you're watching beyond 100 days. another summit, and another failure to reach agreement. can theresa may find a compromise that will suit the dissenters in her party, and the 27 leaders she faces there in brussels? tonight, the prime minister will urge the eu to get creative. the deal is within sight she says. maybe — but nothern ireland could be the issue on which the entire negotiation founders. i believe we can achieve a deal. as i say, a deal is in the interests not only of the uk, but also of the european union. president trump is pressed again on the disappearance ofjamal khashoggi and again he stresses the importance of saudi dollars. they are an important ally, but i want to find out what happened, where is the fault and we will probably know that by the end of the week. but mike pompeo is coming back and we're going to have a long talk. also on the programme: we're in north dakota where a democratic senator is struggling to persuade a conservative state to reelect her. canadians try cannabis,

or at least it's the first time they try it legally. and they queued up for hours to get their first legitimate smoke. hello and welcome. i'm katty kay in washington and christian fraser is in brussels. on their way into the eu summit this evening there was an obvious attempt by some eurpean leaders to talk up the positives. they praised the sizeable work that has been done on brexit, they emphasised their confidence that a deal can eventually be reached. but standing in the way of that agreement, is the not so insignificant conundrum of what to do about the irish border. and on that single issue this entire process could collapse. the president of lithuania, dalia grybauskaite seemed to sum it up best. we don't know what they want. she said, they don't know what they want, and that's the problem. if you have a negotiator who has no strong mandate, she added, it's difficult to negotiate.

course theresa may would beg to differ. she is still confident she has the best plan. i will be talking to leaders tonight about the very good progress that has been made since salzburg, both on the withdrawal agreement and our future partnership. the teams have been working very hard in order to ensure we can address those issues. what we have seen is we have resolved most issues in the withdrawal agreement, there is still the question of the northern irish backstop, but i believe that everyone around the table wants to get a deal. by working intensely and closely, we can achieve a deal. i believe a deal is achievable and now is the time to make it happen. theresa may speaking earlier. that speak to our reporter who has been watching these events. what about the comment that the eu needs to get

creative? as we've heard, each side says the other needs to get creative. what we need to bear in mind are two main things. until very recently, we were looking ahead to this summit where we are now, this was going to be the sign the deal summit between the leaders. this was going to be the moment... i bought a new suit! we can see this time sleeping later into the year, with many obstacles, mainly around the irish border issue. the other thing to bear in mind is that the prime minister and all the other 27 national leaders were really want a deal. if the uk leads the eu without some sort of deal in place, it will be chaotic and costly for both sides. the will is there, but the politics is complicated. that is what makes it hard to be ticked. she

is trying to satisfy the brexiteers at home, the 27 eu leaders in the room and also the remain voters who we re room and also the remain voters who were raided at the cliff edge on the other side. one of the proposals talked about at this summit is another year on the transition, a third year. she was asked about that on the way into the dinner. but she didn't want to answer! the idea that there may have to be extra time added on to this transition time, which we know is a bridging period in between in the uk leads the eu and when it has a future trade deal in place with the eu... it's the bridging time. that would be the time where you have to finish a whole trade deal. you will never be able to do that in two years. that is why they are now thinking about maybe having three years. i think it could be even longer. it is seen as a possibility to work on the irish border issue and find a final solution to that that would be

a cce pta ble solution to that that would be acceptable to both sides. it is too short to sign all that off. we're about to talk to the europe minister for ireland, but before we do that, talk to us about the insurmountable problem, the dup, the unionists in northern ireland are adamant that there cannot be a customs regular tory border in the irish sea. the irish side is adamant that theresa may has already committed to avoiding a hard in ireland. theresa may committed to having no hard border, she did it early on in the negotiations. she signed up to it in december and again in march, to the idea of this backstop, this guaranteed that whatever the future relationship between the eu and the uk, there can be no hard border on the island of ireland. she is omitted and she is not backing away, but had to go about it that is a cce pta ble but had to go about it that is acceptable from all sides, while the eu will say that she has promised to many things to too many people and

thatis many things to too many people and that is why you're seeing similar complications. the will is there amongst these leaders to get a deal done, and the thought is it's still likely to get through, even though it might stumble over the next few weeks will stop but if you listen to the leaders as they came to be summit today, we're not in an ideal situation and they think we can still get that. but i wouldn't bet everything on it. may be the chaos and the drama is part of it. it wouldn't be the first time in brussels. thank you for chatting to us. brussels. thank you for chatting to us. the interesting thing tonight is that part of the symbolism of what is happening here in brexit is represented by what happens at the dinner. two aretha gets the opportunity to talk to the 27 leaders and then she has to leave while they begin on their starter. at that idea that britain is leaving and they are not invited to the dinner afterwards. she has to hope it goes better than

