today at 5pm: a third person in the uk tests positive for coronavirus, and is being taken to a specialist nhs treatment centre. as tests continue, it's revealed the person did not catch the virus in china, where most cases have been found, but elsewhere in asia. the risk is very much lower and china and very very much lower in particular in wuhan, but it is probably sufficient to remove onto the next stage which is likely to expand the geometric. meanwhile, the death toll in china has risen to 565 — but beijing's ambassador to the uk says the reaction has been excessive. rumours and panic are more frightening than the virus itself.

we'll be asking a specialist for the latest guidance on the spread of coronavirus, and what response is appropriate. the other main stories on bbc news at 5pm... scotland's finance secretary has resigned on the day of the budget, after sending messages to a 16—year—old boy on social media. the first minister said there was no place for him in government. derek mackay‘s conduct fell far short of what is expected of a minister. indeed, he offered his resignation to me, and i accepted. it was not an option for him to remain in government. donald trump speaks in public for the first time since being cleared at his impeachment trial in the us senate. this is the scene at the white house, where president trump is due to make a statement shortly. i'm spartacus! i'm spartacus. and later in the hour, tributes to the hollywood legend kirk douglas, who has died at the age of 103.

it's 5pm. our main story is the that a third person has now tested positive in the uk for coronavirus. the patient did not catch the virus in china, where the vast majority of cases have been found, but elsewhere in asia, before travelling to the uk, and is now being taken to a specialist nhs treatment centre. china's ambassador to the uk, liu xiaoming, has accused the british government of over—reacting to the virus outbreak, and said that foreign office advice to british nationals to leave china, was "excessive". our correspondent richard galpin has the latest. the huge operation by the authorities in china to contain the

spread of the coronavirus continues at pace. here in wuhan, they're trying to disinfect the city and there is a glimmer of hope, the overall number of cases across china have apparently dropped for the first time on wednesday. but at today's news conference, the world health organisation warned it was too early to say, the outbreak was speaking. we have no vaccine to prevent infections and not enough antibiotics to treat them. to put it blu ntly, antibiotics to treat them. to put it bluntly, we are shadow—boxing. we need to bring this virus out into the light so we can attack it properly. back in the uk, a group of british citizens remain in quarantine at this nhs facility here on the world after being evacuated from china. and separately, it is not been confirmed that a third person of the uk has been diagnosed

with coronavirus. this, after returning from a nation country. with coronavirus. this, after returning from a nation countrym said it was likely that it would get some spill—over cases from china in the uk and that is obviously what is happened and we expect will probably get some more cases in the future and that is not a suppressed anybody. with almost 30,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus in china, the authorities continue to mmp china, the authorities continue to ramp up the number of available hospital beds. they insist that doing everything they can to bring the outbreak under control. the chinese government has taken the most comprehensive and preventive and control measures. many of which go far beyond the requirements of international health regulations. meanwhile, it has been announced this afternoon that the doctor who first warned of the outbreak of the

coronavirus back in december has now died. he had been silenced by the authorities for trying to raise the alarm. our health correspondent sophie hutchinson is here. what you have been able to glean about this case? we have very little detail. the patient was in brighton and we do not know what the circumstances were that the infection came up as an issue with that person and we have been told that person and we have been told that they are in transit, being taken to a specialist hospital that deals with the infection cases like this, very likely to be a london hospital. what is different is what we have been talking about and the fa ct we have been talking about and the fact that this patient was infected outside of china, somewhere in asia. we have not been told which country but that does change things of the nhs in the advice to staff within the nhs. if they see a patient that may have symptoms like this, coming

from a country close to china, there will be a list of those countries to test them therefore for the coronavirus. interesting of the chinese ambassador was using pretty forward language and responding to the actions taken by the foreign office and it will be a huge of reaction. what is the view within government about the appropriateness of the level that they have attached themselves to? the chinese are saying that we were panicking, i guess. but the view from government is that they are taking these precautions and saying to people, do not travel to china. try to keep yourself at low risk from the virus by taking various precautions, go back to the area, they will bring more people back on sunday and they believe that there is a measured and bright response. they fuelled the

americans led the way in this they've been very critical of the americans for saying do not travel to china and doing the same kind of thing, nationals coming from china to america. the chinese have been very upset about this in the world health organisation's view is that it is not good to close borders they see the reason that people start lying about where they've come from and the disease is more likely to spread. they believe monitoring is the best way to do things. but this isa the best way to do things. but this is a very heart disease to monitor because its symptoms are a fever, a dry cough, very similar to other illnesses. so it is a very hard one to call. will stay on the story, will stay on the dr chris smith is a virologist from the university of cambridge and you may know him from the ‘naked scientist‘ pocast and radio show. hejoins me now via webcam. the first question, about the

