this is bbc news with special coverage for viewers in the uk and around the world. i'm christian fraser. it's been a democratic party convention like no other. on the final night of this virtual event, the party waits forjoe biden to set out his vision for america as he prepares to accept the nomination as presidential candidate. joe biden, my name is. joe biden, my name is. look me up joe biden, my name is. look me up once you? he's tried twice before, but never been this close. we look at the journey that got joe biden one step away from the presidency. we'll be live injoe biden‘s home—town of wilmington, delaware and in washington. also coming up: the convention will also hear from everyday americans — and some of those — including pete buttigieg and michael bloomberg — who ran in the presidential primaries.

a very warm welcome to our continuing coverage of the democratic national convention. the former us vice—president joe biden is preparing to make the most important speech of his long political career, as he accepts of the democratic party. nomination to challenge donald trump for the white house. mr biden has said he'll use his address at a virtual party convention to outline plans to set america on a new path. he has accused president trump of leading a failed response to the coronavirus pandemic, and has promised to "build back better" if he wins the election in november. laura trevelyan is in wilmington, delaware wherejoe biden will deliver his speech remotely.

i'm intrigued as to how it is all going to unfold tonight. where is joe biden, all going to unfold tonight. where isjoe biden, where will he speak from stability live, recorded, how is it going to work? he will be speaking live. he is at his home in delaware tonight. he will come with his family, he will be inside the convention centre beside me —— behind me. the writer goes into the convention centre, all the reporters and staff have to be tested for coronavirus. very strict protocols in there. and then he will make this a cce pta nce then he will make this acceptance speech which is 50 yea rs acceptance speech which is 50 years in the making. at 29 yea rs old years in the making. at 29 years old he was elected senator here for the state of delaware. twice before, as you said, he attempted residential i’u ns said, he attempted residential runs but this time, in what you might think would be the twilight of a political career agents 77, his aides say he's a child of destiny and this is the moment for him. his life, which he has seen so much loss, the tragic loss his wife, infa nt the tragic loss his wife, infant daughter and then later

his son bo, has given him the resiliency and the empathy to lead america at this moment of crisis. that is the pitch from aids tojoe biden tonight. we will see if he delivers. it is going to have to be a carefully crafted speech because we know already tonight that donald trump has questioned the mental acuity ofjoe biden, he's going to try and paint him as a trojan horse of the left. joe biden goes to the station at knowing he has got to bring two sides of the party together but he can't lead one way or the other two much. notjust two sides of the party. if you look at what has been showcased this week, democrats have showcased pretty much every demographic that there is in america from native americans to hispanic americans. there has been a focus on immigration. it is pretty extraordinary really but behind the scenes there is a bit of a row brewing is the head of biden‘s transition team

told the wall streetjournal that the pantry was going to be better if they got into government in january better if they got into government injanuary because of all of the deficit spending that donald trump has done. straightaway, alexandria ocasio—cortez tweeted that this was no good, that they needed to be massive spending at this moment of crisis in america. so, the party managers have managed to keep the tension under wraps but yes, there are so under wraps but yes, there are so many under wraps but yes, there are so many ci’oss currents under wraps but yes, there are so many cross currents within the party but biden is going to try to appeal beyond the democratic party to the american voter who democratic strategists they are slowly fed up strategists they are slowly fed up with the chaos of the trump administration and his handling of the coronavirus. we should talk about the build tonight because we're going to see some of the stars of the future. pete buttigieg is the. himself a candidate in this primary is, from iowa. we will hearfrom corey booker. this is the next generation and joe biden has said repeatedly the bridge that

generation. what should we expect from them? we're going to hear from expect from them? we're going to hearfrom mae o'keefe expect from them? we're going to hear from mae o'keefe allow bottoms, the meier of atalanta who herself got coronavirus —— lance bottoms. we are going to hear from lance bottoms. we are going to hearfrom her, she was under fire for the mast mandate in her city. she has also spoken very eloquently about the pi’ocess very eloquently about the process in the wake of the death of george lloyd. we will hear from pete death of george lloyd. we will hearfrom pete buttigieg, corey booker, michael bloomberg, not such a figure of the progressive future. some animals from the democrats remember that he made this massive hire of staff for the presidency and they would have jobs through november but not all of them do, has created some sort of a backlash. a huge moment forjoe biden. a man who he likes to say, i'm often told i say what i mean but sometimes i say what i mean but sometimes i say more than a mean to. so

