hello, i'm ros atkins, this is outside source. donald trump junior has defended his meeting with a russian lawyer las year, who he believed had incriminating evidence about hillary clinton. again, this is before the russian mania, before they built it up in the press. for me, it was opposition research. they had something. the president is calling the greatest witch hunt in political history. but here's his nominee for fbi director in his confirmation hearing today. is the future fbi director, do you consider this endeavour a witchhunt? ido consider this endeavour a witchhunt? i do not consider direct a mullen to be one i do not consider direct a mullen to be on a witchhunt. brazil's former president, luiz inacio lula da silva, has been sentenced to nine—and—a—half years injailfor corruption and money laundering. we'll be live in rio. in an interview with the bbc, president erdogan of turkey has denied claims that his country has jailed over 150 journalists. translation: those people inside

jailare translation: those people inside jail are not titled as journalists. some corroborated with terrorist organisations. and some of the world's biggest tech companies are staging a day of protest in support of net neutrality. we'll explain what it is — and why it affects all of us. donald trumer has a lot of explaining to do — and he's begun that process. yesterday he released emails which show him setting up a meeting on the promise of damaging information on hillary clinton that the russian government wanted to supply. now donald trumer has spoken to fox news. here he is on what his father knew about the meeting. a lot of people will want to know this about your father. did you tell your father anything about this? this about your father. did you tell your father anything about this7m

was such a nothing, there was nothing to tell. i wouldn't have even remembered it until you started scouring through the stuff, it was literally a wasted 20 minutes, which was a shame. it is hard to imagine how the interview could have been more gentle. we'll see more of that interview in a moment. firs this is the context. on the 3rd ofjune 2016 donald trump junior received an emailfrom this man, rob goldstone. he's a music publicist and acquaintance of donald trumpjunior. in it, he explains a former russian business partner of donald trump had been contacted by a russian government official — and the offer was of "information that would incriminate hillary and her dealings with russia." to which the reply is, "if it's what you say, i love it". four days later, rob goldstone emails again — asking donald trump junior if he would meet with a woman called natalia veselnitskaya. she was described in the email as a russian government attorney. the meeting took place two days later at trump tower in new york. we know as much because here's

rob goldstone, on facebook, checking in at trump tower and announcing that he's there. donald trumer says no useful info was handed over. that was much, much later in proceedings. here's more of his interview on fox news. in retrospect, i probably would have done things a little differently. again, this is before russia mania, before they built it in the press. for me, it was opposition research, they may had concrete evidence to they may had concrete evidence to the stories that i heard about which we re the stories that i heard about which were probably underreported the yea rs, were probably underreported the years, not just were probably underreported the years, notjust during the campaign, i wanted to hear it out but it went nowhere and it was apparent that was not what the meeting was actually about. let me ask you a hypothetical, maybe you have thought about it since now that it has become russia collusion etc. did you ever meet with any

other person from russia but you know? i don't know, i have probably met with the people from russia but not in the context of a formalised meeting or anything. why would i? in the grand scheme of how busy we were, it was much more important... this was a courtesy to an acquaintance. some people ask... hear him asking why would i, they look at an e—mail exchange during which he is offered information about hillary clinton from the russian government and think, why wouldn't you? here's the president's verdict on that interview. "my son donald did a good job last night. he was open, transparent and innocent. this is the greatest witch hunt in political history. sad!" let's see how anthony zurcher describes it. he is live from washington, dc. sad as one word, bad might be another? absolutely. donald trump, vice president mike pence, everybody in the administration spent months saying there was no corroboration or contact between

russian officials and members of the trump campaign, now we have actual e—mail correspondence that has donald trump jr not e—mail correspondence that has donald trumer not only meeting with someone that he thought was a representative of the russian government but welcoming and celebrating that fact, hoping he would be provided information that was incriminating to hillary clinton. he says nothing came of that meeting but the simple fact that meeting but the simple fact that there was an openness to such a meeting, that donald trump that there was an openness to such a meeting, that donald trumer was able to get the chair of the campaign, paul manafort, to sit on the meeting, as well as his brother—in—law jared the meeting, as well as his brother—in—lanared kushner, the meeting, as well as his brother—in—law jared kushner, that undermines much of what we have heard from the trump white house over the past few months and shows a little bit about how members of the trump campaign were being so defensive about russian contacts. people like jeff defensive about russian contacts. people likejeff sessions said he had never met with russian officials, only to have to contradict that later. michael flynn said he did not talk with russians about sanctions, only to have to reca nt about sanctions, only to have to recant that about sanctions, only to have to reca nt that and about sanctions, only to have to recant that and ended being fired

