you're watching bbc news at nine with me, ben brown, in hertfordshire, where world leaders are arriving for today's nato summit. as he arrived, the prime minister said nato couldn't be complacent, and called for unity amongst the leaders of the 70—year—old alliance. all for one, one for all, that is the core of the article five nato security guarantee, and it works. it provides peace and prosperity for hundreds of millions of people. caught on camera at the summit — canada's president trudeau and other leaders apparently discussing president trump.

the other main stories at 9. on diplomacy duty in london, but facing impeachment back at home. the panel investigating president trump say evidence against him is "overwhelming". london bridge attacker usman khan attended two counter—terrorism programmes that hadn't been fully tested to see if they were effective, the bbc has discovered dozens of people are evacuated from a five story hotel in west london after a major fire broke out during the night. manchester city are back to winning ways. they beat burnley 4—1 in the premier league last night to close the gap on leaders liverpool to eight points. good morning and welcome from hertfordshire, where nato s 29 leaders are meeting

today at this luxury hotel, in the countryside outside watford, well away from any protestors. this year, it s the 70th birthday of the alliance but there ve been more arguments than celebrations. president macron of france has described nato as in response to that, president trump said yesterday that such remarks are dangerous, disrespectful and nasty. as he arrived this morning, the host borisjohnson tried to heal the divisions by evoking the three musketeers and saying the alliance

reason... the reason nato is so successful and provides peace and security for 29 countries, 1 billion people it is the simple concept of safety in numbers. at the heart of it is a pledge that we will come to one another's defence, all for one, one for all, that is the core of the article 5 nato security guarantee, and it works. it provides peace and prosperity for hundreds of millions of people. but we cannot be complacent and that is why we in the uk are investing 2% of ourgdp in is why we in the uk are investing 2% of our gdp in defence and we will continue to do that and it's why we are increasing our spending on defence, and it's also why the uk is doing more than any other nato player for the readiness initiative and we are contributing an armoured brigade, two fighter squadrons with fa st brigade, two fighter squadrons with fastjet brigade, two fighter squadrons with fast jet aircraft and six major

major warships including our new aircraft carriers. and we will be discussing the readiness initiative today as well as all the other ways in which we propose to take nato forward to develop the alliance and to combat new threats, particularly in the spheres of cyber space and space itself. thank you very much. why are you being avoiding photographic donald trump out here? i will be photographed with every possible leader with nato and we are having a very successful meeting. rather quiet meeting with him last night. how did that go? we had a very good meeting and we discussed, as you can imagine, we discuss the future of nato, we discussed what is going on in syria and various other security matters. you are talking about the rocklike unity of nato today, but actually, in reality, member states are falling out over the turkish actions in syria. we actually had a very good discussion about that yesterday afternoon and

clearly it's very important that the alliance stays together, but there is far, far more that unites us than divides us. i think one thing that every leader here is absolutely resolved on, and that is the vital importance of nato for our collective security. thanks a lot. that was boris johnson, that was borisjohnson, the host of the summit. and we think president trump's helicopter is in the air and about to land, i think that is one of the advance helicopters, actually but president trump obviously a key figure at this nato summit and once described nato as obsolete but he has been trading some of the other member states who he does not think are paying enough money into the alliance and on defence spending, saying that 2% has to be what member

states pay and only about eight or nine members are paying the gdp on defence spending. just to say, at the buckingham palace reception last night for the late toledo is the canadian prime ministerjustin trudeau the french president emmanuel macron and boris johnson were caught on camera seemingly gossiping as princess anne stands by. while nobody mentions president trump by name, they appear to be talking about an impromptu press conference, as they discussed why the french president was late.

quite a revealing moment. with me now is our world affairs correspondent richard galpin. i suppose, richard, isuppose, richard, we've i suppose, richard, we've been talking about the arguments, the divisions, the cracks within nato but perhaps in a sense that rather gossipy bit of chitchat at buckingham palace and h the divisions. i think the hope that it had been solved with the spat between emmanuel macron and trump tearing chunks out of each other and the hope was that would all be over now the summit had started and it's not looking like that. we can just see president erdogan of turkey there, and they are central to the divisions because of the action in northern syria. nato member states launching unilateral action in north—eastern syria, obviously that isa north—eastern syria, obviously that is a huge worry and on top of that,

turkey has brought russian missiles, a very advanced —— defence system, and that is extraordinary for nato and that is extraordinary for nato and that is what president macron has been really worried about, he's talked about the brain death of nato, and if that is the context he is talking about, that nato has not been looking at this huge strategic issue of which a nato member is part, so why he has got so agitated and gone so aggressively before the summit started. and turkey wants nato to condemn the kurds that it is fighting in syria as a terrorist, and president macron is saying, hang on, these are the guys we were standing shoulder to shoulder with when we were fighting the islamic state. yes, the irony of it and it was president trump who enable that offensive to go ahead in the first place, for turkey to launch the offensive because he announced the