salzburg, because that didn't go so well. i guess it's a reminder of one of the things that has been so striking, even the choreography of tonight, is that you have these 27 numbers of the european union who have stayed remarkably united throughout this process. i don't know who it is in the eu who is corralling them, but somebody is doing a good job of keeping them together and it looks like more and more it is britain who are disorganised, disunited, they cannot get one voice out of london and that is so stark in today's summit. there is goodwill on the other side of this withdrawal agreement, the meat and potatoes of the deal could be there, they are talking today about there being advancements on talk of a future customs relationship. but, the irish want the backstop, they want the insurance policy. let's talk about it now. do you think the british

government is backsliding?” it now. do you think the british government is backsliding? i don't think so. we havejust had a meeting with the prime minister and i think it is clear that the prime minister is not backsliding on anything. the commitment that she gave last christmas, in terms of the irish backstop, and again in march, that she is committed to that and she has given that commitment as recently as this evening. can i talk to you about what will happen if there is a no deal. a lot of people have spoken about it today, who will enforce a ha rd about it today, who will enforce a hard border if there is no deal? in terms of an irish point of view and the eu - 27, terms of an irish point of view and the eu — 27, we are preparing for the eu — 27, we are preparing for the possibility that there may not bea the possibility that there may not be a deal, but this is not what we are negotiating. but who will enforce the border? there is some talk from the brexiteers that's tantamount to, if you want to enforce it, put it on the other side

of the border. we have been given a clear commitment that they will uphold all of the good friday agreement, there can be no return to a hard border on the the island of ireland and that the north of ireland and that the north of ireland will be protected. those in the north can't claim to be irish, and british at the same time. those commitments were made clear in december in march and in may. that commitment has been given many times and we are not asking for anything that hasn't been committed to. what we wa nt that hasn't been committed to. what we want to make sure is that moving forward , we want to make sure is that moving forward, we can find a solution to the commitments that have been given and that we can hopefully address any of the northern ireland border issues through the future relationship. that the phrase this question in a different way. we know the british side has the commitments with the wto, but the pressure could build within europe to check goods

that were leaving ireland from the european mainland. that is what is at stake for the irish government. we are looking at an international peace treaty in terms of the good friday agreement. the reason that we haveis friday agreement. the reason that we have is a good friday agreement is because of the lack of infrastructure and the membership of the single market and customs union through the eu. that commitment is there and has been signed up to buy there and has been signed up to buy the uk government, the irish government and a number of critical parties in the north. either implications for your membership of europe? if there was no deal? we have full support of all 26 member states. we have support in the negotiation terms from michel barnier that there can be no return toa barnier that there can be no return to a hard border on the island of ireland and we are committed to ensuring the integrity of the single market and customs union, that is why we need this legal backstop, this is why it needs to be part of the withdrawal agreement. again, this is something that theresa may and the uk government have orally signed up to, they have committed to it. we are moving in a positive

direction, but we have come over a number of technical difficulties. we think it is still doable, michel barnier will given a mandate this evening from the 27 member states to continue in the direction they have been going and i think there is a possibility that the outcome will be that we can avoid a hard border, but we can also create this year and closer relationship we said we both want. thank you very much. important point that helen makes is that the fa ct point that helen makes is that the fact they want to talk and they want the november summit, which will be good news for the british side. we do come back to the issue of who will enforce that border. i was begin toa will enforce that border. i was begin to a soldier who was in northern ireland at the height of the troubles, there are 27,000 troops in northern ireland and they still couldn't secure that border. so it would be difficult and there

would be indications for ireland. it is not something either side once, because it would be very difficult for the irish government in the context of what would come in to an end and what therefore might move on towards europe. what i'm hearing from here are implications on that border issue for any future us— uk free trade deal. we will talk about that later in the programme. there is widespread scepticism of saudi arabia's denial that it had anything to do with the disappearance of journalist jamal khashoggi. but you won't find much of it in the white house. from the president down, it seems the trump administration is prepared to give the saudis the benefit of the doubt. us secretary of state mike pompeo wrapped up a trip to riyadh and turkey saying he felt it was reasonable to give the saudis more time to investigate. president trump went even further in defending a key us ally. saudi arabia are an ally and they are a tremendous purchaser of not only military equipment but other things. when i went there, they committed

to purchase $450 billion worth of things and $110 billion of military. those are the biggest orders in the history of this country, probably the history of the world. i don't think there's ever been any orderfor $450 billion. you remember that day in saudi arabia when that commitment was made. they are an important ally, but i want find out what happened, where is the fault, and we will probably know that by the end of the week. but mike pompeo is coming back and we will have a long talk. some of those numbers are in dispute, i they actually real signed deals or other expressions of interest? there can be a big difference. let's get more on this with robin wright who's a middle east expert and a writer for the new yorker and a friend of jamal khashoggi. you knew jamal khashoggi,

