken at home without medical support or supervision. Now, politicians have agreed to hold a referendum on whether the laws on abortion should be changed. We already have abortion in ireland, but its unsafe, unregulated and unlawful. And in my opinion, we cannot continue to export our problem and import our solutions. As the former minister for health, i dont believe we can persist with the situation whereby women in crisis are risking their lives through the use of unregulated medicines. Pro life groups here believe the laws on abortion shouldnt be changed. But campaigners want to see it decriminalised and polls suggest that most people would vote to change the law and make abortion legal in some circumstances. Now, irelands Health Minister will draft a bill to amend the countrys constitution in time for a vote at the end of may. Andrew plant, bbc news. Ministers from the 27 states which will still be members of the European Union after brexit have agreed their negotiating guidelines for a transitional agreement with the uk. Crucially, during that transition the uk will have to obey the rules of the Single Market and the customs union, but will have no voting rights. The eu also wants citizens to be able to settle in the uk, as they can now. And that would be the case until the 31st december 2020. 0ur europe editor, katya adler, reports from brussels. Brexit is back on the brussels agenda after a longish winter break. Today, ministers from the 27 eu countries came here to agree guidelines for the transition phase to follow immediately after brexit. Aware of political volatility back in london. Do you worry about the fragility of the uk government . Though clearly not keen to talk about it. The ministers are only giving themselves 10 minutes in there to agree eu guidelines for transition negotiations. Its a very public display of eu unity in stark contrast, they know, to whats going on in the uk. Still speaking today to a house of lords committee, the brexit secretary appeared relaxed about the transition period at least. Its pretty clear. We want a high degree of stability, we want the right to do deals outside. Broadly, thats it and, ideally, we want some control over our own destiny in terms of any subsequent legislation. Its pretty simple, really. But is it . Mr davis was speaking in london at the same time as his european counterpart took to the podium in brussels. And he made it plain that the transition period would transfer the uk from rule maker to rule taker. During a transition period, if decisions are taken by the eu 27, which are not acceptable to the united kingdom, what action can the uk government take . Translation the uk asked for this transition period, giving it full access to the Single Market to provide stability for business. Were agreeing to that, but to benefit from the Single Market, the uk has to accept our rules. Single market a la carte is just not possible. Mr barnier said the uk would have to respect rulings by the European Court ofjustice and would not be allowed to enter into new trade deals with other countries. And there are more possible flash points. Duration the eu says the transition should last a total of 21 months. The uk may want more time. Freedom of movement brussels insists eu citizens have the right to move to the uk and apply for permanent residency throughout the transition period. 0bserver status the uk will have to pay into the eu budget during transition and observe all eu regulations, though it will no longer be a decision maker. In all the fraught brexit negotiations, this was supposed to be the easy part. After all, the uk requested a transition period from the eu. So the warning here now is if talks get too tricky over transition, that could eat into the precious time left under eu law to discuss eu uk future trade relations before the uk leaves the bloc in march 2019. The message from here once again is the ball is in the uks court. Katya adler, bbc news, brussels. Stay with us on bbc news. Still to come the state of the unions infrastructure. As President Trump prepares to deliver his major speech, we size up the task of fixing americas bridges and roads. The shuttle challenger exploded soon after lift off. There were seven astronauts on board, one of them a woman school teacher. All of them are believed to have been killed. By the evening, tahrir square, the heart of official cairo, was in the hands of the demonstrators. They were using the word revolution. The earthquake singled out buildings and brought them down in seconds. Tonight, the search for any survivors has an increasing desperation about it as the hours pass. The new government is firmly in control of the entire republic of uganda. Moscow got its first taste of western fast food as mcdonalds opened their biggest restaurant in pushkin square. But the hundreds of muscovites who queued up today wont find it cheap, with a big mac costing half a days wages for the average russian. This is bbc news. The latest headlines the head of the cia has been telling the bbc about the threat from russia in this yea rs mid term elections, and defending President Trumps mental faculties. After years of argument, the Irish Government has agreed to a referendum at the end of may on whether to reform the republics near total ban on abortion. After years of talks between the vatican and beijing about who runs the Roman Catholic church in china, details are emerging about a possible deal. The authorities want all unregistered congregations to join the state approved official church, and they want the right to appoint bishops. The pope seems willing to consider these demands, and that is drawing criticism from chinas most respected cleric. David campa nale reports. Unregistered Church Congregations like this one are a thorn in the side of chinas communist party. The church is Roman Catholic, but there are many like it which are independent a nd protesta nt. Accurate figures are hard to come by, but if christianity and all its traditions continues growing at current rates, by 2030, the Chinese Church could become the biggest in the