after nearly two months with no coronavirus infections, the chinese capital is under another lockdown. restrictions on movements have been re—introduced in beijing to try to contain a new outbreak which emerged a week ago. a former police officer in the us state of georgia has been charged with murdering rayshard brooks, the african—american man shot twice in the back as he fled two white officers in atlanta. garrett rolfe has been sacked from the force. he faces 10 other charges. in a new book, donald trump's former national security adviser claims the president tried to get china's leader to help secure his re—election. john bolton also claims mr trump told xi jinping it was the "right thing to do" for china to detain about a million uighur muslims and other minorities in camps in xinjiang, for punishment and indoctrination. the white house is trying to stop publication of the book.

now it's time for hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk. i am stephen sackur. president trump is in trouble, coronavirus has plunged the us economy into recession. the killing of george floyd has inflamed racial tensions and mr trump poll ratings have slumped. the democrats sense a historic opportunity but are they capable of seizing it? my guess todayis they capable of seizing it? my guess today is democratic party congressmenjim mcgovern. today is democratic party congressmen jim mcgovern. is today is democratic party congressmenjim mcgovern. is it enough for his party to be not trump?

congressmenjim mcgovern congressmen jim mcgovern in massachusetts, welcome to hardtalk. hgppy massachusetts, welcome to hardtalk. happy to be here with you. from the outside, congressmen, the united states looks like a country divided in on itself but almost at war with itself. does it feel that way to you? well, i do not ever recall a time where our country has been more polarised and i think the current occu pa nt of polarised and i think the current occupant of the white house is responsible for much of that polarisation. and much of the chaos and the uncertainty that exists here. so i'm deeply troubled by and i'm hoping that the next election will produce a better result and we can get back to healing our country and actually solving some of the problems we need to confront. and actually solving some of the problems we need to confrontm and actually solving some of the problems we need to confront. in a sense, that sense of instability that so many americans feel right now, concern about whether country is and where it may be going,

doesn't that make incumbent upon democrats to be politically moderate and you, if i may say so, is known asa and you, if i may say so, is known as a man of the radical left inside the democratic party. maybe this is not time? i don't consider myself radical, by any means. i think the views i have embraced either view is that most of my constituents in most of the country embraces. look, i wa nt to of the country embraces. look, i want to invest in people. i want to invest in rebuilding infrastructure, transportation systems, all the pulse ic show the majority of americans want that. the majority of americans want that. the majority of americans actually favour those protesting in the streets are in the aftermath of the murder of george floyd and the majority of people in this country want to find a way to deal with the systemic racism that has been part of this country for so long. we want better access to

healthcare. we to invest in schools, make sure we have quality education for everybody. i mean, they are not radical ideas. they are ideas, quite frankly, enjoy the support of the mainstream and i have been elected time and time again and i don't think i would have been if my views we re think i would have been if my views were out of touch. you certainly have been elected for more than two decades! i dare say, most americans make all all—star, massachusetts, a pretty liberal town. i guess i'm asking whether fellow democrats on your side of the party, whether it is wise for them in the wake of the killing of george floyd by the police in minneapolis whether it is wide to be talking about dismantling and defunding police forces across the country. is that really going to win you the support of medical america? yeah, look, ithink defunding the police means many different things to many different people. if you have been watching

the commentary, people interpret that to mean different things. look, i think we need to reimagine the role of our police in our society and there is something quite frankly that police don't need to deal with that police don't need to deal with that we should be investing in other agencies. issues regarding truancy. why should that be a police matter? mental health issues. we have to be supporting our healthca re institutions in a more meaningful way to do without. everything needs a response and then there the issue of systemic racism that u nfortu nately has of systemic racism that unfortunately has been part of much of law enforcement in this country. you saw what happened to george floyd. he was, he was murdered by a police officer while three other police officer while three other police officers observed! that is absolutely wrong and quite frankly if george floyd look like me, he would still be alive today, and that

