hello, iam passionate hello, i am passionate era with bbc news. our top story: hello, i am passionate era with bbc news. ourtop story: president hello, i am passionate era with bbc news. our top story: president obama --'s news. our top story: president obama ——'s formerfixer news. our top story: president obama ——'s former fixer has made a number of claims about his former boss, labelling him a liar, 80, and a racist. he said that donald trump knew beforehand that his democratic welcome to newsday. i'm kasia madera opponenfs knew beforehand that his democratic opponent's e—mails were being hacked. he also produced the cheque in london. the headlines: a series he says was used to pay off the porn of bombshell claims from donald trump isa star stormy daniels. president trump of bombshell claims from donald trump is a former picks up. michael cohen tells congress is ashamed of meanwhile, is in hanoi where he is the ten years working for mr trump. about to begin talks with the north he isa korean leader kim jong—un. about to begin talks with the north korean leader kimjong—un. it is thought that they will talk about a the ten years working for mr trump. he is a racist. he is a conman. and roadmap for getting the nuclear he isa he is a racist. he is a conman. and weapons on the green peninsula. and he is a cheat. under oath he this video is trending on bbc .com. testified that donald trump new his opponent ‘s e—mails were being it is thought to be the world's tiniest surviving baby who has just hacked. he then produced the cheque left hospital after five months in that he said was used to pay off the intensive care. he was so small that porn star stormy daniels. president could be held a fitted between two of the united states thus wrote a hands. that is all from me. stay personal cheque for the payment of with us on bbc news. hush money as part of a criminal scheme to violate campaign finance.

just iam sharanjit scheme to violate campaign finance. i am sharanjit leyl in hanoi, which is where president trump is right now for his second summit with a leader of north korea. president trump osmo promising north korea a bright future if he and kim jong—un can reach a deal ——is promising. and after every formal dinner on wednesday, the main business of the summit gets under way in a few hours time. and tensions over the disputed region of kashmir run high as india demands the return of a captured fighter pilot shot down by pakistani. hello and welcome to the programme, it is midnight here in london, atm in the morning in singapore and 7pm in the evening in

washington, where michael cohen has a short time ago given the explosive testimony to the house of representatives oversight committee, michael cohen, who is to prison for various offences including ford, told the committee that the president was a racist, cheat and a the white house says he is a convicted liar, you should not be believed. michael cohen once said he'd take a bullet for donald trump. but on capitol hill today, the president's former lawyer, this his personal mr fixit, carried out a political hitjob on his one—time boss. i know what mr trump is. he is a racist. he is a con man. and he is a cheat. one of his most explosive allegations concerned this man, roger stone, a trump ally and self—styled political dirty trickster, recently indicted by the special counsel robert mueller. during the 2016 presidential campaign, he claimed donald trump was told ahead of time that wikileaks and its founder, julian assange, were about to leak e—mails that would hurt hillary clinton.

those e—mails were hacked by the russians. mr stone told mr trump that he had just gotten off the phone withjulian assange and that mr assange told mr stone that within a couple of days, there would be a massive dump of e—mails that would damage hillary clinton's campaign. mr trump responded by stating to the effect, "wouldn't that be great?" michael cohen also claims mr trump told him to pay hush money to the porn star stormy daniels to cover up an affair with the billionaire, in violation of campaign finance laws. he showed the committee the personally signed cheque the president had sent him in reimbursement. the president of the united states thus wrote a personal cheque for the payment of hush money as part of a criminal scheme to violate campaign finance laws.

so what of the burning question of whether there was collusion between the trump campaign and the kremlin? questions have been raised about whether i know of direct evidence that mr trump or his campaign colluded with russia. i do not, and i want to be clear. but i have my suspicions. he's going to be an amazing president... on the eve of the hearing, the republicans released video showing michael cohen lavishing praise on donald trump. the words the media should be using to describe mr trump are generous, compassionate, principled... and today they tried to trash the reputation of this convicted fraudster found guilty of lying to congress, even displaying visual aids to make the point. there's no truth with you whatsoever. that's why that's important to you, to look up here and look at the old adage that our mums taught us — liar, liar, pants on fire. no—one should ever listen to you and give you credibility.

