you are watching beyond 100 days. in syria, chemical weapons inspectors finally get access to duma. 11 days after the alleged gas attack, is there any evidence left to investigate? theresa may says a commons vote on syria would have compromised the safety of british forces. stormy daniels — the porn star who says she had an affair with donald trump — goes on national tv with her story. what i do for a job does not impact my ability to know right from wrong 01’ my ability to know right from wrong or tell the truth. also on the programme... british police say the chemical weapon deployed in salisbury was smeared on a door handle in liquid form. it will cost millions to clear up and could take the authorities until christmas. and we will show you the pictures that define our times. seven decades of history captured by award—winning photographers — that are now on show in washington. get in touch with us using the hashtag beyond100days. hello and welcome.

i'm katty kay in washington and christian fraser is in london. nine international chemical weapons inspectors have been waiting in syria since last week. biding their time in a damascus hotel while the russians have been on the ground in douma, carrying out their own tests. 0r — depending on who you believe — their own clean up of a poison gas attack. this morning the team from the 0pcw were finally given access. the inspectors will collect samples, interview witnesses and document any evidence they can find. they are not permitted under un rules to assign blame — only to state whether a chemical attack occurred. 0ur chief international correspondent lyse doucet is in aleppo. britain, france on the united states are saying they believe a chemical attack took place in douma on the outskirts of damascas. they believe a chemical agent was used and it could only have been carried out by the syrian government. you a

different narrative by syrian government officials signed by the mpfor government officials signed by the mp for aleppo, repeated claim they have also heard from the russians, that this was carried out by the british government. they say it was the white helmets, civil defence forces originally established and financed by trained by the british government. that is the view that they have and they believe it absolutely in the same way that the west believes absolutely their view of events, which is why this mission of events, which is why this mission of the 0pc w will be so important. today us lawmakers are being briefed on the missile strikes against syria — some are demanding that congress gets a bigger say in deciding future military action. a brief time ago i discussed all that with the republican congressman scott taylor, who formerly served as a us navy seal. chemical weapons inspectors, i think

no two weeks after the event itself, have been allowed into douma. do you think they will find anything the russians haven't meddled with beforehand? remains to be seen. it is unfortunate we now have weapons inspectors been allowed in. the russians and the assad regime did not allow them to be in before. is not allow them to be in before. is not my expertise but perhaps. what you think now happens in terms of american strategy in syria? are you hearing anything from people in the white house are there on capitol hill who are telling you that the strikes will lead to a more comprehensive american strategy? soul, it's interesting? that question. i'm about to step into a classified briefing in our. i don't think the strikes fundamentally change the catalyst on the ground. i don't think they've indicated what american strategy is right there with syria. i think we need to have a strategy there, we needed to have

w011 a strategy there, we needed to have won five years ago and really these strikes were targeted and limited in scope. i think they were successful but i don't think the change what we are going to do in syria regarding russia or the assad regime. take the president out of it, you are former navy seal. if you had the ear of whoever was deciding policy in the united states, what would you say that policy should be? as you well know, international relations is like a chess game. you move one piece and the whole game changes. todayis piece and the whole game changes. today is different than before. right now, it looks like assad is propped up by the russians and the iranians and it looks like he will be there for some time. i think we share our be there for some time. i think we share oui’ presence be there for some time. i think we share our presence there in some regard. i'm not for a share our presence there in some regard. i'm not fora huge share our presence there in some regard. i'm not for a huge military presence but i think united states has to do exert some influence in

the region. i think we should play a role, be engaged in the region and make sure that we don't allow for the aggression from russia or iran. there has been back and forth over whether the president is still determined to pull back american forces remaining in syria. the french saying yesterday looks like he is going to stay in the white house saying it looks like he's going to put full—back. would you urge him to keep troops they are? depends on the mission. there are roughly 2000 to fight against isr al-qaeda. the united states has a tremendous amount of assets to be in the region. saudi arabia, yemen and

iraq. we have the ability to exercise influence going to syria if necessary. i think the president's gut instinct in terms of not having a huge military presence in syria is the right one. would you keep the 2000 they are? in all depends on ground conditions. it depends on isis, al-qaeda and what the mission is. if the mission has been completed or not. thank you. always a pleasure. thank you. really interesting to what he is saying. the kurds are part of the syrian democratic forces and have been fighting isis on the front line. a lot of them have now gone places to protect their families. the bigger question i suppose is do

you want to introduce more arab nations into an already complex battlefield situation? there are already enough out state states involved in perhaps a bit further, located. that is one part of the moving story. the other thing we are watching over here is what is happening with sanctions. 0ver watching over here is what is happening with sanctions. over the weekend, nikki haley said there would be more sanctions because of this alleged chemical attack. the white house is now rolling back on that. larry could blow is saying we already have sanctions in place. the moment, that appears to be all the white house is planning to do. anyone who thought this would mark a much tougher stance on vladmir putin from the white house, it does seem like they are rowing that back a little. the pause button has been pressed. let's turn to matters domestic in the united states. michael cohen is a lawyer, a fixer and, allegedly, a man

