this is bbc news. i'm kasia madera. the headlines at eight... after hundreds of protesters stormed the us capitol building last night, president trump has been blamed for inciting the violence, both from senior members of his own party and from president—electjoe biden. yesterday, in my view, one of the darkest days in the history of our nation. an unprecedented assault on our democracy. the democratic speaker of the house, nancy pelosi, has called for president trump's removal — and here, the prime minister also spoke out against the president's behaviour i unreservedly condemn encouraging people to behave in the disgraceful way that they did in the capital.

and as 68 people were arrested after the events of last night, questions remain about the level of security at the capitol building. almost one and a half million people have now been vaccinated against coronavirus in the uk, and the prime minister pledges to get the most vulnerable protected fast. hospitals in every region of england now have more covid patients than at the peak last april, with 10,000 admitted since christmas day alone, warns the boss of nhs england. hello, welcome. joe biden has called yesterday's storming of the us capitol building by president trump's supporters "one of the darkest days

in the nation's history". in a speech this evening, he labelled the rioters "insurrectionists and domestic terrorists", and accused the outgoing president of trying to use mob violence to overturn the result of november's election. let's hear more of what mr biden had to say. yesterday, in my view, one of the darkest days in the history of our nation. an unprecedented assault on oui’ nation. an unprecedented assault on our democracy. an assault literally on the citadel of liberty, in the united states capital itself. an assault on the rule of law. an assault on the rule of law. an assault on the most sacred of american undertakings. ratifying the will of the people and using the leadership of the government. all of us leadership of the government. all of us here grieve the loss of life,

grieve the desecration of the people's house, but what we witnessed yesterday was not dissent. it was not disorder. it was not protest. it was chaos. they weren't protesters. don't dare call them protesters. don't dare call them protesters. they were a riotous mob, insurrectionist, domestic terrorists. it's that basic, it's that simple, and i wish we could say we couldn't see it coming. but that isn't true. we could see it coming. the past four years, we've had a president who's made his contempt for our democracy, our constitution, the rule of law clear and everything he has done. he unleashed an all—out assault on our institutions of our

democracy, and yesterday was what the culmination of that unrelenting attack. tonight, senior politicians have called for president trump to be removed from office. in the last hour, the speaker of the house of representatives, nancy pelosi, said president trump had incited a ‘seditious act.‘ yesterday, the president of the united states incited and armed insurrection against america. the gleeful desecration of the us capital, which is the temple of our american democracy, and the violence targeting congress are horrors that will her forever stain our nation's history. instigated by the president of the united states, that's why it's such a stain. in calling for the seditious act, the president has committed and equal assault on our

nation —— and unspeakable assault. i call on the vice president to remove this president by immediately invoking the 25th amendment. if the vice president does not act, the congress may be prepared to move forward with impeachment. that is the overwhelming sentiment of my caucus. and the american people, by the way. president trump has again refused to condemn the rioters or concede defeat in the presidential election, but he did promise an ‘orderly transition' when mr biden takes office in less than two weeks' time. the transportation secretary, elaine chao, has become the first member of mr trump's cabinet to resign in protest over yesterday's violence. 0ur north america editorjon sopel sent us this report on the day's events. they can clean, repaint and put papers back in filing cabinets, they can easily spruce the place up, but none of it will remove the stain

on american democracy. the trump supporting mob, the trump inspired rioters, in what is being described as an attempted insurrection, has certainly left their mark. the mob that descended on the capitol building probably couldn't believe how easy their task was. after security cordons crumbled, the thin blue line turned out to be painfully so. and if you want one energy to highlight the inadequacy of the police response, look at this officer endlessly retreating one staircase at a time. in the chamber, plainclothes officers having to resort to barricading the doors, their weapons drawn to stop the rioters from entering. these are scenes that have played out in tin pot regimes around the world but in america, this beacon of democracy. this protester was killed, a military veteran who had served her country in afghanistan and iraq.

only to die from a single gunshot wound fired on the hall of the house of representatives. business resumed last night. joe biden certified as the next president. joseph r bidenjunior of the state of delaware has received 306 votes. the current vice president condemning the mob in a way that donald trump couldn't bring himself to. to those who wreaked havoc in our capital today, you did not win. violence never wins. freedom wins. and this is still the people's house. the next senate majority leader was quick to point the finger. this will be a stain on our country not so easily washed away. the final terrible indelible legacy of the 45th president of the united states. undoubtedly our worst.

but why was security so lax? it is not as though anyone was caught unaware. this overwhelmingly white crowd was treated with kid gloves. police seemingly posing for selfies with the protesters. this is what washington looked like last summer when black lives matter protesters came to the capital after the death of george floyd. the difference could not be more striking. then there is the role of the president himself in inciting this coup attempt. we are going to walk down to the capitol. that seemed to appall those who stood by the president. rumours swirled former cabinet members may try to invoke the 25th amendment and forcibly remove him from office. maybe in response to that, he finally, through an aide, issued the statement in the middle of the night.