it's sad. president trump is half a planet away in vietnam, for a nuclear summit with the north korean leader, kim jong—un. on camera, he remained tight—lipped about the fire and fury coming from his former lawyer back home. mr president, do you have any reaction to michael cohen and his testimony? but on twitter, he claimed mr cohen was lying to reduce his prison term. i wish i can go back in time... michael cohen admitted tea rfully that he can't rewrite history. the question for americans watching his dramatic testimony — did he present a truthful version of it today? nick bryant, bbc news, washington. is certainly was a lot of drama. chris buckler was watching all of this in washington for us. there was drama between the oversight committee chairman and reporters, what was said? he was arc specifically whether he believed judging by the testimony that the

president had committed a crime in his answer was based upon what had been said and will be set in that hearing by michael cohen and some other evidence, he believed he had. but he also said that was not for him tojudge, that but he also said that was not for him to judge, that there would be investigations going forward, including that investigation by the special counsel robert mueller into these allegations of interference in these allegations of interference in the 2016 election and claims of collusion involving the trump campaign. he said it would be up to the likes of robert mueller to investigate and certainly, we got the indication for michael cohen's testimony today that there is plenty to look at. he indicated that there we re to look at. he indicated that there were some things that he simply could not talk about because federal prosecutors were now looking at them themselves in relation to president trump. he did not specify what they were, but it does seem to be an extension of this investigation that is taking place by the southern district of new york and the claims and allegations about the trump organisation, about some of the strong's business dealings and gives you a sense that there is this real

focus on the president and particularly what is organisations and campaign team were doing. an extra ordinary day, so we did not exactly extra ordinary day, so we did not exa ctly get extra ordinary day, so we did not exactly get a smoking gun in terms of proof of collusion between the trump campaign in the kremlin, but just break it down for is, what did we get? to break down into three words, it was sex, lies and wikileaks because we did learn for michael cohen that he is said that michael cohen that he is said that michael cohen that he is said that michael cohen said that donald trump was very involved in these hush money payments, with two women who said that they'd had alleged with donald trump. also, we learnt that he said that he believes donald trump implicitly told him to lie to congress about president's business dealings in russia, as relating to the building of this project that was at one time proposed, this trump tower in moscow. then there was the big issue, the one about wikileaks. this suggestion that donald trump knew that wikileaks were planning to release details of democratic that

had been hacked by russian hackers, at suggestions that he was told beforehand by roger stone, a this long—time political ally and one—time political strategist for donald trump, that the e—mails were going to be released. that contradicts some of what donald trump zoe said on record, it gives you sense that that is something that robert mueller himself would be interested in. —— has already said on record. truthfully, this was incredible political theatre, this was republicans and democrats at times making speeches rather than questioning michael cohen, and at the middle of it all, a man who was going to jail, the democrats clearly believe has information about the president but who at the same time, the republic is kept on pointing out, is convicted liar and according to them someone was looking for a book and deal beyond anything else. as always, chris buckler in washington, many thanks. sharanjit

leyl, while michael cohen was delivering that spicer testimony in washington, the president himself was a world away in the vietnamese capitalfor his was a world away in the vietnamese capital for his second summit with north korea's leader. well, that is right because of course, he is right here ina right because of course, he is right here in a noise we have been reporting for his two—day summit with kim jong—un. mr trump reporting for his two—day summit with kimjong—un. mr trump has given mixed messages over what he expects from the meeting and it is unclear what progress will be made here, at the two have already had dinner together. they have had a face—to—face chat of course, we know that real work begins on thursday. hanoi's not seen anything like this. the city centre at a standstill, as two motorcades descend on a hotel where two men are meeting for dinner. and then in a scene reminiscent of lastjune in singapore, they were together again — the us president and the north korean dictator.

i think it is a very successful relationship. i think it will be very successful. "we've been able to overcome all the obstacles", he says, "and here we are, 261 days after singapore. a lot of patience was needed, and that gives us hope." i think that your country has tremendous economic potential — unbelievable, unlimited. and i think that you will have a tremendous future with your country, and a great leader. and i look forward to watching it happen and helping it to happen, and we will help it to happen. donald trump is holding kimjong—un in a warm embrace, calling him "my friend", and he says that, with denuclearisation, north korea could become like vietnam, "one of the most thriving places on earth", he calls it. tomorrow will be when the detailed negotiations take place, as the two sides try to navigate a path —— the dinner at which president trump and chairman kim werejoined by key officials was pretty brief. afterwards, it was back to their respective hotels, and for donald trump,

