welcome to bbc news. i'm nancy kacungira. our top stories: a former white house aide tells a congressional committee that president trump wanted to join the capitol hill rioters. the president reached up towards the front of the vehicle to grab towards the steering wheel. mr engel grabbed his arm and said, sir, you need to take your hand of the steering wheel. we're going back to the west wing. we're not going back the capitol. in new york, ghislaine maxwell is sentenced to 20 years for helping jeffrey epstein abuse young girls. turkey drops its opposition to sweden and finland joining the nato military alliance after the three countries sign a joint agreement.

the scottish government announces plans to hold a second independence referendum in october next year — if they can secure legal consent. and bowel cancer campaigner dame deborah james, host of the bbc podcast, you, me and the big c, has died at the age of a0. welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. hello and welcome to the programme. the inquiry into the riot at the us capitol last year has been hearing dramatic testimony from a former white house aide. cassidy hutchinson said donald trump knew supporters had weapons when he urged them to march to congress. she also said senior officials had warned repeatedly that mr trump's rally on that day, to try to overturn joe biden�*s victory, could spiral out of control. our north america editor

sarah smith has more. do you swear on... a surprise witness. her appearance, kept secret until today, delivered explosive testimony. describing how trump had been informed that many in the crowd on 6 january were carrying weapons. yet he was furious about security measures. metal detectors were used to find guns and knives. he wanted the screenings stopped to let more people in, ms hutchinson told the committee in previously recorded testimony. i overheard the president say something to the effect of, "i don't effing care they have weapons. "they're not here to hurt me. "take the effing mags away." donald trump: we are going to walk down and i'll be - there with you. trump did want to go to

the capitol, but as he ordered the secret service to drive him there he was told it wasn't safe. he said something to the effect of, "i'm the effing president, take me up to the capitol now." when the president's secret service agent, bobby engel, refused to go to the capitol, trump got physical. the president reached up towards the front of the vehicle to grab at the steering wheel. "sir, you need to take your hand off the steering wheel. "we're going back to the west wing. "we're not going to the capitol." mr trump then used his free hand to lunge towards bobby engel. trump has responded, saying this is a "fake story that is sick and fraudulent." today is the first time we have heard exactly what was happening inside the white house on 6january, how the president's most senior advisers anticipated the violence and did little to stop it, and then asked trump for a presidential pardon so they couldn't be prosecuted. did white house chief of staff mark meadows ever indicate that he was interested in receiving a presidential pardon relating to 6january?

mr meadows did seek that pardon, yes, ma'am. first—hand evidence from someone who was right at the heart of the white house. sarah smith, bbc news. let's speak to democratic strategist mary anne marsh who joins us now from cape cod in massachusetts. good to see you. thank you for talking to us. let us start with your assessment of this testimony we have heard from ms cassidy today. testimony we have heard from ms cassidy today-— cassidy today. cassidy hutchinson _ cassidy today. cassidy hutchinson provided l cassidy today. cassidy l hutchinson provided the cassidy today. cassidy - hutchinson provided the most incriminating test many today, perhaps even in history, more than even watergate in the 19705 than even watergate in the 1970s against richard nixon, and she did it as a trust awaited ausaid with further knowledge. she was served to mark matos who was chief of staff at the time, she knew was aware of everything that went in the white house. her office was outside of mark matos and

near the oval office were donna from ciman that tells you the kind of information she had and she provided this testimony oh —— under oath before congress. if you lie to congress under oath that is a felony. use of a prison term of five years. for someone at all to do what she did today, let alone the fact that she is 26 years old, she showed more courage, poise, and grace than any of the people she served with.— grace than any of the people she served with. you are saying this is bigger — she served with. you are saying this is bigger than _ she served with. you are saying this is bigger than watergate, l this is bigger than watergate, but some people are saying, actually, this isjust hearsay and president trump has pushed back, for instance, that anecdote about him grabbing the steering wheel, saying that is not even possible.— not even possible. well, his suworters _ not even possible. well, his supporters will _ not even possible. well, his supporters will say - not even possible. well, his supporters will say anything i not even possible. well, his i supporters will say anything at this point, but his criticism, nor any of his supporters' criticism go to the evidence. everything she said today was back up by texts, e—mails, videotape, all of it. and she was there. no—one is disputing

