Transcripts For BBCNEWS 100 Days 20170622

President trumps cabinet . People with small Bank Balances need not apply. And i love all people, rich and poor. But in those particular positions ijust dont want a poor person. Does that make sense . Welcome to the programme. Im Christian Fraser in london, jon sopel is In Washington. The European Commission supported theresa mays decision to call a snap election. They wanted reassurance the Prime Minister had a mandate for brexit and would be there to see it through to the end. Well, they have no such guarantees. So, the Dinner Conversation tonight might be somewhat strained. Over coffee, mrs may will be explaining to the other 27 leaders how the uk plans to protect the rights of eu and uk citizens once it leaves the union. The commission has already made its counter offer, some weeks ago. We will see how they compare. But president of the european council, donald tusk, stressed brexit wasnt the only thing on the agenda and had this to say about defence. Somebody needs to set up permanent uk corporation in defence. It is a historic step because such cooperation will allow the move towards deeper integration in defence. Our aim is towards deeper integration in defence. Ouraim is for towards deeper integration in defence. Our aim is for it to be ambitious and inclusive. So every new countries invited to join. Terrorism was also high on the agenda with Angela Merkel agenda announcing a new forum to combat Extremist Activity on social media. Well lets get more on todays developments from ros atkins, whos in brussel for us. We heard they would do these compare and contrast ideas of citizenship, do we know what the differences are . It is quite hard to get much detail on this. All of this is being done Behind Closed Doors and you are mentioning the fact that theresa may will be doing her briefing towards the end of a dinner that the 28 leaders will be having. Normally when you have a dinner party as the meal goes on and a few glasses of wine are drunk everyone loosens up and chat small. That will not happen here. Theresa may will be laying out here. Theresa may will be laying out her ideas for eu systems in the uk and uk citizens in the eu. Everyone will listen, say thank you, and then she will have to pick up her stuff and leave the room because it is only once she has gone that the remaining 27 can discuss what they think of that and how they think about the brexit negotiations have gonein about the brexit negotiations have gone in theirfirst about the brexit negotiations have gone in their first week. And as she looks around the room she will cease a new faces. Notably Emmanuelle Macron but also someone else. Both of them are under the age of a0 and both are seen as two examples of a new, enthusiastic generation of european leaders who are trying to invigorate the eu and what it stands for. He spends a lot of the day getting to know people. He needs to Start Building relationships in the eu and that is because hes concerned about the border between the republic of ireland and Northern Ireland, the north being within the uk and what brexit might do to the border. He wants the border to remain open in Terms Of Trade and freedom of movement. In terms of Emmanuel Macron, i was there when he arrived earlier, just a couple of hundred meters from here, and whatever you think of his politics he has star power and at home. He was confident, swaggered in, laughed with the the press, answered questions, and when he decided it was enough time off he went, looking incredibly at home and confident. You also mentioning the new defence deal. Emmanuel macron is a big supporter of that just as he deal. Emmanuel macron is a big supporter of thatjust as he is a supporter of thatjust as he is a supporter of thatjust as he is a supporter of these new measures to ta ke supporter of these new measures to take on extremism and extremist material being shared online. Thank you. Anand menon is here with me. Hes director of the research group, uk in a changing europe. Hes quite an interesting figure because he is the first non white premiere in western europe, he is young and he will go into this room feeling quite emboldened because ireland has a big stake in what britain is trying to do. It is interesting because there is the holder bite about the intra irish border bug busters curious because both sides are on the same size, no one wants a border, but no one can figure out legally how to not have a border if we decide to leave the customs union, and it is that the lawyers will be wrestling with to see if there is a way around it. We talk about what comes first, the divorce oi about what comes first, the divorce or the Future Trade Deal, but you cant decide on what sort of border there will be all no border without talking about the Future Trade Deal can you . No, but yes because our government has excluded the possibility of the customs union. That is a policy decision. They have said we wanted leave. As long as thatis said we wanted leave. As long as that is the case it is a headache for ireland because you