isa would still be alive today, and that is a real problem. i, i sense your passion. i know this is an issue you ca re passion. i know this is an issue you care about a great deal but nonetheless when you tweet out as you did the other day messages, simple messages like quote "we need to demilitarised our police now... "i do not in danger of playing into the hands of donald trump and his fellow senior republicans you say that they represent the forces of law and order because you are implying the current police forces across america are in some sense illegitimate? first of all, you can maintain law and order without militarising the police. the people that i represent and the people of this country should not be treated as enemy combatants. what i am referring to is the fact that we have a programme with the pentagon that allows the pentagon to pass on

essentially equipment that is used in water to pour local police department! i don't think that is appropriate. —— that are used in wartime to our local police departments. it creates more fear, chaos and unrest. no, and i don't believe that the majority of people in this country, including many republicans, sensible republicans, believe the police should be, you know, viewed the same way we review the military who fight wars! congressmen, remind me did resident barack obama and joe biden get rid of what you call military equipment at the hands of the police? no, they didn't. it was one of only a handful that voted against the programme that voted against the programme that allows the military to share their equipment with the local police. i'm not here to say that

everything that barack obama and joe biden and it was perfect. i think they help movers in the right direction in terms of race relations. —— they helped to move us. i don't think we achieved as much as we all wanted but at least i think most people in the country believe that in the face of police brutality, when barack obama was president, we had a president who was actually empathetic, you actually wanted to solve the problem, who actually had a heart and wanted to deal with some of the issues so they don't happen again. congressmen, what you havejust issues so they don't happen again. congressmen, what you have just said about obama and joe biden and where you sit on the issue, abc back to my opening question about whether your brand of, i call it radical any disputed, your brand of let's say more radical approaches to things like policing —— and it brings me back to my opening, it brings us back to my opening, it brings us back to my opening, it brings us back to the presidential campaign. joe biden thinks not. he said that

he does not support defunding the police to then use the other day. he has come forward with a series of reforms but nothing as radical as you suggest. i'm not suggesting we defund and eliminate the police. or police presence in the country and many people who are 90 defund the police, that's not my phrase, that is some others have used, i prefer the phrase reimagining the police, look, we are at the point where it is no longer enough to simply say we need some reforms or is it is terrible, what a tragedy, all we have to address the issue of systemic racism and then we never do. the issue right now for people in the country is as follows, we can either do what we have done in the past and express our outrage and then move on, all we can do something a little bit different here and that is not only express outrage but the man that real reforms be put into place —— but

demand that real reforms be put in place so we don't see more killings like that of george floyd. that is the choice. i want, we all want law and order but some of us have different opinions of what that means. the president of the united states when he talks about law and order he uses security forces to gas peaceful protesters in front of the white house so i can photo opportunity. that is not my opinion of law and order. that's my view of abuse of power and i think the majority of people are with me on that in the country. congressmen, i know you will take your hits at donald trump and i will not stop you, but i'm more interested in what you, but i'm more interested in what you think aboutjoe biden. i know what you think about donald trump. joe biden, let's not forget, is a presidential candidate of your party and you're going to encourage your constituents to vote for him in and yetjoe biden is a man with a record on issues concerning race which includes support for a 1994 crime

bill which many african—americans absolutely hate. they say it was responsible for the disproportionate locking up of hundreds of thousands of young, black males. joe biden use language about predators on the streets, which again many civil rights campaigner thought was utterly u na cce pta ble. rights campaigner thought was utterly unacceptable. kamala harris accused him of working with racist senators. he opposed the buffing programme which was so important to the civil rights movement. and you're going to tell your african—american constituents that they must vote forjoe biden?” african—american constituents that they must vote forjoe biden? i was not in congress in 1994 when the crime bill passed but a large proportion of the congressional caucus supported the crime bill not because of the reasons you mentioned but because it included a ban on assault weapons. we have a problem in the united states of america where we have weapons of war that are easily attainable. that was part of it. yeah, was the crime bill flawed? yes,