who pays off inconvenient women. he's also a man in a whole heap of legal trouble as lawyers sift through documents seized in his home, his office and his hotel room last week. mr cohen's number one client is president donald trump. mr cohen wants an independent reviewer to see the document, hoping that many will deemed private under attorney client privilege. of specific interest is the money the lawyer paid to an adult film star — who says she had an affair with mr trump while he was married to his wife, melania. today that porn star appeared on national television. i'm sorry, i'm done being bullied. meet stormy daniels, the porn star allegedly the mistress of donald trump. she was composed, articulate and confident. she went on tv to explain her 2006 relationship with mrtrump. explain her 2006 relationship with mr trump. it was not prostitution. there was no solicitation. no

agreement and no money exchanged. this woman is now in the eye of an almighty legal storm, over whether mr trump's personal lawyer michael cohen violated campaign finance law when he paid her money shortly before the 2016 election. enter the news that one sean hannah t, fox news anchor and number one trump supporter, has now also been revealed as a client of michael cohen. he never represented be in any legal matter. i never retained his services. i never paid him for legal fees. i did have occasional brief conversations with michael cohen. he's a great attorney. i was looking for input and prospective. it's all very cosy except that stormy daniels claims she and her young daughter were threatened by a

man she says look like this. threatened not to reveal her affair with donald trump. he looked at my daughter and i remember him saying, it isa daughter and i remember him saying, it is a beautiful little girl, it would be a shame if something happened to her mother. we don't know the legal implications of this appearance, but mrtrump know the legal implications of this appearance, but mr trump would be wise not to underestimate this one—man. —— this woman. caroline polisi is a criminal defense attorney. she joins us now from new york. there is nothing illegal about a married man having an affair with women and men going on to absolutely not. this payment was madejust prior to the election days before the election when the affair happened years ago. catch and kill

stories are not illegal per se, the question is what are the underlying reasons for it. so all of these documents which have been seized in the southern district of new york, you've said that potentially michael cole in, because he knows so much about donald trump's legal world, these documents could be used as leveraged in the broader investigation of the special prosecutor robert mueller? explain that link. i do think so. we know that link. i do think so. we know that robert mueller referred this case to the southern district of new york, the district which is no sort of carrying the torch regarding the michael cohen investigation and likely criminal indictment we are going to see soon. that doesn't mean however that the prosecutors for the southern district can't share the information they receive other defined out to investigatory tactics with special counsel robert miller and i'd think itjust has to be the

case that can then use that as leveraged to michael colin to get him to cooperate in the larger russia investigation because the fa ct russia investigation because the fact is michael cohen is an extremely valuable witness in the broader russia investigation, speaking broadly because he knows a lot of what donald trump has done, what the trump organisation has done, over the past decade and he knows about potentially corrupt business practices having to deal with president trump. so i think that's the reason why there's been a lot of new york times reporting that this investigation has the president more enraged than the special counsel investigation. there was a drama yesterday in the court room. it took them 20 minutes to get out the fact there was a third client, sean hannity, top thumperfor donald trump. he seems quite relaxed about the material they might have on him.

i'm sort of intrigued by the relationships he is saying he had with michael cohen. if you have a relationship with a wire like that, don't you have a contract? well, no. that can definitely be an attorney—client relationship without attorney—client relationship without a contract, without money changing hands, that can be a pro bono relationship. of the bigger issue here is the fact that we learning more more about michael cohen's law practice as it were. it seems usually just a businessman. practice as it were. it seems usuallyjust a businessman. the privilege doesn't apply to cocktail party conversations are calling up a friend and shooting the breeze about a potential business deal. adds with a potential business deal. adds with aissue a potential business deal. adds with a issue might come into play. i think there's definitely a disconnect here between what michael cohen's attorneys are saying in court about ten to being a former client and therefore being covered by attorney—client privilege and the tweets and statements we hear from

sean hannity, stating it was and it was not. i think it's interesting the words he's using, it sounds like he's talking to a lawyer because he said something to the effect of, the almost exclusively the talks i had with michael cohen pertained to real estate transactions. to my question is why use the almost modifier? what else did you talk to about? i know he is going out on a limb saying i am not in the company of the other two clients on the roster, that's why he's making the statement about a third party, he doesn't want to be counted amongst a list of clients, if you will. 0k, thank you. as i say, you sounded pretty relaxed yesterday when he was talking about this in the terms of a third—party. perhaps his biggest concern is that he has been one of the biggest critics of robert mueller. when they raided the hotel and offices of michael cohen again he was criticised. at no point did he

