you're watching beyond 100 days. victory lap — donald trump celebrates his acquittal in the impeachment trial. unleashed, unbowed, unashamed — the president rides a wave of good news. in a long speech mr trump delighted in the moment — thanking his supporters and slamming his opponents. but now we have that gorgeous work, i never thought a word would sound so i never thought a word would sound so good. it is called total acquittal. rumours swirl about the reported death of the chinese doctor who tried to warn others about the coronavirus. also on the programme. terrorist prisoners in the uk due for release in the next two months have been officially told that they won't be let out then — because the law is set to change. and — how katty and christian mastered

the art of disappearing. i might let you in on their secret hello and welcome — i'm katty kay in washington and james reynolds is in london. donald trump has a lot to celebrate today — he's been acquitted in the senate, his approval ratings are up and the democrats are in a mess. and boy did he celebrate! at a long white house speech the president revelled in his successes and wallowed in his grievances. it was classic trump — a stream of consciousness campaign style event and his supporters in the room loved it. he thanked his lawyers, his family and the politicians who stood by him during the trial. he showed the front page of the washington post — he could have selected from a lot of the national papers. mr trump spoke uninterrupted for over an hour. here is the flavour of it all. it was evil. it was corrupt. it was

dirty cops. it was leakers and liars and this should never ever happen to another president ever. i did nothing wrong. i have done things wrong in my life, i will admit. nothing wrong. i have done things wrong in my life, iwill admit. not purposefully. but i have done things wrong. but this is what the end result is. (applause) first went through russia, russia, russia. it was all why is the united states always a sucker? because you're always the suckers. the democrats, they cannot count some simple boats but they want to take over your health care system. it was the top some and the fbi people do not like the top some. so that was president trump thanking his allies, slamming his enemies, and declaring his behaviour "perfect," but it's worth comparing his comments to president clinton's public remarks after he was acquitted by the senate in february of 1999.

i want to say, again to the american people, how profoundly sorry i am for what i said and did to trigger these events. joining us now is white house reporter at politico, gabby orr. the oscars are just in a few days but i wonder if president trump did not try to steal a march stepping up to achieve the best acquitted president award. how did you see his speech? the remarks of the president delivered in the room today certainly cemented the fact that he is willing to take as much of a victory lap as possible after his acquittal in the us senate. he will campaign on his acquittal and i've spoken with the number of advisers on his campaign to say that this is really something that they are going

to use to build momentum as he focuses on his reelection efforts in the months ahead. they think that it will energise the republican party in one of the reasons why the republicans ticked through his support, and single without different members of the senate, josh holly, mike lee, talking about the house members that were so critical during the proceedings on the house side, there were a number of moments where he has previewed will be expect to hear at his campaign rallies in regards to how impeachment has turned out for this president. sounding contrite after he was acquitted in his impeachment trial, the only other president to go through an impeachment was that just the sight of a different president or a sign of a different time in american politics?” president or a sign of a different time in american politics? i think those watching would say that is the

characteristic of just a those watching would say that is the characteristic ofjust a different president. that this is somebody who loves to revel in the feeling of being defended by the republican party and driving republican unity and it is certainly likely to frustrate a lot of republicans who talk about voting to acquit him but also believing that this entire impeachment process might cause him to change in some way, that he might behave more presidential and that he might think before doing things like what he said during his phone call with the ukrainian president that caused this in the first place. susan collins being one of them, she was of course a critical vote in the senate into quitting this president and she ultimately made a statement acknowledging that she is hoping for some kind of behavioural change, that was certainly not on display during the president's speech today. in terms of the support, watching

this acquittal, this is a good moment for trump supporters, isn't it, gaby? a lot is going in the president's direction. this is tailored to his core base of supporters. the strategy surrounding impeachment all along for the president for his campaign has been to use it to energise the republican base we have seen that happen behind the scenes. there are internal polling numbers that they have touted that show that the republicans are more firmly behind president trump and it any other point before in his presidency and most of that is because of impeachment. they are frustrated by it in the field that the democrats have wasted the time and money of the american taxpayers throughout this process and it is a talking point that he has mentioned in this campaign rallies and something we have heard from a number of white house officials and it is something that we need to hear in the months ahead as the president hits the campaign trail will start to build a message about his reelection that involves impeachment. thank you very

much. let us look at the legal side of this. joining us now is kim wehle. author of how to read the constitution and why and law professor at american university. the issues of investigations, and the possibility of fresh impeachment charges, all done for this president? for this term, i would say with respect to impeachment, it is all done. i do not think there'll be any political energy around a second impeachment even if the facts to come out that would prompt the second process and we will continue to hear facts link, there are other investigations of this president, of this campaign, going on at the federal and state level and at the federal and state level and at the federal level with bill barr and the attorney general of the united states and clearly a very staunch trompe l'oeil list, i highly doubt