need checks on the border. When it comes to theresa may, i was making the point in the introduction that they wanted her to come back with this mandate. The one thing i picked up on monday is they dont know whether she will be there at the end of the process. I think you can make too much of that. Personally, ialways i think you can make too much of that. Personally, i always thought the size of the majority didnt bother at the eu in the sense that they will negotiate with her, they know their position and that is quite simple. And i dont think they will negotiate about whether she is there not, they will negotiate to there not, they will negotiate to the end. If shes replaced they will have to deal with that. The problem the small majority bring all in the house of commons. A lot of legislation needs to be passed and Herfinal Legislation Needs to be passed and her final deal will go there for a vote and it is there we will see the small majority. That is clearly the frustration for all the leaders. There is not only difference within the Conservative Party and the cavernous but also the labour party as well. Its not as if you have an opposition with one plan. They are all over the place. You are too young to remember the john all over the place. You are too young to remember Thejohn Smith period, but you had a situation where labour didnt have a position on europe other than to oppose everything the government did. I suspect that will quite quite well now because they cannot agree amongst themselves but might agree to oppose the government. He wouldnt say i was too young i wonder, christian, of course the other eu leaders wanted britain to remain. But i wonder whether there we re remain. But i wonder whether there were certain transactions that will be taking place from now on west life has gotten a lot easier without those Recalcitrant Brits in the room. That is possibly true. We were talking about the Defence Procurement Thing that they agreed, and that is the sort of thing that some time ago with britain in the tent they would not have got through. You can look at other things Emmanuel Macron has been talking about in recent days. A future Finance Minister of the european union, the eurozone bill, anti dumping regulations, these are things britain has stood against. He is saying we are in this not to punish britain, but lets look at the opportunities. The irony is, you have heard from the likes of donald tasks today that he hoped brexit is cancelled and britain comes back, but some federalists think this is the kick that they wanted and perhaps they can progress to a more deeply integrated eu without the british. For weeks the president has kept us waiting. Tantalising the press and also the investigators on whether he had made recordings of his conversations with former fbi director james comey. Well, just a short time ago we got the answer and of course it came in a tweet. This is what it says. So why has he prevaricated for so long . I am about to put that question to read wilson. We arejoined by reid wilson from the hill. I loved the cheek of it. He was the one who set the Whole Hare Running and now it has taken him the best pa rt and now it has taken him the best part of five or six weeks to deny it. And the question is now what was the purpose of suggesting it . One of his close allies, newt gingrich, has suggested it was to rattle dames comey who testified before congress. Is that witness intimidation, Obstruction Of Justice . There is that witness intimidation, obstruction ofjustice . There is a Special Counsel looking into that and he has hired a number of very highly talented prosecutors with a lot of experience. It becomes increasingly clear that the president will have to answer questions about this, probably under oath,if questions about this, probably under oath, if he sticks with his claim that james comey was lying before congress. Somebody is not telling the truth. That could be a problem. Does this in anyway get donald trump off the hook . It may be in elegant to admit but maybe it helps him. The hook it gets him off as with the house of representatives, which had regret requested any information about possible tapes by a deadline of tomorrow. Now he has said there are no tapes so he hears of that short term hook. But this is a long term investigation. Short term hook. But this is a longterm investigation. Why has it taken him so long . Why didnt he say when it was obvious immediately that he had set something in motion . This is not a person who is accustomed to admitting when he is wrong or has said something that is untrue. Even on things that are easily verifiable, he has scrambled for some kind of information. And this notion that there were no tapes so they were trying to Keepjames Comey honest, that is some real spare stay with us reid, weve got another Story Developing , after weeks working secretly Behind Closed Doors, Senate Republicans have finally revealed their plan to replace 0bamacare. They had promised a top to bottom revamp of the health bill passed by the house last month but there are