you knewjamal khashoggi, do you have any clear indication of what happened to him? absolutely not. he was worried about his safety, he was concerned that the kingdom was out to get him. he told me in august that the saudis wanted him out of the picture. he had been increasingly critical over the past year and talking about how the crown prince particularly was more autocratic, more intolerant of dissent and criticism than any of the previous six kings. the president there again reiterated that the important thing for him is american trade deals and american jobs, not what the saudis may or may not have done with the generalist. i wa nt to not have done with the generalist. i want to redo something that the president said last night when he was talking to the associated press and he was told about making a link between the disappearance of jamal khashoggi and the confirmation hearing of brett kavanaugh. he why is donald trump leaving over

backwards to give the crown prince of saudi arabia the benefit of the doubt? because he has invested so much in the kingdom when it comes to his foreign policy goals. when you look at three of the most important things he wants to achieve, the elusive peace between israel and the palestinians, a counterterrorism in the age of isis and squeezing iran to change its behaviour or to change altogether. it is all dependent on cooperation and coordination with the kingdom. of course, because the crown prince has consolidated power since he took over injune last year, there is no other way to do it except through him. year, there is no other way to do it except through himli year, there is no other way to do it except through him. i would like to talk to you about the hypocrisy of the west trying to provide an excuse for the murder of a dissident, something that the chinese and russians are picking up on. the hypocrisy of us all as well that we

are focusing on the death of one man, as terrible as that was, while ignoring, globally, the fate of 13 and a half million yemenis who are facing starvation. when you look at what the saudis have done in yemen, more than 10,000 have died, there are1 million who more than 10,000 have died, there are 1 million who are in desperate need, who are exposed to cholera, literally starving. there has been nothing said about them. even though jamal was a friend of mine and a saudi citizen, it is the gruesomeness of the way he has died and the drip drip drip of how the news of his death has leaked out and has captivated the global attention. some of the other things the saudis have done, what blood and putin has done, the chinese and the iranians have done, haven't. why have the turkish and not released this tape

that they say they have? what is turkey trying to get by withholding that take? there are so many things at stake beyond the fate of jamal khashoggi, this is something that has to do with regional politics, leadership of the islamic world, the turkey, a nato ally, and saudi arabia, our rivals in times as lending islam and democracy, or islam and politics. —— lending islam and democracy. they are playing this game and! and democracy. they are playing this game and i think they want the evidence out there, but they are not necessarily wanting to expose everything they know. they are sending a message to the white house saying, we have this tape and we could damage your key ally, but we are holding back. there are in tensions between ankara and washington, so the turkish are playing this with the release over the last few days. they are looking

for a lifting of sanctions and for bettering intense relations. thank you for coming in. this is what is so you for coming in. this is what is so fascinating about this, about yemen, and the links between israel and saudi arabia, the relationship with iran, there is so much at sta ke. with iran, there is so much at stake. it is not that bad the killing of one man, however gruesome it may have been, it is more than this singular case, because what this singular case, because what this episode has done is expose these fault lines between turkey and these fault lines between turkey and the united states, between saudi arabia and the united states, potentially on the issue of around. and of course, the question of us leadership, to what extent is president trump prepared to say, we don't care about what you may be doing to journalists don't care about what you may be doing tojournalists or don't care about what you may be doing to journalists or to dissidents, so long as we have those trade deals, that is what is important to us. is that the model 110w important to us. is that the model now for american leadership under this president? the guarantees the get from the secretary of state and president

that there will be a full investigation and the saudis will be open about this, we shouldn't forget that when you talk about the various branches of law, police, the army in saudi arabia, there are, of course, all under the umbrella of the crown prince. the washington post is calling for an independent international investigation and any saudi investigation and any saudi investigation will not be credible. there is also a growing push for that. we are used to reporting on school shootings here, but not in crimea. but it seems one of the most tragic elements of us society may have been copied in the annexed russian enclave. at least 19 people were killed when a student detonated an explosive in a school cafeteria and then opened fire in the hallways. the killer shot himself but not before he was recorded by security cameras reloading his gun. and it was those images that led people to observe he was dressed very like one of the killers from the 1999 columbine school massacre in the us.

outside the college, the sound of an explosion. witnesses said they heard gunfire, too. as the emergency services arrived, they were soon overwhelmed by the number of casualties. some were suffering from blast injuries, others from gunshot wounds. ambulances took as many people as they could, but at times, the paramedics ran out on stretchers. some injured had been able to run away from the camp others sat unhurt, but deeply shocked at the carnage which had overta ken shocked at the carnage which had overtaken them. many of the injured we re overtaken them. many of the injured were taken by public transport, he said, and every ambulance carried to people. this woman is one of the couege people. this woman is one of the college staff, there are many bodies, childrens mbodies, it was an

act of terrorism. initially, it was said to be a terrorist act. attention is still here on the peninsular, after the russian ta keover peninsular, after the russian takeover several peninsular, after the russian ta keover several yea rs peninsular, after the russian takeover several years ago. the authorities are now describing this as mass murder carried out by the students. translation: judging by the footage, he was the one holding the gun. an 18—year—old and his body was found with a gunshot wound. we are assuming he committed suicide. many of the victims were teenagers. what prompted the attack is not yet clear. president putin said the motives would be carefully investigated and he called for a moment of silence to that those who died. officials have now confirmed that a bomb detonated in the college canteen. they said they also found and diffused a second device. as bad as this was, it seems it could have

