a new national lockdown in france will start on friday and last at least until the end of november. in a nationwide televised address, president macron said people would only be allowed to leave home for essential work, shopping, exercise or emergencies. businesses classed as non—essential, such as restaurants and bars, will close, but schools and factories can still open. germany's chancellor angela merkel has also announced a partial lockdown to stop the spread of the virus. bars, restaurants and much of the leisure sector will have to close for the whole of next month. the senior medical official tasked with controlling the coronavirus pandemic in the us has told the bbc president trump's political rallies are bound to spread covid—19. dr antony fauci said such gatherings, mostly without masks or social distancing, are potential superspreader events. he said the data "speaks for itself."

now on bbc news, hardtalk, stephen sackur talks to us congressman and democratic majority whip, jim clyburn. welcome to hardtalk. i am stephen sackur. according to the polls, joe biden is favourite to be the next president of the united states but the parties leaders bear deep scars from 2016. then, donald trump overcame the odds and beat hillary clinton. he claims he can do it again next week even ifjoe biden wins, does america really know what his presidency looks like? my guess is one of the most senior democrats in congress, house majority whip democrats in congress, house majority whiinm democrats in congress, house majority whip jim clyburn. democrats in congress, house majority whiinm clyburn. is democratic party confidence more than skin deep?

congressmanjim congressman jim clyburn in columbia, south carolina, welcome to hardtalk. thank you very much by having me. that are starting with the horse race aspect of donald trump versus joe race aspect of donald trump versusjoe biden, race aspect of donald trump versus joe biden, all the national polls havejoe biden up national polls havejoe biden up by national polls havejoe biden up by eight, nine, even ten points of them but how deep are some of these guards from 2016 and how worried are you that there is a hidden donald trump vote that will come out november three? well, i don't think it is any more of a hidden trump vote then there is a hidden biden vote. i know from my own experiences, there are people who have talked with in the recent weeks who are very much for biden but they

don't want anybody to know it. they interact with people who are for donald trump for whatever reason, and they want to be secretive about it. so i think there are some secretive trumpet voters but i also know that there are some secretive biden writers and those things pretty much cancel themselves out and i don't know of anyone who voted for hillary clinton turned on the vote for donald trump but i know that many people who voted for donald trump against hillary clinton will now be voting forjoe biden. you are a very experienced campaigner annie w011 your experienced campaigner annie won your seat back in 1992 if i am not wrong. you know all about what makes campaigns work on one of the key factors is energy —— and you won. i look at the pictures coming over from the us of donald trump rallies and a look at biden‘s

events and let's be honest, there is no question there is more energy on the donald trump side in this campaign, does it worry you? i beg to differ. there are far greater imaging. as we are communicating at the moment, this kind of communication is taking place in the biden campaign all over this country. i will be doing several of these today and i did several yesterday. and i have been doing it for weeks, so have been doing it for weeks, soido have been doing it for weeks, so i do believe that the energy is in the biden campaign, it is just not on public display simply because joe biden just not on public display simply becausejoe biden has decided to demonstrate with his action the kind of president he will be, and that is to say we are going to have a national plan to combat this virus. we

are not going to violate the protocol about having these public events where people are not masked and not social distancing, and he is going to do by example. what he wants people tojoin the do by example. what he wants people to join the country. that is why he is not having these public events. that is why i am not having these public events. i am trying to demonstrate. my dad used to tell me all the time growing up, son, if you're going to be a leader, you lead by precept and example. don't ask anyone to do that which you will not do." that is why the public display is there for trump but the energy is still in the campaign. it's just like floating a boat. the energy thatis floating a boat. the energy that is created is underwater but it moves the boat. that is created is underwater but it moves the boatlj understand the point you are

making, congressman but nonetheless joe biden making, congressman but nonethelessjoe biden has made public appearances, not least in the debate and he still does attend some rallies and questions have been raised about his mental acuity, if i can put it that way, and democrats over many months have made a point of claiming that donald trump in different ways is unfit for office. are you entirely sure thatjoe biden, well to his mid— 70s, later 70s in fact, argue sure he is fit for office? let me tell you this, unfit for office and i'm older thanjoe this, unfit for office and i'm older than joe biden. this, unfit for office and i'm older thanjoe biden. i don't think age dictates what a person will do. i think he is morally mentally and socially more fit than donald trump and donald trump is younger then joe biden. the question remains, what determines fitness for office? it

