you're watching beyond one hundred days. richard nixon had deep throat, donald trump has deep state throat. an anonymous white house official throws the administration into turmoil. a slew of denials from senior presidential staff doesn't stop speculation that the new york times opinion piece reflects reality. mr trump himself is furious that a member of his team has betrayed him publicly with this searing denunciation. and there's a fair amout of criticism for both the author and the newspaper. british and russian officials clash at the un, several countries support the uk's conclusion that the kremlin "almost certainly" approved the poisoning of a former russian spy. they played dice with the lives of the people of salisbury, they work ina the people of salisbury, they work in a parallel you and the where the normal rules of international affairs are inverted. america's trade wars are concerning the farmers of montana.

but it's still a state where support for the president runs deep and tonight he'll be there defending his record in office. going, going, gone. the protestor who was shouted down on capitol hill by the congressman, who knows how to auction. get in touch with us using the hashtag. hello and welcome, i'm katty kay in washington, and christian fraser is in london. spare a thought for anyone who had to turn up to work at the white house this morning, it must have been a very uncomfortable day. the president is determined to find out who wrote the anonymous oped that slams his administration from the inside. on twitter, mr trump suggested the action might amount to treason. his spokesperson called the anonymous source gutless, the article pathetic. but the real question in washington, is who did it? and what impact will it have

on the trump presidency? the bbc‘s nick bryant has more. this american stately home is now the scene of a dramatic washington whodunnit. a search for the identity of a senior trump administration official who says they are part of the resistance to his presidency. the anonymous editorial says that, although they want his administration to succeed, many within are working diligently to frustrate parts of his agenda. it suggests his presidency is defined by trump's amorality, that he is impetuous, adversarial, petty, ineffective, and anti—democratic. god bless you and thank you, mr president. the article struck washington like a lightning bolt and shortly afterwards, at a meeting with american sheriffs, the president delivered his unsmiling response. if the failing new york times has an anonymous editorial — can you believe it — anonymous, meaning gutless, a gutless editorial. we're doing a greatjob. the poll numbers are through the roof, our poll numbers

are great, and guess what — nobody is going to come close to beating me in 2020. so thank you very much, i appreciate it. the white house issued a statement calling for the "coward" who wrote the article to resign. the president demanded that the new york times turn him or her over to the government for national security purposes. there was also this one—word tweet written in capital letters, asking treason. the author claimed to be putting america first, raising concerns about donald trump's preference for dictators and autocrats like kimjong—un and vladimir putin, and alleging he was reluctant to punish russia after the salisbury poisonings. america's top diplomat is incensed. it shouldn't surprise anyone that the new york times, a liberal newspaper that has attacked this administration relentlessly, chose to print such a piece. the article reinforces the central narrative in this explosive

new book from bob woodward, that administration officials are trying to protect the american people from the american president. so the mood in washington is feverish, with cabinet officials such as the vice president and defence secretary rushing to issue denials that they wrote the piece. for critics of the president, this article offers proof of a white house in chaos. for his supporters, it backs up his fervent claim that the political establishment and liberal media is out to get him. that what he calls the "deep state" is trying to subvert his presidency. nick bryant, bbc news, washington. so, what to make of all of this? joining me now is the washington bureau chief for usa today, susan page. criticism of the author and the new york times, but no getting away from the fact, somebody inside the trump

white house has condemned this president for being amoral and unstable. president for being amoral and u nsta ble. pretty president for being amoral and unstable. pretty damning. completely consistent with the daily news coverage we have seen for the past year and coverage we have seen for the past yearand a coverage we have seen for the past year and a half, in the coverage we have seen for the past yearand a half, in the new coverage we have seen for the past year and a half, in the new york times, in the washington post, we have seen very similar accounts of what is happening behind closed doors. now we have authors with a lot of credibility making the same depiction, a toxic workplace, and erratic president, bob woodward, most famous investigative reporter of the washington post, and in the new york times, a piece, although anonymous, which raises legitimate questions. interested to see there has been pushed back against the new york times for publishing this, not from people in the administration but people who are critics of this administration, vets look at this, this is from a republican who work in the bush administration but does not like president trump. is there a risk of blowback because

of this article? it is possible the president will feel more in peril then he has done, and possible that he will become even less trusting of people with whom he does not have a long history, we do not have that many people around the president's senior positions who are not from his world, his campaign, and those officials, like jim kelly, his world, his campaign, and those officials, likejim kelly, chief of staff, and general mattis, who has the pentagon, they are people that americans count on to bring stability to this administration and experience. one rest is the president will think, i can't trust these people to be on my team, therefore, i will get rid of them and replace them with people i trust. one by one, cabinet secretaries have been issuing