we will see any investigations of the federal level produce anything thatis the federal level produce anything that is negative for this particular president while he is in office. in 1974, the mere threat of impeachment for a trial forced richard 1974, the mere threat of impeachment for a trialforced richard nixon to resign but in the last two decades, impeachment hasjust resign but in the last two decades, impeachment has just bounced off both bill clinton and donald trump. as impeachment lost its sting as a punishment? i think it has lost its sting from a legal standpoint and the question for americans going forward , the question for americans going forward, particularly for november 2020 is what is left of the methods of accountability for the office of the presidency as gabbyjust indicated and was just discussing, this man is not going to feel at all this man is not going to feel at all this in his favour going forward in the parts of the president expand with this man and that mantle of power will be handed off to the next

president and the next president regardless of a political party. impeachment is not going to function asa impeachment is not going to function as a serious threat going forward in this president violated the appropriations clause and other aspects of checks that really on functioning any more. if impeachment does not function as a check, what will in the future? that is what i wonder. i think we are down to 2020. the way it works, we could have appropriations, congress can manage the presidency by basically not giving the money for him to do what he wants to do, but he can bypass that with the border wall, with ukraine, things limiting the president's power, he ignores it, they can limit his ability to appoint officials by not in withholding consent, but rudy giuliani did not even go to that process. so in a lot of ways he's just bypassing the checks on the

presidency and loyalists say he is out presidency and loyalists say he is our guy, doesn't bother us but in the long run it could have an impact on the structure of democracy in the united states. thank you very much for joining united states. thank you very much forjoining us to be fascinating to see what happens to the whole process is your suggesting especially with a president who is this unapologetic about what is just happened to him. he must‘ve covered court cases and your times a reporter, vindicated or acquitted, they sort of meet please step out of they sort of meet please step out of the courtroom and stand quietly and there is a list of reads a statement that they just nodded there is a list of reads a statement that theyjust nodded and meekly walk off. i've seen some people bouncing down the court and steps, mrtrump is more bouncing down the court and steps, mr trump is more of a bouncing down the court room steps kind of person. it was interesting in that conference, listening to it, it was long, over an hour nonstop without interruption and it was part vindication and triumphant, but there is also the sense that he has

that he has been wronged constantly and that is something that donald trump had before the presidency, he headed to new york as a businessman, saying that he was never really accepted saying that he was never really a cce pted by saying that he was never really accepted by the elites of the new york is the combination of triumph and grievance that is quintessentially trump and drive to supporters, because he echoes what a lot of people in america feel if they feel that they have been left behind. right into the reelection campaign. that is moved to another story. health authorities in the uk confirm that the therapist not to be diagnosed with coronavirus. health authorities in the uk have confirmed that the third person here to be diagnosed with coronavirus contracted the disease outside china — somewhere else in asia. this means people who have travelled back to the uk from a range of asian countries could now be tested for it. and the effects of the disease are spreading — a car company in italy says it may have to limit production because it can't get parts from china. thousands of people on two different cruise ships will be quarantined for at least a fortnight. today, the chinese ambassador to london tried to convince

the world china was doing everything it could to control, prevent and cure the disease. the bbc‘s rupert wingfield hayes has the latest from hong kong this is what happens when fear takes hold. shops in hong kong were being cleared right toilet paper as things are being shut down on the border of china. out in hong kong harbour, a huge cruise ship, the virus possibly loose on board. several passengers have tested positive and no one is being allowed off. from his balcony, he can look out at his hometown but cannot go there. i am nervous but doing thing we can do is stay in our cabins and be careful. hong kong has at least five cases of people with the coronavirus who have not been to me and then china and have not had any apparent contact with people from mainland china. also, three of them live in the same place. that is

this building behind me here that may be the first indication of what is called community transmission. that is the virus passing from one person to another here in hong kong. experts here say they are now not optimistic that the virus can be contained. a full pandemic may be on the way. not so according to the chinese ambassador to london who went on the offensive, insisting china has the situation under control. to make it is our hope for the government of these countries, including the uk should understand and support chinese efforts, respect the profession advice of who. avoid overreaction, avoid creating panic. but pictures, the like of which we have not seen in generations,

stadiums, gymnasiums and conference centres a re stadiums, gymnasiums and conference centres are being turned into fever centres, so desperate as the shortage of beds for the sick. by phone today, i managed to talk to a young woman who described to me the stress of not knowing what is really going on and what to believe. we do not feel safe. you do not know how the virus is passed from one person to another, but we cannot stay at home all the time. we do not know when this will end. you do not know but will be able to return to normal life. that is very stressful. there is some good news, these are patients who have recovered, leaving hospital. but tonight, there are reports that this man, is in critical condition and has doctor lee tried to warn authorities about the spread of a dangerous new virus. his warnings were ignored.

