this is bbc news. the headlines: president trump is sending hundreds of federal law enforcement officers to fight what he calls rising violent crime in american cities. he said he had no choice but to act, following anti—racism protests. 200 federal agents have already been deployed to kansas city, a similar number will be sent to chicago. china has reacted angrily to the us ordering the closure of its consulate in houston. beijing has threatened to retaliate saying it was a political provocation that would jeopardise relations. the americans said china was using the consulate as a centre for its spying operations in the us. brazil's diagnosed a record number of people with coronavirus, more than 67,000 in the past 2a hours. figures show almost 1,300 deaths were reported in that period. the country has the world's worst outbreak after the us.

time now for hardtalk with zeinab badawi. welcome to hardtalk with me, zeinab badawi. she is arguably the most famous lawyer in the united states. she has represented more women's rights cases than any other private firm in the country and for decades, her name is been synonymous with feminist causes. my guest is a veteran lawyer gloria allred. she is currently representing victims in the jeffrey currently representing victims in thejeffrey epstein case. what motivates her and how she really helped bring about change in america? gloria allred, welcome to

hardtalk. let's start with jeffrey epstein case. you are representing 20 women who claim they were sexually abused and exploited by the late convicted paedophile. what does success look like to you in this case? yes, ido look like to you in this case? yes, i do represent 20 victims of jeffrey yes, i do represent 20 victims ofjeffrey epstein yes, i do represent 20 victims of jeffrey epstein and yes, i do represent 20 victims ofjeffrey epstein and we are looking for accountability. we are looking forjustice and so far there has not been any justice for the victims of jeffrey epstein. jeffrey epstein was of course was convicted and entered a plea of guilty to soliciting an act of prostitution, that was ridiculous to allow him to enter that plea into thousand and eight, in florida. ultimately, he was arrested in new york last year on family — as felony charges of sex trafficking underage girls but then of course he was found

damp in his cell — — and whether that was suicidal homicide, we do not know — that in his police cell but we do know the victims of ofjeffrey epstein had wanted to be wanting to confront him in a court of law and they were deprived of that by the fact it was not kept safe in custody. his former girlfriend, british socialite ghislaine maxwell who has been detained in new york, awaiting trial in july for allegedly assisting and helping procure girls forjeffrey epstein, but it seems that that he ——as she has only been found guilty by trial by media and public opinion, does it strike you that that is what is going on? maybe that is the position of her defence team that she has been convicted in the court of public opinion but what is important is the court of law. she will get a fair trial, i have no doubt that the judge will make sure that she gets a fair child. my question is will

the victims get a fair trial as well? can i just the victims get a fair trial as well? can ijust come in there... she will be afforded all due process rights and she has been entered a not guilty plea and we hope and expect that she will be kept safe in custody at the metropolitan detention centre in new york and not allowed to become deceased as was the case with jeffrey epstein. you say that her lawyers may —— are saying she may not receive a fair child and her lawyer has told the manhattan federal court that people have been threatened and lost theirjobs simply because of their association with ghislaine maxwell. so is your confidence that she will a fair trial founded? it is because she is before a federaljudge and that federaljudge will afford her all of her due process rights. due process means it is a

constitutional right and it is notice and opportunity to be heard and she also will enjoy other constitutional rights such as to confront the witnesses. you say there are thousands and thousands of documents. do you believe there are video files and evidence, as remit? we do not know what evidence the prosecution has —— as rumoured. because they keep evidence very close to that chest. having said that, of course there is evidence of what she has stated under oath, ina what she has stated under oath, in a deposition, in a defamation lawsuit, that was filed against her by virginia roberts and in which she testified, and that most likely will be evidence presented at the trial because she is also, in addition to being charged with conspiracy to recruit and abuse underage girls and traffic them, to jeffrey

