today at five, there are new claims about michael cohen, president trump's personal lawyer. the bbc has learned he received an alleged secret payment of at least $400,000. the money was to fix talks between the ukrainian president and mr trump. mr cohen denies receiving any payment. we'll have the latest. the other main stories on bbc news at five. marks and spencer's profits slump by more than 60%, after a costly plan to shut more than a hundred stores. the chief executive defends the strategy. the fact is that customer shopping habits are changing, we have said we believe we will have a third of our business online in the next five years, and that trend is not going away. a woman who threw acid at herformer partner, whose injuries were so horrific he decided to end his life, is jailed for a minimum of 12 years. the new home secretary assures the police federation it has the full support of the government, as he addresses rank and file officers for the first time.

and arsenal confirm unai emery as the club's first new manager in 22 years. it's five o'clock, our main story. donald trump's personal lawyer, michael cohen, received a secret payment of at least $400,000 to arrange talks between the ukrainian president and president trump. that is the claim made by sources with direct knowledge of the matter who have spoken to the bbc. they say the money was sent to michael cohen by intermediaries acting for the ukrainian leader, petro poroshenko. ukraine's anti—corruption agency later stopped its investigation into mr trump's former campaign manager, paul manafort. mr cohen denies taking the payment. there were also denials from

the two men named as intermediaries, and from a lawyer for mr cohen's alleged partner, felix sater. the ukrainian president's spokesman declined to comment. this report from our producer in new york suzanne kianpour and correspondent paul wood in kiev. donald trump's run for the us presidency was watched with alarm by ukraine's government, dismayed by his apparently pro—russian rhetoric. then trump had a setback. his campaign manager, paul manafort, was forced to resign, accused of getting millions of dollars from russian interests in ukraine. the leak that brought manafort down came from the very top of the ukrainian government, according to sources here and outside ukraine. if that is true, the ukrainians badly miscalculated, backing the losing side in the us election. so in early 2017,

president poroshenko was desperate to get talks with donald trump, but he was being offered little more than a white house photo op. according to a senior official here, who has direct knowledge of what happened, poroshenko instructed two close associates to open a back channel. that back channel, our source says, was president trump's personal lawyer and trusted fixer, michael cohen. the senior official says cohen was paid $400,000. a second source says it was more. there is no suggestion that trump knew of this. we're told cohen got help from felix sater, a convicted former mobster once in business with trump. cohen is under investigation for paying hush money to a porn actress, stormy daniels, on trump's behalf. her lawyer says cohen's bank records show he took money from us companies for access to the president.

well, i think it's pretty obvious at this point that michael cohen took substantial sums of money and was selling access to the highest office in the land, namely to the us president. we have every reason to believe there are additional payments that have not been reported yet from those with ukrainian interests. poroshenko couldn't hide his delight at meeting trump — and before russia's vladimir putin. how many minutes he'd get was still being negotiated as he flew from there. but this was more than just a photo op, and after poroshenko went home, ukraine's inquiry into trump's former campaign manager, paul manafort, was steadily wound down. "there was never a direct order to stop the manafort inquiry," the special prosecutor in kiev tells me. "but," he says, "in the way the investigation progressed, it was clear that our superiors were trying to create obstacles." did president trump's lawyer ask

the ukrainians to stall the inquiry? perhaps he didn't need to — poroshenko knew that to do otherwise, said one source, would be like spitting in trump's face. the us is continuing its own investigation into paul manafort and russian influence in the american election — but without help from ukraine. paulwood, bbc news, kiev. and paul wood joins me. just explain the full significance of these allegations. well, michael cohen has been accused in the past of taking money from american companies to get access to the white house. for the first time, these are detailed claims about payments from a foreign government. the person who broke all this is the lawyer quoted

in that package, michael avenatti. he appears to have got what are called suspicious activity reports filed by cohen's bank to the us treasury, that is where the stories about the american company is came from. the person who leaked that information also spoke to the new yorker magazine, saying were payments from foreign sources as well. in ukraine, we spoke to a senior source, who dealt with the matter in government, and another knew personally one of the men, allegedly the back channel, and they said this payment of a00,000, according to one source 600,000, was made to mr cohen in the early part of 2017. not to arrange a meeting with trump, but to make sure it was not just a humiliatingly with trump, but to make sure it was notjust a humiliatingly brief with trump, but to make sure it was not just a humiliatingly brief few minutes, handshake, in and out of the oval office, but something that mr poroshenko could portray as a success. mr poroshenko could portray as a success. is there any suggestion that any of this money made its way