let's pick up on the conflicting reports coming out of china, about dr wenliang. in december, he sent a social media message to other medics warning them about a mysterious new illness. he was then called in for questioning by chinese police and silenced. it's still unclear whether he has died, but his case puts new scrutiny on the chinese government's handling of the virus. for more on the politics of china's response we can speak to isabel hilton, chief executive of the non profit organisation, china dialogue. these conflicting reports on the doctor's death, is he alive, is he dead. was this say about the flow of information from china? this is that this is what china does. the china increasingly seeking to control what people know and that is the problem in the beginning. if doctor lee had been listened to in the beginning. if the authorities had acted in the

beginning, we would not have seen this virus to escape from wuhan, all of her china and internationally and however draconian the measure is taken, this is essentially shutting the stable door. people, like doctor lee who were sanctioned, having been interviewed by the police, they had to confess to spreading rumours, which can carry a five year sentence in china. this means that what the government is most afraid of is the information that is inconvenient. let us look at the president. he has amassed great power over the past few years, amassed great power over the past few yea rs, to amassed great power over the past few years, to see the footage of him going to embrace victims, does he hide on the forbidden city? what does he do? he is not princess diana. he did not say very much at all until there was a critical meeting and again, a little recently in which she ordered that everything be done and then you have these m essa g es be done and then you have these messages saying that people who seek

to suppress or conceal will be nailed. and then he said to the prime minister, it is quite well known that they are not usually fond of each other. will if you're the man who holds all the power come the risk is that you take all the blame, say very much have to give the people in place will take the blame if things do not go entirely according to plan. then he has been very much out of sight, he reappeared just today or yesterday, greeting the cambodian leader and thatis greeting the cambodian leader and that is the first time he has been seenin that is the first time he has been seen in public for several days which is unusual. we have watched over the years is president has amassed more centralised power in china and he has been referred to as the most powerful leaders and smiled. ina the most powerful leaders and smiled. in a sense, as he has announced more power and promoted the image of the chinese status of all powerful around the world, as he made it harderfor the

all powerful around the world, as he made it harder for the state to combat this because norm wants to come forward and say something that may be bad news. take the case of doctor lee and look what happened to them. is he making it harder because them. is he making it harder because the power he has amassed for the chinese state to address a problem like this? absolutely and he has amassed power and he has also, he has a personality of a rather familiar kind and it is become more authoritarian. so china, up until 2012 was becoming in many ways, a much more open society where there we re much more open society where there were civil society groups in the regenerate and exchange information, where you had citizenjournalists and a lot of press freedom. that is all been closed down and that we are back to the problem that you get in these very top—down authoritarian societies is that the information flow begins to be strangled because it is not in your interest, if you're low it is not in your interest, if you' re low level it is not in your interest, if you're low level bureaucrat to bring bad news to your boss or to take

action for which you might later be criticised. so the tendency is in this happened in wuhan, to sit on it they had a big political meeting and a big party plan they did not want to be disturbing yet and so they really did not do very much for those critical early weeks when the containment could have perhaps worked. now, the government has a big high profile annual political meeting coming up and normally, at the end of february at the beginning of march. it is really unclear whether that is going to go ahead and could be a big symbolic blow to the image of a government that likes to present itself as powerful and effective. thank you very much, and the way the power can show densities, but it can also be in this case particularly its weakness as well. the uk government is racing to introduce emergency terror legislation that would make it easier to keep convicted terrorists in prison. there's a deadline of february 27th,

because one offender is due for release on febrary 28th after serving half of his sentence for encouraging terrorism. the government plans to introduce the new legislation to the commons next tuesday, and terror prisoners due to be released in the next two months have already been warned that the custodial portion of their sentence may be extended. the rush to change the law follows attacks in recent months by men convicted of terror offences — including the attack in streatham on sunday. i spoke earlier to former conservative mp and prisons minister rory stewart. thank you so much for speaking to the bbc. his fast—track legislation proposed by the conservative party of government, increasing prison time the right approach?” of government, increasing prison time the right approach? i think the important thing to understand is evenif important thing to understand is even if you increase prison time, the stress and tariffs would've been out next year anyway. the eve ryo ne everyone comes out eventually and

the goal is that they are less dangerous than their two main threats. people can become more radicalised in prison, they can become more dangerous in they can radicalise other people in prison, other criminals. doubling the sentence by itself is not going to do anything unless you get the right approach to these individuals in prison and when they come out again to the community. recent figures showed that there are 224 convicted people for terrorism in prison. i made you expect will be fully rehabilitated by the time the sentences are over? rehabilitation is difficult but it can be done. it is difficult but it can be done. it is difficult but it can be done. it is difficult to put a finger on it but if you look at terrorists in general, very few going to reoffend. the problem is that when they do it is totally horrifying. one is too many, that is the public say, one reoffending is too many, you have to have zeros of the public would say.

