you're watching beyond 100 days. how big is the swamp? a bbc investigation reveals claims that donald trump's lawyer was paid $400,000 to fix a meeting with the ukrainian president. michael cohen denies receiving payment to get a foreign head of state access to the president of the united states. there's no suggestion in our report that the president knew of the deal, but it could mean legal trouble for mr cohen. a new poll shows a majority of americans don't trust the russia probe, but donald trump's former strategist tell us it should go ahead. i do not think that the president should testify, ijust don't, bob mueller is a combat marine, someone bob mueller is a combat marine, someone who has served his country. also on the programme: yulia skripal, the daughter of the spy poisoned by a nerve agent in salisbury, says she feels lucky to be alive but would one day like to

return home to russia. tributes for one of the great american writers of the 20th century, philip roth, who's died at the age of 85. get in touch with us using #beyond100days. hello and welcome, i am katty kay in washington, christian fraser is in new york. donald trump's personal lawyer, michael cohen, received a secret payment of at least $400,000 to arrange a meeting 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. the payment, they say, was sent to michael cohen by intermediaries acting for the ukrainian leader, petro poroshenko. ukraine later stopped its investigation into mr trump's former campaign manager, paul manafort. mr cohen denies taking the payment. there have also been denials from two men who are named as intermediaries, and from a lawyer who represents mr cohen's alleged partner, felix sater.

the ukrainian president's spokesman declined to comment. paul wood reports. 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 kiev. 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, "from 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. let's talk more about this. the bbc‘s paul wood joins me now. this is not the first time that michael cohen has been accused of taking money in order to arrange access of some sort to donald trump, what is different this time? well, the allegation we had about mr cohen was that he was arranging access for us companies to the us 0val was that he was arranging access for us companies to the us oval office, but this is a foreign government, something quite different, and if proven, far more serious, not least because i do not think mr cohen is registered as a representative of a

foreign government, namely ukraine. it is important to underline that our sources are not saying it is important to underline that our sources are not saying that donald trump knew about this arrangement, still less that he took money from this arrangement, and they are also not saying that mr trump asked president boruc and go to drop the manafort investigation, although that followed when poroshenko returned to kiev, coincidental or not. so what has happened to relations between kiev and washington since that meeting with president trump macro and president poroshenko? it has been a very interesting art, and you have to go back to the election, when there were two assumptions that the ukrainians made, one, that hillary clinton would win, and that donald trump would be very pro—russian and anti—ukrainian if he were elected. so our sources say that a decision was taken, a disastrous miscalculation, if it is as described, for president poroshenko to intervene in the us election by leaking material to damage paul manafort, who have to resign. that

is why they were desperate to get the meeting. fast forward today, and you find that, rather curiously, the us has sold 210 javelin anti—tank to ukraine, something never contemplated, never undertaken when president obama was in the white house, yet you have this president to everyone believes is tilting towards russia is selling symbolically important anti—tank weapons to ukraine. this could be another brick on the pile for michael cohen, news elsewhere today that his long time business partner has already flipped, supposedly because he wants to avoid jail time. the president has tweeted before, let's look at what he has said over speculation that he might be flipped, i don't see michael doing that despite the horrible witch and... does this perhaps raise the

chance that michael cohen could be flipped? well, that is the speculation, obviously, and anybody who follows this closely, people with legal connections, as i say, the obvious play for michael cohen is to flip, but i guess only he knows whether he will remain loyal to the boss, a man he said he would ta ke to the boss, a man he said he would take a bullet for. this is a man who metaphorically knows where the bodies are buried. the current round of michael cohen stories started when it emerged he had paid $130 of hush money to this porn star, stormy daniels, who claims she had an affair with mr daniels, who claims she had an affairwith mrtrump ten daniels, who claims she had an affair with mr trump ten years ago. that could be a campaign finance violation, the money paid two days before people went to vote in the election, and it can only be interpreted as something designed to keep the news off the front pages, just one of many legal troubles that michael cohen is facing. if he does

flip, michael cohen is facing. if he does flip, people who look at these matters closely say president trump should be very worried. 0k, paul wood, thank you very much for joining us. donald trump has an alternative theory on the russia investigation — the problem is not that moscow interfered in the us election, it's that the fbi spied on his 2016 campaign. there's no evidence yet for that, but the president wants an investigation to see if it happened. and he wants to shape the public‘s opinion of this complex story. he sent out a series of colourful tweets this morning, all with the theme of painting his campaign as the victim of fbi abuse. there was the now familiar "witch hunt" and the new phrase "spygate", not to mention "spy scandal" and of course "no collusion". a short time ago, mr trump said it was time to get to the bottom of things. everybody wants this solved, but a lot of bad things have happened, we now call it spygate. you're calling it spygate. what i want is i want total transparency. wait, you have to have transparency.

