this is bbc news. overnight polls suggest last night's presidential debate was won byjoe biden, but the real loser may have been america's reputation around the world. "it was a farce of a performance that did almost nothing to illuminate the choice before the american people." the question is... you're gonna put a lot of new supreme courtjustices... the question is... ..radical left... will you shut up, man? listen, who is on your list, joe? clean up — after ducking an opportunity to condemn white supremacists, the president now claims ignorance over a far—right group he mentioned by name at last night's debate.

i don't know who the proud boys are. i mean, you'll have to give me a definition because i really don't know who they are. i can only say they have to stand down. let law enforcement do their work. also in the programme.... the same money that we spent on cigarettes worldwide, every two weeks, would guarantee everyone, everywhere the protection they need from covid—i9. the un secretary general willjoin us to push his global vaccine iniative. and we will treat you to some of the social media response to last nights presidential mud wrestling. hello. i'm katty kay in washington, christian fraser is in london and millions of americans are nursing a hangover. a debate hangover. whatever you make of who won or who lost the first 2020 presidential debate, it was certainly not the great american public. overnight polls show they were just annoyed by it. there must be a more sensible way to pick the next president of the united states. it was the most chaotic debate

in american presidential history — 90 minutes of yelling, interrupting and name calling. largely, to be entirely fair, because of donald trump. even the moderator, chris wallace of fox news, blamed the president for refusing to stick to the rules and frequently interrupting joe biden. the result was that the occasional clear policy position was drowned out by the shouting. the question is... ..radical left... will you shut up, man? listen, who is on your list, joe? 0h, give me a break. because, you know what, there's nothing smart about you, joe. well, it's hard to get any word in with this clown. excuse me, this person. hey, let me just say that... absolutely not true. you know what, stop. but you were taped doing it. you were a senator and, by the way, you were a... you're the worst president that america's ever had, come on. hey, do you know...let me. the country would be better served if we allowed both people to speak with fewer interruptions. i am appealing to you, sir, to do that. well, and him too. well, frankly, you've been doing more interrupting than he has. that's all right, but he does plenty. if we would have listened to you,

the country would have been left wide open. millions of people would have died, not 200,000 — and one person is too much. it's china's fault, it never should have happened. he knew all the way back in february how serious this crisis was. he knew it was a deadly disease. ..million dollars. he doesn't...that's not true. it doesn't want to talk about what you need. you, the american people. it's about you. people want their schools open, they don't want to be shut down. they don't want their states shut down. they want their restaurants. i look at new york, it's so sad what's happening in new york. it's amost like a ghost town. we have to go back to the core values of this country. they were teaching people that our country is a horrible place, it's a racist place. nobody's done that, he'sjust... he's the racist. 0h, you'vejust done it. what do you want to call them? give me a name, give me a name. white supremacists and... go ahead, who would you like me to condemn? the proud boys, white supremacists and right—wing militias. the proud boys, stand back and stand by. but i'll tell you what, i'll tell you what, somebody‘s got to do something about antifa and the left.

well, president trump is heading to minnesota for a fundraiser and a campaign rally today. before leaving he offered some clarification on why he didn't condemn the neo—fascist group — the proud boys. i don't know who the proud boys are. i mean, you'll have to give me a definition, cos i really don't know who they are. i can only say they have to stand down. let law enforcement do their work. i've always denounced any form... any form of any of that you have to denounce. "any form of any of that." let's bring in the republican congressman for georgia, jody hice. thank you very much forjoining us. i have been texting back and forth with a senior adviser to the trump campaign earlier today and he felt that that was a mistake on the part of the president, that he should have taken the opportunity to denounce white supremacists while he was upon the stage in cleveland. do you think you missed an opportunity there? i think he perhaps missed an opportunity to be more clear but he

has repeatedly, repeatedly denounced white supremacy and any type of organisation that views itself as more important than anyone else. he has done that repeatedly, and he did in the debate last night. he could have done so more strongly, more clearly, but he did denounce it last night, and he, again, has done so repeatedly and, you know, it's time for his denunciation of white supremacy to be accepted by the media but they continue handing him and yet this president has been very clear on his position opposing any form of supremacy in any shape, form oi’ form of supremacy in any shape, form orfashion. form of supremacy in any shape, form or fashion. donald trump went into the debate about eight points behind in national opinion polls and significantly behind in several of the key battle ground states as well. do you think that he did enough last night to close the gap? well, look, they're's not been a single pole about donald trump that has ever been accurate so i wouldn't believe any of the polls are right

now. i believe the president is extremely well respected across the country because he is a man of action. he has done what he said he would do. in spite of tremendous opposition, he hasn't been any individual who has delivered and who has actually done what he said he would do and because of that people respect him as an individual, they knew he was not a typical politician, he was an outstanding businessman, and he came here to drain the swamp and to do what he said he would do. that, of course, has shaken the hornets nest here in washington, dc but people greatly admire and respect the fact that he isa man admire and respect the fact that he is a man of action and he is a man who has done what he said he would do and so from that perspective he did that last night in the debate as well. he shakes things up and i believe in the long run this is going to be good for the president. look at... if you put aside the debate itself of the squabbling back and forth, there were some very