in the public are totally right that the challenges that often you have put them in prison for a minor offence distributing literature and there is a limit to how long is sentence you can get for that. you're not going to be able to get a whole life events, all life sentence, even if you're put in for five or ten years, you would come out again. that still means that we have to do what we can to rehabilitate people in prison we can do much better on that, we can do much better understanding of these people are, which is the first thing. and the second thing is we need to get much better at having specialists who understand terrorism and how to do the difficult work of rehabilitation. but it is difficult information and the better the people are informed, the better the chance of keeping them safe. they say these people will eventually be released, what happens in the time comes for them to walk out of prison, but they are still considered a threat to society? the first thing the subject of a full

process around them to make sure specialists are looking at them in the second thing that you can do much more with 24 hours secure accommodation outside of prison is that people can be held in 24 are secure accommodations outside of prison and thirdly, you can make better use of electronic monitoring, introducing electronic gps tagging and that is getting better all the time. you cannot see if somebody is using drugs, alcohol, he can pick up on their heart rate and you can pick on their heart rate and you can pick on that much more quickly and you can say, you cannot visit this mosque to go to this particular place or associate with this particular individual and if you break any of these conditions, they will go straight back to prison again. do you think they'll get this legislation through? they have a majority about 80, they could get it

through about comments and perhaps the lord. with the courts do it if it is imposed retroactively, they might stop it. live tv can be a powerful medium. it brings us events in real time and keeps us informed about news around the world. but sometimes things go wrong. like yesterday when this programme fell victim to the gremlins in tech. we were about to go on air and in my ear it was all good, we heard the regular countdown clock, but then suddenly, the system crashed. so this is what you saw and here's what we were doing. i should have gotten that early flight.

ah yes. something to do with autocue in new york crashing the system, above my pay grade. not ideal, but these things happen. so on we go with the show. and then it's just a few minutes to go until the programme's over, and this happens. find davis talent out there. sorry to interrupt. —— diverse. iamso i am so sorry. we have lost that line a little bit in washington. that is awful. where is kathy! she has gone again. this is typical. this is beyond 100 days from the bbc. coming up for viewers on the bbc news channel and bbc world news — scotland's finance secretary, derek mackay, resigns after over—friendly messages on social media he sent to a 16—year—old boy are made public. and — the nasa astronaut christina cook has returned to earth after 328 days

in space — the longest ever single space flight by a woman. that's still to come. hello there. some settled dry weather and some blue sky in that calm weather looks set to continue into the start of the weekend before we see something stormy. storm keira moving into the second half of the weekend, bringing some heavy rain and potentially damaging and disruptive winds, looking at north america, the same system has brought some record—breaking amounts and it will be carried across the atlantic by this fast—moving jet stream arriving later saturday into sunday ringing and strong winds and some heavy rain. and plenty of dry fine weather, lots of blue sky sent in by a weather watcher in east sussex and

overnight tonight, not a lot of changes really with some patchy cloud and we could see a few patches of mist and fog forming and a little breeze in the west with some low cloud for the northeast of england but generally it will remain dry and quiet. the temperatures are sitting close to freezing for the most but just dipping below freezing in spots and we could see patchy start to the day. but a few patches of mist and fog and low cloud pledge of clear quite quickly with more of a breeze may comes and good spots of sunshine and always cloudier in the west in the cloud thickener for the odd spot of rain times and temperatures fairly similarto of rain times and temperatures fairly similar to today between six and 10 celsius. here's a list of the weekend and for many of us there will be some good spells in sunshine or the cloudier in the south and east with the potential for a rain first thing in the winds will pick up first thing in the winds will pick up his move to the day and gives the north and west and the rain which falls over high ground. leaving it later in the day that is a sign of

things to come as a look at saturday night into sunday, that pushes towards the east and storm cure moves into the early hours particular to those isobars, the white lines are expecting to be a windy day with gus quite widely around the 60 to 70 mph, higher than that though in the northern northwest, big waves or western coastal areas in the strong winds will be accompanied by heavy and persistent rain that pushes its way southwards through the day and being replaced by blustery showers.

this is beyond 100 days with me, katty kay, in washington. james reynolds is in london — our top stories. it started with a whistle—blower and ended with an easy acquital. donald trump's impeachment trial may be over, but its explosive effects continue. i've done things wrong in my life, i will admit. not purposely, but i've done things wrong. but this is what the end result is. applause. the death toll from the corona virus in mainland china rises to more than 560 — with more than 28,000 confirmed infections inside the country. coming up in the next half hour... the battle of the bs — buttigieg and bernie tussle forfirst place in the iowa caucus just days before voters head to the polls in new hampshire.