even they probably want transparency, because this issue supersedes the party. and these types of statements and tweets may be working. a new opinion poll suggests the number of americans who think the russia investigation is politically motivated is now greater than the number who think it's justified. 0ne surprising person who disagrees is the president's former strategist steve bannon. he told bbc newsnight the mueller probe should go ahead. i'm in the middle of the mueller investigation, right? the very first thing, when mueller brings you in, one of the very first things he wants to know is your conversations with the president. you think mueller should be fired? i do not think mueller should be fired. bob mueller is an honourable guy, you know, he's a combat marine, you know, he's somebody that's served his country. i don't agree with everything that has been going on with the special counsel, but i think he's run it. i hope at some time he does issue a report, rudy giuliani says it's going to be some time

in the fall. do you think donald trump should testify? i do not think that the president should testify, ijust don't, i don't think it rises to that level. i think he can answer those questions in writing. i do think he ought to answer the questions. why wouldn't you let him, then? because when the president assumes the position of being above the law... he's not above the law — i said he should answer the questions in writing. president trump... let's step back for a second — in the reagan, the clinton and the bush administration, all situations with this, even nixon, all had situations in this where you had a special counsel or a special prosecutor, ok? trump, unlike any of the others, waived executive privilege immediately and shipped over 1.1 million documents and then made everybody in the white house go up and answer every question on capitol hill. joining me now is the republican pollster and author kristen soltis anderson. thanks very much for coming in, what's you make of these polls

showing that half of americans think the russia probe is politically motivated? two things going on. one, the length of the probe, i think the fa ct the length of the probe, i think the fact that it has gone on for over a year. if you looked at polls a couple of months ago, even majorities of republicans would say that they think the investigation should continue, that we want to get to the bottom of this. but now that it has gone on for a year, more and more folks are going, let's wrap this up, is there anything there, a smoking gun? two, i think the press's approval ratings have gotten better, now approaching 44%, the best of his presidency since his inauguration, and as people are feeling more positively about the president, it allows him to have a little more credibility with voters when he comes out and says, i believe this is over. even on a totally different issue? yes. does it work for the president, tweeting like he did today, spygate, no

collusion, which aren't? it seems thatis collusion, which aren't? it seems that is filtering through, beyond his base. something that he is very wise about when it comes to communication is repeating phrases over and over, so that they eventually become the way people talk about an easy. it doesn't surprise me that the clip you showed as him saying spygate, wanting to say it a few times, he likes to label things, brand things, say it a few times, he likes to labelthings, brand things, control the language used to discuss an issue, innovative shape it more favourably for an outcome he wants, he is doing that here. these will be the most important midterms in a generation, particularly of donald trump loses the house, and the temptation for the democrats will be to campaign on impeachment — could it work against them?” to campaign on impeachment — could it work against them? i think that it work against them? i think that it would be a very bad decision for democrats to run on impeachment. when i go out into the country and talk to swing voters, even if they don't like is to eat is, if they have grave concerns about his temperament and worries along those lines, what they don't want to see is more gridlock in washington, they

don't want to see greater conflict and more toxicity. impeachment would be exactly that, so republicans would quite like to see democrats on re cord would quite like to see democrats on record as supporting impeachment, because they view it as giving them a better opportunity to win swing vote rs a better opportunity to win swing voters who do not want more gridlock. your book is about millennials, the majority now in american workforce, younger americans, perhaps more activated about gun reform, i am just intrigued whether a single issue like gun reform could make a difference in the election? interestingly, gun reform is one issue where there is not as big of a generation gap as an certain other things like i have seen in terms of immigration, for instance. sol things like i have seen in terms of immigration, for instance. so i am not yet convinced that the gun issue will be the single dividing line or single driving issue behind this election. a big question for democrats will be whether they can motivate those millennials to turn out to the polls. the lenny is no fans of tramp, they have broken away

from the republican party, but there are signs that enthusiasm is wavering. —— millennials on no fans of trump. and they will need their votes to get over the finish line, the democrats. thank you for coming in. donald trump i was going to sake, he is the master of distraction, and the drumbeat of spygate is deafening, but you feel he may be deafening other things out that we might be, i don't know, turning away from things that are really important when we are focusing on russia and collusion? yeah, interesting column today in the new york times by a liberal commentator who was suggesting that he said, you know, mueller scares me, because as we talk about the russia investigation, actually this is playing into exactly what donald trump wants, he wants us to be talking about the russia investigation, was his argument, because then we are not talking about other things, foreign policy