donald trump could not tweet it out because his account had been suspended, and today facebook announced it was indefinitely blocking his account, a hugely significant move. i, donald john trump, do solemnly swear... four years ago at his inauguration on the steps of the capitol, donald trump promised that the american carnage, as he called it, which would end right here right now. but last night, this is what his legacy looks like. jon sopel, bbc news, washington. well, we can speak now to lawrence douglas, who's professor of law at amherst college in massachusetts, and author of ‘will he go?: trump and the looming election meltdown', which was written before november's presidential election. in fact, you projected back in the summer in fact, you projected back in the summer last year there would be an issue with the transition of power, but the focus was more on the delay in the results because of mail—in

ballots. did you ever, ever predict the kind of scenes that we saw you on capitol hill? no, i have a pretty catastrophic administer nation, but i have to say, even my imagination has its limits. i certainly fear that trump would never concede, and i certainly feared not refusal to concede —— that refusal could result to violence on the streets. i never imagined it would take place in the halls of the capital itself. can you imagine, will president trump eventually can seen? what you're thinking in the next few days before the inauguration? again, when i think of concession, i think of it as an act in which you recognise the legitimacy of your opponent's victory. that is, you actually lost fairly and squarely. i do not imagine donald trumbull ever do that. he will not do that between now will do —— will do that now in

between generally 20th —— donald trump. i believe he will leave, but i don't think there's been any doubt about that. there have been concerned about the damage he could do to american democracy in the period from the election until january 20, and we've already the very substantial damage that he has done. now the worries, the damage he could do in the two weeks or so remaining. yesterday's of aside, there are an awful lot of people who do believe what the president is saying, that the election was fraud. of course, no evidence of that. how damaging is that for the democracy of the united states? incredibly damaging. you really can't have a democracy in which the people doubt the integrity of electoral process. if the people, not really, if the

trump supporters believe that the election has actually been stolen, they see their acts as acts of protecting the democracy rather than a cts protecting the democracy rather than acts of insurrection, which is what they are, and they're receiving that message directly from the president himself. of course, we need to bear in mind is not simply the president who's been communicating that message. we very request the police all that more than 100 lawmaker —— very regretfully saw they were willing to regret biden was my collection. what is the republican party need to do to bring this back? —— biden's election. i think it's very important that at least belatedly, we saw mitch mcconnell and lindsey graham stepped forward

and lindsey graham stepped forward and say enough is enough, but on the other hand, these are senators who basically fed and nurtured the beast for the last four years. that said, ido for the last four years. that said, i do think isn't important that they made that very emphatic statement yesterday. 0n the other hand, they remain many republican lawmakers who continue to support the president. is it possible that if the president has gone a step too far, that that support will now start to peel away? because i do think it's a lot to do with cowardice and opportunism than any kind of actual bona fide, ideological agreement with the president. but that all remains to be seen. we saw one of the president's sons describing the republican party as the president's party, that is no longer a party... it's basically a lead party. what

happens in 202a? will he run again? look into your crystal ball.|j happens in 202a? will he run again? look into your crystal ball. i think a lot of it has to do with the amount of damage that, the self—inflicted damage of yesterday. what's been incredible is that this quy what's been incredible is that this guy has demonstrated his unfitness in office early and often. it takes a kind of spectacular display, verging on a push to really kind of, perhaps vexed the american people into realising, oh, my mother this isa into realising, oh, my mother this is a truly dangerous person. if you look a some of the commentators a fox news ——, oh my this is a dangerous person. we saw the excuses started to move forward. we heard people like sean hannity, very influential fox commentator, saying

what happened in the capital was not to similar with what happened with the black lives matter protesters. so the attempt to excuse the scenes, whether the deportability of what was all table really kind of stick or whether it's going to be argued away by the people who enabled trump over the past years. it's been tried before, it had failed, but do you think president trump should be impeached? again, we only have two weeks for it to happen. i think on one level, yes, in an ideal world, he should be removed from office because he has committed offences against the constitution of the united states. that said, i think he really should only be removed from office if there is a bipartisan agreement to do so. because the last thing i would like to see happen is for the impeachment process to

suddenly be used as a tool for his rehabilitation, and as people to him asa rehabilitation, and as people to him as a martyr of democratic vengeance, which is not the case, he does not deserve to remain in office. the perception of legitimacy of the removal perception of legitimacy of the re m oval process perception of legitimacy of the removal process will depend on the support of congressional republicans. professor lawrence douglas, fascinating to speak to you. take you for your time. pleasure. the prime minister, borisjohnson, has condemned the violence in washington last night, and said president trump was completely wrong for encouraging people to storm the building and for casting doubt on the election result. 0ur diplomatic correspondent james landale has been looking at the reaction from around the world. to a world that has traditionally seen america as a bastion of democracy, these images have provoked shock, disbelief and condemnation.