certainly is not insulting everybody you come in contact with, demonising, especially african—american women. that, to me, is what makes him unfit. if you deal with everything else. it doesn't look good though when joe biden else. it doesn't look good though whenjoe biden seems to forget the name of the man he is running against in the middle of a rally. look, joe biden has had a problem with stuttering since his childhood. i told him ten years ago, to come public and be public about the stuttering, and it kept that under wraps pretty much until this campaign. and he has been public with it and that is why you don't hear people dealing with that. that's not forgetting the name when you are stuttering, that they disability that a lot of people have and it has nothing to do with his mental capacity and we

know it. the biggest question is who really isjoe biden what sort of president would he make because he's giving mixed messages. early in the election cycle, he reassured his wing of the democratic party that "nothing would fundamentally change if he were to be president". more recently he has been saying that we need some revolutionary institutional changes in the united states. so what is he? the pragmatist of the status quo or the guy he wants radical change? he is a guy who faces challenges when they come out and when we wrote thejohn r lewis voting rights act, we thought we had a really good bill but i've told everybody my caucus in the last couple of weeks, what has come out during this campaign tells me is that we don't have a good enough piece of legislation. we'll find out in campaigns that there are certain things he makes assumptions about annie

find out that maybe need to make some corrections about. i know exactly what talking about. he would be an idiot if you saw things developing and not do anything about it. he would believe that we had a president of the united states who refuses to commit to a peaceful tra nsfer of who refuses to commit to a peaceful transfer of power? that means we need to do something. who would believe that we would have a president of the united states who would deny science? we need to do something! voter suppression. we need to do something. but let's get detailed about this stuff because it's not clear whatjoe biden would do, for example, his running mate, kamala harris, he deliberately appointed her claiming she would make the ticket perfect for the united states. she is described by the trump campaign as one of the most liberal members of the entire us senate and a record shows that she supports a very radical green

new deal, she supports medicare for all, she even supports of the legalisation nationwide of marijuana. is that what we should take now as the policy stand of joe should take now as the policy stand ofjoe biden that he and kamala harris will be out and out progressive, left democrats? i have never in my life seen the number two person on the ticket dictate policies of the ticket. we had ronald reagan take on george h w bush as his running mate when h w bush referred to ronald reagan economic policy as voodoo economics. they were able to reconcile those differences and made a pretty good team. yes, when people are running against each other as these two people did, you draw lines in the sand and you layout some proposals but when you come to number two, that's exactly what you are, number two. number one sets the rules. but americans

have the right to know where joe biden stands on key policy issues like how much for example he is going to tax. how much is going to spend. how committed he is to a green new deal which would revolutionise the american economy. i'm telling you again, if you look at the words for example of some of the other democrats, they say that their agenda will be pushed forward by a biden presidency so are you telling americans that should look to a left, progressive, biden white house? i'm telling them to listen to joe house? i'm telling them to listen tojoe biden. if you don't listen to joe listen tojoe biden. if you don't listen tojoe biden, listen tojim clyburn. i'm not for a green new deal, so listen to me or listen to somebody else? that is the point, jim

clyburn, america doesn't know who is listening to because the flip—flops. to one specific example when it comes to the green agenda and fossil fuels in the united states, he has over a year also completely flip—flopped on the issue of fracking. in 2019 he said fracking. in 2019 he said fracking would be eliminated. in 2020 he said he opposed new fracking and yet quite recently he went to pennsylvania, home ofa he went to pennsylvania, home of a lot of gas deposits and said that he is not banning fracking. let me made again. i'm not banning fracking. joe biden has become the flip—flops are. that is not a flip-flop. he said he is against fracking on public land. he said we should transition away from fossil fuels, should transition away from fossilfuels, i should transition away from fossil fuels, i believe should transition away from fossilfuels, i believe that. he said he was not against fracking now simply because we need to transition. the same

people who are now big oil companies should become energy companies. they should not be an oil company. should be an energy company and they should develop energy as it is appropriate and what would be good to maintain credibility with the environment in which we live. so, exxonmobilshould be exxon energy! that is what i've can that's what i'm advising him and that's what he thinks and that's why he called himself a transition president because he wants to see asked transition away from fossil fuel to clean energy. to be honest, he seems to think different things at different times. i don't see it that way. managing the economy is about taxing and spending so you tell me very simply our taxes going to rise underjoe biden? corporate tax will go up to 28% underjoe biden, he has made that very clear. what about

america's workers, both those medium incomes and those who earn a lock, will they pay more tax? no. they will not pay more tax. he has medically he will not raise taxes of middle income people — that he has made that clear. and i'm telling you i am the house majority web and i will not whip legislation on that. sorry to interrupt you, i'm looking at the joe biden to interrupt you, i'm looking at thejoe biden spending plans and they amount to over $4 trillion on expanding healthcare across america and another $2.5 trillion, we are talking massive, massive spending plans which will take america's national debt skyhigh but will also require serious amounts of taxation. unless you're going to ruin the public finances? if you want to look at one side of the equation, thatis at one side of the equation, that is fine. if we're going to have a massive infrastructure