world. Now, the authorities are moving to assert control. Priests and bishops in the so called underg round Catholic Church are appointed by rome, but they face persecution for not complying with communist demands. From thursday, chinese law requires all unregistered churches to become one of these an official Catholic Church. In a visit to china widely reported across catholic media, vatican officials asked two of their own bishops to resign or accept demotion, in favour of beijing appointed leaders. They have not done so yet. But, in a struggle between christianity and communism, the vatican expects to win out in the end. The goal of pope francis is a majority church. He wants a stake, and the stake is all china. Because, as we see the lack of values in china, as a consequence of the economic development, he knows that the rule class, the rule class, the leadership in china, will need relgion. Religion. But the idea of compromise has outraged the former bishop of hong kong, cardinalzen. He went to rome to plead with the pope not to submit to communism, handing over a letter asking for a different approach. He has also taken into his blog, saying during hong kongs democracy protests, cardinal zen has shown he can be outspoken. He has now promised to be an obstacle to china and the vatican reaching a deal. David campanale, bbc news. The bbc did ask the vatican to respond to cardinal zens comments. It has so far declined to do so. South africas second largest city, cape town, is in the midst of a severe drought. Residents are being limited to 50 litres of water a day. If the authorities turn the taps off entirely, they are talking of a so called day zero in early april. Cape town would be the first major city in the world to run dry. Andrew harding reports. Glorious cape town. The most idyllic, the most pampered corner of an entire continent. Until now. Suddenly, a city of 4 Million People is running out of water, at alarming speed. As rationing begins, there are queues for spring water. Its a bit scary and uncertain. And, based on the experience of filling up here, its intimidating about whats to come. Here is the problem. The reservoirs cape town depends on are parched, after three years of a drought no one predicted. The experts blame Climate Change. Hotter temperatures, erratic rainfall. We really are, you know, the canary in the cage at the moment. So all of these predictions that are being made about the impacts of Climate Change are happening. They re happening now, to us here, before our eyes, all around the world. In a panic, the city is drilling for water. Tapping into rainfall which seeped underground a million years ago. But the process is slow, and time is short. And so capetonians of all stripes are preparing for the worst. There is a real sense of anxiety here, as people count down to day zero, waiting for the moment when all the taps are switched off, and everyone is forced to queue in places like this for their daily ration of water. In the meantime, many here are embracing the challenge, posting water saving tips online. Seven litres per shower, to three litres. Impressively the city has nearly halved its water consumption. There you go. We are in this together. And we have to build a sense of one nation, with one future, where Everybody Needs to get decent basic services, and we all need to pull together to make sure that everybody gets them, all the time. But some people are not playing along. We join the police as they hunt for cape towns newest outlaws car washers. Buckets and sponges are confiscated, fines handed out, as a thirsty city fights for every last drop of water, and waits to see if those tantalising clouds on Table Mountain will finally oblige. Andrew harding, bbc news, cape town. On tuesday, President Trump will deliver the annual state of the union address. He is expected to emphasise his plan to rebuild americas infrastructure. He has already made it clear he wants private investors to fund much of it, and that is not going down well with democrats, who say the federal government should pay more. Jane 0brien has been looking at the daunting task ahead. Daybreak in the nations capital, and already traffic is growing to a halt. This bridge is clearly starting to struggle with the volume of traffic. Is that typical . This is typical of our entire network. 0ur infrastructure and Transportation Network is failing. Christina swallow is president of the American Society of civil engineers, which rates the nations infrastructure every four years. The current grade is d . If we dont invest in our infrastructure, it will cost the us economy 3. 9 trillion in gdp by 2025, 7 trillion lost in Business Sales in the same timeframe, and 2. 5 million lostjobs. This will hurt our economy, and it hurts us each individually. President trump wants to focus on infrastructure this year, and some areas need urgent attention. A broken watermain at new yorksjfk International Airport compounded the effects of a winter storm early january, causing chaos and additional flight cancellations. Us airports serve more than 2 million passengers a day. But buildings and systems arent keeping pace, and aviation gets a d. Traffic delays cost the us economy an estimated 160 billion a year in wasted time and fuel. One in five miles of highway is in poor condition. Roads also score a d. Even worse is public transport. Despite an increase in demand, chronic underfunding has left an ageing infrastructure and a 90 billion improvement backlog. D. When you own a home, the last you want to do is pay for that roof until water starts coming in, and you realise that you have no choice. And so i think thats what america has done. We have just kept putting band aids and temporary fixes on our infrastructure system, and weve just done that for decades, and we are now seeing the results. Washington is doing slightly better than the us as a whole, with a score of c. The Frederic DouglasMemorial Bridge is in urgent need of replacement. The estimated cost of the new structure is 441 million. But City Planners said the project will create 1,300 