denials, and reportedly they have been printed out and taken into the oval office, to be placed on the desk of the president! this is why it is harder to build a case that the wood would book is fabrication, this is a letter that was reportedly removed from the desk of the president, which was going to take america out of a trade deal with south korea, that reminds us, as you have been saying, normally bob woodward's sources are impeccable. we are arguing, the white house wants is to argue about who wrote this article, not pushing back on what it is the article says, because it isa what it is the article says, because it is a consistent picture of this white house, and it is said we have these increasingly credible sources making the case, and that is why i think it is having such an impact across town now, and why we see this parade of officials, starting with the vice president who felt compelled to say, it is not me. the

article in the new york times said that the president likes to align himself with the dictators, the big men around the world, if you were looking for endorsements today why would you send out a tweet like this... ? that is some endorsement to put out! and we know the president has spoken favourably about strongmen across the world. including president vladimir putin. and has made some officials that work for him have been uncomfortable about that from the beginning, talk of a two track administration, the president speaks one way but administration officials speak another when it comes to countries like north korea. thank you very much for coming in, in a very slow news week here in

washington(!) it may slow down soon, this is all drawing comparisons with the period of watergate, another anonymous source who helped to bring down the richard nixon presidency, the man who we knew as. deep throw —— the man who we knew as deep throat. i'm getting pretty fed up with the whole thing. that sounds familiar... a lot of that today. it did prove that denials do not mean that you are the source. we needed 30 years for confirmation that mark felt was deep throat. are you saying this is

the talk of the town? the only thing people were talking about, journalists, people from think tanks, people from both sides of the aisle, the only thing people were talking about was whodunnit, it is the big washington parlour game at the big washington parlour game at the moment but it is far more important than that, it is notjust a parlour game of whodunnit, it is what is in the article that is so critical. in new york, un security council has been sitting in emergency session, a day after the british government accused the kremlin of poisoning a former russian spy on uk soil. the british ambassador to the united nations karen pierce accused russia of playing dice with the lives of the people of salisbury and flouting the rules of an international order which has kept all of us safe since 1945. ms pierce called for further sanctions, as the us, canada, france and germany all sided with the british government. but again the russians denied involvement, pouring ridicule over the findings of the british government's investigation. here's our diplomatic correspondent james landale. these are the pictures the government believes show russia's responsibility

for the first use of chemical weapons on european soil in decades. two russian military intelligence officers, alias alexander petrov and ruslan borishov, flying to britain in march, —— flying to britain in march, taking the train to salisbury, laying a trail of deadly nerve agent on orders ministers say from the very top. all of which british diplomats in new york said was reckless and malign behaviour by one of the five permanent members of the united nations security council. one p—5 member has undertaken a pattern of behaviour which showed they tried to murder the skripals, they played dice with the lives

of the people of salisbury. they work in a parallel universe where the normal rules of international fair are inverted. russia said neither its military intelligence organisation known as the gru or president putin here on the past visit to its headquarters had anything to do with the attack. its ambassador insisted britain's accusations were unacceptable. translation: the russian federation categorically rejects all unfounded accusations regarding its involvement in the poisoning with toxic chemicals. london needs this story forjust one purpose, to unleash a disgusting anti—russian hysteria. back in marsh officials here at the foreign office were successful in building international lines against russia, convincing 28 countries to expel around 150 russian diplomats. the challenged never britain is to step up that international pressure. that will not be easy because some countries in europe are reluctant to antagonise russia further, particularly with new sanctions. for now the leaders of france and germanyjoined the british american and canadian counterparts in issuing a joint statement expressing their full confidence that this operation was almost certainly

approved at the senior government level in russia. they also agreed to disrupt together the hostile activities of foreign intelligence networks on their territories. translation: madam president in light of these very serious elements i would like to express a profound concern in my country and reiterate our condemnation of such actions which are unacceptable. while this incident was an salisbury who is to say it could not have happened in paris or amsterdam or addis? we must now help our british friends find the two russian suspects they have identified. the question now is whether this diplomatic support at the un will turn intojoint action on the ground targeting russia with new sanctions. our correspondent nada tawfik is at

