you're watching beyond one hundred days. high court room drama in washington, where a judge delays sentencing for donald trump's former national security adviser. after thejudge said michael flynn's crimes bordered on treason, his lawyers asked to hold off on sentencing. the former national security chief was charged in the mueller russia probe and has been cooperating with the investigation into possible collusion. in more legal troubles, president trump agrees to shut down his personal charity after a new york attorney general accuses it of a "shocking pattern of illegality" also on the programme: a calamity or a minor hiccup? whatever a no deal brexit turns out to be, the uk government says it'll be ready, even stockpiling medicines and keeping thousands of troops on standby. and manchester united, one of the most famous football clubs in the world, permanently substitutes its manager, jose mourinho. he's been sacked after a string of terrible results. hello and welcome.

i'm katty kay in washington. clive myrie is in london. a judge in washington sounded ready to sentence president trump's first national security advisor to prison but at the last minute agreed to postpone the sentencing because general michael flynn is still cooperating with special counsel robert mueller‘s russia investigation. at one point, thejudge said mr flynn's actions bordered on treason. here's a reminder of how the former army lieutenant—general got into this mess. in february 2016, hejoined the trump presidential campaign as an advisor on national security issues. and after trump's election victory, he was named national security advisor. butjust three months later, flynn resigned, after it transpired he lied about discussing sanctions with the russian ambassador to washington. in december 2017, flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the fbi and enters a deal

to cooperate with special counsel robert mueller. fast forward a year and today trump's former national security advisor appears in court for his sentencing hearing, which the judge agrees to delay. for more on today's drama, we can speak to elizabeth wydra, president of the constitutional accountability center and ab stoddard, associate editor of realclearpolitics. thank you forjoining us on the programme. elizabeth, what does this mean for donald trump? that michael flynn looked like he might be going to prison and has now been given another three months to carry on cooperating with the special counsel and talking about anything he might know about donald trump? and talking about anything he might know about donald trump7m and talking about anything he might know about donald trump? it is certainly not good news for president trump if he has anything to hide because what this means is

that the special counsel and this judge in particular, judge sullivan, are not messing around when it comes to these claims. we saw michael flynn try to have it both ways by pleading guilty and seeking to get the benefits of cooperation and it does appear that he has cooperated extensively, but then coming out with this bizarre conspiracy theory recently, which we have also seen come from the white house, that somehow flynn was entrapped by the fbi into lying, and thejudge made it very entrapped by the fbi into lying, and the judge made it very clear today that he was not having that nonsense, he wanted flynn to make it clear in court today that he was guilty of lying about his contacts with the then russian ambassador and that he was expected to continue to cooperate fully. so this is getting literally down the hall from the oval office, when you have a national security adviser lying about russian contacts on key issues of foreign policy and being sentenced eventually to maybe

probation, maybe time in prison, but being convicted of those serious crimes. any moment now, sarah sanders is due to start a press briefing. we will be listening to what she says about this, but one thing donald trump has been tweeting about michael flynn, he said good luck, he seems to imply he was being put under a great deal of pressure to cooperate, and donald trump has been calling this a witchhunt. it did not sound like the judge been calling this a witchhunt. it did not sound like thejudge in been calling this a witchhunt. it did not sound like the judge in this case agreed with the president that there was anything like a witchhunt about this. judge sullivan asked michael flynn directly in court today whether he had been entrapped in the process and he said no, i was not. he not only acknowledged that he knew that lying was a crime but that he had not been, the fbi agents had not done anything wrong and he has not been entrapped, so the whole

narrative coming out of the white house, and sarah sanders had repeated this line just hours before the sentencing, that flynn was forced into all of this, has really falle n forced into all of this, has really fallen apart. i think they were thinking, some associates of president trump and flynn that the judge in this case was going to go after some potential wrongdoing by the fbi but he came down very harshly on him and flynn was quite contrite. elizabeth, the comments from thisjudge in court, i don't think i've heard anything like it. he turned to a flag in the corner of the courtroom and said, arguably, what you have done, pointing to flynn, undermines everything this flag stands for. arguably, you sold your country out. have you heard anything like that from a federal judge? judge sullivan, and i have appeared before him as a lawyer in court, he takes his role as someone

who is there to impart clearjustice seriously and he wanted to make sure that people, the american public in particular, knew that this was an extremely serious friends that we we re extremely serious friends that we were talking about, even if, as recommended by the special counsel, michael flynn does not get any time in prison because of his cooperation, we are talking about potentially selling your country out, lying in the white house to the fbi about contacts with a russian official about key foreign policy issues, and this is serious. the law issues, and this is serious. the law is something that we see these tweets from the president and witchhunt and all of that, but this isa witchhunt and all of that, but this is a serious matter and the judge, witchhunt and all of that, but this is a serious matter and thejudge, i thinkjudge sullivan is no nonsense. he is no nonsense when it comes to prosecutors and defendants and we saw that with michael flynn. eventually, he and his lawyers gave