appropriateness of the british government's response. what is your view on that? i think, quite frankly that it view on that? i think, quite frankly thatitis view on that? i think, quite frankly that it is a bit rich of the chinese to turn around and say that we are overreacting. this is the country that has 30,000 people that they have confirmed has this and there's probably a big clinical iceberg there were that 30,000 constitutes there were that 30,000 constitutes the tiny tip of that iceberg and there may be as many of us 100,000 people affected with it and they have had 2000 hospital beds, i think thatis have had 2000 hospital beds, i think that is a pretty forceful reactions to what they perceived to be a pretty critical threat. if they think there is a serious risk, i do not think they should be criticising oui’ not think they should be criticising our efforts. i think our efforts have been very proportionate in our country is very well prepared. when asking the basic questions, what is this virus? what does it constitute, what do we know about it? how would you explain that to people? the

coronavirus, we looked down an electron microscope of these particles, which are absolutely tiny thatis particles, which are absolutely tiny that is so you need an electron microscope to see them, there are about 100 nm across. that is 110,000th of a millimetre, to give that some skill come for you took your average 30 cm ruler if you look at the first one mm of the ruler, you could pack in about ten thousands of these virus particles side by side into that first millimetre. that small and the smoke out of the car or the end of the cigarette. so in some inconstant sneezes can these particles go flying out into the air and if you walk into the cloud of virus particles, you breathe in mentor they hit your eyes, they can then end up in your nose and throat or your lungs, where their ultimate target is to infect one of yourselves and they do that using the spike on the inside surface of the spike on the inside surface of the virus and once they get inside the virus and once they get inside the cells, the genetic machinery of

the cells, the genetic machinery of the virus hijacks cells in your lungs and turns them into virus factories in each infected cell turns out thousands of new coronavirus particles, which do two things. when is the infect of the cells nearby that amplifies the infection and you and some of them are secreted in the body can they leave the body inconstant sneezes and that there out into the air and spreading it to other people. in some people, that process is very severe and may damage the lung tissue possibly because it triggers a very powerful immune response and it is coming in to do with the virus that exit only damages the lungs and the damage to the lungs in certain people compromise their function so that those people effectively begin to asphyxiate there to give him oxygen with some very serious cases, you may have to take the blood out of the body, passing through an artificial oxygen system and then return the oxygen to the body. when

people are being taken to specialist treatment centres, what treatment are they getting? you have alluded to two, but there is a broad spectrum or is there not? a very broad spectrum and is the correspondent pointed out, one of the challenges of this virus is that the challenges of this virus is that the symptoms allowed to hide in plain sight because they mirror those of the majority of those respiratory infections, flu—like symptoms with sore throat, runny nose, cough and feeling feverish and lethargic would the population is programmed to fit it like that and it is very hard to say, we will test you for this. so this virus is effectively lurking out there like a clinical expert making it hard to spot. it is just a small minority of people where it becomes much more severe, the picture is clarifying a bit and it does look like the people who have become most severely

affected a re who have become most severely affected are the over 50s and the people were extremely vulnerable are people were extremely vulnerable are people who have pre—existing health conditions. so those of the was aware going to be seeing the majority of the action when it comes to escalating their care. but it is not a black—and—white to say that because some of the cases have involved younger people too. what it means is, you have to be in a good position to test people in public health england have the capacity across the network to the uk and a testing place to begin to screen people and i think this will be very necessary. because one of my concerns is that in the same way to be first detected this in china at the beginning of december, it was not notified to the who is a clear problem untiljanuary and that we are at the beginning of february pursing 30,000 people in china with this that we know about, so it is gone from nothing to china and when they shut the airport at wuhan, there are thousands of people flying out of the airport every day. it is

possible that they could all be of the world and of seeded low—grade rates of infections in other countries it is basically smoldering with other countries and slowly escalating like it has in china. on the other hand, that is just my speculation that it may not happen, we need to be in position for a contest look forward and see if we face the face of threat or not. thank you so much forjoining us. it is 13 this is the scene at the white house, where donald trump is due to make a statement shortly. they're all awaiting the arrival of donald trump. so it should be a fairly interesting and lively session. not least after the state of the union address which was seen to be divisive, to say the least and