jobs and boost the economy. President trump wants to invest 1 trillion in the nations infrastructure, and speed things up by cutting the time to process permits. But exactly who will pay remains an open question, and the one thing the president really needs is already in short supply cooperation from democrats. Everybody agrees that the problem is urgent, but much like americas roads, getting from a to b could be a bumpy ride. A mural by the graffiti artist banksy has been granted a new lease of life in the british city of hull but onlyjust. The piece was defaced on sunday night with whitewash, and a window cleaner was just one of the art loving locals who helped save it, gathering up his equipment and heading out to help. 0ur correspondent danny savage went to meet him. It appeared last week on an old bridge in hull. A banksy mural of a child carrying a wooden sword with a pencil attached to the end. People flocked to see it, but then it all went wrong. Last night, it was vandalised. Until a few weeks ago, hull was the uks city of culture, but somebody took exception to this piece of culture. It was painted over and potentially ruined. But, before it dried, volunteers turned up to uncover it. They included window cleaner jason fa nthorpe, armed with some ladders and white spirit. He was back at work today, being modest about his achievements. You cantjudge the reputation of an entire city by one act of vandalism. And the fact that so many people pulled together, as a community, it just shows that people are better than that. Now, a plastic screen has been put up over it for protection. Ijust think it is a shame that hull, having been the city of culture of last year, have we learned nothing, you know . The fact that were now having to protect something that is art. Banksy is renowned for his messages that he shares with people and i look at all these people, its brilliant. Those who saved this banksy say it is a gift to the city, and it must be looked after. Danny savage, bbc news, hull. And finally, it looks like a scene from ajames bond movie, but this is a real mission in austria to rescue 150 skiers from a broken chair lift. To perform the delicate mission, helicopters had to hover above the machinerys cables on the side of kreischberg mountain. And, just like in the movies, the mission was successful. Reports said that none of the stranded skiers reported any injuries. And you can get in touch with me and most of the team on twitter. Im bbcmikeembley. Well, lets start with a couple of weather watcher pictures. And a lovely one here from argyll bute, in scotland, and a nice end to the day in london, after what was a very cloudy, drizzly, and windy afternoon. A very different Tuesday Morning, a touch of frost across many parts of the country. The skies have been clearing in the last few hours. This is the satellite image from the last 12 hours or so. So initially we have the cloud. The cloud pushed away towards the east, and now we have this window of clearer weather. So temperatures have been dropping like a stone. Very early on Tuesday Morning in towns and cities, right in the middle of town, it will be generally above freezing, two or three degrees. Butjust outside of town, it could be cold, as low as minus five degrees in the south. This is rush hour, then, across the south of the country. You can see that hue of blue here, so the frost still here. In the middle of town, itll be a degree or so above freezing, but outside of town, still very chilly. Lots of sunshine around. Different story here in the Western Isles and North Western scotland. A stronger wind off the atlantic, more cloud, and showers around as well. So, the rest of the morning, then. Lots of sunshine across many parts of england, particularly in the east. If you live in hull, norwich, down into london, youll hold onto the sunshine for longest. Whereas in the west and the south west, well start to see clouds streaming in. So, for example, cornwall and devon, there, coastal parts of wales, its not going to be a nice afternoon. A lot of grey cloud, drizzle, hill fog, mist, that sort of thing. 10 degrees there in plymouth, whereas norwich is going to be brighter and colder. How are we doing compared to the rest of europe . So in london, its around about nine. Paris is 11 actually, its not looking too bad at all across many parts of europe on tuesday. But there is a big change on the way for the middle parts of the week. A big low pressure swings in off the north atlantic. This is cold air here. A cold front sweeps through as well, and behind the cold front, traditionally, we get a cold rush of air. So heres the cold air tucking into that vortex, that area of low pressure on wednesday, and that means that were in for some wintry showers. Some of them will fall as snow across scotland, northern parts of england, Northern Ireland as well, and some of those snow showers may even sneak into areas further south. Plenty of sunshine around, as well. Hail and thunder, probably, too. It could feel colder than six after nine degrees. Those winds and that wind chill really might make it quite bitter. And then thursday and friday, its looking just that little bit better. Bye bye. This is bbc news. The headlines the head of the cia has told the bbc he has every expectation that russia will try to interfere in the american mid term elections this november. In his First International interview, mike pompeo suggested too that north korea would have the ability to deliver a Nuclear Weapon to the United States in a handful of months. The Deputy Director of the fbi, Andrew Mccabe, is stepping down, even though he was due to retire within weeks. Hes been the focus of intense criticism from President Trump and his republican allies for what they claim is political bias towards hillary clinton. After years of debate, the Irish Government has agreed to a referendum, in may, on whether to reform the countrys strict abortion laws. The republic has a near total ban on terminating pregnancies, except when doctors consider a Womans Health is at risk. Now on bbc news, the travel show