problems or things around incompetence in the administration or whatever it is. those things are not getting talked about, it is all about russia, and all of that suits donald trump, and these latest polls suggest he may be right. yulia skripal, who was one of two victims poisoned by a nerve agent in salisbury in march, has released her first televised statement since being discharged from hospital. she and her father, the former russian spy sergei skripal, were found slumped unconscious on a bench after the attack. in a video statement to reuters, filmed in an undisclosed location, yulia skripal says one day she'd like to return to russia. the british government blames russia, but moscow has always denied involvement. here's our correspondent daniel sandford. for more than 11 weeks, she's been at the centre of an international scandal that saw dozens of russian diplomats expelled from britain, the united states and europe. this afternoon, she stepped out of the shadows in this, her first public appearance since being attacked translation: we are so lucky to have both survived this attempted assassination.

i don't want to describe the details, but the clinical treatment was invasive, painful and depressing. our recovery has been slow and extremely painful. i'm grateful to all of the wonderful, kind staff at salisbury hospital, a place i have become all too familiar with. i also think fondly of those who helped us on the street on the day of the attack. the nerve agent attack left parts of salisbury looking like a disaster movie, but also caused a huge row with the russian embassy in london, who demanded access to the skripals, something she dealt with in today's statement. translation: i take one day at a time and want to help care for my father until his full recovery. in the longer term, i hope to return home to my country. i wish to address a couple of issues directly and have chosen to interrupt my rehabilitation to make this short statement. i ask that everyone respects the privacy of me and my father. we need time to recover and come to terms

with everything that has happened. i'm grateful for the offers of assistance from the russian embassy, but at the moment i do not wish to avail myself of their services. also i want to reiterate what i said in my earlier statement, that no—one speaks for me or my father but ourselves. she also released a handwritten copy of the statement in both russian and english. her neck showed signs of a tracheotomy, suggesting that her recovery had, as she said, been both difficult and painful. she and her father sergei were attacked on the 11th of march. he was only released from hospital on friday and has not yet been seen in public. a couple of interesting things about that today, the timing, there was a foreign ministry spokesman in russia

today saying, where are they, why have they not spoken? the suggestion being the british government were keeping them out of sight, or refusing them permission to speak, so interesting she has given this interview, because pressure has been building. the other thing that i thought was interesting what she made it clear that she only speaks for herself, that no—one else is speaking for her. you will remember that her cousin was speaking a few weeks ago, saying that she had had some conversation with her, and clearly she is keen to point out that there are people in russia who might want to, you know, put people off the centre little bit and give a false narrative to what actually happened. yeah, we are getting a statement from the russian foreign ministry at the moment, they are saying we want yulia skripal to know that there was not a single day when the russian foreign ministry and the russian embassy in london did not try to arrange contact with, with the chief aim of checking that she is not being held by force, that

no—one else is being passed off as her, and to get information direct from the source about her condition and that of her father, that statement from the russian foreign ministry, picking up on what you are saying. the crown prince of saudi arabia has made a big effort to portray himself as a reformer, but in the last few days he's locked up 11 women's rights activists. human rights groups say the detainees — most of whom are women — were simply campaigning to end discrimination against women. in a few weeks, women will be allowed to drive in the kindgom for the first time, but they will still have to ask a man's permission to travel, work or get health care. activists say the women recently asked permission to set up a charity to offer support to victims of domestic violence. officials accuse the group of "suspicious contact with foreign parties" and state media have called them "traitors". interesting, this, isn't it? go on. the timing, i think the timing of this is interesting, look, they have

made this big play, mohammed bin salman came to the united states and did interviews with american networks, saying he was a champion of women's rights, and that things needed to change, then he made the announcement they would be allowed to drive, and now the government is clamping down and locking up these detainees. a lot of people think that it detainees. a lot of people think thatitis detainees. a lot of people think that it is being made clear to them that it is being made clear to them that this right to drive is being given by authorities, being granted by the king and the crown prince, and that social activism is not going to win people more rights. so there is reform, but only going to a certain extent. not good pr, though, is it? part of the principle of this reform is to encourage business and investment in saudi arabia, this big vision, he wants new money to come in as they diversify away from oil, and you cannot say you are reforming if you are looking up the people pushing for reform. i guess it will

