this is bbc news, the headlines: a top us diplomat has told the trump impeachment inquiry that he was following presidential orders when the us put pressure on ukraine to open investigations against a political rival. democrats have described the testimony as troubling. queen elizabeth's son, prince andrew, says he's stepping back from public duties over his links with a convicted us sex offender. a recent attempt to clear the air in a bbc interview was widely deemed to be a public relations disaster. he said he unequivocally regretted knowing jeffrey epstein, who killed himself injail. protesters in malta have demanded the resignation of the prime minister after police arrested a prominent businessman in connection with the murder of a journalist, daphne ca ruana galitia. demonstrators accusejoseph muscat of protecting those responsible for her death in 2017.

now on bbc news, it's hardtalk with shaun ley. welcome to hardtalk i am shaun ley. donald trump calls the impeachment enquiry a witch—hunt. the us president has been accused of trying to intimidate a witness. and now a trump supporter who donated $1 million to his inauguration has told congress the president did make the continued —— contingent on to the ukrainians launching an enquiry into the son ofjoe biden was up mr biden could be donald trump's democrat challenger in next year's election. acro one of newsmax has known donald trump well the last 20 years —— christopher ruddy. he has been that mickey has accused democrat —— he has accused the democrats of playing

politics. how much trouble is donald trump actually in? christopher ruddy, welcome to hardtalk. you didn't want this impeachment enquiry, you said it was just political game playing by the democrats. as the enquiry has developed, do you now accept it is a necessary process for american politics to be going through? well, i think we should respect the process but we should also call it for what it is which is a bit of a charade. usually in a case like this you would first gather evidence and decide whether an impeachment process is really proper. nancy pelosi triggered, pulled the trigger on impeachment without looking at the whistleblower complaint, without interviewing any of the witnesses,

without ever seeing the president's transcript with president volodymyr zelensky. some of the information has come out since then but i think it has been preordained that it is going to be an impeachment and that is, i think, going to be an impeachment and that is, ithink, bad going to be an impeachment and that is, i think, bad for the country and the public approval polls over here in america show that they have not gotten a majority support yet for this impeachment. you say that, in effect, the democrats have prejudged the evidence. rich mcconnell, the majority leader, said this week that evenif majority leader, said this week that even if an impeachment trial was held, it would be inconceivable that the senators who are in effect the jury the senators who are in effect the jury would dismiss the president from office. isn't that, in a sense, too, prejudging the outcome? well, so too, prejudging the outcome? well, so far the known evidence suggests that there was no impeachable crime. the constitution is very clear. a president can be impeached and removed for high crimes and misdemeanours. nobody has yet

identified a crime that the president committed or an actual law that he broke. i am one and i have said this publicly, i don't think everything the president did was appropriate. presidents make big mistakes. i'm a big admirer of president reagan. he did the whole iran contra thing, he sold arms to the iranians. he took money from that deal and gave it to the contras and contravention —— contravention of us law. all of that was potentially impeachable. he wasn't impeached. i think it was far more serious about —— than what was alleged against president trump. to be fair, two wrongs don't make a right. just because reagan should have gone through some sort of enquiry and possible impeachment. we should be clear for viewers elsewhere, it is the process, not necessarily the outcome. the process can begin and they may not be forced from office. just on your point of

whether a high crime on misdemeanour has been committed to stop the constitution is silent on the definition of that although it did say they didn't think maladministration would be enough. the founders suggested when they we re the founders suggested when they were drawing up the documents of the constitution. the congress has defended —— attempted to define this and they attempted to define it in richard nixon's possible impeachment and they said impossibly exceeding the abuse of office, the purpose of offers and, "misusing the office for an improper purpose orfor offers and, "misusing the office for an improper purpose or for personal gain, would constitute a high crime. well, that would be your understanding of the president's intent, the atley trying to do it for personal gain. as the chief law enforcement of the nation, he wanted an investigation of two things. one was the increased —— ukrainian role in the hacking and other related —— other related matters and second, the biden ‘s involvement of firing a prosecutor that was trying to uncover corruption. and joe biden

