a rematch between trump and biden. and that will not be pretty. my guest today is the us congresswoman nancy pelosi, former speaker of the house of representatives. is her democratic party right to stick with biden? nancy pelosi, welcome to hardtalk. my pleasure to be with you. it is a pleasure to nancy pelosi, welcome to hardtalk. my pleasure to be with you. it is a pleasure to have you on the show. now, you have always been seen as an incredibly internationalist american politician. i think in your years as speaker of the house and congresswoman you visited more than 80 countries. yes. but in that experience,

would you say you have seen american power and influence on the wane? well, i certainly hope not. yes, i've visited over 80 countries, for 30 years i have been in intelligence as a member, as a top democratic intelligence committee, as speaker and leader, for 30 years been involved globally in terms of security, that is an oath we take to protect and defend. i think that the previous occupant occasionally of the white house was a setback for us in terms of... you mean donald trump? you don't want to name him, is that it, or...? for me, it is almost like a curse word. laughs to be clear, you are saying... that's who i'm referencing, yes. you are saying that america's standing and its reach and its influence has been affected by the trump... well, i think there were certain questions that arose when he was questioning our commitment to mutual security in nato and the rest.

but not to be talking about him, we are very proud of our president, president biden, as to how he came into office. again, we are back to nato full force in terms of our respect for the countries in nato, and then when the invasion of ukraine occurred, the president acted in a very respectful way to the other countries listening on how we came up with our approach, the timing, the scope of it and the rest. but isn't the truth that if we are to talk about the ark of putin's career with his decisions over time, starting perhaps in 2008 in georgia, to use russian force, the 2014 annexation of crimea and then of course in february 2022, the invasion, full—scale invasion of ukraine, isn't the truth that the signals were sent by a democratic white house to vladimir putin that he could

get away with this? it was barack obama who basically looked at putin and said, "i want to reset relations with this guy, "i want to work with this guy" despite what he had done in georgia, despite what he was doing in crimea. well, i think crimea — the georgia situation is a little bit different in that the determination to fight — we are supporting the ukrainian peoples�* fight for their democracy, this is an absolute invasion. i myself thought that we should have all of us, notjust the united states, but europe should have reacted differently to what happened in crimea. but the fact is the physical invasion, a violation of the border with the intention of taking over ukraine is something that has happened now, and the president of the united states listening and in collaboration with our allies and europe and even beyond europe —

even beyond europe, butjust talking about nato right now, i think nato has been strengthened when putin thought it would be weakened, it is enlarged, but it has also intensified its commitment to democracy. so i don't think you should put the invasion of ukraine at the doorstep of barack obama. i think that it is, again, we are all in this together, and i think that we all should have done something differently in crimea. the full—on war in ukraine has been raging for, what, 1.5 years now. yeah. ambassador mike mcfaul, who used to serve for the united states government in moscow, says thatjoe biden and his team have been far too concerned about threat of russian escalation,

that because of that fear the us hasn't given zelensky and the ukrainians all of the tools they need to regain their lost territories. let's say — yielding to the title of your programme, hardtalk — let's hardtalk about this, 0k? the fact is — is that, again, i willjust put this in the context of my story. when i was a student, i was at the inauguration of president kennedy, and in his speech that day, president kennedy said, "to citizens of the world, "ask not what america can do for you, "but what we can do working together for the freedom of mankind." that is what he said. and that is exactly whatjoe biden did — working together, not dictating, not condescension, but collaboration... sure, but the truth is... ..collaboration.