us was withdrawing its troops from the region which gave the green light for turkey to launch this offensive, so it is so mixed up. it's really quite an extraordinary situation for nato member states to be involved in. we are calling this a summitand be involved in. we are calling this a summit and we are here at this luxury hotel in hertfordshire, in the countryside, 300 acres and i'm sure president trump and the other leaders will enjoy the splendour and blue skies, although it is very cold. but it's not a summit in the sense that they're only here for about three hours and they will talk about three hours and they will talk about four minutes each. at the very least it is a very slimmed down summit. normally summits can go on for days and days and they can be very significant events but three hours, really, what can they actually achieve within that time? it's difficult to see there will be any major breakthroughs but the emphasis will be about healing the rift. that would be a good outcome

from this nato summit, but actually we do have, and we do not know if it is for sure but there is a proposed d raft is for sure but there is a proposed draft declaration already circulating and one of the first things they are talking about is saying that they are determined to make sure that the costs are spread evenly across all the nato member states and that is absolutely huge. it's been a massive, massive issue. the us are saying they are doing the heavy lifting. it is time they paid more of their dues which is 2% of gdp, and it's amazing, 29 member states and so far only nine are compliant and this is what donald trump has been calling out for several years. and there has been some success. several years. and there has been some success. the nato secretary general has said they have moved significantly more money, billions, actually, has been squeezed out of

the other member states, so that is perhaps a positive that things are moving ahead with the finances. mr trump will be pleased with that. we are told that his helicopter, marine 0ne, are told that his helicopter, marine one, is are told that his helicopter, marine 0ne, isjusta are told that his helicopter, marine 0ne, isjust a minute are told that his helicopter, marine one, is just a minute away and we will show you that arriving on bbc news. he kicked everything off yesterday with a broadside, really against emmanuel macron of france to underline the cracks and divisions saying that he was nasty and disrespectful by calling nato brain dead. a lot of mud slinging in this nato conference. a huge amount, and what he said goes back some time to last month, the interview with the economist magazine where he made the statement and i think maybe people thought he has made his point and that won't be brought up again at the nato summit, but he has stood behind it and he had a meeting with trump and immediately stood up and said all these things. saying that this is what he believes in it was quite a shock that that would then

be aired immediately. in terms of the kind of choreography of this summit it has been very tricky certainly yesterday. they have a lot of other things to talk about, wider issues and where nato goes next. this was an alliance formed way back in1949, this was an alliance formed way back ini949, and this was an alliance formed way back in 1949, and there is, i think, donald trump's marine 0ne just coming into the blue sky there over watford. a very cold day, but a beautiful day here in hertfordshire. yes, talking about the other challenges that the old alliance faces, rising military power in china, terrorism, cyber warfare, there is a long agenda potentially. yes, and china, it's the first time it's ever been discussed as a nato summit, the rise of china and it has the second largest defence budget in the second largest defence budget in the world and has really been modernising its military and nato

leaders obviously believe that they need to look at this and to what extent it remains a risk and also the idea that they will go into space, putting it that way, that space, putting it that way, that space becomes an operational domain and as faras space becomes an operational domain and as far as we understand it that is about protecting the satellite system because there is a lot of satellites up therefore nato and communication and navigation are absolutely crucial, and if those satellites could be hacked or brought down it could have enormous consequences if there were to be a flare—up in tensions. consequences if there were to be a flare-up in tensions. nato is an alliance that has grown, 29 members now and there will be 30 with north macedonia. but the usa, and there is the president's helicopter, marine 0ne. it is the huge power at the centre of nato and i think it's defence spending is twice every year what all of the rest of the nato countries spend on defence and so it

is the linchpin of nato, but at the same time president trump at one stage described it as obsolete. yes, but he said the exact opposite yesterday, so he seems to have com pletely yesterday, so he seems to have completely flipped around whereas emmanuel macron is turning against nato, it seems. 0bviously emmanuel macron is turning against nato, it seems. obviously the presence of the united states is absolutely invaluable and has the military power and do you think with all the divisions we've been talking about they can paper over the cracks today? they will be working very ha rd to today? they will be working very hard to do it and borisjohnson is appealing for unity and the secretary general has agreed to come together and there are obviously threats and issues around the world which nato needs to deal with and tackle and for it to be divided,

obviously, is the worst case scenario. before that helicopter, we thought it was president trump, but it was a decoy. this looks like the president, so this is him coming in and just talk us through the days events, richard, because we are going to have a kind of family photograph first of all in the next few minutes, a family, which as we have been saying, has been squabbling a bit. it's all running a bit late because we understand that this should have happened, but you are right, the leaders have been arriving and there have been handshakes and the family photograph will take place, and once that is done then the summit should get under way. it supposed to start at 10am, for three hours and they were obviously thrashed some issues out and we will get a declaration at the end and we are expecting a number of

news c0 nfe re nces end and we are expecting a number of news conferences with donald trump, borisjohnson news conferences with donald trump, boris johnson and mr stoltenberg. we will be talking to the hungarian foreign minister in a moment for his view of these events in hertfordshire, but let's take a look at what we think is president trump's helicopter, landing in the rolling splendour of the grove hotel. it has a huge golf course here which i'm sure he would be attracted to but i don't think he will have time to get a round in. and we will see if he emerges. i'm joined by the hungarian foreign minister, and very good to talk to you, sir. thank you for being here. what is your perspective on nato? there has been a lot of talk about the divisions, the cracks in this alliance. how do you see it? we used to bea