when he was vice president, it is very clear because biden publicly demanded the removal of the prosecutor and was threatening to withhold us aid over it. the same thing they are accusing the president of doing. if you look at the transcript and i encourage folks all over the world, you can look it up, the president always says go to the transcript. i don't think that the transcript. i don't think that the transcript. i don't think that the transcript is perfect but i do think it is somewhat exculpatory. president trump says you want —— he wa nts to president trump says you want —— he wants to investigate what happened in the 2016 election. he was trying to investigate what happened to the democratic service... but that is the past election. we are talking about potentially trying to influence and forthcoming election in the united states. at the very end of that a0 minute conversation, zele ns ky end of that a0 minute conversation, zelensky raises the issue of investigations again and the president says wouldn't be good if you guys looked atjoe biden putting

pressure on the government to fire the prosecutor who was trying to look into corruption? that is all he said. he didn't say he wants them criminally investigated. and it was very clear there was no, in that transcript, no quid pro quo. so i think that that again is not a perfect situation stop there were problems here. that should have been done with normal congressional oversight. i don't see an impeachable crime and nobody has identified what the crime isn't that is why the is starting to, their eyes glazing over at these congressional hearings. well, we will see what the public thinks once they have heard all the evidence actually in public as opposed to the stuff that you have come as you are critical of, selectively leaked from behind closed doors in various stages of this process. butjust on your point about there being no explicit quit pro quo, even that is being challenged in the various stages of the investigation and the witnesses this week. isn't this a

better analogy, innocence, rather than suggesting there was a bribe involved, but rather than a pirtek rather a protection bracket. someone who has ever dealt with politics, would know what that means. nobody said give me your money or your business would be torched but something bad will happen to them for them in this case, security aid. absolute critical to ukraine's future. a country that is threatened by bit -- future. a country that is threatened by bit —— dismemberment and russia has already experienced some of that over crimea. your president was a p pa re ntly over crimea. your president was apparently saying or implying, according to these witnesses, if you don't do this investigation not only don't do this investigation not only do you not get to meet me in the 0val do you not get to meet me in the oval office but you don't get that money and that money could be crucial to the country's future. are so crucial to the country's future. are so much you have said there, some of it is factually true and some of it isn't, shaun. there is no evidence yet, that the president said, "i wa nt yet, that the president said, "i want a yet, that the president said, "i wanta quit yet, that the president said, "i want a quit pro quo" was up in fact, ambassador sondland asked the

president if it is a quid pro quo as the president did not say yes. i think it is very clear that rudy giuliani people under the president we re giuliani people under the president were squeezing the ukrainian. were they doing it on the orders of the president or not? i am not sure so thatis president or not? i am not sure so that is one issue that hasn't been resolved. the president said he did not squeeze them to do that. he did give the aid. in fact, on two or three occasions, he gave legal aid to the ukrainians that president 0bama would not give them. i think he has shown a track record of helping ukraine. 0ne he has shown a track record of helping ukraine. one of the most famous liberal emigrants who supported hillary clinton, harvard law professor, he has said that what the president did was a political scene, not a political crime. if senator smith says to senatorjones in the senate, you give me the bridge money, i will give you the highway money for my state, that is a quid pro quo, it is not a bribe,

it is not a crime. we would have to put half of congress in the jail if thatis put half of congress in the jail if that is a crime. in the end, the judgement will be made, it now looks like, by the senators when it comes to it. i wonder what you make of the remarks from a former us senator when he left office injanuary who says that if they were a public boat, yes, probably donald trump is hung and dry —— public vote. if it was a private boat, we have heard democrats say they would be lucky to see 30 republicans was the peeping is actually 35 republicans, if the evidence were there, could vote against the president was a busy and real danger, do you think?” against the president was a busy and real danger, do you think? i think thatis real danger, do you think? i think that is very speculative. how do you know what people would do in a private boat, i don't know. i do think the president right now is very highly divided in the senate. i think some of the approaches the white house is taking where they are criticising some of the witnesses is