we will see whether or not is the case and la bit of a copout for all politicians isn't it. thank you very much laura. so tonight it's all about joe biden and of course we'll have his speech live later. my colleague katty kay looks at the life and career of mr biden. how you doing? joe biden is my name. look me over, will you? joe biden‘s political brand is empathy, a firm handshake, a look in the eye, an arm around the shoulder. he showed it in his first run for the white house way back in 1988. but that bid failed amid questions over the very authenticity he held so dear and a speech that stole too closely from neil kinnock, the leader of the british labour party. why is it thatjoe biden is the first in his family ever to go to a university? why am i the first kinnock in 1,000 generations to be able to get to university? my ancestors who worked

in the coal mines in northeast pennsylvania and who'd come up after 12 hours and play football for four hours... the people who would go to work eight hours underground and then come up and play football... hello, everybody. biden dropped out of that race, but even then knew it wouldn't be his last. there will be other opportunities for me to campaign for president. and 20 years later, he ran again and lost to barack obama. but what began as a rivalry turned into a partnership. obama said he always wanted biden to be the last person in the room when there was a big decision to make. and after two terms as vice president, there was talk of him running again in 2016, but the death of his son, beau, changed his plans. unfortunately i believe we're out of time, the time necessary to mount a winning campaign for the nomination. if biden‘s political currency is empathy, it comes from knowing grief, which may mean 2020 is finally his moment.

170,000 americans are dead from covid, the whole country is grieving. after all this time, democrats hope that makes joe biden the right man for thejob. joining me now is republican strategist ron christie. good to see you again. let's talk about where donald trump has been today because he has beenin has been today because he has been in pennsylvania which of course is a key swing state. and not farfrom course is a key swing state. and not far from joe biden‘s home in scranton. you often get that where politicians try to change the message on the big day, is it going to work or is it all aboutjoe biden tonight? good morning to you. i think it is very interesting that donald trump, of all days in all places in the united states elects to go to scranton pennsylvania, the home town of the vice president who is set to have his big night tonight. why did the present he did that to draw a contrast between

himself, his vision and how he wa nts to himself, his vision and how he wants to lead america. and of course, going on the attack on talking about sleepy joke. course, going on the attack on talking about sleepyjoke. will it work, that remains to be seen. this is certainlyjoe biden's des. but we discussed overnight that the indictment by steve bannon, what of the president's key strategist has put a lot of pressure on biden and not trump. you have a lot of notifications on your phone so of notifications on your phone so you will know it has been buzzing and it will be buzzing off the night. he is tweeting again and really driving home this message around crime in democrats it is. you can tell where the focus is going to be for the republicans next week. it will firmly be on law and order. no question about that and similarto the order. no question about that and similar to the way that richard nixon successfully campaigned by wooing the silent majority, talking about law and order. clearly, donald trump and his campaign leave that a restoration of order from the looting and protests and violence we have seen across

the united states, that they accused the democrats of not even being willing to discuss on the radio or television. i expect a law and order convention for the republicans next week but it will be very interesting to see whether the vice president and the other people who run, pete buttigieg, andrew young, some others will address the crime and what is going on. it is really stretching the social fabric of united states. one of the problems the white house has had though is trying to define joe biden and kamala harris. they have been throwing things at the well and is not much of it has been sticking. presumably, they going to be watching very closely and attentively tonight at this speech to try and pick out something they can pin on him. there is no doubt that the ballroom if you will, the dozens and dozens of staffers both in the republican national committee in the trump campaign are going to be looking for phrases, looking for words that

they will then turn into television commercials attacking biden, attacking harris as being inauthentic, for being phonies, for being fraudulent. the question in my mind really is whether or not the vice president is going to run at his record. this was someone run at his record. this was someone who was in favour of bussing which is very racially to visit. someone who is in favour of the 1994 crime bill which many democrats now deem as racist. kamala harris herself, so it was very tough on crime that's her time as the district attorney in california. the republicans are going to use those histories against the democrats. the question is what are going to say tonight that the trump campaign we use again 70 days to comeit might look one—sided at the moment but we have the republican convention next week and three televised events and some 70 odd days in the running. lots to play for. thank you very much for the moment ron. one other story which is making news in the us is that president trump's former adviser steve bannon has been arrested and charged with fraud over a fundraising campaign to build a wall on