about it. it plays into perceptions about it. it plays into perceptions about a lot of smoke circling the trump administration when russia is the topic of discussion. there are difficult perceptions, but in terms of the practical politics, has anything changed for the white house? the white house has dug in, formed battle lines again. it used to be there was no contact, no interest in coordination with russia, now it is a little different, the contact was meaningless, nothing came of it, it was before russia became the big story. they have changed a bit, but then you see stories in the new york times and the washington post about the chaos going on within the white house. they don't know where these lea ks came house. they don't know where these leaks came from, these e—mails got out, the stories about donald trump jrall came out, the stories about donald trump jr all came out into the press and there is a lot of finger—pointing within the west wing of the white house, trying to figure out who is trying to get hugh, who will benefit

and who needs to protect themselves. that is the main story in washington, but stay with us, anthony. let's also talk about christopher wray — this is donald trump's pick to become the next fbi director. his senate confirmation hearing has begun. no surprises, there have been a lot of questions about the russia investigation. and this one was specifically about donald trump jnr and the meeting we've just been discussing. let's see how that went. here is what i tell every politician, if you get a call from somebody suggesting that a foreign government wants to help you, by disparaging your opponents, tell us all to call the fbi. to the members of this committee, any threat or is it to interfere with our elections from any nation state or any non—state actor is the kind of thing the fbi would want to know. google do you believe that in light of the double junior e—mail believe that in light of the double juniore—mailand believe that in light of the double junior e—mail and other allegations that this whole thing about the

trump campaigning in russia is a witchhunt? — — trump campaigning in russia is a witchhunt? —— in light of the donald trump witchhunt? —— in light of the donald trumere—mail? i can't speak to the basis for those comments... i am asking you. as the future fbi director, do you consider this endeavour a witchhunt?” future fbi director, do you consider this endeavour a witchhunt? i do not consider the former director to be an witchhunt. ina an witchhunt. in a normal situation the president's nominee for director of the fbi directly contradicting the president might be a story in itself, but it feels a little overshadowed? this was a fairly routine confirmation hearing for a nominee who was not all that controversial, but a huge shadow was being cast over this based onjames comey‘s firing by donald trump, the ongoing russia investigation, wray was asked time and time again would you pledge loyalty to president trump the wake only said he was

asked to, and cellar christopher wray said that my loyalty is only to the rule of law and the constitution. he said he was a straight shooter, he said he was not going to pull any punches. all other questions, at least from democrats in particular, to be to try to make sure that wray was independent from donald trump that would be a strong and standing up to pressure from trump is james comey was, maybe even stronger. if anything happens in the next 50 minutes, anthony, you know where we are! let's move a lot further south from anthony. this is lula da silva. he used to be president of brazil — and he's just been sentenced to nine—and—a—half years in prison for corruption. let's bring in katy watson, the bbc‘s correspondent in brazil, she is live from rio. could you start by telling us what his crimes? he has

been accused... sorry, sentence for nine and a half years the corruption and money laundering, it refers to a beach—front property that he received in return for the construction company to be able to get some contracts from a state—run oil company, petrobras. this is part of the country's biggest ever corruption operation, operation car wash, which started in march 2014. it isa wash, which started in march 2014. it is a sentence for one of five cases against him. earlier you told me he will appeal this, he denies his guilt? he says this is a primitive —— politically motivated case, he denies wrongdoing and he will not be going to prison, he has the right to appeal. in the past he has hinted perhaps wanting to run for presidency again, so this