in his initial response, the prime minister said the scenes were disgraceful. the us stands for democracy around the world, he said, it was vital there should be a peaceful and orderly transfer of power. but in the last hour, he blamed donald trump by name. the president consistently has cast doubt on the outcome of a free and fair election. i believe that was completely wrong. i think what president trump has been saying about that has been completely wrong and i unreservedly condemn encouraging people to behave in the disgraceful way that they did in the capitol. some leaders tried to rally support. what happened today in washington dc is not american. definitely. we believe in the strength of our democracies, we believe in the strength of american democracy. but germany's foreign minister

compared last night to the burning of the reichstag in 1933 that the nazis used as an excuse to seize power and the chancellor pointedly blamed mr trump. she speaks german. doubts about the election outcome had been stoked, she said, and that created the atmosphere that made the events of last night possible. china's foreign ministry compared the chaos at the capitol to the storming of hong kong's parliament in 2019 when a spokeswoman noted dryly, "no one died". we hope, she said, that the american people can enjoy peace, stability and security as soon as possible. iran's president said democracy had left america fertile ground for populism that had led the country to disaster.

translation: what we saw in the united states yesterday evening and today shows above all how fragile and vulnerable western democracy is. its foundations are not solid. the events of last night may have changed the way the world sees america, but how much of these pictures also damage democracy itself at a time when the idea is being challenged across the globe? james landale, bbc news. and we'll find out how this story — and many others — are covered in tomorrow's front pages at 10:40 and 11:30 this evening in the papers — our guests joining me tonight are lizzy burden, uk economy correspondent for bloomberg news, and faiza shaheed, inequality lead at the center for international cooperation at new york university hope you can join hope you canjoin us hope you can join us too. the other main story tonight — almost one and a half million people have now been vaccinated against coronavirus in the uk. the prime minister says every elderly care home resident will be offered the vaccine by the end of this month. he said the army would be used to keep up the pace of the roll—out

across the uk as he pledged to get the most vulnerable groups vaccinated by the middle of february. here's our medical editor, fergus walsh. you are going to be famous today. it is the biggest immunisation programme ever in the nhs. this medical practice near edinburgh became one of the first in scotland to administer the oxford astrazeneca vaccine to scores of the over 90s. it's exciting, you feel as if you are part of history, you feel like it's christmas time. it gives us hope for the future that we can help our patients and itjust gives us the light at the end of the tunnel. those who received it will need to maintain social distancing, they won't be fully protected, but there is a strong mood of optimism here. it's going to make a tremendous difference. it will make me feel more comfortable going up to the shops for shopping and things like that. but it's not all gone smoothly.

queues of up to three hours were reported yesterday at this vaccination centre in north wales. the health board apologised saying the training of new vaccinators led to the delays. the health secretary matt hancock was due to see patients receiving the oxford vaccine at a gp surgery in london, but the delivery was delayed. supplies are being promised to practices across england. the prime minister said it was a national challenge like never before, but everything was being thrown at it. there is going to be lumpiness and bumpiness in the distribution and today, it may be that some gps aren't getting the consignments that they expected.

they are getting an incredible job. the government aims to offer a first dose of the vaccine to all those in the top four priority groups by mid—february. top of the list are people who live and work in care homes for the elderly. then come the over 80s and front—line health and social care workers. next on the priority list are the over 75 is and are the over 75s and then the over 70s and those deemed extremely clinically vulnerable. those who have been shielding for much of the pandemic. the uk has immunised more people than the rest of europe combined. mass covid vaccination centres like this one at derby arena will help boost delivery but we are still a long way from the target of offering 2 million doses a week to meet the goal of 50 million people by mid—february. fergus walsh, bbc news. labour's lisa nandy joins us now from wigan.