been even worse. it is so sad to see that around the world. the un special envoy to syria, staffan de mistura, says he will step down at the end of november. the diplomat told the security council it was for personal reasons. mr de mistura added that he would use his remaining time to try to make progress on a constitutional committee for syria. netflix has gained almost seven million new customers over the past quarter. the streaming service has grown faster than expected, and now has 137 million users worldwide. the record growth sent the share price up 11%. the us sit—com roseanne last night returned without disgraced star roseanne barr, renamed as the conners. the actress was forced out after posting a racist tweet but in the show she dies from an opiod overdose. the actress released a statement last night saying she was unhappy with the manner of her character's death. the duke and duchess of cambridge are continuing their tour

of australia, with a stop in the city of dubbo to meet volunteers from the royal flying doctor service. protocol was well and truly flouted when a five—year—old boy fondled prince harry's beard. luke vincent was apparently mesmerised by the duke's facial hair because his "favourite person in the world is santa claus". a plane carrying melania trump was forced to land after a "haze of smoke" was spotted on board. around 10 minutes after take—off from maryland, the plane suffered what was described as a minor technical issue. mrs trump's spokeswoman said "everyone is fine" following the incident. plastic bottles is the currency of choice at one car park in leeds, which is allowing them to be used toward the cost of parking, as part of a trial. each bottle, which has to be at least 500ml, is worth 20p and motorists can bring as many as they like.

the operator says the bottles will be "recycled into usable items such as shirts, toys and even chairs". i don't need to say, but we know this is my favourite story of the day. i think this is genius! quickly, do the maths for me, how many bottles will it take to pay for parking for a day? 500? know, 95, if you have 95 spare plastic bottles in your kitchen you could do this! i tell you what, i am intrigued by this, because i remember that my grandad used to give me bottles to ta ke grandad used to give me bottles to take back to the corner shop. i used to get 5p a bottle and that used to be my spending money. it worked,

because i used to queue up ready for the bottles to take back and he would keep them for me. everybody did that in our street and for some reason, that's gone our way. i remember it with glass bottles, which shows the difference in our age. i think it is a genius idea, because i have got all these plastic bottles in my kitchen which i hate andi bottles in my kitchen which i hate and i always think, what should i do with them? part of me has a sneaky suspicion that nothing gets done with them when they go to recycling. as the un document said the other day, we all have to do our bit. this is beyond 100 days from the bbc. coming up for viewers on the bbc news channel and bbc world news — we're live in north dakota where the democrats are facing to keep their seat in the us senate and canada becomes only the second country in the world to legalise cannabis. that's still to come. there won't be a great deal of rain

in the next few days, the wind will be quite light, there will be some mist and fog in the morning, but some sunshine as well. many of us had skies like this today, with some we got sunshine we are in between two weather fronts, this one is coming into the north—west on friday, this one gave us the drizzly weather in this at least this morning. high—pressure is building from the atlantic in between those two. most places will be dry with clear skies every night, allowing temperatures to fall quickly, one or two mist and fog patches and cloud in the north—west of scotland, the odd light shower here. the rest are into the colder air, temperatures close to freezing, particularly in rural errors. not as chilly and southern parts of england and east anglia, there will be more cloud overnight, it will come and go throughout thursday. there will also be more cloud in the north west of scotland, but in between, lots of sunshine to enjoy on thursday. temperatures may be a little lower than they were today, but with the light winds and sunshine, it should feel quite pleasant, highs of 12—16 degrees. we saw the weather front

across the atlantic, this is where it is during thursday into friday. it topples into the north—west of the uk, it runs into high—pressure, so it's weakening and slowing down. most of the rain will be in the morning across scotland, especially across the northern half. this band of cloud weakens as it move southwards, very little rain in the afternoon, some channel fall into scotland with 12 showers, but most of england and wales will have a fine day with sunny spells. maybe some patches of mist and fog in the morning, lowest temperatures 12 degrees. as we head into the start of the weekend, this is the weather front, nothing on it by this stage and out of the way. we still have some high—pressure and another week weather system will arrive into the north—west. this will bring some rain across the northern half of scotland again. this will become confined to the highlands and islands. there will be some sun elsewhere in the uk, probably some more mist and fog in the morning across east wales and the midlands. the sun will then come out and it

should be a bit milder. temperatures typically 15—17 degrees. quite a bit warmer in eastern scotland than it has been over the last few days. this mild weather will continue into the second half of the weekend, most places will be dry, again some mist and fog. this is beyond 100 days, with me christian fraser in brussels, katty kay is in washington. our top stories. theresa may meets eu leaders and tries to convince them of her brexit strategy, as concerns grow that the two sides can't agree on the key issue of the border with northern ireland. donald trump says saudi arabia is an important ally, but he's confident he'll know by the end of the week what happened to the journalist, jamal khashoggi. coming up in the next half hour. cannabis is now legal in canada. only the second country in the world to make it legal for recreational use. and we're live in fargo, as republicans hope to pick up a key senate seat in north dakota. we have sent christian to so many eu