alliance. how do you see it? we used to be a country which was under a communist regime for a0 years, so for us, being members of nato is kind of a symbol for regaining our ability to make our own choices for oui’ ability to make our own choices for our future, so we want to see this organisation remain the strongest and most successful defence alliance in global history, so and we need nato to adjust to the latest and newest challenges and we will definitely do our best to take part in the working group which was decided upon during the last foreign ministerial meeting and we are going to contribute to making the necessary decisions in order to maintain the strength of nato. as a former member of the communist bloc, do you see russia as the principal opponent, if you like, of nato, or the principal concern, the principal

strategic worry? i think there are challenges coming from two directions, basically. 0ne direction is the east, but the other is the south and coming from a central european country which is located on the pathway of massive illegal migratory floors, we understand that migration is a consequence of terrorism, so i do believe that we have to put a lot of emphasis on fighting against terror and we will contribute to that. there is president trump arriving at the grove hotel in hertfordshire, walking from marine 0ne grove hotel in hertfordshire, walking from marine one to join the other world leaders, the 28 other leaders in what has been a bit of a fractious meeting. what do you think of the argument we saw yesterday? president macron said nato was brain dead and president trump who we saw

yesterday saying emmanuel macron is nasty and disrespectful, quite a lot of bad—mouthing going on. nasty and disrespectful, quite a lot of bad-mouthing going on. look, it's being said about nato that it would being said about nato that it would be brain dead, but i don't agree with that. we understand that there are totally new challenges which nato has to face, but in this situation what we have to do is work in order to make nato stronger and make a nato proper to give the necessary a nswe i’s make a nato proper to give the necessary answers and addresses to the challenges we do have and we understand there are different concepts about how europe can participate. i think it is a legitimate expectation that the europeans have to do more in order to contribute to the success of the alliance and we have to increase our

effo rts alliance and we have to increase our efforts to make sure we have security. we hungarians do a lot in this regard and we have carried out a very robust modernisation programme of our armed forces in order to reach the 2% threshold by 202a, as we have made that pledge backin 202a, as we have made that pledge back in wales, but we made another pledge which we have fulfilled already for the first time in our history, more than 20% of the defence spending will be spent on new purchases meaning more development, 23%, which is an important milestone when it comes to our contribution to nato efforts. nato is 70 years old. we have been members for ten years. willoughby round and another 70 years? it was created, let's face it, to up to the soviet union and stalin in 19a9. has

it really got a role in this day and age, 70 years later? we are interested in keeping it as the most important defence alliance ever in global history. as i told you, we totally agree with the secretary general approach that we have to look for 360 degrees 0utlook because we definitely have a significant challenge from the south. we see the modern age terrorism is a rising threat and we understand the terrorist organisations are using the newest technologies and threatening global security and we are happy that nato is now getting more when it comes to the fight against terror and we are happy that the nato group are engaged in anti—isis operations and we are happy that nato is maintaining its actions and operations in afghanistan. what about turkey? it has gone into northern syria and people like emmanuel macron are not happy with the way the turkish

president is behaving. where do you stand on turkey? we have a different position on that compared to other european countries. as i told you in 2015, we were on the part of illegal migration more than a00,000 illegal migrants marched through hungary and if you pose the question of what they are interesting, for turkey to open the gates for a million migrants on their territory to come to europe, are they interested in creating circumstances for these people to enable them to go back and return to syria, then we are definitely interested in the second version. we are not interested in turkey opening the gates for the migrants to come to europe. 0ur national interest is clear about that. one of the problems with nato is, the bigger it gets, the more members, 30 with north macedonia joining. hopefully soon. the bigger it gets, the more arguments and divisions there are potentially.

this is maybe not the most sophisticated sentence you will hear from a foreign minister, but i think the more that we are, the stronger we are. we have arguments and quarrels and we might have some differing perspectives but the last countries to access have been countries to access have been countries from the eastern areas and i consider this vital from the perspective of nato, that we can integrate. the eu, to be honest, is failing and it is right behind the schedule, behind the desired results when it comes to integration and to find that nato can go forward and integrate the countries is an extremely important security interest of ours. boris johnson is saying, the british prime minster, one for all, all for one. that is the central tenet of nato, that if one member state is attacked, the others defend it. is that still

standing even with what turkey is doing in syria? this is at the core of nato. it is the solidarity, and thatis of nato. it is the solidarity, and that is the number one issue for us soi that is the number one issue for us so i totally agree to what he has suggested. so you think nato will be here in 70 years time?|j suggested. so you think nato will be here in 70 years time? i really do hope so and we will do our best to keep nato here for the next 70 yea rs. keep nato here for the next 70 years. and hungary is an important part? we will hopefully continue like that. thank you very much for joining us. i appreciate it. that is the latest from here in hertfordshire where we have seen president trump arriving in the last few minutes for this nato summit and we are saying it is a summit, but to be honest all the leaders are just going to talk for a few minutes and in total it will be a meeting of about three hours and then this afternoon there will be a press conferences, borisjohnson will do a press co nfe re nce conferences, borisjohnson will do a press conference and so will mr trump in the middle of the afternoon and we will bring all of that to you live on bbc news.

