this is bbc news i'm shaun ley. the headlines at eight. president trump says he's done nothing wrong as his former lawyer pleads guilty in court to breaking the law on election finance — michael cohen claims mr trump ordered him to pay hush—money to two alleged former mistresses. did you know about the payment?‘ later on i knew. later on. but what he did, and they weren't taken out of campaign finance. president trump directed that michael: used yesterday under oath, directed michael: to make illegal payments. it is not a dispute. michael cohen's lawyer says he has more damaging information to spill. we'll be live in the states getting reaction from both republican and democrat shortly over 1,000 children born in the uk to eu nationals have been told they can't renew their passports because of a home office error. an illegal gun factory is uncovered by crime investigators on an industrial estate in east sussex. hiring more magistrates

with criminal records would increase diversity and boost falling numbers — that's according to the head of the magistrates association — we'll be speaking to him within the next half hour. american actress chloe moretz talks about her experiences growing up with ‘gay conversion therapy‘ — the subject of her new film. we dealt with a lot of self hate when it came out and they tried to, which is very common within the community, that we grow up and. welcome to bbc news. president trump is facing serious questions about his knowledge of illegal campaign finance payments, made during his run for the white house in 2016.

it follows a guilty plea by his one time personal lawyer, on charges of election irregularities. michael cohen admitted breaking the law, but said it was mr trump who'd directed him, to pay two women hush money, to cover up alledged affairs, before election day. mr cohen's guilty plea came on the same day president trump's former campaign chairman paul manafort, was convicted of financialfraud, in a separate case. mr trump insists he's done nothing wrong, and says there's a "witch hunt" to get him, orchestrasted by his opponents. 0ur north america editorjon sopel has the latest. like an episode of 2a, a blockbuster drama played out in a most momentous five minutes that could shake this gene presidency. at a courthouse in new york, donald trump's long—term lawyer and mr fixit michael cohen pleads guilty to a series of crimes and implicates the president. 200 miles south in another federal courtroom, his one—time campaign manager, paul manafort,

is found guilty of a series of tax fraud charges. in washington itself, the president is being swept out of the white house to fly to west virginia, rocked by the unfolding events. paul manafort, who ran the campaign in the run—up to the election faced a lengthy jail sentence. but no doubt the bigger deal is michael cohen because of what he said in court. under oath he said, in effect, the president instructed him to breakfederal law in buying the silence of a porn star and playboy model. what he did was he worked to pay money to silence two women who had information that he believed would be detrimental to the 2016 campaign and the candidate and the campaign. and his lawyer is making clear he has more to say on other issues. he had matters that would be of interest to the special council relating to pre—knowledge of computer hacking by donald trump. which, if true, if true,

would constitute knowledge of a crime committed by a foreign government in hacking our computers which was part of the indictment of 12 russians that the special council has already published. when donald trump arrived in west virginia he did not talk about michael cohen, only his former campaign manager. i feel very badly for paul manafort, he worked for bob dole and ronald reagan, he worked for many people. this is the way it ends up. at the rally, there were familiar chants which seemed a little ironic given the circumstances. drain the swamp, they chanted. and this from the president. fake news and the russian witchhunt, we've got a whole big combination. where is the collusion? they are still looking for a collusion, where is the collusion? find some collusion.

this morning he took to twitter, taking aim at michael cohen and defending paul manafort. and with some gallows humour, this... donald trump returned last night to a storm tossed washington. it's been his darkest 2a hours as the legaljeopardy around him grew significantly. well this evening president trump sat down for an interview with fox news and had this to say about the michael cohen case. did you know about the payments?

later on i knew, later on. we have to understand, what he did, and he we re to understand, what he did, and he were not ta ken to understand, what he did, and he were not taken out of campaign finance, that is a much bigger thing. did they come out of the campaign? they did not come out of the campaign. they came from me. i tweeted, about the payments. 0ur north america editor jon sopel spoke to us from washington a short time ago and explained what he thought the emerging white house strategy is. well i think you've got, kind of a twofold strategy. 0n well i think you've got, kind of a twofold strategy. on one hand, you've got everything being done to discredit michael: as much as possible, peyton is a liar, paint and as someone unreliable and in the hope that it will, they will not be interested in the testimony that he may have to get. because we have to michael: is an offer, known only to rsvp, but my that trumped our

meeting, the hacking of the e—mails, and all of those other issues were a p pa re ntly and all of those other issues were apparently michael cohen has something to say. so that is part of it. the other part is the build—up all manafort, west and not a victim of this, the tax fraud really did matter, because it was 12 years ago and said it was a big problem. i will you just heard from that interview that we just had, is for the president to say, i did have limited knowledge, is somehow not a campaignfinance limited knowledge, is somehow not a campaign finance issue because he paid out of his own pocket. well i think that will still require some legal exploration. but i think his supporters who say i'm in charge of this, fine, it is all a hoax and a witchhunt, even though the problems have become much more intense. let's speak now to two people who have worked inside the white house. in washington is — david rivkin — he's a lawyer who served in thejustice department as a legal advisor under president ronland regan and later to president george h w bush.