the united nations in new york. this is a script from the cold war, today's exchanges in the round sounded very much like the cold war. the russian ambassador not just categorically rejecting that russia had no involvement in the salisbury attack, or the production of novichok but then saying that this was all a part of a larger plot, a politically motivated plot to get the international community to turn against russia, as he said, create disgusting anti—russian hysteria, she really sat there trying to poke holes in the investigation by the uk, at one point saying, how could a chemical such as novichok be administered from a percy bottle, to which the un uk ambassador to the un said she would be happy to have any member of the united nations come to the uk mission where she could lay

in greater detail the investigation. —— a perfume bottle. in greater detail the investigation. -- a perfume bottle. but it has been called very transparent, that they have worked with the opcw, the global chemical watchdog, to get the findings, so really, this was a debate that was split along those lines that we have seen, with the we st lines that we have seen, with the west on one hand and russia and its allies on the other. what comes of it, will there be a vote, what do they do as a result of what has been discussed? this was all meant to mmp discussed? this was all meant to ramp up pressure on russia, karen pearce, uk ambassador, said the international community should take steps, including sanctions to curb threats from russia but that would all be unilateral sanctions, whether there is appetite for that at the moment is unclear because already there has been several sanctions to there has been several sanctions to the eu and the united states, but there is not going to be any vote resolution in the council where

russia holds a veto. give us... give us some sense of what happens behind—the—scenes, does pressure gets built on russia in a way that actually does make the russians a bit less comfortable? behind—the—scenes, it's interesting, diplomats try to get these meetings scheduled as soon as possible, the uk yesterday got this meeting on the table, diplomats get together, joint statement came out before the media, to before hand statement came out before the media, to beforehand show solidarity with the uk, there is a lot of posturing and discussions beforehand about how countries will react and so today we saw the likes of olivia, china, kazakhstan, all having a very similar message, saying they needed more information before they could reach a conclusion. —— policy. obviously in lockstep with their ally, russia. —— bolivia. the united statesjustice

department is to announce computer hacking charges against a north korean government spy, in connection with the 2014 attack on sony pictures. the hackers wiped data from thousands of computers, stole and released films and confidential emails, and pressured the hollywood studio to pull a satiricalfilm depicting the assassination of leader kim jong—un. it's the first time the us has brought such charges against a pyongyang operative. it's part of a broad investigation into wide—ranging cyber operations. a leaked document from the treasury has revealed that the uk government expects its departments to make cuts in other spending to prepare for a no deal brexit scenario. the treasury's contingency plan for brexit, which has been codenamed "operation yellowhammer", suggests that departments should be looking forfunding through "normal channels", raising the chance of money being cut from existing divisions. the document was photographed in the hands of treasury minister, john glen, while he was leaving the cabinet office. and, british and french fishermen have reached an agreement over fishing in the channel, after talks today in london. it follows clashes last week in the siene bay between english and french fishing vessels.

as part of the agreement, no uk vessels will fish for scallops in the bay of seine during the period when the french are not allowed to catch. tonight president trump will escape the tension of the white house for the environment he likes best, a big campaign rally. he'll be in montana stumping for republican candidates is a state he won by more than 20 points in 2016. but some of the presidents most ardent supporters are now being hurt by the escalating trade war with china so mr trump has some wooing to do. our correspondent james cook sent this report from broadview in montana on the great plains, the harvest is coming toa on the great plains, the harvest is coming to a close. farming is entwined in the american identity, spacious skies, and amber waves of green. a land of plenty. so much, in

fa ct, green. a land of plenty. so much, in fact, that half of the nation ‘s major crops are sold abroad, a figure that is even higher here in montana. 7596 of wheat is exported, most of our top customers reside in the pacific rim. so we are very heavily export dependent and rely on those international customers to keep moving our product. country life ain't so simple when it is tied to international trade, when the us slapped tariffs on china, beijing stopped buying us wheat, and they are also losing access to their biggest customer, japan. montana's democratic senator is campaigning for re—election in the shadow of yellowstone park, the intron territory. as a farmer he just wants afair territory. as a farmer he just wants a fair crack of the whip. we need access,if a fair crack of the whip. we need access, if we have access to the japanese market, the south korean

market, access to the eu, and all these markets, we can outcompete anybody in the world in agriculture but if we do not have access to the markets, we are done. the trump trade strategy involves absorbing pain, with the aim of winning better deals for the us. across the border, in wyoming, at the rodeo, they may not be following every twist and twea ked not be following every twist and tweaked but they think they are in safe hands. i'm glad we have trump, he will probably stand up for us, maybe make a better dealfor us he will probably stand up for us, maybe make a better deal for us than what we had in the past. american farmers did help, and whatever we can do to help, we will. what would you asking for, to help you? he will do the right thing, we like him. we trust him? we trust him. in the north—western united states there is a great divide between protectionism and free trade but it does not seem