in washington, the house intelligence committee says there is ‘overwhelming' evidence that president trump placed personal political interests ‘above the national interests of the united states,‘ by putting pressure on ukraine to investigate his rival, joe biden. page after page, the case to impeach donald trump. 0verwhelming evidence of misconduct and obstruction, according to the house intelligence committee, which is controlled by the democrats. after hearing from more than a dozen witnesses, the panel concluded that mr trump solicited the interference of a foreign government, ukraine, to benefit his re—election. he put personal political interests ahead of the national interest. this is the result of a president who believes he is beyond indictment, beyond impeachment, beyond any form of accountability and indeed, above the law. and that is a very dangerous

thing for this country, to have an unethical president who believes they are above the law. the white house slammed the impeachment enquiry as a "one—sided sham", which had "utterly failed to produce any evidence of wrongdoing" by president trump. but the investigation goes on, moving to the housejudiciary committee, which will consider specific charges, the articles of impeachment, against the president. again, the democrats are in control, and if, as expected, the full house of representatives votes in favour of impeachment, a trial could take place as early as next month in the senate, where the republicans are in charge. it's all in the house at the moment. and as i've said over and over again, if the house does in fact act, then the senate will be in business with an impeachment trial. donald trump has repeated his view that the impeachment enquiry is a "hoax", being used by the democrats for political gain. this

but like it or not, and with the president still out of the country, the process is moving quickly. peter bowes, bbc news. we will go back to watford for the comings and goings around the nato meetings. just a more reaction to the impeachment news. joining us live in the studio is greg swenson from republicans 0verseas. 300 page report and it is a threat to national security and it boils down to what happened in the conversation with the ukrainian president and the threat to hold back money approved by congress for military support for ukraine unless he did what the president said. it's amazing that two different parties can read the same evidence and come

up can read the same evidence and come up with two different conclusions. even the statements yesterday were so blatantly partisan and for him to say it is overwhelming evidence, it is not true. it's not swayed the american people at all and it hasn't swayed the public —— the republicans. how do you see it, the threat to withhold money that had been approved by congress? without a doubt i think the president is unfiltered in his deliveries, and in the famous phone call, he says, hey, i need a favour, but his delivery is not common and it's unusual for presidents, but he did the same thing with joe biden presidents, but he did the same thing withjoe biden when he was vice president and he withheld the aid, demanded they fire the prosecutor and then he bragged about it when he got to washington, so it's not unprecedented activity from the president. first of all, there is no national security threat and the missiles were delivered. going

back to the specifics, the threat arises, according to those who want to see the impeachment, because it was aid that was approved by congress and the president then unilaterally decided to suggest that would be withheld unless ukraine publicly announced an enquiry into his political rival. whose interest was that serving? a few. he discussed it and then his own people in washington talked him out of it and that was all good. but you said he is unfiltered in his deliveries, but they are deliveries coming from a president. of course, and it is unprecedented for a president to be that vocal and unfiltered but what he did was on behalf of the taxpayers, and as a taxpayer, as a voter, i want to know what is going on in the country before i deliver aid or money or anything else. why

was that helping taxpayers? then the question is, should vice presidents get a pass because he was vice president. what he did in the country twice, once was the co nflict—of— i nterest country twice, once was the conflict—of—interest having his son on the payroll of a natural gas company, and an obvious conflict—of—interest. even the appearance of a conflict of interest is against the law in the us, so that was the first problem. the second time was when he insisted that the prosecutor was fired. this stuff goes even back to the dossier financed by the clinton campaign, this is not unprecedented activity from political figures, this is not unprecedented activity from politicalfigures, so the question really is, what is the benefit for the taxpayer? and should joe biden get a pass? ijust want i just want to interrupt, because we live in watford where there nato meetings are happening. emmanuel macron has arrived to play his part

in those conversations, the 70th anniversary nato meetings. let's listening to what he is saying. he speaks french. well, he is speaking in french, so we will not carry on listening to that. just a tweet from president trump saying, i have enjoyed my meeting with borisjohnson at ten downing st last night. talked about numerous subjects, including nato and trade. i think that is his first tweet of the visit. it is a pretty measured one, isn't it? yes, i would say he has stuck to the script, and i think we saw that in the state visit last june. he did not stick to the script then always! you know, ithink not stick to the script then always! you know, i think the door of air force one was still closed when he sent the tweet that everybody was disappointed in. and as i said earlier, he is unfiltered. the tweets make everybody nervous, including conservatives, but you