what do you make of this target, the 15th of february, 13 million people in that top for priority groups, including all over 80s should receive the vaccine, any one of the vaccinations? is this a feasible plan? i think it's feasible if the government has done enough to get the building blocks in place in order to deliver. i know the nhs is working flat out, but i'm hearing this all over the country. but we have been saying to the government for months, this is the next thing that's coming. when the vaccine is finally here and approved, we need to be ready to go. we seem like that so important in the last few weeks and with the new strains of the virus emerging here in the uk and in south africa. there may be other strains of the virus that are more

resista nt to strains of the virus that are more resistant to the vaccine. so it is a race against time and want the government to be much clearer about their target and how they will deliver them, and what they will put in place to make sure those on the ground who are having to do this will able to do that, but we are behind the effort to do that. it's got to be done. it is a huge effort, as you say. everyone will have vaccinations and are within ten miles of their home, according to borisjohnson. we seen as not always as successful as it could be. are you hopeful that this will proved to be more successful? it depends whether the government listens to those trying to deliver this on the ground. local public health leaders, gps and others were cut out of the loop, local councils as well. we had these sinners set up miles out of

town, without public transport and many people simply could not get to them. if the government listen to local leaders delivering this, it would be a different story. so, my colleague jonathan ashworth would be a different story. so, my colleaguejonathan ashworth has been pushing the government in the house of commons to say what are you doing to make sure you're listening. so people are able to access these tests. lisa, we spoke last night about the situation in washington. at that point, the prime minister condemned the level of violence, but he hadn't mentioned donald trump by name, he has done that today. what's your reaction? it's extremely welcome he's decided to stand up for democracy and call out the appalling actions of president trump, inciting people to violence. but i have to say that is reluctant to do so, the fa ct say that is reluctant to do so, the fact that it's taken 2a hours to do

so, during which time the look opinion journalist, so, during which time the look opinionjournalist, world leaders have deserted donald trump will be noticed around the world. it will be noted in washington by the president—elect biden and his incoming team, but it will also be noted by other countries. russia, china, and others who are watching very closely to see where the countries like the uk are prepared to stand up for democracy and democratic values wherever they're threatened. i fear the prime minister's reluctance to call out donald trump and this appalling assault on democracy will send a fairly chilling message to many of those autocratic leaders around the world that britain is not a reliable ally when it comes to standing up for democratic values. president—electjoe biden describe the people behind the scenes as insurrectionist and domestic terrorists. what would you call them? i think he's absolutely right. there is no excuse for the appalling levels of violence. as nancy pelosi said, this was not an attack on

capitol hill, this was an attack on america. it has to be absolutely clear from the uk that we stand with the people of america. they have every bit as much right to determine their own destiny as anyone else, and that has to be upheld in one of the greatest democracies not to do so would send ripple effects around the world. we cannot step back when universal values like democracy are threatened. thank you so much. and in us. the latest government figures show there were 52,618 new coronavirus infections recorded in the latest 24—hour period. the average number of new cases reported per day in the last week is now 57,234. on average, there were 27,983 covid—19 patients in hospital in the last week. 1,162 deaths were reported — that's people who died within

28 days of a positive covid—19 test. it means on average in the past week, 714 deaths were announced every day. it takes the total number of deaths so far across the uk to 78,508. let's get some of today's other news. three teenagers accused of murdering 13—year—old 0lly stephens, who was stabbed to death in reading on sunday, have appeared in court. two boys, aged 13 and 14, and a 13—year—old girl have been charged with murder and conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm. the girl is also charged with perverting the course ofjusitce. all three were remanded in custody. elon musk, the founder of tesla and spacex, has become the world's richest person, with a net worth of more than 188 billion dollars. he was pushed into the top slot after tesla's share price increased.

he takes the top spot from amazon founderjeff bezos. the japanese government has insisted that the delayed olympic games will go ahead as planned this year, despite the country's prime minister declaring a state of emergency today in tokyo because of a sharp rise in new coronavirus cases. japan recorded nearly two and a half thousand cases today, up around a thousand on yesterday. i'll be back shortly. now it's time for a look at the weather with sarah keith—lucas. good evening. january 2021 is certainly starting off on a cold, wintry note with temperatures below average for this time of year. and we have got another spell of cold weather for the course of tonight, the next couple of days as well. expect icy stretches to develop, some sleet and some snow. the areas likeliest to see sleet and snow are, particularly, across southern scotland, northern england, some flurries into the midlands and wales too. a few rain showers towards the southwest of england and some further snow showers across the north of scotland. temperatures quite widely getting down below freezing, could be as low as —10 degrees

across some rural parts of scotland. so a very cold start to your friday morning wherever you are, expect frost and ice. this area of rain, sleet and snow will push south across parts of the midlands and wales through the day. could be up to ten cm for the southern pennines, for instance. some sunshine either side, but another cold day. temperature is just one to 5 degrees on friday. and then into the weekend things turn a little bit milder and there's quite a bit of dry weather on the cards. turning milder next week, though. bye— bye. hello this is bbc news. the headlines. after hundreds of protestors stormed the us capitol building last night, president trump has been blamed for inciting the violence — both from senior members of his own party and from president—electjoe biden. yesterday, in my view, one of the darkest days in the history of our nation.