substantive things that were said last night that separate drastically the weak leadership ofjoe biden versus the strong leadership of donald trump. and, at the end of the day, that's what's's going to come through and that while it's the american people going to say. well, that's really interesting because, you know, you may not have agreed with donald trump in 2016 but i knew what he stood for, build the wall, strengthen the border, will back 0bama care, cut taxes, get a regulation, drain the swamp, and honestly looking at this moment in time from outside i'm not really sure what the platform the next or well, you look at what has happened over the next four years relentless, relentless attacks every single day. 0r erroneous impeachment that has taken place that we now know was set up taken place that we now know was set up by taken place that we now know was set up by hillary clinton in the administration including... but that's not the same as setting out

apart from the next four years, is it? that is not really mitigating the last four years? in spite of that, he has given us the greatest economy in the history back on country. of course, a pandemic came along but we have seen yet again our country's economy be banned tremendously. 0ur military are stronger, the borders are secure, trade deals we have, and we are going to continue under the leadership of donald trump to continue building upon the platform and the successes, the numerous su ccesses , and the successes, the numerous successes, that he has added in the last four years. what are the other concerning things? less... i dunno, it wasn't so much what he said about proud boys, it was more the sort of hand in glove message when it came to talking about except in the election. when he says stand by the people who see that as a sort of coded message that the election is going to be stolen from the republicans and there is no evidence that and keeps going back to it.|i disagree with you. i disagree drastically with you. is enormous

evidence. where? when is the evidence? his own commission looked into this electoral fraud found nothing? no, it is something because what they are doing now as never before happened. we have always had absentee ballots which are through the mail but we have never, we have never had a universal live mail—in ballots just being mailed never had a universal live mail—in ballotsjust being mailed out never had a universal live mail—in ballots just being mailed out to tens of millions of people with no voter id and we know that the voter registration list across the country, or at least in every state, at least 10% inaccurate, and nonetheless all these ballots are being mailed out. someone is going to receive these ballots, no voter id, no way of identifying he was receiving these ballots, but they are going somewhere, they are going to be filled out, there is no other option but to have voter fraud to be filled out, there is no other option but to have voterfraud in this and this is something that has never before happened in the united states so, yes, we are going to have

voter fraud if the states so, yes, we are going to have voterfraud if the democrats have their way. that is the real debate we are going to have in the days and weeks ahead. congress men, it is really good to talk to you. thank you for coming in the programme. we should just clarify by the way that the fbi director had himself said that he does not believe that there are concerns about voter fraud and mail in voting. lets get the thoughts of the democratic strategist — mary anne marsh. you are a regular on a programme. let's not pull our punches here. there was a lot to say i don't run but i didn't thinkjoe biden was that great either. he was cogent, he got his point across but as we said before, donald trump set the bar so low third joe biden all he had to do a step over it. that was exactly the trump campaign strategy which was to... if there were more debates to come i think is going to work on that but ultimately she did take opportunities to look into straight on the camera, speak to the american

people and tell them what he was going to do long covid a jobs in racial injustice and that went a long way last night, even though they won't see many of them, in what was otherwise a debate that turned into a wrestling match. what about that last point that we were discussing with jodie high that last point that we were discussing withjodie high and the congressmen. this idea that the election could go on for months. i'm sure that was trickling alarm bells in the dnc. in fact, speak a nancy pelosi was on the election this morning talking about that. alison. she wants to cause chaos, take it to the courts, when he takes it to the course prolong the process so that they would not be a majority of the electoral college by the december assigned date and that's when he is just starts talking about well, i'll ta ke just starts talking about well, i'll take it in the house of representatives. what is this? what is this, maryanne? well, don't run himself said last night during the debate that it would take months. so for many years now people have said don't listen to what he says, watch

what he does. no, you listen to every word he says because he is deadly serious. he is going to try to drag this out for four months a nancy pelosi is preparing for it. that scenario right there, if neither party comes up with 278 electoral votes it goes to the house in every state gets a vote based on the proportion of democrats and republicans they have. today, democrats had 23 delegations, republicans have 26, pennsylvania is tied. they will be done by the next congress, the one elected in november, but it will determine, as nancy pelosi revealed today among other things, she is preparing for that exact scenario, putting money into states to win more congressional seats so that the democrats have a majority there and had 26 seats to decide this election if it comes to that. we are at the point now where everyone has to take very seriously the lengths to which donald trump will go to hang onto power. he said it last night. he's obviously talking about voter suppression, he's obviously talking

about voter intimidation and peoples need to start looking at the national urgency if you sign back in match for the pandemic and the insurrection ax that allows an extraordinary powers that he could use for the selection to stay in power from sending military personnel into polling areas, interstates, controlling the internet, shutting down bank accounts, i mean, that's where we are now with 3a days to go and i hate to say it, but with donald trump, anything is possible and it is very likely to happen. million, can we talk about the next debate because there is some question about whetherjoe biden can even take part in it because nancy pelosi is suggested maybe it was even worth it because let's be honest because that was the most unedifying data have ever seen, was the most unedifying data have ever seen, did no service to the american public, was a totalfarce ofa american public, was a totalfarce of a debate trying to put the issues beforehand. the commission on presidential debates is under fire at the moment. it was at the moment. they put out the statement this morning which is super unusual.