know, that is one of the reasons he was elected. he speaks directly to the people, and as i said, he is unfiltered. just briefly, he could be impeached before christmas, couldn't he? the congress... yes, and obviously, no republicans have come on board, so nancy pelosi knew this coming in, that it would only work if it was bipartisan. it has been a complete failure in terms of bipartisanship. no republicans are on board, and i think there is a good chance of losing some of the 31 democrats they were elected in trump district. so it has been a failure for the democrats. thank you. and just going back to president macron, what he was saying there are native. you may be aware he made those comments about nato, describing it as brain—dead. president trump criticised those comments, saying it was offensive. it comes as there is a lot of discussion over the future of nato and its future use, particularly following on from america's decision to pull out of syria and the

operation that subsequently followed by turkey into syria. president macron has said that there is brain—dead comments stimulated at the right discussions. discussions that will be continuing for the next few hours, and we will keep you updated. more than 100 firefighters have been tackling a major blaze at a hotel in west london. dozens of guests and staff had to be evacuated from the travelodge in brentford after a fire started in the early hours of this morning. 0ur correspondent russell fuller is there for us. bring us up—to—date with the latest, russell. well, i'm glad to say that the fire, as you now can see, is very well, i'm glad to say that the fire, as you now can see, is very much under control, but there was a huge presence from the london fire brigade here from shortly after three o'clock in the morning. 100 firefighters at its peak, and roughly 100 people were evacuated from the building. many made their own way out, and those who were here a few hours ago were talking of the

vivid orange flame that lit up the sky, the sound of fire alarm sounding as they made their way to safety. the fire brigade were able to get inside the hotel and actually fight it internally, and they believe it started in an adjoining bin room, a bin store on the ground floor, adjacent to the five story hotel, and then spread throughout the hotel. at the moment, it's a case of than just damping down some remaining pockets of fire and carrying out a salvage operation. as for the guests, they were found suddenly in the cold night air at three and four o'clock in the morning. in most cases, they wore nothing but their night gear. they we re nothing but their night gear. they were provided with a double—decker bus, a red double—decker bus, to shelter in and get some sleep in, and now, they are hoping that at some point today, they will maybe be able to go back into the hotel and see whether their possessions have survived the fire. thank you very much. sorry to interrupt, but we are going straight to hear from boris johnson interrupt, but we are going straight to hearfrom borisjohnson and interrupt, but we are going straight to hear from borisjohnson and jens stoltenberg at those nato talks.

they have not got microphones on, u nfortu nately, they have not got microphones on, unfortunately, so if you can lip read, you can try and work out what they are saying! 0therwise, read, you can try and work out what they are saying! otherwise, they are there posing for the cameras at this 70th meeting of nato. that is in watford today, in hertfordshire. leaders of the 29 countries are gathered there. they were in london yesterday. there was a big event at the palace last night, and the leaders are now alljoining jens stoltenberg of nato and boris johnson on the stage, as they gather for what is always called the family photo. ben brown is in watford covering events. ben. yes, joanna, a family that has been squabbling. especially in the last 2a—hour is. we were just hearing from president macron, as you said. he started it off, really, with those "brain—dead" comments, saying nato is strategically brain—dead. as you havejust been hearing, he is now effectively

saying he is glad he said that, because it stimulated the right discussions. a president trump was very unhappy yesterday with what m i rcea very unhappy yesterday with what mircea macron has been saying —— mr macron. he said that mr macron's comments have been nasty and dangerous and disrespectful, and that little spat is reallyjust a symptom, i suppose, that little spat is reallyjust a symptom, isuppose, of that little spat is reallyjust a symptom, i suppose, of the wider arguments that there are within nato at the moment. the organisation has grown in numbers over its 70 years. you are seeing some of the leaders now taking the stage, shaking boris johnson's hand nato secretary generaljens stoltenberg's hand ahead of this family photograph. there are now 29 members, and about to be 30, with north macedonia joining as well. this is an alliance thatis joining as well. this is an alliance that is 70 years old, celebrating its 70th anniversary this year, but in that 70th anniversary year, some of the divisions have really come to the fore, and it seems, in a way, that the more members it has, the

greater some of the divisions. and turkey, we will see president erdogan of turkey in a moment. that is really one of the focal points of the divisions that there are, because turkey launched that offensive into northern syria, hugely controversial, taking on the kurds there. president macron, another nato member state, saying that the kurds stood shoulder to shoulder with western nations in defeating islamic state, and so, when the turkish president wants nato to condemn the kurds as terrorists, mr macron is saying, well, no, actually, they stood by us and they fought iis, well, no, actually, they stood by us and they fought 115, and we are grateful to them. so that division between france, turkey, and other member states and turkey is just one of the fault lines running through this alliance at the moment. another argument a lot of the nato leaders

have with turkey. 0h! she forgot her hand shake there, and forgot to pose for the cameras. but another of the fault lines is that turkey has brought a russian defence system, and of course, rush is regarded by nato, really, as its principal opponent. —— bought a russian defence system. —— russia is regarded. so if turkey, nato member state, buys a russian defence system, it has not gone down well. this is the leader of montenegro, one of the newer member states, with the nato secretary—general and the british prime minister. and boris johnson, in his remarks today to the summit, and he has actually already said this to reporters, says that britain stands shoulder to shoulder with nato and believes that it is rock—solid. that is the estonian prime minister there. of course, the

baltic nations, which estonia is one, very much on the of any aggression from russia and from moscow. —— on the end of any aggression. the balkan countries, of course, enjoyed those horrific civil wa rs course, enjoyed those horrific civil wars in the 1990s. they are also newer members, so the balkan states... the baltic states as well, new and key members of the nato alliance. portugal, an older member. but borisjohnson really underlying, with his... underlining, with his comments today... and there is justin trudeau of canada, who was perhaps embarrassingly captured at buckingham palace, joking, it seems, about donald trump, saying that he had had an impromptu press conference that had made everybody late. so that is perhaps a little bit embarrassing, when he, justin trudeau, meets donald trump a little bit later on at the summit.