not a smart thing because it will scare independent voters who will influence these senators that might be on the fence about this issue. so his tweets when marija jovanovic was giving evidence, the former ambassador to ukraine. you don't think that was helpful, when he said that you know, this woman has been a disaster wherever she has gone. as she was giving evidence this week. we have a president that is not a politician for the first time in our history, really. he is a guy that likes to speak his mind whether it hurts him helps him and i think sometimes it hurts him when he does that but he likes to do it was up people forget he tweeted about the bidens before that phone call with zelensky. he actually talked to the press and said some of this needs to be investigated. it wasn't he was doing it surreptitiously. so in his mind, i have known the man for many yea rs, mind, i have known the man for many years, i've never known him to want to break the law. i can't believe it for a second he would get on a phone call with ten people listening, as was the case with zelensky, and try to imply that somehow he was breaking the law or suggesting that

laws should be broken. maybejust didn't know what the legal limitations of his office are. well, i believe, you know, there are so many logs that make laws and regulations will stop he has a very expensive view of the presidency. he comes from the business world where if you have an impulse to do it, you just do it and if no—one thinks it isa crime, just do it and if no—one thinks it is a crime, he probably thinks, well, this happens all the time in politics and international affairs, you ask foreign leaders. i haven't spoken to him specifically about whether there was a quid pro quo or not. i have spoken to him and he indicated he didn't think he did anything wrong and i believe he didn't believe a crime —— commit a crime but i also think he didn't have criminal intent and i think this is coming through pretty clearly in these hearings as well. think about this, all of these people involved, all of these diplomats, ambassador taylor, sondland, volker, we know there were all these nsc aids honour. national security council. yes, nobody filed for —— an official complaint against

the president. the whistleblower wasn't involved at all. he got very big important facts wrong. it is very unusual you get a whistleblower that gets it from second had knowledge so it is kind of like hearsay. we know colonel vindman reported to the lawyers. i think thatis reported to the lawyers. i think that is fine. if he feels like president didn't do something proper, didn't commit a crime, he says, well, just go speak to the lawyers, the president did this, that all the other thing. i think that all the other thing. i think thatis that all the other thing. i think that is fine, he didn't go to the washington post, he didn't go to congress, he didn't file an official complaint. now all of this comes out in the congress is saying the impeachment, they are blowing it up, the public is not buying it. does ask you how you think the president is handling this. i noticed in an interview you gave last year to the financial times, you said, sometimes during the campaign, the kid from

the mean streets of queens came out in the campaign and thought, if i am going to survive, i have to fight. in other words, sometimes hits back stronger when he is criticised or attacked. do think that is what we're seeing a bit of, that character aspect of donald trump? well, i am glad you dug that quote up. i would say not sometimes, i would say he always hits back and may be punches down sometimes. actually, even though he grew up quite wealthy, he was in and unclip surrounded by very difficult neighbourhoods in queens in new york city. some areas were very tough. he isa city. some areas were very tough. he is a guy that likes to fight back. if you punch him, he wants to punch you back harder. it is not the

typical way in politics that things are done. it is not my approach. but it is his approach and it has worked for him. the public, i think, ultimately will decide all of these in the upcoming election. 12 months away. i am not sure why the democrats are doing this, they should have just put some of these out in congressional oversight. again, ithink out in congressional oversight. again, i think in my conversation with the president, it was just a political act. there is a consequence, perhaps, to some of the attacks and let me put you what marie yovanovitch, the former ambassador to ukraine, setting her test image to congress was not —— testimony. she said the attacks are leading to a crisis in the state department is the policy process is visibly unravelling, leadership vacancies go unfilled and mid—level agents ponder an uncertain future and head for the doors. well, there isa and head for the doors. well, there is a back story to that, too. the democrats have been holding up a lot of trump nominees so they were not able to put into the government.” am not sure, i am sorry to interrupt you, forgive me, butjust to be specific about this since we have a relatively recent figures from this. the washington post on the 18th of november said, you are right, 107 normally nominated who have not yet actually gone through the process. those, you could argue, are being