disclose that he had a relationship with him. you have hired lawyers who have been close to president trump who have been critical of sean hannity for not disclosing when he was discussing the case of michael cohen, the fact he was a client as well of michael cohen, so you have some criticism of sean hannity. he makes fox news an enormous amount of money. too big to fire? i would be staggered if he was fired over this. they got rid of 0'reilly. that was over a legal case to be slightly different. i don't think anyone would claim that sean hannity was an independent nonpartisan commentator on this and i think that trump's base would be totally supportive of the way he has handled this. and i think that is what fox news will look at. by the way, if ever robert mueller‘s team call you up, i think you should speak to caroline powell

easy because that was very smart advice. i always choose my words very carefully on this programme! as if the attention surrounding stormy daniels weren't enough — today james comey‘s new book was officially released. the former fbi director has been on a publicity tour questioning the president's moral fitness to be president. mr trump has fired back saying mr comey has committed crimes and should be jailed — an accusation he answered today. the president of united states is calling for the imprisonment a private citizen, as he has done for a whole lot of people who criticised him, that is not acceptable in this country. i hope people read the book and see why the rule of law is such and see why the rule of law is such an important value in this country and key to that is that the president doesn't get to decide who goes to jail. the president isn't happy with mr comey‘s book. he called him a slimeball on twitter this weekend. but he also sees an opportunity here — today he launched a fundraising drive, the rallying subject, onejim comey... it read. comey represents the worst of the swamp.

he doesn't want hardworking americans like you to win. today we fight back. well, joining us now is our north america editorjon sopel. it is sort of fantastically characteristic of donald trump that he takes this opportunity and sees a fundraising opportunity in it. the rabbits of what is happening on a daily basis. you spoke a moment ago about stormy daniels and her court appearance and the total chaos. politics isn't conducted normally in this country any more. everything is being played out that 510 years ago, you would've thought this was preposterous. you are over exaggerating and larding it and it is is plain, ordinary reality. what are we going to do if it goes back to be normal? i don't think we could cope with the normal conduct of quiet government business.” cope with the normal conduct of quiet government business. i wake up

every morning looking at all these elements of this and try to think myself, what matters here of what doesn't matter here? what is circus and what is potentially absolutely critical to this presidency? i think this has been one of those weeks where it is very hard to separate what is critical and what is circus. well, i think that what happened yesterday with the stormy daniels court appearance which was a huge brouhaha, camera court appearance which was a huge brouha ha, camera crews court appearance which was a huge brouhaha, camera crews tripping over each other, things going crash bang wallop, sean hannity is now coming out of it, that would be tempted to say that is circus and doesn't matter. actually, ithink say that is circus and doesn't matter. actually, i think what is unfolding with stormy daniels, the payment, the raid on michael cohen's offices is seriously significant. i'm not saying it is more significant than robert mueller, the special counsel with all the funding that goes into that. but i think that goes into that. but i think that stormy daniels's wire is running a formidable political campaign at the moment and is actually making a real difference. i

think we should keep our eyes on stormy daniels, not as froth and entertainment, but as serious politics. another man running a fairly smart political campaign here is james comey. e—zines have gone from investigator to instigate. he's talking about whether the president is morally fit. his appearance, the small hands, the tie, the white bags under his eyes. yesterday, we had a former fbi agent on the programme and he feels pretty uncomfortable that james comey is out the same these kinds of things. well, i kind of watch the interview, and i watched a lot of james comey over the past few months, his congressional appearances, the interview he gave to george stephanopoulos, i'm reading the book at the moment, and he's not a saint. it absolutely clear to me that james comey is rather vain, perhaps we all suffer from that as well. he has got

a big eagle, that there is pomposity, that there is something else as well. there are other things to him. and i think some of the comments he made about the snide comments he made about the snide comments about donald trump, where the necessary? i think he was so naive about what with hillary clinton during the election. the question is, when it comes down to who you trust, is he the sort of man that would have written horrible word contemporaneous note about the time he was having these private meetings with donald trump? would he have done that, given the status that he had, he would not have done that he had, he would not have done that had he not been concerned. that he had, he would not have done that had he not been concernedlj that had he not been concerned.” think that's one of the key questions about it. look, as i say, i think there are aspects ofjames comey‘s personality that are deeply unattractive. the vanity and all the rest of it. he has gone too far in his criticisms of donald trump. but why would he have made up things

