you're watching beyond 100 days. can money buy the american presidency? michael bloomberg is putting it to the test. the former mayor of new york has just qualified for the next democratic debate. it'll be the first time hejoins the stage. it will also be the first time the billionaire businessman comes under face to face attacks from the other candidates. how will he stand up to scrutiny? the fate of ex—hollywood mogul harvey weinstein now rests in the hands of 12jurors — as they begin their deliberations. also on the programme: china releases the largest study into a4,000 cases of covid—19, while apple warns that disruption caused by the coronavirus will hit its global supply of iphones.

plus, does a pickle count as a vegetable? all will be revealed in the all—american lunch box saga. hello — i'm katty kay in washington and james reynolds is in london. the most important thing you need to know about mike bloomberg is that he is phenomenally wealthy. his money is an essential part of his campaign to become america's next president. and, for the moment, it's paying off. bloomberg's dollars have been spent on tv ads that have won him support, which in turn has earned him a place in tomorrow's democratic debate. that blitz of national advertising has catapulted the former new york mayor up the charts. a poll out today puts bloomberg in second place with support of 19% of democrats.

but he's still way behind frontrunner bernie sanders. remember — bloomberg hasn't even been on the ballot in a single democratic contest yet and he's in second place. that is the buying power of his $60 billion fortune. joining us now from washington is chris cadelago, national political reporter covering 2020 for politico. tomorrow night, there is going to be a democratic debate and michael bloomberg, for the very first time, is going to have to face questions from the other candidates directly about his record. how do you think is going to stand up, chris? we have to remember it's been since 2009 that mike bloomberg has even been in a debate, and i was against an opponent for new york city mayor when he was running for his third term, and arguably had nowhere near the scale of the candidates that he will be debating tomorrow night. the other thing about this debate is they have been in each of them

already and have done countless televised forums. this is his first time coming in. we do expect from those campaigns that they will go after his record, they will go after this stop—and—frisk policy that he had in new york city which grabbed a numberof had in new york city which grabbed a number of people off the street and frisked them by the police department they will go after his re cord department they will go after his record at his own company, bloomberg lp, where there been a number of lawsuits from women. they will go after the money he spent, more than $400 million on television ads, and a lot of what they're going to try to do is get under his skin. they wa nt to do is get under his skin. they want to see if they can battle him, make him look out of sorts, out of place, and that's largely the strategy of a number of them. chris, those are the attacks he is going to have to face any questions he is going a face tomorrow night. what is the best case that mike bloomberg can make for becoming the democratic pa rty‘s can make for becoming the democratic party's nominee to take on donald trump in november? a lot of it has

to do with his contrasts on the stage. we know that, still, the largest opponent for him there is bernie sanders pulling lies, but if you look at the states that are upcoming, you have nevada, south carolina, two were mecklenburg is not opposing the other candidates —— pollingwise. he is waiting until super tuesday, where there are is life for joe biden. super tuesday, where there are is life forjoe biden. he wants to see contrast between bloomberg and joe biden, who has not had great debates so biden, who has not had great debates so far. mike bloomberg wants to be a lot sharper than biden. the other person he wants to draw contrast with won't be onstage tomorrow night, and that's donald trump, and he needs to show his essentially tough enough to take on donald trump. we have seen with the other candidates have offered. that's a large part of what is saying in these ads, he's tough to take him on, so bloomberg we have seen in the

$40 million worth of advertising, the same like liberty are going to send the debate stage? —— the same mike bloomberg? is america becoming an oligarchy? that is what bernie sanders and elizabeth warren are largely arguing, is that we are not and that this is not the direction the democratic party should go. what mike limburg would argue is that these ads have bought him a seat at these ads have bought him a seat at the table —— mike bloomberg would argue. they have brought him attention from voters, to look at him. we have seen other candidate is leading in polls all year and he is down now, joe biden, because of the state of iowa and new hampshire. the idea that things are moving in that direction, where one can argue that, is certainly valid. i think it takes the amount of money it has taken him to put himself on the map in such a short amount of time. i think there are certain concerns within the democratic party that things are headed that way. the thing that mike

bloomberg would argue and i think probably he will tomorrow night is that he did not start with money. he was someone whose that he did not start with money. he was someone whose father was a book—keeper was someone whose father was a book— keeper and never meant was someone whose father was a book—keeper and never meant more than $6,000 a year, this is someone who came in and started this business on his own, went to wall street and started this mass communication company, and sol think his... he sees his story very much as a rags to riches story. he oftenjokes that much as a rags to riches story. he often jokes that when people say there are two billionaires running, donald trump and him, he asks him a who's the other one —— who's the other one? -- who's the other one? that's the kind of thing that gets under donald trump's skin. chris cadelago, thank you. i had a long chat with someone advising mike bloomberg. this person said he would advise mike limburg not to get on the debate stage in a because he's not the most interesting person to interview. he