summits where he has promised us faithfully that real progress was about to be made. and time and again, he has disappointed. and so it is this time. the october summit that was supposed to be the climax of 18 months of intense negotiation, will produce nothing, past the commitment to keep talking and to hold yet another emergency summit in november. thank you, christian. and that is because the irish border, in the words of one french official today, is insolvable. the commitment made by both sides is straight forward enough, no return to a hard border between north and south. but how to get there? let's bring in chris morris, from reality check. why is it so in solvable? if you

look at all that you's external borders, none of them are frictionless or entirely open. but thatis frictionless or entirely open. but that is the promise they have made. besides, the eu in the uk, about the irish border. so that is a problem. they have this thing called a backstop, a guarantee that under any circumstances, there will be no hard border, so no border checks of any kind. the problem is how do you get there? both sides hope that if they create a future free trade relationship, that will avoid the need for a hard border. but if that does not happen immediately, or if there is a delay, or if they cannot do that, that is when a backstop comes in, kicking and automatically asa comes in, kicking and automatically as a guarantee that that stays open. i'll tell you what is in solvable, all these terms of we used interchangeably like chequers. what is chequers? chequers is so named because of the prime minister's

official cause —— country residence. it was injuly official cause —— country residence. it was in july of this year that chequers, that is where the plan emerged first. the prime minister's plan for the future relationship is called the checkers mac plan. she does not use that any more because anyone started using the hash tag. never the less, the plan remains the same. it involved what was called a facilitated customs arrangement. it involved a common rule book for single market goods. what does that mean? we do what you do?m single market goods. what does that mean? we do what you do? it sort of means that we liked the bits of the eu membership we like, but we don't wa nt eu membership we like, but we don't want to keep the bits we don't like. the problem with the chequers plan overall is that they got a lot of criticism from brexiteers and her party, it is also that the key economic parts of it have been rejected by the rest of europe. even though theresa may said this is the only plan that will work, it comes

with criticism from both sides. a lot of what happens at the minute is how do we get this withdrawal done, but also how do we think about future relationships? i've not heard theresa may use the term chequers for so long. does that mean she sees it as for so long. does that mean she sees itasa for so long. does that mean she sees it as a platform to something else, rather than something that is fully formed? ideally the uk thought they could reveal chequers, pulling a rabbit out of a hat, and everyone goes home happy. that would never happen, the eu views this as a starting point and no more for a long—term discussion. don't forget, the discussion about a future trade relationship can only legally begin after the uk's left the eu, so if brexit happens after 29 march next year, before that, all the cushing's district —— negotiations are about the terms. we are stuck on the

backstop on the irish border, the bridge between withdrawal terms and future relationships. that is very useful, that is why i sit down with you before every summit like this one so i get all of my head, and it leaves the very quickly afterwards andi leaves the very quickly afterwards and i have to begin all over the next come to a summit. well it hasn't been all doom and gloom when it comes to brexit. today, the brish ambassador to the us put a positive spin on things. he tweeted. .. so that is obviously a sequence of events that has to happen. the administration has to get congress involved. i put that to nigel for raj, who was here earlier. someone who is very close to the us administration, and i put it to him that we can open this negotiation,

but will be get bullied in the same way that canada was believed in the nafta negotiation? there was no prospect of a trade deal with america until at least 2022. and this is the extraordinary thing about brexit. we will not get control back of our borders or laws, or our courts, or be able to do trade deals on whatever basis with america or anybody else... will we be able to get the trade deal that we want from the united states? if we don't, we reject it, that's the point. as a sovereign nation, we will be able to make those decisions. nigel for raj, very bullish about the free trade agreement. i could tell you i was sitting down with a very senior american last week in london, and he told me that if it is chequers, if it ain't chequers, if it isn't a hard border in ireland, then you can forget about this trade agreement with america, it would just be too difficult. yes, i've heard the same thing, speaking to a

trade representative from the bush administration, somebody who knows trade deals very well. she said exactly that, that unless there is some kind of control on the border between northern ireland and ireland, than she does not see how a us- uk ireland, than she does not see how a us— uk trade and recruitment can work. she suggests we can get things through the uk, but we will not get the europeans with their regulations to a cce pt the europeans with their regulations to accept that, so there has to be a border, and it will depend on that. that will be a tough choice for those on downing street to make, though? absolutely, yes. one line of breaking news, we are starting to get some detail about what was said just before dinner. your member theresa may was speaking to the other 27 before they sat down without her to discuss brett did. the word from the room is that there was nothing new from the prime minister. that has applications because they were pretty bullish after salzberg about the need for concrete measures to be taken. if there weren't, they said that in november, the summit is down —— will