an unprecedented assault on our democracy. the democratic speaker of the house nancy pelosi has called for president trump's removal — and world leaders including the prime minister have spoken out against his behaviour. i unreservedly condemn encouraging people to behave in the disgraceful way that they did in the capital. and as 68 people were arrested after the events of last night, questions remain about the level of security at the capitol building. here in the uk — almost one and a half million people have now been vaccinated against coronavirus — and the prime minister pledges to get the most vulnerable protected fast. hospitals in every region of england now have more covid patients than at the peak last april — with 10,000 admitted since christmas day alone — warns the boss of nhs england

let's return to our top story — the reaction to last night's storming of capitol hill by supporters of the outgoing us president donald trump. he's being blamed for inciting the violence — and tonight, the democrat party leaders in both houses of congress have called for his immediate removal. they've said that if senior figures in the trump administration fail to take steps under the 25th amendment of the constitution to have the president declared unfit for office, they will begin impeachment proceedings. so what exactly is the 25th amendment? it's used when a president is unable to perform their duties. for example, president george w bush invoked it when he was sedated during a medical procedure. it allows a president to transfer power over to their vice—president, in this case mike pence. however, in this case, democrats want to invoke section 4 of the amendment, which allows the vice—president and a majority of the cabinet to declare president trump unable to perform his duties.

this has never been invoked before. our correspondent anthony zurcherjoins me now from our washington bureau. just explain to us this idea of this the fourth section of the 25th amendment and how that plays into this idea of removing the president. well, it was designed more as a way to re m ove well, it was designed more as a way to remove a president who had been incapacitated for instance, a president who was in a coma. not naturally to remove a president of sound mind who did not want to be removed. but it was a device vice president and majority of the cabinets, 15 cabinet secretaries, so eight of them, to sign off on this and that would trigger the immediate removal of the president, if the president objected they would have

to reaffirm his call for removal. and then 21 days later congress would have to come up by two thirds majority, sign off on the removal as well. of course there are only 15 days left in donald trump's presidency. so it would not trigger what would happen in the house of representatives but would be a way of getting him onto the sidelines quickly so that he could not come in their view, do any more to threaten or damage the united states. it still seems like an unlikely development but it is one apparently being discussed at a staff level among cabinet secretaries and that is in and of itself very remarkable stoplight what about this idea that the potential of once again going through an impeachment process, we don't have much time but is that realistic? i think the democrats in congress are looking for something that they can do, some formal steps

they can do to show how disgusted and outraged they are by donald trump's words yesterday and the way he come in their view, incited the crowd there were a condemn it after a storm to the capital. there's not a storm to the capital. there's not a lot of time left, but they could conceivably begin impeachment tried to fast—track it. it would be a majority of the house which democrats to control, to appease the president but would take a two thirds majority of the senate which is still controlled at the moment by the republicans, and certainly not a large enough majority they are once the democrats take control in order to re m ove the democrats take control in order to remove him even if they brought it to to remove him even if they brought ittoa to remove him even if they brought it to a vote can which they may not. it isa it to a vote can which they may not. it is a symbolic gesture, although one thing i'm hearing from some democrats is begin the impeachment proceedings, maybe they can get him removed even after the fact because a president who is impeached cannot run for office again. this would be a way for them to prevent donald trump four years from now for running for president. already

thinking about 2024, as always thank you so much. at thejoin us thinking about 2024, as always thank you so much. at the join us live from washington. congresswoman nancy mace is a republican from south carolina. she was sworn into office just days ago as the first republican woman to represent her state — she's been giving her reaction to yesterday's events. i woke up more angry and more kissed off this morning than i was yesterday, more in shock over what happened last night. four people died last night because of the rioting. this was not protesting, this was anarchy, and i condemn the violence. in fact, my younger sister texted me a little bit ago to check in for the third time today. she wanted to make sure that protesters were not on the capital and that our mum wasn't in danger. and i'm sad for our country, i'm heartbroken right now, and i want to make sure that we as republicans, we

acknowledge that there is a problem within our party, that rhetoric has real consequences, people's lives were put at risk. i know that my life was threatened. in the last week or two, someone threatened to fire a gun at me all over this vote to certify the electoral college on january the 6th. i was accosted on the streets of dc on tuesday night. it's wrong, enough is enough, and i'm going to work hard. i'm going to fight like hell to make sure that this ends, it ends now. a republican from south carolina, also the first republican woman to represent her state giving her reaction to those events. the apparent ease with which trump supporters were able to storm congress has raised serious questions about security in washington. 0ur correspondent aleem maqbool — who witnessed the violence — has been talking to some of those who took part. no remorse, no guilt, no regrets. those who travelled to washington from across the country to protest are today sightseeing. yesterday had