sentence we have heard today does not stop him from potentially running for presidency. if he is convicted, if the sentence is upheld in the appeal court, he would not be able to run, but in the meantime nothing much changes in terms of that. if you look at the polls, he is the frontrunner for next year's presidential elections. even if he can run legally, it seems astonishing he might have a chance given he has been found guilty of these crimes? but you tell me he does? this case really divides brazilians. millions of brazilians see him as the country's saviour. he was the most well—respected politician in recent history. when he left power at the end of 2010 he had approval ratings of 80%. buy a big part of brazilian society he is very much still supported, but the other half feels he has become a

symbol of the problems of corruption in the country. there is still a lot of support if he decided to run for president. i feel that every time we talk about the trouble of politicians in brazil, the accusation that the judiciary is political comes up time and time again. is there any evidence that thatis again. is there any evidence that that is true? i mean... all of this, whether it's is lula, dilma, it divides everybody. when you look at thejudge who has brought divides everybody. when you look at the judge who has brought the sentence against lula he is seen as a symbol of exactly that, some people serious too politically motivated, others see him as a symbol of cracking down on corruption. operation car wash has implicated so many politicians and people in power. a third of the current cabinet is linked to the

corruption investigation. it is very ha rd to corruption investigation. it is very hard to separate politically and be able to remove it and say that these judges have their views, people here all have views on whether the judges are doing this to serve a political purpose or not. thank you for explaining it, katy watson, live from rio. stay with us on outside source. still to come... an iceberg four times the size of london and thought to weigh a trillion tonnes has broken away from antarctica. nasa spotted it. we'll have the full story. fire service advice to residents to stay put inside flats in grenfell tower during the fire lasted nearly two i was, the bbc has learned. a change in policy recommending residents tried to leave was made one hour and 53 minutes after the emergency call. tonight, survivors

confronted the senior investigating police officer looking into the fire. some others cannot sleep, because when we sleep we dream of it! (inaudible) . shouting. the test of an investigation is whether it is done properly, not quickly. an investigation of the skill will not be quick, but it will be thorough. it will get to the bottom of what ever happened and hope those two accounts, whether it be an individual or an organisation —— and hold those two accounts. this is outside source live from the bbc newsroom. our lead story is... president trump's eldest son has said he didn't tell his father about a meeting last year with a russian lawyer, who was apparently offering documents that would damage hillary clinton's campaign. the main news from bbc world

service. scientists are demanding new rules to protect many of the world's oceans. a report prepared for the un says nearly two—thirds of open sea falls outside the jurisdiction of any one country — and that that leaves ecosystems at risk as natural resources are exploited. a boost for the brazilian president michel temer — the senate has approved labour reforms aimed at giving companies more freedom in employee contract negotiations. perhaps only respite for the president — he's facing charges of corruption. police in berlin have raided homes after a huge solid gold coin was stolen from a museum. it weighs 100 kilograms, and the suspected robbers are believed to have used a ladder and a wheelbarrow to take it back in march. the suspicion is that it's since been melted down and sold. if you're in the us and you've been to sites like google, facebook and amazon today,

you may have seen pages like this. titled this is a battle for the future of the internet. the sites are running slowly — and it's on purpose. it's a protests to changes being made to rules which govern what's called net neutrality, this is the idea that all internet traffic should be treated equally. dave lee explains. right now all internet traffic is treated the same, no matter where it has come from, where it is going or what it is doing. we call that net neutrality. without it, campaigners worry that internet service providers might be able to intentionally slow down your internet connection unless you pay more for things like video streaming, or they warned there could be some kind of internet fast lane where big, rich companies could pay to make sure their site load quickly but other, smaller sites macro would be stuck in touch with

their politicians to pressure them into supporting net neutrality. over 70,000 websites will push people towards the ncc to make their voices heard, we will push people towards the members of congress. we want the fcc to hear that net neutrality is widely popular, which it is. but net neutrality has some very powerful opponents, including companies like verizon, at&t, ibm, cisco, nokia and, crucially, the new head of the us federal communications commission has spoken out against net neutrality. those against it say it adds unnecessary new regulation to the internet. they say it makes it harderfor internet the internet. they say it makes it harder for internet service providers to make back the money they invested in building the infrastructure that gives people