and we'll look at the female astronaut who just returned to earth after a record—breaking stay on the international space station. in case you were in space and you haven't yet heard... the senate has given its verdict — an acquital for donald trump on both articles in his impeachment trial. it's no surprise, and the result almost everyone predicted — the senate voted along party lines, with the exception of the republican mitt romney who voted "guilty" on abuse of power. now what is next for the democrats? they can continue down a path of investigations and attempted subpoenas, or stop where they are and try to sway voters to their causes — health care or wealth inquality — the issues that helped them regain the house of representatives in 2018. we're joined now by democratic strategist capri cafaro, who previously served as a democratic member of the ohio senate.

thank you so much forjoining the programme. we started the programme with donald trump's victory lap, and you have to kind of way against the position that the democrats are in at the moment with what was pretty much a fiasco in the iowa caucuses. a real tussle about who they can nominate and take on donald trump in november? look, there's no question that there is a lot of uncertainty and instability inside the democratic party. you know, whether it is looking at the visual examples coming out of the state of the union with nancy pelosi ripping up donald trump cosmic speech, to basically failing to remove trump in the impeachment process that has gone on for a very long time, then of course these internal machinations coming out of iowa where the iowa democratic party had basically facilitated these iowa caucuses. we've had a lot of questions coming

out about that process, and now the democratic national committee chair, tom perez, is calling for a full re—canvassing of tom perez, is calling for a full re—ca nvassing of those tom perez, is calling for a full re—canvassing of those results. so the chaos continues. but certainly both mayor pete and bernie sanders seem to be the beneficiaries of all the iowa chaos as of now. so on this issue of who the democrats can nominate to take on donald trump, do you think the conventional wisdom that bernie sanders has a lot of energy but is perhaps too left—wing for the centre of america to be actually elected president still stands? and would you like there to bea stands? and would you like there to be a more moderate person who is an alternative that seems viable? joe biden does not look viable right now. that's right, i think you bring up now. that's right, i think you bring upa good now. that's right, i think you bring up a good point, the big loser in the past few days is joe up a good point, the big loser in the past few days isjoe biden, by all accounts coming in fourth in the

iowa caucuses, despite what the re—canvassing might be. we are seeing him fall behind, mayor pete coming in second now in new hampshire. ido coming in second now in new hampshire. i do think conventional wisdom stands in that bernie sanders is too far to the left for the general electorate in this country. i think general electorate in this country. ithink we're general electorate in this country. i think we're still a centre—right country, not a far left country. like my home state of ohio, lake michigan and washington, those states that donald trump won in 2016, some by very narrow margins, those places are looking for a very common moderate candidate. there's only one i want to know. does new hampshire have a fail—safe vote counting system ? hampshire have a fail—safe vote counting system? that's a very good question! it is a totally different system, because it's actually what i would call a real election

administered by boards of elections and the secretary of state, the actual governmental oversight in new hampshire, rather than being executed and administered by a state party. i think by all accounts, parties should not be administering elections, it should be left to the government. but that is up for debate whether caucuses should remain regional or... new hampshire and iowa are different situations. thank you very much forjoining us. senator mitt romney is facing a huge republican backlash over his decision to vote against donald trump in his impeachment trial. mr trump tweeted a video suggesting mitt romney was a democrat spy and apologised personally to the people of utah for their senator. for the utah senator, the president's attempts to get the ukrainian president to interfere in the upcoming presidential election clearly rose to the level of "high crimes and misdemeanors" as outlined in the constitution...

mitt romney gave that comment in an interview with mckay coppins of the atlantic. mckay joins us now. thank you so much forjoining us. why did mitt romney do what he did and vote to convict donald trump yesterday? you know, here in washington especially, we have become so conditioned the last few years to try to look for what those cynical political angle is behind every lawmaker's decision. but when i sat with him the day before he made the announcement and he told me what he planned to do in an interview, it struck me that he really was personally scandalized by what trump had done. he told me that trying to corrupt the election in the us by involving a foreign country is what autocrats do. he

said he felt duty bound by his conscience and his oath to god to vote this way, even though he knew there would be of immense political blowback. mr trump is not particularly popular amongst mormons, and of course mitt romney isa mormons, and of course mitt romney is a mormon. to what extent did that way and his decision, do you think? i think it was certainly part of it. he comes from the state of utah, which is a very conservative state traditionally. but because of the mormon population, the state has been very ambivalent about mr trump. he won the state in 2016 with a plurality of the vote. voters really are not sure what they think about mrtrump, andl are not sure what they think about mr trump, and i think that mitt romney has been liberated in a way that a lot of his fellow republicans aren't by the fact that his constituents by and large, even if they support some of the policies trump has pursued, they