be and how much publicity in america this story gets, the crown prince is working very hard to make sure that women being allowed to drive will get a lot of international attention, arranging for foreign journalists to cover the day. he will hope that will get attention, and in the story about detainees, women being locked up, who are trying to get more rights. philip roth, regarded by many as the greatest american writer of his generation, has died. the pulitzer prize—winning novelist drew inspiration from jewish family life and american ideals. he died at the age of 85. his best and most notorious book was portnoy‘s complaint, a story of a young bachelor with an adolescent obsession with masturbation. in all roth wrote more than 30 books, officially retiring in 2012. a note on his computer said, "the struggle with writing is done." david sillito reports. the 2000 national humanities medal to philip roth. that medal was a recognition of a lifetime of writing. 31 novels and through it all, two great themes — america and a sometimes shocking

honesty about life and sex. i was very curious as a writer as to how far i could go. what happens if you go further? shame isn't for writers. you have to be shameless. nowhere was this more evidence than in portnoy‘s complaint. it turned this writer from newark, newjersey into a literary star. the novels that followed ranged widely, autobiographical, political, surreal, but at the heart of them a repeated theme — hisjewish identity and america. in the literary landscape, we lost one of the faces from mount rushmore. he was a defining person in the american cultural and intellectual life of the last 50 years. he will be missed enormously. we still have his books, but it's much more fun having him as well. i work during the day...

what marked him out is that while many novelists peak and then tail off, his latest work was some of his strongest. stories that took on vietnam, racism, and in the plot against america, he returned to his childhood to imagine what if fascism had taken hold in america. i was able to imagine the american reality, and i was able to imagine what would my mother and father and brother and i, our relatives and neighbours and family, what would we have done in this situation, if we were confronted with this crisis? it was trademark roth. over the years, he had written what was his own emotional story of america, from newark to that medal at the white house. on stage when he gave me the medal, he whispered to me, "you are not slowing down, are you?" i said, "i am indeed slowing down." yes, he was done.

there were to be no more books. philip roth had told his story. you can't overstate how huge philip roth is in modern american literature, and he has had a revival recently, because his 2004 book, the plot against america, has been widely read after the last election, people very interested in what he had to say. yeah, one of the greats, philip roth, who has died at the age of 85. this is beyond 100 days from the bbc. coming up for viewers on the bbc news channel and bbc world news, final arguments are made ahead of a referendum on ireland's abortion ban — we hear the thoughts of women from both campaigns. and the family feud which saw a 30—year—old man taken to court by his parents, forcing him to move out of home. we'l have the judge's decision. that's still to come. hello there.

for the vast majority, today has been another gloriously dry, sunny and fairly warm day. there's been a bit more chill to the wind. the best of the temperatures have been further west, south—west england into wales, where we have our temperatures close to the mid 20s celsius. further east, though, a bit of a disappointing day, particularly through the morning, grey skies and mist rolled in off the north sea, which did burn back to the coast, so we did see some sunshine here, but cool along the coast because of the onshore breeze. late in the afternoon, during this evening, more cloud, a few showers pushing into the south—east of england, spreading westwards overnight, into much of central southern england and in towards south wales, the odd thunderstorm mixed in too. further north, a drier story with clear skies, again one or two cool spots, a return to low cloud and mist across north sea coasts. so this is the pattern into thursday, high pressure dominating for most, we have this weather front across the south of the country, which is go to bring a different feeling sort of day, more cloud, scattered showers,

thunderstorms affecting southern england in towards the south of wales, and into the latter parts of the morning of the afternoon, the odd heavy downpour could turn up there, so watch out if you are heading out on the roads. so a cloudier story further south, sunshine to the midlands, northwards again, cloudy skies across eastern coastal areas, where it will feel quite chilly. for much of scotland and in towards northern ireland, some sunshine, top temperatures of 22, maybe 23 degrees, slightly more humid feel to things across the south. as we head in towards thursday night, that first area of showers moves away, then a second one moves up on the near continent, this one more widespread, some heavy, perhaps thundery rain affecting much of central and northern england in towards wales as the night wears on. also into friday morning, so quite a wet start, the rain tending to ease down, possibility of thunderstorms developing too, but good stores of sunshine to the south, quite warm and humid, lots of sunshine in scotland and northern ireland as well. now, this is the charge

towards the weekend, the air mass starts to pull warm air from the near continent into the weekend, so feeling quite thundery, high pressure to the north will keep things settled, low pressure with this front to the south tending to keep things a bit more showery, so certainly the odd shower or thunderstorm, feeling warmer further north, cooler but try with some sunshine. this is beyond 100 days, with me katty kay in washington — christian fraser's in london. our top stories — sources tell the bbc that donald trump's lawyer michael cohen was "paid by ukraine" to arrange white house talks injune last year. yulia skripal, one of the two russians poisoned with a powerful nerve agent in salisbury two months ago, says she is lucky to have survived. coming up in the next half hour: a bad deal is not an option — secretary of state pompeo warns the us is ready to walk away from talks with north korea. the customs arrangement favoured by leading brexiteers would leave british businesses up to £20 billion worse off according to the uk's leading tax man. let us know your thoughts by using the hashtag,