to mrtrump, orthat that any of this money made its way to mr trump, or that he indeed knew of these alleged payments? no. our sources are not saying that he knew of the payments, still less that he received the payments, and that was the story too last week when cohen was accused of taking money from us companies for access to the oval 0ffice. no—one is putting mr trump in the frame for this at the moment. president trump is sometimes accused by his critics of being too friendly to russia. so what is he doing, apparently, helping ukraine? well, you have got to think back to the election campaign, and back then mr trump indeed was using a lot of rhetoric which the ukrainians, for one, thought was, in their view, worryingly pro—russia, it was at war with russia then as it is now, and according to our sources in kiev, poroshenko decided to intervene in the us election, and did so by leaking damaging in on paul

manafort, as we heard in the package. if that is true, it was a disastrous miscalculation, because hillary clinton did not win, donald trump did, so what we're seeing here, if all our sources are giving us an here, if all our sources are giving us an accurate picture, is an attempt by the ukrainians to build bridges with mr trump, to do things will not offend him, and it is interesting, an interesting coincidence, some people might say it is more than a coincidence, that the ukrainians started to wind down their investigation into paul ma nafort their investigation into paul manafort when mr poroshenko got home. our sources do not take trump asked for that, it was a gift from mr poroshenko to mr trump. the ukrainians feel bad things are starting to go their way. there has been a sale of 210 javelin anti—tank missiles from the us to ukraine, something that didn't happen under president 0bama, but has happened under president trump. the realpolitik, as it was described to me by one source in kiev, has worked for ukraine, in the view of the

people who instructed this back channel through michael cohen in the first place. ball, many thanks for that, paul wood. senior officials at hmrc have warned that one of the proposed new customs arrangements with the eu after brexit could cost businesses up to £20 billion a year. the so—called max fac option — with technologically enhanced border checks — is the preferred option of leading cabinet brexiteers. well, our chief political correspondent vicky young is at westminster this afternoon. not the kind of news, perhaps, that some of the leading brexiteers will wa nt to some of the leading brexiteers will want to hear. that is right, and you will member that theresa may has divided her brexit cabinet into two working parties, looking at the two options, a customs partnership and the maximum facilitation. the reason this is important is because this is the kind of information that cabinet ministers will be getting from officials. and today those hmrc officials. and today those hmrc officials went before the treasury

select committee to explain the costs that they thought might be surrounding the two options. as you say, the so—called max fac turns out, according to them, incredibly expensive to business, this is what one of them had to say. to be crystal clear about this, it is somewhere in the £20 billion, and a new customs partnership, the estimate would be around £700 million, and it would pay for itself and reclaim. what are they basing those numbers on? hmrc said they had 1100 people working on looking at the future options for our customs arrangements. they say they are basing that figure on customs declarations, which they think will be likely to have to be made on goods being exported to the eu, likely to cost £32.50 each. already, some conservative mps on the brexit side of the argument have dismissed

these figures, saying they don't really believe them at all. they say they don't understand how they have come to this calculation, and they also argue that, actually, there are arrangements whereby you can have a flat fee, able to discount, and the costs would not be anywhere near as large as this. well, i don't accept that at all, i think we should start from what we currently have, a perfectly good functioning trade system with the re st of functioning trade system with the rest of the world at the moment, where we do more of our trade than with the eu. it doesn't cost anything like these sort of figures, but if the worst came to the west and there were no agreement at all with the eu, that is how we would trade with them, we would trade with germany and france exactly as we do with the united states of america and china. they know how to do it, they have a system set up, there wouldn't be these huge costs. downing street have said these figures are purely speculation, number ten says the prime minister does recognise there are issues with both preferred options, and that the

work is ongoing, so no sign of any agreement yet about which one will be the preferred option, and i suppose the good news from hmrc is that they believe there will be a functioning border come january 2021, at the end of the transition period. what we don't know exactly how it will be functioning. vicki young, thank you. marks and spencer has suffered a big fall in profits, as it battles to modernise its business, and to adapt to the changing way we shop. its strategy of closing stores, and revamping its online business, caused profits to slump by almost two—thirds over the last year. sales of food, clothing and homeware all declined. yesterday, m&s said it plans to close 100 shops by 2022, accelerating an overhaul it says is "vital" for its future. the company's chief executive has been talking to our business correspondent emma simpson. your easter deserves an m&s roast...