that are being written about there? because that doesn't make any sense to me whatsoever. 0k, thank you. either way, there is an anecdote in a book about how much james comey hates the of lying. he goes to a whole story about seeing he played basketball and then writing to people saying that he had played basketball in college, he takes lying very seriously. it's been revealed that the novichok nerve agent used in the poisoning of former russian spy sergei skripal and his daughter was delivered in a "liquid form". the uk's department for environment said that only a "very small amount" of the nerve agent was used. a massive clean—up operation is under way in the city of salisbury to decontaminate nine sites — its estimated to take several months and cost millions of dollars. they are photos of war and peace, triumph and tragedy,

success and disaster. for 75 years, the pictures of the year international award celebrated the world's best news photographs. now, the newseum here in washington dc has taken on the colossal task of sorting through seven decades of the iconic photos, to select the best. from 40,000 photos, they selected just over a hundred, and we went to take a look. is that the photographer that ca ptu red is that the photographer that captured that moment? and this is beautiful. the selection process is very interesting. it is sort of like choosing amongst your most beloved children. we studied 40,000 images that have won the contest over 35

yea rs that have won the contest over 35 years and have got this down to 108 images. saw this image right here is one of the most famous images, one of the favourite ones with the visitors because they come here and what i've heard time and time again is, is that we'll? with this era of photoshop manipulation and one thing being bigger and better, the visitor is always wondering, todayjust grab that guy and put him in there? it is absolutely amazing. but it is real. ican absolutely amazing. but it is real. i can tell you that there are themes throughout the 75 years. there is u nfortu nately always wore. throughout the 75 years. there is unfortunately always wore. always a conflict. a lot of times the news is not very uplifting. but what i do

know is that there is always a cost that people stand behind. so we see the man in general and square in front of the tax. uc students protesting the vietnam war. and uc baton rouge standing in front of the police officers. it is almost the same image. it is uplifting to see people doing what they need to do to stand behind their cause is. i would like the visitors to come away thinking photography is still photography and it is alive, it is beautiful. in this world of lots of video and social media and things that move fast, there are still a great and obvious value to just being able to go and take in the message, try to see how that fits

into your life. if the something you can do to help the people that are maybe in a situation that is not ideal, to do your part, to stand behind a cause and just be a participant in history. great to have that reminder of those extraordinary events from the last few decades. difficult to pick outjust a few from all that many. this is beyond 100 days from the bbc. coming up for viewers on the bbc news channel and bbc world news — japan's prime minister shinzo abe arrives in palm beach for two days of talks. high on the agenda negotiations with north korea and relations with china. plus, could the first person to set foot on mars be a woman? leading engineers at nasa seem to think so and they'll tell us why. today, sean hannity has got up to 21

degrees in north norfolk. —— today, temperatures got up to 21 degrees in north moore footfall stop low— pressure north moore footfall stop low—pressure through a weather front in our direction. we had some quite stormy scenes. tonight, the winds are dying down. still some cloud and rain and another weather front approaching. most of us will have dry weather. my alternate. ten or 12 degrees from most major towns and cities. wednesday promises to be a fine day over many parts of the uk. warm airfor many. the

fine day over many parts of the uk. warm air for many. the vast majority of england and wales and scotland will be in the warm weather on wednesday. we can just about see the rain missing belfast. the top temperatures tomorrow will get up to 24 in london, 20 in newcastle, a bit fresher there in belfast at around 16 degrees. thursday is expected to be the warmest day of the week with highs reaching around 25 or 26 degrees. 0ne highs reaching around 25 or 26 degrees. one must spell since 29 august last year. lots of sunshine around on thursday. that could be some cloud, mist and work around western coasts. 26 is the forecast high in london. well into their 20s for yorkshire as well. belfast warming up to 17, not quite making the 20 degrees mark. then a slight change on on friday. winds coming off the atlantic, so we start to see

fresher weather coming in, so that temperatures will be dropping in scotla nd temperatures will be dropping in scotland and northern parts of england, putting the heat towards the south. a little more cloud around during the course of the weekend, but he could even write a book by the time we get to sunday in the south. goodbye. a this is beyond 100 days, with me katty kay in washington — christian fraser's in london. our top stories: president trump hosts japanese prime minister shinzo abe at mar a lago — talks are expected to be dominated by north korea. syrian state media say international chemical weapons inspectors have arrived in the town of douma to investigate the alleged attack there. coming up in the next half hour — we find out why a senior nasa engineer wants the first person to set foot on mars to be a woman. this year's boston marathon was won by the first american woman since 1985 — but it's the runner—up who is making headlines. 26—year—old nurse sarah sellers — was taking part in only her second ever marathon. let us know your thoughts