of it. yeah, was the crime bill flawed ? yes, it of it. yeah, was the crime bill flawed? yes, it was an joe of it. yeah, was the crime bill flawed? yes, it was anjoe biden and others, bill clinton and others have admitted, it was flawed. they have conceded it disproportionately negatively impacted african—americans in the country. i think one of the true test of leadership is the ability of somebody to admit they are wrong and to change and to evolve and to take the evidence and reformulating opinion. i don't want somebody who can never ever admit a mistake. the bottom line is, yeah, i think the crime bill was very problematic, i wasn't around then but it was very problematic. and i think there are some other thingsjoe problematic. and i think there are some other things joe biden problematic. and i think there are some other thingsjoe biden may have settled down in his long career that i certainly take issue with outlook elections are about elections, and the choice of people have in this election is joe biden, the choice of people have in this election isjoe biden, is a thoroughly decent human being he thoroughly decent human being he thoroughly cares about the issues confronting the issue right now and

somebody like donald trump who i don't think is a decent human being... he has lowered politics to a point quite frankly that makes me quite sad. that this is the current reality in the united states. congressmen, there is another choice of people will have in november and thatis of people will have in november and that is do not vote at all the many say that what really matters to the democratic party is not convincing swing voters who were torn between democrat and republican to go democrat and republican to go democrat because there are not that many of those in the current polarised environment, what is really important to the democratic party is getting to the polls and so many young people particularly and young african—american people, specifically, he look atjoe biden and think you know what? this guy ‘s record does not make me think i really wa nt record does not make me think i really want to go to the polls at all. that could be the party problem because every vote will count. every vote absolutely will count and it will be tragic if people do not up to the polls. i believe they will. i

believe that not only our base but i believe that not only our base but i believe that not only our base but i believe that there are people, sensible people all over the country, who are outraged by what is happening right now in the united states. that are horrified by donald trump and many, like myself, think he is unfit to serve as president of the united states. so, look, there is enough out there to motivate people, not just to is enough out there to motivate people, notjust to motivate people but to get people to show up to vote like they have never done before. i mean, the stakes are too high. we are, if donald trump gets re—elected, we are moving closer and closer to the type of authoritarian regimes that the president seems so enamoured with. i don't want to go in that direction. i value the uniqueness of the united states. i value our freedoms and checks and balances. i value a president who actually obey the constitution and upholds these standards of our laws. we don't have that right now and so

i think, i we don't have that right now and so ithink, i really we don't have that right now and so i think, i really do believe that you are going to see a record turnout in november and you will see people who will get out there and vote forjoe biden and whoever he picks as vice president. i have been looking at the latest batch of opinion polls pretty carefully, and as you would know, joe biden is up about eight points on donald trump. if you dig deeper into the figures, you see that the large number of people who are saying at the moment they will support biden are doing it simply because they do not like and will not, could not contemplate four more yea rs of not, could not contemplate four more years of donald trump. biden's owner negatives are actually surprisingly high. we are looking at two men in this race you have very high negative numbers. , november, this race you have very high negative numbers., november, all of the survey evidence suggests that republicans are more determined to go out and vote than democrats. joe biden still represents something of

a risk for your party. look, i think joe biden is a fundamentally decent human being. that is not the question. i want to bring some decency back to the white house. i think the majority of americans want decency brought back to the white house. and by the way, when i am out and about talking to people, people are energised to get out there and to vote for a different kind of president. you know, we can talk about polls or we want but i think we're going to have a record turnout november and i think that people are going to show up to reclaim this country. you, as i recall, were a supporter of elizabeth warren, not joe biden, in the primary season. many other young democrats supported bernie sanders and eight progressive groups inside the party, many of them representing young people, just as democrats, alliance for youth action, student democratic party