of course the fact that he has been acquitted and that impeachment trial at the us senate and there is a lot of bad blood between the president and the democrats, nancy pelosi in particular in the us congress. so this is the scene and will be back there just as soon as the president arrives and they do look as though almost ready. i do not think you'll be very long before president actually does emerge behind those big wooden doors there in the white house but a little bit of action on the left—hand side. what is that telling this? yes, they're getting ready. i think we should stay with us ready. i think we should stay with us for a few seconds because i think within a few seconds of this happening. the president is expected to make a forthright statement, reacting to the events of the past

few days and did no doubt there will bea few days and did no doubt there will be a big attack on democrats for constructing the impeachment case against him the one that collapsed 01’ was against him the one that collapsed or was voted down if you like the senate by 58, 52 votes to 48. we'll get that statement very shortly but it looks as though they're searching begin to get into place. let us move on for the moment and if it happens, we'll go back to that straightaway. scotland's finance secretary has resigned, on the day of the budget, over messages he sent to a 16—year—old boy, on social media. the scottish sun newspaper reported that derek mackay made contact with the boy hundreds of times, over a six—month period. the first minister nicola sturgeon said his conduct had been unacceptable, and that it fell far short of what was expected of a minister. mr mackay said he'd ‘behaved foolishly‘, and took full responsibility for his actions. our scotland correspondent james shaw reports, there's flash photography in the report. derek mackay was seen as a rising star of the scottish national party,

perhaps a future first minister. but in his resignation letter, he admits he has behaved foolishly and apologises unreservedly to the teenager and his family. he first contacted the boy out of the blue via social media about six months ago. there were hundreds of messages, including an invitation to dinner and rugby events. during one exchange about a photo, mr mackay commented on the boy's haircut. he said... the boy replied... later, mr mackay repeated that the boy looked cute and went on... nicola sturgeon has spoken in the scottish parliament about mr mackay‘s resignation. derek mackay has apologised unreservedly for his conduct and recognised, as i do, that it was unacceptable and falls seriously below the standards

required of a minister. i can also advise that he has this morning been suspended from both the snp and our parliamentary group pending further investigation. this was the response from the acting leader of the scottish conservatives. i have to ask the first minister, can the reputation of scottish politics and this parliament be maintained with the full confidence of the public or even his constituents if mr mackay remains as a member? mr mackay‘s budget speech will now have to be delivered by a junior minister. it has all come as a shock to derek mackay‘s constituents in the town of renfrew. it's a scandal. if that was somebody else in parliament, he would be demanding they resign. nicola sturgeon will hope that mr mackay‘s resignation can limit the damage to her government and party, but she has lost a key minister at a crucial moment.

steadying the ship will be a top priority. our scotland corresondent james shaw is in glasgow. tell us about the impact, notjust on parliament, but on the government as well. that is the big issue, when there is going to be followed or not. and she was a key minister and a key position and this was a really important moment in the political yearin important moment in the political year in scotland, you take that all away and you end up with a junior minister, 29 years old, many people say perform perfectly, admirably in delivering the budget. but that was not the scottish government's plan. use was to lay out the plans for the next 12 months. so the very least, it is extremely embarrassing for the s&p to have this happen like this.

and look to the next few weeks where alex, the former first minister, leader of the snp is charged with attempted rain, 13 other sexual offences as well. of course, he denies all of those charges. but thatis denies all of those charges. but that is yet another problem that the scottish government and the snp are going to have to face the coming weeks. thank you very much for joining us. donald trump is speaking from the white house now. certainly movement there and just looking at this image, i'll be bringing in my guest and the second and we also have gary o'donoghue in washington. and gary, just within minutes of this conference starting come do you think we can expect? you

heard in this morning talking about the ordeal that his family has been put through, link it to the democrats and the vindication that is been taken place and here we go. ladies and gentlemen, of the united states. (music) thank you very much. thank you.

thank you. (applause) basking in the applause of his acquittal. let us see if he gets the news c0 nfe re nce acquittal. let us see if he gets the news conference under way. we have all been through a lot together and we probably deserve that had for all of us because it has been a very unfair situation. i have invited

some of our very good friends and be of limited room but everybody wanted to come up with attempted down to a minimum and believe it or not, this isa minimum. minimum and believe it or not, this is a minimum. but a tremendous thing was done over the past number of months, but if you go back to it, over the past number of years, we have had the witchhunt. it started from the day we came down the elevator, myself and ourfuture first lady was with us right now. and it never really stopped. we have been going through this now for over three years and it was evil, it was corrupt, it was dirty cops and it