only modest adjustments. The debate over the repeal bill is shaping up as a titanic political struggle, which will have major implications for both parties in the years to come. The republicans can only afford to lose two senators in this vote. And they dont have long to sort out their differences. The Majority Leader Mitch Mcconnell wants a vote before lawmakers return home for the fourth ofjuly recess. Lets pick up on that and what we have heard. I gather already a number of the more free dumb caucus right wing senators have said they are not happy. There are three very conservative senators in repealing the Affordable Care act and there area number of the Affordable Care act and there are a number of moderates with real problems because the Affordable Care act steered so much money to their states, people like the senator for nevada and ohio, a number in the rust belt region where the Opioid Crisis is killing Tens Of Thousands of people every year, this bill would defund efforts to fight that. There is a very narrow window that the majority leader has to get through. He will not get any democratic votes and somehow has to marry those moderates with the ultimate conservatives. The politics dont look particularly good . When you look at the polling for it its actually pretty poor around the country around the plan. I would suppose that Senior Republicans are looking about polling. They certainly are. The Health Care Debate has been a larger issue in several of the special elections here in the us over the last few weeks than even President Trump and his dismal approval rating. It was health care that crossed democrats their majority back in 2010. They really hope it will be health care that costs the republicans their majority in 2018 midterms. Great to have you with us, thank you so much. Well, health care along with the rest of President Trumps agenda has been overshadowed lately by the multiple investigations into alleged russian interference in the president ial election. But how do the die hard Trump Supporters feel about the investigation . The Bbcs Rajini Vaidyanathan was in cedar rapids iowa on wednesday night for the president s rally and no question who they blame. All Everyone Wants to concentrate on is this russia thing. And it is bogus. Russia does not bother me at all, whatsoever. Im not really worried at all, to be honest with you. God bless the usa. Politics In Washington might be dominated by the Russian Investigation but what do trumps supporters here in iowa, a state the president won in last years election, make of it all . So youre not concerned . No, why would i be concerned, why would i . What you mean concerned concerned about what . He might be under investigation, because. Investigation doesnt mean hes guilty. This investigation has been going on for seven, eight months. Nothing. Weve got pictures here of various people. Why . We dont like him james comey is a liar. Liar. Why is he a liar . Just when he speaks he is a liar, because he is involved with the crooked hillary gang. Leaker, liar, i dont believe him, i dont believe what he is saying. It seems him and President Trump both have two opposite viewpoints about what has happened. Why would he lie . He went under oath. Well, yes, he did. The president has not been under oath yet. No, but he has also said he will go under oath, and i think its a disgruntled employee. I dont trust james comey and its not because he went after trump. I dont like what he did in the election, period. I dont think it was right that he said that hillary was under investigation a week before the election. Robert mueller what you think of him . I dont know how tight he is yet with comey, so i dont know whether or not he can be trusted or not. They say he is respected on both sides of the aisle. I dont like that he appointed Hillary Clintons friend as Special Counsel to the investigation, but im not going to bash somebodyjust off of that. Well see what happens. I think he is a little bit too connected and he should either resign or be removed from that position. Hes onlyjust got the job, though. Well, in my opinion, i think it needs to be a total outsider. There aint no doubt i love this land. This man is taking care of the United States of america. Good to get out of washington, you get a different view. What about that rally . The president was back in Campaign Mode last night, buoyed by that republican win in georgia this week. He has been cooped up for too long and this was an opportunity to come out fighting. He defended his administration against the attacks from the press and he had this to say about the criticism of his cabinet. And i love all people, rich or poor. But in those particular positions i just dont want a poor person, does that make sense . Does that make sense . If you insist, ill do it, but i like it better this way, right . Ididnt i didnt ask, i have it in my contract that i shouldnt have to do present with polar presenters, i hope you are wealthy enough present with polar presenters, i hope you are wealthy enough i will have to disappoint you. |j