is not a particular interesting debater. they felt he did not have much to gain from it but so far, mike bloomberg has totally controlled the narrative. having that people notably because come from those ads that he has put out there around the country. of course, those ads are telling the story that bloomberg wants people to hear, so perhaps... is it a risk for him to get on the stage with the others?” wonder. there is a risk for him. it isa wonder. there is a risk for him. it is a tradition. there is no legal requirement for him to debate. we know donald trump is not particular keen on doing debates for the presidential election and i would think that perhaps mike limburg, who is not a fiery, interest and debater, might also decide there is a downside for him. the question for the democrats will be, do they hold their nose? all the issues around women, issues around race, the fact that he is buying his way

effectively into the nomination, do they hold their nose? it is good be really interesting couple weeks in this campaign. —— it is going to be. jury deliberations for the harvey weinstein rape case got off to a rocky start today after thejudge warned the lead defence lawyer not to talk to the press. donna rotunno had written an oped on saturday in which she called on the jurors to "do what they know is right". ms rotunno told judgejames burke the piece was not intended to address the jury directly. but that didn't wash with him — he called it "100% inappropriate" and cautioned her about — and this is a quote — "the tentacles of her public relations juggernaut." mr weinstein has pleaded not guilty to both charges of sexually assaulting former production assistant mimi haleyi and raping former actress jessica mann. the bbc‘s nada tawfik has been following the case and joins us now from new york. is this trial a moment of reckoning for the entire #metoo movement?”

think there were certainly ending the lodgment that this is bigger than the trial of harvey weinstein. —— certainly larger than. they feel they have reached some sort of victory, that they will never be able to be silenced again, that he was harvey weinstein who was such a tightening hollywood reduce down to having to hear from the court of justice, sit in court, and they are finally getting to tell their stories. i think given the fact that his downfall will be ushered in the #metoo movement, many will be looking at this to see what changes have really occurred in the criminal justice system. essentially in this case, the jury in this case of seven men and five women will be deciding who they believe, harvey weinstein or six women who have testified against him playing a very similar, strikingly similar, accounts of how he assaulted them. if thisjury

decides, comes to a unanimous decision and how long these deletions will take. just to be absolutely clear. this is separate from the civil cases against him? that's right. this trial focuses on allegations by two women, a production assistant who says he performed a forcible sexual act on her in 2006, and jessica mann, who said she had a degrading relation with him. she broke down on the stand, sobbing during a very tough three days of testimony and cross—examination, really underscoring how difficult it is for victims to take this leap to go on trial and testify. but these two women were supported by four others, but they are complete least separate from others who have run out of time to bring cases forward because the allegations are too old and so many people are in civil cases trying to

sue harvey weinstein and some of them directly part of a settlement talks going on with harvey weinstein as well. during the course of this trial, the prosecution said, look, there was no forensic evidence and there was no forensic evidence and there were no witnesses, so they said to thejury, there were no witnesses, so they said to the jury, you there were no witnesses, so they said to thejury, you cannot there were no witnesses, so they said to the jury, you cannot find him guilty on the but in a sense come of that is the problem with sexual assault cases. there would not necessarily be after all of these years forensic evidence, so if not just #metoo that seems these years forensic evidence, so if notjust #metoo that seems to be on trial here, the bigger issue of sexual assault trials and how they are handled, isn't it? absolutely. as you say, they have been historically hard to try. in new york, these two to attorney's office has faced a lot of criticism for napping allegations against harvey wednesday to trial —— the district attorney's office has faced a lot of chrism for not bringing up allegations. trying to break down these perception of how a victim

sugar should not act after they've been attacked. the defences saying many of these women kept in contact with harvey weinstein after the fa ct, with harvey weinstein after the fact, they did not really appear to be as some of their friends, one of jessica man's friend, said she seemed fine after the attack. here was the prosecution again trying to battle against that, saying there is no right way for victims who act after they have been attacked, and this is from a tizen for them, this isa man this is from a tizen for them, this is a man who held a lot of power and held the future of their careers in many instances in their hands, so this is what the prosecution has to do with. you've know they have the numbers on their side in a sense, they are able to have six women come and speak, it is again about breaking down these barriers and doubts and those perceptions of what a kind of victim looks like and acts like. 0k, nada tawfik, really interesting case. thank you very much forjoining us. there is

another case in la, so even if there is no criminal charge in this case, there is another case coming in la. health officials in china have published details of the biggest study yet into the new coronavirus — revealing a death rate ofjust over 2%, with the elderly and medical staff most at risk. more than 44,000 cases of covid—i9 were analysed and the main findings show that there are over 72,000 confirmed cases and at least 1,800 people have died. 81% of all cases are mild, i4% severe and just 5% critical. the sick and elderly are most at risk, with the highest fatality rate in people aged 80 and over. looking at the sex ratio, infected men are more likely to die from the virus than women. and pointing out the risk to medical staff, the paper says that more than 3,000 health workers have been infected and 7 have died. over the last week, we've been speaking to people on board the diamond princess cruise ship which has been quarantined offjapan since 3 february.