was lea kers and corrupt, it was dirty cops and it was leakers and liars and this should never happen to another president ever. i don't know if other presidents would have been able to take it. some people say no they wouldn't have, but i can tell you at a minimum, you they wouldn't have, but i can tell you ata minimum, you have to they wouldn't have, but i can tell you at a minimum, you have to focus on this because it can get away very quickly no matter who you have with you. it can get away very quickly. it isa you. it can get away very quickly. it is a disgrace and had i not fired james call me, who was a disaster, by the way it is possible that i would not be standing here and on. we caught him in the act. dirty cops. bad people. this happened to president obama, a lot of people would've been injailfor a long time already. many years. i would like to start by thanking my friends, because you develop friendships and relationships in yourin friendships and relationships in your in battle and war, much more so

than with all of you have gone through. i think more than any president and administrations, and i say for the most part, republican congressman congresswomen and republican senators, we have done more than any administration in the first few years. you look at all of the things you have done. i looked at this morning as they try to take credit for the stock market from, let me tell you, if we did not win, the stock market would've crashed in the stock market would've crashed in the market was going up a lot before the market was going up a lot before the election because he was looking like we had a good chance to win and went up tremendously from the time he won the election to the time we took office. which was november eight of january 20. took office. which was november eight ofjanuary 20. and that is all oui’ eight ofjanuary 20. and that is all our credit and leading up to that point was our credit because there

was hope in the reasons why the stock market has gone up so much the last few days is because people think you're doing so well. they like the state of the union speech. (applause) it really is. it is a true honour to give it. making the state of the union there have been people have been all over the world in one of them said highly sophisticated person, said that no matter where you go on the world. it doesn't make any difference. there is nothing like what i witnessed tonight. the beauty, the majesty of the chamber, the power of the united states. the power of the people in this room. and really, i do not think there really is anything like that in the

world, you can go to any other country in location, any other place, it is the beauty of what it represents and how it represents our country. i want to start by introducing some of the people that are here, some will be left out, but they worked so hard and this is really not a news conference, not his speech, there's not anything, we're sort of, it is a celebration. because we have something thatjust worked out. we went through hail, unfairly. we did nothing wrong. we did nothing wrong. i have done things wrong in my life, i will admit. not purposely, but have done things right. but this is what the end result is. (applause)

you can take that home, maybe we'll frame it? it is the only good headline i have had in the washington post. at every paper is the same. as they went those papers? because they are all like that, so i appreciate that. but some of the people here have been incredible warriors. they are warriors. and there is nothing from a legal standpoint, this is a political thing and every time i say this is unfair, let us go to court, they say you cannot go to court. this is politics. we were treated unbelievably unfairly you to understand, we first went through

russia, russia, russia. it was all... we then went through the mother —— moeller report and after people got their lives ruined and bankrupt, people lost their money, people came to washington to help other people come up bright eyed and bushytailed they said. they came one or two three people in particular, we had a rough campaign, it was the nastiest, they said. they said andrew jackson was always the nastiest campaign, they said we topped it. it was a nasty, both in the primaries and the election. he thought after the election. he thought after the election that it would not

-- it —— it would stop, but he did not commit to started. yet tremendous corruption. we knew we were running against some very very bad and evil people with fake dossiers, with all of these horrible, dirty cops that took these dossiers and did bad things. the courts should be ashamed of themselves and it is a very tough thing and we ended up winning on russia, russia, russia. they should've taken the one day and it took years and bought moeller testified and he did not work out so well for the other side. but they should've said that first week, as it came out, they knew in the first two days, actually, they knew in two days that we are truly innocent. they kept it going, they kept it

going forever. because they wanted to inflict political pain on somebody that had just won an election that many people were surprised. they had polls that say we're going to win, los angeles times and few papers actually said that we were going to win, but it was going to be close. and we did win, it was one of the greatest winds of all time and they said ok, he won. and that i wrote this down because that was where it thing called the insurance policy, to me, but i saw the insurance policy, and that was done long before the election, when they thought that hillary clinton was going to win and by the way, hillary clinton and the dnc paid for millions, billions of dollars to fake dossier and now, christopher steel admits that it is

a fake because he got sued by rich people, i should a fake because he got sued by rich people, ishould have a fake because he got sued by rich people, i should have sued them too but when you are the president, people do not like suing. i would like to think my legal team, not for that advice, but for other advice. (applause) you guys stand up. greatjob. applause. right at the beginning, they said, "sir, you have nothing to worry about. all the facts are on your side." and i said, "you don't understand. that doesn't matter. that doesn't matter." and that was truly true. they made up facts, the corrupt politician named adam schiff made up his statement. he brought it