action, student democratic party action, they have —— justice democrats, they are put out a statement saying, it is clear you are unable to win the majority of votes for the motor vast majority of voters under 45. you need to have more young people enthusiastically supporting and campaigning with you if you're going to defeat donald trump. the messaging around a quote, return to normalcy does not and will not and support and trust of voters of our generation. what do you make aboutfirst of all, one of the things that this covid—19 pandemic has shown is that there are great inequities and inequalities in the american system. when people say they want to return to normal, i don't want to return to normal. i think most people don't want to return to normal. we want to do better than normal and i thinkjoe biden is committed to that as well. yes, he as the nominee has to be able to win the support of all of those who challenged him for the

nomination. and i believe he is working on doing that. where, where do you seejoe biden putting out m essa g es do you seejoe biden putting out messages and a platform which really does suggest he wants to change america in the way that you have just indicated you want to see a change? where for example is his clear commitment, notjust change? where for example is his clear commitment, not just in change? where for example is his clear commitment, notjust in words, but in deeds to reduce gun deaths by 50%, which is what is young democrats they must happen. they wa nt to democrats they must happen. they want to see free college tuition as bernie sanders promised them. they wa nt to bernie sanders promised them. they want to see a super attacks on america's wealthiest people. isjoe biden going to deliver of that? well, we will have to wait and see. there is the deal, as somebody who supported elizabeth warren very proudly, as somebody who you referred to in the beginning as having radically liberal ideas, look, i don't agree withjoe biden on everything and he doesn't agree with me on everything but i have a better chance to move policies in the direction of that i think a good

for this country with joe the direction of that i think a good for this country withjoe biden as president as opposed to donald trump. right, you're talking a lot about values and about healing america, i want to ask you want very specific thing about the democratic party right now which is the pick thatjoe biden is going to make for vice president. a lot of people are saying that his ready committed it to being a woman. a lot of people are saying that it needs to be a black woman and names have been put forward from kamala harris, susan rice, val deming ‘s, the answer mayor. all sorts of names are out there. that sort of, some would say, smacks of a very sort of mechanistic notion of what works in politics. you put a black woman into the vice presidential slot and therefore you reach out to a whole new raft of voters and have new appeal. do you believe it works as simply as that? looks, i think we should break glass

ceilings. we have never had a woman as president of united in this country. you know, we have never had a woman as the vice president of this country. you know — i would actually welcome the fact that the, thatjoe biden is willing to shake things up and break glass ceilings. and to make a show that it isn't unusual when we have women running for the highest office in the land. i think it is shameful that the united states, it has been so difficult for the united states for women to get elected to president or vice president. so, i welcome his choice. i don't know who is going to choose but i think it would be... i'm glad he is committed to a woman, i hope it is an african—american woman but you will see that it is his decision. i have read a survey

by politico, the online political site, or 50 different republican party officials and managers across a whole raft of states and they say they feel on what they see on the ground, more confidence than they felt in 2016, that donald trump is going to win at the november election? i'm glad that they are confident, i hope they are overconfident. look, the trumpet strategists are going to try and calm their nervous base by selling people that everything is great. i just don't sense that. by the way, it is not just just don't sense that. by the way, it is notjust in massachusetts, it is also when i travel around the country and when i talk to my collea g u es country and when i talk to my colleagues from all around the country. they sense that there is a revulsion amongst their constituents in regards to the way this president has behaved and how he has demeaned his office. enough, i mean people are sick of this. they want a

change. joe biden may not be everything i want, he may not be everything i want, he may not be everything that bernie sanders's supporters want or the justice democrats want. but you know what, he is somebody we can work with. and we may not get everything we want but if we can put this country in a more progressive direction at a more compassionate direction rather than a direction where we can solve problems rather than create them, i think that is a good thing. a final thought and it comes back to this image of how america is seen in the world. you talk about wanting change and we have discussed about whether biden is going to deliver domestic change, but what about on the international scene? you are a guy who spent a lot of time working on international human rights issues, do you see any sign thatjoe biden, president biden, if he becomes that would actually significantly change us policy on a whole series of important issues? for example, china, support for israel and everything the israeli government does. also the use of drones to