the us—mexico border. both he and three others are alleged to have defrauded hundreds of thousands of donors. paul hawkins has more. he was one of the president's closest advisers. steve bannon appearing ina closest advisers. steve bannon appearing in a new york federal court pleading not guilty to charges of fraud. he was released on bail of $5 million. four years ago, he was a key architect of donald trump's 2016 presidential election victory. his right wing anti—immigration ideology feeling the president's america first campaign, part of which included... we're going to build a wall. build a well. we are going to have to build a wall folks. with the president short of federal funding for his wall, steve bannon set up a website for private donations which raised $25 million. we do the areas private inland that the areas private inland that the army corps of engineers has thatis the army corps of engineers has that is too hard. this, all the

way from here to that river, is nothing but those types of mountains and desert. if it is privately built, you can't have 3000 miles of it. that is why trump got 2.5 million from the defence department —— 2.5 billion. tonight, on this chinese millionaire ‘s yacht, he was arrested and charged with defrauding thousands of donors in relation to the funding website. he is also accused of pocketing $1 million of which he has used on personal responses. he was involved in our campaign, worked for goldman sachs. he worked for goldman sachs. he worked for goldman sachs. he worked for a lot of companies and was involved likewise in oui’ and was involved likewise in ourcampaign. fora and was involved likewise in our campaign. for a small part of the administration, very early on. i haven't been dealing with him at all. i know nothing about the project other than i didn't like what i read about it. i didn't like it. i said this is for government, this is not for private people. leaving court, steve annan called the charges a fiasco to stop people who want to build the wall. he is the president's

senior aides to face criminal charges. paul hawkins, bbc news. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: we'll find out what we can expect from the final night of the democratic party's convention. washington, the world's most political city, is today assessing the political health of the world's most powerful man. indeed i did have a relationship with ms lewinsky that was not appropriate. in fact, it was wrong. in south africa, 97 people have been killed today in one of the worst days of violence between rival black groups. over the last ten days, 500 have died. chanting: czechoslovakia must be free! czechoslovakia must be free! chanting: czechoslovakia must be free! russia is observing a national day of mourning for the 118 submariners who died on board the kursk. we all with them now, within our hearts. the pope has celebrated mass

before a congregation of more than 2.5 million people in his home town of krakow. "stay with us, stay with us," chanted this ocean of humanity. "well, well," joked the pope, "so you want me to desert rome? " this is bbc news, the latest headlines: on the final night of the democratic party online convention, joe biden will set out his vision for america in his convention speech as he prepares to accept the nomination as presidential candidate. all eyes of course onjoe biden, but let's look at who else is speaking tonight. the man who's become known as mayor pete, former mayor of south bend, indiana, pete buttigieg, was the first openly gay candidate to run a major campaign for president.

he won the iowa caucuses but struggled to build on that momentum. atlanta mayor keisha lance bottoms has been a a vocal supporter ofjoe biden from early on. she says she's going to talk about atla nta's role in the civil rights movement. iraq war veteran senator tammy duckworth will be speaking, she was of course on the short—list of running mates forjoe biden. delegates will also hear from andrew yang, he was was virtually unknown when he entered the democratic race, but ended up outlasting many seasoned politicians in the field. inevitably, his supporters became known as the "yang gang". and, former mayor of new york city, mike bloomberg will speak. he put $1 billion into his own run for the nomination. his only success was in american somoa. he has, though, promised to put his fortune behind defeating president trump. and the band formerly known as the dixie chicks —

now just "the chicks", will also be performing for the convention. let's go live to ontario and david frum, a senior editor at the atlanic and a former speechwriter for president george w bush. it's really good to see you, thank you for being with us this evening. it's a bit premature to look back over the week when we haven't yet had the main event, but what, for you, will be the standout moments of this convention?” think the rollcall will be the standout moment, and the reason for that is, the rollcall is a ritual that goes back to the middle of the 19th century. it had no purpose in the 20th century, never mind the 21st, it seems obsolete and pointless and boring and yet we stuck with it because the conservatism of the convention forum. the democrat brought this into the 21st century stopping this convention is the first, not intentionally but by