up made up his statement. he brought it up in thin air, he is a field screenwriter, unfortunately he went on to politics. —— failed screenwriter. he made the mob statement, "don't call me, i'll call you." i didn't say that. fortunately for all of us in the country, we had transcripts, tra nscribers, professional transcribers. then they said," well maybe the transcription is not correct." but lieutenant colonel hinman and his twin— we had some people who did amazing. it didn't matter. i said at it, they're probably wrong, but had it. but eve ryo ne probably wrong, but had it. but everyone agrees they were perfectly accurate. i don't know if tim scott is here, but he said, "sir, i read the transcript. you did nothing

wrong." he never changed. and mitch mcconnell, you did a fantasticjob. somebody said, "you know, mitch is quiet." i said, "he's not quiet. he's not quiet." he doesn't want people to know him. and they said, "is mitch smart?" i said, "let's put it this way. for many, many years, a lot of very smart — bad in many

cases, sometimes good— people have been trying to take his place. into the best of my knowledge, i've never even heard the subject come up because they've been wiped out so fast. this guy is great and i appreciate it, mitch. it is also given us 191 now. 191 federal judges, two supreme courtjudges, right? up to 191. great guy. great quy: right? up to 191. great guy. great guy, he's a tough guy to read. i'm good at reading people, he's a tough quy good at reading people, he's a tough guy to read. my wife and say, "how did you do with mitch?" i'd say, "i don't know." that's what makes them good, when you can read somebody. he understood this was crooked politics, this was crooked politics. how about all these people — they're running for office, they're saying the worst things about me, like

eight senators on the democrat side, most of them got wiped out, 1% or less, most of them got less— they decided to go home, "let's go back to california. let's go back to new york, how about that when?" are you new york centre, kristen gillibrand, let's go back to new york. they take nothing, then they take an oath that they will be fair and reasonable. they're not fair. but here's the beauty. so we have four left. they're saying the most horrendous things. and then there's supposed to vote on me! they tried to replace me. and then they're supposed to be voting. so i think it's incredible. mitch, i want to thank you very much, incredible, you have some of your folks here, and much, incredible, you have some of yourfolks here, and their incredible people. right from the beginning, and again, you're out of

session, unfortunately. i only told these folks, "let's do this today." we did a prayer breakfast this morning, and i thought that was really good — it was so good, it might wiped us out. by the time we finish this, this will wipe out those statements. i had nancy pelosi sitting four seats away, and i'm saying things that a lot of people wouldn't have said, but i meant them. i meant every word. we have some folks that will be leaving right after this, and they work hard, and they did work hard. bill cassidy, senator. stand up, bill. what a guy. great man — when i need to know about health insurance or pre—existing conditions and individual mandates, i called bill. we get those two guys, they know more than anybody. a man who just became a senator — he's a little bit

like me. we have a couple of them. very successful guy in business, and he said, "what the hell? all run for senate from indiana." and he ran, andi senate from indiana." and he ran, and i saw him on television destroy his opponent in a debate. i said this guy could win and i got behind him. and mike, you have done some greatjob. tough! him. and mike, you have done some great job. tough! look him. and mike, you have done some greatjob. tough! look at you. a man who got james comey greatjob. tough! look at you. a man who gotjames comey to choke. and he was just talking in who gotjames comey to choke. and he wasjust talking in his regular voice. he's the roughest man — he's actually an unbelievable, and i appreciate the letter you sent me, i just got it — but he's got this voice that just scares just got it — but he's got this voice thatjust scares people. you know, people from iowa can be very tough. we are doing very well in iowa, but i tell you, chuck grassley is looking to call me," what'd you

say?" that wasn't him being rough, that's just the way he talks. and i think that was when james that's just the way he talks. and i think that was whenjames comey announced he was leaking, lying and everything else. he choked! because he never heard anybody like that. i wish you got angry, you could have gotten the whole ball game. he would've said, "i give up!" chuck g rassley would've said, "i give up!" chuck grassley is an incredible guy. and a man who, you know, he was running against a tough, smart campaigner. we learned how good she was, right? she was a great campaigner. in fact, was, right? she was a great campaigner. infact, by was, right? she was a great campaigner. in fact, by the end of the campaign, i thought she was more for me then you wear, josh. i saw her adds, she was saying the greatest things about me. you know

who i'm talking about. talking about. they said, "we have four people." i'm a interviewing people for the united states senate. where have i gone? but i love it. i love it because we are getting great people. the first one i met wasjosh holly. after about ten minutes, i said to the people, "don't show me anybody else, this is the guy." he was the attorney general, did a phenomenaljob in the state. highly respected. and claire mccaskill claire mccaskill. she got so friendly towards me. in fact, one of the ads i still have, and putting it in the archives as one of the best

ads i've ever ran. she tried to convince people that we were best friends. butjosh ended up winning by 5—6 points, you are unbelievable, you were tough, and you were something. and one of the greatest supporters of the impeachment hoax wasjosh, he was incensed. he was incensed at what they were doing and what they were saying. you know, i had some who said," oh i wish he didn't make the call." it's totally incorrect. then you had some that used religion as a crutch. they never used it before. an article written today, "never heard him use it before". but today, it's one of those things — you know, a failed presidential candidate, and that's what can happen when you feel so badly running for president. but josh, i want to thank you, you are right from the beginning. man, did i make a good choice! thank you, josh.