up eventually, he and his lawyers gave up the theatre they were doing to try to keep in the good graces of donald trump, but they eventually said the fbi did not entrapped them, they are guilty, they are going to cooperate. as mr flynn was awaiting sentencing, there were more legal problems foertrump. he was forced to shut down his charity after a lawsuit against it. new york attorney general barbara underwood was scathing in her assesment of the charity's real role. she wrote, "our petition detailed a shocking "pattern of illegality involving the trump foundation, "including unlawful co—ordination with the trump presidential "campaign, repeated and willful self—dealing and much more. "this amounted to the trump foundation functioning as little "more than a checkbook to serve mr trump's business "and political interests. " another hammer blow, i suppose, in terms ofjudicial rhetoric another hammer blow, i suppose, in terms of judicial rhetoric for the president and all these arguments,

that the white house has been putting out about these various investigations, that they are witchhunt is, that they are partisan, unfounded, is any of that now losing traction as far as the public are concerned because of these comments from judges and because of all the indictments that have been handed down? it's a very interesting question because a new poll came out this week that showed 62% of the country believes that trump has been dishonest when he talks about the russia investigation. that includes some of his own supporters. if you are getting to 62% of the country. i think it is increasingly desperate sounding and factually wrong tweeting about this is not really helping his case. it is obviously horrifying his legal team but it's not really helping on the pr front. republicans have decided, while they are increasingly concerned about what this could mean, these kinds of descriptions in the court documents

and like the new york attorney general description today about self—dealing, makes them nervous that perhaps the mueller investigation is going to turn up russia related orjust stand—alone financial crimes from the president and his family. they are dealing with and providing immunity for the cfo of the organisation. in addition to the cooperation of michael coen, but the republicans have made the decision that they are going to stay silent until the conclusion of the mueller report, which makes days like today rather difficult. what is the legal jeopardy in like today rather difficult. what is the legaljeopardy in any of this, if at all, for the president himself? this is his personal charity, it has been forced to close down, at one point melania trump spent $20,000 on buying a six foot tall portrait of donald trump during a gala. we can see the picture

there. she also spent $10,000 on a four foot painting of himself. all of this from charitable money. it doesn't look very good but is their legal jeopardy doesn't look very good but is their legaljeopardy in any of this for the president? yes, and it is important to note that while this particular, these particular allegations are sevilla in nature, not criminal, so it would involve potentially someone going to jail from the trump foundation, the real danger, that i'm sure has trump world shaking, is the prospect of sevilla discovery, which allows litigants to get information, to get documents, to get all of these financial details that trump is trying to hide, and the worry from those in the trump circle is that it could turn the other evidence of misdeeds. this is just

could turn the other evidence of misdeeds. this isjust another thread in the web of criminality and corruption surrounding donald trump, and it's hard to see how he himself at some point doesn't get stuck in it. thank you both very much. it should be made clear and remembered that michael flynn is a man who served his country, a lieutenant general in the army, and yet in 2016, in a closed door meeting in the oval office, barack obama warned donald trump not to employ michael flynn in a senior role as national security adviser because barack role as national security adviser because ba rack obama role as national security adviser because barack obama didn't trust him and a judge is now suggesting that michael flynn's actions in the last few months since he became national security adviser basically could amount to treason. we will have to wait until march to

find out what happens to michael flynn and whether he gets that prison sentence or doesn't, because thatis prison sentence or doesn't, because that is the next time he will appear in court. i think the defence and the prosecution and the white house went into today thinking michael flynn would not be getting a prison sentence, now they have to wait until march and so that is still hanging over the former national security adviser. with 101 days to go until the uk leaves the european union, the government is ramping up plans for what to do if there's no deal in place. british families will be sent notices on how to prepare for crashing out of the eu. the precise impact of no deal isn't know but it could affect everything from travel, traffic, food supplies and access to pharmaceuticals. the defence ministry says 3,500 troops have been put on notice to deal with any possible disruption. the government reiterated however that its priority is to leave under the terms of the deal the prime minister has already negotiated. the problem is selling that to parliament.