by using the hashtag beyond—0ne—hundred—days. president trump is speed dating world leaders for the next two weeks. macron, merkel and nigeria's president buhari are all expected to show up — but first is japan's prime minister shinzo abe. he's flown into mar—a—lago and his first meeting with the us leader will be injust half an hour. from the efforts to de—nuclearize north korea to trade policy there is plenty on the agenda and the bbc‘s barbara plett usher is there. new forged quite a relationship these men, over the new forged quite a relationship these men, over the mostly, new forged quite a relationship these men, over the mostly, but there is this thorny issue over the death visit japan has over the us. if we know anything it's that donald trump does not make trade deficits. that could be one of the tougher

elements of this summit is because trump has been tweeting about his unhappiness with japan trade practices, which suggests he is going to bring it up. he wants a bilateral free trade agreement with japan, and shinzo abe has his own trade issues as well. those tariffs that the us but out on steel and aluminium have hit japan. that the us but out on steel and aluminium have hitjapan. most of the other major us allies have had that sense. the main concern for be that sense. the main concern for be that mr trump may try to bargain with him. day will also be talking about north korea. it was mr shinzo abe who asked for this meeting. he is a real talk on north korea and had thought he was in lockstep with the trump administration on a tougher approach to pyongyang. they were both sceptical about the olympic

diplomacy, then suddenly everything changed. shinzo abe wants to get backin changed. shinzo abe wants to get back in the loop and make sure japan's security concerns will not be downplayed when america meets directly with the north koreans, in particular shinzo abe has said he will ask that the demand continued to be all missiles from north korea be eliminated, not just to be all missiles from north korea be eliminated, notjust the longer range ones that threaten america but the shorter range ones that will set out injapan. the shorter range ones that will set out in japan. and the shorter range ones that will set out injapan. and that the security umbrella the americans have had in the asia—pacific region will not be compromised in any way. a very sunny florida looking beautiful there. and joining us now is sheila smith, a senior fellow forjapan studies at the council on foreign relations. sorry you couldn't be down florida! looks fantastic down there. do the japanese feel that donald trump has done a bit of a bait and switch on them? they were all they're talking about military preparedness, they have been the target of a stream of missiles coming from north korea over the past year and suddenly it

is summertime. exactly, the message that was delivered was somewhat shocking, the security adviser for north korea standing that lawn of the white house. the japanese do not wa nt the white house. the japanese do not want a nuclear north korea, they do not want a war on the peninsula. there is japanese interest in a denuclearisation of north korea but as barber said, it's the missile threat that also must be taken into account. how important is it that shinzo abe comes out of this meeting with donald trump knowing that allies in the region, japan and the us, but also south korea, are in lockstep when it comes to north korea? how critical is that? very important. kim jong—un has focused on moonjae—in at the olympics, a very emotional appeal to the unity of the korean people. japan does not wa nt to of the korean people. japan does not want to see mr moon get out ahead

without thinking about regional security and stability going forward , security and stability going forward, the trilateral framework of seoul, tokyo and washington is critical to make sure we set up the discussions with kim jong—un appropriately. both these leaders have domestic problems. how do the japanese receive this relationship, because let's face it, he's a very un—japanese, donald trump. because let's face it, he's a very un-japanese, donald trump. he is not exactly predictable. mr shinzo abe, remember when trump was elected, met him at trump tower after the inauguration, it was one of the first leaders after prime minister made to visit washington, there has been this mythology of the shinzo abe — trump relationship that the japanese people have seen is therefore work against that unpredictability of our new president. this looks a bit more like the relationship between shinzo abe and trump will not save japan from some of the more idiosyncratic

pressures coming out of washington, not only on north korea but also on trade. how concerned are the japanese by the tweets, but i guess now again like over north korea, they are having to do a bit of knowledge here because now we have the white house saying maybe we will join tbb after all? mixed signals. they don't really know where the trump administration will be. the japanese don't see a free trade agreement, a bilateral free trade agreement, a bilateral free trade agreement as a fix for the deficit, they don't buy into this logic that a trade deficit is the problem or that the fta solution. they are very convinced that tbb 11 ought to be tbb 12 and mrare convinced that tbb 11 ought to be tbb 12 and mr are they will still try to use that framework within which the us—japan economic relationship can progress. thank you. theresa may says she acted "with speed" and in the best interested of the uk. but today the prime minister was accused of displaying a "flagrant disregard"

for parliament over the syrian air strikes. jeremy corbyn, who has called for a war powers act which would give parliament a greater say in future military action, said mrs may had "tossed aside" a convention that prime ministers seek the support of the commons — because it was "inconvenient". i'm sorry to say the prime minister's decision not to recall parliament and engage in further military action in syria last week showed a flagrant disregard for this convention. this was underscored by the secretary of state for international development, who said yesterday, "outsourcing that decision to people who do not have the full picture is quite wrong and i think the convention that was established is very wrong." no, i won't give way. as the exception makes clear, there are also situations