a chance for some last—minute preparation on the complex issues, or more likely, watching in fury as his former lawyer michael cohen, and now bitter enemy, goes to congress to put the boot in. the attention of hanoi may be on donald trump, but the attention of donald trump is on washington. jon sopel, bbc news, hanoi. well, with me now is christopher green, a senior adviserfor the korean peninsula crisis group, which is working to reduce the risk of war on the peninsula. welcome to the programme, obviously we have been reporting at length about the michael cohen testimony, so we know that president trump has other things to worry about, how much does he need a foreign policy win here in hanoi to deflect what is happening at home? well, it you're right, the context is definitely key. mr trump attempting to negotiate with kim

jong—un while his presidency is under sustained attack back at home. it could go one of two ways, ev can respond with a big foreign policy win as he said all it could undermine his ability to focus on negotiations at hand and then who knows what the result might be. and the optics are great, we saw in having a nice chat last night with his north korean counterpart. of course, today they get down to the nitty—gritty and they are due to meet injust a nitty—gritty and they are due to meet in just a few hours and at about 9am local time, in fact. what are we so expecting? any substantive measures? well, that is right, there is the money meeting, a working lunch, there are a lot of hours ahead. we certainly expecting to see ahead. we certainly expecting to see a expansion of the singapore agreement that both sides agreed lastjune, some developments on the yongpyong nuclear development sites, some action on cultural exchanges and maybe some sanctions relief as well, which of course is a big issue for the north korean side. you have

spent time in north and south korea as well and have worked with north korean is, tell us how badly do is north korea need this? how badly do they need to get those sanctions are moved? well, north korean defectors also with one voice that this is a very urgent matterfor also with one voice that this is a very urgent matter for the north korean side. north korean defectors are korean side. north korean defectors a re interested korean side. north korean defectors are interested also though in seeing some sanctions relief, there seems to bea some sanctions relief, there seems to be a majority in favour of reopening an industrial complex, for example, light manufacturing zone won by north and south korea just inside north korea, so they say this is very matter. indeed, well, thank you so much. chris green will be staying with us over the next two hours to make sense of these meetings, as he mentioned, extended meetings, as he mentioned, extended meetings happening in vietnam today between donald trump and kim jong—un andi between donald trump and kim jong—un and i will be bringing them to you as soon as they get started. many thanks to sharanjit leyl there. we will of course be back in hanoi for more analysis but there has been a lot more news today. here in the uk,

brexit has been dominating the headlines. mps have voted to endorse theresa may's latest brexit move, after she made concessions which could result in a delay to the uk's departure from the eu. a large majority voted in favour of a motion that would give mps a boat in favour of the laying of brexit if her deal with the eu and the no deal are rejected by parliament next month. mrs may has promised mps and meaningful boat on a deal by the 12th of march, which is of course a 17 days before the uk is set to leave the eu. in other news, 20 have been killed and dozens injured as a train smashed through the buffers and burst into flames in cairo's railway station. the prime minister visited the scene and promised the disaster will be investigated and those responsible will be punished. a day after we brought news of a collapsed gold mine in indonesia, rescue workers are trying to reach

more than 60 people who are feared trapped by landslides. more than a dozen people have been rescued so farfrom this dozen people have been rescued so far from this illegal mine dozen people have been rescued so farfrom this illegal mine in sulawesi. a spokesperson said beams and boards supporting the mineshaft suddenly gave way. now to some good news, because this little boy who is thought to be the tiniest surviving baby in the world has finally left hospital after being borne by caesarean section last august. he weighed just 268g last august. he weighed just 268 g when he arrived and he was so tiny he could fit into a pair of cupped hands. he spent five months in intensive care. i am thrilled to say that now he weighs in at a very healthy macro one kilogram, around the weight of an average newborn baby. and he is feeding normally and he is absolutely gorgeous. well, you're watching a special edition of newsday from hanoi. join

us edition of newsday from hanoi. join us after the break, where i will look at how events here are being reported around the world. and we have other news on the programme. pakistan says it has shot down two indian militaryjets as relations between the neighbours hit a new low. prince charles has chosen his bride. the prince proposed to lady diana spencer three weeks ago. she accepted, she says, without hesitation. as revolutions go, this had its fair share of bullets. a climax in the night outside the gates of mr marcos's sanctuary, malacanang — the name itself symbolising one of the cruellest regimes of modern asia. the world's first clone has been produced of an adult mammal. scientists in scotland have produced a sheep called dolly using a cell from another sheep. citizens are trying to come to grips with their new freedom. though there is joy and relief today, the scars are everywhere. not for 20 years have locusts been seen in such numbers