i hope members of this house will look again at the risk to jobs and services of a no deal. the risk to our democracy of not leaving. and members will choose to back the deal when it returns to the house. it would be catastrophic for the uk. that is why no deal has never truly beena that is why no deal has never truly been a viable option. it's a political hoax and deep down, deep down, i think the government and this prime minister knows it. we're joined now by the man with his ear to the ground, our political correspondent rob watson. these troops, why are they on standby? what does the government think is going to happen? i'll get back to that in a second but the first thing that you read out from washington, 101 days until brexit. tomorrow it will be 100 days and it is important to state right at the outset, we still have absolutely no idea how britain is going to leave the european union and in what

manner. i suppose you could argue whether it will definitely happen. back to your troops, you can see tomorrow's headlines, brexit chaos, brexit battalion, troops on standby. certainly not was was promised by the leave campaign. all we can say about it and colleagues of mine who have spoken to the mod said they will be there in a contingency capacity. you make this point, 100 days to go tomorrow. it is like we are on a plane and we could be flying anywhere. we don't know what the distension need —— what the destination is, it could be beautiful but it could be to some volcanic lump that doesn't have anything on it. we don't know what is going on. it does seem absolutely incredible. normally i am the one who tries to inject some likeness about brexit. can i say i am opting for the island. the one with the sandy beach? it sounds great. we

genuinely don't know. we have theresa may's plans that she has agreed with the european union which is upfora agreed with the european union which is up for a fairly hard brexit but following a long transition. i suspect what is happening, and it is what i always get asked at parties... people talk to you about brexit at parties? they talk about nothing else. i know what people wa nt to nothing else. i know what people want to know. what do you think is going to happen? i suspect it will get to the middle ofjanuary with the prime minister will be faced with this truly grisly dilemma which is after the dealfails with this truly grisly dilemma which is after the deal fails is to go soft on brexit, more like norway, or another referendum, delaying, something like that, risking alienating 17.4 million leave voters, or she goes for a hard brexit, which risks trashing the uk economy and britain's standing in the world. i don't know what she

would go for. remind us what the timetable is going to be. we will get you back on that day. right, well, the debate will resume on the 7th of january and then they should be about around the week beginning monday the 14th of january. i think thatis monday the 14th of january. i think that is where the big showdown, the big brexit showdown on brexit will happen. are we going to go for to reason may‘s deal? will she go for some kind of alternative? will there bea some kind of alternative? will there be a delay? i know people watching will think, i'm sure that you or someone will think, i'm sure that you or someone that looked like you or sounded like you said there was going to be a showdown whenever, but with the clock ticking, it really does look as though the middle of january is a big, big showdown time. rob watson, we will get you back in the middle of january. rob watson, we will get you back in the middle of januarylj rob watson, we will get you back in the middle ofjanuary. i want the island. not the volcanic lump?

we have got to move on. we're joined from westminster by the labour mp and former foreign secretary margaret beckett. thank you very much forjoining the programme. the snp have said that labour have let the government off the hook by calling a motion of no confidence in the prime minister but not in the government. as labour lost a n not in the government. as labour lost an opportunity here, and if so, why? i think it is a genuinely difficult issue and no one should forget that although temporarily we seem forget that although temporarily we seem to be on the same side against the government, for the snp, the biggest enemies they face are the labour party. we are their competitors and their threat, so they don't owe us any favours and they don't owe us any favours and they never do us any favours, so they never do us any favours, so they are bound to say that, but it isa they are bound to say that, but it is a genuinely difficult issue because no opposition really wants to go down to a crushing defeat. i

suspect what the calculation was was that there are a lot of people on the tory benches who would vote for the tory benches who would vote for the government if there were a vote of no—confidence in a tory government because they have always said that. but there are also a lot of them who are also fed up with theresa may. maybe somebody thought, they might vote against her, even if they might vote against her, even if they wouldn't vote against the government. the thinking is, that explains where we are. there are also quite a lot of people are fed up also quite a lot of people are fed up with labour for not providing a clear alternative when it comes to brexit. if your party had had a clearer position on the issue of brexit, wouldn't you be providing now a rallying point, an alternative, to a government that your party would say is in disarray. to be honest, i think this is all wildly exaggerated. again, it's

convenient for people to save the labour party doesn't have a possession. we have had a very clear position for months and months and months, and that is that there has to bea months, and that is that there has to be a way to resolve this and we think that the way out of the mess the government has created is to have the general election and to have the general election and to have a new government. if that argument had carried some time ago, we would be in a very different position now. as you know, it didn't carry, and so we are stuck with the government we have and the fact they have complete control of the agenda in the house of commons and everybody else has to try and work out how, given to reason may‘s utterly contemptible intra nsigence, how anybody can get the chance to discuss anything other than what she wa nts ? discuss anything other than what she wants? —— theresa may. discuss anything other than what she wants? -- theresa may. but given that it looks like a general election is unlikely, critics of the labour position would say it is unclear what the labour party stands