to be eroding loyalty to donald trump. support here runs deep and wide, of course voters have concerns, not least about trade, but in the wilds of the american west, we have heard the same sentiment time and again, people trust the president to do the right thing. as autumn beckons concerns remain. michelle is harvesting this years final field of wheat, michelle is harvesting this years finalfield of wheat, she michelle is harvesting this years final field of wheat, she says ta riffs have final field of wheat, she says tariffs have pushed down profits, putting the future of her family farm in doubt. we will be ok for a couple of years... farm in doubt. we will be ok for a couple of years. .. bike you want to get back to free trade? definitely, not of my concerns, based on how long it's taken to build these markets, it is easy to tear them down, but tearing them down as a pretty big impact on the future of my kids ability to farm. as the last

grain is holdaway, the direction for america's farmers is from certain. —— as the last grain is hauled away. —— but you want to get back to free trade? full throated defence of what he has donein full throated defence of what he has done in office, i'm sure, hooting and hollering about what he has done, they are not paying as much attention to what is going on in washington as perhaps we are. they are paying attention to the stock market up, as the president can say, unemployment is down, as the president can say, economic growth is up, and more important than the numbers they feel there is someone in the white house defending their interests, they feel, and when you get two emotions in politics, those can be incredibly powerful things, more powerful than data and statistics. —— when you get two. when you feel someone is like you and will stand up for you, that is

why people will defend donald trump evenin why people will defend donald trump even in areas like montana which are hit by this trade war, as was reported, because of the hit it is taking on farmers and agricultural products. —— get to. taking on farmers and agricultural products. -- get to. montana is not the state he has to win. that's right, new will take montana anyway but he has two appeal to those farmers, he cannot be seen to be ignoring him in this trade war, as he has tweeted about himself. now to one of the more unusual moments which has unfolded on capitol hill this week. as we've reported there have been a number of protestors making their voices heard at hearings but one was no match for a sitting congresssman. yes, during wednesday's house hearing where twitter‘s ceo jack dorsey was testifying, a woman tried to disrupt the proceedings. but in came congressman billy long, a former auctioneer, to drown her out. auctioneer's patter ..i

auctioneer's patter i yield back... ! auctioneer's patter i yield back. . .! laughter i have always loved auctioneers... that congressmen, he likes to crack jokes while at the bench, he said, my wife got me one of those talking scales for christmas, i got on it and it said, one at a time please, one at a time... he is one of those quys one at a time... he is one of those guys that likes to have a bit of fun, he got a standing ovation from the crowd when she had been shown out. there has been so many... i have never heard as me protests as i have never heard as me protests as i have this week on capitol hill, whether it was the judge have this week on capitol hill, whether it was thejudge kavanagh hearings, the tech companies, they

have been nonstop. i suspect we will see more congressmen and women finding creative ways to get these protesters out. i have always had a soft spot for auctioneers, that could have come from any time in the last hundred years, it is an art form. they will need him, at the hearing ofjudge form. they will need him, at the hearing of judge kavanagh. form. they will need him, at the hearing ofjudge kavanagh. will come in handy! this is beyond one hundred days from the bbc. coming up for viewers on the bbc news channel and bbc world news, we'll be following the un security council's meeting on the novichok poisonings, we hear the views of a former russian army general about the uk's investigation. and, hard to imagine, but if you've ever found yourself bored by politics(!), the president of the european council is single handedly attempting to bring sexy back. we'll take a look at donald tusk, the action hero... that's still to come. some of us have been dodging

downpours, some heavy and even thundery downpours, outbreaks of rain in england and wales and this is the radar picture a little earlier, showing heavy showers in scotland. we will lose the last of the rain from east anglia, south—east england later on this evening, bringing in new range of parts of eastern scotland and north east england, a few showers will be kept, north midlands, but for many it will be dry and clearand midlands, but for many it will be dry and clear and bright overnight, quite chilly, temperatures into single figures. on friday, we have low pressure in the north sea, at one stage that could have been sat right over us, but it is not, it is in the north sea but the closer you are to that, eastern scotland's