the adds are super slick but not tempting enough. like clothing, food sales are on the slide, the recipe is still not right. the boss told me things had to change fast. is still not right. the boss told me things had to change fastlj is still not right. the boss told me things had to change fast. i want to create a marks & spencer which grows ina create a marks & spencer which grows in a sustainable and profitable way, and the retail market is changing more quickly than i have ever seen, and we need to react to that. we have been slow to react in the past, but we need to transform the business urgently, and if we don't, we will continue to see disappointing results. his plans include store closures — 100 over the next five years. stockton is one of them. these stores are not cheap to run, but they are also going to cost a lot to shut. it is the main reason why m&s's annual pre—tax profits plunged by 62% to just under £67 million. the previous boss spent many hundreds of millions

modernising marks & spencer, including this new state—of—the—art distribution centre, but it is already struggling to cope with demand — a business that is not yet match fit for the new digital world of retail. here is what it is up against at this new flagship store all zara, where collecting a audit is automated. if you flash at night in front of these mirrors, you can see what to wear it with. marks has got its work cut out. my biggest problem with them is the shopping environment, nothing really entices you. if you walk into their competitors, they are exciting and vibrant. m&s says it is taking decisive action but retreating from many town centres will leave big gaps to fill. how aware you about the impact of these closures on our high streets? i am very aware of it,

and every decision to close a store is very difficult, and notjust for the towns but also my colleagues. we have said we believe we will have a third of our business online within the next five years, and that trend is not going away, and it means high street stores are less economic, we are not able to invest in them or modernise them, and our customers are shopping elsewhere — online and out of town. but perhaps more than anything, marks & spencer needs to make sure it also has the right offer to pull these shoppers in. emma simpson, bbc news. well, to discuss this further, i'm joined by samantha dover, who's a senior retail analyst at market intelligence agency mintel. explain how a company can shut stores and yet lose money, it is costing them to shut those stores. stores and yet lose money, it is costing them to shut those storeslj suppose there are a number of elements coming into that, the redistribution of stock, things like that, where the staff there and go, s03 that, where the staff there and go, soa number of that, where the staff there and go, so a number of elements that will

cost them money, the store closures. but it makes sense to do that in the longer term, that is the idea? yeah, definitely, because at the end of the day they have a huge store network, and it makes sense for the business because, you know, they have underinvested in a lot of those stores, so that can erode overall perceptions of the brand. withering on the vine, as it were. they will have fewer but hopefully better stores, and it will free up money to invest better in online. online seems to be its achilles' heel, and it doesn't really seem to have the kind of presence that a lot of other high street stores do. yeah, definitely, and that comes from consumers being more demanding in the online experience, so everything from a website that runs too slowly right through to delivery, returns, all of that. there is a lot of competition, and if a retailer is not up to date with those things, it will lose out to competitors. is it's too late? we have seen

companies go to the wall, no reason m&s couldn't go to the wall? trust in the and dez bryant is really high, people still want to shop there. —— in the m&s brand. 0ne high, people still want to shop there. —— in the m&s brand. one of there. —— in the m&s brand. one of the key things it needs to get right is merchandise, the right product at the right price that resonate with customers. still a fundamental problem that it has, the fashion line not working out, and when it comes to food and so on, non—fashion items, there are places they can go to that are cheaper and the quality is good? yeah, definitely, increased competition, with the rise of online, it is easier to shop around, you can get the exact product at the right price very easily, so it is something that m&s has struggled with. semantic dover, thank you. -- samantha dover. this is bbc news at five — the headlines: the bbc has learned that donald trump's personal lawyer, michael cohen, received a secret

payment of at least $400,000, to fix talks between the ukrainian president and donald trump. marks and spencer's profits slump by more than 60%, after a costly plan to shut more than a hundred stores. a woman who threw acid at herformer partner, whose injuries were so horrific he decided to end his life, is jailed for life. in sport, unai emery has been appointed as the new arsenal manager, the spaniard replaces arsene wenger, who left the emirates after 22 g charge. simon after 22 years in charge. simon yates retains his 5: after 22 years in charge. simon yates retains his e the giro after 22 years in charge. simon yates retfiijzééi to 57m giro after 22 years in charge. simon yates retfiijzééi to $51 56 giro i of his seconds out of his nearest rival. and 20—year—old john best will make his england test debut against pakistan tomorrow, he gets his opportunity at lord's afterjack

leach broke his thumb. that is all the sport for now, back with more on that at the half—past. a woman who poured acid over her former boyfriend, causing him catastrophic injuries, has been sentenced to life in prison. the judge at bristol crown court said berlinah wallace's attack on mark van dongen in 2015 was an act of "pure evil". mr van dongen ended his life through euthanasia 16 months later, saying he could no longer stand the pain of his injuries. jon kay reports. six days after she was found guilty, berlinah wallace came to be sentenced. inside court, her actions were described by the judge as pure evil, sadistic, malicious and callous. she had thrown sulphuric acid over her boyfriend as he lay in her bed wearing just a pair of shorts. these pictures show how it burned the sheets. the acid left mark van dongen with catastrophic, life—threatening injuries.