we just wejust got we just got news that they are considering giving moderators the power to cut the microphones of the moderators. is that what has to happen there because it's close whatever the debate team agreed to in terms of rules donald trump was inedible of them. i would say the following, i agree with nancy pelosi a lot of the time and disagree on this one. the fact isjoe biden is to stand up to donald trump needs to keep taking him on because he needs to show the american people that he can keep taking him on. these debates are not the hardest thing joe biden has to do if he prevails and goes to the white house. he has to clean up the biggest mess ever. i don't want to cut the mics as often as that sounds. because if they do it gives donald trump the opportunity to say i am being

silenced, i am opportunity to say i am being silenced, iam not opportunity to say i am being silenced, i am not being listened to, this is censorship, see you are playing him on his terms. the american people need to take them donald trump. everyone has been to his will for the last four years and look where it has gotten us. we need these debates... connection interruption. joe biden is to show that he can take on donald trump and ta ke that he can take on donald trump and take it and had. i hope they never give you control of my my, cathy. dean a lot, i was reminded last night. pull, let me tell you to shut up. never. it was something that came up last night. i remember some years ago michael gove was saying when he woke the times newspaper and he went over to the white house to interviews donald trump and i have similar talking about brexit what it was like. he said it is like a river in spate. it is like a river that has flooded, coming at you and is not

going to stop this talent and i thought about it last night with chris wallace i because i don't think there was any moderator anywhere that could have stopped this last night, that could have brought some odour to the proceedings. yeah, look, chris wallace had a good reputation of giving trumpet of interview when he has had one—on—one interviews with him and he com pletely lost interviews with him and he completely lost control of that debate and there is a lot of criticism here this morning of him. imean, criticism here this morning of him. i mean, there are people saying things like, he could have told the candidates leave the stage until they sorted out whether they were going to obey the rules because wallace said, listen, very clearly, we heard it there, your team said you were going to play by the rules mr president, and what you trump do? you just kind of shocks there. you could have asked for the order to be killed in the microphones, for example. i think they're were things in real time he could have done to assert more control. if you look at the next debate, the moderator of the next debate, the moderator of the next debate, steve scully who works for c—span news, is nice or

less experience than chris wallace in one—on—one interviews with somebody like donald trump. he was not a super nice guy, here i know him quite well, he is soft—spoken, he is an old school down the lie don't take a position totally fair moderator, —— down the line, but wow, can moderator, —— down the line, but wow, can you moderator, —— down the line, but wow, can you imagine having thejob of moderating that they? is not something you would like to be doing? i think i would suddenly find myself on the way to mexico on my cell phone. the only way to get through that debate last night was with an awful lot of alcohol. u nfortu nately, with an awful lot of alcohol. unfortunately, i was working so i didn't have that option. if i did, i can tell you, i would have gone there. it was that exhausting. there is a lot more coming up today. there are fresh warnings

that lebanon could face a new civil war unless its leaders agree to form a new government. over the past year — the country has been grappling with an economic meltdown — and that was before last month's devastating beirut blast. with many lebanese fearing that their country could slip into chaos, some families are now paying smugglers to take them to europe in rickety boats. but as our correspondent — martin patience — now reports from tripoli — the death of one young boy has shocked the whole country. this little boy love going to the beach and playing in the waves. but earlier this month, his body washed up earlier this month, his body washed up on the shore. the two—year—old, the latest victim of lebanon's devastating economic bash. translation: he started to ask me for water. he was breast—feeding but since his mum wasn't eating, her milk dried up. mohammed couldn't find any work, so he paid the smugglers to take his family by boat to cyprus. but the days, they drifted with no water or food.|j filled up a bottle with sea water

and he kept drinking from it but then he was crying, he was going crazy. i thought, what am i going to do? he is going to die. his tiny body was wrapped in a shroud. he was buried at sea. days later, his pa rents were rescued buried at sea. days later, his parents were rescued by a un frigate. lebanon's economic collapse over the past year has been truly staggering. more than half the country are now living in poverty, and nowhere has been harder hit than tripoli, lebanon's for city. the growing sense of desperation felt here means some families are prepared to risk everything. across the city, more and more children are going hungry. their parents can't afford to put food on the table. translation: we are not scared of the sea any more, whether we stay or go, we are dead either way. he's

planning to try and take his eight children to europe. after his body was recovered, the little boy was buried in his home city of tripoli. the only reason we left, said his dad, was so he could have a better future. bbc news, tripoli. the terrible choices that parents have to make. there is a lot going on here in america but it is good that we can also keep an eye on what is happening in other countries too. if you're watching on bbc world news, we will be right back. borisjohnson says the uk is at a "critical moment" in the fight against coronavirus. the prime minister added it's too early to tell if restrictions were having an impact and insisted that he would not hesitate to take further measures if the scientific evidence required it. let's listen to what he had to say.