and in chicago is laura schwartz — who was a senior adviser to president bill clinton during his 8 years in the white house. thank you both forjoining us. let me start with how seriously is trompe affected by this and the past 24 trompe affected by this and the past 2a hours? trompe affected by this and the past 24 hours? legally, very little. the palm manafort conviction has little to do with anything he has done for president trump. as far as:'s qt please are concerned, first of all, leaving aside the question of michael:, and leaving aside the question of michael: , and what leaving aside the question of michael:, and what is been brought to bear by hand because of the sleep bargain. even if he believes that he was told by president trump to do this, the offence under what some would call it a violation. requires

a high level, knowing. in intention? more than knowledge. knowingly and willfully, so entirely possible for the situation where president trump assumed, did not tell him that and thatis assumed, did not tell him that and that is how michael cole and understood him. my last point in the legal slide is, from being indicted and prosecuted. none of it really has legal significance, it is all political and whether or not democrats take the house, no one knows. it is not been written. but legally i would not worry too much about it. do you believe you should be worried? yes, i would. mainly about the political party, because you know what, it the justice

department will link that could only happen after the president's term, after impeachment, or up for reelection. right now today, the issue is the political fallout. 100 days away is that the november election, when the entire house of representatives, one of the two bodies in the congress is up for reelection. if this becomes an issue, the house goes democratic, they are the ones in which impeachment proceedings begin. the voter of the house and that that's mostly democrats, it would buy majority, then does the senate. and the senate, depending on what we find out between now and when that would have been, that could be the issue, michael cohen's testimony, supposedly, the southern district of new york, robert mueller may or may not have that, and as to the offer of help to the prosecutor by him,

whether or not robert mueller takes him up on that, whether he wants them on that, we are not going to see into the upcoming months as michael cohen awaits his sentencing. so we are really talking about a political issue. can we does go back to the palm manafort case, you dismiss that quite quickly. the president said that the charges which are fraud charges which a series, they defrauded the other taxpayers in other citizens of the us that's money that should have been paid. and the trump campaign, but is it weird in the sense that the importance of this for the special prosecution and mr trompe, that perhaps that palm manafort might have cut a deal that he did not cut a deal and therefore the president owes him big time and that is why the president is saying such nice things about him?|j

is why the president is saying such nice things about him? i think paul ma nafort nice things about him? i think paul manafort is acting the way he is acting because he does not have any information to proffer to him. and neither is mr cohen, their simple observation for viewers, if robert mueller believed that michael cohen believed, he would not have moved this case over to the attorney for the southern district of new york. so that should be clear, why that's up so that should be clear, why that's up and do a big deal of it. if you believed for mr cohen, he would not need mr davis to be making these noises on tv. so it's quite silly, that these individuals, have anything interesting to say about russian collusion. therefore we are purely political,. sorry, just briefly, i do want to bring while back in, i do not want to interrupt the flow to much. you're saying that he's got nothing to say, not as a

beam to say about the russian issue. but the campaign chairman of the time of this is a lesser taken place and we now have indictments on a lot of campaigns against russians.“ you look, i have no doubt that there was russian interference, but there is plenty of reason to believe that there is no collusion and nobody has offered any evidence of collusion. paul manafort was there but the point i was, i agree on one aspect, the democrats take the house and probably impeach donald trump. it will not work very well for republicans. when i can presumably, asa republicans. when i can presumably, as a former public servant is someone as a former public servant is someone who as a former public servant is someone who ca res as a former public servant is someone who cares about their country. in impeachment process is the last thing you want to see, isn't it? it distracted them from much more important issues, perhaps it did him some good in the end because it forced them to get its

act together and make them a much more effective president in his second term, but it was a disaster, wasn't it? yes, he left with the highest ratings since rating any mac reagan since the second term, but nobody wants them to take away from their objectives of the day, that is why president trump should get off of twitter and stop talking about this, let his personal lawyer central what they need to handle, and he should get on top and start talking about the economy and would serve them better. but two quick points, number one paul manafort was oi'i points, number one paul manafort was on the campaign than the 2016 leak happened at the trompe tower with a russian operative, there's still information that we do not know yet, maybe there's something there, but we cannot say that there was no collusion when investigation is not finished secondly robert mueller did not turn in michael cohen since