#beyond100days. north korea is preparing to dismantle its only nuclear test facility. the punggye—ri site will be blown up after kim jong—un announced the end of nuclear tests. foreign journalists have been flown in to watch. to reach the site they have to trek across the country by plane, train and bus — ending with a long hike. pyongyang says blowing up the facility is a sign of good faith ahead of next month's historic nuclear summit. president trump cast doubt on whether the meeting will actually take place saying that we will know for sure next week. but secretary of state mike pompeo has said the summit is still on forjune 12. we have a generational opportunity to resolve the international security challenge. 0ur eyes are wide open

to the lessons of history, but we are optimistic that we can achieve an outcome that would be great for the world. 0ur posture will not change until we see credible steps taken for the complete verifiable and irreversible denuclearisation of the korean peninsula. with me is former us deputy assistant secretary of defense for east asia, abe denmark. let's quickly look at that issue about blowing up the nuclear test site. we have seen something similar in1988, site. we have seen something similar in 1988, when they blew up the water cooling tower. but then things didn't go so well. furman that is right. we have been down this road before. north korea has agreed to denuclearise before, and we have had several conversations over the past decade, and yet north korea can continue down the path towards deeney gradation. the challenge,

though, and what north korea watchers have been single month is that north korea is really not interested in denuclearise station. what they want is something that so far president and has not been interested in. if president trump decides to go ahead with this summit, and you can't get denuclearisation guaranteed from the north koreans, does that mean there wasn't much point having a summit?” think there is quite a lot that can happen short of dean did —— of denuclearisation. we have already seen them shut down the site. there are other things that the united states could want short of denuclearisation, that are cut of their capabilities, freezing their production facilities, getting rid of some of them more problematic missile capabilities that threaten

our allies and the homeland. those are all things that could be on the table, but the question is, if president trump is keen to get something short of denuclearisation, and whether he is willing to give concessions to achieve something short of that. i suppose what the events of the last two days show us all the risks of doing things in the way that they are doing it. your bookings resident into the situation here where it is not clear if you will achieve anything? there is a lot of things that are unclear. these things have been worked out overtime. he these things have been worked out over time. he wanted to engage with north korea at the highest level possible to try and figure out what this deal would be. possible to try and figure out what this dealwould be. he raised expectations for this deal, very specifically. and the fact that north korea is coming in when most of us who watch north korea is

surprised about... think of an approach that doesn't require an immediate miraculous deal, but puts us on immediate miraculous deal, but puts usona immediate miraculous deal, but puts us on a long—term path. immediate miraculous deal, but puts us on a long-term path. stay with us, because want to get your thoughts on something else. yes, this is quite a odd one. the state department... the state department in the united states is investigating a sonic attack on one of its government official in china. the employee, who had been assigned to the southern chinese city of guangzhou, reported "subtle and vague, but abnormal, sensations of sound and pressure." on his return to america, he was diagnosed with a mild traumatic brain injury. it sounds odd but this has happened before in cuba, and it led to the withdrawal of most of the us staff from the embassy in havana, in late 2016. yes, what is going on? it is hard to say at this stage. it looks like as least one person, official was

subjected to a sonic attack in china. it is unclear... you know this is the story that everyone will be talking about, they will want a nswe i’s. be talking about, they will want answers. it is crazy, right? it is really shocking. the idea that the chinese would purposely target an american working in an official capacity. it is not easy delivery in china... believable? there have been times when an american officials has had run—ins with chinese security services. nothing to this degree of severity, and is very disturbing, andl severity, and is very disturbing, and i hope, my hope would be that the us government, the trump administers she takes it seriously commented to the chinese government, both to see what happens, and also ginger that it never happens again. —— also to ensure that it never happens again. we have not got back to the bottom of what happened last time, in cuba, when people in cuba