for because there are some in the party that suggested perhaps john mcdonnell, for instance, perhaps they could be a second or another referendum. you have got others who suggest that it would be simply better to allow the whole thing to fizzle out and we end up going towards a ha rd fizzle out and we end up going towards a hard brexit. it is unclear what labour would seek to want to achieve now that it looks unlikely that there is going to be a general election. i am not sure that is quite correct. there may be the odd individual who thinks that it would be all right if we leave with a hard brexit and there are very, very few of them in the labour party. sorry to interrupt but isn't the point that one of the people who believes there could be a hard brexit is at there could be a hard brexit is at the very top of the party? no, i don't think so. i would be very surprised if that is whatjeremy corbyn believes. there are individuals perhaps who might. i

don't know of any but there may be some who might be prepared to contemplate a hard brexit. most people don't want that and many, many people... the more this goes on, the closer we get to the deadline, the stronger the view in the labour party and across the house that maybe one of the things that has to happen to make sure that the british people don't feel cheated of voice is to have a people's vote. we have to leave it there. thank you very much for joining the programme. it's hard to overstate how muchjose mourinho has meant to english football for the past 14 years. at the height of his fame, he was a superstar. but perhaps if you have the audacity to call yourself "the special one", an eventual fall from grace was inevitable. after spending more than £400 million on 11 players, mourinho's been sacked as manager of manchester united because the club is doing so badly. getting rid of him isn't cheap. mourinho reportedly will get a pay—out of more than £22 million. for more on this let's go to football commentator

tommy smyth in new york. mourinho's fall from grace. did you see it coming? did it have to happen? it had to happen. i was on this programme in may of 2016 and i said jose mourinho should never be the manchester united manager. in my opinion he didn't fit what a manchester united manager should be and he went on to take, as they say in the game, he didn'tjust part the bus, he parked taxi is alongside the best, he put the defence there, and he didn't play any attacking football, and £400 million on 11 players and he could still do nothing. he is not the special one today at all. in fact, he is unemployed at the moment. steady on,

tommy. this is a man who has won trophy after trophy after trophy. manchester united are in the last 16 of the champions league. admittedly they are closer to the bottom of the premier league than the top, but it does seem a bit of getting rid of him in the middle of the season. who are they going to get to leave their own club in the middle of the season? well, they are going to appoint somebody to take them through the season and the rumours that we heard this morning is that it is going to be a format he wrote, a man who scored a goal in barcelona that won them the champions league against bayern munich, ole gunnar solskjaer. he is a manager in norway but the norwegian season is over. it will not start again until probably the end of february, the 1st of march. i am feeling sorry forjose mourinho. my husband is a manchester city fan so he is happy that he has

gone, but this is what our north america editor in the season of christmas and goodwill we did today. to all my dear friends who are manchester united fans... why does everybody hate mourinho so much? i think it is also a case of many people hate manchester united. the thing about neymar nine matt was, when things were going well, —— mourinho was doing it, when things we re mourinho was doing it, when things were not going well, he threw the players under the bus. luke shaw, one of the future england stars, he said he was too heavy. but when they would get a good result, he would say, you see what i did? listen to him on saturday. that was the turning point. after losing to liverpool. manchester united don't ever like to lose to liverpool. it

could be a donkey derby, they want to beat liverpool. mourinho said, the players play to their potential, well, if that is their potential, and they lost 3—1, either you are doing something wrong or they are doing something wrong or they are doing something wrong or they are doing something wrong, and you can't fire the whole team so you fire the manager. this is beyond 100 days from the bbc. coming up for viewers on the bbc news channel and bbc world news, we'll look at how a no deal brexit could impact businesses in the uk. and president xi of china has marked the 40th anniversary of the opening up of the country's economy by saying china will not "develop at the expense of other nations." it has been a very wet and windy day

for many of us. the isobars have been tightly packed together, indicating those winds, but this weather front has brought a band of heavy and persistent rain. some of it has been torrential as it has continued to journey eastwards. a bit of a clearance behind it with flowers for northern ireland and western scotland. it will continue to clear eastwards this evening and overnight. then we are under something a bit clearer, a bit quieter. the wind still quite a feature bread and clearer skies it will be a chilly night than last night. as we had through wednesday morning, a cool start across northern and eastern areas. we will start with some sunshine and then the cloud will build—up. and then across the west, some of these will be heavy, blustery. it is going to

be heavy, blustery. it is going to bea be heavy, blustery. it is going to be a blustery day across the board. not as windy as tuesday. those temperatures down a bit on tuesday's values. we are looking at highs of around eight or nine in the north, ten and 11 in the south, which is pretty typical for this time of year. pretty typical for this time of yea r. low pressure pretty typical for this time of year. low pressure with thursday. and also further showers. we could see longer spells of rain in northern ireland and western scotland. and there will be showers further south. the best of the drier and brighter interludes will be across the north—east of scotland. temperature wise, similar to wednesday, single figures in the north, just double figures in the south. that area of low pressure begins to clear away as we head into friday. something briefly quieter before this next weather feature moves in of the atlantic to bring a speu moves in of the atlantic to bring a spell of wet and windy weather to england and wales. we are starting off on england and wales. we are starting offona england and wales. we are starting off on a cool note but it is wet and