epstein, besides that sex trafficking allegation, she is also charged with perjury, and the perjury is in reference to state m e nts the perjury is in reference to statements she made in that deposition, under oath, where she had sworn to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, but the prosecution argues that she did not. either way, i prosecution argues that she did not. eitherway, iwant prosecution argues that she did not. either way, i want to say, it is very interesting because she admits in the deposition that she, that she did provide adult. . .. that she, that she did provide adult.... which is that she, that she did provide adult. . .. which is not a legal. which is legal. that she is vigorously denying that.... she is providing underage girls.... iamjust is providing underage girls.... i am just saying that ghislaine maxwell vigorously denies charges. somebody else you are very keen to provide sworn testimony to, the fbi, is a member of the british royal family, a former acquaintance of jeffrey family, a former acquaintance ofjeffrey epstein family, a former acquaintance of jeffrey epstein and family, a former acquaintance

ofjeffrey epstein and that is the duke of york, prince andrew, and his lawyers have said repeatedly that he is not a target of the department of justice investigation and he has repeated his willingness to provide a witness statement. yet, you have hired a school bus, drove around central london including past buckingham palace, sending m essa 9 es buckingham palace, sending messages urging prince andrew to speak to the fbi. was that a bit of a publicity stunt really, gloria allred ? bit of a publicity stunt really, gloria allred? what i have done first in december was sent a letter to his home, to the duke of york ‘s home in the uk andi the duke of york ‘s home in the uk and i have evidence that was delivered and in that letter i urged prince andrew to speak to the fbi, to provide an interview, because the victims really need to have the truth. they need everyone who had any evidence who is relevant to whatjeffrey epstein did, to

provide it and obviously the prince has such evidence. he may not know everything. can i just say, can ijust interrupted.... just say, can ijust interrupted. . .. he just say, can ijust interrupted.... he did do a bbc interview for an hour, he had no trouble doing that but of course he didn't have any duty to tell the truth when he did that although i certainly hope you did so. he... . to date, he has not yet done that and we still urge him to do that and even the prosecutors just recently, again urged him to do that. either way, they have not said publicly whether he is a target or whether someone they would like to provide evidence. sure, all right. he has not done it. this foot dragging by prince andrew marr stopped. his lawyers have said any depiction of him not cooperating is not accurate and he is willing to co—operate with investigations, —— must stop. statements bought out on his behalf deny

categorically any suggestion of impropriety with underage miners, saying these are categorically untrue. just to go back to your point... . it may be the kind of cooperation he wishes to provide all willing to provide is not the kind of cooperation that the fbi and prosecutors want. for example, he may be willing to a nswer example, he may be willing to answer written questions that they provide and then he would have the opportunity to consult with his lawyers as he gives those written answers but the homeland security, the fbi prosecutors have repeatedly said they would like the main person interview and that may be what he is not willing to provide but it is what he should provide any should do it without delay, without conditions, without further excuses as to why he is not doing it. he's trying to portray himself as the victim, in my opinion. he is not the victim. the 20 clients i represent are the victims of jeffrey epstein. 0f

represent are the victims of jeffrey epstein. of those are of ghislaine maxwell attitude is long overdue and he needs to stop excuses and appear for the interview. you have just put the duke of york ‘s name in connection with ghislaine maxwell, who is being detained and charged with conspiring to recruit underage girls and that is not the case, categorically, with friends andrew. 0ne is not the case, categorically, with friends andrew. one of your clients is described being assaulted byjeffrey your clients is described being assaulted by jeffrey epstein your clients is described being assaulted byjeffrey epstein at his ranch in new mexico when he was 15 and she said that prince andrews prestage and reputation we re andrews prestage and reputation were also engaged in further harm but that has nothing to do with duke of york or eve — that ifa with duke of york or eve — that if a friend or associate chooses to use his status in that way, that is not the fault of the duke is that? we do not know be allowed his name to be used or not and i do not have that information one way or another but i will say she is not the only client that i have that has allegations that

involved prince andrew. i do have other clients and i'm not going to speak though about what their allegations are but i willjust what their allegations are but i will just say they are not because of an associate. they have to do with prince andrew. and i have to say because we cannot... . i will say and i have to say because we cannot... . iwill say that and i have to say because we cannot... . i will say that not eve ryo ne cannot... . i will say that not everyone who has contacted me has gone public. most have not. most do not intend to do so. i am protecting the confidentiality. the reason why i now have so many more clients who were victims ofjeffrey epstein and i did previously is because there is a claims process that is open now in which is going to be funded by the estate of jeffrey which is going to be funded by the estate ofjeffrey epstein for the victims. it is a com pletely for the victims. it is a completely confidential process where we can apply for the victims to be compensated without a public lawsuit,