and the fact is also that i have been a strong advocate since i was the first leader to go to — american leader to go to ukraine, come back with my delegation to the president to say we wanted more weapons, at the time it was about distance and speed and the rest and, as you know, there are more things in terms of air power and the rest that we'd like to see. from all of us, and so some other countries are going forward and i don't think that... i think we do that again... i understand what you are saying about collaboration, but the fact is us abrams tanks, having been promised, are not yet on the battlefield, f—i6 fighter planes not yet being used by ukrainian pilots in the battle space, atacms, long—range weapons not being given by the us to ukraine, and ukraine right now is losing men, and the message from kyiv is if you gave us more, we could win this war. yes, and i, again, as i said, our group has always been on the forefront of asking

for more of our government or our collaboration. but i do say this — is when they talk about the f—i6s, for example, and they say, "well, they have to be trained," train them now. train them now. if they are not ready, by the time they are ready, the training will be effective. i don't think we have to do this consecutively, sequentially, we should — can do it at the same time — train as we prepare the planes. i do think that there is a legitimate concern about any use of this into russia that could precipitate a reaction from russia, that is a legitimate thing — it this going to... people are concerned, is this provocative of a greater... ..reaction from russia into other nato countries? isn't there also, though, a political problem here in the united states, and we see it in the opinion

polling, which shows while still a majority of americans support... yes, they do. ..supporting ukraine... yes. ..they are less keen on sending more money and more equipment, and i'm going to quote you one congressman, he is a republican, andy harris, but he is co—chair of the ukraine caucus, he's been a long—time backer of kyiv, he says, "right now, we have to be realistic, that the war looks like it is not winnable, like the counteroffensive has failed, and that is affecting american public opinion." let me just reject that, 0k. you heard yesterday leaders of the second—in—command of the republicans in the senate, a leader in foreign policy in the senate, senator lindsey graham, you heard the chairman of the foreign affairs committee, a democrat, on the democrat side, and they say that we all support the effort in ukraine. this is the sidebar kind of a thing, it is not reflective.

it may be reflective of some republicans in the house, but it's not reflective of us policy. the fight for democracy in ukraine is a fight for democracy in ukraine and beyond. democracy writ large. we have to respect that. what is the solution this person has said? that we leave? that we don't support ukraine? hardtalk... we are there to win, we are in it to win it. we know what the leading candidates on the republican side of the race for the white house are saying. they are saying we need negotiations now. why? we have to end this war now, and if that means compromise with vladimir putin, that is what we will have to do. why? let me just say this. i wear this ring made by afghan women, and the issue of women in conflict, women being used as a weapon of war is something that many of us in the congress and in the country and in the white house, whether it was laura bush or michelle obama orjill biden...

we were concerned about the women in those war areas. vladimir putin has had using women as a weapon of war part of his demoralisation of the ukrainian people, that is what he thought. that his soldiers are raping women in front of their children, in front of their parents, kidnapping children, tens of thousands of them, and somebody saying, "we have got to negotiate with him, "forget about the children, forget about the women, "forget about the territory," and when the ukrainians are ready to negotiate, that is when we should be talking about it. it should not be thrust upon them. it is about their country, their democracy, their territory, their children, their women. let me talk to you about a couple of other challenges facing the united states on the world stage. one is china.

now, you took a pretty remarkable decision, as speaker of the house, to visit taiwan, to go to taipei. joe biden did not want you to do that. well, you don't know that. why do you say that? well, becausejoe biden said that he felt, or at least the us military felt at the time that your trip was not a good idea. no, who said that, though? that was biden talking about the us military. joe biden said that? yeah, he said that the us military felt that your trip was not a good idea. he said the military... well, he is the commander—in—chief. yeah, but he also said if china attacks taiwan, america will be there to defend taiwan, and then they sort of said, well, not really quite that... well, exactly, madam speaker, that is exactly what happened. joe biden appears unsure what america's strategic stance is on china, and that worries the rest of the world. no, it isn't unclear, it isn't unclear. what's clear is that we are for a one china policy, that didn't change by my trip. and, by the way, i was not the first to go there.