luxembourg, one of the smaller nations of nato. perhaps the smallest, actually. iam nations of nato. perhaps the smallest, actually. i am not quite sure. and the norwegian leader there, the norwegian prime minister as well. but as they take the stage, it is difficult to see really how they can paper over the cracks today, because this is going to be such a short meeting. we are talking about it as a summit, but really, actually, all these leaders are just going to have their say for a few minutes each, they are going to talk one after the other, at this summit at the grove hotel here in hertfordshire, well away from any potential protesters, it is in rolling 300 acres, so no chance for any demonstrations outside. there is mark rutter from the netherlands, a long—standing friend of the uk. mark rutter, who

has been pretty key in some of the brexit negotiations, actually, in some of the past 2—3 years as well. but as i say, it will only be a three hour session this morning. this will be followed by some news conferences. borisjohnson will do a news conference, and so too will donald trump this afternoon, so we will be listening out for what they have to say, but it is not as if they will all be sitting around, hammering out position papers and trying to paper over the cracks. this is germany's chancellor, angela merkel, of course, and germany is one of the countries that donald trump has really criticised for not spending enough of its gdp on defence. he wants them all to spend 296 defence. he wants them all to spend 2% of gdp. germany is spending just 1.296. 2% of gdp. germany is spending just 1.2%. sojust over 2% of gdp. germany is spending just 1.2%. so just over half of that target at the moment. the lithuanian leader there. lithuania, as i say, one of the baltic nations, very much seen by nato as on the front line of any potential russian aggression, and

the baltic states certainly see the nato... and the latvian leader here as well. they see nato and the umbrella of protection it provides is absolutely essential to their security. they are very enthusiastic members, as you might expect, of the nato alliance. and they are saying that it nato alliance. and they are saying thatitis nato alliance. and they are saying that it is london there, but this is watford. and it is outside london, of course. but london is the home, the original home of nato, where nato began, if you like, with the united kingdom is one of its founder members, and the original headquarters of nato. so i think nato leaders see it as fitting, in a way, that on the 70th anniversary... and there is president macron, the man who has caused so much controversy with his comments that this alliance is brain—dead. donald trump taking particular exception to

those remarks. mr macron again this morning saying that... he doesn't go back on those comments, he doesn't regret them, he says that it stimulated a positive discussion about the future of the alliance. the alliance has a lot of thinking to do. from the days when it began asa to do. from the days when it began as a counterpoint to stalin's russia and the soviet union, now it has to think about cyber warfare, terrorism, and space, defence in space. that is one of the topics on the agenda. it has to think about the agenda. it has to think about the rising military power of china as well. so there is a whole host of different issues that nato is talking about, and syria, of course, never far from talking about, and syria, of course, neverfarfrom any talking about, and syria, of course, never far from any nato agenda, particularly because of nato's member state turkey, and president erdogan is taking unilateral action there in northern syria, going in to ta ke there in northern syria, going in to take on the kurds, and that has caused a particular rift with

president macron among others, here we have just seen, president macron among others, here we havejust seen, who is saying that those kurds that turkey is fighting worthy people who helped destroy islamic state in syria alongside american forces, and that there is a debt of gratitude that should be owed to those kurds. so, borisjohnson welcoming all the leaders here to this summit in hertfordshire, and there is the turkish leader, president erdogan, a figure of such controversy, not only because of what he has done in northern syria, but also because he has bought a russian missile defence system, the sa00 missile defence system, the sa00 missile defence system, that has really riled some of the other nato states who are saying, you know, that russia is supposed to be our opponent, why are you, a nato member state, buying a russian missile defence system? that seems absolute madness. and

president macron is one of those who is very concerned about that, and feels that the turkish leader has gone rogue in some ways, but turkey is an important nato state with a huge defence force, of course. america, though, the usa, dominates this alliance. there is no doubt about that. this is the czech republic, one of the smaller member states, but the united states, in terms of their military spending, it is double, every year, all the rest of the nato states put together. so that just gives of the nato states put together. so thatjust gives you an idea of how us military power really dwarfs all the other nato member states. what president trump has been saying, and he will bang this drum once again today, i'm sure, here in hertfordshire, is that the other nato member states need to spend much more on defence. 2% is the target, 2% of their gdp, and only a handful of those 29 member states are spending that amount on defence.