programme, yes, it will cost money but it would generate money but it would generate money as well, it would generate income, it will put people back to work and we will have water and sewer programmes and the way we should have it. we would have job creation like you've never had before and many experts have looked at his plan and said it would create significant numbers of jobs. we have got a corporate tax rate that is now down to 20 wa nt rate that is now down to 20 want %. no corporation asked for it to be that low —— 21%. they have put it back to 28% already. i don't know why trump did that but i know it is wrong and it has destroyed affordable housing in this country because it is no longer viable for these developers to do affordable housing because of that tax bill. we're going to ta ke that tax bill. we're going to take a look at all of that and

see how the balance looks. it is out of and joe biden will put balance back into our tax laws. balance is an interesting concept. i'm just going to tell you what the independent committee for a responsible federal budget have calculate it about a biden presidency based on his own spending promises. they reckon it will add $5.6 trillion to the us national debt over the next 10 yea rs national debt over the next 10 years and that would take that asa years and that would take that as a proportion to gdp national income to around 128%. is it a cce pta ble income to around 128%. is it acceptable to you ? income to around 128%. is it acceptable to you? i am not an expert all of that but i tell you what is unacceptable to me, it is unacceptable for the wealthy people in this country to get the kind of tax breaks they got off that trillion point two... tax plan that trump put in place and he put

taxes on churches, on charities. he started taxing people that have never been taxed before. and he gave this big tax break to all of these wealthy people. an expert said that over the last several yea rs that over the last several years since that went in place, the wealthy people have made 400 billion dollars. while low income people have gotten poorer. while the wealth gap has gotten wide. that is what when we are going to balance, we going to put balance back into it. let me ask you about something that is less about specific policy and more about tone and political style. joe biden, in all of his video and all of his personal appearances tells america he is a decent quy tells america he is a decent guy whose ambition is to draw americans together again, to heal the wounds and unite the country, to get over this period of polarisation and division. how is he going to do

that when you, i don't know about you personally, but you in the party have vilified donald trump as a racist for month upon month upon month? people in their tens of millions will vote for donald trump. are you telling them they are racist too? no. i'm not telling them anything. i have my feelings about donald trump and donald trump looked into a camera and refer to a black woman as a dog. i am the father of three black women. i am the son of a black woman. i don't respect anybody who denigrates like women and he does it day in and day out. you can decide whether or not he is racist —— black women, but i will take him at his word. he referred to kamala harris, the first woman of colour to be on the major party ticket is a monster. you can be whatever

you want to be. if you want to vote for him fine but i want to see the lack man or woman, anybody born of a black woman look at this man and that of the camera and the black woman asa dog. the camera and the black woman as a dog. that is where i draw the line there. you can call it anything you want to call it. my anything you want to call it. my point is that you know better than i, whatever the result next week and let's assume hypothetically biden wins. many tens of millions of americans will have voted for donald trump and i am asking you, how are you going to bring them into this broad tent that job biden claims he is going to build because hillary clinton talked about baskets of deplorable is. she said people who voted for trump were racist, sexist, homophobic and xenophobic. many americans, trump voters, probably believe that if you pick away beneath the surface, the democratic party still sees trump voters

in that same vein. that's not true. the democratic party doesn't see trump voters in that vein. many of us see trump in that vein. a lot of people vote for trump out of loyalty to the party, a lot of people vote for him out of loyalty to other things but they are not necessarily racist but there are some racists who do support him and they have made it very clear. david duke, he is a big racist and he says he used trump as one of them. so the racists are supporting him but there are a lot of people who are voting for him who are far from being a racist. they have got other reasons for voting for him and they may have the capacity to overlook his shortcomings. i don't have that capacity. to make a quick questions about what might happen after a biden victory if he achieves such a thing. number one, there are

democratic congressmen who sit in the house alongside you. i am thinking of eric swibel for one from california, calling for a presidential crimes commission made up of independent prosecutors looking exactly at what donald trump did and who aided and abetted him. do you think that would be good for america? i have no idea what would be incorporated in that. i've think we have found in this campaign that a lot of things unique and certainly untoward or being done by this president. and we need find out whether or not who he owes $400 billion to. sorry, $400 million. with that be the ceiling and the bringing together thus joe be the ceiling and the bringing together thusjoe biden promised? it very well could be. we have racial reconciliation in south africa and we had a commission to do that as a way of bringing people together. you got to clea nse