in this part of africa. some of the swarms have been ten miles long. this is the last time the public will see this pope. very soon, for the sake of the credibility and authority of the next pope, benedict xvi will, in his own words, "be hidden from the world for the rest of his life." welcome back to newsday on the bbc. thanks for staying with us. i am sharanjit leyl in hanoi. i am kasia madera in london. donald trump's formerfixer madera in london. donald trump's former fixer testified the president isa former fixer testified the president is a liar, cheat and a racist and has produced the cheque that says donald trump used to pay off a porn star. and president trump and north korea's kim jong—un are expected to

discuss a roadmap for taking nuclear weapons out of the korean peninsular. well, no surprise that the summit here in hanoi is making the front pages around the world and right here in vietnam, because i've got some of the papers here to show you, this is the major english language paper, the vietnam news and of course the front page, give peace at chance, donald trump vows to achieve denuclearisation. the us president meeting vietnamese leaders as well, that's something that's also been reported broadly here because of course there were a lot of trade deals signed yesterday, particularly between aviation companies, and certainly the other papers as well, the big korean and vietnamese papers, i should add, at a photo of the two having dinner last night, looking like they've got personal chemistry, having a great time, and of course here is another vietnamese paperas of course here is another vietnamese paper as well, showing that famous

shaking hands, which they seem to do a lot of. so, certainly, what we are going to be seeing over the next day is when they do start these negotiations, whether there will be more thanjust negotiations, whether there will be more than just handshakes involved and whether there will be something substantive coming out of it. at the moment, though, ishould substantive coming out of it. at the moment, though, i should say, substantive coming out of it. at the moment, though, ishould say, in hanol moment, though, ishould say, in hanoi, having walked around, looking at the moot and the atmosphere, the vietnamese are thrilled that the are hosting the summit between the two leaders. in fact, hosting the summit between the two leaders. infact, i hosting the summit between the two leaders. in fact, i saw the motorcade with president trump go by just over there, there is a major road, and there was a cheer as his limousine when passed yesterday, so likely to happen again today. we will keep you updated with all of that. sharanjit leyl, shara njit leyl, as sharanjit leyl, as always, thank you. now, there has been a major escalation in tensions between the nuclear powers india and pakistan after the fighter jets clashed nuclear powers india and pakistan after the fighterjets clashed in the skies over the disputed region

of kashmir. an indian pilot has been ca ptu red of kashmir. an indian pilot has been captured after his plane was shot down. he was responding to an airstrike by the pakistani air force. this is the most serious violence in decades between the neighbours. they have a long history of clashes over the heavily armed region of kashmir which both india and pakistan claim as their own. these are pakistani soldiers are currently leading a way downed indian pilot with an angry crowd behind them. the pakistani military says his plane was shot down as india scrambled to respond to pakistani strikes across the border in the disputed region of kashmir. pakistani prime minister imran khan said the military force is a response to earlier indian aggression, but also called for a dialogue between the nuclear armed neighbours. translation: my question to the indian government is, given the arms that we both have, can we

afford any miscalculation? we should be thinking that if this escalates, where will it lead? this is the most dangerous confrontation between the two countries in nearly 20 years. it began two weeks ago when a pakistani —based militant group kills a0 indian soldiers. pakistani insisted the attack had nothing to do with them. but indian jets crossed into pakistan, targeting indian officials, claiming and militant training camp. local residents say they only hit a forest. pakistan struck back with an air raid in india, shooting down at least one indian fighter jet responding india, shooting down at least one indian fighterjet responding to it. ata indian fighterjet responding to it. at a press conference by the pakistani military i asked if their actions were bringing the countries to the brink of war. we engaged a nearby open space where there was no human life or no military post. meaning thereby that we deliberately

avoided the escalation. indian officials, though, held their own press co nfe re nce , officials, though, held their own press conference, making their own claims. the pakistani force was detected and the indian air force responded instantly. in that aerial engagement one pakistan air force fighter aircraft was shot down. there are have already been a number of casualties as a result of cross—border shelling and the fear is the violence could now escalate further. well, a little earlier i was joined here in the studio by acer —— south asian politics expert. he told me that the severity of the situation can't be downplayed. there is some irony that president trump is negotiating with kim jong—un from north korea on nuclear de—escalation and you have two nuclear rivals facing off against