britain is one of them. boris johnson said that proudly, that the uk is spending 2% of their gdp on defence, but plenty of other member states we have just been watching arrive on the stage there are not spending anything like that. germany, amongst them, spending just over 1%. so that is why president trump has accused some of the other nato members effectively of freeloading, of using the united states and its huge military power, huge military expenditure, to protect them and to provide an umbrella for them, but he is saying now is the time when they need to do their bit, cough up a bit more money, and he is saying he has already been pretty successful in producing tens of billions more of defence spending for nato by his urging other nato member states to pay a bigger military contribution

in terms of their defence expenditure. so we are getting ready for the family photograph here as the 2019 leaders gather to be pictured together, and jens stoltenberg, the nato secretary general, the man with a slightly unenviable task of trying to hold this alliance together at the moment, with all these new challenges, all these issues on his agenda, turkey, intervention in syria, china and its rising military power, russia and it's in predictability, what will vladimir putin do next —— russia and its unpredictability, terror, islamic state, cyber warfare, defence and outer space. these are all issues nato is trying to grapple with now, and don't forget, it was an alliance formed all the way back in 19a9 after the second world war. at that time, the

principal enemy, if you like, the principal enemy, if you like, the principal concern, and the reason that nato was created, was because of the soviet bloc, the communist bloc, and josef stalin in the kremlin. the world has moved on in many ways from there, although, of course, russia is still seen as a threat. but there are other threats too now end of the concerns, and it is the biggest security alliance in the world. almost 30 countries. north macedonia will in fact become the 30th country to join very shortly, but this is an alliance thatis shortly, but this is an alliance that is 70 years old, and struggling with its own internal divisions, struggling with a growing agenda, and people wondering, really, whether it is going to be around and another 70 years' whether it is going to be around and another 70 yea rs' time. whether it is going to be around and another 70 years' time. and it has evolved and adapted over the years. it has had to adapt. for example, taking military action in the

balkans to try and end the conflicts there. and it is an alliance that many people think has been successful in some ways in adapting, in moving with the times, in changing its role from that initial role back in 19a9 after the second world war, where in some ways, the world seemed a simpler place, but with the fall of the iron curtain, the fall of the berlin wall, the world changed, europe changed, and there are new security concerns. so we arejust there are new security concerns. so we are just waiting there for all these leaders to come back to the stage and to join jens these leaders to come back to the stage and to joinjens stoltenberg and boris johnson, stage and to joinjens stoltenberg and borisjohnson, as they stand there... just the two of them, actually, waiting for all of the others. and ben, as we wait for president trump as well, it is worth noting he

has actually tweeted. i think it is his first tweet of the visit, and it has been pretty straightforward. there it is. last time he was here, he caused a lot of upset before he even got off the plane, but he seems to be absolutely playing by some straightforward rules, at least so far, in terms of what is going on on his twitter feed. yes, i have to say, that is one of the blandest tweets i have ever seen from president trump, actually! i am almost wondering whether he wrote that. but we will wait and see. of course, there is a news conference later with president trump in the middle of the afternoon, and i think if yesterday's news conferences anything to go by, we might get some slightly more colourful language. yesterday, he went on a thai raid, against president macron. —— a

tirade. nato leaders and diplomats must have been holding their heads in their hands when they listened to what he was saying about mr macron, saying that those comments about nato being brain dead, donald trump was saying mr macron was being nasty, he was being disrespectful and dangerous. there he is, donald trump. the most powerful leader in the world. and america, of course, the cornerstone of this nato alliance. so there he is, standing next to jens stoltenberg, the nato secretary general, and the british prime minister borisjohnson. general, and the british prime minister boris johnson. donald trump, who, as we say, has already caused quite a stir since he has been here, with that spat with president macron. and also talking about... 0h, he is going the wrong way! showing the right way now. it is also calling the nations that don't pay enough in terms of defence spending in his book, saying that they are delinquents.

well, there we are. that's the end of all the handshaking, but yes, donald trump there, and it is going to be an interesting summit, to say the least. we will see this afternoon with those news conferences from the prime minister and the american president, what they have to say about it, but that's the latest, joanna, from here in hertfordshire. back to you in the studio. ben, thank you very much. see you a bit later. race equality campaigners say voters from black, asian and other ethnic minority communities shouldn't be underestimated in next week's election. the runnymede trust has calculated about a third of uk constituencies will have at least a 15% population made up of these groups by 2021. our community affairs correspondent adina campbell reports from west london. kensington. 0ne kensington. one of the most closely contested seats in the last election, with a high number of ethnic minority voters.

but how significant will their vote be next week? is their power in the ethnic minority vote? 100%. yes. is their power in the ethnic minority vote? 10096. yes. we shape the culture. we are literally the culture. we are literally the culture. we are literally the culture. we are literally the culture. we change the way people even talk, which is the way people even talk, which is the way people even speak, we change the way people express themselves musically, through literature, through so many other things, so why can we change our politics is? these young londoners have mixed views. we have seen londoners have mixed views. we have seen is how much we can push things through social media, so why are we not using the programme there were platform that is us to push the message? do you honestly believe that your vote will make a difference? every vote counts. i wa nt difference? every vote counts. i want to say yes, but i don't think so. want to say yes, but i don't think so. just because we are in london, doesn't mean anything. so. just because we are in london, doesn't mean anythinglj so. just because we are in london, doesn't mean anything. i understand saying it will make a difference, but i am also on the side of saying, what difference will my vote make? and race equality campaigners say it is important not to forget the impact these votes could have on who forms the next government.