kill, quote unquote, terrace around the world. if you look at biden's positions, they don't suggest we will see much change. think one of the things that i look forward to when itjoe biden is president is that we will actually once again start talking to our allies around the world, start engaging in listening to them. that we don't withdraw from every international agreement that we have ever negotiated. for example, that we re—enter the paris climate accord, respect the international criminal court, that human rights is something that we actually bring up in the face of authoritarian dictatorships around the world. crosstalk sorry for interrupting, i know you want to see all of these things but my question repeatedly is, will biden deliver them for you if he wins the white house?” believe he wealth, i believe we will move ina

believe he wealth, i believe we will move in a direction where once again a human rights are a major centrepiece of us foreign policy. and by the way, in the trump administration, we never hear or even use the word human rights. maybe it is an afterthought at best. but the bottom line is that, you know, somebody who chairs the human rights commission in congress, i can tell you that there are human rights defenders all around the world who are heartsick over this administration's backing away from raising issues of human rights, not only with china but was saudi arabia stop i mean, with bahrain, i can go right down the list of countries... russia — you know. i mean we will do much better with joe biden. russia — you know. i mean we will do much better withjoe biden. the world will welcome a joe biden presidency, and i think our image around the world will improve with him in the white house. well, five months to go until november so at the moment we must wait and see. i

thank you very much indeed for joining me on the programme. my pleasure, great to be with you. hello there. it's been a very thundery week so far across the country, thanks to the warmth and the humidity. and the next few days also looks like we'll see more downpours. now, wednesday we saw some pretty intense thunderstorms across parts of england. this lightning strike was captured on one of our weather watchers in leicestershire there. we also had some slow—moving downpours which gave rise to lots of rainfall fall in a short space of time, giving rise to some surface water flooding. some subtle changes to thursday morning. we've got an area of more persistent rain which has been moving out to the near continent, and will push in to the

midlands and south east england to start thursday morning. it will be a muggy start for most, and we'll have further low cloud, mist and murk across the north sea coast. now, as we move through the course of today, it looks like that area of rain, some heavy bursts in it, will tend to move its way into north, into northern england, parts of wales. much of scotland and northern ireland should see a fine day with some sunshine, bar the odd heavy shower towards the south. but it is southern wales and into central and southern england into the afternoon where we could see these further slow—moving, thundery downpours developing. these could be really heavy, again, give rise to some flash flooding, and a lot of rainfall in a short space of time. now, it is going to be another warm and muggy day for most. temperatures reaching highs of 21 or 22 degrees, but always cooler along the north sea coast. so these thunderstorms across the south of the country, through the afternoon, could cause some issues — stay tuned to your local radio, and to the latest weather forecast. as we move through thursday night, it looks like the thunderstorms will ease across the south. that rain will push its way westwards,

into parts of scotland and northern ireland, by the end of the night, and they will have quite a bit of low cloud, mist and murk across the northern and eastern areas, so another muggy night to come. friday, quite a messy picture. it looks like we'll start off with that rain across the west, a lot of cloud around, but sunshine will break through into the afternoon and that will spark off some heavy thundery downpours, this time central northern and eastern areas perhaps look more favoured. again, it is going to be another warm and muggy day for most. then we see some big changes into the weekend. we lose the humidity and the thunderstorms into the continent, and this area of low pressure will sweep in to bring stronger winds across the board, also a band of rain which will move through saturday night into sunday. so, windier, fresher conditions this weekend, with some rain at times. there will also be some sunshine too.

this is bbc news. i'm david eades with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. a damning allegation from president trump's former national security adviser. john bolton claims the president asked china's leader to help him win re—election. rayshard brooks, shot in the back as he fled police in atlanta, georgia — the officer who killed him is charged with murder. the possible sentences for a felony murder conviction would be life, life without parole, or the death penalty. germany orders 7,000 people into quarantine after 400 workers test positive at a coronavirus outbreak at a large abattoir.