without a public lawsuit, without their having to speak publicly and they will have com plete publicly and they will have complete confidentiality and the only people who will know the only people who will know the content of their claims is myself, their attorney and the attorneys are my team, the claims administrators. none of that will become public so more people are coming forward because they have confidence and the confidentiality of the process and they do not wish to be public but they do wish to be public but they do wish to be compensated and they should have every right to be compensated for the therapy bills, for the medical bills, for the pain bills, for the medical bills, forthe pain and bills, for the medical bills, for the pain and suffering, for lost wages and the abuse they suffered as a result of coming into co nta ct suffered as a result of coming into contact with jeffrey epstein. and i should say that again prince andrew repeatedly says any suggestions of impropriety with underage miners are categorically untrue. the fact of the matter is thatjeffrey epstein who we know is a convicted paedophile is dead and there are accusations or suggestions that

perhaps there are those who are seeking to find guilt through proxies. 0ne seeking to find guilt through proxies. one british lawyer ben keith has said american prosecutors like prominent cases. i wonder whether having a british royal scalp will keep the case as high—profile as it can be. fairpoint? no, not a fairpoint because any prosecutor wishes to have evidence from anyone, whether he isa evidence from anyone, whether he is a prince or a pauper, he needs to provide a, from anyone he may have evidence relevant toa criminal he may have evidence relevant to a criminal investigation. many of my clients, not all, who were victims ofjeffrey epstein, willingly, volunteered to speak to the prosecutors and to speak to the prosecutors and to law enforcement and they have done so. now, why the prince think that somehow he has an excuse not to do it or to delay doing it or to only do it in the way he wishes to do

it, rather than in the way that prosecutors wish to have him interviewed, only the prince can answer that question. but to cast aspersions on the motives of the prosecutors is just really ridiculous. his case is high—profile, with or without prince andrew being involved in it. what we need is his testimony, not his excuses and not his attempts to have others portray him as the victim and cast aspersions on the motives of the prosecutors. you have been involved in many high—profile celebrity cases in connection, tiger woods, golf champion, bill cosby and that sex scandal and he represented many of his victims and i have to say you did a pro bono, without any payment. you have beenin without any payment. you have been in the case of the hollywood mogul harvey weinstein, of course now in prison for sexual abuse and rape. when that story broke, the harvest— rape. when that story broke, the ha rvest— story rape. when that story broke, the harvest— story broke, if

that this justice was a long time coming. at the point is this, how far do you think that high—profile cases shining a case on the abuse of women in general? very important point to. it is important that the rich, the powerful, the famous, no matter who they are, whether they are in the entertainment industry, the sports world, the business world, religious world, educational world, any world at all. those who are powerful, who prey on women and girls, who prey on women and girls, who are child molesters or take advantage and sexually abused, sexually harass, sexually assault women, they must be brought tojustice, assault women, they must be brought to justice, and that is what i have been doing for 44 yea rs what i have been doing for 44 years in our law firm. we are the leading women's rights law firm in the united states, frankly if not the world, we have 100s of millions of dollars for victims, we want to

hundred $58 million against a billionaire for one victim of sexual harassment, and that was after a jury trial in los angeles, and we wantjustice. it's not just angeles, and we wantjustice. it's notjust the high—profile winds. at the point i want to... anyone who is powerful, it might be a stepfather, and uncle, her boyfriend of the mother, who has victimised. that is the point i'm making. ifi that is the point i'm making. if i could just come in here... whoever it is, there must be justice. that is the point i wa nt to justice. that is the point i want to put to you, which is the african—american activist who founded the mead too movement, and she did it primarily in the first case to expose sexual abuse of girls in the african—american community, girls and women, she was struck by the case of a 13—year—old, but it wasn't until hollywood really got interested in the me too movement that it merely