there are approximately a.8 million ethnic minority voters in this country. that is bigger than the size of scottish voters. there are only about a.1 million scottish voters in this country. so can you imagine ignoring scotland? it is places like this where the ethnic minority vote really matters. kensington and west london has more than 30,000 people from these communities. but it is a marginal labour constituency, one in the last election by just labour constituency, one in the last election byjust 20 votes. what does it for you, then? is at the politician, the way they connect with you, or is that the policies in their manifestos that matter the most? it's one thing to have a ma nifesto, most? it's one thing to have a manifesto, but at the same time, what are you doing before that ma nifesto to what are you doing before that manifesto to show us? for me, i don't want you to tell me what i wa nt don't want you to tell me what i want to hear. i want you to tell me what you're going to do, and what you're going to do to better the country. we don't actually see people like us who are in leadership as well. very true. we don't see people who are like us, so how are

we meant to relate and gravitate towards them? does that raise questions about trust and confidence in politicians? yes, because, like, stick by your word. if you can't stick by your word. if you can't stick by your word, how are we supposed to be confident in new? that, and tell us the truth. be honest. don't sugar anything. tell us honest. don't sugar anything. tell us what you want to do. i don't want to hear the politically correct version. you can't insult the intelligence of young people. we are a lot more grown than we were when the last election happen. we have seen the last election happen. we have seen what went on with brexit. there are not enough people from our community trying to be in these places of power. and here is the full list of candidates standing in the kensington constituency. details of all the constituencies on our website. click on the election 2019 tab. coming up, the latest on that nato... it has been called a summit, but it is really three hours of talks today

with a 29 nato leaders in watford for the gathering to mark the 70th anniversary of nato, and there has been quite a lot of controversy, you will gather, from comments by president macron, describing nato is brain—dead. there are questions about the future of the alliance, and president trump also here to play his part in the nato meetings. we just saw all of the leaders gathering for the family photo in watford. president trump here, while the move to impeach him in the us gather pace, and a new report has been published into that. all the latest on that in a few moments, plus talking to the comedian paul merton about the british film industry and lottery funding. right now, let's catch up with the weather, with simon. thanks, joanna. a lovely sun rise again this morning. quite a cold and frosty stop for many of us. particularly across southern areas

of england. also some mist and fog around, but we captured some of that in this picture here from northamptonshire. a bit of mist in the distance. some cloud across central and eastern areas into the afternoon. further north and west, rain moving its way through scotland will push further eastwards, get into north—west england in the distance. some cloud across central and eastern areas into the afternoon. further north and west, rain moving its way through scotland will push further eastwards, again into north—west england and north—west wales. we will see some heavy showers in the way across north—west england. gusty winds here. sunshine elsewhere, and maximum temperatures getting to about 7—10. through tonight, showers will continue to feed in across scotla nd will continue to feed in across scotland and northern ireland, the breeze picking up. elsewhere, clear spells. perhaps a touch of frost to get into thursday morning. through thursday, we will seek out increasing in the and with it, where weather systems are moving in, we will see some showers. i suppose across the uk. gusty winds expected, but the rain will pile on to northern ireland and into the west of scotland, edging its way further

south and east into england and wales. the rain will be relentless in the west of scotland, and as you can see here by the greens, really quite heavy, 70—80 millimetres likely through thursday and into friday. this is part of the country where we haven't seen much rain throughout autumn. and strong gusty winds particularly in the north—west, gusting 50—55 mph, elsewhere, 35. turning milderfrom the north stop temperatures here about 10—12dc, still chilly further south and east, but through thursday night, temperatures will rise down towards the south—east of england. actually, we will see temperatures by friday morning for many of us in double figures. close i never frost on friday morning. but it will be a cloudy start today, and the rain gradually edging into the south—east could be heavier by the afternoon. as it clears to the south—east, some brighter skies developing, and it will turn chillierfrom

brighter skies developing, and it will turn chillier from the north, temperatures 7—10. staying quite mild down to the south—east, 13 celsius. into the weekend, saturday looks 0k, celsius. into the weekend, saturday looks ok, but by sunday, this weather system is moving on, and with it, some outbreaks of rain. that's all me. goodbye.

hello, it's wednesday, it's 10 o'clock, i'm victoria derbyshire. a mother of two who killed the father of her children has won the right to appeal against her murder conviction. appeal courtjudges say they believe new evidence may explain why faireissia martin lost control and stabbed her partner. her mother spoke to her in prison this morning and says she has "new faith". there is hope now. now she has her faith back because she lost all her faith, because things have gone quite wrong. nato leaders including president trump, will sit down in the next hour to discuss the biggest security

threats facing the planet.