hope you are wealthy enough i will have to disappoint you. I cant believe it. Do you see this on Campaign Literature . I dont want to work with poor people. These are all appalling. Bluecollar workers thats the huge difference between a lot of british and european politics compared to the us, they love the fa ct compared to the us, they love the fact he is a Swaggering Billionaire who seems to have appointed a bunch of other billionaires to his cabinet. Ina of other billionaires to his cabinet. In a way which would be just unthinkable in a lot of other democracies. But blue collar iowa we re democracies. But blue collar iowa were cheering him last night when he saidi were cheering him last night when he said i dont want poor people around me. One other thing i wanted to talk about, we took a lot about the republicans and donald trump but lets talk about the democrats, there have a lot of headlines about georgia and how the democrats got it wrong they said they begged it up and then lost it and that is embarrassing. But this was a headline in the new york times. they came very close in georgia and in another special election seat in places that were absolutely safe republican. They are not doing terribly, they are doing pretty well. But they are not making the breakthrough and there is a Battle For The Heart And Soul of the Democratic Party going on with some people saying we must be more like bernie saunders, appealing to young people, more radical. And there are those Old Fashioned people, more radical. And there are those Old Fashioned centrists people, more radical. And there are those Old Fashioned centrists who says we have to rent Pond Politics from the Centre Ground and otherwise we are destined to lose. That battle is unresolved. I want to turn to more serious issues. Here, the government is trying to figure out how many high rise buildings have combustible cladding, similar to the type used on Grenfell Tower the scene of that terrible fire last week in west london. Camden council in north london has already started removing external cladding from some of its buildings, after they didnt meet its standard. At least 79 people died in the grenfell tragedy heres what mrs may said about the investigation, before leaving for brussels. Mr speaker, what became clear very quickly is that the Royal Borough Of Kensington And Chelsea could not cope and that the Chief Executive Officer has now resigned it is also why i set up the Grenfell Tower Recovery Task force which i set up personally. But this is not just about the steps we take in the first few weeks, it is about the lasting commitment that we are making to support the families effected long after the Television Cameras have gone. Christopher miers is a forensic architect with the firm probyn miers. Good to see you. As the Prime Minister said, we must be careful about speculating on the cause of the fire because the preliminary findings are not back yet. But she said earlier today, and there is some confusion over figures, maybe as many as 600 Apartment Blocks are fitted with this type of cladding. How easy is it to get rid of . It is a very practical proposition to remove it. Only took about 600 blocks it is not necessarily that they all have the same combustibility as grenfell. They may use a combustibility as grenfell. They may usea Rain Combustibility as grenfell. They may use a Rain Screen System and may have Aluminium Composite Material. The risks will be different. It is important that each Building Owner does rapidly identify the risks. The cladding is one element but they need to look at overall construction. We spoke last week outside Grenfell Tower and you explained how this works and why it spread from the bottom of the tower almost to the top in the space of an hour. Go through that again for us. It is very concerning. When one looks at the photographs it is striking that the speed and the spread of the fire, the way it consumed the building so quickly, the way the external wall is made up if there is an outer panel that we see, that is a sound which, six millimetre Composite Material with two layers of aluminium and a Core Material and it is that core which there is discussion about right now. Is it combustible, is it noncombustible . Behind that there is a gap, typically about 50 millimetres or so and that allows airto move, and if Thatairturns Out to be smoke and hot flame, u nless out to be smoke and hot flame, unless it is suitably stopped off. It acts like a flu. The flames accelerate behind. 