said they had also been the victims of some kind of sonic attack. let's see if we ever get to the bottom of that one. british households are £900 worse off than the bank of england forecast they would be, prior to the referendum. the governor of the bank of england, mark carney, says it's because businesses are "holding back" over brexit uncertainty. and there's no sign of that uncertainty ending anytime soon. the cabinet remains deadlocked over the two differing proposals for customs arrangements, once britain leaves the trading bloc. 0ne system being considered is the so—called ‘customs partnership' which would involve the uk acting on the eu's behalf when imports arrive from the rest of the world, applying the eu's own tariffs and rules. the other option on the table is the so—called maximum facilitation — or ‘max fac‘ — favoured by brexiteers like borisjohnson. this proposal aims to keep borders open and free flowing, using state of the art technology to minimise the need for checks post brexit. we're joined now from westminster by the chair of the treasury select committee nicky morgan. very good to see you. george parker

of the fda has treated to night that he has been told the cabinet has never been briefed by eight mrc, that they max fac option might cost billions. this has been on the table since august, and you have not been told? that is extraordinary. both visited to stick that you have just used, the statement from mark carney, the governor of the bank of england yesterday, and today's figure from hm revenue and customs, both revealed and evidence given to the treasury select committee yesterday and today, and i think this shows the power of the select committees when trying to an pick this very complicated, this is just one, corrugated issue related to brexit, but it does show that you

have to ask the question, and i don't know, i'm not in the room. the presentations have been given to cabinet members. we did ask the head of revenue and customs today, have you briefed ministers direct on what we are going to be discussing and then i said, had he spoken to be prime minister about it? the answer at the time was, yes. if they haven't been told that, all been asked questions, then that is extremely. that is what the select committees are for, to get the information added to the public debate. meanwhile, we have another... from the eu's chief negotiator, said that even if there was a... and that brings us back to the single market. you would say we need to be close to the single market, as well. yes, that is absolutely right. 80% of the uk economy is based on services anyway. so, of course, when you're talking

about customs, we're talking about goods being traded out. it is important for manufacturers, car sector, our pharmaceuticals, our chemical sectors, but of course, things like financial services and other professional services, something that we are particularly focused on, that is absolutely right to say that the second half if you like this equation is what is called alignment, being part of the single market, it is these those things that david davis told the house of commons about 18 months ago. want to have the same benefits of being part of the single market customs union without actually being part of it because the referendum said the prime ministers's decision has said that we are going to leave. these are all of the issues that are now being asi are all of the issues that are now being as i say and picked, understood, and complexities of brexit, the fact that it has taken us brexit, the fact that it has taken us 40 years to get this lot into being part of the eu, but it is going to take this time, and whether there are other models which we

could be part of even if only for a period of time, the transition period, as we acted the european union. nikki, is there an arrangement on the customs union that would ever satisfied both brexiteers and remainers? digg it has to be negotiated. adding the english in question is, is there a current arrangement? the answer is no, because being part of the current customs union means that we can't negotiate our own trade deals with other countries around the world. that's the brexiteers is and it'sjimmy world. that's the brexiteers is and it's jimmy important part world. that's the brexiteers is and it'sjimmy important part of why they wanted to leave the use, but they wanted to leave the use, but the prime minister has looked about getting an approach —— and associate membership. i think part of the question is can some sort of arrangement be negotiated that respects friction straight as far as possible, but also this issue about avoiding a hard border on the island

of ireland. that is where the cabinet is 20 get to. it is undoubtedly difficult, but it is something that will have to be resolved sooner rather than later. 0k. nicky morgan, thank you very much forjoining us, there. giuseppe conte has been asked to form italy's new government. after meeting with president mattarella, mr conte received the green light to put a cabinet together. the decision was delayed because of a controversy over mr conte's academic record, following allegations he embellished his cv. his appointment will be good for his cv, nonetheless. nfl owners have approved a new policy requiring american football players to stand during the national anthem — but allows them the option of staying in the locker room if they prefer. (00v) the sport is anxious to avoid a repeat of the controversy the sport is anxious to avoid a repeat of the controversy which divided the league last season — when players kneeled to draw attention to racial injustice, prompting criticism from donald

trump. this is beyond 100 days. still to come — evicted by his own parents — the 30—year—old man whose mum and dad took him to court to make him leave home. here, the labour mp david lammy has said oxford university is "failing badly" after the institution revealed figures showing around a third of its colleges accepted three or fewer black applicants in the last three years. 0xford agreed it needs to do more. elaine dunkley reports. oxford university is steeped in tradition, but when it comes to admissions, there are calls for change. its students are still overwhelmingly white, affluent and from the south. those least likely to go to oxford are black students and those from the north—east. these students in their third year say they there has been some progress, but more needs to be done. i joined a programme called target oxbridge when i was in year 11.