since then, more than 500 more people on board have contracted the virus. british couple sally and david abel have been sharing video diaries about conditions onboard but revealed in a facebook post this morning... their son, steve, told the bbc the uk authorities had not handled this well. the last two days, i've seen the cracks in the armour. they're coming down. my mum, she breaks into tears frequently when we call her. and my dad's short—tempered. but this is all because of the situation they're in. they're not getting any communication from our country, which is terrible. so they're in the dark and feeling very unloved, as i think i saw in a broadcast a couple of days ago. that's the personal and emotional toll, but there are also growing economic consequences of coronavirus. apple is the first major us company to admit that the outbreak will hit its finances. in a statement, the firm said...

those "factors" are a disruption to apple's supply chain and a slump in consumer demand in china, which accounts for 15% of the company's global business. apple shares fell by 2.8% on the news. just to be clear, that's $43 billion wiped off the value of the firm in just one day. and it's notjust apple that's taken a hit. the head of the imf has said there could be a cut of about 0.1—0.2 percentage points to global growth. megan greene is an economist at the harvard kennedy school of government. we spoke to her earlier. we take a look at the us stock market. it is still doing super well which might leave people a bit confused. does the coronavirus have an impact on the coronavirus have an impact on the global economy or not? it's almost certainly having an impact on the global economy. it'sjust hard to quantify, and sol the global economy. it'sjust hard to quantify, and so i think the equity investors are just sort of leaving it out of their assumptions for now, but generally, the

coronavirus, if you run correlations, there is about a 7% correlation. it's incredibly low, the lowest it has ever been, so there is a sort of disconnect between what is happening in the markets and the economy broadly. do we know what impact the coronavirus might have on the global economy? the sars virus was estimated to have taken the sars virus was estimated to have ta ken about i% the sars virus was estimated to have ta ken about 1% off the sars virus was estimated to have taken about 1% off of china's road. will coronavirus be about the same? it's hard to say because the coronavirus is still spreading. they're still quarantines. until we know the extent of this, it's hard to really quantify the impact on the economy. my guess it it will be larger than the sars virus. we can adopt some ideas for we experience from the sars virus. 0ne adopt some ideas for we experience from the sars virus. one for example is that demand in china fell off pretty significa ntly is that demand in china fell off pretty significantly in the face of the sars virus also if you actually

can retail sales, they bounced right back a few months later and so we do know that some consumption that was lost because of the coronavirus or the sars virus previously, it won't be reebok, so people did not buy food then will not buy food now, but some food then will not buy food now, but some consumption will actually be purchased and so there could be a payback after the end of this coronavirus pandemic. are companies like apple prepared to handle this kind of disruption? they are not really. companies aren't, don't have emergency contingency plans when it comes to global supply chains really in place now. they prepare to live it better because of trade policy, asi it better because of trade policy, as i said, but this kind of pandemic, this immediate impact, it is hard for a company to adjuster thatis is hard for a company to adjuster that is so they're going to have to weather it out i think pretty large part. and like i said, once the virus has passed, it seems like demand could come back. in china in particular, one thing we do know, the authorities are going to do whatever they need to in order to

stabilise the economy, so we can expect policy measures to try to offset some of the implications. you are saying basically there'll be a little bit of a dip down now but we could get a rebound after this is all over. i'm just collecting forward to my being a political person. that puts us in track for a kind of bounce back somewhere before the american election? it could do. and i think it's hard to say because, in the past year and a half, chinese authorities have been shuttling tonnes of stimulus into the furnace, try to get the economy to re—accelerate, and they have had less success than we have expected. they will once again for the kitchen sink at the economy i think, vertically through monetary stimulus. we have already had a few announcements about rate cuts in china. so that could help but he could take a little longer than we expect. the specific timing will depend on how long the coronavirus lasts and what measures chinese

authorities actually go ahead and implement, and wejust authorities actually go ahead and implement, and we just don't know whether it will hit right before the us elections or afterwards. megan greene, thank you so much. the un's most senior human rights official says she's horrified by the plight of syrians displaced by fighting in the north west of the country. michelle bachelet described it as unbelievably cruel that civilians — most of them women and children — are being bombed while living under scraps of plastic sheeting in the freezing cold. the un estimates that more than 900,000 people have been displaced since the syrian government launched a major new offensive against opposition and jihadist fighters in idlib last december. let's speak to joelle bassoul now. can you tell us more about the conditions that some of these 900,000 people are facing? the situation is simply inhumane now in idlib. 92,000 people come that means we are not far from a third of the

total population being displaced, so you can imagine a third of london having to flee from bombs in just a matter of a few weeks. beyond the sheer numbers, there are also individual stories. for example, two sisters aged three and four who managed to flee with their families to the border of turkey, but then they turn... the mother sustained burns on her body and these are one of many stories we hear of every single day. are there any humanitarian corridors agreed with the authorities to allow aid agencies to supply these refugees with what they need? aid agencies are present on the ground. we are working through syrian partners. we have been there for a number of years and eight is being delivered through the border with turkey. the issue is that the humanitarian workers are syrian themselves and sometimes they also have to flee