windy for northern ireland, much of england and when. some of this rain will be quite heavy and the wind reaching 30 mph. it will be bright in the afternoon with sunshine and showers. a little bit quieter across northern scotland. single figure values in the north, a little bit milder in the south. this is beyond 100 days. with me katty kay in washington, clive myrie is in london office. our top stories.... delays and drama, the sentencing of president trump's former national security adviser is put back, because he's still co—operating with prosecutors. as the british government ramps up preparations for a no—deal brexit, businesses call on theresa may to take her deal to the people, if she can't persuade mps to back it. coming up in the next half hour, as part of a speech marking 40 years since china introduced major economic reforms, president xi promises that his country will not "develop at the expense of other nations." and the president has lashed out at the us federal reserve,

warning them not to make "another mistake" by raising interest rates. there's been high drama in court in washington today, culminating in a judge agreeing to delay sentencing for president trump's former national security adviser. michael flynn was due to be sentenced a few hours ago, following his guilty plea for lying to the fbi about his contacts with russian officials, as part of the probe into possible collusion between the trump campaign and russia in the run up to the 2016 election. but after the judge said flynn's actions bordered on treason, his lawyers asked to hold off on sentencing. the white house press secretary sarah sanders has been speaking about the case in the past few minutes: what we do know that was inappropriate by him self and

minutes by james comey inappropriate by him self and minutes byjames comey in the fbi broke standard protocol in the way they ambushed him and question him and him forjim to not have white house counsel. —— and informed him to not have white house counsel with him. the only reason they did is it was the drug administration and the topic and get away with that. those are facts. —— it was the trump administration... sara sanders their our north american reporter is there our north america reporter anthony zurcher is with me. you saw and had a chance to respond from what we heard from the judge, how are they taking this? exactly, and whatever michael flynn is saying has nothing to do with the president. she stressed that point

very hard. the reality is michael flynn was a close adviser to the president during the campaign, also was the first national security adviser, so it's rather difficult for donna trump to distance themselves from michael flynn. and if you read the sentencing recommendations, it outlines all of the ways in this investigation into possible collusion between russia and the truck campaign. now that the sentencing has been pushed back its not going to go away though. just remind you that michael flynn has top security clearance the white house, and was operating on issues of national security at the same time he was doing what? he was serving as an unregistered agent of the turkish government according to the turkish government according to the special counsel office as well

as having contact with russia government officials multiple times during the transition period. you could tell when you listen to judge emmet sullivan talk about this in the courtroom, how angry he was about michael flynn lying to investigators about the unregistered lobby that he did he said essentially that michael flynn had been badgering the united states, and the fact that he was lying while he was in the white house, that was opened the judge was very fixated on, andl opened the judge was very fixated on, and i think what she saw was michael flynn and his defence team listing to the judge talk about this saying i could very well said to do to prison, though the judge gave him an opportunity to step back and maybe outlined more cooperation they could do and they took that opportunity, because all of those special counsel offices are saying no jail time, special counsel offices are saying nojailtime, and of special counsel offices are saying no jail time, and of course his lawyers saying no jail time, sol look at the judge was going a different direction. that is interesting you say, because michael flynn had an opportunity to get a

sentencing today and they said no so they would talk to the special counsel. that suggest that clearly michael flynn has more to give up, and that none of that extra stuff that he might have had it would have got out there. if the judge had sentenced him today. the special counsel had asked about michael flynn is information today, but there was still a possibility that he could co—operate more on. one of the possibilities was the court case investigating two of michael flynn's business partners who have been indicted for under a registered lobbying in turkey. —— would have been that... at least michael flynn has given them everything about four. 0k, thank you. 40 years ago today china launched a series of reforms that would forever change the world. the moves to open what was at the time a very closed country were radical. president xi jingping celebrated

the anniversary by delivering a lengthy speech highlighting what he called china's epic achievements. he also tried to reassure the world that his country posed no threat. and while he didn't specifically criticise the united states' role in the trade war between washington and beijing, he did say that no one can dictate china's economic path. you ina you in a big country like china with more than 5000 years of civilization, and a population of more than1.3 civilization, and a population of more than 1.3 billion people to push ahead with remote development, there are no textbooks which can be regarded as having a golden rule. and no one could dictate to the chinese people which are or should not be done. let's talk to elizabeth economy, the director of asia studies at the council on foreign relations. she's in new york now. as markets watch what president xi was saying, basically the communist party agenda was going to carry on,