she wasn't there, she wasn't present for all of those things, and she outlined the planning, the beginning, the implementation, and the aftermath of the coup of 6 january, which is very clear today donald trump lead. 50 today donald trump lead. so auoin today donald trump lead. so going by what you are saying there, not only do we have a witness saying donald trump didn'tjust sit on his hands, you actually actively encouraged what we saw on 6 january, does any of that paved the way for a prosecution of donald trump?— the way for a prosecution of donald trump? well, first and foremost. _ donald trump? well, first and foremost, donald _ donald trump? well, first and foremost, donald trump, - donald trump? well, first and l foremost, donald trump, when donald trump? well, first and - foremost, donald trump, when he served as president, you take an oath of office 27 project united states america. instead, it was confirmed today he actually led a coup against the very places he was put into office to serve. the fact is, he encouraged violence every step of the way against congress, against our government, in a desperate attempt to stay in power. when he learned that his supporters had guns and other weapons at the rally and they were then going too much to the capitol,

as your reporter noted, he asked law enforcement to take down the magnetometers, the metal detectors, so they could go unheeded into congress just stop them from counting the votes. and, in many cases, targetting, perhaps kidnapping and even killing members of congress. in this case it would have been decapitating the government because the order of succession after the president is the vice president, which was mike pence, they were chanting to kill him, chatting to gil nancy pelosi, who comes in after that, and then it would have also perhaps allowed him to declare martial law and he would have been able to take the government, install the military, and keep himself in office. we did it repeatedly when he heard people chanting to kill mike pence, he said he deserves it, and sent out a tweet telling his supporters that mike pence didn't do what he should have done that day, further exacerbating the situation and, finally, when he was repeatedly asked by aides and family to stop the insurrection begrudgingly, four

hours, didn't do anything and finally did a video to ask them to stop and it was clear anita the testimony today that they have outtakes of the video he attempted to make and it will be very clear on what she did not want to do anything. he did not want to do anything. he did not want to stop this. we only put a match on gasoline. we will certainly keep watching this. thank you forjoining us with your thoughts. marianne marsh is a democrat strategist. let's get some of the day's other news. in colombia, family members of prison inmates have clashed with police officers outside the jail where a riot broke out, leaving at least 51 prisoners dead. officials say the blaze began when inmates set fire to mattresses and tried to escape from the jail in the south—west city of tulua. most of the inmates died of smoke inhalation. president lopez 0brador of mexico has blamed trafficking and what he called a lack of control at the us borderfor the deaths of at least 50 migrants, who were abandoned in a lorry in texas. it's the worst case of migrant

deaths due to people smuggling in the us. the centers for disease control in the united states has launched an emergency response to help contain an outbreak of monkeypox. the us has recorded more than 240 cases of the disease, which causes fever, a rash, and skin blisters. ghislaine maxwell, once a prominent figure in new york society circles, is facing 20 years in a us prison for trafficking young girls to be abused byjeffrey epstein. she issued a statement apologising to her victims, but herfamily said she would appeal. 0ur correspondent nada tawfik was in court. a long—fought victory for annie farmer and all of ghislaine maxwell's victims. justice was slow.

she was one of the earliest to report maxwell and the paedophilejeffrey epstein to police, in 1996. but today, annie said it was never too late for accountability. maxwell and epstein were predators who were able to use that power and privilege to harm countless individuals and for far too long, the institutions that should be protecting the public were instead protecting them. and i still hope that we find out more about how that was allowed to occur. maxwell did not look at her victims, but she did address them. she said she was sorry for the pain they had experienced. she also said her association with epstein, who she described as a manipulative, cunning man, was the greatest regret of her life. her statement felt like a very hollow apology to me. she did not take responsibility for the crimes that she committed and it felt like, once more, her trying to do something to benefit her and not at all about the harm that she had caused. the court allowed others who were not a part of the trial to also confront maxwell.

the pain and anguish she caused was plain to see, as several accusers emotionally spoke about the lasting impact of her crimes, such as liz stein. she had a wonderful, full, beautiful life, and so many of us just didn't have a chance to have that. i think that the closure part of her sentencing is maybe the beginning for a lot of us to start having the life that we anticipated we might have if we had never met ghislaine maxwell and jeffrey epstein. the british daughter of the disgraced media tycoon robert maxwell ran in the most influential circles, rubbing elbows with presidents and princes. but in court, as she waited to hear her fate, she was supported byjust three members of herfamily. the judge rejected the defence's claim that maxwell was being punished in epstein�*s place and said her sentencing had to reflect the seriousness of her role in the horrific scheme.