high—speed internet. i have had plenty of questions on this story. technology analyst tim mulligan explains. there was research last year which showed that 35% of all download traffic on the us internet systems last year was because of netflix. and netflix is not contributing to that? yes, and this gets to the hub of the issue. we are transitioning from an ownership culture to access to ownership, effectively streaming. netflix is the leading provider of video on demand streaming services. in music you have spotify with music streaming services. what we are looking at is an increased significant increase in demand upon existing infrastructure to provide what the public wants, which is insta nt what the public wants, which is instant access to entertainment. why

is the discussion not about who should bear the cost of the infrastructure, rather than at the point where the consumer gets the experience, whether that should be neutral? the reality, and this is a painful reality for the streaming services, they are on very tight margins. especially if you are an entertainment —based streaming business. most of your revenue goes on providing the entertainment, getting licences, paying for the content. i mentioned netflix, they have 6 billion... is 6 billion content expenditure this year, only 20% of that is going on original content, the rest is to place the content, the rest is to place the co nte nt to content, the rest is to place the content to serve the expectations of the general public, and that is for very low competitive pricing compared to traditional pay—tv. very low competitive pricing compared to traditional pay-tv. what changes are being proposed in the us that amazon and google etc are upset about? we have already seen attempts

to try to test net neutrality. so look at t mobile, they have launched a binge on viewing service which includes major streaming services, so includes major streaming services, so ift includes major streaming services, so if t mobile customers pay for a premium tier of data access they get zero rating on access to streaming services like spotify, netflix. at&t have tried a different thing with preferred advertising partners and they have been chastised by the fcc because of this. right now we are in a grey zone where people are testing the boundaries, there is a recognition that change needs to become but it is difficult to know where to turn to. are we likely to underpin a situation where different regions will have different approaches to this? inevitably, yes. if you look at the distinction between the approach that the eu ta kes between the approach that the eu takes versus the approach that the

us regulators take, there are significant differences of, for want ofa significant differences of, for want of a better word, worldviews. the eu is primarily focused on providing a good consumer level playing field. the us is more of a laissez faire business friendly environment, which inevitably creates a contrast and how this will play out going forward. we will keep an eye on that story. the royal bank of scotland is one of britain's biggest banks — and it's agreed to pay a us regulator $4.7 billion dollars. it's to settle claims that it mis—sold mortgage—backed securities. many of these products proved to be almost worthless, and were a significant factor in triggering the global financial crisis in 2008. the bank still faces action from the us department ofjustice. here's what one banking expert has to say. it's likely that there will be

billions more in fines to come. they'd really like to get it done quickly, but it has been overhanging the shares. the uk government ownership position, for a long time. rbs says they are not sure when such a settlement etc might occur. it is not a horrible products, the product was abused and got out of hand. the wrong people got mortgage credits, the banks did it for all kinds of awful financial incentives, they we re awful financial incentives, they were distributed to investors for all the wrong reasons, the wrong incentives, but the concept but some people's financial records might not be perfect and they should be banned from getting a mortgage is wrong. it should be a market open to everyone. to my knowledge the only major institution that still has to come to terms with this or is fighting it is barclays, to terms with this or is fighting it is ba rclays, another to terms with this or is fighting it is barclays, another big uk bank. staying with the us, this is janet

yellen, the head of the us central bank. the boss of the us central bank has told congress that the us economy is healthy enough to sustain more gradual rises in interest rates. janet yellen was reporting to members of congress about bank policy and the economic outlook. let's bring in michelle fleury in new york. i feel like let's bring in michelle fleury in new york. ifeel like if let's bring in michelle fleury in new york. i feel like if i let's bring in michelle fleury in new york. ifeel like if i had a dollarfor new york. ifeel like if i had a dollar for every new york. ifeel like if i had a dollarfor every time we new york. ifeel like if i had a dollar for every time we considered the possibility rates could go up but then they don't in the end, i would be a rich man. what has changed? i think the key thing is she is saying about the economy is growing, albeit slowly, it continues to add jobs. much as you point out, that we have heard from her in recent months. the difference here is that she said interest rates would not have to go much further to reach a neutral level. what did she mean? a neutral level does not encourage or discourage economic activity. the market interpreted that as a sign that maybe we will see one more rate increase this year, but generally speaking the