there is only one way of doing this and that is by showing collective forbearance, common sense, and willingness to make sacrifices for the safety of others. at this critical moment when i think people will be wanting to know the details i will be providing regular updates to these press conferences. i have to these press conferences. i have to be clear, if the evidence requires it we will not hesitate to ta ke requires it we will not hesitate to take further measures which would, i am afraid be more costly than the ones we put into effect now. 71 new deaths reported in the last 2a hours. last time we were at 71 deaths was matched 21st, two days before a full lockdown. we don't yet have a globally available vaccine for covid—19, but the wealthiest countries have been striking deals to ensure that when we do they have access to it.

it is a scramble that could leave limited supplies in the coming year for low— and middle—income countries. today the un secretary general, antonio guterres, appealed to the advanced nations, to donate money from their own national responses to the pandemic — into order to help fund this global vaccine plan. i asked him how much it would help to win the commitment of the united states, china, and russia. it will be very important to have the commitment of all countries. some countries have already announced that they will have made available their own vaccines also to developing countries and this is pa rt developing countries and this is part of this process. we believe that they will be an effective coordination of the covax, the facility that was put in place. with those countries that will not only produce for their own citizens but are ready to produce also to citizens of developing countries, and we strongly appeal to those that will be able to develop their own vaccines to be part of these

efforts. i am vaccines to be part of these efforts. iam not vaccines to be part of these efforts. i am not asking for countries not to protect their own citizens, because it is the duty of these countries to protect their own citizens, but everybody will only be protected when the countries in the developing world will also be able to vaccinate their citizens. but despite of all the support you have had from eu countries and western governments, these global initiatives don't prevent countries from signing their own independent deals with manufacturers and if they have already taken off the market billions of doses of these vaccines, there just aren't billions of doses of these vaccines, therejust aren't going billions of doses of these vaccines, there just aren't going to be enough supplies for the low and middle—income countries. or no, first of all, if you take into account all the contracts that were announced, there will be plenty of extra vaccines that will be available and we are discussing the country is exactly how to make this vaccine is available to other countries, but on top of that, we have nine vaccines in development

linked to the covax and we believe that with adequate funding we will be able to reach the 2 billion that is our target be able to reach the 2 billion that is ourtarget in be able to reach the 2 billion that is our target in order to be able to support those countries that have knocked the capacity to manufacture and had not the capacity to buy vaccines in the international markets. this might have not the capacity to manufacture. you talk about something called vaccine naturalism, that is quite a political term. which countries are guilty of axing nationalism? —— vaccine nationalism. those countries that are only committed to develop vaccines for their own citizens and will not engage with us. which countries? i'm not here to name countries. this is not my objective. my countries. this is not my objective. my objective is to have everybody on board and i appeal to all countries to recognise that their own citizens will not be safe until every citizen in the world is safe. what about

prices for drugs? some manufacturers have pledged to make the vaccine available on a not for profit basis, but others have not. where do you stand on the prices of vaccines? well, we believe that the vaccine must be available and affordable everywhere. of course, we believe that many manufacturers have announced that they will have perfectly manageable prices. they don't intend to have profits. we have just heard 16 manufacturers signed an agreement with the gates foundation. we have nine involved in the covax. so we believe that the majority of the manufacturers understood that they need to scale up understood that they need to scale up production and to make production available not to increase their profits, but of course to cover their costs, and to support as much as possible the international community on this. secretary general, thank you forjoining the programme. the message is clear, countries

where people travel will also need to have other countries have their travel if their citizens want to be safe. we'll have much more on about coming up after a short break. good evening. still pretty wet weather for some at the moment. but things will turn to big drier into tonight and into tomorrow. tomorrow will be much brighter day for many. not completely dry but also compared to the strong winds we have at the moment, it will be a day of later winds. the stronger winds are in the edge of this weather front that is bringing rain through the evening, pushing its way eastwards, still raining into the first part of the night through eastern england, eastern scotland and struggles to turn dry across some parts of eastern scotland. where the rain will linger, elsewhere you can see that the blue is starting to diminish and turns drier in most parts with clearer skies around, particularly across northern ireland, north wales, where we could see a touch of frost to take us into tomorrow morning. so, the picture for thursday

morning, a lot more sunshine around with the exception being the northern half of scotland, cloud, outbreaks of rain here in have been marked out for a time, east anglia with some rain around the far eastern coast it a few showers crop up across england, something scotland a few showers crop up across england, southern scotland and northern ireland, some of them heavy and thundery to take us into tomorrow morning. many will spend the bulk dry and a little bit fresher than we saw today, temperatures in the mid teens. thursday evening, the showers push us northwards and to the south. all governed by the jet stream piling across the atlantic, dipping down to the side of the uk in within that dip, area pressure will be stuck and be with us for a few days and how that interacts with the jet stream will govern just how wet and windy it will be. it looks like we will see a nasty area of low pressure developing across france, storm alex, this where the greatest impact will be felt but is potential to cause some disruption across southern counties on friday and strong gale force winds,

maybe 60 mile per hour gusts and pushing its way northwards, exact positioning of that rain could change a little bit. if it's a bit further south, the winds might be a bit lighter, further north, though, greater impact around the english channel. more than half of the country looks predominantly dry on friday with lighter winds and some sunshine. that will change as a going to the weekend but the pressure still there, spinning around like a sock in a washing machine and areas of rain and strong winds, particularly around the fringes. even if you get to friday dry, you'll potentially see some heavy rain and strong winds this weekend.