with their families because they live on the front lines, so they have to ensure that their families are safe and keep on delivering aid. in addition to that, huge amount of people and the numbers that have reached the border, we we re were not prepared for this influx. we knew the catastrophe would happen in idlib if a large—scale attack was lunch but the numbers are making the humanitarian response hard to deliver. we are seeing the pictures of the snow, the children, trying to make a moment. really, the conditions could not be worse for people at this time of year. what is going to happen to them? nobody can tell what is what you have unless there is complete cease—fire. the humanitarian disasters going to unfold. people are living everything today with stories of people just packing whatever they have,

sometimes only the clothes they are wearing, and heading towards the border. a mysteries and ability from all people on the ground to reach a cease—fire and allow aid to reach people in need committee disasters just going to keep unfolding. and why is this happening now? i think a lot of people around the world are just catching up with this mass displacement. what has brought it about in the last few weeks? idlib, before conflict began in syria, was home toi.5 before conflict began in syria, was home to 1.5 million people. now it is home to 3 million people. many of those have fled from other parts of syria during the eight years of the war, so syria during the eight years of the war, so now any syria during the eight years of the war, so now any advance, syria during the eight years of the war, so now any advance, any large—scale military war, so now any advance, any la rge—scale military offensive, people outside of it come up some of them have been displaced up to ten times, theyjust them have been displaced up to ten times, they just cannot them have been displaced up to ten times, theyjust cannot sustain another front of another war. they try to dig whatever they have, their children, most of them are women and children, most of them are women and children, and look for a safe place and this is what we are seeing out

this influx in displacement. joelle, thank you so much forjoining us from beirut. 900,000 people, most of them women and children, forced out of their homes in the freezing cold. 0ther other news from around the world. the boy scouts of america has filed for bankruptcy protection in a move that the group says will allow it to build a compensation fund for sex abuse victims. the move follows a number of lawsuits filed against the organisation over claims of sexual abuse, alleging it failed to prevent hundreds of cases. it means the organisation can bring all of the lawsuits into one court to try to negotiate a settlement, rather than using its funds to fight each case individually. london's mayor sadiq khan has been pushing the idea of an "associate" eu citizenship for brits after brexit. he was in brussels today to see officials, including the bloc‘s chief negotiator michel barnier. mr khan said it would appeal to many who want to retain the freedom of movement they had enjoyed, allowing them to work, study and settle in more

than two dozen countries. people on twitter are hitting back at amazon boss jeff bezos over his decision to pledge $10 billion to address the climate crisis in a new initiative he's called the bezos earth fund. the effort will fund scientists, activists and nongovernmental organizations. his critics say he should start with what they say is the unnecessary packaging that deliveries arrive in. you might want to hold your breath before you see these next pictures — definitely not for the faint hearted. here we go. american canoeing champion dane jackson successfully went over a 41—metre waterfall in the andes mountains in chile recently. he's completed at least six waterfalls over 30 metres high around the world. that is astonishing! this time, he saw his kayak fill up with water at the bottom, leaving him unable to paddle away. who would do that? 0k, ok, i 0k, iam ok, i am still scared about that

one. this is also bad. remember school lunch boxes? a couple of sandwiches, an apple and chocolate bar if you were lucky? well, times have changed. some schools in america now have a nutritional check list issued by none other than the united states department of agriculture. fail to tick those boxes — and you're in trouble. that's what happened to alicia liebel berg from minnesota, who received a note from her child's school informing her that the required portion of vegetables was "missing" from his lunch that day. or was it? the note says "pickles don't count" — thus sparking a major debate "are pickles vegetables? " yeah, 0k. yeah, ok. that makes me fear about what i put in poppy‘s lunchbox today. even if there was a pickle, evenif today. even if there was a pickle, even if it was a vegetable, it was nothing green in her lunch back today.

this is beyond 100 days from the bbc. coming up for viewers on the bbc news channel and bbc world news, we'll chart the rise of michael bloomberg's presidential campaign, and how his vast trove of crash has helped secure his place as a serious player in the race. of course, money can buy you influence and name recognition, but it can't erase your past, as the new york billionaire is discovering. that's still to come. hello there. today, we've seen the rivers still reacting to all that rain that we had over the weekend from storm dennis. that's led to some record river levels along parts of the trent, the severn and particularly in the wye. and some severe flood warnings and evacuations, too. this was the scene earlier on on the severn in ironbridge. you can see the extent of the flood defences there. and this is the flooding that we've had on the trent in nottinghamshire. and that despite the weather turning more showery. and we're switching a lot of those showers off overnight. many places becoming dry. the skies will tends to clear.

