this is bbc news — an earthquake in american politics. six weeks before the us election the selection of a supreme court judge throws the race in the air. ruth bader ginsburg was a poweful voice for liberal causes, her dying wish was that the next president should replace her. that's unlikely to happen. president trump is moving fast to name a successor. and republicans relish the idea of a conservative supreme court. of the eightjustices now on the court's bench — three were appointed by democratic presidents, and five by republicans. the implications are enormous. also in the programme... the uk's coronavirus alert level is being upgraded to level four — the government's chief scientific adviser says speed and action

are needed to halt the recent dramatic rise in infections. cases are increasing. hospitalizations are following, that's unfortunately will follow that. and there is the potential for this to move very fast. can you spot the difference? both pictures are of the same man — bryson dechambeau — who credits his success at the us open this weekend to his new bulked up physique. hello, i'm katty kay in washington, christian fraser is in london. a presidential election that was already tense, just became a whole lot more so. ruth bader ginsburg was first diagnosed with cancer in 2009 — maybe her death then was not a total surprise but it has sent a seismic shock through the us political system.

as one of only nine us supreme court justices — all of whom are political appointees — the process of replacing her is the highest of stakes. president trump will nominate someone for her seat as soon as this weekend. and then the senate will vote to confirm that pick. it will take fifty votes to get her approved. the republicans have 53 — so it should be a done deal. but some republicans have qualms about rushing such an important process. which is why the world's eyes are on a handful of moderate republicans. senators cory gardner and chuck grassley have both previously suggested they wouldn't approve a nominee so close to election day, and mitt romney has been unafraid to break with his party under trump. alaska's lisa murkowski yesterday said she ‘won‘t support filling a potential supreme court vacancy this close to the election‘ but stopped short of saying how she'd vote after november 3rd —

when, in a lame duck session, a nominee could still be confirmed. senator susan collins — who's facing a close re—election fight in maine — was the first republican senator to come out against a confirmation vote before the election — she said the winner of november's presidential election should be the one to make the nomination. let's speak now to jane o'brien — whojoins us from portland, maine — the home state of senator colins. jane, this is about a very famous justice who is much admired around this country. it is about the supreme court but let's make no mistake, it it's also intensely about politics was up how is it being seen there in maine?” about politics was up how is it being seen there in maine? i think like everywhere else the death of ruth bader ginsburg has upended this race. susan collins was already in a very, very tough fight fighting for her political life. now she has the added pressure of being the potential swing voter in any supreme court nomination for tapas situation

that she was in just a couple of yea rs that she was in just a couple of years ago with the nomination of brett cavanaugh. years ago with the nomination of brett cava naugh. don't years ago with the nomination of brett cavanaugh. don't forget, it was her vote right at the 11th hour that pushed cava naugh was her vote right at the 11th hour that pushed cavanaugh over the wire, got him on that bench and a lot of moderates here, because this is a moderates here, because this is a moderate state, and a lot of moderates particularly women have not forgiven herfor moderates particularly women have not forgiven her for that. moderates particularly women have not forgiven herfor that. so moderates particularly women have not forgiven her for that. so while she scored highly in the republican trump box, moderates have been deserting her. and i think that's why we've seen her move very, very fast on this issue. coming out on saturday, defying donald trump and saying that no, it should be up to whoever is elected president on november the 3rd to pick the next nomination for the supreme court. so, if susan collins does not vote to have a confirmation before the election or even after the election

in the lame—duck session, how difficult is it going to be for republicans to get this picked through the senate? well, it's not a done deal because don't forget, susan collins hasn't actually said how she would react if a vote did come to the floor in the senate. she has at the moment said that she doesn't think it should in the first place. so how she would vote, would she vote, we don't know. but the point is is that the margins are so thin at this point and there is so much at stake. the nomination of the supreme court is in america far more consequential than who becomes a president for another four years. 0k,jane o'bryant in president for another four years. 0k, jane o'bryant in portland, maine. thank you very much. thank you very much. let's me just show you the makeup of the supreme court's bench as it currently stands, there are now eightjustices sitting on the court — with one empty seat. three of them were appointed by democratic presidents.