people together. you got to cleanse the soul and bring people together around a unified front. you can't let these things continue to fester out there and think it will bring people together when there is suspicion. let's do what is necessary to clear the air, so to speak, cleanse the process and then build upon that. and a second specific challenge after the election which will exercise many in the democratic party. what to do about the supreme court? thanks to the confirmation of amy coney barrett, there is now a clear six — three conservative majority built into the supreme court. there are democrats, i am thinking of the senator ed markey who say, quote, we must now expand the supreme court. there are going to be cause for job biden to lead on that. do you think that would be wise for the healing in america?m could very well be. court wasn't always nine. how did we get to nine and when did we get to nine and when did we get tonight and why did we get there? the question is, do we

need to go to 11, 12, 13?! need to go to 11, 12, 13? i think a baker's dozen might be a good number, i don't know. let's have some studies. you are ready to pack the supreme court to overcome what is the current political tone of that court? you are prepared to pack it and then tell america that you still want to enter the division and the polarisation? to the contrary, sir. i am prepared to unpack the court. it has already been packed for the last seven years. that is why barack the last seven years. that is why ba rack 0bama the last seven years. that is why barack 0bama did not get his appointment because mitch mcconnell was trying to pack the court. i want to unpack the court. just a final thought, we watched their selection unfold, many people worry that after november three, there will be chaos. we know that there are indeed some militias, some armed groups who are threatening chaos if they do not get the results they want.

how worried are you that there will not be order, stability and calm after this us election? i have no idea what there will be after this election. i remember the election. i remember the election of 1960. i remember going into that election, i remember the democratic convention of 1960. and so, we have had these kinds of activities in our history. the question is, whether or not we can have the kind of leadership that can get us through that. i don't think donald trump can do that because he is the cause of it. much of it. and i thinkjoe biden could get through it because he has the capacity, the compassion, empathy. all of these things that are required of leaders to get people through trying situations, none

of which are in the dna of donald trump. congressmen jim clyburn, thank you very much indeed forjoining me on hardtalk. well, thank you. hello there. the weather shows no real sign of calming down over the next few days. more heavy rain, more strong winds in the forecast. we've got low pressure spinning here. you can see that on the satellite picture. you can also see this pipeline of cloud that is now ploughing in towards the british isles. a set of weather fronts bringing some heavy rain through thursday. but between these two weather fronts, there is a wedge of mild air. so, although we're expecting some wet and windy weather through the day ahead, it will turn a little bit milder. so, here comes the rain.

some very heavy and persistent rain moving in from the west as we go through the day, pushing its way northeastwards across wales, england, northern ireland, getting up across much of scotland. now, the heaviest bursts of rain are likely to be across hills of north wales, north—west england, south—west scotland. could be some localised flooding issues here. and it will be windy. gusts of 40 to maybe 50 mph or a touch more than that in the most exposed spots. the far north of scotland will hold onto brightness. we'll see something a little drier towards the south—west later. and it will feel mild, highs of 11—15 degrees. through thursday night into the early hours of friday, we keep a pipeline of cloud, some outbreaks of rain in places, particularly over high ground in wales, north—west england, also some rain working back into north—west scotland. temperatures between 9—13 degrees, an exceptionally mild night, a very mild start to friday. now, as we go through the day, outbreaks of rain will increasingly become confined to southern parts of england,

south of wales. further north, we'll actually see brighter skies developing, some spells of sunshine here and there. but it will cool off through the day across northern areas, whereas the south and south east will hold onto some mild air, 17—18 degrees. and then we get to the weekend, and here comes another area of low pressure. look at all the white line squashing together, all the isobars. this is a deep area of low pressure that will bring some very strong winds, some outbreaks of heavy rain pushing eastwards. those winds gusting up to 50, 60, maybe 70 mph in exposed places in western scotland. temperatures through saturday, it will be another fairly mild one, 12—17 degrees. and for sunday, well, it looks as if we're going to see another spell of heavy rain pushing in from the west, and it will be another very windy day. that's all from me. bye for now.

this is bbc news. i'm david eades with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. a national coronavirus lockdown in france — tighter restrictions in germany. is europe reaching a new crisis point? a senior united nations official tells the bbc that al qaeda remains heavily embedded with the taliban in afghanistan. the taliban are talking regularly and at a high level with al-qaeda and reassuring them they would honour their historic ties. anthony fauci, the leading virus expert in the united states, tells the bbc that president trump's campaign rallies are bound to spread the coronavirus. when you have congregation of

people not wearing masks,