we'll keep a few wintry showers going, perhaps in scotland, and the threat of some icy conditions as well. because, like last night, temperatures are going to be close to freezing. but notice towards the south west, and here, it's not going to be as cold because by the morning. we've got cloud and rain that will quickly move into wales, into northern ireland. and after a bright start for eastern parts of england and scotland, it clouds over the patchy rain here. but the wetter weather is going to be further west over the hills, where temperatures are going to be nine or 10 degrees. it will be a windy day, but it's the rain that's going to cause concern again, particularly in northwestern parts of england and wales, where it will be heavy and persistent over the hills, increasing the chance of some more flooding. we've got several weather fronts on the scene, and this second one arriving overnight is going to bring some heavy rain because ahead of it, we've got some mild south—westerly winds. and behind it, we've got a colder, westerly wind. so a band of heavy rain overnight into thursday, some snow over the scottish hills perhaps. that band of rain at least does move

fairly quickly southeastwards, and then we change the wind direction, the sun comes out, showers develop, particularly in the north, and those will turn increasingly wintry because the air is getting colder. and it will feel colder in the wind as well. if we look ahead to friday, and there more strong winds, there's more rain to come. it looks like it's going to be mainly north wales northwards, at this stage. further south, there's a good chance it will stay dry during the day, but it will be windy. widespread strong to gale—force winds are quite likely. but at least it will be mild, i suppose. temperatures up at around 11 or 12 celsius. but more rain on top of what we've had is not going to be good news.

this is beyond one hundred days. with me katty kay in washington, james reynolds is in washington. in this half hour: he may have been last to enter the 2020 presidential race but michael bloomberg is edging up through the field. he's got cash and he's not afraid to spend it. and notjust on the campaign. there are tough questions to be asked of mr bloomberg, including his record on stop and frisk when he was new york mayor. and, as the scrutiny grows, presumably so does his legion of supporters. we'll be speaking to some of them.

i don't think it is imperative that i run for president. if not this moment, when? i think, i wouldn't use the word imperative... i believe very strongly that a lot of the things we are doing, we are going in the wrong direction. i believe that i should have... would like to have a say, just like every other one of the 330 million americans. when i sat down with bloomberg in 2018 he was already thinking of running for president and in the time since then he has built a well financed and formidable campaign operation with an army of paid campaign staff, private jet travel around the country and a lot of slick tv ads.

those ads don't come cheap. to date, bloomberg has spent $401 million on his presidential campaign. but that's just a fraction of the $2.5 billion that he's given over the years to philanthropic causes. causes that include medical research, performing arts, and community development. in 2008, bloomberg spent $103 million in 6 american cities. fast forward to 2018 — when bloomberg spent a massive $2.3 billion dollars across 103 us cities. all that money wins him alot of friends. 0ne city that has been the recipient of some of that money is columbus ohio.

in 2018, columbus got a $2.5 million grant from bloomberg's philanthropic operation to help reduce carbon emissions. last week, the former mayor of columbus, michael coleman, became the latest american mayor to endorse mike bloomberg. hejoins us now. thank you forjoining us. that money was given by michael bloomberg after he stopped being mayor. what are you endorsing an? for a lot of reasons. my endorsing an? for a lot of reasons. my time as mayor all about his time as mayor and i got to know michael bloomberg. i have to say he is a very good —— was a very good meal for a major city in the united states that, if it were a state, it would be the 12th largest state in the nation. he is very progressive. he governed for everyone, notjust

one fraction of you not —— new york. he was a thinker, he was involved in global climate change messages, he created jobs, both as a mere and as a business leader. he led new york ata a business leader. he led new york at a very difficult time to read it to become a greater city than it yea rs. to become a greater city than it years. are you at all concerned by his record of racial profiling? during his time as mayor of new york, the policy of stop and frisk, stopping young man you are mostly african—american or hispanic, became so extreme that it was deemed unconstitutional, this is what michael bloomberg has said about stop and frisk.

you are one of 11 african—american mayors around the country, former mayor, who have endorsed michael bloomberg. do you have any concerns about his record and how that might seem about his record and how that might seem to african—american voters? sure. michael bloomberg confessed. pa rt sure. michael bloomberg confessed. part of leadership is, when you mess up, you confess. you see that you made a mistake. michael bloomberg has said that and, further said, he has said that and, further said, he has learned from that. and learning from that, he has made so many great

proposals on african—american empowerment. he has created 100,000 new business opportunities in the united states, and affordable housing programme for african today, he is announcing his total criminal justice reform package that hits on every point that african americans in this country have been talking about for decades. the thing about michael bloomberg is that, as a mayo, what you promise and when you make a policy proposal, you do it. michael bloomberg has a record of doing things that he has committed to do. on capitol hill, he will perform them. when he was back or do you make mistakes and he apologised and learned from it i need to do more to explain to african—americans

the us, hey, he was wrong. in doing so, move on and i do not think that isa so, move on and i do not think that is a candidate for office and the democratic party or party that has not done something in the record that impacts the afghan american community in a negative way. beetroot leadership is standing up —— true leadership is standing up and admitting to mistakes and learning from it. as far as i understand traditional campaigns in america, supporters give money to the candidate. this time around, the candidate gives money to reporters. this is not the wrong way round with michael bloomberg? michael bloomberg is not giving money to the supporters. using the wels —— well he has generated, came up as a small business person —— wealth. he worked