0ur Standards require there to be intermediate firebreaks, so the fire is stopped from going up behind those panels. Theyre behind we have insulation. Which presumably will form part of the investigation . The thing that struck me here In Washington is how little discussion there has been within the us about what happened in the uk. Is that simply because there are totally different regulations, where i dont think this material would be used on blocks of flats or apartments here in the us compared to the uk. Does it raise questions about the standards we have in britain not being good enough . think there are differences but equally there is shared concern as well because the system we use, we call it a Rain Screen System, is very widely used internationally and the us shares some concerns but not the us shares some concerns but not the same degree as the uk. But we need to look elsewhere around the world. The middle east and do by for example, there have been a number of tower fires, they have frequently been connected with Aluminium Composite Material panels of a similar construction to what is said to have been installed at grenfell. Thank you forjoining us. The funeral has been held for the american student who was held in north korea. His father said his son was tortured by the regime and sent home ina was tortured by the regime and sent home in a coma. Senatorjohn mccain says north korea is guilty of murder. Let us return to donald trump. 0k christian, you pointed out a little of what mr trump had to say at that rally in iowa about poor people earlier this struck me as well. Iama i am a builder. And we are thinking of something that is unique, we are talking about the southern border. Lots of sun, lots of heat. We are thinking of building the wall as a solo wall so it creates energy. And pays for itself. Pretty good imagination, right . My idea. My idea love it. Is it his idea . Not strictly speaking. There were other people who submitted plans for the wall. But in those rallies where he said he was going to pay for it and the chance went up mexico it wouldnt have had the same ring if it had been well, it is going to be self funding because it will have solar panels. What will it cost . We dont know. Those fine details. dont know. Those fine details. do that. Youre watching 100 days plus from bbc news. Still to come for viewers on the bbc news channel and Bbc World News two of Prime Minister mays most senior advisors are gone, how solid and stable can this leader be . Well put that to her former media chief. And with a Health Care Battle before him, mr trumps thinking well beyond his first term with eyes already fixed on another run in 2020 can he afford it . Thats still to come on 100 days , from bbc news. What a difference a day makes. In fa ct what a difference a day makes. In fact it can make a difference of more than 10 degrees in our temperatures. Yesterday in the grip of the heatwave we were well up into the 20s, even the mid 30s but look at the temperatures we have seen today. A westerly wind brings fresh air across the country. 35 drops to close to 23 in london. With that change came one 01 close to 23 in london. With that change came one or two thunderstorms. But this was a more typical scene. A fairly quiet day for many, with some extra cloud and a few glimpses of sunshine. Things are going to turn a bit more u nsettled are going to turn a bit more unsettled over the next 2a hours. Low pressure is approaching. Still fresh airfrom the low pressure is approaching. Still fresh air from the atlantic and as this weather front slides across Northern Ireland, scotland into Northern England tonight it will bring cloud, sporadic rain, for the south and east are largely dry night and for the rest of us a fresh appeal. Tomorrow morning is quite damp across Northern Ireland and much of scotland, though the far east of scotland macys and brightness. The band of rain by eight oclock will sit across Northern England and north wales. The heaviest rain for hills and coasts. Across into east anglia and the south east dry start but some spells of sunshine. Temperatures lower than they have been. As we go through the day tomorrow, the weather front, the band through the day tomorrow, the weatherfront, the band of rain will continue to journey slowly southwards but gets stranded across Northern England, wales, in two parts of the midlands. The heaviest rain always for coasts and hills in the west. The north largely dre with some sunshine. The south largely dry and we all have a cooler, fresh appeal. Saturday has rain hanging around across the south east. It will clear then leaves us with a blustery day, there could be gales across the north. Some sunny spells, some showers, just 1a degrees in glasgow. Sunday, essentially more of the same. Low pressure to the north east. And call north westerly wind. A lot of dry weather and showers. The next few days, fresher and breezy with rain at times and still some sunshine as well. Welcome back to 100 days with mejon sopel In Washington. Christian fraser is in london. Our top story as the british Prime Minster takes her brexit plan to brussels, the german chancellor says the focus wont be on britain at these talks, but on those whore remaining in the bloc. And we speak to the former us Secretary Of State Madeleine Albright about what she calls a chaotic time and the global role the us must to play. I think that we all are a kind of looking to see about the evolution of american position and i happen to believe the world cant exist if the us is not engaged. Just how isolated is the british Prime Minister . After the conservative disastrous showing