members of the senate, leadership of the senate, all men, went there and china didn't say boo. now, let's be clear about this. one china policy, that didn't change, any of that, legislation... no, with respect, what changed was strategic ambiguity, when biden was asked, would the us, with force, defend taiwan if it was attacked by china, he replied, "yes, if in fact there was an unprecedented attack." now, that is not strictly us policy. well, policy is to supply taiwan with what it needs to defend itself. the fact is that we are saying neither side should change the status quo, especially violently. but i guess the bottom line — do you think that the united states is in any position today to go to war with china over taiwan? war is a very last resort. i do think that part of the us—china relationship is something that

has to be addressed. about their unfair trade practices, about their military actions in the south china sea, as a deterrent to the free flow of shipping in the area, as well as of course the human rights policy. but i am not naive to think enough that people will care about genocide with the uyghurs, the destruction of democratic freedoms in hong kong, the changing of the culture of taiwan, faith, religion and culture of taiwan and threats... by the us doesn't need china when it comes to climate change. is the us showing leadership? because the reality is whilejoe biden is spending tens and tens of billions of dollars on the energy transition, on renewables, on infrastructure to create some sort of green economy, he is also supervising

an economy where oil output is at record levels, record levels of exports of liquefied natural gas. the united states essentially is giving the world a message of "we want to have our cake and eat it too, we want to talk green but we want to deliver fossil fuel. well, in the spirit of your title of hardtalk, you are completely wrong. in friendship, may i say. laughs not offended, but i want to hear why. you're completely wrong. you are not making any differentiation. the liquefied natural gas issue is an issue to supply countries that need it because they don't have to be dependent on russia. that is more related to the ukraine situation, because the dependence on russia oil — europe has to diversify. they know that, they have said that. in the meantime — in the meantime, their economy, their society needs more fuel, and that is what that is about. so i myself have had my, again, my back and forth with the chinese government, and they invited me as speaker to come to china, have a fresh start and let's just talk about climate change. i said "i have to talk about human rights, but my focus will be

on climate change." they are essential to saving the planet, there is no question about that. but that doesn't mean that domestic... ..production in the united states is an indication ofanything... now, one thing that i... all right, well, i'm going to... one thing we have to do in terms of what we've done, $370 billion in tax incentives and the rest but one thing that we need to do that we haven't done enough of is to get the resources — and this is hard to do in a republican congress that doesn't — who want to reverse everything we've done in climate — is to supply other countries with more resources to help address the climate crisis. so, that's an international priority of yours. let's now talk to domestic politics, because we have to. american politics is in turmoil and that's largely because of one man, donald trump. he faces 91 separate charges

in four forthcoming trials — allegations which, of course, trump still denies — yet, if you look at the opinion polls, he is running neck and neck as next president of the united states with the incumbentjoe biden. does that challenge your faith in the american people, in american democracy? oh, no — but... 43% of them, right now, would vote for donald trump for president. well, let me just say that's more of a statement about the republican party and that's something you should take up with the republicans because it is in their party where he has that support. he doesn't have it in the democratic party. but i'll say this — the election is about our democracy as well. it's notjust about two people, it's about our democracy and the integrity of our democracy. and your question, no. i have faith in the goodness

of the american people and nobody should ever underestimate the strength of america's democracy. a second term for this person would be a challenge because he has not honoured the oath of office to protect and defend. but i will promise you this — at the end of this election, our flag will still be there as our national anthem calls for, and ourflag was still there with liberty and justice for all, and that's what the election is about. let me just ask you a personal question. you were at the centre of the storm on january six, 2021... yeah. ..when the capitol was invaded by a rioting mob. they invaded your office. yeah. people have since been prosecuted, convicted and imprisoned for what they did. you said at the time, it was caught on camera — and you didn't know it was being filmed — but you said at the time

all this was unfolding and you'd been forced to flee, you said about the prospect of trump coming to the capitol, "i hope he comes. "i want to punch him out. "this is the moment. "i've been waiting for it. "i want to punch him out. "i'm gonna go to jail and i'm gonna be happy." that's right. i said that. no, i didn't realise that would be broadcast or put out there, but yeah. i understand the level of your anger but doesn't that suggest that you, in a sense, were drawn into this toxic political culture which many americans right now could lead to further political violence? no, no, no. nobody could get any equation or equivalence to my saying "i want to punch him out" — which i've wanted to do for a long time but now, he gave me more reason — to what is happening at the capitol, so, don't try to put any equivalence... i'm not suggesting that equivalence. all i'm saying is that your anger, yourfury, your sense that this was undermining america's democratic system has its own feedback loop and that right now, american politics...