where coming to parliament in advance would undermine the security of our operations or constrain the ability of our armed forces to act quickly and decisively. in these situations it is right for the prime minister to take the decision and then be held accountable to parliament for it. let's cross live to harvard and speak to the former uk national security advisor, lord ricketts. today he is in a harvard in the us. when it comes to the war actjeremy corbyn is after here, as a former chair of thejoint corbyn is after here, as a former chair of the joint intelligence committee, what sort of problems can you foresee by delegating responsibility to the commons? first of all, the war powers act that jeremy corbyn talks about is a reference to the american legislation of 1973. that does not make it essential for the administration to seek approval of congress, there are conditions in terms of urgency and immediacy where

the president can act. it seems to me that is an essential part of any legislation in the commons passes. i can absolutely see there being a case for a law that is what mps decide but the prime minister has to have a degree of discretion to engage the armed forces at short notice in conditions of urgency. i didn't think you could frame legislation which said that was going to be impossible without the comments being because and voting, because of the delays that would occur. i think provided the prime minister has that discretion and is held to account by parliament afterwards, as is happening on this occasion, that seems to me to make sense and in this case the prime minister was right to join a coalition of other countries, timing was not entirely in our hands, in order to act when she did. why do you think the british prime minister is coming under more pressure than the other presidents involved in this action, emmanuel macron of

france and president trump in the states ? france and president trump in the states? remember the different legislative context. in france, the constitution of france says the national assembly will not vote on the decisions by the president to commit the armed forces, they can debate and discuss but they cannot vote because of the tradition in france that that is the presidential prerogative, from de gaulle's time onward. in the us it is more mixed, but they're too there is a well—established convention that the president has the discretion to act and is then held to account afterward. i don't think any system, certainly among the major allies, requires there to be parliamentary consent before any action is taken at all. neither in france nor the us is there as much controversy about the decision to go ahead without prior approvalfrom the the decision to go ahead without prior approval from the legislation. what about this theory, i don't know if it's too cynical or not, but the situation in syria is so complicated, the courses of action

so limited, and all of them deeply flawed, the consequences potentially so unwelcome on all sides. actually, lawmakers here in the us are heaving a huge sigh of relief that this did not land on their desk, that they did not have to put down a yes or no vote on whether to take action on syria. well, i don't know how many of them that applies to, i think there was quite a widespread a cce pta nce there was quite a widespread acceptance in the us that it was wrong to allow chemical weapons to be used with impunity. action was not taken in 2013 for reasons we all know, but this time we should not allow action with impunity. i think for the british, we must look at it from the other direction. supposing the us and france had acted and the british prime minister had said no, i can't act without parliamentary approval, what kind of a signal with that have sent in terms of britain's willingness to engage in the big

international security issues of the day? the fact it was a collective, coalition decision helped for all three leaders, and i do sense in the us and there is quite a degree of a cce pta nce us and there is quite a degree of acceptance that this was the right course taken, all acceptance that this was the right course ta ken, all circumstances. thank you. i do remember back in 2013 how irritated they were in the white house that david cameron did not manage to get that vote in parliament, they felt that was a failure in his part which put president 0bama in a difficult position. this is beyond 100 days. still to come — a full—time nurse from arizona— running only her second marathon... has produced the race of her life at the boston marathon. up to a third of millennials may never own their own home, according to new research from ‘the resolution foundation' thinktank. they're calling for more affordable homes to be built, as well as better protection for renters. sima kotecha reports from birmingham. more than 5000 homes being built here in the city centre, but for many owning one of them

is more of a dream than a reality. and today's report suggests the property ladder is getting steeper and less affordable than ever. if fewer people own homes, the report says half of those aged between 18 and 37 could still be renting by the time they're 40. we've all known it for a while, that people, especially my age in the younger bracket, we're just... unless we have the luxury of grandparents or parents who can give us money, owning a house is going to be a tough task. so now the resolution foundation is calling for more affordable housing. and better protection for those who rent. and another idea... one possible solution is to bring in long—term agreements. that means tenants would have contracts that would last for years, not months — giving them, it is hoped, more security and more rights. of course i want my own house...