held up. a91 confirmed but there are 139 posts out of the 7a1 jobs where there isn't even a nominee, never mind somebody actually in place. coming down to january, it will be three quarters of the way through the presidency. some of thesejobs can't be filled because some people don't want them. but what came first? the chicken or the egg? there was such a backlog and why would anyone want to go into that list? i know people highly qualified and they do not want to think about it because they know it ta kes think about it because they know it takes so long and that is why they are not even nominating people. i think it is a shame that the president came in and almost from day one they were talking about impeachment. i am day one they were talking about impeachment. iam not day one they were talking about impeachment. i am not saying he's a perfect kite but i think he is a good guy. he has done a lot of agenda, criminaljustice reform, which he did, the tax code, the

corporate tax code needed fixing and he didn't. he has a long list of these things and he gets no credit for it either that the economy is booming, one of the real success stories. he has to do those in cooperation with congress, that is the nature of the us political system, the checks and balances so he cannot buy executive fiat do those. he has had successes. the tax rate is an example but he is still arguing with congress about things like the wall. is he worried about the reputation of his administration for a lack of candour? does it bother him at all? no. he is not a quy bother him at all? no. he is not a guy that worries about what people think about him or the future. he does what he thinks is a right thing to do. according to the washington

post fa ct to do. according to the washington post fact checker, 193 days in office and he has made 13,aa5 false 01’ office and he has made 13,aa5 false or misleading claims. the washington post makes some claims that are false and misleading as well. this president is the first unscripted president is the first unscripted president we have had in recent memory. most speak almost entirely from a speech when in public. he's a salesman. i do think it would be better if you got closer and double check facts before he went public with them and thus create some issues of confusion, i do not think it purposefully lies. he once said he likes to exaggerate to make a point and if you understand his showbiz background, it becomes more contextual. as a journalist you are

candid enough to admit that in retrospect some of the things you have written have been over the top, some of your commentary but you do value some of your commentary but you do va lu e fa cts some of your commentary but you do value facts and you worry about the environment in which we now live because of social media and information spreading fast and fake news is a genuine problem. is it one that journalists like news is a genuine problem. is it one thatjournalists like you in the state are taking seriously enough? —— states. state are taking seriously enough? -- states. two years, 50 million dollars spent about looking a collusion between the president and the russians. every night was headline news. nothing came of it. the robert mueller report came out and it said they found no evidence of collusion. he did not obstruct justice. everybody was allowed to testify. they still tried to say he was not being cooperative after that

they found no evidence of it so when you say the president exaggerates, lies and spins, i would say this is a problem endemic to the whole political and media outlets and why media sites like newsmax media, we tried to have both sides. we tried not to force people to take political positions give them information they can make informed decisions from. a lot of interest in america in recent days by the president was admitted to the hospital, the white house says it was a routine matter. the trouble is it has some problems with that. the white house is not always said things that are congruent with the fa cts things that are congruent with the facts but the president was only there for a brief visit. he is in his 70s, he has annual exams. i have had to do follow—ups from medicals

before. don't they come to you if it isa before. don't they come to you if it is a regular blood test, if you are president? no, because sometimes you have to do examination that involved machinery, especially for the heart, brain or other parts of your anatomy. i am brain or other parts of your anatomy. iam not brain or other parts of your anatomy. i am not that surprise. i have seen the president. this man is incredibly... he's almost superhuman with his energy level. he starts at six in the morning and goes to midnightand he six in the morning and goes to midnight and he has been doing this for many years, he thrives on and it does this time and time again and with the holidays coming up, he will be out golfing and being engaged. he is doing a couple of rallies. i think we will see no evidence of this. it is a little bit of a media conspiracy theory that he is sick and he says things that are not accurate and the media is highly