you're watching bbc news with me, katty kay, in washington. christian fraser is in london. our top stories... the us debates regulator says it will announce new measures to make the next presidential debate more orderly. donald trump says the rules should not change in the middle of the game. donald trump rolls back on his comments about white supremacy. we'll be talking to the man whose job it once was to help him get his message across — his former press secretary anthony scaramucci. also in the programme... the un secretary general tells this programme that the world needs to pull together to fund a covid—19 vaccine. we absolutely need $38 billion in order to make a vaccine effective and available for everybody

everywhere. last night's debate was politically polarising — but the internet? entirely unified. we've got some of the memes that capture the chaos. after last night's fiasco, the commission that runs presidential debates said today that it will try to make the next one less chaotic. cbs news is even reporting that they will consider "cutting off a candidate's microphone if they violate the rules." for the poor 6% of voters who really are hoping these debates can help them make up their minds that would be a welcome change. so what did they get out of last night's contest? pre—debate 49% of voters thought joe biden had the physical and mental stamina for the job. 51% thought he was trustworthy, and 55% said he cares about people like me.

post—debate, you can see an uptick forjoe biden on all those questions — between 1—3% — it's small but in a tight race, it could be significant. then look at the other side. donald trump pre and post—debate. he gains two points for physical and mentalstamina, but remains pretty much stagnant when it comes to honesty, and caring about people like me. and here's a really telling figure. when asked how the debate made them feel — 69% said they were annoyed whilst watching. i'm in that group. that was me. former white house press secretary to president trump anthony scaramucci joins us now. anthony, did you have a lovely, relaxing time watching the debate? was a edifying? did you learn a lot about the state of american politics? it was a rough debate, it required a lot of antacid. but truth

be told, that was the president's only strategy. he's failed on the covid—19 crisis which precipitated the recession, the steepest one since the great depression, and he's made our country weaker as it relates to our western alliances. so what was he going to do? he got on the stage, broke the law there, if you will, those debate rules and protocols, and was the interrupter in chief. i actually thought that the vice president, when he wasn't being interrupted, was actually speaking in complete and looked very credible. you said strategy - what was the strategy? because donald trump went into that debate some eight points behind joe biden, and pa rt eight points behind joe biden, and part of the reason he is eight points behind joe biden is because people have watched him for the last four years and they don't really like this behaviour. and what they got last night was that behaviour on steroids. so how was it a strategy to move the needle in his direction?

so that was a hot skillet strategy. they convinced him that the vice president was an egg and that if he got cracked on the side of that skillet, it would the pan. so he we nt skillet, it would the pan. so he went in very hot, the person that helped him prep, governor christie, said it was too hot. then he got discombobulated — and once the president gets discombobulated, he has the tendency to over remote and do the things that people are cautioning him not to do. when you're trying to coach the president, and i was part of that debate prep four years ago — if you tell them not to do something, he's a reflexive guy in the first thing he'll try to do is do more of the thing you're telling him not to do because he wants to prove you wrong. sol because he wants to prove you wrong. so i think he came into hot, he couldn't get out of the situation. and i can't really explain why he mishandled the covid—19 situation other than the one about is him to say joe other than the one about is him to sayjoe biden would've done worse than him. he can't explain why he

politicized the mask issue in the united states or why he missed it handled the shelter at home situation which exacerbated the drop in the economy. —— mishandled. so if you look at the venn diagram, that's the spot the president was in, he wanted to see if he could shake up joe biden. of course he couldn't do that, the vice president is a very disciplined guy. and i think the vice president bested him because of the way people feel. i think if people were annoyed — and that annoyance was placed squarely at the feet of the president. we think the biden camp were satisfied from how it went. but ijust biden camp were satisfied from how it went. but i just wonder from their perspective if there is a danger that the negativity and what we saw onstage last night keeps people away from the ballot box? because there's plenty of elections and political that tells that when it goes negative, people stay at home. listen, this is a very polarising situation. and i think if

secretary clinton was the polarising candidate last time, he's the polarising candidate this time. so while joe biden might not be their first choice for president, he's not their last choice. for many people in the united states, donald sharp is their last choice for president. sol is their last choice for president. so i predict they will come out in droves. i will say to somebody in the biden campaign, if they watch the biden campaign, if they watch the bbc, the vice president needs a slice of pizza and a sometimes dashes suntan. i saw your tweet earlier. with the president look like a corvette that i was, there was an orange corvette in high school i was desperate to buy and i couldn't afford it. it was in 1981 orange corvette. when i saw the president's orange spray paint last night, it made me think of that car. so it was a little nostalgic. night, it made me think of that car. so it was a little nostalgiclj night, it made me think of that car. so it was a little nostalgic. i bet your mum was very glad you didn't manage to buy that in high school.