in the general election, she was forced to get rid of her two closest advisers nick timothy and fiona hill and others have since left, including yesterday, john godfrey, who headed up the no 10 policy unit. So what does she do . Who does she need alongside her to steady the ship . Joeyjones was formely a Media Adviser to mrs may when she served as home secretary. And anfirm. And an firm. She has cut quite an isolated figure in recent days. Yes, she has. It must be a very lonely and nvidia s place as she finds herself in right at the moment. She will know that the vast swathe of the Conservative Party blames her, blames her advisers were principally blames her advisers were principally blames her advisers were principally blames herfor the blames her advisers were principally blames her for the situation blames her advisers were principally blames herfor the situation in which they find themselves. I think the key thing to remember is that she was Crystal Clear with the parliamentary party, the 1922 committee, she said that she would serve as long as they want her to. And she knows that she is basically a hostage to the desires of the Conservative Party. At the moment, they have shown her, in no uncertain terms, to harrods might have felt rather cruel to have stripped her as a Ritual Exercise in humiliation of key advisers, but to demonstrate that it key advisers, but to demonstrate thatitis key advisers, but to demonstrate that it is the party which is boss at the moment. She is there for as for as long as they designate her the Prime Minister because she doesnt really have the power to dictate terms at the moment. 0bviously, some of it is down to not having her key people around her but how much of this comes down to political instinct . I was thinking the other day of the fairly shambolic performance over grenfell in the early days. Some of that, She Mightjust in the early days. Some of that, she might just thought she wouldnt in the early days. Some of that, She Mightjust thought she wouldnt it Bea Mightjust thought she wouldnt it be a bite of the police, go out and get in amongst it. Isnt thatjust instinct . I cant imagine what would have been going through the minds of anyone in Downing Street at that time. As you say, a procession of people have left after the election. You have to come back to the fact that the general election, the result would have come as a massive shock. I think we could see that in the statement she made at midday in Downing Street, the lunchtime after the election result. She and everybody around her looked to me as though they were floundering. They we re though they were floundering. They were shell shocked. They were rudderless. They didnt know which way to turn and i think, to be honest my this is a band with them, they couldnt process it . Its shock. Not bandwidth, in terms of having the amount of people to do with it, but they were blindsided. If you imagine 2a hours before, the scale of the ambition and the scale of the expectation as to what they were heading into, which was a complete political dominance, complete dominance over the uk political scene, crushing the catlike labour party, lib dems, forget about them, and also a renaissance for the reserves a party in scotland as well and then they suddenly see the exit polls. That is hard to deal with. What we saw over that period, i would tend to come back to, was it will shock and probably a individual 01 will shock and probably a individual or Prime Minister but an organisation around her that was just struggling to deal with the magnitude of what had just happened to them. Jerry, good to see you. Havent seen you for ages. I wanted to ask you, do you think that the Conservative Party could have agreed easily on a successor whether theresa may would still be there . No, she wouldnt be there on that basis. I think the reality is that they look at situation which is unappetising and it is certainly very unappetising from her Point Of View because she is, as i say, hostage to the desires of the Conservative Party at the moment. They dont seem to be reworked, to be able to work what the best way forward is. If you speak to any conservative mp, on whatever wing of the party, the one thing they are afraid of is a general election. The one thing they are afraid of is that whoever you install, they wont have that legitimacy, they what have that mandate and then you will head down the track to another general election and they do really think that if you head into a general election, all bets are off. The momentum is with labour, it is with Jeremy Corbyn and from their Point Of View, that is a terrifying prospect. Much better to have an attempt to steady the ship which is what they are doing at the moment, roll on a bit and try to take stock down the track. I must ask you before you go, the general drums are sounding. You are being bandied around as the next communications director. Have you been approached . Absolutely not. So, i was actually a Civil Servant when i was working with theresa may and i think thats the reality of the situation is