accident, the first convention of the social media error. it is designed to be shared, micro rather than macro targeted, and iamjust rather than macro targeted, and i am just endlessly struck by the number of people who talk about the television ratings for this convention, not understanding that has not mattered since about 1998. what will matter for this convention is how much of it is shared on social media. so you are saying, ina social media. so you are saying, in a way, it targets the audience thatjoe biden really needs to speak to and they won't tune into all of it, they won't tune into all of it, they will take bite —sized chunks of it? i'm saying the conventions have been run into the 21st century as if we still lived in the era of massmarketed broadcast networks stopping the people who are going to respond to the michelle obama but are different from the people who respond to the cindy mccain but. it is not one undecided voters stopping there are a

number of different undecided voters and covid—19 is forced the democrats to think about that in a way that parties have not been thinking about. they have been living in the world of broadcast in the world of social media. that's really interesting. i was listening this morning to david axelrod, former adviser to president obama, he was talking about his old boss' speech last night and he said that obama had respected what george w bush had taught him and that was that you had to keep your counsel, you don't criticise your successor, and he wanted to do the same. it was a lesson that he had taken on board you could see last night there was this pent—up anger and fury that finally just spilt over. look, sometimes your reactions have to take account of the fa cts have to take account of the facts that george w bush, barack obama transition in 2008- 2009 was barack obama transition in 2008— 2009 was the best transition in the history of transitions. it took place at a moment of crisis almost as severe as this one and it was a

remarkable thing, that the bush people invited the obama people to come into the meetings with them through the financial crisis to see what was being said so that no—one could say later, wait a moment, we have a commitment and a promise from the last administration and the new administration say i'm sorry, new administration say i'm sorry, we were new administration say i'm sorry, we were in the back of the room sitting against the wall, we were there. we saw what was pledged here, that's not true. and at the same time the obama people kept their mouths absolutely shut, honouring the one president at a time rule. that smooth transition is the foundation of the extraordinary relationship that bush and obama have built post residentially and it's also one of the reasons why the 2009 recession was not much worse than it otherwise was. now we are heading towards probably the worst transition since the herbert hoover and roosevelt transition that extended the great depression so extended the great depression so terribly. when you talk about that transition, do you think it will be a smooth handover of power or do you think this president may sit in the white house and challenge all the result that are coming

in. he will challenge all the results as long as he can and then he will sulk and probably disappear to mar—a—lago and refused to share information and try to hold onto power as long as he can while negotiating for pardons and try to ta ke negotiating for pardons and try to take anything that isn't nailed down and put it into his pocket. but i think people need to understand that once there isa to understand that once there is a series of benchmarks at which the results are certified and as we move past those, the idea that donald trump can hold onto power becomes increasingly unrealistic. on january the 20th at noon, he stops being the president, and even if he somehow locked himself in the bathroom of the white house and refuses to leave, he is not the president anymore and joe biden, wherever he is, will be the president. you mentioned cindy mccain, it was extraordinary to see the wife of the 2008 nominee backing the opposite guy. we have had colin powell, junk asic, what you make of all these republicans

backing the democratic candidate? it's notjust this time. the story of the 2018 democratic landslide was that democrat won seats that had been republican since the 19905, 705, 19605. deceit that george hw bush one in texas in 1966 that stayed republican through watergate, through the iraq war, through the financial crisis, that seat is now democratic. newt gingrich‘s former seat, that seat is now democratic. the seat near the cia that has been republican for about 60 of the past 66 yea rs for about 60 of the past 66 years is now democratic, and all those cases, by the way, the winner was a woman. and the democrats won not by radical left of them are not saying let criminals out of prison. although obama's administration sent more war criminals into

resin. what we saw in 2018 was this swing of the more conservative parts of the country, especially women, to a democratic party that they interpreted as acceptable, and thatis interpreted as acceptable, and that is whatjoe biden is going to be trying to do tonight is to be trying to do tonight is to show republican leaders that he is acceptable against a president who is not acceptable. you obviously set out a bold platform, he has to because the economy is in such dire straits at the moment but i was fascinated by nancy pelosi last night, who knows power is, and she constantly referred to mitch mcconnell, because she knows that if they don't win the senate this time, whatever he sets out tonight on that platform, they won't get through. preparing our international relationships is going to be more difficult, winning trust back, restoring world trade. those things are all going to be difficult. so,