speculative here. the road to twe nty20 speculative here. the road to twenty20 is a broad one for the president. he list can be confident that he is likely to be his party's nominee and his looking forward to november. is that are road to victory? there is a clear road to victory? there is a clear road to victory and that is one of the reasons why nancy pelosi did this impeachment because they do not have any way to stop the president. poll numbers are extremely strong. 0ne had aa% approval for registered voters. likely voters is three or four points higher. for a guy who has gone through what he has gone through with the media, this is an amazing result and the democrats have very weak field and are putting forwards people associated with the

very far left, with radical proposals, like abolishing health insurance in america. i do not think they will go anywhere. the president is situated in a strong position to win the election. he went out to the south to two states strongly republican, kentucky and louisiana, and they both lost. each of them have their story. governor bevan was not very popular and he came close to winning. i think with the president ‘s health. he had his issues. every other republican in the state one. a popular conservative democrat was a governor in louisiana. he was against abortion, a big issue in the south and he won and it was closer than people thought it would have been because the president was involved. i think it is a little overstated to say that was an indication of public

viewing about the president.” suppose the question would be, if he stops being a vote winner, whether that would be the issue that would start some of those senators are starting to doubt whether he was both supporting, if he is not going to bea both supporting, if he is not going to be a vote winner for them, both supporting, if he is not going to be a vote winnerfor them, might they look to their own interest and actually start to distance themselves? that is politics, isn't it? nixon was strong at the beginning of the impeachment, as the economy fell his numbers went down. bill clinton, you had the opposite effect. he remained very popular, he could not that the nations business —— conduct did an after the impeachment some people say he came out stronger. christopher ruddy, thank you for being with us on hardtalk.

hello there. earlier this week we saw the coldest weather of the autumn so far but since then things have been turning a little bit milder. most places yesterday had a dry day, with a little bit of sunshine coming through. we will see the temperatures continuing to rise a little bit day and night but it is turning milder because the weather is turning more unsettled, there is more rain in the forecast. most of the rain today is going to be near that area of low pressure — it's been with us for a while — it's sitting to the south—west, so that will see most of the rain. got a few showers though, coming in off the north sea, threatening towards the north—east of scotland and we have got a few showers to come across northern ireland.

those i think should fade away, getting blown away by a fairly brisk south—easterly wind. quite a grey day for the midlands. towards the south—east of england, feeling chilly in the breeze. a little bit of sunshine further north, but the rain is going to be in the south—west of england and south wales and this is where we are likely to find the highest temperatures, perhaps double figures. but that rain can be a little heavy at times. it will push its way overnight towards the south—east of england, further north across wales, perhaps into the midlands as well. and a few showers towards northern areas too. a lot of cloud around. rain never too far away so not too cold — temperatures typically 3—6 degrees. we've got a few showers to come really, i think, on friday. it's a messy sort of day. things could develop a bit wetter though towards the south—west. those showers heavy for a while, merging into some longer spells of rain through the south—west of england. of rain through the south—west of england, the west midlands, into the west country and wales through the day. that is an area to watch as things get wetter but those temperatures typically nine or 10 degrees.

now let's head into the weekend and it's a weekend dominated by low pressure. we have got one slow—moving area of low pressure over the uk which is why we are seeing that rain develop. how far north the rain gets, a little bit uncertain. could see most of the rain across england and wales, perhaps heading towards northern ireland as far north as the central belt, allowing something a bit drier and brighter to arrive across southern parts of england and wales and temperatures again typically 9—11 degrees. but some rain around on saturday. and whilst that rain is going to peter out, as the low pressure itself tends to fill, we have another one coming in from the atlantic and this one looks a little deeper, and it means the winds will be stronger. again, the position could change but, at the moment, it looks like, whilst we have some residual rain to clear away from scotland, the wetter, windy weather should be arriving towards the south—west of england, spoiling the afternoon in wales and into the midlands but again temperatures again better than they have been, typically 9—11.

0ur this is the briefing — i'm ben bland. our top stories: mounting pressure on prince andrew as lawyers representing victims of the convicted american paedophile, jeffrey epstein, urge him to tell all. there's more to come from the impeachment inquiry but after the biggest day yet, the white house says the evidence exonerates the president. anger in malta as protesters demand the prime minister's resignation, accusing him of protecting