Tim willcox is in london. Not farfrom where i am a car has ploughed into a group of pedestrians in times square. One person is known to have died and 23 are injured. Police are saying it isnt terror related but the location draws tourists from around the world and it comes at a time when people on both sides of the atlantic are on edge about cars being used in attacks. The mayor of new york has been speaking, this is what he had to say. So far what we know, 23 individuals were injured in this incident. That includes tragically one young woman who has passed away. The perpetrator is in custody, a United States citizen and a former memberof the United States citizen and a former member of the armed forces. Inaudible the bbcs nada tawfik is on the scene for us and has an update. What more do we know about the driver . What the nypd has said is that this was a 26 year old man from the bronx, here in new york, new york native, former member of the navy, they say that he does have a criminal history, he had two arrests for drunk driving, criminal history, he had two arrests fordrunk driving, and criminal history, he had two arrests for drunk driving, and after this incident happened, very quickly the nypd arrested him and they say he is now being questioned. Obviously, if this happened in some other location, we might not be leading the programme with it, it might not be such important news, but this is a city still on edge from the prospect of Terror Attacks and looking at other countries were similar Terror Attacks have happened, what are they saying specifically about any link to possible terrorism . It isa it is a scene that automatically brought up the biggest fears in the minds of new yorkers, the Authorities Say that this is an hour and a half after the incident, from the best knowledge, they do not believe it was terror related, but of course we know that a Car Ploughing into pedestrians in times square, it really made people fear the worst in terms of it being a tactic that isis has used over the atlantic, in europe, severaltimes, in new york, this past september, an incident where a fuel Pressure Cooker bombs went off in lower manhattan, and those words seem to be terror related as well. While the nypd has said that they do believe this is isolated, they have ian forced other key spots in new york city, out of an abundance of caution, but i suppose you could also say, to reassure new yorkers. Its not that unusual for american president s to be the subject of a special investigation. President s reagan, clinton and bush all faced special prosecutors. It is however unusual for president s to respond to those probes in the way donald trump did this morning. The president is lily frustrated at the appointment of former fbi director Robert Muller to investigate his ties to russia, this is what he said on twitter he also complained that there wasnt ever a special counsel appointed to investigate Hillary Clinton or barack obama. Donald trump did not appoint mr mueller the Deputy Attorney general did. And the president was only told after the Appointment Order had been signed. But House Speaker paul ryan said its but House Speaker paul ryan said its business as usual. But House Speaker paul ryan said its business as usual. It is very important that people know that we can walk and chew gum at the same time, drama is not helpful in getting things done but we are still getting things done but we are still getting things done and that is the important point. So mr ryan says things are still getting done, but how serious is all this for mr trump . From monterey, california, were joined by former us Defence Secretary and cia chief, leon panetta. What is your take, as you look back at the last ten days, i cannot believe it has been that quick, we have the firing of james comey, the revelations that donald trump gave secrets to russian officials, and reports that he tried to interfere with the investigation into the russia probe. How damaging is all of this for the president . russia probe. How damaging is all of this for the president . I dont think there is any question that a numberof think there is any question that a number of serious issues have been raised by these incidents is, that involved the possible violations of war, violations of law, there is no question, all of the incident you have mentioned, whether it is the flint investigation, and efforts to deter that, the rush investigation, the firing of james deter that, the rush investigation, the firing ofjames comey, the issue of whether the president released classified information to a foreign adversarial, all of those are issues for which he could be investigated. Flynn investigation. From be the best that has happened is that the Deputy Attorney general did point Robert Mueller, a man of impeccable integrity, to act as special consul on this, and that is of some comfort to all of us in this country. It looks like mr trump protected michael flynn, put him in as National Security adviser, out of some sense of loyalty and that he felt he had a right to interfere into the probe of russia, by firing james comey, putting pressure on him not to investigate michael flynn, does this raise questions for you about not so much if there is some nefarious deal between the Trump Administration and the russian government but whether mr trump has the character or the temperament to be able to make a success of his presidency . We all know that President Trump lacked political experience, lacked experience in governing, did not fully understand or appreciate the rules and laws that are involved when you are president of the United States. It shows in the way he behaved here. It was more the behaviour of somebody who operates is in the real estate industry, in new york city, as opposed to the president of the United States. A lot of questions. Behaviour that does not take into consideration the possibility of violating possible laws, he was acting more out of personal concern for what was happening, to somebody like general flynn, but when you are president of the United States, your first responsibility is to protect and enforce the constitution of the United States, and the laws of this country. And i think the president has not appreciated the level of responsibility associated with his oath. You were brought in in 1994, to be bill clinton, president bill clintons chief of staff, Clinton Presidency had got into trouble, needed a reboot, you were the man brought in to oversee the reboot, do you think it would be possible now to have somebody come into the white house and get this presidency back on track, away from the scandals and back to doing business. Not impossible but an awful lot depends upon whether or not the president of the United States is willing to change the way he behaves in that office, if he does appoint a new team of individuals that are experienced in politics, appreciate the laws, appreciate how you deal with congress and with the different institutions of democracy and is willing to listen to that person, thenit willing to listen to that person, then it is not impossible. He does have a strong National Security team, for example, i have a great deal of respect for the quality of his National Security team, he seems to want to listen to them, which is good. Can he do the same thing when it comes to domestic issues and issues that relate to the laws of this country . That is the question. That will determine to a large extent whether he survives in office. We are still not any clearer, are we, if mr trump was recording the conversations with james comey, with also do not know if those contemporaneous notes exist, whichjim if those contemporaneous notes exist, which jim comey if those contemporaneous notes exist, Whichjim Comey allegedly made after the meeting, and what about the involvement of Vladimir Putin, offering to release transcripts of the meeting with donald trump, said a lover of and the Russian Ambassador in the white house. Any time Vladimir Putin decides that hes going to inject himself into issues in this country, that becomes cause for concern. Sergey lavrov. Im pleased that congress rejected that offer, he is a foreign adversarial, his interest is not in the interest of protecting the United States of america, his interest is in destabilising them, the United States, and im sure that hes enjoying the fact that in this country we are going through a certain amount of turmoil largely because the russians tried to directly interfere in the election process. This country is smart enough to understand that we are not in the mood of cooperating with somebody who is a foreign adversarial. It seems you do not trust the benevolence of bad in putin so far, but the saudis and israelis have said they will carry on sharing Intelligence Information with the United States is. Seems you do not trust the benevolence of Vladimir Putin. How dangerous do you think, the meeting with sergey lavrov, the intelligence that was passed on, how dangerous has that been to americas relationships . As somebody who was formerly involved in the cia formerly. And with intelligence people. Not just formerly involved, you ran the place and i really respect those people who work in our intelligence agencies, who are willing to put their life on the line in order to be able to gather the kind of intelligence that was presented to the president. Ithink intelligence that was presented to the president. I think it is irresponsible of the president to reveal classified information, particularly to a foreign adversarial, particularly classified information that could jeopardise the very source of intelligence that was presented to the president. It is not responsible, it is very damaging, sending a terrible signal to all of those sources that are out there, putting lives on the line to gather that kind of intelligence. This is a matter that i believe all to be investigated and looked at, andl to be investigated and looked at, and i think the president as to understand his responsibility as president of the United States, to protect the very people that are providing that kind of intelligence. Leon panetta, thank you very much for joining leon panetta, thank you very much forjoining us. Thank you. So democrats had been calling for a special counsel and they got it. Republicans, at least the ones on capitol hill seem pretty happy too. So what powers will mr mueller have in this role . A special counsel is a person appointed by head of the justice department, when an investigation by the department itself might pose a conflict of interest, or if its believed its in the Public Interest to appoint one. He has the power to initiate investigations, Subpoena Records and bring criminal charges. Robert mueller will also be able to widen his jurisdiction, although hed have to ask the Attorney