i don't underestimate it, but the fact is that a lot of the trump prices have been an optical illusion when people look at this extraordinarily offensive president, backed by minority and people say, well, he has the american people behind him. all of the facts and figures show that a majority of the american public have been against donald trump every single day, he's the only president in the history of polling never wants to reach 50% on any reputable pole and first term. every day a majority are against him and he has tried to persuade the world that somehow speaks for a country that has rejected him since inauguration day. and just a final thought on the speech that is coming up, we joe biden has to appeal to voters, he has to speak to what he is gonna do when he is in the white house. i don't agree with that. i think the american

electorate has decided, it's like a wife deciding to leave an abusive husband at the first opportunity. the american electorate is waiting for the first opportunity so they might look at biden tonight and say, is he acceptable? of course is acceptable. he'll do, his fine. he can do the job. acceptable. he'll do, his fine. he can do thejob. and then acceptable. he'll do, his fine. he can do the job. and then the rendezvous with donald trump, a judgement on the incumbent. donald trump has insisted that the selection must be about him and he will get his wish. the selection will be about him and he will get what he has asked for good and hard. sojust he will get what he has asked for good and hard. so just very quickly, you think this is first and foremost a referendum on donald trump? we have 170,000 americans dead in the most preventable epidemic disease since the war. we have scandal upon scandal, the president's closest advisers on the way to present, of course it is about the incumbent. david, it is a pleasure to talk to you, thank you for being with us this evening. david they're talking about the

big event tonight, of course, joe biden due to appear in about two hours time and of course hair on bbc world news we will bring you that speech live, so do stay with us here on bbc world news. in the last day or so, we've had some very windy weather across western parts of the uk. a storm swept across ireland, but on friday, it is going to be blowing a gale across many parts of the uk, certainly wales, england, southern parts of scotland as well. and all because of this low which has decided to park itself very close to the uk, and it will be with us until around about saturday night. eventually on sunday, it should finally pull away into scandinavia. but until then, blustery conditions expected throughout friday. on top of that, some heavy showers, thunderstorms are possible, too. the heaviest of the showers will be across more western and northern areas of the uk.

but let's focus on those winds because they will be hazardous. in fact, strong enough to take branches off trees, and even this time of the year, 50—60 mph winds are capable of bringing down weaker trees. so, some really nasty conditions for some of us. the funny thing is it's actually going to be a mostly sunny day, particularly across many eastern and southern areas of the uk. yes, with a few showers, but predominantly bright or sunny, and the temperatures will get up to around 25 degrees in norwich. obviously a lot fresher around western coasts where we'll see those howling gusts of wind. now, friday night into saturday, the low pressure is starting to pull away, but it's still very much in charge of our weather. so, saturday, once again it's going to be a blustery day across the uk. the gusts of wind won't be quite as strong, but strong enough. on top of that, we've got further showers in the forecast and thunderstorms as well. i think the winds will be gusting more like 30—40 mph on saturday, so not quite as strong as the ones on friday. temperatures despite the wind

still managing to get up to around 22 degrees in london and norwich, and not far off 20 for our northern towns and cities as well. now, sunday, the low pressure has actually by this stage pulled into norway, and the winds are falling lighter across the uk. still a few showers in the forecast carried on a mostly north—westerly breeze. temperatures in the north dipping down to around 14 degrees, so a bit of a chill in aberdeen. but in the south, still making around 20 degrees celsius. so, once again, a very blustery day on friday. saturday's going to be quite windy, too. and then from sunday, it is going to finally calm down.

this is bbc news, the headlines: the former us vice—president joe biden is preparing to make the most important speech of his long political career when he accepts the democratic party nomination, to challenge donald trump for the white house. mr biden says he'll use his convention address to set out his vision for america. president trump's former chief strategist, steve bannon, has pleaded not guilty at a court in new york to fraud and money laundering charges related to an online campaign to build a us border wall. he was released on bail of $5 million, and must not leave the country. the russian government says it's prepared to consider a request for the kremlin critic, alexei navalny, to be transferred outside the country for medical treatment, after his supporters said he was poisoned. he's said to be in a coma after collapsing on an internal flight.

there have been record pass rates for hundreds of thousands