pace of rate rises will be slow. as a result, that boosted stocks, we have seen the dow hit another record close, up just over .5%. have seen the dow hit another record close, upjust over .5%. why this analysis lead her to think that a higher point than the one we are rat serves american people better? after the financial crisis, to try and spur activity in the economy, to get the economy going and kick—started, interest rates were brought to very low levels. the question became when would we return to normal and what with the new normal look like? that is the part, if you like, of the journey we are on, the return to what the fed describes as a new normal, in other words rates are starting to climb back up that they will not settle at the levels they we re will not settle at the levels they were at before, in other words they will be slightly below where they we re will be slightly below where they were before. so that period of when were before. so that period of when we we re were before. so that period of when we were used to seeing interest

rates of around 5%, 4%, forget that, we will be much, much lower.|j rates of around 5%, 4%, forget that, we will be much, much lower. i only have 30 seconds, when might we get a definitive decision from janet yellen? this is an evolving process and monetary policy continues to develop. they have always said they are watching the data. we have seen americanjobs market are watching the data. we have seen american jobs market improves, are watching the data. we have seen americanjobs market improves, the inflation picture remains weak. the other unknown is what happens to fiscal policy, which is controlled by congress and the white house. thank you for taking as too large, michelle fleury, live from new york. we have been talking about net neutrality with the help of dave lee and other guests, they have been discussing that in the us. we had a tweet saying somebody needed more information, we will get that for you later. before we talk you to, piazon

monsoons, let's bring an update on the winter storm battering new zealand. it looks very pretty, images like these proving the point, but there has been massive disruption, road closures, cancellation of flights from wellington airport and big disruption to the interisland ferry connecting the north and south island. a further 30 centimetres of snow on high ground to thursday, severe gales in and around wellington and the cook strait continue to hamper ferry services. both will ease to thursday, snow across the likes of canterbury disappear but flooding rains in the north island and the rain spreads on friday further north. sticking with the rain, we will go to the indian monsoon. the important rains for agriculture are progressing as you should expect, but special variation. north—west india seeing well above—average rainfall so far this monsoon season. in two thursday it will be across

central and northern areas, parts of uttar pradesh to the south of new delhi. particularly stormy weather with flooding, spreading to gujarat and potentially mumbai indians friday. certainly need the reins in california, the western us and canada, wildfires continue to rage. thousands of properties have been evacuated, some race to the ground by those fires. across the west, still not much cloud on the satellite imagery. this code could bring set —— could bring welcome rain, a limit in temperatures but elsewhere hot again on thursday for many. heat it to the central plains. you want blues on the chart here to produce some of the soaking rains, non—in the forecast, only one isolated showers. the breeze picks up isolated showers. the breeze picks up across western areas, which could spread the wildfires further. elsewhere in the us and canada, things hotter than winnipeg to finish the week but toronto, washington and denver could see

severe storms, which could impact flights and travel. to europe, the north/ south split continues, those heading to the mediterranean at the end of the week have hot and sunny weather waiting, further note, more cloud and rain. rain spreading across poland to the baltic states in two thursday, a cold winter the time of year, temperatures across scandinavia, germany, poland and denmark way below where they should be for the time of year but they will be brighter compared to the conditions we have had a wednesday. some isolated showers and thunderstorms to france into northern italy and across the balkans, much of the mediterranean stays hot and sunny, temperatures above a0 degrees. there or thereabouts to take you into the weekend. cooler further or thereabouts to take you into the weekend. coolerfurther north but or thereabouts to take you into the weekend. cooler further north but at least in parts of the uk things will warm a touch by the weekend. more details in half an hour. hello, i'm ros atkins, this is outside source. donald trump junior has defended his meeting with a russian lawyer last year — who he believed had incriminating evidence about hillary clinton.

again, this is before russia mania, before they built it up in the press. for me, it was opposition research. in an interview with the bbc — president erdogan of turkey has denied claims that his country has jailed over 150 journalists. translation: those people inside jailare translation: those people inside jail are not titled as journalists. some of them corroborated with terror organisations. our china editor has been looking at the chinese companies are pouring workers into new countries — leaving locals wondering what the benefits are for them. the eu's chief brexit negotiator has said britain must recognise its financial obligations to the european union. the brexit story is getting complicated, if you've got any