north—east england, beginning the day with outbreaks of rain, that will ease as we go through the afternoon. rain into shetland, moving towards orkney, the far north of mainland scotland, elsewhere, if you showers dotted about on the north north—westerly breeze, stronger than recent days, contributing to a cooler feel. many places will have a dry afternoon with sunny spells, temperatures, while there are still a few in the low 205, very few will get as high a5 20 cel5iu5, may be just around the london area. this is the picture going into the weekend, le55 focused on low pressure in the north sea, and more on the new frontal 5y5tem 5liding and more on the new frontal 5y5tem sliding into the uk, 5till and more on the new frontal 5y5tem sliding into the uk, still some uncertainty about the position of thi5, uncertainty about the position of this, looks like it will favour england and wales, particularly wale5 england and wales, particularly wales and western parts of england, southern area5 wales and western parts of england, southern areas could avoid most of that and stay mainly dry, that is 5till that and stay mainly dry, that is still open to question, a few 5hower5 around scotland and northern

ireland, there will be dry and fairly sunny weather at times, and then part two of the weekend on sunday, area of cloud, patchy rainfall, affecting parts of england and wales, showers running into north—west scotland, some will be quite heavy, elsewhere, mainly dry, some sunny spells, and a little bit warmer for some of us. this is beyond one hundred days with me katty kay in washington, christian fraser is in london. our top stories: president trump's administration is rocked by an anonymous opinion piece in the new york times from a white house insider. britain and russia clash at the united nations as several countries issue a statement backing the uk's assessment, that the two suspects in the salisbury poisonings were russian agents. coming up in the next half hour: as america gets ready to kick off it's football season, we speak to one politicaljournalist who has gone inside the big game. from brussels to the bright lights? the european council chief donald tusk shows the world he's so much more than a desk—bound bureaucrat. and you can let us

know your thoughts by using the hashtag ‘beyond—one—hundred—days‘. the editorial desk of the new york times is under enormous pressure to reveal the source of their white house op—ed. the author claims to be part of the "resistance" working to thwart the president's "worst inclinations". it has been reported that the source had used an intermediary several days ago, to make contact with the paper's op—ed editorjim dao. even the news teams are said to be in the dark as to who it is. the paper describes the author as a senior white house official — which could be any one of hundreds of people close to the oval office. but today the cabinet secretaries felt the need to protest their innocence, as the witch hunt began. former guardian editor alan rusbridger published

the wikileaks revelations and the edward snowden leaks. he's also the author of a new book called "breaking news: the remaking ofjournalism and why it matters now". lots of focus on the new york times, what is it like when you're sitting in the seat and you have to decide whether to run a story like that? in the seat and you have to decide whether to run a story like that7m is very lonely and i can imagine the angst that has gone through the mind of editor. it is a big risk. the risk is it rebounds against the new york times and people don't believe it and it plays into the trump narrative that it is the elite conspiracy of people who don't like me. by! conspiracy of people who don't like me. by i think the content of the content was so extraordinary i can see why they behaved in that way. you say in your book, it is trump's disregard for the truth that reminds people why we need newspapers. but

you say social media has created the biggest capability for spreading lies. why is is a force for bad. biggest capability for spreading lies. why is is a force for badm is everything. it is a force for bad and good and it is terrifying you have a president of the united states who has been caught tell untruths more than 4,000 timing during his time in office and people are confused, unable to determine what is true or not. that is about the darkest place for a democracy to be led into. and it coincided with a sick time forjournalism in the sense that the economic mod el that supported journalism is shaky. but i think journalism supported journalism is shaky. but i thinkjournalism is a wonderful tool for determining the truth and there isa

for determining the truth and there is a lot of good social media and real expert voices. it is a revolution and that is an unsettling time. let me ask you more about this op—edin time. let me ask you more about this op—ed in the new york times, all we know about the person is they call them a "senior official" does it mat ter how senior that person is. . if it is somebody who nobody has heard of, does that downgrade the impact of, does that downgrade the impact of the story? it would hugely downgrade the impact and that is why the paper's taking a risk. i know a lot of people at the new york times, it isa lot of people at the new york times, it is a serious and ethical news organisation and i would imagine, i can't believe they would boost the status of this person in order to... grab attention. so i'm prepared to believe the new york times, because

i believe it is a fine newspaper. but lots of people won't. lots of people will think it is a cheap trick by them and they won't believe this person is as senior as they say. ok, the white house press spokesperson sarah sanders without out a tweet refuting the story. we wa nt to out a tweet refuting the story. we want to show you that. there is in this tweet and statement the phone number of the opinion desk of what is called the failing new york times and she suggests people who don't like the piece should call the new york times. how unhelpful would shah have been to you. i would not have enjoyed that. it is worse than childish. what the trump 5 administration is trying to do is de—legitimise the press and i can't think of a single mainstream politician who has done that in