she was very discouraging, thankfully. on a serious note, coming back to what you said at the top, emmanuel macron was speaking here in europe yesterday, saying we need to pull away from this bipolar world and american power. i wonder when you stand back from it all what the rest of the world thought of this. they must‘ve looked at american politics last night and thought, "where's the decency? where's the decorum ? " thought, "where's the decency? where's the decorum? "ij thought, "where's the decency? where's the decorum?" i think it's sad. i spent a lot of time travelling prior to the covid—19 situation, i have lots of friends around the world, i talked to my friends in the middle east last night andl friends in the middle east last night and i think it's sad. it's sad in america, but i want to point out that there's something going on in the electorate. there's anger, there's a split in the electric, lots of blue collar people who feel economic desperation, and it is being reflected in these candidates. it's not coming from the top down, we need to work on the bottom up from this country. we need to solve theseissues from this country. we need to solve these issues for these people so that we can settle this thing down

and become more unifying and embrace the world again like we are capable of. anthony, can we throw forward to the next debate? we have cbs saying it is possible that the presidential commission might even allow moderators to kill the mike's. they clearly realised that last night's did not do any service to the american people. if donald trump listened to his advisers, and i don't know why he would listen to his advisers, but if you listened and came back is a much more disciplined candidate, that could be a problem forjoe biden? because he's not the best debater. yes and no. he was prepared last night, and i would go back to his debate with bernie sanders in march — he does very well one—on—one in my opinion. he's not the best debater is when there's a he's not the best debater is when there'sa a he's not the best debater is when there's a a field out there, he can't figure out a way to stick his head out properly. but one on one, i think he does 0k. and if they start cutting the mic, i do think it will

help to get those senses out and at least apply what his vision is to the country and our future. but i don't think i'll go in that direction. i think that is a warning, i feel like the stuff is sedimentary, if you will. it is very ha rd sedimentary, if you will. it is very hard to change the rules in the middle of the game, as the president pointed out. and i think if the president does that again, it will have a very big impact on him, i think people will be very fed up. and i think the smart people on the plane home with him would have said he may have wanted to walk back to the walk back desk the whites premises comments. and by the way, you're turning off suburban housewives with their obnoxiousness. now he probably doesn't have people on his campaign step any more that are willing to say those things to him, but they should have said that to them last night secular he's got a broad coalition when you're that behind in the polls. thank you so much for being on the programme.

thanks so much can a christian. great to see you both. last night's event was called a presidential debate — but in truth, it felt neither presidential nor anything like a debate. it was hard to distinguish where either of the candidates stood on a range of policy issues. but there was one moment, where donald trump was offered the chance to denounce white supremacy — and he declined the chance to do so. i would say almost everything i see is from the left wing, not from the right wing. so what are you saying? i'm willing to do anything... so do it, say it. you want to call them — what do you want to call them? give me a name, give me a name. white supremacists and the proud boys. proud boys, stand back and stand by. but i'll tell you what, i'll tell you what — somebody's got to do something about antifa and the left. we played you a little earlier his response to the criticism that's followed — he claims he didn't know who the proud boys are. well, they are a far—right, anti—immigrant, anti—semitic,

all—male group with a history of street violence against left—wing opponents. and judging by their response they seem pretty suited with what the president had to say — shortly after his "stand back stand by" comment, the group posted this image on the messaging app telegram, with the group's logo and trump's remarks either side of it. and on social media site parler, proud boys' organiser joe biggs wrote... while current chairman, enrique tarrio, said... they might be happy — i am not sure the republican party is. let's bring in elizabeth neumann, she served in this administration at the department of homeland security. she has recently come out forjoe biden. elizabeth, what did you make of the comments last night from the

president and his cleaning up of those comments today? was it too late? because the proud boys had already run with what he said, and as we said there taken it as a licence to do something with it? thanks for having me. and yes, it is a little too late. the way that these extremist groups often work is that they believe they are getting coded messages from the president, and he does things like this where he says something somewhat ambiguous, seems to be endorsing them, then comes in too late, too much time is past, and then tacitly says to let law enforcement do their job. enough time has passed, the momentum has been gained that it has enabled them to recruit more people. it is encouraging them to develop plans for either inciting violence or perhapsjust plans for either inciting violence or perhaps just confronting other

counter protesters. and clearly we have a very tense time in our country, we have an election and a little over four weeks. and when you add his comments about protecting the polling places, he creates this incentive for militia groups and whites premises groups for many to feel like they now have the president's permission to go and ta ke president's permission to go and take matters into their own hands. so while i'm glad that he came out and said to let law enforcement do their job and said to let law enforcement do theirjob and everyone else needs to stand down, the time that it took for him to clarify that, they will ta ke for him to clarify that, they will take that as he was forced to say some today in order to win the election, he actually meant what he said last night. that's how these conspiracy theories and how these extremist groups tend to interpret his commentary in this space. go ahead. when you are serving for the

administration in the white house, did this sort of tone and rhetoric that we heard last night get in the way of some of the work you are doing? absolutely! i don't know how many times i had to dance around when i was actually in the administration, but i was asked the question, do the president's words make yourjob question, do the president's words make your job particles question, do the president's words make yourjob particles make the answer is yes. it increases recruitment, it gives permission to groups that on the bubble, and proud boys falls into the situation — they aren't explicitly white nationalists. their founder is very clear that he doesn't want to associate with white nationalism, but within their ranks are plenty of white nationalists, plenty of whites premises. because what they are actually doing as a group is building into existing grievances and trying to find camaraderie around those grievances. and they glorify the militarization or the militia concept of being able to