the remaining five by republicans. if president trump gets his third nominee through the senate — that would mean two—thirds of the court's judges have been appointed by republican presidents. ben cardin is the senior democratic senator from maryland — he joins us from washington. is this democrats nightmare? first, is going to be with you. itjust shows the height of hypocrisy of mcconnell the republican leader. remember when barack obama was president we had a vacancy of that year with justice death. president obama nominated merrick garland. and mitch mcconnell said there is not enough time. that was in february before november election. this va ca ncy of before november election. this vacancy of course before november election. this vacancy of course occurred in september. and in some states they've already started to vote. it shows the disrespect for the voters,

it's hypocrisy by the republicans. this is a consequential decision. the voters should have their say before an appointment is made. whoever wins the november election should be appointing the next justice of supreme court. senator, it's pretty striking hearing nancy pelosi say she's not taking any arrows out of her quiver. even suggesting impeachment could be on the table if they try and shove this true in the lame—duck session present what would you support? first of all, i'm talking to my republican colleagues, the tradition of the senate needs to be adhered to. i'm hoping that will have at least four republican colleagues that will stand up for what is right. and will not go under to this power grab by president trump. if we can get those four votes that we've avoided a crisis not only on the nomination of a justice to the supreme court but also on the way the united states senate needs to operate. that's going to be my first

priority is to try to get four votes. yes, but if you don't then why? because we've had some suggestions from kamala harris the vice presidential pick that should be in favour of increasing the numbers on the bench of the court. we've heard from a number ofjudges that they would increase from nine to 15. is that an option? i still believe that the best option is to hold this nomination off on this president. i understand your question but i think that leads us down a path that will be hard to put back together. a system that works in the best interest of the american people. the american people know that they are health care depends upon the decision the supreme court on the affordable care act. that there are decisions on labour rights before this court. their decisions in regards to economic issues, civil rights and voting rights. there is a lot at stake at this. the best a nswer lot at stake at this. the best answer is, let's when it in deferring this nomination until

after the election and let the next president make the appointment. if we don't do that we are going to be ina we don't do that we are going to be in a situation where it's hard to determine where it will end. senator, accusing mitch mcconnell perhaps fairly in this instance and some of his colleagues as hypocrisy. there on the record saying something different in 2016 and hoping that you can win over a few moderate republicans. it sounds like the kind of wish and a prayer. you are in a very difficult position. there's really not much that democrats can do to stop this nomination and confirmation is they are? every senator is responsible for his or her vote. and we know that many of my colleagues are on the ballot in november. i think the voters of their state are going to be wondering why they change positions. it seems there is a partisan change which is something that they claim was not true four years ago. so let's see how they respond to the

public interest. we think there is going to be a great deal of interest by the pandemic to preserving healthcare. and preserving the prohibitions against pre—existing conditions. that case has been argued before the sump recover in november. this is an hypothetical. —— supreme court. i think the voters of the state were up for reelection oi’ of the state were up for reelection or election, i think the senators again want to listen to their constituents. i am looking forward to get for votes to stop this nonsense. who do you think of the other votes? and the conversations you're having with your republican colleagues. they verity compound said they're prepared to vote but there are still many that have not. i could give you a full list of those who thought they doing not not made up their mind jet. i would hope that all of those would be ones that would be responsive to their constituents. i really don't

understand why they‘ re constituents. i really don't understand why they're so concerned i'm letting the next president make this decision. trust the voters of this decision. trust the voters of this country. let them make the decision as to who the rightful person is to make this appointment. we have never in modern times taking up we have never in modern times taking upa we have never in modern times taking up a nomination this close to an election. the right decision is to defer the action. senator we are really grateful for your time. thank you for coming on the program. my pleasure, good talking to you. this supreme court vacancy is the second—closest to an election ever — the only one that occurred closer was when chiefjustice taney who died 27 days before the 1864 presidential election. the then president — abraham lincoln — delayed his nomination until after he won re—election. but of course much has changed since then — or has it? let's speak tojonathan turley — law professor at georgetown university. may the principal hasn't change,

maybe were close to an election and that's just the way it is. maybe were close to an election and that'sjust the way it is. how maybe were close to an election and that's just the way it is. how do you feel about a? well, there is a tsunami of hypocrisy coming down capitol hill. from both parties. senator really capture that. it's true, he's absolutely right. the republicans in 2016 said it was inappropriate to confirm a nominee close to the election. but he ignored the point of fact that all of the democratic senators including himself said it was entirely appropriate to confirm a nominee before an election. it's really politics as usual. this is a blood sport in washington called confirmations. there have been regular nominations during election years. it happened eight times or since 1900. years. it happened eight times or since1900. they've had as many as 30 times throughout history depending on how you count the election years. and when the

nomination came open. so there is precedent for this. it doesn't mean it's the right thing to do but history is pretty much fluid when it comes to politics. i read your tribute piece to ruth bader ginsburg which he wrote for the hill. and in it you said that if she is replaced bya it you said that if she is replaced by a staunch conservative it would represent arguably the most significant nomination and the history of the modern supreme court. just explain that for us. the interesting thing about justice ginsburg is that she was not one of those justices who changed on the court. she came to the court with a sense of eight northstar that she wanted to follow for her jurisprudence. and wanted to take the country with her. and she was consistent of the justice on the court. which made her the common denominator of a long list of buy board decisions. and so if you replace that with someone who is