to happen. the shock and disgust is felt elsewhere, not here. to happen. the shock and disgust is felt elsewhere, not herelj to happen. the shock and disgust is felt elsewhere, not here. i feel very privileged that i was a part of yesterday. i fight for freedom and democracy. even with everything that happened? yes, even with everything that happened in. we had the greatest president in our lifetime to ever think that he could do, sacrificing his golden years to make this country what it should be and always has been. he sacrificed so much and that's what you see so many people here, they realise that. those faithful hours they had been incited to margin at capital by donald trump. those who forced their way into the building believing they had to write to. to overturn the election result. that is not how things are done in this country. lawlessness, stormy buildings even, and that's what's happening today. this measure was not founded on civility, this was founded on revolutionary activity. we became civil after the government realised that they got overwhelmed. so what

happens now because i guess now we wait and see if they take us seriously, because they saw how easily we were able to reach their defence. the approach of demonstrators were finally clear from the capitol grounds as night fell. and somehow felt their actions had been heroic. all over the world is looking at washington now, they saw people storm the capital.|j is looking at washington now, they saw people storm the capital. i hope they keep watching it. we are the last hope for the world! at least in my mind, and everything i've seen, we are free! i'm holding the line! this man from florida have a part of it all and one of many who on reflection feels this is just the beginning of a movement. not the end. ifirmly beginning of a movement. not the end. i firmly believe this is our 1776, this country two things are going to happen. either under the revolution or a civil war. in spite of everything we saw with their own eyes, a lot of those protesters who laid siege to the us capital insist that it laid siege to the us capital insist thatitis laid siege to the us capital insist that it is the other side that is trying to seize power and subvert

democracy. among them there's very little sense of embarrassment that the events here, if anything, a sense of pride. many people are asking why it appeared to be so easy for the mob to enter the capitol building and get access to the chambers and offices inside. so let's recap on what happened. early yesterday afternoon trump supporters congregated on buildings western steps — forcing their way up the steps. meanwhile — vice president mike pence was escorted out of the senate chamber. in the capitol rotunda, tear gas was fired at protesters who had entered the building. the mob made it into statuary hall where they waved trump banners. and in the house chamber — the mob entered into an armed standoff with police trying

to prevent their entry. we hope to speak to someone that has experience of doing security at the senate. the chief law enforcement officer at the senate, a sergeant—at—arms who is in fact charged with maintaining security at the capitol. fasting to get his first—hand insight into how things are done. let's speak to frank larkin who is a former sergeant—at—arms of the us senate, where he was responsible just a claim to us what that means, it means that you were, responsible for maintaining security in the capital and all the senate buildings. what do you make of what happened yesterday? it was a failure of security. simple as that. a failure to protect the campus from an unruly mob that had travelled up there and appeared to be peaceful at

first but then engaged in behaviour that obviously became a lot more threatening, and certainly with the behaviour that forcing their way to the capital building, that was unacceptable. but he potentially members of congress, staff and others at risk. expect was how it works, because when it comes to the capital it's very different. dc police have no jurisdiction capital it's very different. dc police have nojurisdiction in the capital, so how did it to work together in order to prevent exactly what we saw yesterday? there's quite a few events where both, well the metropolitan police department of washington, dc but which is the predominant police department for the district, and the us park police, and other agencies depending on the size and scale of the event come together in advance and plan for resourcing major events, what we call major events. and so the state

of the union and inauguration, the pope visit, other key had to state, would garner certain levels of increased security protection that would then, you know, bring in additional resources. but on a day—to—day basis as the us capitol police that are responsible for protecting it 275 acres that defined the campus. so when you get information that a group of people will be coming up, as the details that are already there, people knew that are already there, people knew that this was going to happen, the president himself called for people to walk up to the capital. how does that information then get disseminated between you and dc police and who takes the decision to perhaps create a defensive line a little bit earlier on to stop exactly what we saw the breach yesterday? the intelligence units

between both departments and other departments to include the federal bureau of investigation, secret service or others that are also partners within the metropolitan dc area share information back and forth. the goal is once we receive information that it event may occur or that there may be intense to have a protest, but we have done in the pastis a protest, but we have done in the past is sent to those groups to engage them, find out exactly what their intentions are, how big the groups are going to be, what is unique maybe to the group, and it also gives the opportunity for law enforcement to inform the group of what commit the right and left para meters what commit the right and left parameters are as far as behaviour. depending on the scale of the event and potentially what could be at issue, may determine that a