today is a major step towards justice and perhaps healing for the victims. nada tawfik, bbc news, new york. for more on this story i'm joined now byjeffrey lichtman from thejeffrey lichtman law firm in new york. thanks forjoining us. what did you make of this sentence, is it more or less what you expected? it more or less what you muted?— it more or less what you expected? it more or less what you exected? �*, ., ., expected? it's about what i exnected- _ expected? it's about what i exnected- i _ expected? it's about what i expected. i thought - expected? it's about what i expected. i thought that i expected? it's about what i l expected. i thought that was expected? it's about what i i expected. i thought that was a little bit higher, thought perhaps 15—20. i think the judgejust made a perhaps 15—20. i think the judge just made a determination whether or not she wanted maxwell to die in prison. the government clearly wanted that, they ask for 30 years or higher, and the defence asked for, i think, higher, and the defence asked for, ithink, about higher, and the defence asked for, i think, about five years or so. for, i think, about five years orso. so for, i think, about five years or so. so she split the difference, which is actually what the probation department asked for, with a 20 year sentence, and with two years in, she has been injailfor two years, and she will be out

in 15 years, maybe a little less. . , , ., less. her lawyers have said there will _ less. her lawyers have said there will be _ less. her lawyers have said there will be an _ less. her lawyers have said there will be an appeal, - less. her lawyers have said l there will be an appeal, what could be grounds for an appeal be? i could be grounds for an appeal be? ~' ., ., could be grounds for an appeal be? ~ ., ., ., be? i think one of the main grounds — be? i think one of the main grounds is _ be? i think one of the main grounds is the _ be? i think one of the main grounds is the fact - be? i think one of the main grounds is the fact that - be? i think one of the main j grounds is the fact that one be? i think one of the main i grounds is the fact that one of the jurors came out after the trial was over and then acknowledge that he did not give a truthful answer whether or not he had been molested as a child. and that obviously important thing you want to know as a defence lawyer when picking the jury, know as a defence lawyer when picking thejury, you don't want to have people who are going to be predisposed against your client. i was surprised that there wasn't a new trial ordered on that ground, but remember, eye represented el chapo, and after the trial was over multiple jurors were listening to press accounts of the evidence, a lot of it which never even came in. sojudges are loath to order a new trial on such a high profile case, but that is a pretty big issue for appeal.

but that is a pretty big issue forappeal. in but that is a pretty big issue for appeal-— but that is a pretty big issue for appeal. in court ghislaine said jeffrey _ for appeal. in court ghislaine said jeffrey epstein - for appeal. in court ghislaine said jeffrey epstein should i said jeffrey epstein should have been here before all of you, and throughout the trial her lawyers argued that the government was trying her for jeffrey epstein�*s crimes. how much you feel the fact that jeffrey epstein cannot stand trial has influenced this case? welcome i think it meant a lot, the sentencing judge came out and said i'm not sending things for you for anything we could not due to obscene. the fact is that if epstein was there at sentencing as well, maxwell's lawyers would have pointed to him and said he was the leader, he was the person, and no doubt the government would have said she was not as culpable as epstein was. and i think that reflected in the sentence. epstein surely would have gotten a life sentence had he not kill himself, and maxwell was given a great opportunity to walk out ofjail alive and

spent her last years a free person. spent her last years a free erson. ., person. 0k, we will leave it there. jeffrey _ person. 0k, we will leave it there. jeffrey lichtman, - person. 0k, we will leave it i there. jeffrey lichtman, thank you very much. there. jeffrey lichtman, thank you very much-— stay with us on bbc news. still to come: a shock first round defeat for the seven—time wimbledon champion serena williams in herfirst singles match in a year. china marked its first day of rule in hong kong with a series of spectacular celebrations. a huge fireworks display was held in the former colony. the chinese president, jiang zemin, said unification was the start of a new era for hong kong. the world's first clone has been produced of an adult mammal. scientists in scotland have produced a sheep called dolly that was cloned in a laboratory using a cell from another sheep. for the first time in 20 years, russian and american spacecraft have docked in orbit at the start of a new era of cooperation in space.