they will look to somebody who has the same sense of duty to the party that she has two the Conservative Party and to the country generally because its back to the wall is time for the tories at the moment. They will need somebody who is willing to go in there and to suck up a very, very difficult situation and i have at the foggiest who that might be, frankly. Thats good for us, you can come back and talk to us. Good to see you, baxter coming in. The other thing that was striking was this idea that she is a figurehead now. What he is almost constitutionally defining is the role of the queen. Its like theresa may has no real power any more. Her Cabinet Ministers are the ones who will tell her what to do and she is just there to be the front person, for Prime Ministers questions and going to eu councils in brussels. But as he said, if you look at the journey in front of her, if she gets past the queens speech next week which i think she probably will, then there is the repeal bill to bring eu legislation onto the Statute Books which needs to get through, seven other brexit bills, who would want to take over when there is that a go at . It is a sobering thing that they are looking and then also beijing, Philip Hammond is the chancellor, his stock prices up and if he comes and he will have a softer brexit than we are looking so maybe we are better ways to reason theyre in the hot seat. Ie think the only danger is probably, if she gets stuck on one of these votes, the catlike remainders might come back in and say we need one of our people in the hot seat. One thing i cant work out isi hot seat. One thing i cant work out is i thought they were trying to ta ke is i thought they were trying to take brexit out of parliament. I thought they would just have this one repeal bill and then at the end of the day, you have to have it rubber stamped. There are now seven pills about immigration, one about immigration. Who the hell knows what they are going to do about it . Is theresa may the person who can take that forward . And Immigration Bill that forward . And Immigration Bill that attracts the best and brightest but also continues to define immigration along the Tens Of Thousands that has been her mantra . Idol thing on policy terms that looks viable. There are some weeks where there is just too much political news and it takes too long to digester and analyse it all because. Anyway. Moving from politics at home to Foreign Policy abroad. Today, former Secretary Of State Madeleine Albright was at an event here In Washington speaking about the need for bipartisanship when it came to National Security. Thats a word you dont hear often in us politics lately but she sat down with the bbc and offered this assessment of the Trump Administration thus far. I think we are in a very chaotic time and that would have been true no matter what because there are questions about the world order and i think that as this administration gets organised, there have been some mixed signals but what i find interesting is the way that policy is evolving and some of the people that are part of the Decision Making mechanisms, the members of the National Security council, are giving some very strong messages about the fact that the us is present. That we are going to be active, and so it is my hope that frankly, there will be more of a confluence of some of the statements and i think that the conferences that i have been to, people are satisfied with the words, but they want to see the actions, and i think that we all are kind of looking to see about the evolution of american position and i happen to believe the world cant exist if the us is not engaged. Interesting thoughts there. Returning now the Health Care Battle under way In Washington. Republicans have introduced their bill and now both sides are making their case. Members of President Trumps party argue that 0bamacare is broken and a new plan is necessary. Democrats say this will strip away benefits and protections for millions of americans. Joining us now from capitol hill is democratic senator bob casey from pennsylvania. Senator, so grateful to you. Thank you forjoining us. There was the donald trump quote were apparently he said two republican senators, the problem with the bill that went through the house was that it was mean and cold hearted. Is this generous and warm hearted, what you now have in the senate . generous and warm hearted, what you now have in the senate . I think this bill in some ways is worse, but in norway is it better. When you juxtapose what this bill does with regard to cutting medicaid, the problem that takes care her children from urban and rural areas, people with disabilities, older citizens, when you juxtapose the cuts to medicaid Tax Giveaways to the super rich, there are a lot of words to describe it but one word is obscene. It is really outrageous what they are doing. Go to page 53 and page 86 of the bill, the two medicaid, basic medicaid provisions. 