michael cohen had nothing to offer, cove rage of michael cohen had nothing to offer, coverage of the southern district because it went with what they have to offer. after that happened in the southern district, that's reason to execute warrants on michael cohen's office, and that's where they discover the tapes. that's when they discovered the corroborating evidence that all of those eight counts that we heard yesterday. acknowledged that this was an issue for after macro teddy mac donald trump is left office. but for his image and reputation, among those voters who we attracted across to win the white house, the people who we re win the white house, the people who were lifelong democrats who went with trompe on a personal level because he seemed to embody their values. does he look like a president when bodies there've

values by paying off mistresses, allegations made by breaking financial agreements?” allegations made by breaking financial agreements? i would disagree with your premise, i think most of the people who voted for trump, not because they have a high regard for his personal values but because he embodied the disenchantment, the anger at the avatars for the republican and democratic party but took them for granted and engaged in political correctness and tribalism and identity politics there is not a thing that you can tell them about trompe's personal values that would change their view. i am not suggesting that this is cricket, but that's the way it is. nationalising the house elections by saying it is about impeachment, may help the republicans will i am not a political pundit but it is plausible. quite honestly, the

majority of americans are not talking about this and that is why it's very important for democrats than republicans and members of congress to get elected or reelected, they have to stick to be issues whether that be health care and what the current administration wants to do versus what we can have to make sure that a majority of americans are aware of climate change and they have to be talking about this to make it through, not just of their bases, but there are a lot of different franchises serving republicans that voted for prompt and are up for grabs now, someone never vote for a democrat but if they're looking at political solutions, they might just they're looking at political solutions, they mightjust go they're looking at political solutions, they might just go for it. they've got to go after it. we are what is the kind of trajectory for the special counsel now? the inquiry has continued some charges have been

laid, at what point does he have to show all of his cards? i would say pretty soon. and, certainly after the november election but by the end of this year, this is my prediction. 0bviously, he's not going to indict trump because i don't think there's any basis to because of the policy, the socially based about not indicting the president. at the disco to read report that will be quite critical of president trump primarily on what he believes to be and obstruction of justice primarily on what he believes to be and obstruction ofjustice and because a person cannot obstruct, and then he's going to go after a lot of other people. like paul ma nafort lot of other people. like paul manafort and, the bottom line is, if you focus your full attention on a lot of people around the politician, you're obviously going to find

someone you're obviously going to find someone who's done something wrong. soi someone who's done something wrong. so i think in a way, it is mostly a political exercise going forward and iagree, political exercise going forward and i agree, depends on what happens in november and i do not think that robert mueller, incidentally i don't think he is going to subpoena, that he cannot legally subpoena mr trump on the case because ironically enough, he wants everything he needs and everything and on the president, he cannot therefore make a case of the high showing that he needs this information. so, think about it. this is the guy who was appointed to pursue collusion, and his investigation to include obstruction, he's not going to be able to introduce that, so he is basically reduced to just going after people like paul manafort, not to be flippant about it, but there's

nothing glorious about it in the grand scheme of things. robert mueller is also going after russian interference, so far there are five guilty pleas, 32 indictments and 100 did felony charges, so he is making a more headway than you might think after listening to that. thank you both very much, and real pleasure to speak with you both and i hope to talk with you later. and we'll find out how this story — and many others — are covered in tomorrow's front pages at 10:40 and 11:30 this evening in the papers — our guests joining me tonight are katy balls, political correspondent at the spectator, and the political commentator jane merrick. sport now, and for a full round up, thierry henry has agreed to become the new manager

of bordeaux according to reports in france. he's been a member of the belgian coaching team under roberto martinez for the past 2 years , they finished third in this years world cup. if confirmed, he'll take over from the former premier league manager gus poyet who was suspended by the club last week for publically criticising the sale of a player. he's been a member of the belgian coaching team under roberto martinez for the past 2 years , they finished third in this years world cup. if confirmed, he'll take over from the former premier league manager gus poyet who was suspended by the club last week for publically criticising the sale of a player. kyle lafferty has returned to former club rangers after hearts accepted an improved offer for the player. the northern ireland international was previously at ibrox between 2008 and 2012. lafferty could make his debut in tomorrow's europa league qualifier against 0oh—fa, with clubs permitted to register two wildcard signings the day before

a uefa competition fixture. it was deemed a success at the world cup. and very soon we could see var — or video assisted referee — used in the champions league. uefa has been looking into introducing it — using trials to find out if it can overcome some logistical problems. it's been reported, it could be implemented during the quarter finals stages, with it set to be recommended next week and a final decision to be made next month. england captainjoe root has admitted his side underperformed in the third test against india but insists they can bounce back ahead of the next test in southampton. india completed a 203 run victory at trent bridge — halving the hosts lead to 2—1 in the best of five series. but root insists they're still in the driving seat. it's obviously not good enough in this format,

and for the group of players that we have got, it's well below par and what we are capable of doing, even if it is polar— friendly conditions. revert back to a few things that have worked extremely well for us in the past, and we now have to carry that forward and do it for long periods of time. we're definitely in the driving seat as far as the series goes. you know, we have to keep remembering that we have a little bit of time to go away and reflect on what has been a difficult week. but, in england, we are a very good side at bouncing back from a tough couple of days. and one thing you can never question about this group of players is the character and the way they can respond to a difficult period or passage of play. we ran england close in the first test match. we were blown away at lord's. so, we needed to prove a point. all i asked the boys was to give me some accountability. and they were simply magnificent.