defend your family and your community — all of which have deep roots in the united states but not manifest in a legal way in the united states any more. so that glorification leads to increased recruitment, and it just glorification leads to increased recruitment, and itjust takes one person to take that next step in radicalised violence. and we've seen way too much violence. go ahead. elizabeth, are you worried about the kind of violence you're talking about after the election? yes, i am. there have been a number of us — some like me who have spoken out from a political viewpoint, but many others who are speaking out because their counterterrorism professionals, and we are very concerned that the tension and recruitment that we are seeing, the president's rhetoric — we are going to see more violence between different factions, and most of it is probably not premeditated. but we are concerned that there are

individuals who are trying to plan attacks of a spectacular nature. and tha n kfu lly attacks of a spectacular nature. and thankfully we have great law enforcement that are on top of that, but the president is continuing to make law enforcement's job but the president is continuing to make law enforcement'sjob harder. and i think it is amazing that he's the president of law and order, yet he's the opposite of what is professionals tell him to do —— doing the opposite. elizabeth, thanks forjoining us from washington. thanks for having me. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: we hear from the opera singers who brought the united states an uplifting moment of national and racial unity. let's return to coronavirus now — and this time around we are seeing a number of local outbreaks. that means the rules can be different depending on where you are. but there are still some things that apply to all of us, such as the hands, face and space message — washing your hands,

wearing masks in shops and on public transport, and keeping a social distance. here's our health editor hugh pym on just how critical a moment this is in our struggle against the coronavirus. hospitals are preparing for winter and the added pressure of coronavirus cases. an intensive care unit has opened at southampton general hospital with ventilators for the sickest patients. the expectation is there will be more needing care in the weeks ahead. the number of patients with covid—19 needing ventilators remained fairly low throughout august. but since the middle of this month, it has been rising consistently — though at the peak of the epidemic, the number was much, much higher. we are receiving a picture of increasing pressure on the front the data is not totally clear cut. there may be more patients on ventilators but the total number coming into hospitals in england and wales with the virus, including those less seriously ill, has not increased dramatically. it is not clear how many more

will come through the doors. at this hospital, royal glamorgan in south wales, eight people have died after 82 coronavirus cases were identified, all nonurgent surgery has been suspended, adults needing emergency care are being taken to other hospitals. to curb the spread of the virus, much will depend on testing in local communities. in some parts of the uk, people have struggled to get tests with the system severely stretched. the government at westminster says capacity will grow and care homes will be prioritised, but ensuring there is enough community testing will be critically important as winter approaches. hugh pym, bbc news. emmanuel "onry" henreid is one of the few black opera singers in the north—western united states.

injune, he and portland state university student madisen hallberg went viral for their impromptu duet of the national anthem. it marked a moment of racial unity amid the nationwide black lives matter protests. here's onry‘s story. one day towards the end of may, i left my house. i began to walk down the street, and i hear this vocalist. # 0 say, can you see... it's a friday in may. i had been singing in the park blocks for maybe 20 minutes, just the national anthem over and over again, getting different takes. out of the corner of my eye, i see this guy. he kind of passes and keeps going down the block. # were so gallantly streaming... i thought to myself, "you know, it's been a really, really long time

since you sang with somebody." and he just asked... "would you mind if ijoin you?" and she said... "sure," because i'm always down for anything. when he first came in with his voice, i was like, "oh my gosh, his voice is incredible." both: # and the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air... at that moment, it was about playing life together. and the student about to graduate ready to sing, and then this. when i say i'm an opera singer, people often say, "but your frame is so small and you're not white." and i say, "exactly." singing opera.

despite the influx of residents and the reputation of progressive behaviour, portland still remains to be one of the whitest cities in america. and although i've had success here in the city, i've had to deal with a lot of racism along the way. during the quarantine, i lost all of my gigs. about 25 gigs in a month—and—a—half. while singing in the streets, i was stopped by police, i was stopped by security guards and asked to stop singing in certain spaces because i wasn't allowed in those spaces, singing italian opera. i have this thing, and this thing has ability to heal a nation. that's the power of the human voice. that's the power of my voice. all we are conditioned to think right now is the divide. really, this is a time and a privilege to come together. how much of a shock did she get his

neck she was not expecting that. a quick check on a few other stories... the vatican has denied the us secretary of state, mike pompeo, an audience with pope francis. the holy see said the pontiff did not receive politicians during election periods. it also criticised mr pompeo for accusing the catholic church of risking its moral authority over an agreement with china over the appointment of bishops. the head of the federal aviation administration in the us has taken to the controls of the boeing 737 max airliner. steve dickson promised that he would pilot an evaluation flight before the plane is recertified safe to fly. the 737 max has been grounded worldwide for 18 months following two fatal crashes, in indonesia and ethiopia. while christian was snoring in london... i spent 90 minutes last night watching three elderly white men yell at each other on a stage. it wasn't the best night of my life.