0ne medicaid, basic medicaid provisions. One is to put a per capita cap on medicaid and one is to allow the states to block around it. Bad ideas, both will be to devastation for people who happen to be real income, people that have a devastation, children with disabilities and of course older citizens trying to get into a nursing home. It is a bad bill fora lot of reasons but the medicaid parts are among the most egregious. Do you think you will be able to stop it . I still think we have a chance to stop it and that is what we should do. Use every minute, every hour for the next six days or so, six or seven days. One week from now, we could be voting on this bill andl now, we could be voting on this bill and i think it isjust beginning to dawn on people across the country how badly built this is, but we have time and there are a lot of people that are speaking out in their communities. They are notjust coming to washington, they are contacting their senators. This will come down to one 01 contacting their senators. This will come down to one or two or three United States senators. That is the whole ball game here and we have, i hope, to persuade three republican United States senators to do the right thing. The interesting thing that you say is that we have had former republican senator is kind of from the right of the party saying that it doesnt dismantle 0bama care enough and then you hear voices as well from the kind of moderate wing of the republican party, senator collins in maine and others in the van as saying actually, maybe it goes too far. What do you think is going to happen in the intervening week if it does come to a vote next week . I am not sure what will happen, but as long as we get 30 votes to stop this bill, i will be very satisfied. There are some who dont think it goes far enough but i dont think it goes far enough but i dont know how you reach the conclusion because what this bill does to medicate has never happened. It isa does to medicate has never happened. It is a 50 year old programme, a good programme. Children get very good programme. Children get very Good Health Care in medicaid. People admit disabilities you could never pay for even a fraction of what it costs to provide the therapies and treatments and services for people with disabilities, they get help and we should preserve that programme. If republicans want to sit down and talk about fixing parts of the syste m talk about fixing parts of the system that arent working, we have a lot to talk about, but we are not going to be part of an effort to be peeled medicaid in essence, repealing the bill and devastating medicaid for kids, people with disabilities and seniors. Senator casey, so grateful to you for giving us casey, so grateful to you for giving us your time. Thank you for being with us here on the bbc. I feel bereft of elections, we have had one for a few weeks. Trump 2020 does it have a ring to it . Barely into his first year as american president , donald trump is already planning for a second term in the white house. His Campaign Director says the president s first Fundraising Event will be held at the trump hotel In Washington next wednesday. Come on, lets guess where it was be held you give it away too easily with bated breath, wondering where it could possibly be hal anyway, this is 100 days plus for this week. You can get in touch with us using the hashtag bbc 100 days plus. For now, from jon sopel In Washington and me Christian Fraser in london goodbye. Hello. This is bbc news. The headlines tests are carried out on the cladding on 600 high rise blocks across england following the grenfell tragedy. Theresa mays first eu summit since the election. She has an offer on the rights of eu citizens in britain. Donald trump says he does not have any secret recordings of his conversations with sacked fbi directorjames comey. An update on the Market Numbers for you. The ftse100 closed down, everyone else up this afternoon. Lets return to our top story this evening. 600 high rise buildings in england have been found to have external cladding. Seven have failed tests designed to test whether or not theyre combustible. It follows the fire at Grenfell Tower in west london in which 79 people are believed to have died. Camden council in north london is removing external cladding from five tower blocks on the chalcots estate. It said the panels were not of the standard it had commissioned. Bbc londons karl mercer reports. All of this cladding will come down soon. All of this cladding will come down soon. So far, just a few panels on the estate in camden have been sent away for testing. The results have prompted the council to get rid of them all. This estate was refurbished a decade ago. It has now emerged that the cladding contains similar chemicals to those in the cladding at Grenfell Tower. L similar chemicals to those in the cladding at Grenfell Tower. A lot of residents are a bit worried about it. A lot of sprinklers and fire alarms which we dont have enough. 0ne alarms which we dont have enough. One step is to come down, no fire alarms, no sprinklers. People are calling for Fire Extinction is as well. Locals were sent a letter this morning explaining what is