gained traction, and that's a point i am putting to you. do high—profile hollywood cases really make a difference to wider society? two cases involving abuse of women in non— celebrity cases? can you say that your work has really filtered down to the grassroots? it has, and even before it was a hashtag on the internet, a few years ago, we we re internet, a few years ago, we were bringing women out and their voices were being heard, ever since i started practice, 44 years ago, so yes, hollywood is imported because a—list actors, women, when they say that i have been the victim of sexual harassment, it gets more attention, it does shine a light worldwide, but worldwide, women are becoming empowered as victims and they are saying, we're not going to take it anymore. we want accountability, either in the justice system, or similarly

through a civil trial or a lawsuit, or both, ora confidential settlement of. we're going to act to bring change and that is the only way that can change. nobody ever gives women anywhere in the world, including the united states, their rights, and i make that point and fight for them every day. this criticism, it is what you are familiar with and i would like to know to what extent do you feel it undermines the work that you have done, and that is your use of nondisclosure agreements, have been used in the harvey weinstein case, and you know there has been criticism of this from the likes of the writers megan and joe who wrote a book about the harvey weinstein case last year, critical of you drawing up nda ‘s. they said nda ‘s have been used as an instrument of hiding sexual harassment and assault in industry after industry. they have allowed alleged predators to go on and hurt more women, they have basically been used as a tool by which

these people can cover their tracks. how can you defend your use of nda ‘s? tracks. how can you defend your use of nda 's? i'm so glad you brought that up because two things are. even if there is a confidential settlement, a victim is always permitted to go to the police. the fact that they did not go to the police is, it's up to the choice of the victim, nobody can compel a victim to go to the police, if she has been raped or sexually assaulted. nor can any nondisclosure agreement prevent a victim from going to the police. so that is a mistake, to suggest that somehow, these agreements prevent law enforcement from knowing about it, from prosecuting, from convicting sexual offenders, and it is against the law and it is not part of any valid nondisclosure agreement that a

victim is prevented from going to the police. as reported, i understand they want to know everything, they don't want nondisclosure agreements, they don't want victims to be able to. i have to interrupt you here. understand, a victim has a right to choose. if we can get multimillion dollar settlements, or we can get hundreds of thousands, she should be able to have that settlement, and if she doesn't want... i have to interrupt you here because the damaging part of the criticism is the point that professor scott from the university of southern california said that nda 's can exacerbate serious harm is because they facilitate continued depredation. that's the point, you facilitate these perpetrators going on to commit more abuse. is not a question of one particular victim getting her compensation or recognition. obviously, he is

seemingly unaware of her rights to go to the police if she wishes to do so. if she does that, there won't be a public trial of the district attorney chooses to prosecute. that would all be public. but apparently, he is not aware of that, and obviously, the writers who criticise either or not aware of that, which they should be stopped by the criticism was whether it facilitated future abuse. 0bviously facilitated future abuse. obviously it doesn't because he could go to the police. future abuse of other victims, it allows the perpetrator to carry on, that is the point, abusing other women, not that particular. again, that ignores what i just particular. again, that ignores what ijust said. a victim has the right. you, gloria allred, you were born and grew up in philadelphia, yourfather you were born and grew up in philadelphia, your father was a door—to—door salesman, philadelphia, your father was a door—to—doorsalesman, money was tight, you married young, became a mother at 20, and gave

birth to your own child lisa. you have worked as a teacher at the beginning, in a school for african—american boys, then you represented teachers and the teacher's union, and where does the fire in your belly come from? what the fire in your belly come from ? what motivates the fire in your belly come from? what motivates you?” understand the injustice that has been perpetrated against women worldwide, and still exists today where women are viewed as second—class citizens, deprived of their rights, denied their rights, not afforded equal protection and equal rights under the law. my and equal rights under the law. my commitment to women, and justice for women and helping them become empowered, to know they have more strength and courage, and they ever realise they had, that comes from my own life experience, because i have not been spared some of the injustices that women suffer worldwide, for example, when i was a single mother, i