markets sank. why did they not like what they heard from president xi?|j think this is a golden opportunity for president xi to a pretty broad new vision for where he wanted to ta ke new vision for where he wanted to take the country in terms of economic reform. this was in celebration of 40 years of economic reform, and he can say this is where i want to take it, instead as you suggest what was largely transmitted to the speech was a reassertion of the role of the communist party in setting the stage, and setting the tone for the country future economic developments. i think the lack of any real substance of any detail in terms of what kind of economic reforms might be expected i think i and generated a significantly to the kind of the markets. elizabeth is quebec over the 40 years and i think the assumption had been that the

westwood china. —— elizabeth, let's go back over those 40 years... which has had more influence on who, the west over china or china of the west? i think clearly over 40 years the impact has been significant going both ways, but i do think the argument that engagement failed. the west had a notion that it was going to transform china into another western liberal democracy, and that simply didn't happen and therefore engagement failed, i think that the mistake. it's a mistake to look at it that way, and i think the west had an enormous impact on china. everything from the initial inflows of china, to helping china develop its laws and regulations around trade with china has modelled its laws and regulations in many areas and participated in the global system of the united states, and

even japan. we system of the united states, and evenjapan. we have had an enormous impact in terms of the development of civil society. so a lot of what we have seen in china in terms of its reform and opening up over the past 40 years has been supported and bolstered by its interaction with the west. certainly would not want to say engagement has succeeded, but of corsets a pretty significant impact on china. —— of course it had a pretty significant impact on china. as cathy began this whole discussion on markets, whether it does well, or whether it does badly affects all of us around the world, and there is the sense that the chinese pulling back from an investment on the borders is wrong. right, china is the second largest

economy in the world, and is the largest trading power and it is one of the largest sources of foreign direct investment, but it is. it plays an enormous economic role and you can see that from its initiative connecting china through 6070 other countries or infrastructure development, due through its digital infrastructure. it's transformative and having effects on the global economy. what happens in china matters. i do think it's interesting and what is reflected in some extent the defensive position during the speech, is the sense that china's economy is slowing in part because of the extraordinary degree of state control that has been asserted into the economy, and the failure to have a structural reform. at this moment china reform economists are trying to reform, so i think it would be

interesting to see today and tomorrow as they have their central economic work conference which is also taking place on the heels of the speech, whether or not we see the speech, whether or not we see the outlines of more structural economic reform. elizabeth economy, thanks so much for joining elizabeth economy, thanks so much forjoining us. it will be interesting to see what happens over the next 40 years. theresa may's brexit deal is "impossible to resuscitate" and she should back a second referendum to unblock the logjam. so say 53 leading business figures in a letter written to the telegraph today. the group is urging mrs may to "to take her deal to the british people" if she cannot persuade mps to back it. meanwhile a report by the british chambers of commerce suggests business investment is stalling. it warns that investment is set to be 0.6% less than expected this year. and also predicts it will grow by only 0.1% next year, that's down by 1.1% on its previous forecast. sir andrew cahn was chief executive of uk trade & investment, which was part of the govenrnment‘s

business department, and is now a non—executive director with a number of leading global companies. he signed the letter that's in the telegraph today and hejoins us now. thanks for coming in. you must be tearing your hair out at the fact that tomorrow is 100 days before we are due to leave the european union, and we don't know what will happen. i think and we don't know what will happen. ithinkl and we don't know what will happen. i think i and business executives across the whole of the country are really worried that we have no idea what is going to happen on march the 29th. we could have a catastrophic collapsing of the european union. we can have an extension, we can have a withdrawal of the article 50, or we can have a deal which the government is negotiating, which is a pretty poor deal because it turns into a rule taker, some of the that has to acce pt rule taker, some of the that has to accept most of the eu's rules and grievances without any say. but

theresa may has ruled out a second referendum, and says it would not be right given there is not already a belt. she is still pushing her deal which many believe will not get through, what do you believe what happened there? we have a government thatis happened there? we have a government that is in power. i've never seen something so chambliss. we have a house of commons which looks as though it is unlikely to be bring any of the alternatives, so at least, and of course we have a deal which is very different from what the british people are being offered by the brazen supporters, the league campaign during the referendum, so it seems to me the democratic thing to do is to say to the british people, is the deal when you want? —— offered people, is the deal when you want? — — offered by people, is the deal when you want? —— offered by the brexit supporters, the league —— leave the campaign...