tremendous future. a man who is brilliant and who actually was deceived to an extent comes from a great state of utah, where my poll numbers have gone through the roof. one of the senators‘s poll numbers went down big. you saw that, mike? but mike lee is a brilliant guy. he's difficult. whenever i signed bills, and we sign a lot of legislation, it's big and powerful, but everybody has to approve it — and ic 99—1. but everybody has to approve it — and ic 99-1. 99-1. i but everybody has to approve it — and ic 99—1. 99—1. isay," but everybody has to approve it — and ic 99—1. 99—1. i say," don't tell me who's the one". is it mike? yes. and he always has a good reason

for it too, by the way. but he is, he's incredible. and read the beginning, he knew we were right, mike, and! beginning, he knew we were right, mike, and i appreciate it so much. say hello to the people of utah and tell them, "i'm sorry about mitt romney will stop i'm sorry." we can say that mike lee is by far the most popular senator from the state. but you've done a fantasticjob, mike, in many ways. in many ways. a young woman who i didn't know at all, but she's been so supportive, and i've had great support from other people in that state. and she's been so supportive, and she's been downright nasty and mean about the unfairness to the president. and kelly loeffler, i appreciate very much. she saw it very early on, and we have — i don't know if we have other

senators here, but we have a hell of a lot of congressmen going, and they have also been — you know it helped when we won at 197—0. that's gotta bea when we won at 197—0. that's gotta be a first, kevin. the republicans have this image— i say democrats are lansing politicians because they have a lousy policies. they have horrible policy. the new policy is to raise taxes. they want to raise taxes. all my life, i wasn't in the politics, but i'd say, "if you're a politician, you want to lower taxes." they want to raise taxes. they have open borders, century cities, raise everybody‘s taxes. get rid of everybody‘s health care, 180 million people in the united states, and there really happy. "we're going to give you... that's one year. i've

a lwa ys to give you... that's one year. i've always said they were lousy politicians, but they do two things. they are vicious and mean, vicious, these people are vicious. adam schiff is a vicious, horrible person. nancy pelosi is a horrible person. nancy pelosi is a horrible person. and she wanted to impeach a long time ago when she said, "i pray for the president, i pray for the president." she may pray, but she prays for the opposite. but i doubt she prays at all. these are vicious people. but they do two things — they stick together historically, i'm not talking now, they stick together like glue. that's how they impeached, because they had whatever the numbers, 220 people. so they don't lose anybody, they'll be able to impeach anybody. you could be george washington and just won the war, and they'd say, "let's get him out of office." and they stuck together, and there vicious as hell.

and they'll probably come back for more, but maybe not because the republican pa rty‘s more, but maybe not because the republican party's poll numbers, mitch, have now gone up more than any time! mitch, have now gone up more than any time i think since 2004— 05. and you know what happened then. but in normal times, decades, you call it, that was a bit of an unusual time for a very short period. the republican bollards back party numbers poll numbers, and donald trump's poll numbers had that. so maybe they were. it's no way to get your poll numbers up! it's not worth it. because for my family's standpoint, it's been very unfair from my family. it's been very unfairto from my family. it's been very unfair to the country. think of it. a phone call, a very good phone call. i know bad phone calls. as a phone call where i think many people, i think mike pompeo was on the phone call as well, mike was on the phone call as well, mike was on

the call. many people were on the call, i know that many people, they even have apprentice on these calls. and i know that anyone when i speak to the head of a nation, and have many people i've been in the case of the ukraine, he's a new president, seems like a very nice person, by the way, his whole thing was corruption, he's going to stop corruption. we even have a treaty, 2001, 1999, a signed a treaty that we will work together to root out corruption in the ukraine. i probably have a legal obligation, mr attorney, to report corruption. but they don't think it's corrupt when a son that made no money, that got thrown out of the military, that had no money at all is working for $3 million upfront, $83,000 upfront —— a month, then goes to china and