in all three departments of the game, as a head coach, i can't ask for more. i'm just proud of the guys, the way they stood up, came out here and competed. england fly—half danny cipriani has arrived at his disciplinary hearing in bristol where he'll find out what punishment he'll face following his arrest in jersey last week. after pleading guilty to charges of common assault and resisting arrest, cipriani has been fined over the incident which took place during gloucesters pre—season tour. this rfu panel will be the third investigation into his conduct. his club had taken a supportive stance on their player and has criticised the rfu for its decision to launch its own investigation. head over to the bbc sport website for the latest from the para european championships in berlin where it was a british 1—2 in the t34100m where kare adenegan claimed gold over her team mate hannah cockroft and there was gold for vanessa wallace in the women s shot put f34... that's all the sport for now.

i'll have more for you in sportsday at half past ten. hello, this is bbc news with shaun ley. the headlines: but it's not something that has been publicised well enough, could also help boost magistrate numbers. we will speak to them in a moment. a magistrate in north london. let me start with you first. hasn't always been case that people with minor criminal records could become magistrates? yes, there's been no

change at all, the situation has been this for the longest time. but he would have not realised it what happened is that people come up to me and said, we are interested in becoming magistrates but we got a speeding offence ten years ago and it would be quite wrong not to apply, because the fact that they've got a apply, because the fact that they've gota minor apply, because the fact that they've got a minor offence such as a speeding offence does not mean they are ineligible. in order to increase diversity in gender and age and ethnic background as well, we want everybody to apply. and see if they're suitable. you're getting a bit of pushback on social media from some people who are trying to join some people who are trying to join some things that were not intended tojoin, when talking some things that were not intended to join, when talking about more diversity, black and asian magistrates, more women, you're not making any connection to these groups, more people with criminal

records come from these or anything like that. absolutely not, we want people from all backgrounds we're not saying that the two are connected, diversity in terms of gender, age and ethnic background is com pletely gender, age and ethnic background is completely unconnected to the fact that they have a criminal record. and there is no link at all and we are not implying that there is any link it all. good, i am glad we cleared that up. but sort of offences have magistrates been considered in the past. the offences, there are breaking the law, but what is on record really cannot be compared to more serious offences, a serious offence, there is no way they're ever going to be appointed as a magistrate. but if they're being speeding at 35 and 30 limit ten years ago, there is no

reason why they would not. very rigorous appointment process. shoplifting offences as well? defining particular offences, be taken on their merits and considered by the advisory committee and they will make their own decision according to the person in front of them. let me bring in luke at this point, you've been serving how long their is mac three years. i was 20 when i started. what reaction i get from people in court, because i can imagine conceivably some looking at you and saying, how can he be a magistrate? the disrespect, but on life experience, someone of your age passing judgement on other people a lot older. it's not so much the surprise in the courtroom is also the retiring room where all the magistrates are there and you show up magistrates are there and you show up to you would like that everyone there has got great hair and is of a

certain age. but you know, we need to make the magistrate seem more diverse and we have to get on and do that. we talked about it for very long time, we just need to get on with it now. and in terms of life i have heard that a lot, the thing is though that people of different ages have different life experiences and thatis have different life experiences and that is the point and the huge numberof that is the point and the huge number of people that ic and quarter ofa similarto number of people that ic and quarter of a similar to me. do you think of the deliberations that you have with your fellow magistrates, you are able to bring something to that process ? able to bring something to that process? reducers and the cases come from the explanations for those that have been represented, is there something deep to give an example of what he considered the magistrates that's just something that's out of their life experience because there's a much older? yes, i would be wary of straying into that because at the end of the day, have guidelines. and making sure that everyone is following the same kind

of guidelines, an example would be the kind of thing like was mentioned in one of the cases and no one had a clue about what's. it's more that i am to bring some knowledge of real—life cases during a trial or something. if every profession around being a magistrate that allows them to have a greater understanding of the area where the aspect of life and that is the whole point of the magistrate will reflect society. the age issue is clearly a big one, is there to say that most of the magistrates are middle—aged or older? yes, absolutely. nationally over 50% of magistrates are over 60 nationally over 50% of magistrates are over60 and nationally over 50% of magistrates are over 60 and we have to retire at 70 so there's going to be a huge recruitment issue. and it's great thatjohn is raising that this particular issue that we need to promote the fact that you can become a magistrate, you do not have to be retired, and i said in a north