after more than a year of pain, he was granted euthanasia in belgium. sentencing her to life in prison with a minimum of 12 years, the judge said the south african born fashion student had told lie upon lie and intended to disfigure the 29—year—old so he would not be attractive to other women. mark van dongen‘s father attended every day of this trial and today he wept as the woman he treated like a daughter was sentenced. 0utside court, mr van dongen said he was glad she would be locked up for a minimum of 12 years but he said that would be too little. he added, we as a family have been sentenced to life. the judge said that before the attack three years ago berlinah wallace had researched on the internet the damage acid could do and then had done nothing to help her boyfriend as he screamed in agony. standing with his arms spread out... neighbour nichola white

ran onto the street to assist mark van dongen that night. the acid on his fingertips even burned her metal door bell. he was in agony, he literally was shivering and shaking, and he looked like he had had grey paint poured all over him from his head down to the knees. his skin was melting. berlinah wallace was acquitted of murder last week. avon and somerset police say they believe this is the first life sentence handed to someone for throwing acid. jon kay, bbc news, bristol. the families of the people who died in the grenfell tower fire have been remembering their loved ones, on the third day of the public inquiry into the disaster. 72 people died after flames engulfed the tower in west london lastjune. angus crawford reports. child speaks in her native language. a voice from the past, and message home to the family

she loves from a child on holiday. fethia hassan, just four, hugging her three—year—old sister hania. 0n the left, their mother rania. all of them died in their flat on the 23rd floor of grenfell tower. thank you, bye—bye! in the inquiry room, total silence. the chairman visibly moved. it's difficult for me to explain how i feel now she's gone... rania's niece gave a video tribute on behalf of her mother, who is too ill to speak herself. i watched her grow into a young woman. i prepared herfor her wedding and helped her put on her wedding dress. i was there when she gave birth, and i watched her children grow with mine. never in my life have i thought that i would be at her funeral. tony disson —

father, great—grandfather. at 65, he still cleaned the boxing gym at the bottom of the tower. the sport a passion he passed on to his whole family. my dad was a big influence when it came to boxing. without my dad, i doubt i would have gone anywhere near the boxing gym. he was a big influence on me, he used to take me boxing every night. he was a good dad, he was a brilliant husband. he was a wonderful grandad. he was a big part, a big part of our life and always will be. yeah, he's missed. rarely a day goes by i don't think about him. also remembered today, zainab deen and the two—year—old son she loved, treasured and adored, jeremiah. more lives cut short, more families in mourning, paying tribute but demanding answers. angus crawford, bbc news. the inquiry has now wrapped up

for the day but the session this afternoon heard from more relatives of the victims. 57—year—old gary maunders' body was was found on the top floor of grenfell tower. his nieces, chanel and kenita spence, have been remembering their uncle. the love we have for him is heartbreakingly painful. not only was our uncle robbed of life, but so are those who have the privilege of knowing him. his children, his mum, his sisters, his nieces and nephews, friends. how do you fully carry on? how can you function as normal knowing someone you have none, loved and cared for all of your life has been ripped away from you in such a tragic way? it is haunting, it is tormenting. we miss him terribly everyday. hamid ali jafari's father died

in the fire, he told the inquiry he prays for death so he can join him in heaven. i have never drained all thought of going to the heaven, but now i fight every day, every second, because i wa nted every day, every second, because i wanted tojoin every day, every second, because i wanted to join my every day, every second, because i wanted tojoin my dad. and i pray every day, and i even request my friends to pray for me, that i die soon, to meet my father. finally, i am really sorry, dad, that i couldn't bring any happiness back to my mother's face and two sisters. miss you, dad. and that is it. thanks. applause reflections on some of the relatives

of those who died in grenfell tower. on friday, voters in ireland will hold a referendum to decide whether to overturn the country's ban on abortion. terminations are currently allowed only where there is a substantial risk to the life of the mother. the polls have narrowed in recent days, and campaigners have been touring the country to try to win over undecided voters. nuala mcgovern is following the last days of campaigning for us in dublin. hi there. how are you? welcome to dublin and your viewers, and welcome to dublin castle behind me, under those beautiful blue skies and a blazing son, dublin castle is where those votes of the controversial referendum are going to be counted on saturday, so a lot of eyes on this building injust a couple of days' time, really the final days now, people are out canvassing, you cannot miss it, people wearing pens, the posters for yes and no lining every street, it appears in this city, which is my home town. and me

and my colleagues have been taking the temperature, speaking to people, finding out how it is that they feel about this historic referendum, a once ina about this historic referendum, a once in a generation vote. let's hear more from emma vardy. in the rural west of ireland, anti—abortion beliefs traditionally hold sway. the voice of the unborn baby and the mother... renua, a strongly pro—life party, are taking their message onto the streets ahead of friday's referendum. it's basically a matter of human rights. we believe equality starts in the womb and that babies need to be protected from abortion. the start of a moral crusade... for decades in ireland, the catholic church has had a huge influence. in 1983, the country voted to give an equal right to life to a mother and the unborn. here in mayo, this was the county which had the highest level of support for what's known as the 8th amendment. it will be nothing like back in ‘83. ireland has changed so much over the last 35 years. now, more than 3000 women a year