and that really helped me to see myself in the space, and me to see myself fitting in. i am predicted aab, but i want a star a b. but at clinton school in newcastle, aspirations are high, but the numbers applying for oxford are low. there are good universities close by, and perception is a big factor. you never hear of anyone, someone from newcastle who has gone there, or you just don't hear about it, it is always to and very wealthy areas that people would go. the fact is that they are not choosing to go to oxford, they are choosing to go to other places. this head of sixth form says it is the university that isn't doing enough. a lot of it is interview —based and it is perception based. if you have not maybe had that support or be used to that sort of questioning that you might get if you have got a tutor who is able to work with you on a one—to—one basis, or someone who is able to build up your confidence in those interviewed settings more readily, then that makes it much more difficult for students to

advance themselves. in the last three years, corpus christi college had just one black british student, despite attracting a dozen such applications. london and the south—east made up nearly half of applications, while the north—east account for just 2%. at the heart of this issue, are britain's top institutions closed to talented black candidates, than those from poorer backgrounds? unless the status quo changes, social mobility will stall. you're watching beyond one hundred days. ireland will hold a referendum this friday on whether to repeal the eighth amendment of their consitution, which bans abortion. ireland was the first country in the world to legalise same—sex marriage through a popular vote. but it still has some of the most restrictive abortion laws anywhere in the developed world. it's reported that 3,000 women travel across the irish sea for a termination in the uk every year.

0pinion polls showed a strong lead for the yes side when the referendum was announced earlier this year. but recently the polls have been narrowing. emma vardy has more. in the rural west of ireland, anti—abortion beliefs traditionally hold sway. renua wants to be 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. newsreel: 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 tracey, 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, and 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. from dublin we are joined by author louise o'neill who is voting yes to repeal, and christine darcy of the ‘save the 8th‘ campaign. christine, let me start with you. irish abortions happen, theyjust don't happen on irish soil, the eight has failed. the eighth protect both mother and baby, so you can say that we have abortion in ireland, but if you look at owns that in the uk, you have one in five pregnancies end in abortion, and our stats look a little bit more like one in 20. i

think the reason that i will agree that every abortion is a personal tragedy for that woman who doesn't ever get to meet a child, and in abortion is very difficult for a woman. so we want to do you amounts of abortion that we have in ireland. every single one is still a tragedy, so we demand so much better for every single one is still a tragedy, so we demand so much betterfor our women, and we want, you know, when they legislated across europe for abortion every campaign admitted that abortion saleswomen, it is a sign of our failure that we are not living up to what should be compassionate care, could be profamily, should be better services for her and her baby. but abortion... ok, louise? ithinki would disagree. the eighth amendment has protected women, i would disagree. if you asked the woman who died in 2012, crying out for an abortion, if you ask for another lady who died because she wasn't

givena cancer lady who died because she wasn't given a cancer treatment in 1983 because she was pregnant,... me i'd get there, there are a number of suggestions across the board —— obstetricians across the board...” will interject again... peter boyle and his the ahead of the institute but obstetricians and gynaecologists said that the lady in 2012 did die because of it. island has been named -- island has been named as one of the safest visitor have a baby in the safest visitor have a baby in the world. of course we want to limit and lower the numbers of abortion, but the countries in the world that have legal abortion, such as switzerland, they have the lowest abortion rates in the world, and they have legal abortion. christine, let mejust ask they have legal abortion. christine, let me just ask your question, here in the united states when restrictions are put on abortion, what happened if it becomes not a moral issue or a health issue, it

becomes an economic issue, and people who have the means will find a way to get an abortion. if ireland persists with a ban on abortion, and you just making a choice where if you just making a choice where if you are rich even go to the uk and have an abortion? v did have the money can't? i agree. i am being at the example —— of the united states. it was strategically put in areas of low economic status in the states. we are saying to poor women that it would be better for we are saying to poor women that it would be betterfor paul women to not be born. —— for your babies to not be born. —— for your babies to not be born. empowering those women to carry those women to turn, and help them along the way. how about the women who do not want to carry the women who do not want to carry the babies to time, and because of class issues, . .. let