it has to be pushed to the house of commons, and it has to be imposed upon people. the u signed today at one point says government figures show that every —— the letter you sign today says i will put the government figures show a different number than what they said earlier. why they should be open to have a free—trade agreement with countries like the united states, and become better off? is not only the government figures and i do trust their figures, i think they come from a wide variety of sources within the government is notjust the treasury. it's also think tanks that say we will be worse off, and i think it stands to reason that we will be worse off because we will be cut off from our major market, cut off in the sense that we won't have privileged access to it, and we will have a grievance with the markets which are, everybody says will be

growing in the future. i'm sure we will be worse off, almost all the business book that i have talked to, and the major exporters say we will be worse off —— the business folk that i have talked to... we have information on goods, but nothing on services. the last point i will make as it's the start of what we will be —— we'll only are talking about the withdrawal deal we're not talking about the future. that is why business confidence is so low, because businesses are not investing, they are not creating new jobs, they don't believe currently, in the future until they know what the originals will be. —— arrangements will be. people believe the white house will

play hardball on this and make sure america can get the best deal that they can. that will include large of agricultural phonics in any kind of trade deal and the oldies of the agricultural communities in the uk are not keen on. the trump administration has rolled out new federal regulations officially banning bump stocks. the devices make it faster to fire rounds from a semi—automatic weapon, those who possess them will have 90 days to turn them in or destroy them. bump stocks gained national attention last year after a gunman in las vegas used one to fire on concertgoers, killing 58 people. you were there in las vegas, and of course this is something in favour of those who want gun control have asked for a while. yes you can fire weapons faster even though a

semiautomatic weapon is illegal to buy at gun shows in america. it seems like a bizarre anomaly within the law, and the banning of these gun stocks finally bring the anomaly to the end. a number of people have been dead as a result of the stocks, and something that has been a long time coming up the chimp administration not taking action on gun control. this is beyond 100 days. still to come, donald trump issues a warning to the fed, saying a potential interest rate hike would be "incredible" considering us stock market problems. the government has unveiled its new strategy on tackling household waste in england with the aim of protecting the environment and cutting pollution. plans include clearer recycling labels on foods and a deposit scheme for bottles, cans and disposable cups. our relationship with the stuff we

throw away is about the change. starting with new rules to end confusion over what can be recycled. takejessica, confusion over what can be recycled. take jessica, she's confusion over what can be recycled. takejessica, she's not sure what does and what bin. i think sometimes you see something and it says recycla ble, you see something and it says recyclable, but is all part of recycla ble ? recyclable, but is all part of recyclable? it's quite confusing to stop the government strategy aims to make it easier to recycle. site is a we are using too much of the planet resources to buy stuff and throw it away. —— scientists say that mike here is one solution, if food waste is collected separately, it gives a strea m is collected separately, it gives a stream of valuable gas and a low load of soil fertiliser. stream of valuable gas and a low load of soilfertiliser. ministers wa nt load of soilfertiliser. ministers want all households in the uk to be offered a food waste caddy. we enable people to do with food waste, something which in the past we have

been very poor at dealing with. people will be directly affected by a deposit system, but also to drink containers like this when we filmed in norway. the machines here give you your money back when you recycle a containerfor the you your money back when you recycle a container for the environmentalist have their worries as well. some of these proposed changes are going to require new funding for environment agencies which have obviously been ha rd agencies which have obviously been hard hit, with austerity measures. we cannot just throw stuff away because there is no such place as a way. donald trump has a heap of legal problems, and the state of the us stock market could also cause him real trouble. the president today renewed his attack on the us federal reserve, blaming a recent slide in the dow on interest rate hikes. the fed, as it's known, is meant to be independent

and usually presidents don't openly criticise it. yesterdayjust before us markets were due to open the president took aim at the fed's attempts to get ahead of inflation. he tweeted ‘it is incredible that with a very strong dollar and virtually no inflation, the outside world blowing up around us, paris is burning and china way down, the fed is even considering yet another interest rate hike'. sudeep reddy, managing editor of politico joins us now from washington. that's actually pretty mild by the president standard, at one point he called them crazy. what is the president still annoyed about what the federal reserve? is in a just doing thejob the federal reserve? is in a just doing the job and needs to do, keeping inflation in check by raising interest rates. of course thatis raising interest rates. of course that is their intent, but the president is concerned about the stock market. he sees the stock market as a barometer of his performance. they are a version of

his polls, and his polls are going down if you look at the stock market in that way. they are down for the year for stocks in 2018, the president is obviously concerned about that, and he is trying to put pressure on the fed to see if it can help boost the stock market and turn things around. it is always precarious when you tie your fortu nes to precarious when you tie your fortunes to the market, of course they went out for quite a lot of mr trump's presidency. the markets have been on a continuous slide the last three months of this is now the worst december on the market since 1931. how much of a political problem is that for mr trump? usually you end up getting the santa claus usually you end up getting the santa cla u s rally usually you end up getting the santa claus rally in the market, but now the problem with the markets is trying to pressure the fed, of course pressuring the fed has its own obligations, and is obviously