from ireland leave the country to end their pregnancy abroad. women like tracy, who found out her unborn baby had a condition which meant she couldn't survive. i basically had to google myself, how can i be induced, why can't i be induced in ireland? she booked a flight to england to visit a hospital in liverpool. it meant paying for a procedure that would have been illegal to have at home. we were so lonely and so isolated. this is happening every day, you know. couples are travelling every day, and i hope they are listening to us and they will vote yes. ireland has retained the strictest abortion laws of any western democracy, but today dublin is a very different place. the referendum is also being seen as a measure of how much ireland has changed. attitudes here are shifting, and society becomes more liberal as the influence of the catholic

church is diminished. the campaign has seen hard—hitting messages on both sides. it's very emotive. not everything goes smoothly for everybody, people should have the choice. i think it's very distressing, the stories. do you know which way you'll vote? probably no. traditional values still endure, but ireland could be on the brink of a historic change. and thanks very much for that, emma brings up some of the issues these rural—urban divide the people have talked about, some might think there would be a generational divide, but to be honest, what i've found is that there is an awful lot of young people campaigning on the no side, to remain with the status quo. some

younger people are out pushing leaflets asking, in fact, for that amendments to be repealed. so they keep on saying it is too close to call. a lot of undecided people, a lot of men they are trying to get out to post their ballots this friday, 25th may in dublin and around the country. we will bring you the results that will come up on saturday afternoon. time for a look at the weather, here's helen willets. we have had a lot of sunshine, here. the question is whether it will last? the answer is the warmth will build, but we are in for some thunderstorms. we're already seeing some showers, being pulled across the channel. the low cloud that we had this morning, that has gradually backed away, and actually, as we go through the rest of these evening and overnight, we will see returning again as the knights article. quite

chilly in the north, potentially fairly showery in the south. quite muddy, picking up more moisture and that mcguinness is the side of that change to more changeable and showery weather. —— muddiness. still quite warm despite the thundery showers around and warm where we have got... as we move towards the weekend, chances increase was big heavy and storms. i will tell you more about that in around half an hour. this is bbc news. the headlines: donald trump's personal lawyer, michael cohen, allegedly received a secret payment, to arrange talks between the ukrainian president and mr trump. mr cohen denies taking the payment. marks and spencer's profits

slump by more than 60 % after a costly plan to shut more than a hundred stores. the chief executive has been defending the strategy. a woman who threw acid at herformer partner, and whose injuries were so horrific he decided to end his life, has been jailed for a minimum of 12 years. the new home secretary assures the police federation it has the full support of the government, as he addresses rank and file officers for the first time. and arsenal confirm unai emery as the club's first new manager in 22 years, replacing arsene wenger. before we get a full round—up of all of the sport. we have got some breaking news from julia skripal. ——

yulia. she has been given an interview, and we are getting details of what she has been saying. she says that she is shocked that a nerve agent was actually used to attack her, and herfather, and she has been speaking in russian, and there she is. looking pretty healthy considering what she has been through. speaking in russian, back, and she says that she is shocked that a nerve agent was used to attack her and her father. that a nerve agent was used to attack her and herfather. she that a nerve agent was used to attack her and her father. she also says, no one speaks for me or my father, but ourselves. and she has made it clear that she is shocked that a nerve agent was used to attack her and her father. that a nerve agent was used to attack her and herfather. so, this is, i'm pretty sure the first interview that she has given since the attack on her and her father. she is speaking in russian, so my

russian is a bit rough, so we're not going to bother trying to translate it, but you basically said that she is shocked that a nerve agent was used to attack her and her father, and that longer term, she is hoping perhaps to return to russia, and she says that she is lucky to have survived, that attempted assassination, and she made that clear in the interview. she was also said that the recovery of me and my father has been slow and extremely painful. so, the first interview from yulia skripal. we are getting these pictures from the reuters news agency. she is speaking in russia, and some of the main prize from the interview are is that she says that the recovery of her and her father has been slow and extreme the painful. she is shocked that a nerve agent was used to try and kill her and that she is very lucky that they

both managed to survive the attack. she also says that she is grateful for offers of assistance from the russian embassy, but, and i quote "i do not wish to avail myself of their services. " do not wish to avail myself of their services. the first pictures of yulia skripal recovery of course from that nerve agent attack as long with her father in salisbury. any more on that, we'll bring it to you when we get it. sport now, here's ben mundy. hi there, then. hello. thanks forjoining us. we heard from the new arsenal manager on wednesday. unai emery is the premier league club's first new boss in almost 22 years, having replaced arsene wenger. the spaniard, who joins after leaving french champions paris st—germain, thanked wenger and accepted he's taking on a "big challenge". 0ur sports correspondent david 0rnstein was at the unveiling.