defensive perimeter may be set up in advance, and resourced with appropriate number of law enforcement to be able to effectively send a message to a group that, you know, here's your line, you know, speak your piece when we are here to support your first amendment rights of free speech, but do not cross the line otherwise there will be consequences. so otherwise there will be consequences. so how does this compare to the protest of the black lives matter movement that we saw at the height of the racial protest last year, the summer of last year where we saw very strongly armed law enforcement officers protecting the capital. why did it differ so much between what was happening yesterday and given that there was a protest going on, and these people were aiming to go up to the capital?|j don't have enough information to be able to comment on that, it's been

almost three years since i had that responsibility, so without having some of that inside information and a little reluctant to comment on what the contrast was to both those events, but again, what happened yesterday was unacceptable. events, but again, what happened yesterday was unacce ptablelj events, but again, what happened yesterday was unacceptable. i don't mean to put you on the spot for somebody people are making comparisons about the level of the law enforcement reaction given the two different protests. going forward , two different protests. going forward, i'm assuming there will be inquiries and a lot of soul—searching as to what can how this was enabled to happen. i'm assuming your colleagues is still in the role there at capitol hill will be doing everything they can to not have that happen, and how do you think the 20th of january is have that happen, and how do you think the 20th ofjanuary is going to look with the inauguration of president electjoe biden? to look with the inauguration of president elect joe biden? will first late—breaking news that both

sergeant of arms, the sergeant of arms of the house and of the senate have both resigned within the past few minutes as reported by another media outlet, they will look at this and study this hard. and learn from it. and hopefully prevent this from happening again. that can be that's a must. something went wrong for a number of things went wrong that allowed this to occur. we've got to learn from it and with the ultimate goal of protecting the legislative branch so that they can do the uses of the nation without distraction or fear of safety. yesterday that was put in jeopardy. so as far as the inauguration goes, and i was response will the last inauguration, it's a very large event, a lot of moving parts. a lot of agencies involved. and again we bring as many

players that makes we need to in order to ensure that a secure event occurs and that the inauguration goes off without any distraction or threat to life and safety. that's absolutely hope so, thank you for bringing us your personal reaction especially in terms of the inauguration all that breaking news regarding the current and now former sergeant—at—arms, his regarding the current and now former sergea nt—at—arms, his other we regarding the current and now former sergeant—at—arms, his other we will have to verify here at the bbc but frank larkin, former sergeant—at—arms from 2015 to 2018, thank you so much for your time. let's return now to our other main news today — the growing pressure on the health service because of the rise in covid—19 cases. the head of nhs england has warned that every region now has more covid patients in hospital than at the peak in april. sir simon stevens said 10,000 people had been admitted to hospital since christmas day alone. 0ur health correspondent dominic hughes reports.

at the norfolk and norwich university hospital, they are treating one of their own. emergency department nurse estrella catalan is now a patient. desperate to return to work but still fighting the virus. i want to help. for estrella's colleagues, these have been some of the toughest days. every single member of the nhs staff is going through so much. i mean, everywhere is understaffed, everywhere is being put through all this. we are all at risk, we are all coming into work and putting ourselves at risk and our families and it's all for the patients.

the pressure on hospitals is now so great there is a danger some could become covid only sites. already in london more than half of patients are being treated for the coronavirus. some nonurgent routine operations have already been cancelled, including even some cancer treatments. but this virus has spread far beyond london and the south—east, services right across the country are now being stretched to the limit and beyond. there are hospitals that are right, right on the brink. some of them are over that now. we have just got to hope that the whole of the nhs doesn't hit the brink at the same time otherwise we won't cope. if it did, what would that look like? it would look like a very, very bad winter. there would be ambulances queueing outside unable to off—load patients, there would be patients on trolleys in corridors, you know, lots of very distressed people both from the points of patients, relatives and staff. there are now 50% more covid patients in hospital than during last year's april peak, but at the same time the nhs is trying to manage the usual winter pressures. whereas in april for everyone

coronavirus in patient we were looking after two other hospitalised patients for other conditions, now for every one coronavirus in patient, we are looking after three other patients for other conditions, so the pressures are real and they are growing. the big concern is that case numbers are still very high and can only mean more admissions to come. there will be some difficult weeks ahead. dominic hughes, bbc news. mike adams is the directorfor england of the royal college of nursing. we saw some of the stresses and strains and the emotional toll that this is taking the nursing staff. just talk us through how your members are reacting, and how they are coping with this, especially this difficult strain which we have

now. is not an underestimation to say that our members are in real dire straits, and really feeling the pressure. and it's a bleak picture. for them personally and emotionally, but obviously for the people that they are trying to give the best ca re they are trying to give the best care for as well. a system that's under incredible pressure. you report there highlighted tragically the care that people trying to deliver in the circumstances they are working under. and i think we all saw there that the emotion the nursing staff are working with. we saw one nurse there herself become the patient. especially taking such a difficult and huge toll on your members, both mentally and physically when it comes to doing thejob. and how much more can they take, and how close are we to a possible situation or we will have ambulances queuing outside hospitals because of that we've artie seen