a record 1.8 million families with children rent privately, up from just 600,000 15 years ago. once you've got the expense of the children, and then the expense of renting on top, it's just impossible to save enough money. you know, the interest rates are low so your savings the government says figures show more people are buying because of the help—to—buy scheme and the cut in stamp duty. it says it's giving councils more powers to crack down on bad landlords, while giving stronger protection to tenants. liz is studying to be a barrister. she believes it could be another eight years before she can really call somewhere home. you're watching beyond 100 days. some breaking news. the ceo of

starbucks, kevinjohnson, has issued a statement. there has been a huge row about two black men who went into a starbucks cafe and wanted to use the toilet, they were told they could not use it because they want customers, so they sat down, then they were arrested for trespassing in quite an aggressive way. the starbucks ceo has said he will close 8000 us stores on may 29 to conduct, quote, social bias education. —— racial bias education. he said this is one step in a journey that requires dedication from every level of our country and partnerships in our local community. that strikes me asa our local community. that strikes me as a ceo who was really worried about how this reaction is snowballing. also a ceo getting out in front of the story. compare the way he is responding to say, mark zuckerberg responding to the big crisis with facebook. he is getting

out and doing something about it. announcing something that will hit starbucks income for the course of an afternoon and he is absolutely right, if these two people had been too worried women sitting at a table in starmax, i too worried women sitting at a table in star max, i have sat in tables many times, i have asked to use the restau ra nts ma ny many times, i have asked to use the restaurants many times, nobody has ever made a phone call to have me arrested. it is extremely this would have happened to two white people, mrjohnson is trying to do something about this. it was no secret in this town that donald trump did not see eye—to—eye with his former secretary of state, rex tillerson. but the manner in which he dismissed him — with a tweet — raised plenty of eyebrows. and mr tillerson was not the only man to lose his job that day. steve goldstein — then the state department under secretary — was also given his marching orders, seemingly for issuing a statement that confirmed his boss had been terminated by twitter. in his first interview, since he was sacked, mr goldstein has been telling me how that played out... at around 845, two people who work

for me came to me while i was giving the speech and went like this... i smiled and said i'm not done yet with the speech in pantomime and they said no, now. and i walked out. at first i thought maybe something had happened to my father or my spouse. they said the secretary was just fired on twitter. so i said, let me see that phone a minute. i read the tweet, and then i said, you know, let me try my meditation and breathing, now would be a good time to see if i can remember that. i called the chief of staff and asked her what they wanted to do. she had just spoken to the secretary, and she said i want to give you a statement that on behalf of the secretary, she gave me the statement, even sent me a photo of it, i said are you sure this is from the secretary? she said absolutely, it is. the first confirmation that rex tillerson had, that he'd been

fired, was on twitter? what's important to note is that the statement i put out is the statement that the secretary gave me, that was how the secretary bude. and yet you we re how the secretary bude. and yet you were fired? for that statement. how the secretary bude. and yet you were fired? for that statementm is the prerogative of the statement to have whoever he or she chooses in these roles. this was not my first rodeo, as we say in america, i worked for the first president bush, all four years. you go into thejob understanding that is the case. you are right, the secretary of state serves at the pleasure of the president, it is his prerogative to fire him if he wants to but many people say there is a way to do that. i have great respect for the administration and ungrateful to the president for nominating me and the senator for confirming me. president for nominating me and the senatorfor confirming me. but no one should be fired on twitter. when he appeared at a press conference to

give his side of things, he looked crestfallen. his throat was very dry, one of the reasons people have that view i think. he had had very little rest. surely, he's a very proud man and he's been a very successful one. in a way, many people would say he was humiliated by president. surely he felt that. all i can say is, rex tillerson is one of the finest people i have ever had the opportunity to work for. he isa had the opportunity to work for. he is a firm believer in the fact that there is right and wrong. he was so supportive of me after i was fired. this week we have the publication of james comey‘s book, i am sure you have seen the first interviews. do you recognise the characterjames comey is describing, the mafia boss, the moral flaws comey is describing, the mafia boss, the moralflaws in the comey is describing, the mafia boss, the moral flaws in the character of the moral flaws in the character of the president? i don't, ithink that's a very dramatic resignation but he's entitled to write the book of his choice. what we must remember

is that the president of the united states was elected by the people. he is our president. what he says in the book is that the president habitually lies and is a stain on eve ryo ne habitually lies and is a stain on everyone around him. do you feel stained by the association?” everyone around him. do you feel stained by the association? i don't, i think that's a pretty dramatic view of the situation, donald trump is our president, we ought to do what we can to support the president of the united states. perhaps the greatest accolade is that you have now starred in the simpsons. my nephew and niece think i am now sort ofa nephew and niece think i am now sort of a hero. i will always have that. iama of a hero. i will always have that. i am a little concerned around how square—jawed lilac! i definitely need to get new glasses, when i first saw it, i said, i think this isn't first saw it, i said, i think this isn't me! everyone around me, they said, believe me, it is you. very loyal to the president in mind of how he was treated. if you treat people this way and you fire them on