it isa it is a challenge, but in my career, every year i go up with a new challenge. and for me, the challenge isa dream. britain's simon yates has retained his lead at the giro d'italia after a wet sprint finish to stage 17 in iseo. italy's elia viviani took his fourth stage of the 2018 tour in a chaotic final push for the line, as rain soaked the italian streets. yates had begun the day with a 56—second lead over reigning champion tom dumoulin and managed to maintain that lead after safely finishing in the main pack.

he might not have a safer, but tom betts will have a... captain joe root says best is ready. he is really clear about what he wants to do in the game, and that is all you can ask of someone making their debut. really exciting for me as captain, andl debut. really exciting for me as captain, and i am sure... i'm mine andl captain, and i am sure... i'm mine and i rememberthe feelings, all you wa nt and i rememberthe feelings, all you want to do is for tomorrow to comrade and to get given your cap and out there. he has approached this week really well, and hopefully he can have a good start to what is hopefully a good long career. south africa's ab de villiers is retiring from international cricket. a huge figure in the sport, he played 114 test matches, 228 one day internationals and 78 t20 internationals. the 34—year—old finishes his career with over 20,000 international runs and has a batting

average of over 50 in both test and one day cricket. heather watson has been defeated in round two. she lost in straight sets. that is all the sport by now. there is much more over on the website. 0lly foster is here with sports day at 6:30pm. the cia's first female director gina haspel was sworn in this week, the position becoming vacant after president trump picked mike pompeo to become his secretary of state. it's a delicate moment for american foreign policy with the president admitting there's a substantial chance his much feted meeting with the north korean leader may not happen. and of course the world is still reeling from the us withdrawal from the iran nuclear deal. i'm delighted to be able

to discuss some of this with general michael hayden, the former director of the national security agency and former director of the cia. he's written a book, the assault on intelligence, that argues that outside forces, including the trump white house, make the work of intelligence agencies harder, but more important than ever. he joins us from washington. it is good to see you. thanks very much indeed for being with us. as i say, your book is entitled, an assault on intelligence. where is the attack coming from? multiple lawyers, the base layer, frankly is a movement within american society towards a post—truth culture. decision making based more on fear and emotion, rather than evidence and emotion, rather than evidence and fact. second layer is a candidate, now president to cleverly recognised it, exploited it and the

third layer is a foreign actor, the russians who have identified the first and second layer and are exploiting it for their own purposes, as well. what are the ramifications for democracy in america, this triple attack of intelligence. i would america, this triple attack of intelligence. iwould include intelligence. iwould include intelligence in a broader group of fa ct intelligence in a broader group of fact —based institutions. the high friction point of view administration had been with intelligence, law—enforcement courts, science, scholarship and journalism. what they will have in common? they are fact —based. they can be wrong. they can make mistakes, sometimes they can be corrupt, but frankly, they're only safe haven is the truth. it is those institutions that have the highest friction points with the current administration, because it appears that the departure point for many policies isn't an agreed upon

objective view of reality, but something else. in your opinion, then, could president trump reverse things? could he perhaps make the situation is a lot easier for americans intelligence agencies and on intelligence in general? if you changed tone? are you saying that he could be part of the solution, as well as you suggest in being part of the problem. of course, and this is an ongoing drama. i know some of the people who work with him, and they do their duty every day and trying to, asi do their duty every day and trying to, as i described, create the left and the right—hand boundaries of policy discussion. andrews created by an objective reality. but the great danger is right now, and particularly right now, the president for near—term personal and political reasons, i believe, is frankly attacking the legitimacy of these fact varying institutions, particularly today, the fbi and the

department ofjustice, and other institutions haven't been spared from that kind of attack, either, and if we are rogue american confidence in these institutions, we —— road american confidence in these institutions we undercut... there is a new director of the cia ‘s warning this week, gina haspel, and she received a good going over during her confirmation hearings over alleged complicity in torture during the so—called war on terror. would you say that there is a place of torture at all for america to perpetrate in any battle with another adversary? know, and i don't mean to quibble, but torture is a lwa ys mean to quibble, but torture is always wrong, and the argument becomes what is torture, and people of good faith and good intent argue about that area here and that is

what the agency and jena, and frankly myself personally have been involved in in a great national debate. but it is quite striking that gina haspel got the recommendation of the former senior leadership of cia from the clinton, bush, balmer and trump administrations. that is how highly —— 0bama and drug administered. that is how highly thought of she is. i might add back to our first conversation, someone —— trump administration. so if the president said to gina haspel, lux, we need, and you have crippled with the word torture, we need enhanced in interrogation techniques, which is the even medicine that the bush administration used, and you know that, if the president said, this is what we need to happen, gina haspel