tennis balls thwack. cheering and applause. challenger powered past the bishop rock lighthouse at almost 50 knots, shattering a record that had stood for 3a years, and there was no hiding the sheer elation of richard branson and his crew. this is bbc news. our main story: a former white house aide tells a congressional committee that president trump wanted to join the capitol hill rioters. turkey has changed its mind and has now agreed to support the nato membership applications from finland and sweden. the breakthrough came at the nato summit in madrid, where again the war in ukraine dominated the discussions. 0ur europe editor katya adler reports from madrid.

it's taken weeks of negotiations, but sweden and finland are now well on their way to becoming nato members after they signed an agreement with turkey to counter threats to each other�*s security. applause. nato hopes to present this united front tonight. welcoming finland and sweden into the alliance will make them safer, nato stronger, and the mid—atlantic area more secure. this is vital as we face the biggest security crisis in decades. ukraine, of course, is on everyone's minds here. but so is the wider security threat from russia. nato is ramping up its rapid reaction forces from 40,000 to 300,000, like these french paratroopers preparing to support nato countries close to russia,

now feeling very exposed. we can't defend ourselves alone. we will never be alone strong. so we have to have, like, friends and allies. finland and sweden agree. just look at finland's long border with russia. hello. thank you so much for taking the time. moscow's aggression has shocked them. we realised that we have to make a change. well, it appeared that russia is ready to try to invade a neighbouring sovereign country. are you worried, though? because president putin told you directly, he warned you not tojoin nato, or there would be repercussions. yes, we are not afraid, not at all. but today, russia's foreign minister, sergey lavrov, warned the west beefing up its defences

and supporting ukraine would only prolong kyiv�*s agony. and that is the delicate balancing act here. all nato countries agree russia is the aggressor, ukraine must be helped militarily, but to what extent? that's where there's disagreement. should russia be given such a bloody nose, it thinks twice in the future about acts of aggression? or, if vladimir putin feels pushed in a corner, is there a risk that he'll escalate, even making good on a threat to use nuclear weapons? trying to keep nato allies together isjoe biden, arguably the star guest at tonight's gala dinner, hosted by spain's king and queen. europe's security has been thrown upside down by vladimir putin, but one thing hasn't changed — when this continent is in crisis, it still relies heavily on washington. katya adler, bbc news, madrid. the first minister of scotland,

nicola sturgeon, has outlined her plans for a second referendum on independence from the rest of the uk. she told the scottish parliament that a bill would set out how a vote could be held in october next year. 0ur scotland editorjames cook reports from edinburgh. chanting: yes, yes, yes! no, no, no! scotland 2014, when politics came alive. how dare they say that this country is not capable of running its own affairs? this is everyone's flag, everyone's country, everyone's culture, and everyone's streets. this is the vision we've got for your country. i but should we do this all over again? how does the nation feel about the idea of a second referendum? yeah, i think if there's a public call for it then we should definitely have one and just see what the public thinks. i don't think it's the best idea. yes, go for it, - yeah, another one. oh, my god, again?

presiding officer... well, yes, if nicola sturgeon has her way. now is the time for independence. the plan is to ask voters, should scotland be an independent country? to which they said "no" eight years ago. i can announce that the scottish government is proposing that the independent referendum be held on 19 october, 2023. these are... applause. but does this parliament have the power to hold that vote? the first minister now says she wants the supreme court to decide sooner rather than later. the fact is neither legal opinions nor political arguments will resolve this point. we must establish legal fact. last time, that wasn't needed. david cameron agreed to hand over the power to hold a vote in 2014. his successor has no such plans. we think the number one priority for the country is the economic pressures, the spikes in the cost of energy.

our plan for a stronger economy certainly means that we think that we're stronger working together. just across the road from the parliament, the british state was putting on a show this afternoon. nicola sturgeon may want to keep the monarchy, but she's trying again to end the 300—year—old political project which is the united kingdom. the campaigner dame deborahjames has died of bowel cancer at the age of 40. she had been receiving end—of—life care at home, and had raised millions to help others affected by cancer. dame deborah was host of the bbc�*s you, me and the big c podcas and was honoured in recognition of her fundraising work. 0ur correspondent rachel burden reports. my name is deborahjames. i'm a mum to two kids and a dog called winston. three years ago, at the age of 35,