london court and london is a particularly young city and still growing time and time again, there aren't that many magistrates were young and so any opportunity that the other magistrates can do to promote the message, we are willing to do. eligible, you don't have a background of serious criminal convictions. diverse city and it's kind of a catch all word. and you look at the figures nationally is about 13% and that is not out of line with the population as a whole, there quite a lot of black and asian,... from my experience, the ethnic minority representation is not as high as it should be. given the nature of the boroughs that we

are in the city, and the representation of defendants as well. and i sit youth courts as well as adults, when we sit down and see ten and 17—year—olds, and there is a lack of representation of minorities there. so actually in london, it's something that is still important. 0n the youth court size, that presumably is a place where actually seeing someone who looks like you, actually does have an impact. there is more of a potentialfor a kind of understanding. what about the respect issue? sometimes young people don't respect older people. it's a bit more of a, and that means we have a conversation with the young person forecourt. so it's even more important that there is that dialogue that they fully understand the consequences of what they've done and understand what we're saying mean something. thank you, i

know because there are some technical reasons, can ask you finally how big of a crisis are you facing as magistrates in terms of numbers overall? crisis is not the term i would use, we have to retire at 70 and over the past two years we need approximately 9000 magistrates over the next decade just to stay still and at the moment, we've not got enough magistrates so we really are looking for quite large numbers and we're encouraging people from all backgrounds to and see if they are suitable, so we do need quite large numbers and that's throughout england and wales. the national chairman of the magistrate, thank you both very much forjoining us on bbc news. when saving your astons>

now it's time for a look at the weather with darren bett hello there. today, we have temperatures into the high 20s across lincolnshire and east anglia. but this warm and muggy air is slowly going to be getting pushed away. it gets pushed away by this band of cloud and rain here, which is moving very slowly southwards. clearer skies behind with a band of rain coming to the far northwest. cooler for many northern areas. single figure temperatures perhaps. but another warm, humid and perhaps uncomfortable night towards the southeast, with that rain only arriving right at the end of the night. we'll have rain through much of thursday morning across east anglia and the southeast. then sunshine follows on behind. the rain further north tends to peter out as it runs southward across northern england and north wales, sunshine and showers following on behind. and more of a northwesterly airflow is tracking down cooler air. it'll feel cooler and fresher across the board come the afternoon. temperatures may be even lower as we head into the weekend. we'll see quite a few showers around on friday. saturday looks generally dry before tends to cloud over on sunday. you're watching bbc news. the

headlines this hour: president trump says he's done nothing wrong as his former lawyer pleads guilty in court to breaking the law on election finance. michael cohen claims mr trump ordered him to pay hush—money to two former alleged mistresses. did you know about the payments? later on, i knew. later on. but you have to understand, ainsley, what he did — and they weren't taken out of campaign finance. that's a big thing. that's a much bigger thing. over 1,000 children born in the uk to eu nationals have been told they can't renew their passports because of a home office error. an illegal gun factory is uncovered by crime investigators on an industrial estate in east sussex. hiring more magistrates with criminal records would increase diversity and boost falling numbers. that's according to the chairman of the magistrates association.

us actress chloe moretz talks about her experiences growing up with gay conversion therapy, the subject of her new film. back now to our top story. donald trump's former lawyer has implicated the president after admitting to breaking campaign finance rules. michael cohen says he was instructed by mr trump, before he became president, to use election funds to pay two women who claimed they'd had affairs with the president. in a separate trial, a jury convicted former election campaign chief paul manafort of tax and bank fraud. well, this evening, president trump sat down for an interview with fox news and had this to say about the michael cohen case. did you know about the payments? later on, i knew. later on. but you have to understand, ainsley, what he did — and they weren't taken out of campaign finance. that's a big thing. that's a much bigger thing. did they come out of the campaign? they didn't come out of the campaign. they came from me, and i tweeted about it.

you know... i don't know if you know, but i tweeted about the payments. so what's the response been from the democrats on capitol hill? minority leader in the senate chuck schumer says despite promising to clean up the swamp of washington politics, the president has made it worse. what a swamp. what a swamp. far worse than the swamp that existed when president trump took over. he is not clean this one. he's made it more wretched and more affected. no one in america can dismiss what happened as the actions of a few bad apples. there's a cesspool around the president. there is now an unmistakable, sinister hypocrisy to the president's campaign slogan "drain the swamp". president trump brought