equally consistent and voting conservative, you produce sweeping transformative changes. from abortion to college admissions to environmental law to international law. there is virtually no field that would be unchanged by this flipping of the seat. and the three nominees they are talking about are all very consistent. they are much like ginsburg except that they vote on the right. is there any... just to get to, the notion of expanding the supreme court? it seems to me that pretty much the only tool the democrats have is to hope that they win the presidency and when the senate and then they could expand the court. i suppose people think it set in stone as nine. it's not, write? it would be possible ifjoe

biden won the presidency and the democrats took the senate for them to expand the court. that's right. the number of to expand the court. that's right. the numberof us to expand the court. that's right. the number of us supreme court justices have is actually actually fluctuated in history. it began as sex only two showed up for the first hearing. it has gone as high as ten. —— six. many years ago i proposed the expansion of the supreme court to 17 or 19 members. there were two different options. some people inciting to that. this is not that plan. this is to avoid the packing of the court. it would expand the court over 20 years. there is a difference between reforming the court and packing it. many of the democratic politicians are talking about a court packing scheme. much like fdr. he tried to add six new justices to the supreme court and instead set an age limit of 70 and a half which happens to be the age of the conservators barking him on the

court. so he would add one justice for every one of those so—called, four horsemen. it was a terrible idea. this is also the wrong way to do this. and so it's an appalling idea. the way to honour ruth bader ginsburg is not to destroy the institution she loved. and that's what would happen if we go into a free in expanding this court. and i'm someone who believes that this court is demonstratably dysfunctional he too small. always good to have you on the program. i think i said you are from georgetown. you are of course at george washington university. thank you for being with us university. thank you for being with us again. i know because you've already told me that even talking to both camps. what are they saying katty? instant reaction i got from the biden campaign within an hour of the news breaking was that they were speechless. i do know that senior

advisers to joe speechless. i do know that senior advisers tojoe biden over the weekend have been talking about this notion of expanding the supreme court. perhaps 211 in order to redress some of the balance. they failed very firmly that two seats potentially have been stolen from them. that merit garland seat back in 2016 when president obama was president and then potentially this seat. they feel because of hypocrisy of the republicans, that would also be stolen. they feel that this is something very worth looking at. just in terms of pure politics was up just in terms of pure politics was up interesting hearing from the trunk campaign over the weekend. they think this helps them. and only one narrow sense that it changes the conversation away from something that we are about to start talking about which is covid—19. the more americans are focused on abortion rights, gay rights, gun control, those kind of cultural issues, they think that is a better terrain for president front tooth fight this on the presidential election than fighting it on covid. this takes the

conversation away. they feel that this is good for them. and better for those republicans who are fighting tight senate races. because they can switch the conversation as well and sort of get those republicans that are wavering. possibly. there is some issue there about who is nominated and whether those people are in tight races. some of the voters might actually think you know what we don't want to much of an extreme conservative on the supreme court was that we don't like how this is handled. but it's a very tight position. we will have more on this later on in the program. for those watching on bbc world news we will be right back. here in the uk the chief medical 0fficer here in the uk the chief medical officer is have tonight said the uk's coronavirus level should be raised to level four meaning transmission is high or rising exponentially. earlier sir patrick brown sent this to say. this graph

which is not a prediction is simply showing you how quickly this can move if the doubling time stays at seven days. of course the challenge therefore is to make sure the doubling time does not stay at seven days. there are already things in place which are expected to slow that. and to make sure that we do not enter into this exponential growth and end up with the problems that you would predict as a result of that. that requires speed, it requires action and it requires enough to be able to bring that down. boris johnson has been speaking to the leaders of the devolved administrations tomorrow he will chair his first emergency cobra telling a covid meeting in four months. according to the latest figures the number of cases in the uk is doubling every seven days. help us fashion or does it said that if that

trajectory continues the uk could hit almost 50,000 new cases a day in four weeks' time. which is a pretty sobering statistic. yet if we compare the uk to spain and france and were often told we are a couple of weeks behind the europeans and the trajectory, you can see they are that although it looks pretty serious for spain and france we are not seeing a rise, and exponential growth if you will that will get us to those 50,000 daily cases by next month. what should we take from that? we arejoined by month. what should we take from that? we are joined by sunetra gupta. i noted that sir patrick valla nce gupta. i noted that sir patrick vallance was quite cautious about what he was saying today. there was a lot of could happen, it might happen, and when you look at that graph what do you take from it? do you think there is still some doubt as to where the figures are going? yes. there is profound out. i don't really see the logic of saying it's going to double. as you said patrick

valla nce going to double. as you said patrick vallance didn't say it is definitely going to double. he said that it might double. normally, when an infectious disease takes off it starts with a certain pace. it takes pace and then it starts to lose pace because people become immune. 0f course, this epidemic has had a funny history and that the lockdown has come in and in the middle and then they lifted gradually and so it hasn't been able to sort of, or run its natural course. the truth is we don't really know where we are in that whole process. so we don't know how many people are actually currently immune or resistant. and we don't know whether this rise, which is very similar in the rise that you expect at this time a year and other respiratory infections. we don't really know where that is