and half my family gave up. you might not have had the time — or perhaps you had better ways to use your time. so if you wanted a summary of what the debate was like in say 20 seconds, you could do worse than watch this. hold on, hold on, hold on! hold on! her sister was a witch, right? and what was her sister? a princess! the wicked witch of the east, bro! laughter. you're going to look at me and tell me that i'm wrong? am i wrong? she wore a crown and she came down in a pumpkin, dog! grow up, bro. grow up! get educated! "her sister was a witch! she was a princess'" "her sister was a witch! she was a princess!" i get ptsd watching the clips, by the way. it was so traumatic. did you know that last night, google reported a peak in the number of searches for emigrating to

canada? "how to apply for canadian citizenship" — apparently it peaked at around citizenship" — apparently it peaked ataround 10:30pm. he'll make this one was one of our favourites," old manuals old man". one more, we have to one of the computer. ill that many felt they failed to learn anything, really, they were enlightened by no policy arguments. this whole debate amounted to the sum total of nothing. others suggest that perhaps there could have been a more mature exchange of ideas, more like a mexican standoff. others did this.

that was me. and the new yorker has three emotionally equivalent activities that would've been me. hello. not only are we set to see the colours change to that autumn palette again over the next few days, but some of those leaves will be stripped from the trees, as i'll show you. not necessarily as we go into thursday — lighter winds, in fact. the wet and windy weather was with us on wednesday, pushing out towards the north sea, and that does mean with clearer skies in its wake to take us into the start of the day, it's going to be chillier, particularly across parts of northern ireland, south—west scotland, where we could see a bit of frost to take us into the first part of the day. now, it's going to be a little bit cloudy across some eastern areas, particularly across central and north—eastern scotland, where we will see some outbreaks of rain linger, only slowly pushing their way northwards. further south and east, early rain will have eased, and then it's a case of showers developing towards the south and the west. northern ireland, wales, south—west in particular, they could become frequent,

heavy and thundery. for most of you, though, thursday's going to be a dry day, with a decent amount of sunshine. i think a little bit fresher, though, even with those lighter winds. thursday night and into friday, showers push their way northwards, and they will gradually fade a little bit, but then all eyes are to the south. governing the weather for the rest of the week will be the jet stream and the fact that it dips down to the south of the uk, comes up against an area of high pressure, doubles back on itself, and that creates almost a little sticking area for low—pressure systems, and it's how they interact with the jet stream which will determine the exact position of some of the wettest and windiest weather. at the moment it looks like we'll see a particularly potent storm develop across france. the french weather service have called this storm alex. but it will drift its way northwards, and most likely to have an impact across the southernmost counties of england and the channel islands, with winds maybe up to 65mph, heavy rain, risk of flooding. but there is a chance, if that's further south, some across the midlands, wales and east anglia will be dry, you'll probably see during the afternoon, but if it's further north, the rain will edge further north and potential for damaging winds around the english channel.

this is how we see it at the moment, though. in either case, the northern half of the uk stays largely dry. but that will change as we go through into the weekend. jet stream is still dipping down, and that's just spinning this area of low pressure round and round in the same place, like a wheel stuck in the mud, and it means more of us are going to see some heavy rain at times, with a risk of flooding, strong winds as well. latest warnings will be on the website. but the detail will change, undoubtedly. this is how we see it at the moment. on saturday, still some rain and strong winds to the south, but probably the strongest winds down across wales, south—west england and the channel islands, potential damaging gusts. the breeze picking up further north. rain will develop more widely as we go through the day and overall, it will be cool, temperatures in the low to mid teens. the rain then pivots around through into sunday. if you're in the centre of the low pressure, the winds will be light, but here you could see some slow—moving storms. persistent rain around the edges of the united kingdom, but here's where we'll also see the strongest of the winds, so again, to the south and the far north is where we could see the strongest of the winds remain.

and even though sunday night into monday, that low pressure is stuck, but because it's been hanging around for a little bit of time, it starts to lose its potency. the rain won't be quite as heavy and as persistent for many, there'll be a better chance of some breaks in the clouds, some sunshine, but with low pressure overhead it does mean there will be some heavy showers, and they could become slow—moving as the winds start to ease. staying cool — temperatures still down on where we should be for the time of year. returning to the jet stream, then, to explain what happens for next week. notice that little dip — it gets pushed further eastwards. got a more jet stream just running still to the south of the uk, which keeps us on the cool side, but it means we're going to see a pattern which alternates from one day to the next. we'll see some sunshine, some chilly nights, but yes, there'll be some further spells of wind and rain too. take care.

tonight at ten, the united kingdom is now said to be at a "critical moment" in the battle against coronavirus. as more regions get used to tougher restrictions, the prime minister warns that he'll go further if people don't comply. no matter how impatient we may be, how fed up we may become, there is only one way of doing this, and that is by showing a collective forbearance, common sense and willingness to make sacrifices for the safety of others. as intensive care units prepare for a possible influx of patients, government advisers spell out the basis of their rising concern. numbers of cases are going up, hospitalisations are going up, icus going up and unfortunately, very sadly, so are deaths.