his way up to be a multi—billionaire. he is the epitome of the american dream and rather than taking money, or he could be potentially influenced by those who give them money, he says he has taken the money she has and i was to make a difference in america. he decided to spend resources towards this effort of becoming the president of the united states and make the biggest change that needs to be made as a result. he is not taking money from others and i think thatis taking money from others and i think that is ok. it is very unique and unusual to see other candidates run for president and say that michael bloomberg should not fund his own campaign. but when asked, would you ta ke campaign. but when asked, would you take money from michael bloomberg? they say that they would. so you can't have it both ways. thank you very much. thank you. as bloomberg has risen in the polls so has the amount

of attention he's been getting — in particular from the other democratic candidates. until very recently bloomberg's name was barely mentioned by sanders or warren or the others. that changed dramatically this weekend. the american people are sick and tired of billionaires buying elections. i think you cannot hide behind the airwaves and the money. $60 billion can buy you a lot of advertising, but it can't raise your record. we in our party hold ourselves to the highest standard and it is going to be critical for us to have a nominee who can authentically lead. bloomberg was mayor of new york from 2002 to 2013. for much of that time, azi paybarah was a journalist covering city politics. he has spent many years reporting on the former mayor. azi is now with the new york times, he joins us from manhattan. thank you forjoining us. i think michael bloomberg once told you a disgrace tojournalism. i

michael bloomberg once told you a disgrace to journalism. i will say he is not a massive fan of you, i don't know if you are a fan of theirs, but can he make the case to american voters after his record in new york that he is the guy to take on donald trump and when the democrats the white as? if you are a new yorker, it feels like a little bit of deja vu. a party hopping billionaire who is giving money to democrats and republicans, who has problematic outlines in his past, thinks he can reintroduce himself to a national audience. we saw that in 2016 the donald trump and michael bloomberg, in some ways, is following a similar path in trying to do this. he does have a record as mayor, many people in new york city favoured it on the most part. he won three elections, the first one was in some ways an anomaly, it came just after the terrorist attacks in

2001. he was re—elected by voters after seeing what he did in office. whenever michael bloomberg runs, he i’u ns whenever michael bloomberg runs, he runs with a lot of money and the outspent and anyone who is that you are charging in. he has a reputation of being something of an autocrat, for not liking people criticising him. i don't know that was why he was rude to you, but i was wondering how you think he is going to respond personally up there on the debate stage when suddenly he has to get all this criticism. what kept under his skin? -- will it get under his skin? ithink his skin? -- will it get under his skin? i think rivals will aim for that. we have seen ads but not him. when he first ran in 2001, you see him rolling his eyes and sign and being —— looking like he was annoyed to be there. at press conferences,

he would look up at the sky or look at his watch and give the impression that he had other things that he wa nted that he had other things that he wanted to do instead when he was not talking. in light of what the world as seen talking. in light of what the world as seen from the chief executive following the 2016 election, maybe those unusual behaviours are not seen as those unusual behaviours are not seen as automatic. what michael bloomberg has understood is that, when he is on a debate stage and in the public eye, he has to conduct himself with a bit more finesse. when you watch videos are him debating a 2005 2009, you see someone debating a 2005 2009, you see someone who has learned from his previous performances. he has learnt to ta ke previous performances. he has learnt to take a moment, not react as angrily, when asked about his questions about previous problematic courts, he rephrased them. he will not say he's been taken of context but will offer a new way of viewing

them. thank you forjoining us. the story of money in us politics is not new. we know american elections cost a fortune. and mr bloomberg is not the first politicians to pour his own cash into his political ambitions. this year he and tom steyer have provided the majority of their campaign's overall funding. over the years, all of these men spent large amounts of their own fortunes trying to become president. clearly it didn't work. none of them made it to the white house. let's speak now to capri cafaro, democratic strategist, whojoins us from ohio. and i right in thinking that there area and i right in thinking that there are a lot of democrats looking at this race who are nervous about the bernie sanders and i thinking, well, joe biden is not doing so well, we are going to hold our noses, we may not like the fact he is buying nominations, but we will go for michael bloomberg instead? is that

the dynamic? i think there is certainly an aspect of the democratic primary electorate that feels that way. i think there has been consistently been the percentage of democratic primary voters that have been looking for a moderate and centrist alternative. i do not think that bernie sanders voters are going to ever go for michael bloomberg, even if he is the nominee. they are definitely voters in the democratic side that i'd a very strong purity test and are very particular about who they are going to vote for but i do think that michael bloomberg has proven, because of his advertisements, that he is able to get his message out there and raise his profile and now he is second in the polls nationally to bernie sanders. really, i think all eyes are going to be on tomorrow on the first debate that michael bloomberg is going to participate in. you will no longer baghdad. we