fundamentally think he's not a man of great character will stop and that freed him up to follow his conscience and the other republicans couldn't. he lost the 2012 presidential election, but he's now become the first senator ever to vote to remove a president from his own party. will he be remembered for this in history, as opposed to that presidential election? you know, it is hard to know how history will remember him. but i think it will. one of the things that struck me about him as i spent time with him these last few months is that he is in the twilight of his career, he's in his 70s, he's had a long career in business, a long political career, and he's thinking about his legacy now. he's especially thinking about the lessons that he took from his father who was also a republican who kind of stood apart from his party in the 60s on matters of civil rights. i think he wanted to follow that example and i think he's thinking — he says he'll be a

footnote in history, he doesn't think you will be this great figure. but he does think history will vindicate the decision he made. thank you so much forjoining us with that interview with mitt romney, who has had a lot of backlash. as we said, people were shouting the word trader at him, letting him know in the streets that they don't approve of what he's doing. he knew he has put himself into this position. china is halving tariffs on $75 billion worth of us imports next week, in a sign that the trade war between the world's two richest economies is easing. the actions are part of china's commitments undwer the first phase of the deal it signed with the us last month. tariffs will be cut for 1,700 products — mirroring american commitments under the deal. chinese import tariffs on us cars, pork and fish will fall from 10% to 5%. and levies on soy beans and crude oil will be cut by 2.5%. let's speak now to trade policy expert mattie duppler. what does this do for american

workers who are producing the goods that tariffs are now being reduced on? this is the first step that china has made to implementing that phase one agreement. now when china cuts terrence, the us is set to cut some of its tariffs as well as a sign of goodwill. but the us will need to retain some tariffs on a vast majority of tariffs from china, $370 billion worth from china. donald trump is very fond of saying that tariffs are paid for by foreign countries, but that is not the case. tariffs are taxes paid at the borders, meaning they are paid by consumers borders, meaning they are paid by consumers and businesses at the importing country. now it is interesting the timing of this announcement from china. observers did not know when exactly both china in the us would start implementing the agreement. we know everything china does now is against the backdrop of the coronavirus, so there is some speculation that china may be moving forward with the phase one agreement in an effort to create some economic turn when they are otherwise seeing a lot of stress on

their economy because manufacturing has to slow down to try to combat that virus. sol has to slow down to try to combat that virus. so i think that development now with china announcing the tariff cuts is interesting and may be an attempt for china to combat some of the slow down it may experience because of the industrial stop in production. is there room in the world for two global economic superpowers, or will there always be friction between the us and china? i think by definition, there will be friction between the us and china. but on the net, that helps consumers in both countries. the reason we have this entire trade war with china is because trump has said he wants to reduce the trade deficit with the world's second largest economy. now the trade deficit is a product of american consumers who have benefited from the low cost of goods and the low barriers to transporting those goods across the world economy. so the us and china, consumers in both countries have certainly benefited from this competition. now how do

those two countries continue to relate to one another when that friction is put on the global stage by the world leaders? the chinese government has been very clear that they want to overtake the us as the world's number one superpower. but they have a lot of challenges in doing so, it is essentially a planned economy with a huge population that they need to feed and provide energy support for. they simply don't have the means to do that. now the us as the world's pre—eminent role economic power has the upper hand here. but when two countries get into a conflict with each other, there's no pressure on each. which country will survive those kinds of tensions goes back so far the us has proven it is able to do so ina far the us has proven it is able to do so in a way where american consumers and businesses still feel like they are receiving the upper hand. great context there, thank you for joining hand. great context there, thank you forjoining us. to be honest, the scottish government's budget is not something that we'd normally cover at length

on this programme. maybe we should, but we do not. but we are today because the man who was supposed to be delivering that budget resigned unexpectedly just a few hours before. scotland's finance secretary, derek mackay, resigned after social media messages he sent to a 16—year—old boy were made public. in all, there were more than 250 messages over a six—month period, the last five of which were sent this week. do not. in a statement, mr mackay admitted he'd "behaved foolishly". this report from our scotland editor, sarah smith, contains some flash photography. the finance secretary, derek mackay, was one of the most senior ministers in the scottish government, tipped as a future party leader and first minister. now his career has been destroyed by inappropriate social media messages he sent to a schoolboy. the scottish sun printed numerous exchanges between the politician and a boy that he knew was just 16, commenting on his appearance and calling him cute.