the babies to time, and because of class issues,... let me the babies to time, and because of class issues, . .. let me jump the babies to time, and because of class issues,... let me jump in. let's louise finished her point christine. i was going to say firstly, of course we are saying that women do not want to have abortions, but women sometimes need to have abortions, and it is really reductive to say that... if you are someone who had been raped, or someone who had been raped, or someone who had a fatal feature abnormality, or if you are someone who was suicidal at the thought of being pregnant, i have had friends who travelled for them, he didn't wa nt who travelled for them, he didn't want them but needed them, and i think it is about having compassionate health care and raynaud's women home,...” compassionate health care and raynaud's women home,... i must interject here, compassionate —— raynaud's women home,... i must interject here, compassionate -- and must interject, we're not talking about... that is incorrect. ok, ok. ladies, ladies, ladies. we can't

actually hear what either of you are saying when you speak of each other, so let mejust saying when you speak of each other, so let me just try and clarify one point, because i think this is important, is that what the no campaign is saying is that if this referendum passes, ireland will go from having the most restrictive to having the most liberal laws. in europe. reconciliation of abortion. christine, please frame from jumping in. is that a concern, louise? well, if you look at studies of most of the countries across europe, countries that have liverpool —— liberal abortion laws tend to have better education around sex and contraception, and they tend to have the lowest abortion rates in the world. i think that is what we are hoping to see here in ireland, as well. irish abortions have always happened. irish women have always

had abortions and the ways will. louise, thank you very much. christine, we have to leave it there. thank you very much for joining us. clearly this is a conversation that has very strong emotions on both sides, and will continue this conversation for a long time but we have to prise it at some time. christine and louise, 20 very much forjoining us. the parents of a 30—year—old man in new york state have been forced to take drastic measures to get their son to move out — they are suing him. court documents say michael rotondo does not pay rent or help with chores, and has ignored his parents‘ offers of money to get him settled. despite presenting him with five eviction letters, christina and mark rotondo say their son still refuses to move. michael is arguing that legally, he was not given enough notice to leave. he was giving 30 years notice to

move on, it is time, and if you're not been to help with the washing up in my house, that will not work. you said to me, we're talking about my children, small children, the problem is when you get older, they flee the net and you wonder what you are going to talk about. maybe you would think these parents would want him around, so they can get on with their lives. flashbacks and they don't have to get on with their lives. it is a fact of our economic world that children tend to move back in, but you can help it. if my son, felix, didn't help with any chores, i would get pretty fed up of him after six years. six years of helping out, it isn't possible. aberdeen my fixer notice, tonight.

you have 20 years. and then you're gone. you have to go. we will see you here tomorrow. thank you so much for watching, goodbye. further east, bit of disappointment. we did see some sunshine here, but it was cooler along the coast. most places have been sunny today. we will see some more cloud pushing westwards. further north, it is a

drier story with clear skies and again, one or two cool spot. and we will see a return to that low cloud and most across north sea coast. this is the pattern as we had on to thursday. high pressure dominating the most, we do have is whether front across the south of the country which will bring a different feeling. more cloud around, and into the latter part of the morning and afternoon, heavy downpour could turn up afternoon, heavy downpour could turn up in some areas. what out if you are heading up on the road. cloudy history further south, sunshine to the midlands and northwards. cloudy skies across eastern coast areas where it will feel quite chilly, but from much of scotland, it will be some sunshine. temperatures of 22 maybe 23 degrees, and slightly more humid across the south. as we had on to thursday night, that first area of loud moves on. another one, a bit more widespread, with some heavy,

thundery rain affecting much of central northern england into wales and also into friday morning. quite and also into friday morning. quite a wet start, here. the rain tending to clear up. good spells and sunshine to the south where it will feel quite warm and humid. a lot of sunshine across northern ireland and scotland, as well. this is how we had an incident weekend, start to get some warm air. it will feel quite thundery, but high—pressure to the north will keep it settled, low pressure a little bit more shari to the south. it's good feel warmer further north, a bit cooler but dry with some sunshine. this is bbc news. i'm shaun ley. the headlines at 8:00. yulia skripal, poisoned with a nerve agent in salisbury, says she and her father are lucky to be alive. translation: we are so lucky to have both survived this

attempted assassination. to have both survived this i don't want to describe the details, but the clinical treatment was invasive, painful, and depressing. customs officials say the system favoured by brexiteers could cost businesses up to 20 billion pounds a year the bbc has been told that michael cohen, translation: we are so lucky to have both survived this personal lawyer to us president donald trump, received a secret payment to arrange talks between mr trump and the president of ukraine. gagged by her colleagues and taped to a chair, this woman who complained of a racist and misogynistic culture in a scottish government agency, says this was