had difficulties collecting court—ordered child support on time, and the amount that ordered, and in addition, iwas raped, so became a victim of gender violence when i was in my 20s, and also when abortion was a crime for a doctor to provided before the supreme court decision, rowe read wade, i had to have an unlicensed abortion, that left me to haemorrhage and i would have died except that i was taken to the hospital at the time, with 106 degrees fever and had to be... you became pregnant as a result of that rate which is why you needed the abortion, and the nurse made a comment to you which was... yes, she said when i was being patronised because of my fever, she said this will teach you a lesson, but my response is yes, it did

teach me a lesson, the lesson is that we have to keep abortion legal because more women have died from illegal, u nsafe women have died from illegal, unsafe abortions then men were ever dying in the vietnam war and we appreciate their sacrifice, those soldiers who we re sacrifice, those soldiers who were so brave and died, but women must always have their lives protected as well. you turn 80 next year, gloria allred, and you have maintained your fairness reputation for all of these decades. what would you describe is your greatest achievement, and i are still going to carry on?” greatest achievement, and i are still going to carry on? i am carrying on, and i always say to everyone, fighting injustice is good for the health, and we have a statement in the women's movement that the women's movement that the women's movement is unique, the only movement is unique, the only movement in which the participants become more radical as they get older, so yes, as we get older as women,

we look back at our life experience, we know how we have been treated, so unjustly in family law, employment, every aspect of life, and it makes us more radical and more committed. gloria allred, thank you very much a hardtalk. — for coming on hardtalk. my pleasure, thank you very much. goodbye. hello there. cloud is thickening up once again from the atlantic. it's set to bring some more rain mainly for the middle third of the uk. some areas stayed cloudy and damp throughout the day on wednesday and, as a result, it was quite cool, as well. we had a temperature of 26 degrees in london,

but the sunniest weather, that was in bournemouth — almost 1a hours of sunshine. probably not as much sunshine, though, for thursday. it will be quite a cloudy start to the day with temperatures around 12—14 degrees. and we start with some outbreaks of rain mainly across northern ireland, southern scotland, northern england and wales. that's going to be quite heavy for a while. it will gradually turning lighter and more patchy through the day. we get some sunshine more widely across scotland and northern ireland and towards the south—east. perhaps even into the midlands, it may well stay dry, but there'll be more clouds around, so it won't be quite as warm — still 23 or 2a degrees. we are looking at some showers to come into the south—west of england, still damp into wales, some more rain across northern england, so quite a cool day here, although the far north of england improving later on. we'll have some sunshine in the afternoon across northern ireland and more widely in scotland, so a warmer day here, 19 or 20 degrees. but still some rather sharp showers in the north—east and up towards the northern isles. those will tend to ease off a bit during the evening.

this light and patchy rain by this stage heading down towards the midlands, eventually later on in the night towards the south—east of england. the weather front bringing that is going to be very weak, and as we move into friday, we are in between two wet weather systems — a transient ridge of high pressure before that weather front increases the cloud and brings some rain in from the atlantic. but many places will have a dry day on friday. could be a fair bit of cloud, particularly across southern parts of england and south wales, the odd shower here. one or two showers further north, perhaps into north—east england and scotland. then we get later on in the day some rain pushing in from the west across northern ireland. ahead of that, 20 degrees through the central belt of scotland, and we're back up to 25 in the south—east of england. as we head into the weekend, we're dominated by low pressure sitting close to the north of the uk. that weather front will tend to move through, taking some heavy rain away, and then it's showers following on behind. certainly looks like saturday is going to be the wetter day, and those showers could be heavy and thundery. a much drier day on sunday

for eastern parts of england with the bulk of the showers in the north and the west of the uk.

welcome to bbc news. our top stories: president trump deploys hundreds more federal officers to us cities, expanding his crackdown on what he calls spiralling violent crime. my vision for america's cities could not be more different from the lawlessness being pushed by the extreme radical left. what was then pauline is that the federal presence is actually making the situation worse and we cannot allow that in new york city or anywhere else in that country. — — what we in new york. even though the us is recording more than 1,000 coronavirus deaths a day,

the president also insists