re ce nt politician who has done that in recent times. it is dangerous and an awful thing to see and for trump to say that this is treason, that expressing opposition to his behaviour and his policies is treason is truly alarming. behaviour and his policies is treason is truly alarminglj behaviour and his policies is treason is truly alarming. i was thinking, when we talk social media and alan might have a thought on this, we talk about how people leak things on social media, when you have something as big as a story like this, it is interesting that they go to a established plat fors. the —— platforms, the only way it gets the world interested if it is in something like the new york times. so perhaps there is a place for newspapers in that sense? of course and the best newspapers still have ra reputation. the bbc is another. we can, we know from polling they're trusted. that still

counts for a great deal. but in the book i argue that journalism counts for a great deal. but in the book i argue thatjournalism in order to distinguish itself from this morass of information has to be better and prove that it is worthy of that trut. thank - trust. thank you. best of luck with the book. we're all pulling lists of people at the second and third level in the white house! the un security council has been holding an emergency session to discuss the novichok nerve agent attack on salisbury. the us, france, germany, and canada have all sided with the uk position. in a joint statement the four countries said they "had full confidence in the british assessment that the two suspects were officers from the russian military intelligence service, also known as the gru, and that the operation was almost certainly approved at a senior government level." karen pierce, the uk's ambassador to the un security council told the panel that the uk police had gone "through 11,000 hours of cctv footage" and conducted 14,000 interviews to come to their conclusions. the russian ambassador continued to deny his country

had any involvement. let's talk now to evgeny buzhinsky, a retired lieutenant general of the russian army who now works for the international security thinktank the pir centre. it is very good to have you with us. before we get into the allegations, tell us about the gru, who do they ultimately answer to. the gru is one of the divisions of the russian general staff like in my general staff its main operations, main intelligence organisation and other departments. ultimately to the kremlin? no. the chain of command is chief of general staff and the head of gru is the deputy chief of general staff. they are subordinate

to the minister of defence. general staff. they are subordinate to the minister of defencelj general staff. they are subordinate to the minister of defence. i know you don't agree with the british assessment that it was two members of gru who tried to assassinate sergei skripal is you don't have many people in the west who believe you. you have the united states, france, germany and canada agreeing with the british conclusions. no doubt about that, it is the so—called united west and they have to support the ally. in this whole i vents there are so many discrepancies from the technical point of view, groundless accusations. i may start from the bottle, with the substance, with the concentration of 98% which can exist only for hours, not for days or months. you see, it's absolutely... my strong belief it is a staged

provocation against russian federation, mainly because of the internal difficulties of british government, mainly because of the anti—russian government, mainly because of the anti— russian hysteria government, mainly because of the anti—russian hysteria in the so—called collective west maybe. but i'm sure you see, the british government showed two persons, well, funny dressed, criminally—looking, looking at every camera in the street, showing your face. you really think that russian intelligence officers are so stupid and non—professional, it is insulting. maybe they don't care, maybe this is just one in the eye for britain and that's how they wa nted for britain and that's how they wanted to play it. there was any attempt to cover it up. well, you see i have a question, where are the

skripals, no one has seen them for six months after yulia made that preprepared statement and her last sentence was i want to come back to moscow. after that they disappear. where they are? . ? thank you. our diplomatic correspondent james landale is here. your thoughts about the russian response and what you have heard there? it is typical isn't it. what you have to understand is that many people in russia and within the leadership genuinely believe the we st leadership genuinely believe the west is out to get them that, russia is besieged physically, geographically and the west is targeting them. they see that this kind of incident through that prism, which is wloo why they see it as a

western plot, a deliberate subterfuge, that was expressed clearly by the retired general you have had on. it is not a view shared outside russia by many. the four countries that have come on board and sided with the british government, i guess they will be satisfied with that, that is a start. but it is, as you said in your report, it is the european solidarity the uk government will look at? we had the big theatre at the united nations and support from the united nations and support from the traditional support from the allies and others saying we need to have an inquiry. but don't expect any action, because russia has a veto. any action will have to be on the european front. the europeans have already agreed at eu level at the last european council injune to set upa the last european council injune to set up a new sanctions regime, specifically for these chemical weapons, but that is an agreement in

principle. the british say we need to make this real and they are asking for wider sanctions on human rights abuse and cyber—attacks, the problem they have got is within europe there is reluctance to poke the russian bear further. they want to be cautious. they have risks. it isa to be cautious. they have risks. it is a big test of british diplomacy and european unity. since the annexation of crimea we have had tough sanctions against the russian federation and it doesn't seem to make much difference. vladimir putin according to this assessment still a cts according to this assessment still acts with a certain amount of impunity and russian agents feel they can turn up in england trying to assassinate former spice. would more sanctions make a difference. the question is where they are applied and on whom. in certain