become more a summit talking about the new deal brexit scenario, the thing they will have to put into place. i think they still want to talk and november will still be there, but i think there'll be disappointed. in the next hours, you will hear from various european leaders saying that the british side have to get their act together. how many times can the prime minister going to dinners, make a presentation for the other 27, and for them to turn around and say we still have not caught we need, you still have not caught we need, you still have not moved? before she has to start publicly talking about the prospect this will not work, because otherwise we will spend all of our budget sending you to all democrat endless european summits where there is no progress, although i hope you like the food. sorry, i wasjust going to say we add one thing to that. the drama of that is part of the summit, but don't forget there is the dup threatening to bring down the budget. if you get to november, the budget. if you get to november, the budget. if you get to november, the budget might be out—of—the—way, and the threat goes out of the way.

if sheep —— is she playing the long game hoping to get past the dup? that might be part of a scenario that the journalists are talking about. ok. for years, the national democrats have pinned their hopes on turning texas blue. and for the first time, it seems there may be a chance as the senate midterm race has been unexpectedly close for the dependably red state. congressman beto o'rourke, has drawn large rally crowds and has far out—raised his conservative opponent, incumbent senator, ted cruz. the two faced off in their final debate, where the two clashed over multiple hot issues, especially how they would handle border security if elected. and let me say, there is no race in the country with a starker divide on immigration than this race here in the state of texas. beto o'rourke even chanelled donald trump, reprising the president's own words about ted cruz from the 2016 campaign. senator cruise is not going to be honest with you. he is going to make up positions and votes that have never

held or never taken. he's dishonest, that's why the president called him "lying ted", and it's why the nickname stuck, because it's true. little marco, low energyjed, and lying tad. you will remember all of those, now the democrats are using those, now the democrats are using those against other candidates. and for more we are joined now by our north america reporter, anthony zurcher. the one—day texas would flip from a republican to a democratic state because there are so many hispanics in texas, and they are bound to vote democratic. how many fallacies are there in the argument? the idea that there in the argument? the idea that there is some vast well of hispanic vote rs there is some vast well of hispanic voters to turn texas red to blue. if

you listen to the bed over, texas is not a red say, it is a nonvoting state. but if you can get people to the polls, the thing about the state —— hispanic voters is that they are younger, less affluent, a lower level of education. those are people who do not vote across the country, notjust an who do not vote across the country, not just an hispanic who do not vote across the country, notjust an hispanic issue. those are systemic questions, and raising up are systemic questions, and raising up to are systemic questions, and raising uptoa are systemic questions, and raising up to a higher level to make this a swing state, that is a tall task. one thing! swing state, that is a tall task. one thing i read about overwork is the extraordinary amount of money he has raised in the last quarter, up a record amount for someone standing for the senate. and what is remarkable about it is it is not just big corporations piling in, it is the little voters. right, beto o'rourke had a strategy to not acce pt o'rourke had a strategy to not accept donations from committees, from corporations. he raised $38 million last quarter, more than

hillary clinton or bernie sanders raised in 2016 in the third quarter, and they were running for president. is is and they were running for president. isisa and they were running for president. isis a remarkable sum of money, and it shows what is possible for a democratic candidate who is charismatic, who can encapsulate the ideas and tell things that democrats wa nt ideas and tell things that democrats want to hear, that money will pour in from all over the place. texas has lots of money, but he has become a youtube sensation, speaking to packed crowds, 50,000 people in austin. there is a groundswell of support. but the problem is that texas still has more republicans than democrats by about half a million voters at the very least. thank you very much, anthony, for coming in with that. few people understand texas politics and the challenges for democrats there better than our next guest, julian castro. he served as mayor of san antonio, texas and was then in the obama cabinet. mr castro has just published a new book, an unlikely journey, hejoins us now. thank you forjoining the programme.

the future of beto o'rourke in the senate race against ted cruz. he is the darling of the media cycle, there is a little bit about barack obama the cycle, it seems, but there has only been one poll, and it was a while ago, that put him ahead of ted cruz. he doesn't really have a chance of becoming the next us senator for texas, does he? he actually does have a chance, and the reason he has a chance is that he has outraced ted cruz immensely in terms of his fundraising, the last five out of six quarters, and also because the cycle, there are so many people who are living in the suburbs of houston, dallas, austin, san antonio who are willing to vote for the democrat is so fed up with donald trump and the republican congress. one of the interesting things to think about is that in 2016, even as states like michigan,

ohio, iowa, pennsylvania, wisconsin swung so far for the republic can't —— republican candidate, this is a continuation of the swing. it is an uphill climb, no democrat has won in texasin uphill climb, no democrat has won in texas in 25 years, but this is the best shot that anyone has had in a quarter of a century. and i think he can do it with a strong wave. let me ask you about hispanic voters, because it affects notjust beto o'rourke's future, but your future. were you to run and present —— for president and i know it is something you have floated that with your family, that is hispanic voters. hispanic voters vote in the lower pot —— percentages than any other demographic in the us population. democrats think that hispanic voters can be there assurance to victory in