i was diagnosed with stage four bowel cancer and i have been living with cancer ever since. she was young, she was vibrant, with an infectious sense of fun. for deborahjames, cancer was a devastating blow. but she was determined to share her story, in the hope it would help others. i've had everything — surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy — to enable me to live with cancer. 0n social media, the former teacher called herself bowel babe, detailing the endless rounds of treatment, but poking fun at her disease. having fun with her kids and marking life's important milestones. i made my 40th birthday. that's huge, that's enormous, it's the birthday i never thought i would make. i like winding up my oncologist because he's very strait—laced! on her podcast, you,

me and the big c, deborah was open... you're sat on the chemo ward in an orange catsuit! ..funny... and he's, like... doesn't want to say anything and you'rejust, like, "yeah, hi!" i'm back on treatment and every single time i'm back on treatment, i don't want to be here. i don't want to be back on treatment. ..but never tried to hide her emotions. you just think, it's just not fair. in a final interview, she hoped new treatments would soon be found. cancer should become a chronic disease. i hope it will be in my kids' lifetime, i hope it will become a chronic disease. but i think... there are people doing amazing things and we need to support them and fund them. # and i'll rise up # i'll rise like the day...# the fund she set up to aid research has raised millions.

foryears, dame deborah, as she became, fought to increase awareness of her disease, with social media posts like these inspiring thousands of fellow patients. in the words of one cancer charity, "the lives her campaign saved and will continue "to save was nothing short of incredible." the campaigner dame deborahjames who has died of bowel cancer at the age of 40. and there's just time to tell you about day two of wimbledon, where the seven—times champion serena williams has been knocked out in the first round. in a match that lasted more than three hours, she was beaten by the french player harmony tan who was making her debut at the championships. williams, who's 40, hadn't played a singles match since retiring injured at wimbledon last year. you can reach me on twitter —

i'm @kacungira i hope you can stay with us here on bbc news. bye for now. hello there. on tuesday, we saw a definite east—west divide across the country. eastern areas saw the best of the sunshine and the warmth. further north and west, it was windy with outbreaks of rain and felt fairly cool for the time of year. now, for today, it's going to be one of sunshine and showers and it'll be less windy as well. the reason for it — the centre of this low pressure system will be just pulling away slightly from the north—west of the uk, so we'll have fewer isobars across the charts, but still some weather fronts which will bring outbreaks of rain. the overnight band of rain will be slowly clearing away from eastern england and eastern scotland. it will do by around mid—morning, and then we're all into the regime of sunshine and showers, and into the afternoon, some of these showers could turn out to be heavy and thundery across some northern and western areas. probably the best of the

sunshine across the south—east. winds will be lighter — these are mean wind speeds — much lighter than what we had on tuesday. i think with lighter winds and in the sunshine, it'll feel a touch warmer. temperatures range from around 18—23 degrees across the south—east. many of the showers will tend to fade away during wednesday night. just watching this area of heavy, perhaps thundery rain just scrape the far south—east of the near continent there. that'll push in towards the north sea, perhaps affecting north—east scotland during the morning. but for most, it's clear spells, one or two showers and mild with temperatures in double figures for most. you can see that weather front bringing heavy rainfall across the eastern parts of the uk as we head through thursday. 0therwise, low pressure, again, close enough to bring another day of sunshine and showers. so, this rain could get close, again, to the southeast of england during thursday afternoon. could be some heavy rain as well across the far north—east of scotland. otherwise, for most, sunshine and showers again, some of them will be quite heavy, and because the winds are light,

these showers will be fairly slow—moving. temperatures reaching highs of 18—21 degrees. friday, similar story. we've got low pressure to the west of the uk, so again, it's generally light winds, sunny spells, scattered showers and some of them could be quite heavy in places, and those temperatures around just a little below the seasonal norm of, say, 18—21 celsius. now, as we head into the weekend, we'll hold onto the sunshine and showers theme, but i think from sunday and into the following week, it looks like high pressure will build in from the west, and that should settle things down and turn warmer in the south.

this is bbc news. the headlines: a former white house aide has told a congressional committee that president trump wanted to join the capitol hill rioters. cassidy hutchinson also testified that mr trump tried to take the steering wheel from his limousine driver when he was told he could not attend. a court in new york has sentenced the british socialite ghislaine maxwell to 20 years in jail for helping her former partner, jeffrey epstein, abuse underage girls. maxwell was found guilty in december of sex trafficking. epstein killed himself in a manhattanjail cell in 2019. the turkish government has dropped its objections to finland and swedenjoining nato after spending weeks refusing to do so. turkey had accused both countries of harbouring kurdish militants but says it has now

�*got what it wanted' from talks