twitter, they are more inclined to come out and spill the beans on what it was like working for the administration, not that steve goldstein has done that. he's been loyal. but others well. that's what we are seeing play out withjim comey. to some extent we saw it with rex tillerson when he gave that quite moving farewell address at the state department on the day he was leaving in which she thanked everybody but pointedly did not mention donald trump. 0ne everybody but pointedly did not mention donald trump. one thing i would say about what mr goldstein has said about rex tillerson, he may be the finest man mr goldstein knows, he will not go down in history as the finest secretary of state, he is not some unseen as supporting either the state department or necessarily supporting america's agenda around the world, there were problems from the beginning with him in that position. incompatible, good word. leading engineers at nasa have told the bbc the first person to set foot on mars should be a woman. the space agency is currently aiming to have a gender balanced workforce but says it can only achieve that if equal numbers of men and women train for science

and technology careers. nasa's top female scientists and astronauts have been speaking about their work, the barriers they face and their desire to see more women make history in space. anna foster reports. mission control in houston. they are monitoring the international space station. in this mock—up, astronauts train for the rigours of space. except you would be floating in, not walking. of course! we are on the ground, for starters. but for the women here, there is a new frontier. my director is a woman, my former division chief is a woman. we have female astronauts. we haven't put a woman on the moon yet and i think that perhaps the first person to step on mars should be a woman. for a long time now, nasa has tried hard to celebrate the achievements of its female engineers and scientists. 2018 marks 40 years since the first women were picked to go into space, the total workforce here is now one third female, and in 2016, nasa selected its first—ever gender—balanced class of astronauts. but there's still one place that only men have ever set foot. one small step for man,

one giant leap for mankind. when i was selected as an astronaut in the year 2000, i thought that that might be a realistic possibility, that we would be the ones, the next to go to the moon, so it's unfortunate we weren't. it will happen. you know, there's a lot of politics and a lot of money is needed and all of this, and priorities, and so it is really hard to see it not go faster, but there is just a lot involved and eventually, it will happen. growing vegetables in space is a key challenge, and growing the female scientists of the future is too. 50,000 fewer women than men are graduating with the qualifications they need to getjobs in this field. there certainly were aspects where i was challenged, you know. i wasn't as great in math as some of my colleagues,

my handwriting is terrible, so there are things that are not my strengths, but i fell in love with plants and plants were my strength and i really learned and focused on that. scientists like joya are at the forefront of overcoming interstellar barriers, but now they want to see the earthly issues of equality and opportunity overcome too. anna foster, bbc news. harvard has just released a study showing women are as good at men in science but they do not think they are, they downgrade themselves. now, speaking of amazing feats. the finish line of the boston marathon was full of them yesterday. runners braved 35 mile per hour winds, pouring rain and below freezing wind chills to finish the race. perhaps one of the most amazing stories was the second place finisher on the women's side. sarah sellers — a full time nurse from arizona — had only run one marathon before.

monday's experience she said was like running in a washing machine. but for her incredible performance she takes home 75 thousand dollars! how about that. no plans yet to go professional — instead she says she'll be returning to work. she has clearly got it if she is only done one man from before.” have never run a marathon in my life, kate has run a gazillion. -- if she has only done one marathon on before. look at her crossing the finish line, it looks like she has had a walk round the park. "how did ido?"| had a walk round the park. "how did i do?" i bet you don't look like that at the finish. i can't get past

hammersmith bridge, let alone alone all around boston. see you tomorrow. today, temperatures got up to 21 degrees in north norfolk. well on target for the forecasted temperatures. tomorrow warmer still with sunshine around. lots of cloud around today linked to the slow pressure. we had some quite stormy scenes. tonight, the winds are dying down. still some cloud and rain and another weather front approaching. most of us will have dry weather.

my my old tonight. ten or 12 degrees from most major towns and cities. wednesday promises to be a fine day over many parts of the uk. warm airfor many. the vast majority of england and wales and scotland will be in the warm weather on wednesday. we can just about see the rain missing belfast. the top temperatures tomorrow will get up to 24 in london, 20 in newcastle, a bit fresher there in belfast at around 16 degrees. thursday is expected to be the warmest day of the week with highs reaching around 25 or 26 degrees. the warmest spell since 29 august last year. lots of sunshine around on thursday. there could be some cloud,

mist and murk around western coasts. 26 is the forecast high in london. well into their 20s for yorkshire as well. belfast warming up to 17, not quite making the 20 degrees mark. then a slight change on friday. winds coming off the atlantic, so we start to see fresher weather coming in, so the temperatures will be dropping scotland and northern parts of england, putting the heat towards the south. a little more cloud around during the course of the weekend, but the could even rise a bit by the time we get to sunday the south. goodbye. this is bbc news. i'm rebecca jones. the headlines at 8:00pm. theresa may makes a personal apology to the leaders of caribbean countries for the treatment of windrush migrants.

the pay squeeze is drawing to a close as unemployment falls to its lowest level since 1975. also in the next hour it may be microscopic but it's a huge honour, the plankton named after sir david attenborough and the bbc blue planet team. of course it's a great compliment and one's delighted.