the future. but one third of hispanic voters actually voted for donald trump, two problems for them. one is they do not turn out of a very much, and a lot of them are quite conservative. i would say two things of that. number one, i don't believe any analysis that says he got a third of hispanic votes, that was got a third of hispanic votes, that was based on one faulty analysis right after the election that has never right after the election that has never held up to subsequent analysis. but more broadly in terms of percent —— participation, it is true that hispanic participation is not what it should be. and i'm convinced that the only way to change that is with a massive and sustained effort at registering and turning at hispanic voters. it is not something that any one single candidate or few candidates can do, it is not something that you can do six months before an election. it is something that folks who invest heavily in voter registration

turnout need to do on a continual basis. and generally should —— generationally, we can change that. lastly, it is interesting that the two fa ste st lastly, it is interesting that the two fastest growing demographic groups in the country, hispanics and asian—americans, actually have turnout rates in presidential elections that are 17—18 points below african americans and non—hispanic whites. so there is a great coalition to be formed there that barack obama was able to put together, but i think in the future, it can be even stronger if that massive and sustained voter registration turnout effort is made for both of those communities. and a lot of those voters on the hispanic side are young voters. the book is an unlikely journey, side are young voters. the book is an unlikelyjourney, thank you very much forjoining the programme, mr castro. thank you. north dakota is famous for soybeans, the film fargo, and the world's tallest statue of a holstein cow. it doesn't have many people, and it's unlikely you've been there as a tourist.

but it is now ground zero for political reporters. that's because the democratic senators is trying to persuade this deeply republican state to reelect her, and it's not going that well. heidi heitkamp wanted to run on a message of protecting farmers from president trump's trade wars, but her campaign got derailed by the confirmation fight over supreme court nominee brett kavanaugh. she's now the most embattled democrat in a red state. more from jon sobel who is in fargo for us. when heidi heitkamp said that she was going to be a note on brett kavanaugh, that she was going to be a note on brett kava naugh, kathy that she was going to be a note on brett kavanaugh, kathy said to me that she has just accepted the inevitable that she cannot be reelected. do you think that is fair? i think the effect of what her decision then was to say look, i

know a lot of republican men doubt —— might vote against me, but i hope those on the other side will be that —— energised to vote for me. when i saw her on monday evening, she said to me that she really felt that this was a to me that she really felt that this was a matter of conscience, and it might alienate some people, but it might alienate some people, but it might win the support of others. since monday evening when i saw her, hercampaign has since monday evening when i saw her, her campaign has gone into something close to meltdown. because what she has done, or what her campaign has done, is released an open letter to her republican opponent, saying you don't take sexual assault seriously enough. it had the name ofjust shy of 130 women who had been victims of sexual assault, except her campaign had not got the consent of the women to release those names. so some women open the newsletter and saw that their private pain had been put out as part of a political campaign. and it has caused her real problems. i think that is political and ethical negligence, as well. it is

not something that she will find it easy to recover from, not something that she will find it easy to recoverfrom, right? so if heidi heitkamp does not win her reelection bid, what does that mean for the democratic party nationally? you have just focused on the eye—catching race that is texas. north dakota is also eye—catching, because if the democrats have any chance of taking back control of the senate, they need to hold every state they currently have, and gained too. and you focused on texas. but if they cannot hold onto north dakota, it may be that their chances of retaking the senate are precisely zero. that is why it is so important what happens here. in the campaign was facing an uphill task already. it now faces a herculean task to win when you consider what the campaign has just task to win when you consider what the campaign hasjust done. and it looks as though the charge will be made against heidi heitkamp that she has used women's pain for her

political gain. if she had been able to stick to a message of free trade and how president trump's trade war with china is hurting farmers there in north dakota, do you think that could have worked for her?|j in north dakota, do you think that could have worked for her? i think possibly it could have. you have farmers here, we saw a farmer yesterday who has 4500 acres, but his income is down 25% as a result of china retaliating for donald trump's terrorist that he has imposed on chinese goods. so he has no market now for his soybeans, his maze that he has been growing, and hoping to sell into the chinese market. that is far and away the biggest customer. they think this is a policy that is doing the real damage, and he said he voted for donald trump in 2016, and he has two years to decide whether he would vote for him again. very

interesting, i'm not sure how many acres you have, christian, but in north dakota they deal in 4500 acres. i've been there, you can drive for three hours and not pass another car. this is beyond 100 days. still to come: cannnabis is now legal in canada. so will the government's gamble on this policy pay off? tens of thousands of rail passengers across large parts of england and wales have had theirjournies cancelled or severely delayed today after a section of power cables was badly damaged last night as tests were carried out on a new type of train. services into and out of london paddington, one of the country's busiest stations, were brought to a complete halt causing chaos and major disruption, our transport correspondent tom burridge reports. a wall of passengers inching towards the few trains that ran. then, an early—morning squeeze from reading into london.