the swamp". president trump brought the biggest swamp we've ever seen in this town when he came here. that is democratic senator chuck schumer, minority leader in the senate. so how will the manafort and cohen cases impact the trump presidency? let's speak now to alberto gonzales. he's worked for president george w bush. we had someone who works for george hw bush earlier! thank you so much for being with us. if you were attorney general now or legal counsel for the president, what on earth would you be saying to the president? if i were the legal counsel to the president, i will be white house counsel and i think one thing that is important for your viewers to understand is the white house counsel is not the lawyer for donald trump but the president himself, but for the white house or the institution of the presidency,

and therefore very early on, as is happening this case, the president would have his own private counsel at the white house counsel, i would not have been giving advice to the president with respect to this particular issue. and as we know, the attorney general in this particular case has recused himself and so his role going forward with respect to the special counsel investigation does not exist. it really falls to the hands of the deputy attorney general, rod rosenstein. you will be the one to receive the report. and in this sense, that illustrates the problem with the kind of different elements of attic in the white house. at every stage, the white house seems to me having to adapt to what he does because of the problems that arise. the attorney general had to recuse himself. these allegations ultimately are about the president as an individual but he must have some impact on the presidency. one

of the main impacts on the presidency is its extremely distracting. it's distracting for the president himself but is also very distracting for the staff. having worked in the white house for four years, i know how bad news or how bad these particular event the president and personal actions about the president can be very demoralising and distracting to his staff. chief of staffjohn kelly has a special burden to try to maintain the morale of the staff, to make sure the staff understands the best way to serve the president is to continue to serve the people of the united states. but nonetheless, efficiently distracting for the president and for the white house staff, no question about the effect of this in terms of the president's credibility? he is the president, so he cannot be charged with any offence while he is in office. in a sense, he's certainly not above the law but certainly, he is accountable to the electorate at the end of this

presidential term, should he's choose to stand for a second term. is there any sense that if he has done something wrong, the american public can expect any process? because we heard, any decision on impeachment would be entirely political. there's no question about that. 0bviously political. there's no question about that. obviously the special counsel will conclude his investigation, write his report. i will go to the deputy attorney general, which i assume with an go to congress. congress would have the chance to evaluate and decide whether the president has had any conduct that would rise to the level of impeachment. actively is a political process. you talk about accountability. there is also the accountability. there is also the accountability of impeachment. we're also going to see what happens the midterm elections here. republicans carry both houses of congress and there is a real danger that the

american electorate could take it out on the republicans in these midterm elections and that democrats will take control of either the house or the senate, or both, and that will really create some serious challenges for the white house and its president going forward. we were speaking to david rifkin earlier, who i think work in the new white house of president reagan. he was saying the report will come soon or something will come soon. what would then be the role of thejustice department in handling that? as you say, the attorney general has recused himself from it. his deputy would have to decide what happened for any report from the special prosecutor and whether or not whether the inequities in the report is -- whether the inequities in the report is —— what is in that report...” cannot imagine that a report released a summary of a report from the findings of the special counsel would not be made public. there is

such tremendous interest in the public and in the media about the work of the special counsel, and so it's very likely that deputy attorney general will revive the full report to the congress, and there may be some kind of arrangement made that in order to protect your sources or methods, or because of law—enforcement sensitivity, that there will be an arrangement made were the congress will release only selected portions we re will release only selected portions were summaries. that all remains to be seen, but clearly, such great interest in what bob mueller is going to conclude his findings and there will be some accountability to there will be some accountability to the american public about what happened, what actually happened here. do you think, speaking in a sense personally now, do you think all of this is demeaning for the presidency? i think it hurts the presidency. i do. and it hurts me to even say that, but the notion that

the president may have engaged in some kind of criminal wrongdoing or that the president had lied to the american public, while that may not bea crime, american public, while that may not be a crime, it does undercut the credibility of the president and i think that's harmful to the presidency when negotiating with other world leadership for example. i've are great that this has happened. i don't think it's there for the presidency and i certainly don't think it's good for mr trump —— i were that this has happened. alberto gonzales, former attorney general of the united states under president george w bush. thank you very much for talking to us on bbc. let me bring you some breaking news coming into us the last few minutes. it is to do with the actor kevin spacey. the la prosecutors say on wednesday, they are reviewing a sexual assault case involving the

actor. the quote is, a six assault case was resented “— actor. the quote is, a six assault case was resented —— presented yesterday. it remains under review. he sent out an e—mail without providing any further detail and we've had no response so far, or rather, the reuters news agency has said they have no response of art for comment. the da's office said in april, it was reviewing a case involving spacey from 1982 involving an adult male. more than 30 men said they were victims of unwanted sexual event is from the actor. in october, spacey apologised for any inappropriate conduct but he's made no comment since. to clarify, the los angeles prosecutors say the sex