that this winter and unfortunately we see that every winter pretty much. and this is why we, and other professions have been highlighting the need for serious funding into resourcing staff within the nhs, and within the wider health care system for several years. i remember doing a piece highlighting corridor nursing january 2019, and now we face a pandemic with huge more demand than normal with a shortfall of nursing staff to start with, and now this huge impact of, as we are seeing about our own nursing staff becoming ill and needing to isolate and also them caring for each other. it's just a perfect storm, really of pressure in a situation that no one really ever expected to be under in any of our professions. and given that nurses are very much in the front line when it comes to this dreadful disease you have enough in terms of the figures can be your

head count, do you need to recruit more and ultimately are they paid enough? how much do nurses get paid, an average nurse now? know we have not got enough nurses, we went into the pandemic with around 40,000 vacancies within the nhs. that is an incredible amount of people that are missing. those vacancies are made up by normally nurses taking on additional shifts to help their co—workers, and the government has to do some serious action to recruit more staff into our services and then retain them. we did a survey last year in the first wave, we had 40,000 members respond, a third of them were considering leaving nursing and pavers are number one concern. an average nurse now if you compare the position now in a similarity of where they were ten yea rs similarity of where they were ten years ago point for point, their pay is in real terms 50% less than it was. this has to be addressed by the

by the government. the nursing profession will not tolerate this moving forward. they cannot be left ina moving forward. they cannot be left in a situation. mike adams, the director for in a situation. mike adams, the directorfor england in a situation. mike adams, the director for england at royal couege director for england at royal college of nursing, thank you so much for sharing those figures with us. thank you. the belfast health trust is cancelling urgent cancer surgery the department of health has confirmed to the bbc that its estimated that one in 60 people in northern ireland have covid—19. it is understood the trust expects "many100s" of new covid patients in the next three weeks. now it's time for a look at the weather with sarah keith—lucas. good evening. temperatures have been dropping rapidly since the sunset earlier on on thursday, well below freezing across much of the uk already. so through the course of tonight we are going to be seeing those cold conditions continuing, this was the picture in northumberland earlier on, so quite a bit of lying snow there, and actually many parts of northern england, parts of the midlands and

wales will seat more sleet and snow through tonight. some icy stretches developing as well. so it's this weather front here which is quite slow moving, pushing south and that's bringing the snowfall to northern england into wales, perhaps the midlands. we have also seen further wintry flurries across the north and east part of scotland. some more snow continuing here, blowing in on quite a brisk northerly wind. so could be up to ten cm on top of the pennines. a couple of centimetres at lower levels. some of it falling as rain and sleet particularly near the coast in the east. further south across england and southern parts of wales should stay mostly dry, but there could be the odd wintry flurry almost anywhere, and temperatures are getting below freezing. —6 to perhaps —10 degrees across rural parts of scotland. a cold night for northern ireland as well. into friday morning, then, we've got more snow piling up across parts of northern england. some of it quite heavy. some flurries of snow for wales into the north midlands. perhaps some rain and sleet showers for the likes of lincolnshire and east anglia as well. but should be dry to

the south of that, chilly though with temperatures about two to 4 degrees. scotland and northern ireland having a drier day with some sunshine, but again cold with those temperatures just a few degrees above freezing at best. heading on into the weekend and a subtle change as the wind and starts to turn a little bit more westerly. there will be some rain and hail snow pushing into the far northwest of scotland later in the day, but for much of the uk a dry day on saturday. mist and frost and fog of clearing away gradually. a little bit less cold than it has been, about two to 5 degrees, still quite chilly but there's some blue sky and sunshine to compensate. heading into sunday, a little bit more cloud drifting in across many northern and western parts of the uk. brightest in the south and the east as well. but those temperatures just starting to nudge up gradually by a few degrees. so still we are likely to see a frosty morning. temperatures by the afternoon about five to seven celsius. still below average but not as cold as it has been recently. and then as we look ahead into next week, things are starting to change. temperatures will be on the rise, and things are looking quite unsettled through much of the week too. bye for now.

this is bbc news. democrats call for donald trump's removalfrom office, saying he must leave before any more damage is done. that puts vice president mike pence in the spotlight, and the president's cross—hairs. as the nation struggles to come to terms with the events on capitol hill, many wonder what's next for washington and the politics that make this town run. lawmakers did succeed in certifying joe biden as the next president. the incoming commander—in—chief hit out at those responsible for yesterday's violence. an unprecedented assault on our democracy. and on our democracy. assault, literally, on the citadel and assault, literally, on the citadel of liberty, the united states capital itself. us intelligence officials have asked

for help in identifying and