going to lead. i would have thought being passed pneumonias gas would be that it didn't go, continue to double. into october. sol that it didn't go, continue to double. into october. so i am quite mystified by why that idea should be what we use to define policy and indeed to define the alert level at this stage. if you had the governments air what would you be recommending, advising them to do now? well, as we stated in the open letter that we published today, we would recommend that is to say myself and a bunch of other people from academia, we would recommend that given the uncertainties in how

what might happen at this stage, of which we think this particular idea, which we think this particular idea, which is not a prediction it's really quite an extreme example. —— i think we may have lost that line. the best way to do that is actually to focus on shielding people who are likely to die upon being infected while allowing those who are not likely to die upon being infected to acquire the infection and become immune. by doing that they reduce the risk to those that are vulnerable. doctor at the line was broken up but i think we got most of that. thank you very much for your thoughts and that probably doesn't explain why there are deep divisions in the cabinet. there is a meeting tomorrow which boris johnson in the cabinet. there is a meeting

tomorrow which borisjohnson will chair. and then he will be talking to the mps later in the day. i noticed that you are in your basement again. why are you in your basement again. why are you in your basement again? i know. yes, i got booted back into the basement. i went to bed last night not feeling great. i had a sore throat that woke me up in the night. i woke up this morning feeling very tired with a sore throat and i had sniffles and itchy eyes. so i decided to go and get a covid—19 test. the doctor who administered the test of this is almost certainly allergies. but i didn't feel it was fair not to raise it with the people who work on our studio. this is what we're going to be in fort wright, this winter? this last weekend was the coldest weekend in washington since the 1920s. so there has been a massive change in temperature and with that has come sniffles. and what you do? you don't wa nt to sniffles. and what you do? you don't want to go in and infect people. backin want to go in and infect people. back in the basement this week. at the intriguingly named

winged foot, a new golfing champion emerged over the weekend. 27—year—old bryson dechambeau won the us open on sunday by a staggering 6 six shots. i should leave all this to christian actually. he showed incredible composure to win his first major. the only golfer to break par over 72 holes in new york. thanks to some very straight and very long hitting off the tee. which he attributes to his new beefed up physique — apparently he's gained a0 pounds in the last 6 months — that's over 18 kilos. which is a bit counter intuitive. usually athletes are trying to lose weight. but as you can see from this before and after — it has all gone in all the right places. i wager at our production meeting. in the theme of the programme we we re in the theme of the programme we were a five to for that it not gone. it's gone to his packs. which is sad for all of us to think i could eat a

few more pie. but clearly not. it has to go in the right area of the body. your golf game could get even better. hello. many of us have had sparkling sunshine through the course of the day. that is true across england and wales and also across parts of southern areas of scotland. skies like this have been pretty widespread but across northern ireland, it stayed rather cloudy and we had some thicker cloud still in the northwest of scotland. and some rain affecting the far northwest. through this week we will see a change to much cooler weather conditions, so today we have seen temperatures of 21 in parts of aberdeenshire, 26 degrees across parts of east anglia, much colder weather is going to move in as we head across the autumn equinox which is tuesday into the middle part of the week and by the end of the week northerly

winds will really drop those temperatures down significantly. overnight tonight, we have a rain across the northwest of scotland, that will turn increasingly heavy and persistent here, clear skies initially for england and wales but mist and fog patch will develop later in the night, especially around the midlands with poor visibility here and in parts of wales. and that mist and fog and low cloud could take quite a time tuesday morning before it thins and breaks. then we will see sunshine coming out and further northwest this band of rain edging in and ahead of this weather front, we will get fairly gusty winds so a windy day for northern ireland and scotland and across the very far north of england to the east of the pennines. pretty gusty. the highest temperatures today across east anglia where we should see highs reaching about 26 celsius. that really is the last of the warm days because as we go through tuesday night into wednesday, this cold front will increasingly spread its way south and as it does so, those temperatures will be dropping away. it will turn quite cool across

scotland and northern ireland, england and wales for the most part and still relatively mild at 12 to 15 degrees but that cold air will continue to work southwards as this cold front continues to push the east and south during wednesday. outbreaks rain for england wales in the rain turns heavy and persistent across eastern areas and become a quite windy around some of our coast later in the day, scotland and northern ireland seeing the best of the dry weather and sunshine but it will feel cooler, highs of of 11 to 13 degrees and that cooler weather is spreading across the whole of the uk by thursday.