the sun reported that mr mackay told the boy he is gay and invited him to dinner as well as a rugby match. i think if these allegations are founded, and they are very detailed, very explicit, totally inappropriate and, by any standard judgment of what constitutes the grooming of a young individual, these would pass that test. nicola sturgeon has suspended derek mackay from the snp but she cannot make him stand down as an msp. based on what i knew about this last night, it was clear to me then that 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. msps from all parties are furious. derek mackay this morning described his own behaviour as foolish. but derek mackay's actions towards

a schoolboy are beyond foolish. they are an abuse of power. they are nothing short of predatory. just yesterday, mr mackay was planting trees to illustrate the environmental measures in the budget statement he was due to deliver today. today, i present the scottish budget for 2020—21. instead, a junior minister had to announce £1.8 billion to be spent on investment projects to help move scotland towards a low carbon economy. derek mackay could now face a police investigation. police scotland say they are assessing available material and encouraging anyone with information to come forward. he was a popular politician who seemed to be heading for the top, now humiliated by his own mistakes which could seriously damage his party, as well. you wonder why people do these

things. this is beyond 100 days. still to come... for the first time in my life, people cheering for me! star of the silver screen in the golden age. we'll take a look back at kirk douglas' life and legacy. two cheetahs born and raised in the uk are heading to south africa tonight for a new life in the wild. saba and nairo, who are brothers, will move from a wildlife park in kent, to their natural habitat. it's the first time a hand—raised cheetah has left the uk for africa. john maguire reports. born and raised in the uk, these young men of kent are heading home — but to a land thousands of miles away that they've never seen before. nairo and saba, two—and—a—half—year—old brothers, are being reintroduced into the wild, in a game reserve in south africa. the end game is, they're

released into mt camdeboo, which is a private reserve, initially to a 1,000—acre boma, which is protected, and then to the broader reserve — once they're comfortable hunting and we know that they can hunt. and of course, they'll be tracked and they'll have a gps collar on them, so we'll be watching every step they take. the foundation has successfully reintroduced other species before, including gorillas, black rhinos, and european bison. but this is a world—first for cheetahs. there are less than 7,000 in the wild, so it's hoped the brothers can make a small — at first — but important difference. cheetahs are, of course, an endangered species in the wild. the idea of reintroducing these two is to try to dilute the gene pool, because there has been a problem with genetic problems of the indigenous cheetahs in africa. cheetahs are famously the fastest animal on land —

a talent that, from now on, the brothers will need to exploit to enable them and their species to survive, and hopefully thrive, in their natural habitat. john maguire, bbc news, kent. today, we are remembering one of the biggest stars of hollywood's golden age, kirk douglas. he died yesterday at the age of 103 and was one of the last surviving actors from that era. during his long life, he made more than 80 films, many of them huge hits. "i am spartucus" — those immortal words from kirk douglas became one of hollywood's most lasting catch phrases. and it continues to be used in modern culture, as a way to sto stop a person's identity from being revealed. david cilento looks back on kirk

douglas's life. for the first time in my life, people cheering for me. it was 70 years ago that kirk douglas made his name in the film the champion, a story of a tough guy from a hard background who would do anything to get to the top. there were more than a few echoes of his own life. i can beat him. i can beat him! born issur danielovitch demsky, he'd grown up in poverty. life was a struggle, but on—screen he was hollywood alpha male. he was good at playing ruthless. i tell you why, because the guy in there's dying. sir, would you like me to suggest what you can do with that promotion? in kubrick's paths of glory he was both star and producer. he was a hollywood player. the movie spartacus was his project. i'm spartacus. and the director of his last majorfilm, illusion, spoke today of the impact he had had. just hearing him in all those films,

he was an incredible man. he was a brilliant actor, but also he had a grace to him that is rare — especially these days, i think. i had a call from jim lindsay the other day, dad. what's he calling you about? his son michael followed his father's lead, both producing and acting, and today paid loving tribute. but in the past he's also acknowledged that his father could be aggressive, and there were many affairs. but for hollywood, he's one of the last of an era. i knew him quite well. the last of the golden age, he was the best. when i get old, when i get old! you know, all life is glorious... yes, even as he passed 100 and struggled with the effects of a stroke, there was still some of the old vigour. he was truly a patriarch

of the old hollywood. who does not remember that film? kirk douglas, who has died at the age of 103. what an extraordinary age of 103. what an extraordinary age in hollywood. 103. 103, we have age in hollywood. 103. 103, we have a long way, even you and i have a way to go. the nasa astronaut christina cook has returned safely to earth after completing the longest—ever single space flight by a woman. she spent 328 days on the international space station — that's just 12 days short of the all time us record for the iss, which was set by scott kelly, from 2015—2016. this is the moment kristina koch emerged from the soyuz capsule which brought her back down to earth. the russian craft landed in kazakhstan earlier today, after making the 400—kilometre journey from the space station. what did she miss here on earth?