it still felt like a rush hour here mid—morning. passengers perplexed, frustrated... seeking answers. rejigging journeys took time. when a section of the line goes down, there is obviously a major disruption between two cities like bristol and london. but the knock—on effect on the rest of the network is vast. other trains have to be rescheduled, cancelled, and of course, delayed. the problem started when a train similar to these models was being tested. an investigation must now work out how the high—speed train collided with an direct half a kilometre of overhead electric cabling. that line out of paddington, massively important piece of railway for everyone in great west end, but also heathrow express and transport for london, as well as freight trains.

so, a huge operation to get that resolved. paddington at times, almost a ghost station today. where are you heading to? bristol, i'm a bit late. back in reading, more services moving as the day moved on. but the rail network across west england and south wales is by no means back on track. tom burridge, bbc news, reading. as of today, you can get stoned in canada legally. it is now the largest country in the world to legalize recreational marijuana. and where there's a high, there's money. pot has become a multi—billion dollar industry in canada as samira hussain reports from ontario, canada. there's quite a lot of business in it. doob, ganj, weed.

call it whatever you want, the fact is, canada's cannabis industry is coming into bloom. this is no ordinary grow, it is a high—tech operation that produces a staggering amount of legal marijuana. we are like a tech company that produces cannabis. it was about the idea that this had to be done and probably was more about tech. inside this vault is where they keep the stuff that is ready to ship. security is tight, unsurprisingly, considering the half a billion dollars worth of marijuana that line these shelves. it's those kinds of numbers that have so many people getting high on the prospects over pot. this is bay street, toronto, ca nada's financial district. the country's early adoption of cannabis as a legitimate business is allowing it to dominate the industryjust ask investor, paul rosen. this has become the hub of the global cannabis industry. toronto specifically is where most

of the global cannabis companies are coming to raise their capital. most of the well—known us companies are coming to canada to list on the canadian securities exchange because they can't list on the nasdaq or the nyse. even educators like bill mcdonald are cashing in on cannabis. there is licensed producers coming to myself and saying, we need professionals, we can't find enough trained people for this. so it was only natural he started canada's first commercial cannabis programme. there were 300 applicants for only 24 spots. in this classroom, students are learning to cultivate marijuana on an industrial scale. the goal is to get them into cannabis companies fast to start running their production operations. there is also the added benefit of giving some of these students more legitimate or legal experience.

i don't know about cannabis, they've got the munchies here. ijust have the menu for the 25 —— 27 l. a trio of sorbets, a chair inside. we will see you tomorrow. they will not be a great deal of rain in the next few days, the winds will be quite light, but some sunshine as well. many of us had skies like this today with some week autumn sunshine coming to the cloud. on the whole, we are in between to weather fronts. meant —— this one coming into the northwest on friday, giving us the drizzly morning this weather in the southeast. high pressure building in from the atla ntic pressure building in from the atlantic into these two. most places will be dry with clear skies overnight, allowing those temperatures to follow a quickly, perhaps a little more clout in the northwest of scotland. the oblate shower here, northern england into the colder air, temperatures close

to freezing. chillier across parts of east anglia, more clout at times overnight, and it will come and go throughout thursday. there will also be more clout in the northwest of scotland, but in between, lots of sunshine to enjoy on thursday. temperatures may be lower than they we re temperatures may be lower than they were today, but with the light winds and sunshine, it should feel quite pleasant. highs 1216 degrees. we saw that when a friend coming in across the atlantic, this is where it is thursday and friday —— 16 degrees. most of the rain will be in the morning across scotland, especially the northern half of scotland. that band weakens across the south, sunshine follows into scotland, 1—2 showers. it will be another fine day with sunny spells, maybe a few patches of mist and fog around the morning. those temperatures again, 12-17d morning. those temperatures again, 12—17d also. there is that week

weather front again, another week weather front again, another week weather system arriving into the northwest. this will bring some rain across the northern half of scotland. increasingly that becomes confined to the highlands. probably a bit more mist and fog in the morning across east wails. it should be in the milder as temperatures temperature —— typically 15 degrees. a fairly temperature —— typically 15 degrees. afairly mild temperature —— typically 15 degrees. a fairly mild can —— weather continues in the second half of the weekend, those places will be dry, again some mist and fog. this is bbc news, i'm julian worricker. the headlines at eight. theresa may addresses european union leaders in brussels, insisting that a brexit deal is "achievable". but intensive work is needed. i believe we can achieve a deal. as i say, a deal is in the interests notjust of the uk

but also of the european union. and the first reaction from the president of the european council, saying the prime minister presented nothing new in her presentation to be 27 metres. —— the 27 leaders. in other news — tens of thousands of people on sickness benefits are to receive backdated payments of thousands of pounds, after a government error. severe disruption to railjourneys to and from paddington today and warnings there will be more in the morning, after damage to overhead power lines. turkish investigators enter the residence of the saudi consul in istanbul to gather more evidence