would have the strength to stand up to him and say, look, i did know what you have heard about what i did when i was a cia operative back during the war on terror, enhanced interrogation techniques, torture, that should not be happening in a president's watch. think you can have confidence in that. it is not that the agencyjudge repeated its past, but it has lived through the consequences of doing that, as believing that that was the agreed upon position of the american people. i have to frankly say, there isa people. i have to frankly say, there is a bit ofa people. i have to frankly say, there is a bit of a sense of betrayal at the agency, after the global situation had trained. gina haspel is not going to do it for a lot of them is she will never put her officers at risk like that again.|j can't let you go without talking about north korea. there were lots

of hopes back in the day when we might see the beginning of the denuclearise nation of the peninsula, that there was going to be some improvement in relations between the north and the south, see what is happening now with this proposed meeting between donald trump and the president of north korea, how do you see that playing out? well, look. let me give you the most optimistic scenario that i can foresee. the meeting takes place, nothing bad happens. they come out for a good photo, they smile, and shake hands, and they begin a very long—term process that will lead to a safer, stable perhaps more transparent korean peninsula, but nothing about denuclearise nation with within the current planning arises. not just with within the current planning arises. notjust me, but a lots of

folks like me in and out of government are convinced that kim —— kim jong—un is not crazy, government are convinced that kim —— kimjong—un is not crazy, but he would be crazy to give up his weapons. i hope that he is guiding american expeditions and negotiating position going in, but we are not to absolutist to ali. good to get your perspective. general michael hayden, good to see you. thank you very much for joining good to see you. thank you very much forjoining us. this is bbc news at 5.00pm. the headlines: donald trump's personal lawyer, michael cohen, allegedly received a secret payment to arrange talks between the ukrainian president and donald trump. mr cohen denies taking the payment. yulia skripal, one of the victims poisoned by a nerve agent in salisbury makes her first television appearance following the attack. she says that she was lucky to survive. marks and spencer's profits

slump by more than 60%, after a costly plan to shut more than a hundred stores. the chief executive defends the strategy. an update on the market numbers for you — here's how london's and frankfurt ended the day. and in the the united states this is how the dow and the nasdaq are getting on. ‘s what is going on? the new home secretary, sajid javid, has told police officers that he is standing with them on the front line. in a speech to the police federation of england and wales, which aimed to win over his audience, mrjavid assured them he would provide the resources they needed to get the job done. a warning, daniel sandford's report contains a racially—offensive term. just over three weeks into the job, with murder and violent crime rising and the threat from terrorism still severe, sajid javid came to birmingham knowing he needed the police on his side.

to win them over he reminded them that his brother is a police officer and recalled the extremely racially offensive language he heard when his brother took him for a ride in a patrol car. teenagers giving them the middle finger, swearing and spitting. and, worst of all, at one point when his car approached lights and slowed down, one teenager leaned over and yelled at my brother, you bleep. his message, after a difficult eight years between the home office and rank and file, was simple. let's reset the relationship between the government and the police. i will give you the tools, the powers and the back—up that you need to get the job done. for those of you who stand on the front line, be in no doubt that i will be standing with you. thank you. nonetheless, the chair of the police federation still made this plea. home secretary, learn the lessons your predecessors failed to. three years ago, theresa may

accused us of crying wolf. we were accused of scaremongering over the effects of budget cuts to policing. 0ur warnings that cutting police officer numbers would see an increase in the numbers of victims of crime were dismissed. sajid javid's first set piece speech as home secretary seems to signal a significant change in tone from the time when theresa may was here at the home office and fought her infamous battles with the police federation, but there was no sign of an increase in money and the labour party said sajid javid is in denial about the impact cuts have had on policing and the levels of crime. 2018 has been a bad year for violence, particularly gun and knife crime in the bigger cities and a reminder of the wider problem was this seizure of 250 kilos of cocaine announced today by the national crime agency. it was smuggled in from mexico in a fruit processor. 0fficers also seized a handgun.

daniuel sandford, bbc news, at the home office. homeowners in england are to be set a target of how much water they should use, in an effort to prevent future water shortages and damage to rivers and wildlife. the environment agency also says water companies lose three billion litres a day through leaks — enough to supply a third of the uk's population. the government has agreed to set a target in future, although its not yet clear how this will be achieved. joining me now is aaron burton, director of policy and innovation at waterwise, a not—for—profit enterprise focused on reducing water consumption in the uk. first of all, this figure on leaks, enough to provide supplies for a third of the country, that is an incredible amount of water that simply being wasted. there has been an increase in focus in reducing leakage by water companies, but especially when you asking your own

customers to reduce their own water, you need to manage own water. a report came out last week, and suggested that we should be looking to half leakage by 2050. but we also need to address pressures from population growth and climate change on water resources. we also need to look at the efficiency side of things and how we use water at home. but it does feel as if dealing with leagues that we can do in the short—term. climate change or whatever, these are longer term issues. why can we not plan our lea ks ? issues. why can we not plan our leaks? there are a range of technologies, but one of the keen areas “— technologies, but one of the keen areas —— yeah it is here at water metering. a report suggested that government should suggest a compulsory meter. water companies can better understand that network as well as people within homes understanding their water usage.