assault case is under review as a result of information presented to them yesterday by the lh county sheriffs office. here, the home office has apologised tonight after more than a thousand children of some eu nationals born in the uk between 2008 and 2014 and who've lived here all their lives are being told they could not renew their passports. their parents were informed they didn't have the right paperwork to prove they're children were allowed to live here, leaving them temporarily stateless. the home office has confirmed that if people have settled in the uk legally, then any children born here are british. here's our home affairs correspondent daniel sandford. 0livier was born in britain eight years ago to polish parents. from the age of three, he had a british passport. but when his father applied to renew that passport injanuary,

he was told there was a problem. and for seven months, he's been waiting. the passport still hasn't been renewed. for now at least, he appears to have lost his british citizenship. in letters sent to his father, the problem seems to be that the passport office made an error and did not ask for the right paperwork the first time round. for 0livier to qualify for a passport, his father needed to have been on something called the worker registration scheme, which was set up in 2004 for people from eastern european countries joining the eu. in fact, his father was on the scheme and said he has sent in the paperwork. but still, 0livier is waiting for his passport. they want to make us not welcome here any more. and a very sad thing is i do not feel that from english people, the neighbours and the community where we live. i feel that message from the government. and that is very sad.

since 1983, children born in britain haven't automatically qualified for uk citizenship. they need to have a british parent or parents with an unrestricted right to live in britain. for eastern europeans, that meant for a while that they had to be on the worker registration scheme. this family are not the only one that caught in this bureaucratic nightmare. this woman is six years old and currently on holiday in poland. she also used to have a british passport, now expired. her brothers still have theirs, but when her mother tried to renew her passport last year, she was told there was a gap in the paperwork and it could not be renewed. it looks like they took my daughter's british nationality. it looks like she is, i don't know, a terrorist or someone because they took our british nationality. the home office said it was trying to help families caught up in the problem.

a spokesman said... but susannah‘s mother has given up on britain and is packing up. she has decided to take her family back to poland. that daniel sandford reporting. three men have been charged after the discovery of what the national crime agency are describing as a "dangerous" and "sophisticated illegal gun factory" in sussex. neighbouring businesses on an industrial estate in hailsham have told of their shock and surprise at the revelation. the nca says components for around 30 handguns, which were in various stages of construction, and a large quantity of ammunition were discovered at the site in which officers had to taser one of the suspects. jon hunt has sent this report from the scene. officers say that within this engineering workshop, guns and ammunition were being made from blueprints. the national crime agency raided the scene on saturday after officers heard loud bangs that they thought

were consistent with gunshots. we have found what we believe to be a sophisticated gun factory. we have found a range of machinery and components, used in the criminal manufacture of firearms and ammunition. we have found what we suspect are a number of handguns in various stages of production, as well as templates and metal for use in their manufacture. in addition to around 30 handguns, a large quantity of ammunition was recovered, surprisingly those working nearby. the man who runs the company next door says he can barely believe it. look, we were unaware of that. let's put it that way! we were very much open—door with each other, lending each other tools.

he would dojobs for us and so on. he was very engaging in conversation. three men have been charged in relation to the possession of firearms. the national crime agency said that one officer had to discharge a taser to rest one of the men and one officer was injured in the operation. if the case is proven by police, it will not be the first illegal gun factory discovered in sussex. a few years ago, there was a gun factory of sorts discovered in hove, where two guys were re—engineering deactivated weapons and selling them. there's been a gun workshop discovered in derbyshire, probably the biggest find ever. people, again, reactivating. but producing them from scratch is relatively unusual. officers say they are examining the items they have ceased. they do not know how long the operation has been running and how many guns, if any, entered circulation. there are growing delays for patients across the uk, waiting to see radiologists,

due to a shortfall of staff in the profession. the royal college of radiologists says the lack of imaging doctors for x—rays, ct and mri scans, could lead to late hospital diagnoses and delayed scan results for some patients. hugh pym reports. it's a vital part of the work of the nhs. scans to diagnose and check for a range of different conditions. but now there are warnings there are not enough experts to analyse them and patient care is being affected because of delays. carol is worried about her mother maria, who is in constant pain because of swollen feet and ankles. 0ver six months, there have been a series of delays with scans and follow—up appointments, and it's still not clear what's causing the problem. you just can't get through to people. it's answer phones. you're just banging your head against a brick wall most of the time. i just want to see some light at the end of the tunnel, really, get her some treatment,

and hopefully give her a bit more quality of life. last week, some patients in the north of scotland like louise were told they might have to travel further for specialist radiology because of the shortage of experienced staff. she has cancer and is at risk of infections and sepsis. she is worried that urgent care may be harder to get. it's terrifying. it's terrifying as a patient to think that on an occasion where there'll be another infection, i don't know where to go. it estimated the workload reading scans has gone up 30% over five years, but the number of consultants in england is only up 15%. in scotland, wales and northern ireland, there's been no increase at all. the nhs around the uk now has to spend £116 million a year on overtime or outsourcing of the work. double what it was five years before. leading members of the medical profession now say that a shortage of senior radiologists capable