spoke to mayo coleman on my mac boss mike frisk is on asking americans. he has also had numerous allegations from women over the years. here is an advertisement you run that seems to bea an advertisement you run that seems to be a response to that issue. there is nobody i respect more are few more respected by. michael bloomberg believes excellence is not built by gender. he was raised by an extraordinary woman and as a brother to an extraordinary woman and the father of an extraordinary woman. now michael bloomberg suppose women and respect women. is that a yourself out of awkward bits of ucd? i would not say that so —— yourself out of awkward bits of ucd? i would not say that so -- -- cb? you do it because it helps promote your message. you actually have to have a good message that i connect

to the people or else your money doesn't matter at all. you talked about steyer, who has spent a lot of money, but nationally his message has not resonated. i think it is very good spin. michael bloomberg has denied some of these claims are to be out there and frankly the american electorate has proven, in 2016, they simply do not care about some of his allegations about how a presidential candidate interfaces with woman. herbert hoover was a rich president and a disaster. abraham rich president and a disaster. abra ham lincoln was rich president and a disaster. abraham lincoln was a pro president and a success. is it better to be a pro candidate? that is quite a stretch. you can of... i pulled from the most extreme places i could

find! i think it is less about your pocketbook and more about how much you can actually commit yourself to understanding the issues, how much you actually care about serving the american people and i think that is the measure of your abilities. michael bloomberg is going to have to a nswer michael bloomberg is going to have to answer for his record but, michael bloomberg is going to have to answerfor his record but, unlike donald trump, he actually does have executive experience, has government experience and did so any large city in the united states. thank you so much forjoining us. this is beyond 100 days. still to come: this purse was lost in a year when eisenhower was still the us president. decades later, it's been found and reunited with the owner's family. we'll tell you the story. hsbc has announced plans to cut 35,000 jobs worldwide after profits fell

by a third last year. so what could this mean for hsbc staff here in the uk? our global trade correspondent dharshini david explains. what has gone wrong? well, ever since it was started in 1865, to facilitate trade between europe and asia, hsbc has had bases here in london. today it operates in 64 countries with 235,000 employees. once, the european operation was a source of great pride. now it is among the weaker parts of the business. instead, most profits are made in asia. so, hsbc are shifting its focus their and returning to its roots, despite the short—term disruption from coronavirus, it thinks it is the best long—term bet. what does it mean forjobs? well, up to one of seven of the global workforce could be affected. at the moment, there is little word on where the axe might fall, but those working in branches in america are more likely to be affected

than the 41,000 people working for hsbc here in the uk. many at its 621 branches on high streets. in fact, hsbc today reiterated its commitment to the uk retail bank. so, what happens next? well, it is those here in hsbc‘s investment bank division who could seek the worst cuts. their budgets are set to fall by 25%. hsbc is embarking on its third restructuring in a decade, hoping to put the financial crisis, in money laundering scandal and overexpansion firmly in the past. 25,000 workers leave every year of their own accord. the compulsory cuts may not be as bad as the headlines suggest. but, the unions want urgent clarification.

so, if mayor bloomberg represents all that is money in politics, it is senator bernie sanders who is the opposite. he has spent his career taking on the political establishment and business. but is one democrat more right than the other? let's speak now to grassroots mike bloomberg supporter paco fabian— from the bernie sanders—supporting group 0ur revolution — who's in washington. what you make of the candidates coming in with billions of dollars ata time coming in with billions of dollars at a time when bernie sanders was michael message is against the inequality of wealth and money about its? thank you for having me. first of all, i don't think anybody should be allowed to buy an election. i think michael bloomberg is done a lot of good with money as a private citizen and if you continue to do

so. 0ur movement is about having conversation with folks one—on—one. we have 600 groups over country and we are supporting senator sanders but you're also supporting gather it up but you're also supporting gather it up and down the ballot. two weeks ago we recently endorsed the drainage commissioner and a county in texas because these positions are important and we need to build a badge of progresses up and down the ballot to go to support his candidacy. to make this conversation more interesting, we're going to bring ina more interesting, we're going to bring in a michael bloomberg supporter. thank you forjoining us. do you think donald trump's dolphin partner michael bloomberg is the right man to beat m? —— golfing partner. thank you for having me. i think michael bloomberg is the best mastic on top because not only does he have the resources to do it but also the experience as a leader in

government, management and philanthropy and he has proven himself to care about the public and taken himself to care about the public and ta ken care of himself to care about the public and taken care of them, creating great programmes, addressing big ideas and getting things done. i lived in new york during 9/11, i witnessed first hand ali that city back, i lived in saint petersburg and the mere was my izzy years ago regarding climate change issues and infrastructure, so i think that our house is on fire. michael bloomberg is the best man to put it out and get things done and unite the country. that is what this is about. it is about defeating donald trump and uniting the country so we can move donald trump and uniting the country so we can move forward and address other things, like so we can move forward and address otherthings, like bernie sanders, and if michael bloomberg wins bernie sanders will have a better chance of getting things accomplished. sanders will have a better chance of getting things accomplishedm bernie sanders becomes the democratic nominee for the presidency, we support in?