each other in south asia. the us in the past was always involved when tensions flared up following the parliament attack in india 2001 and then also the mumbai a tax in 2008. this time there doesn't seem to be an integration that may take place in the near future an integration that may take place in the nearfuture —— an integration that may take place in the near future —— attacks. an integration that may take place in the near future -- attacks. of course, crucial to stress these are two nuclear powers, but realistically, given they are neighbours, will nuclear weapons be used, do you think? there has always been this concern in the west that because india and pakistan have nuclear weapons it could escalate into a nuclear conflict. i would be doubtful about. certainly in the past pakistan has used the nuclear ca rd past pakistan has used the nuclear card almost in the form of blackmail that if they are pushed they could react. the indian government in the past previously spoke about how they would never have the first use of nuclear weapons. under the narendra modi government it has changed, they have taken aggressive tone against actions from pakistan but i do believe any country would use nuclear weapons against each other because of close proximity, they

would hurt each other even if they usedit would hurt each other even if they used it against one of their rivals. how can we de—escalate the situation? obviously a elections coming up in india. how do you bring this back down? it will be difficult because we could still see more tensions flare up, more skirmishes taking place. one thing that would be important is the indian airforce pilot that pakistan claims to have captured, they could potentially return that individual and so instead of using him as a trophy that they have put him on display, seems to contravene geneva conventions, because of the fakie was broadcast on tv, his face was bloodied. it sends out wrong optics. especially if pakistan talk about the escalating tension they need to go in the right direction which is perhaps to try to find a way that could actually prevent tensions from flaring up. speaking about the escalating tension over the disputed region of kashmir. and he said it was ironic that usually you would have a united

states president of the escalating tension between two nuclear powers such as india and pakistan. and yet, we have donald trump seemingly not interested in what is happening between india and pakistan. he is in fa ct between india and pakistan. he is in fact in vietnam, in hanoi, where you are talking to kim jong—un about nuclear de—escalation on the korean peninsular. absolutely, kasia, and by all signed he has a busy day ahead. and, as you say, there is the issue of india and kashmir, but there is also all of thoseissues kashmir, but there is also all of those issues we talk about at the start of the programme, that testimony by his former lawyer, michael cullen. so he does have a lot of distractions going on, of course, everyone will be watching just a few hours from now, in fact 9am local time in hanoi —— michael cohen. the two leaders are due to meet, and those substantive negotiations many people will hope will take place. and of course we will take place. and of course we will be here, i will be here, and

our correspondents and the team here in hanoi will be hit to cover it for you, so stay with us here on newsday. from me and kasia madera, thank you for watching. hello there. wednesday marked the end of the balmy, warm spell for february, which has brought record—breaking temperatures. and we return to something cooler and fresher, something more typicalfor this time of year. with outbreaks of rain, strong wintertime, particularly this weekend. areas of low pressure gathering at the atla ntic low pressure gathering at the atlantic will head towards our sure that the end of the week, dragging in the cooler from the north atla ntic in the cooler from the north atlantic right across our shores. now, the first of a series of weather fronts will be arriving across western parts of the country this morning, bringing more cloud and outbreaks of rain. so the north and outbreaks of rain. so the north and east of the uk starting off dry with a bit of sunshine, low cloud, mist and fog. that should tend to

but a grey day for many and shall reverse of rain will spread across england and wales, turning quite windy as well, especially in the south—west. the best of the dry and wet weather in northern scotland, much cooler than we have been used to, 9— much cooler than we have been used to, 9-13 much cooler than we have been used to, 9— 13 degrees, a little above average in fact. for friday we are in between weather systems. average of high pressure will bring us a largely dry day, variable cloud, some sunshine. the next weather front will arrive across northern ireland later in the day to bring persistent rain here. temperature—wise again 9—13, maybe 14 temperature—wise again 9—13, maybe 1a degrees across the south—east. that weather front spread across the country during friday night. into saturday, a deep area of low pressure rise across our shores to bring a spell of wet and windy weather. this weekend will be u nsettled weather. this weekend will be unsettled with wet and windy weather both on saturday and sunday. and it is going to feel much cooler as a result. saturday start of mainly dry. a bit of sunshine around. the winds will continue to pick up, the clouds increase, outbreaks of rain come splashing in from the west through the day, some of it heavy

across northern and western areas. maybe something brighter for northern ireland later on with some blustery showers but it will feel cooler, particularly in the north and west. to bridges 13—1a in the south—east above the seasonal average. sunday's picture shows area of low pressure to the north, this feature to the south, uncertainty as to how far north of the feature will be but it looks like southern areas will be pretty wet through sunday with an heavy rain, fairly strong winds too and it will be wet and windy across much of scotland and, yes, with some snow returning to the high ground there. in between maybe some spells of sunshine but it is going to feel cooler for all of us than what we have been used to.