said to be clear, this is notjust a main pipe outside that is having problems, it is actually a lot of theissues problems, it is actually a lot of the issues with leaks is within our own homes. it is within the network, but lots of customer supply pipes leaking, in london particular, but also across the south of the country. soap setting a limit, what would it be? at the moment, average consumption is one and 40 litres per person per day. —— 140. a report suggests we could go even further down to 50 or 80 litres per day by 2065. would that change people's lifestyles ? 2065. would that change people's lifestyles? we still have a lot of low hanging fruit in terms of water efficiency, pitt, for example shower is one of the biggest usage of

water. if you change your shower head, you can reduce a lot. producing a minute of your shower, can save the household a lot on their energy bill, but also their water. that is the policy at waterwise. thank you forjoining us there. train services continue to be disrupted following the introduction of a new timetable a few days ago with hundreds of services cancelled by northern, govia and thameslink. one in ten trains due to run by northern have been cancelled since sunday, with many more delayed. the mayor of greater manchester, andy burnham, has asked for an "urgent meeting" with transport secretary chris grayling. 0ur north of england correspondent fiona trottjoins me now from manchester victoria railway station. not much activity there because of all the problems going on? we have

had several announcements about destruction. passengers are telling us destruction. passengers are telling us that since that timetable was introduced, it has made their commute and arable. many angry passengers taking to social media using the hashtag northern fail instead of northern rail. what they are telling us this afternoon is that this timetable is is adding two months of existing problems. absolute nightmare every day. cancellation after cancellation. delays. it is rehab to get to work, because telling your boss you are late again and again, it is is kind of...i late again and again, it is is kind of... i have not seen any investment, i have voted for four years. it is crowded, not up—to—date. the characters must be 20 years old. when you have got local ones or even bigger ones like virgin trains that are constantly updating, you have now got wi—fi, your mac you can watch free films.

it is the uneasy be sorted out. they need to stop changing the times, as well. it is hard from me to get to work from college, now. you mentioned earlier that politicians in the north of england are calling foran in the north of england are calling for an urgent meeting. they have got one. that is because the company northern has now some knitted and added it shouldn't plan —— action plan. improving driver rosters to get more services running. putting an extra peak services from stations like this one, matters to victoria, 0xford like this one, matters to victoria, oxford road and preston, too. certainly efforts in the long run are being made to improve services here in the north, but passengers here in the north, but passengers here are the bracing themselves for more destruction tomorrow with that strike expected to go ahead. time for a look at the weather.

here's helen willets. isaid i said i'd say more about the weekend, so here goes. a beatable day—to—day, but showers across southern ali is. this is the lumpy cloud in the south via a few showers across the south—east of england, and that prices will continue through the rest of this evening and overnight. as the berlin that moisture at so it will be gradually further north, and the clear skies. that's low fog creeping back in land. that'll be with us tomorrow morning. the high pressure still with us across the northern half of the country. in the south, we are starting to berlin newsweek weather systems which are just as i say

introducing some moisture, add to that the energy from the sunshine, lifting. a line of shari arranged its way westwards mostly across the southern parts of the country the midlands and into wales, but there could be some heavy bursts with thunder. the low cloud should come back to be closed again. but the cloud should just be a coastal feature. 22 in glasgow. quite a warm and muggy 22. that card will come and muggy 22. that card will come and go bringing with it more rain. that is the question, how final it will go and how much brain it will bring. —— rain. there are more

showers developing further south and thatis showers developing further south and that is because we are pulling in this deeper warmer air, but were also pulling in low—pressure. particular across england and wales it looks as if we will keep the fine and dry weather further north. as for the bank holiday, temperatures expected to get into the high 20s, but the increasing risk of thundery down pours. we will keep you posted. yulia skripal, one of two victims who were poisoned by a nerve agent in salisbury, makes her first televised statement since the attack. speaking from an unknown location, yulia said her recovery and that of her father sergei skripal had been "slow and extremely painful".

translation: we are so lucky to both have survived this attempted assassination. i don't want to describe the details, but the clinical treatment was invasive and distressing. yulia skripal acknowledged offers of help from russia. she said they weren't ready to take it, but that she hoped to return to her country one day. also tonight. the uk's leading tax official has warned that a post—brexit customs system could cost businesses up to £20 billion a year.