picks up $1.5 million. then goes to romania, i hear, and many other countries. they think that's ok. because is it is that if it is, is a funk in the audience? my kids could make a fortune. —— if anke. it's corrupt. it's not even that, its general corruption. the other thing is mentioned in the call, and something i told mike prince, our great vice president, i would tell him all the time, i would tell him when he went on the trip. he was over there and never mentioned anything about this. —— mike pence. we are giving them money, and you're a lwa ys we are giving them money, and you're always talking about that, because we have our country to build, our cities to build, and our roads to fix. but we're giving them money, why isn't germany paying? wise in france, why isn't the united kingdom paying money? why aren't they

paying? where —— are we paying? is a correct statement? i said them to find the hell what's going on. is that question, how much is germany paying? why isn't germany paying? why is united states always the sucker? because were always a bunch of suckers, and that's turning around fast. but it makes it harder when stuff like this happens, because you want to focus. you want to focus perfectly, think what we done if the same energy was put into infrastructure, prescription drug prices. think of what we could have done. and i'm now talking both sides. think of what we could have done if we had the same genius — because it's genius, i will say it's genius on the other side, it may more so i'm a because they took nothing and brought me to a final vote of impeachment — that's a very

ugly word, very dark word, very ugly. ugly word, very dark word, very they ugly word, very dark word, very ugly. they took a phone call that was a totally appropriate call, i call it a perfect call because it was. and they brought me to the final stages of impeachment. but now we have that gorgeous word, i never thought a word would sound so good — it's called total acquittal. total acquittal. so if i could realfast, i want to introduce a few other people, i have to start with kevin. man, did you do a job. look at you there. lucky you are there. because it wouldn't have worked out. if you don't have the right people, i tell you, kevin mccarthy has done an incredible job.

and he loves hisjob, and he loves his country. tell you what, mitch and kevin, they love what they do. mitch wouldn't even tell you he liked it. isaid, "mitch, do you liked it. isaid, "mitch, do you like it?" no, no, no. he's the greatest poker player. kevin would say he loves it. and i will say that you will be speaker of the house because of this impeachment hoax. i really believe it. and i'm going to work hard on it. i'm gonna try to get out to those trump areas that we re get out to those trump areas that were won by a lot. and in 2018, we didn't win, we just one two seats in north carolina, two wonderful seats that were not supposed to be one. but i went and made speeches, and we had rallies and we did a greatjob, and we took two seats, and nobody writes about that. if we would've

lost them, it would've been the biggest story of the year. but we're going to go and do ourjob, and we're going to win a lot of seats. people are very angry that nancy pelosi and all of these guys — i mean, jerry nadler, i'd known him much of my life. he's fought me in new york for 25 years. i always beat him. and! new york for 25 years. i always beat him. and i had to beat him another time, and i'll probably have to beat him again. by his own admission, donald trump is not holding a news conference, it's more like a kind of strea m conference, it's more like a kind of stream of consciousness, really, if you had to describe it. but this is the news conference as advertised light at the white house, donald trump responding to the fact that he has been acquitted in the us senate. with me is amy pope who used to work in the obama administration. let's have a quick word with gary o'donoghue, who is in washington.

what you make of that? extraordinary, isn't it? i mean, he called it a celebration rather than a speech or a news conference, and he's been — it's as if he has a bunch of people in his living room, a bunch of people in his living room. he's going around thanking everyone shooting the breeze, going through the whole process , the breeze, going through the whole process, talking about that evil corruption of the democrats. it's a bit like, and! corruption of the democrats. it's a bit like, and i don't know if you remember, he did something not to similar after the miller report came out, sort of freewheeling exercise in—at out, sort of freewheeling exercise in — at times, a bit of self—pity, a bit of self—congratulation, a mixture up and down, sad — the whole gamut of emotions playing across the presidents here in front of 200 people in the east room. just a sense of the themes that he'll be

developing between now and november and november? it's been an exoneration, the evil is over. but you will tell he will use this during those campaign rallies, and it is an interesting strategy because euler member in 2016, he ran as an outsider, a non—washington person, a non—politician. that's difficult to do when you've done for yea rs difficult to do when you've done for years in the oval office, but this impeachment process allows them to reinvigorate and reinvent that whole idea of being the outsider. they tried to take him down, his establishment tried to stop on having a second term. they can be very powerful in an election campaign. gary o'donoghue with thoughts in washington. with me is amy pope, deputy homeland served to micro adviser to president obama's.