you're watching bbc news with me katty kay in washington, christian fraser is in london. our top stories... the selection of a supreme courtjudge throws the us election race up in the air. president trump is moving fast to name a successor — we heard democratic senator ben cardin this hour who told us it would be hypocritical of republicans to move too quickly. trust the voters of this country. let them make the decision as to who the rightful person is to make this appointment. we have never in modern times taken up a nomination this close to an election. the uk's coronavirus alert level is being upgraded to level 4 — as the government's chief scientific adviser says swift action is needed to bring down the number of infections. also in the programme.

leaked documents reveal how some of the world's biggest banks have allowed criminals and money launderers to move billions around the globe. and — an alpaca brought a football match to a standstill — raising one big question for the players ‘do they bite?'. the supreme court pick matters because this body of nine people affects almost every aspect of american life — abortion, gun rights, gay rights, environmental regulations — a the court has the final say on all of them. and frequently the vote ofjust one justice is enough to determine a ruling that will have an impact on millions of americans for years to come. in 2000, the court ended florida's election recount, giving george bush the presidency. in 2008, the court ruled five—to—four that civilians can keep a firearm

for self—defence. and in 2010 it ruled that political donations were a form of free speech — meaning no limit could be placed on election spending by corporations. 0n healthca re — the court narrowly ruled that americans should have access to affordable health coverage. and in 2015 — the court found that same—sex marriage was a right protected by the us constitution — all decisions made by a single vote. let's speak now to university of baltimore law professor kim wehle, who's in maryland. thank you forjoining us. the court has had historically an enormous impact on american life, what is coming up after the election which could also impact on american life? the number one case people are watching which isjust the number one case people are watching which is just a few days after the november election has to

do with the affordable care act, the obamacare do with the affordable care act, the obamaca re statute and do with the affordable care act, the obamacare statute and whether there is anything left of it to preserve. the court could decide to do away with it completely which would have an extraordinary impact on millions of american in a time where we are already in a massive health pandemic and people are struggling on so many levels. that is one. another important case is whether the united states contact — — important case is whether the united states contact —— congress has the power in an impeachment proceeding to subpoenaed documents. there is also a big one coming up in the separation between the first amendment from religious freedom when it comes to government benefits. justice ginsburg was really hawkish about the separation of church and state, the notion that government should not be involved in a nyway government should not be involved in anyway with religion but a

conservative court could take steps to merge that so there is a lot coming up this autumn but that is not even a sliver which could come up not even a sliver which could come up witha not even a sliver which could come up with a conservative trump pic in the next 20 or 30 years. up with a conservative trump pic in the next 20 or 30 yearslj up with a conservative trump pic in the next 20 or 30 years. i spoke to a democratic strategist this weekend and she said we could win the white house and senate but if the court becomes a 6—3 conservative majority court, we may as well have lost everything. libero is right to feel that dramatic about it in terms of how this could make america a much more conservative country? —— are liberals correct. it is possible to roll back a lot of constitutional protections for individuals which happened on the 20th century. before coming on here with you, i answer that question to first—year law students, the answer is yes, the

court can reverse things. they could make a decision that they made a mistake on gay marriage, on women's equality and a whole range of things. the conservative — progressive split does not come down to reading language, that is a myth that conservatives do not interpret the law, there is a lot of ambiguity in law but it comes down to balancing interest, do you balance the regular person with individual rights or balance the corporate individual is more heavily weighted. in the interests of a very powerful president. that is where the ideological breakdown could happen and it does adversely affect the lives of people in ways that most americans have no real concept of the implications of this. they often think it isjust the implications of this. they often think it is just about abortion but thatis think it is just about abortion but that is just the tip of the iceberg

about how the court could change america for the next three generations. do we have to look at the prospective candidates? let us put them on the screen for people. we have a devout catholic and a cuban—american which might be useful for president trump because she has flung florida. both of them appear to have the intellectual chops for a very difficult and complicated job so we have the basic criteria of competence. thejudge so we have the basic criteria of competence. the judge in so we have the basic criteria of competence. thejudge in florida, the question is she was in the majority for a controversial decision recently where the florida electorate decided to allow convicted felons to vote and the state came back and made it harder for them to vote because they had to

satisfy outstanding judgments. she was against the former prisoners in that instance. with judge was against the former prisoners in that instance. withjudge kony, the issue with respect to religion, there has been some controversy around that. the issue is not her religion but whether someone like her can separate her personal views from the decisions that will face her under the laws of facts. that is exactly the question jurors are asked before going on a jury. if it looks like your convictions are so closely held you cannot be objective about facts and law, she does not have a position on mine —— on my mind for that, there are lots of importantjobs mind for that, there are lots of important jobs for that but that would be the question for the senate. the separation between government and religion is something ourfounding government and religion is something our founding fathers and mothers cared a lot about, they did not want