somewhat hopeless. it's counterproductive and that it's likely to lead the fed to try to raise interest rates to show independence. now we have rising interest rates and the fed is not backing down. the stock market is under pressure and of course other problems on the horizon such as tariffs waiting on the economy. all of that is a nesting hawk dove for the president to be facing right now. as you say, the fed has a job to do and it needs to control inflation. i think three rate rises this year do you expect any year? they are signalling that they are close to what they think is the neutral rate when they want to end up. the fed is of course a dated dependent organisation. they're looking the economic data. —— and they are a data dependent organisation. and it is 8—bit that had interest rate roughly where we

are, justa had interest rate roughly where we are, just a little bit below, and brought them to zero for —— in 2008 they had interest rates roughly where we are now... they have ammunition in their toolkit in that if we were to see a recession in the coming years they would be able to react but they do not have a lot of ammunition right now. a lot of talks about a problem with yield curves, and the suggestion that the american economy is beginning to look a little bit fragile, and is waning, that could possibly be the kind of thing that does stall the fat hand in raising interest rates. —— of the fed... in raising interest rates. —— of the fed these are indicators that we can be it in store for trouble ahead. the job market is looking good, economic growth is good, but the fed looks at other gauges, but

we are long in the tooth for expansion. next summer we will hit ten years since the last, says the expansion began. we have not gone longer than ten years before. there are a lot of people in markets that are a lot of people in markets that are nervous. there are policymakers who are nervous, and of course the president is nervous about this as well going into a reelection battle with a potential recession on his hands. 0k, sudeep the only thing i remember studying about economics is the markets and the stock market. this is a very very important story, we have to bring you a breaking news update on the ross from friends look—alike. you may remember back in october we told you about the suspect, accused of theft and fraud, who bears an uncanny resemblance to the actor david schwimmer. an appeal put out by police to find the man, seen here on the left, went viral, and he was soon after identified. except now...

a judge has issued an arrest warrant after he failed to turn up at court. so... ross's doppelganger is still at large. yeah i can't help but think it's probably that bit harder to stay incognito given who the guy looks like. and david schwimmer has done a spoof of view on a television show. i have to say, i actually missed the story originally and came across it today with this man still being on the run, and the like this is really quite remarkable. it is quite uncanny. i was thinking are we really doing david schwimmer and the look—alike again? and that you see it and it to good reason. there you go. it is the tilt of the hair to the left of the camera. it's like a slouch forward a little bit there i think. i'm going to have to think

about who the doppelganger for clyde is. we know your doppelganger, it's snl. see you tomorrow guys. we will be back. it's been a web a windy day for many of us. we had gales in excess of 6070 miles an hour. isobars have been tightly packed together, but this weather front has also brought a band of heavy and persistent rain, some of the rain has been torrential. and that at a glance behind it between scotland and northern ireland, and i much of the rain has arrived near southeast england and east anglia. it will continue to go eastern to the later pa rt continue to go eastern to the later part of the evening. and then under something a bit cleaner and quieter.

the wind is still a feature, but under clear skies it will be a chillier night than it was last night with showers backing at the southern and western areas. as we had through wednesday, causing a build—up and we will see showers across southern areas, and that across southern areas, and that across the west blustery and temperatures will be mild with some spells of rain. not as windy as he had on tuesday, and temperatures will be down a notch on tuesday that was the value certainly through the wea kness was the value certainly through the weakness of low pressure still with us weakness of low pressure still with us beating these westerly winds, and also further showers with him some of the showers could merge together into northern ireland, and then there are western wales and western england. temperature wise, similar to wednesday, single figures in the

north just double figures in the south which is average for the time of year. another area of low pressure begins to clear away as we head towards friday. something briefly quieter because this next whether preacher moves in off the atla ntic to whether preacher moves in off the atlantic to bring a spell of wet windy weather, so we are starting up ona windy weather, so we are starting up on a cool note across northern areas, with the sunshine turns wet across northern ireland, and the wind gust towards 30 or 40 mph. and thenit wind gust towards 30 or 40 mph. and then it will turn bright into the afternoon with sunshine and showers. a little quieter across northern scotla nd a little quieter across northern scotland with sunny spells, again single figure values in the north and a bit milder in the south. this is bbc news i'm shaun ley. the headlines at 8pm: once special, now unemployed. jose mourinho is permanently substituted, by man united. donald trump agrees to shut down the trump foundation, his family charity,as new york's attorney general claims to have found "a shocking pattern of illegality". the cabinet steps up preparations

for a no—deal brexit, if theresa may's withdrawal proposal is rejected by the commons next month. we need to recognise with 14 weeks ago that the responsible government is preparing for the eventuality that we leave without a deal. waste not, want not. plans to overhaul england's waste systems are unveiled, to make it easier to recycle in the hope of helping the planet. and a dramatic operation refloats a russian ship, run aground off the cornish coast.