of interpreting the most complex scans and carrying out important procedures is causing delays for patients. delays, which they say, are unacceptable. i can't overestimate how worrying it is, in that i do really feel that the entire service will collapse if something isn't done about training more radiologists in the uk to fill the vacant consultant posts. both the scottish government and the department of health and social care covering england said more specialist radiology training places were being created. leaders in the field are yet to be convinced enough has been done. hugh pym, bbc news. gay conversion therapy, is the subject of a new film that's already receiving critical acclaim. the miseducation of cameron post stars chloe grace moretz as a gay teen sent away to a christian camp, which uses prayer and therapy to try to change her sexuality. it's a subject that hit

home for the actress, whose two brothers went through a similar experience. she's been speaking to our correspondent chi chi izundu. hi. it's a pleasure to meet you. i know the adjustment can be difficult at first. legal in 41 states, conversion therapy is the practise of trying to change someone's sexual orientation from homo or bisexual to heterosexual, using psychological and often spiritual interventions. and being brought up in a strict baptist town with two gay brothers, the making of the miseducation of cameron post was very personal for chloe grace moretz. they dealt with a lot of self—hate when they came out and they tried to — which is very common within the community that we grew up in — pray the gay away. there were people in our town that had come out and gone to the church and found... they've consulted with the church. and that is the thing with conversion therapy, it takes so many different

iterations and a lot of different labels, and it can be as simple as therapy. it's as simple as consulting with your church. i know we are throwing a lot at you. how are you feeling? chloe has been acting in hollywood since she was five. she starred in big blockbusters like kick ass, but took some time out recently to find herself. try and reconfigure and kind of realise who i am as a young woman and what i want to do with my platform. and what the content i am putting out isn'tjust entertainment but is also some form of activism and social justice. so this film was really the one that ticked all the boxes. but for now, chloe is hoping her award—winning film does more than just tick the box for those going through conversion therapy. chi chi izundu, bbc news. now it's time for a look at the weather. let's hear from darren. let's hearfrom darren. hello, how are you? pretty good, thank you.

although many people will be wondering what is going on with the weather over the next few days. you're probably going to wonder where the summer has gone because things will search if you quite different. tonight we had this clot moving down from the northwest, and this area of cloud here using some rain as well. i had of it, some heat and humidity, but had of this, some increasingly cool air coming down as we chase to a northwesterly breeze. i had of that cloud, we had that sunshine in lincolnshire. 0ver i had of that cloud, we had that sunshine in lincolnshire. over the next few hours, we are seeing that cloud and rain moving into lincolnshire. for a while into the southwest but really reaching east anglia in the southeast until very late in the night. here, a lot of heat and humidity and uncomfortable night for sleeping, but behind the band of rain, with got clearer skies. it will be quite a bit cooler. there's two weather fronts on the scene really, thursday.

behind this one, some truly cooler air. we got the rain to begin with and most of the morning in east anglia and the southeast. the rain tends to peter out a little bit as it moves south across northern england and wales the afternoon, and then we get sunshine and showers behind. as you can see the contrast up behind. as you can see the contrast up on behind. as you can see the contrast up on our behind. as you can see the contrast up on our temperature chart there. an early max of around 21 to 23 celsius in the southeast of england. that kind of talk continues to push down across the southeast overnights and the showers continuing the northwest —— that band of rain. at last, a comfortable night for sleeping across southern parts of the uk. and it's going to be quite out there. we start quiet with some sunshine but there will be lots of showers coming from the northwest. we may not get 20 degrees at all on

friday. there'll be lots of showers coming across northern scotland. by saturday, bush showers should be out into the sea. sheer showers, were sunshine, more of a gentle breeze, but again, not particularly warm —— fewer showers, more sunshine. saturday night, could be down to two or three degrees in scotland. that ridge is coming in but only briefly because of weather fronts coming in from the atlantic. 0n because of weather fronts coming in from the atlantic. on sunday, a clouds over and for some western parts of the uk, worcester to a little bit of rain. —— we start to see a little bit of rain. hello, i'm ros atkins, this is 0utside source.

donald trump is facing the biggest crisis of his presidency so far. two former close colleagues have been convicted of serious crimes — one is directly accusing the president of ordering him to break the law. but mr trump is having none of it. did you know about the payments? later on i knew. later on. but you have to understand, what he did, and they weren't taken out of campaign finance. that's a big thing, that's a much bigger thing. venezeula experiences its worst ever earthquake, it's heaping more misery on a country that's deep in economic crisis, and where 7 per cent of the populatoin have now fled in search of a better life and we'll be bringing you a story of great emotional power from the border between north and south korea