government running around deciding which religions are ok and which are not. both of them of course already vetted by the fbi. thank you very much indeed. so what about the politics of all this? there's a fair chance when it comes to the november election, that this has a bigger effect on the downballot races, particularly the battle for the senate. there are only two republican senators up for re—election in november — susan collins in maine and colorado's cory gardner ? who represent states where donald trump lost to hillary clinton in 2016. which means there are 21 other republican seats in territory that trump won. the president will hope this supreme court vacancy strengthens the hand of those republican senators in tight races. lets speak to ron christie, republican strategist and former advisor to george w bush. great to see you, you are in your house and i and my basement. and i in work. first of all let's look at

the mathematics in the senate, we had senator murkowski and senator collins expressing a lack of enthusiasm about rushing a vote on this. do you think it a done deal the president will get this confirmation through? good afternoon to you in your basement and greetings from my house. this will bea greetings from my house. this will be a very interesting political calculus. i believe president trump is marshalling right now to get every strength he can get to get wavering senators either to change their position and fall into lockstep with him. republicans cannot afford to lose more than four senators, this could affect the next president bait president trump or president biden. i think he has the strength now to get a nominee to the court but they will be down in the

trenches and fighting like mad on both sides of the political spectrum to make sure president trump gets the nominees and the democrats will be trying to block him. this is what senator graham had to say about nominating so close to an election. i want you to use my words against me. if there is a republican president in 2016 and a vacancy occurs in the last year of the first term. you can say lindsey graham said let the next president whoever that may be make that nomination. and you could use my words against me and you would be absolutely right. my my word is my bond, how can you not be cynical about politicians when you compare that to his statement at the weekend. but if he does not go with the majority, in the senate race, he is politically dead. good evening to you and i think that is right. your words can come back to

bite you and in this instance, they have. senator graham is in a really tough election bid. 0n the one hand you are the friend of the president and play golf with him but on the other hand you're in a tight race. i think the politicians may stop when president obama put forward garland, a very respected jurist. the constitution says the president will nominate with the advice of the senate. you let the president nominated and the senate will consider it but the republicans shot that down. they are now saying what was good enough you to shutdown president obama, why do we not wait until the election regarding president trump. there is a special election in oklahoma, we have a gold—plated candidate, the former

astronaut, the husband of cathy get —— category for two short, will that change things if he wins at special election? i think it only underscores the urgency that republicans in the senate now face. they feel they have to get this done now. you can hear them saying that o'connor was nominated, you will hear a lot more on that in the days to come because republicans do not wa nt to ta ke to come because republicans do not want to take the risk of losing that special election but i would not rule out sally, the first air combat vetera n, rule out sally, the first air combat veteran, republicans are nervous about her prospects for re—election. you are either an astronaut or a fighter pilot fighting for the senate, you really have to go for

it. that is why i do not have to worry about these things, i will not be running for senate any time soon. thank you very much. could this election year get any more crazy? listen to this. that was the sound of the bells at the washington national cathedral on sunday, they ranked 200 times. this wasn't tribute to the of deaths. there is some argument about the number of deaths but we will reach 200,000.

and the united states not over the virus. quite the reverse. there are 28 states that have seen a 10 per cent rise in cases in the last 7 days. the american midwest accounting for some of the worsening figures. among them, wisconsin which now has over 100,000 covid—19 cases. iowa which now has over 80,000 cases. and kansas with over 52,000. meanwhile the cdc has had to revise its advice again on the dangers of catching covid—19 from small particles that linger in the air. let's speak to dr peggy hamburg, former commissioner of the us food and drug administration. i thought this debate about whether the coronavirus was airborne, carried in particles had been settled so what is going on? u nfortu nately we have settled so what is going on? unfortunately we have not had the clear and consistent guidance that we all would hope for coming from a gold standard public health agency like the cdc. there has been a lot of concern about intrusion from

outside forces, political leadership and areas in the white house. we have learned in addition to droplets, it can be spread by aerosol. respiratory droplets are the main source as we know but this only underscores we need to be very serious about important public health measures, including the wearing of masks because it will reduce spread from an individual, whether respiratory droplets or aerosols. we need to continue other important strategies like social distancing and handwashing. that is the problem, when something like the cdc changes its advice, first it was yes, it is airborne, then no, yes,

and then know again, it has real—life implications for how people act which could be fatal for somebody? this is a very new virus and we are still learning a lot about how it causes infection, how it behaves in communities and of course the manifestation of disease and how to manage it. recommendations may change but it is so important we get clear information from trusted public health leaders so that the public and policymakers know how to behave. recommendations may change and that can happen, as you learn more, you wa nt to can happen, as you learn more, you want to learn from experience, but we have to have a situation where people can have trust and confidence in the sources of information, especially when they are critical public health agencies. you are a former commissioner of the fda and