General for permission to do so. But not everyone thinks this appointment is a good idea. Joining us from washington is ron christie, a former adviser to george w bush. Why not . It is important to recognise what is going on in the United States government, it was engaged in a Counterintelligence Operation to ascertain whether or not the russians had on properly influence the election, the appointment of a special counsel takes it out of the realm of counterintelligence, when there is not a prosecutor involved. Unproperly. Now we have some blue with prosecuting powers. Question a lot of republicans ask in washington, what is the underlying crime, i dont understand and i have not, from looking at the statement from Robert Mueller, i cannot see what underlying crime he may be looking at which donald trump, the president , or his associates are allegedly having considered violated. One possible case with the attraction of justice, violated. One possible case with the attraction ofjustice, if it was proven that donald trump asked jim crow me to drop the investigation into michael flynn. James comey. In the statutory, obstruction of justice, not only are you in a position where you are impeding Somebody Carrying out their response abilities but it is also about whether they bribe that individual, specific intent, the resident would have had to specifically intended not only to impede james comey and his investigation but also bribe them as well, ice on the evidence i have heard so far, the facts in the case do not seem to meet the case that the president of the United States could have done that. Lets be clear, you are a republican, you have conversations with this white house but often you have been critical of donald trump, so when Donald Trump Tweets out this morning, using his own language, that this is the greatest witchhunt in history. Is there something there, that he is the subject of an unfairamount of there, that he is the subject of an unfair amount of investigation, do you think, and pressure from democrats . You know, it shouldnt matter, you are the president of the United States, chief Law Enforcement officer in the country, sadly, i think donald trump, in some measure, if not large measure, brought the Special Counsel Appointment on himself. You cannot send out a tweet that says, i hope it wasnt being recorded when i spoke to james comey, he had better watch out. cannot say those things and not have members of congress on both sides of the aisle in a nonpartisan way saying, is the president of the United States recording people who come to the oval office . Where are the transcript . And also, what else could he have been doing . his behaviour on twitter, seems to be bringing this on himself, and he does not seem to have learned a lesson and heeded the warning that that can have serious consequences which he is now facing. Thank you for coming in. Always a pleasure. There is a long game and a short game here, in the short term, looks like the appointment of this special counsel is something of a blessing, because it takes the heat off, because it takes the heat off, because you can say, there is a special counsel investigating it, it is under control, we will let Robert Mueller get on with the job. In the long term, the risk is that the special counsel comes up with something that proves some kind of illegality, then there is a whole heap of problems for the white house. Interesting how republicans are saying, having resisted the idea of some kind of special investigation, right now at least they feel it is taking off some of they feel it is taking off some of the political pressure. The point that interests me, this could take yea rs, that interests me, this could take years , we that interests me, this could take yea rs, we have that interests me, this could take years, we have this enquiry, plus all the others, which will take priority . There is the risk, donald trump could be completely exonerated, what there is the risk, this drip of more damaging headlines and information, keeping it there in the public domain, and eroding anymore confidence in the presidency. Yes, this is not going anywhere. Absolutely right in brazil there are calls for the president to resign following Newspaper Reports that he authorised bribes to silence a potential witness in what has become a huge corruption scandal. President temer is denying the allegations that say he authorised payments to eduardo cunha, a politician who was jailed in march for corruption, Money Laundering and tax evasion. Still in latin america, venezuela says its sending more more than 2,500 troops to the region of tachira in order to control looting and rioting. There have been violent Anti Government protests and three people were killed in tachira this week. President Nicolas Maduro has accused the opposition of inciting violence by calling people on to the streets. John mccain called for the expulsion of turkeys Us Ambassador after violence erupted between protesters and Turkish Security personnel during president Tayyip Erdogans visit to washington. This is the video posted online. Eleven people were injured. Senator mccain said, we should throw their ambassador the hell out of the United States. Meanwhile, britains governing conservative party, has published its manifesto, for next months General Election. It dilutes measures to protect pensioners incomes, and adopts policies aimed at helping