circumstances, a lot of people are saying sanctions should be closely targeted at russian wealth in cities like london, where there have been, there is a lot of russian money if you want to target this regime, target it where the cash is, london, parts of middle east as well. that is where they should go. the problem is where they should go. the problem is that is something that the british government has been very relu cta nt british government has been very reluctant to go on. they have announced a few things, unexplained wealth orders. but you have to attack the alleged dirty money in london and that would have an impact on the british economy. thank you. house of card series 6 is upon us. the final series. and as expected frank underwood has been killed off. a trailer for the final series shows the actor robin wright, who plays claire underwood, speaking at her husbands grave. no clues yet as to how he died. spacey played frank underwood for all six series before

he was dropped from the show following sexual assault allegations, which he denies. i tell you this though, francis, when they bury me, it won't be in my backyard and when they pay their respects... they will have to wait in line! i have some questions, did she do it? does she then become president herself? and i have a whole lot of sympathy for people trying to write political dramas, because real life makes it harder. she said there was a risk the show would be dropped, but it wouldn't be fair on the rest of the staff because of allegations that kevin spacey faces. police in

london are investigating criminal cases against him that he is continuing to deny. we will see what happens. this is beyond one hundred days. still to come... we'll be discussing why the european council president is giving himself a hollywood makeover. for more than 18 months, a group of indian sailors have been stuck onboard a ship in norfolk after its owners went bust and the ship was impounded. they've refused to leave the ship in case they didnt get paid. our correspondentjo black reports. this is where you have been living. foran this is where you have been living. for an experienced sail or, the crew

have been stranded in the yorks since february 2018 after the shipping company went into liquidation. this is the bridge. is that where you sleep? for the captain and his colleagues it has been a tough time — away from their families waiting for wages. they have done a lot of reading, watched films and carried out drills and maintenance. why do you have to stay with the ship. why not go home to mumbai. if we were to get off, that is practically abandoning the ship. it is not like a car you can leave it park and go back home and come back and two months. certain regulations govern how it is treated. now an end could be in sight. the admiralty marshal has arrested the ship and it is up for

sale. proceeds of the sale should cover wages and port fees. they have they would up well. it was brutal in february, with no heating and they had umpteen jackets and february, with no heating and they had umpteenjackets and kept february, with no heating and they had umpteen jackets and kept their spirits up. i have seen them happy and managing to sort of have a reasonable existence. the captain and his team believe the worst is now over. but they dare not celebrate yet. american football is back tonight. the atlanta falcons, will face the defending super bowl champions the philadelpia eagles, whose white house invitation you'll remember was revoked by donald trump. and still at the start of the new season the nfl is mired in the controversy over the anthem, peaceful protest and patriotism. of course course

the president weighed in on the eve on the big game. "the nfl ratings have gone way down," he tweeted, "nike is getting absolutely killed with anger and boycotts. i wonder if they had any idea that it would be this way? as far as the nfl is concerned, ijust find it hard to watch, and always will, until they stand for the flag!" tonight, nike will be airing during the game, their new ad campaign featuring colin kapaernik, the former 49'ers quarterback, who took a knee and is still without a contract. mark leibovitz normally covers us politics for the new york times magazine but he has a new book out — big game. hejoins us now. thank you for coming in. how did this sport that was the great unites feature of american households with families sitting down to watch it, become part of our divided political landscape? if you look at tenure,

american football is the most divisive brand. donald trump has a way of politicising everything. he thought football was like the emblem of political correctness and it has gone soft. there was a line from the campaign, he was like in nevada and he said, american football has... football has gone soft, america has gone soft. it was a met aforefor make america great again. how much fun did you have going from politics to sport. you write, of the owners of teams, they are ageing show poodles, super—rich post menopausal dudes with enlarged illusion and prostate. you did write that. dudes with enlarged illusion and prostate. you did write thatm dudes with enlarged illusion and prostate. you did write that. it is all true. this is a circus. i cove red all true. this is a circus. i covered the washington swamp, i

didn't realise football full of politics. what is the difference. the owners, the 32 people who own the sport that is the most popular sport in the country, do not, they don't have to stand for re—election. they're little kings and unlike politicians, they are installed, you can't get rid of them. i was stunned asa can't get rid of them. i was stunned as a reporter at the level of access i was able to get into that club. i figured they don't know who i am, it was an interesting parachute in. that is fascinating, because i sense the cross over here, between american football and soccer as you call it or football over here, there are call it or football over here, there a re lots of call it or football over here, there are lots of people at the top of the game, the governing bodies, who have been very comfortable for a long time and they're comfortable, because as you say, sports journalists work in a different way