you would green light any vaccine, we learn from the who 156 you would green light any vaccine, we learn from the wh0156 countries have joined we learn from the wh0156 countries havejoined a scheme we learn from the wh0156 countries have joined a scheme for the distribution of the vaccine but the us and china are not on board, how worried are you about that? there is an enormous amount of momentum in terms of research and development to create a new vaccine to address covid—19 and i think we will make progress. u nfortu nately covid—19 and i think we will make progress. unfortunately there has been vaccine nationalism, how do we make vaccines for our fellow country people and that is understandable that leaders want to make sure their citizens are protected. this is a global pandemic. but the problem with that is we do not know it will be wholly effective, if it can come back again like flu and you do not clea n back again like flu and you do not clean up the world, it can return so there should be incentive for the us tojoina there should be incentive for the us tojoin a global there should be incentive for the us to join a global scheme? yes, that

is right, there are many reasons we should join our global scheme. i am very disappointed we have not signed on. ina very disappointed we have not signed on. in a global pandemic, no one is safe unless we address the problem around the world. in addition, as you said, the vaccine will help but is unlikely to be entirely protective. we do not know how long the vaccine will last and it will ta ke the vaccine will last and it will take time to get the population vaccinated so during that whole period, american citizens will remain vulnerable plus we do not know which vaccines are going to prove safe and effective. the us government and other governments are investing in vaccines made by manufacturers and they are making deals with other manufacturers with vaccines for their countries but if we invested in the scheme facility, we invested in the scheme facility, we could help ensure the vaccine was

made available to people in other countries around the world, especially low income countries which have no other access but we could also then get a share of those vaccines if one of those proved to be successful before the us vaccine or if they prove to be more effective so there is a lot of reasons in our own vested interests that we should join the scheme but u nfortu nately that we should join the scheme but unfortunately this notion of nationalism is getting in our way. doctor hammer, thank you very much for joining doctor hammer, thank you very much forjoining us. thank you. stay with us on forjoining us. thank you. stay with us on the bbc.

more now on rising covid infection rates in the uk, let's hear from now from our ireland, scotland and wales correspondents. four more areas added to the local lockdown list. gwent, bridgend, merthyr tydfil and newport. tomorrow they willjoin rhonda and caerfilly so in all 850,000 people placed under tougher measures. it means people are not allowed to travel in and out of their local council area unless they have a valid reason like going to work or education. people are not allowed to meet indoors with anyone not from their own household and an 11pm curfew but even now, talk of an even bigger, south wales wide local lockdown potentially being announced tomorrow. even that could be overtaken by anything decided at tomorrow's cobra meeting. here in scotland, nicola sturgeon said she wants to take fast and urgent action so she is going to make an announcement tomorrow afternoon to, in her words, try and bring the virus back under control in scotland because it is up to the scottish government to set their own distinct rules. but the first minister does say it makes sense in these circumstances to try and have broadly similar rules across the whole of the uk, even if they are not identical in every one of the uk nations.

she spoke on the phone to borisjohnson this afternoon and i am told the two leaders are broadly in the same place when it comes to what they are planning so we could maybe expect similar if not identical announcements tomorrow. well, last week local restrictions were brought in here in postcodes where cases of infections were highest but now those restrictions are being widened to cover the whole of northern ireland. so it means from tomorrow evening people will not be able to visit other peoples' homes indoors with a few exceptions for things like childcare but it will feel like a significant step back from where we were. ministers here at stormont held an extra meeting this afternoon to make the announcement and it comes against a backdrop of concern over house parties in the student areas of belfast, controversy over a pitch invasion at a gaa match over the weekend and police increasingly trying to crack down on those breaking the rules.

leaked documents have revealed how some of the uk's best known banks have allowed criminals, money launderers, and sanctioned russians to move dirty money around the world. the documents, known as the ‘fincen files, were leaked to buzzfeed news and shared with the bbc by the international consortium of investigativejournalists. richard bilton reports. the leaked documents show britain is open to dodgy business and criminality. i'm on my way to an office just to the north of london and in our leaked documents, it is quite clear that the us treasury thinks the place that i'm about to visit is one of the dodgiest addresses in the world. this office blockjust off potters bar high street might not look much but billions of dirty dollars go through companies registered on the second floor here at suite 2b 175 darkes lane. i want to understand how it works.