one person who made that same journey is leroy chiao, we have a lot of things. she won't know what happened at the end of game of thrones! not to mention impeachment, iowa caucuses and everything including brexit. one person who made that same journey is leroy chiao, who spent 229 days in space and joins us now from houston. so what do we learn from kristina koch's trip? this is quite an achievement or a milestone, we should say, because not only did she break the current record, but this was her first flight. so pretty impressive. my mission, i spent 229

daysin impressive. my mission, i spent 229 days in space total, but i spent that over three shuttle missions and a long flight. my long flight was 193 days, so quite a bit shorter than hers. congratulations to her, i think this will help us get at least... leroy, in terms of how her body has responded, how her muscles have responded, is there something different about spending that long in space? can we learn from someone who has spent half the time? sure, my time was 6.5 months in the space station, and everyone else's right around six months or there about. the exception was scott kelly, who flew 342 days, so she's close to that. scott also flew a six—month flight that. scott also flew a six—month flight prior to that, and he noticed significant differences between his six and 12 month flight. that's a data point of one, but there are

significant differences in the physiology and reactions between males and females to different things, including space flight. sol think christina is the first one to break this ground, and it will be very interesting to see what affects this long—duration flight has had on her health and her biomedical condition. of course it is another data point, the first female, but it isa data point, the first female, but it is a start. lee lori, you're too modest when you said 229 days. just leroy. according to the record, it was 239 days... we should give you that. we should give you all that. when you came off your longest mission, how hard was it to get accustomed with all the rest of us back on earth? even in a short mission of 1—2 weeks, you're really disoriented, you're dizzy, your brain is forgotten to do with the signals from your balance system after a week or signals from your balance system aftera week or so, signals from your balance system after a week or so, and it takes you after a week or so, and it takes you a couple days to get your legs back.

after a long mission, a couple days to get your legs back. aftera long mission, of a couple days to get your legs back. after a long mission, of course, the same kinds of symptoms become stronger and linger for longer. in our case, we took a week before we felt like we had it back to normal. that was faster than average, some crews take more than four weeks. i attributed our rapid recovery to our dedication to the exercise programme before, during and after, which helps you get your body back into shape and yourself acclimated faster. briefly, would you do it ain? faster. briefly, would you do it again? you know what? i enjoyed my long—duration flight, but i saw no reason to do another one. that's a long time away from everyone. i like to do every day different things, so ifi to do every day different things, so if i had to do every day different things, so ifihada to do every day different things, so if i had a chance to go to the moon or mars, ido if i had a chance to go to the moon or mars, i do that. another long—duration flight — one is enough for me. i don't think anything could persuade me to go up into space

because i'm too much of a scaredy—cat. happy to stay down here on earth. thanks forjoining us, a very flawless programme! we are all spartacus. good night. hello there, today brought settled, dry weather with even some blue sky. that calm weather looks set to continue into the start of the weekend, before we see something storm, storm keira set to move into that second half of the weekend, bringing heavy rain and potentially destructive winds. we begin by looking at north america, the same system has brought some record—breaking amounts of snowfall to oklahoma, and it will get carried across the atlantic by this fast—moving jet stream, arriving at our stores late saturday into sunday, bringing strong winds and some heavy rain. today, plenty of dry, fine weather with lots of blue sky sent in by a weather water, or water in east sussex. overnight

tonight, not a lot of changes, staying dry with patchy cloud. we could see a few patches of mist and fog forming, it will turn a light breeze or in the west with low cloud for north east england. generally it will remain dry and quiet. temperatures sitting close to freezing for most, just dipping below freezing in a few sheltered spots. we could see a patchy frost to start the day tomorrow. a few patches of mist and fog, that should clear quickly with more of a breeze than we've seen today. good smells of sunshine, always cloudier in the west, that cleared thick enough for the odd spell of rain —— good spells. temperatures between 6—10dc. here's how we start the weekend, for many of us there will be good spells of sunshine although cloudier to the south and east, with the potential for being the first thing. winds will pick up as we move through the day, gail's in the north and west, persistent rain, snow over high ground moving in later in the day. that is a sign of things to come. as

we move saturday night into sunday, that first band pushes towards the east, then storm keira moves into the early hours. —— storm kiara. they are expecting it to be a windy day, gus quite widely from 60—70 mph in land. higherthat day, gus quite widely from 60—70 mph in land. higher that in the north and west. there's the potential to see big waves in the muslim coastal areas, strong wind it looks like it will be accompanied by heavy and persistent rain, pushing its way south through the day, being replaced by some blustery showers. certainly worth staying across the forecast.

this is bbc news i'm martine croxall. the headlines at eight. scotland's finance secretary derek mackay resigns, on the day of the scottish budget, after sending messages to a 16 year—old boy on social media. first minister nicola sturgeon says he has no place in government. their conduct has fell far short of what is expected of a minister. he offered his resignation to me and i accepted. it was not an option for him to remain in government. a third person tests positive for coronavirus in the uk, the patient is not believed to have contracted the virus in china. to what to end result is. applause . a day after he is acquitted in his impeachment trial, president trump hits back at the democrats accusing them of a witch—hunt. back on the buses. the government announces

a 170 million pounds fund to reverse