thanks for waiting patiently to talk with us. i was washing as it went along and trying to make out what this was about. what did you take away from that? it's a bit like watching the academy awards speeches, but there's no music to cut him off. it's really extraordinary. there's no acknowledgement of the process that he'sjust been acknowledgement of the process that he's just been through. acknowledgement of the process that he'sjust been through. for example, if you look at president clinton at the end of the impeachment hearing, he just fell on his sword apologising to the contrary, he took responsibility for what went wrong. he pledged to focus on the issues that really mattered to americans. and above all, he didn't turn it into a partisan battle. he really acknowledged that as the president of the united states, that he had failed the country. and we aren't seeing any sense of responsibility here today. if there is a theme, what is the theme? "i was right and i1?" is that it? "i

what is the theme? "i was right and 11?" is that it? "i was right," and it isa 11?" is that it? "i was right," and it is a very explicit you either are or aren't on his team. in this shout out to the members of congress is really extraordinary. congress is meant to be a check on the power of the president, and to suggest that they're all somehow on his team or acting on his behalf rather than acting on his behalf rather than acting on his behalf rather than acting on behalf of their constituents, for the american people, is really inconsistent with certainly what the founders intended. when we think about the presidential election coming up, and obviously we are in the land of preparing for primaries, what does this tell us about the nature of the campaign we could see, given that democrats have been, let'sjust say, ina democrats have been, let'sjust say, in a state of weakness in terms of their electoral preparation? what does this presidential statement tell you about the election campaign we are facing? there are a couple different campaigns at play here.

you have trump himself, then you have the senders and members of congress, of the house. the senate is really key because right now, because it is... he has the ability to confirm judges, he wants to go unscathed through any sort of oversight. so if the senate flips to the democrats, he's in real trouble. so that's first. the second is, i think the democrats always knew they would lose an impeachment battle. the numbers just weren't would lose an impeachment battle. the numbersjust weren't in would lose an impeachment battle. the numbers just weren't in their favour. what they're trying to show is that you can't rely on senate republicans to be independent arbiters of the truth or a check on this president. and two, they're not about getting things done. there have been a number of bills i have come from the house on things like prescription drugs that the senate has not taken up, right? they will wa nt has not taken up, right? they will want to demonstrate, the democrats, that you can't rely on the senate to get things done. but make an interesting fight to say the least,

won't it? amy, think for coming in. think you. amy pope for us. it is four minutes to six p:m., i'll be back at 10pm tonight. let's catch up be back at 10pm tonight. let's catch up with the weather with lucy martin. we have some stormy weather over the second half of the weekend, storm keira, as named by the met office, could bring some potentially damaging winds and disruption, not up damaging winds and disruption, not upfor damaging winds and disruption, not up for question, it is certainly worth staying across her local radio forecast in the bbc weather website. we begin by looking at north america, the same weather system has brought record—breaking amounts of snow to parts of oklahoma, and it'll get carried across the atlantic by a fast—moving jet stream. arriving at our shores late into saturday and

through sunday, as storm kira. but today, the quiet before the storm, plenty of blue sky overhead. this photo sent in by weather watcher in east sussex. there tonight, it will remain dry with patchy areas of cloud. i think we could see some patches of mist and fog and a bit of low cloud, particularly for north east england. but it will remain dry, when standing to pick up a bit towards the west, temperatures fairly chilly. patchy frost first thing, a chilly start of the morning. it looks like it will be dry through tomorrow, but for most, mist and fog will clear quickly with a breeze. iwas mist and fog will clear quickly with a breeze. i was cloudy out towards the west, and hear the cloud could be thick enough for the odd spot of rain or drizzle. the temperatures similarto rain or drizzle. the temperatures similar to what we seen today, around 6—10dc. here's how we start the weekend, many of us seeing some sunny spells, cloudier towards the south and east. here we could see some patchy outbreaks of rain, that will clear towards the southeast

slowly. the winds picking up through the day, gail's in the north and west, and you can see there is blue on the map indicating some heavy persistent rain. that is a sign of things to come as we move into the second half of the weekend, the initial band of rain pushes its way east, then the early hours of sunday, said the storm moves in. you can see the chart there are lots of isobars, so it looks like it will be a windy day. across the board we could see gusts of around 60—70 mph. towards the west we could see gusts stronger than that. strong winds come with heavy rain, that rain will gradually slip its way south through sunday. behind it, blustery showers feeding in. and with winds of that strength come as there is the potential for some disruption, certainly worth staying across her local forecast.

tonight at six... scotland's finance secretary resigns after his texts to a teenage boy are made public. derek mackay was forced to quitjust hours before he was due to deliver a multi—billion pound budget. derek mackay‘s conduct fell far short of what is expected of a minister and indeed he offered his resignation to me and i accepted. it was not an option for him to remain in government. also on tonight's programme — a third person has tested positive for coronavirus here in the uk. in china, a full on effort to contain the spread of the disease. blick gatherings like weddings and birthdays are banned. —— public gatherings.