there is here at suite 2b, i am guessing that is them. let's give them a ring, see who runs this place, see how it operates. this is a place where hundreds of companies have been registered but nobody is in, nobody is answering. it isjust a dead end. the man who runs the office later told us he simply offers a registered address and only conducts basic checks. it is notjust here. we found more than 3,000 british companies in the suspicious activity report, that's more than any other country in the world. one type of company is particularly popular with money launderers. the uk offers a secretive type of company called a limited liability partnership, or llp, and llps can be used by crooks to move vast sums of cash

without being caught. i don't know whether i am delighted or sad to tell you that we are one of the world leaders in providing vehicles for laundering money because every major money—laundering scheme i've ever seen has had uk companies at their heart. on friday, the government announced plans for new company rules to combat fraud. it said the uk is internationally recognised as having some of the strongest controls worldwide when it comes to tackling money—laundering. but this secret us treasury report from the files refers to the uk as a higher riskjurisdiction such as cyprus. why is money—laundering something that our viewers should care about? because it is actually the very fuel of crime. if we continue to launder money, criminals will continue to commit the crimes, to kill people over drugs, supply drugs that kill, you know, people

in our community. it is perhaps the most shocking conclusion from the leaked files — the uk is at the heart of global money—laundering. richard bilton, bbc news. that is quite dramatic. this weekend leicester lost to burley. but that was not the most dramatic game. but that was not the most dramatic game. a football match in the english county of west yorkshire was disrupted on saturday by a loutish, pitch invader. an alpaca — a camel like mammal — anyway it bounded onto the field. carlton athletic‘s game against ilkley town was halted for 15 minutes. his name was oscar, he escaped from a nearby farm. attempts were made to entice him off the pitch with food before a farmer shepherded him home. can we just take a look again at the defender,

the right back, what was that? get a foot in. i hope he tackles better than that when he is playing for real. he will get dropped for that. hello. i think it's fair to say we'll all be feeling the distant effects of a hurricane over the next few days, but not in the way that you might imagine. over the next few days, our weather's going to turn much cooler, and yes, it is partly down to this in the west atlantic. this is hurricane teddy. it's not really been bothering anyone over recent days, although it will be bringing some heavy rain to eastern canada before too long. what teddy is also doing is it's shoving all this warm air up in the western side of the atlantic, and what that does is it builds a ridge in the jet stream like this. we find ourselves on the downstream side of the ridge, and what that does is it pulls in cold air from the arctic, sending our temperatures plunging. so later in the week, we're looking at temperatures of around nine in scotland, maybe 11;

toward southeast england, so the cooldown is partly related to a hurricane in the west atlantic. now before we get there, the last really warm day will be on tuesday for england and wales, plenty of sunshine. 0nce we've lost in early morning mist and fog patches, that could take quite a time. scotland and northern ireland, we see some rain moving in here, and it will turn quite windy for northern ireland and scotland and actually, the far north of england, including to the east of the pennines. it will turn out to be quite a gusty day as this band of rain pushes its way through. this rain, cold fronts, and behind that, the air does start to turn quite a bit colder. so, as we go through the tuesday night, we see the wet weather pushing across from scotland and northern ireland into england and wales, and the rain could still be quite squally in nature. the colder air starts to arrive across the north, so for scotland and northern ireland, tuesday nights see temperatures down into single figures. and it'll turn out to be quite a cold one in the countryside. england and wales for the most part 12—15 with the colder air yet to arrive.

here is the cold front on wednesday bringing rain with it across to england and wales, scotland and northern ireland into brighter weather with some spells of sunshine. while the sunshine might be out, it will feel quite cool. temperatures just around 12 or 13 degrees, the mildest air towards the southeast before the colder air really digs in. but it will be wet and as we go through wednesday evening, we might see an area of low pressure develop along the front, so the rain turns heavier and it could become quite windy for a time around some of our north sea coast and perhaps through the english channel as well. that low clears away into the north sea, and then for thursday, it looks like an unsettled day. it could become particularly windy, actually, across parts of wales and southwest england, so a blustery kind of day here. there will be some fairly lengthy spells of rain for some, whereas other people might just about stay dry. for example, northern scotland not looking too bad. into friday, we've got those northerly winds really digging in and broadly speaking, it's going to be a day of sunshine and showers, although there will be some areas in land that completely dodged the showers and have sparkling

visibility and sunny skies. look at the temperatures, though. we're ranging from about 9 degrees in parts of scotland to about 111 towards the southeast, so it is turning significantly colder. now the weekend ahead, we've got a ridge of high pressure crossing the country on saturday, and on sunday, we start to see another area of low pressure move in from the rest. that will be bringing in return of wet and windy weather. so it will turn increasingly unsettled as we go on through the weekend, but then into next week, again, we maintain that rather unsettled pattern. broadly speaking, it's a showery kind of set up, although there will be some lengthier outbreaks of rain at times. it's also going to turn quite windy at times next week as well. that's your latest weather. bye for now.

tonight at ten — urgent action is needed to control the pandemic, or there could be many thousands of new cases every day within a month. the government's chief scientists say all four nations of the uk now face a tipping point and the public have to respect the health guidelines. if we don't do enough, the virus will take off, and at the moment, that is the path that we are clearly on, and if we do not change course, then we are going to find ourselves in a very difficult problem. cases are increasing. hospitalisations are following. deaths unfortunately will follow that, and there is the potential for these to move very fast. in bolton, where tougher restrictions have been in place for the past two weeks, people complain of