to political journal and don't journalists work in a different way to politicaljournal and don't ask the difficult questions, because if they do, they don't get back in the room. that is roo true true and one thing i have found is people still love football, it accounts for 70 of the top 100—rated shows in america la st the top 100—rated shows in america last year. but nay they hate the people who run it. they are not people who run it. they are not people you want running this institution. it is similar i suspect over there. you see the divisions that are in the rest of culture. you say the vast majority of the fans are black and the players white. does that feed into the moment?” think it so, especially when donald trump gets involved. he is playing toa trump gets involved. he is playing to a white republican base and he believes there is a natural relationship between the people who

love football and the people who love football and the people who love donald trump. donald trump has been trying to get an nfl team for four decades and been thwarted and now has the small prize, he gets to heckle them. it is bizarre. but he sees football as like the sport that would not have him. but one he can connect to. thank you very much. there is speculation over who will be next james bond. there is speculation over who will be nextjames bond. who will replace daniel craig. well perhaps, a new, unlikely, contender has just entered the fray. he is poland's donald tusk. yes, that donald tusk. the president of the european council. i know what you are thinking, but wait till you see how he is taking down the big issues on his plate. lock and load. i'm sojealous! i'm so jealous! i'm thinking back to

the 3am summit meetings in brussels. is this the same donald tusk i know. you see — as i was watching that in the office today — it started to remind me of something i had seen before. and then i realised it wasn't bond at all — it was trump. this was all too similar to the video donald trump played to kimjung un in singapore. imagine what north korea could be. for your eyes only. destiny pictures presents a story of opportunity. a new story, a new beginning. one of peace, two men, two leaders... one destiny. a story about a special moment in time. when a man is presented with one chance that may never be repeated. what will he choose? to show vision and leadership? or not? brilliant. i'm sold, donald tusk,

donald trump, james bond, i want one. and i want, i have to say, this show needs a makeover. one man. a drama and lights. two studios, two countries. near you tonight at seven. don't miss it. i love it. i will never look at donald tuesday it tusk the same way. i don't know what he is packing under thatjacket. we're back the same time next week. thank you for watching. see you then. bye—bye. some of us have been dodging the down pours in scotland and some rain in england and wales and this is the

radar earlier showing the heavy showers in scotland and this area of cloud and rain which has been pushing further south. this is the picture from derbyshire. we had rain here. but over night clearing skies and that will be the story for much of the uk. we will lose the rain from the south—east and bring in some new rain to north—east scotland and north—east england. some showers in the midlands. for many clear and chilly with temperatures into single figures. on friday, tomorrow, we have low pressure in the north sea. at one stage that could have been sat right over us, but it is not, i wa nt sat right over us, but it is not, i want is in the sea. the closer you are to that, in eastern scotland and north—east england, you could see some rain. that will ease as we go through the afternoon. some rain into shetland, moving towards orkney, the far north of mainland

scotla nd orkney, the far north of mainland scotland and elsewhere a few showers dotted about on a west, north westly breeze that will contribute to a cooler feel and many places breeze that will contribute to a coolerfeel and many places having breeze that will contribute to a cooler feel and many places having a dry afternoon with sunshine. temperatures very few as high as 20 celsius. maybe just around the london area. here is the weekend, we become less focussed on the low pressure in the north sea and more focussed on a new area. it will favour england and wales with some rain, particularly wales and western parts of england. although southern areas could avoid most of that and stay mainly dry. but that is still open to question. a few showers around scotland and northern ireland. but here some dry and sunny weather at times as well. for sunday, still an area of cloud, patchy rain and showers affecting england and wales. showers running

into north—west scotland and some could be heavy. elsewhere, dry, some sunshine and warmer for some of us too. this is bbc news — i'm martine croxall. the headlines at eight. british airways says it is urgently investigating the theft of customer data — after information from 380,000 payment cards was stolen. britain confronts russia at the un over salisbury — moscow's ambassador says london has invented the attack. translation: london needs this story to unleash a disgusting anti—russian hysteria and to involve other countries. an inquest finds gross failures by royal manchester children's hospital contributed to the death of a toddler. an anonymous white house official throws the trump administration into turmoil. president trump demands the new york times names the senior official who says he's part of a resistance against the white house.