absolutely. i do not believe in labels, i absolutely. i do not believe in labels, lam absolutely. i do not believe in labels, i am an american first, i will take one for the team and vote michael bloomberg the matter who, but with the bernie sanders people i've spoken to, you do not do the same way, i've spoken to, you do not do the same way, that i find that disappointing. we need to get donald trump out of the white house. do you agree with that? we have a primary we're going through, we have a first with michael bloomberg on the stage tomorrow, and so i willing to listen but we should not allow somebody to buy an election. michael bloomberg is spending a lot of his wealth and getting elected, on a lot of advertisements, and i do not think thatis advertisements, and i do not think that is the way to go. if you really wa nt to that is the way to go. if you really want to convince voters do the right thing we need to have one—on—one conversations and that is why —— thatis conversations and that is why —— that is what we bernie sanders movement is doing. there is a

perception that michael bloomberg supporters are rather calm about his candidacy and do not have the same passion that bernie sanders supporters have. art michael bloomberg's supporters passionate? they are very passionate and very hopeful i don't volunteer for michael bloomberg's campaign, i help moderate his facebook page and have the time i am deleting trolls on the donald trump and bernie sanders campaigns. we have to think about what is best for our country and the fa ct what is best for our country and the fact that this gentleman did not see yes, i will vote michael bloomberg no matter who, that is out donald trump as goodwin. wright thank you for joining trump as goodwin. wright thank you forjoining us, both of you. thank you forjoining us. michael bloomberg has said that if he wins the nomination or presidency he will sell his company, so we will digress

in this country —— properly. yesterday we told you about the woman's whose ring lost 47 years ago in maine was recently discovered in a forest in finland. today, the tale of a student's purse that went missing 63 years ago. yes, patti rumfola from ohio lost her wallet at school in 1957 when she was a teenager. it wasn't until last year that it was discovered between a set of lockers and wall during repairs. in it was photos of her friends and family along with makeup, stationery and some coins. the school did some digging to find out who it belonged to. they discovered sadly patti died in 2013 but the purse was returned to her five kids and, in a touching ending to the story, i each of her kids kept a penny from the lost purse as a special reminder of their mum. that is sweet. every night, we will ask people to send in what they have lost and we will try to track them down! yeah, we will be around the

world is and the hunt for purses. we willjoin you all tomorrow. goodbye. hello there. today, we've seen the rivers still reacting to all that rain that we had over the weekend from storm dennis. that's led to some record river levels along parts of the trent, the severn and particularly in the wye, and some severe flood warnings and evacuations, too. this was the scene earlier on on the severn in ironbridge. you can see the extent of the flood defences there. and this is the flooding that we've had on the trent in nottinghamshire. and that despite the weather turning more showery. and we're switching a lot of those showers off overnight. many places becoming dry. the skies will tends to clear. we'll keep a few wintry showers going, perhaps in scotland, and the threat of some icy conditions as well. because, like last night, temperatures are going to be close to freezing.

but notice towards the south west, and here, it's not going to be as cold because by the morning. we've got cloud and rain that will quickly move into wales, into northern ireland. and after a bright start for eastern parts of england and scotland, it clouds over the patchy rain here. but the wetter weather is going to be further west over the hills, where temperatures are going to be nine or 10 degrees. it will be a windy day, but it's the rain that's going to cause concern again, particularly in northwestern parts of england and wales, where it will be heavy and persistent over the hills, increasing the chance of some more flooding. we've got several weather fronts on the scene, and this second one arriving overnight is going to bring some heavy rain because ahead of it, we've got some mild south—westerly winds. and behind it, we've got a colder, westerly wind. so a band of heavy rain overnight into thursday, some snow over the scottish hills perhaps. that band of rain at least does move fairly quickly southeastwards, and then we change the wind direction, the sun comes out, showers develop, particularly in the north,

and those will turn increasingly wintry because the air is getting colder. and it will feel colder in the wind as well. if we look ahead to friday, and there more strong winds, there's more rain to come. it looks like it's going to be mainly north wales northwards, at this stage. further south, there's a good chance it will stay dry during the day, but it will be windy. widespread strong to gale—force winds are quite likely. but at least it will be mild, i suppose. temperatures up at around 11 or 12 celsius. but more rain on top of what we've had is not going to be good news.

this is bbc news. i'm carrie gracie. the headlines at eight. severe flood warnings and evacuations as river levels continue to rise in some parts of england and wales. the aftermath of storm dennis is taking its toll on businesses, some farmers face a catastrophic spring season. the level of wanted that we are talking about is actually quite humbling and phenomenal. hundred and 60 acres under four feet of water it is that millions and millions of tons. a british couple on board a cruise ship quarantined in japan say they've tested positive for coronavirus, as the foreign office says it's working to get all brits affected back to the uk.

35,000 jobs are to go at hsbc, after the bank's profits fell by a third.