yeah, but we were on the right track. we are honouring our oath of office to protect and defend the constitution of the united states. now, the constitution of the united states on that day said that the peaceful transfer of power would be that congress would accept the electoral college vote. that is why they were there that day — to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power, yeah. my oath of office said i have to defend that, whatever way that... but my point, i guess, is that the anger in american politics has not gone away — in fact, it has intensified. and do you think it is wise for america, for americans — america's system to be prosecuting donald trump, possibly convicting, possibly even imprisoning donald trump, who is, in effect, the leader of the republican party, may well be their nominee for president, at the very time a presidential election is unfolding? yes, i do.

i do. no—one is above the law. and you might — what inference i draw from what you're saying is that we should let him go because there's an election? no. no—one is above the law, no matter what the timing is, and neither is he. isn't the point — and you won't use his name — but isn't that the point that donald trump has tapped into some really raw, powerful feelings... that's right, absolutely. ..but many americans hold — particularly working—class americans. they feel alienated, left behind and they feel... some of them. ..your party, the democratic party, no longer represents their voice. the democrat data scientist david shor, who says his work suggests college—educated people have taken over the issue prioritisation of your democratic party at the expense of working—class white people who were in the party, and even at the expense of working—class non—white people who are in the party today, and that's driving those working—class people away. well, let me address that. that's a point of view. do you worry about it? that you're now seen as a party

of the progressive elite? i don't agonise, i organise, ok? i don't agonise, i organise. the fact is the difference between the two parties is a trickle—down economics of tax bills that 83% of the benefits went to 1% of the population and unintelligible $2 trillion to the national debt. _ versusjoe biden, a bubble—up economy, built from the middle, so that everyone can artici ate an: , �* and the fact is that the press, frankly, use the term �*uneducated' — that wasn't something we said. they said uneducated — i think that was wrong. these people are not uneducated. they accuse you, nancy pelosi, of being out of touch. no, they don't. look. they do. well, they say a lot of things about me but i don't care what they say about me. what i care about is winning elections... and a final point... ..and not to be a fear monger

but to be a message of hope. there are many americans — again, according to the polls — who thinkjoe biden should not run again because he's simply too old. only three years older than don — what's his name, yourfriend — he's three years older than him. he's three — yeah. so, that's a big deal. i don't wish to be ungallant but you are 82 and you have handed over power in the democratic party, in the house of representatives, to what you called a new generation. that's right. should joe biden be learning from you? no. joe biden is the president of the united states. if we said we have a great president. but the american... he's accomplished more... the american people seejoe biden�*s mental and physical health. they see it every day on their tv screens. they are drawing conclusions. a clear majority say he is too old, he should not run again — and that's democrats as well as republicans. and many of those democrats — and if you ask those democrats, they supportjoe biden. they're not supporting somebody else becausejoe biden is old. joe biden is wise, he has knowledge, he has a beautiful vision for america, he has knowledge of the issues — therefore, judgement

and wisdom. he has strategic thinking about getting things done. that's why his presidency has been so successful on the domestic front. he has empathy and cares about working—class families and — and — we have to communicate that better to the american people, and that is what our campaign is about. i didn't hear you say any complimentary thing about anything that people had said about the president or our performance as elected officials. we don't care about the negative. we're about the positive. it's not about fear, it's about hope. and you'll see, 15 months from now, joe biden re—elected as president of the united states with great pride. as you say, we'll see. we'll see. chuckles. nancy pelosi, thank you very much for being on hardtalk. thank you. my pleasure.

hello there. the weather story so far this week has been dominated by sunshine and heat. and i suspect as we go through the week ahead, it's all going to be about numbers. 30 degrees was recorded on monday across parts of england and wales. highest temperatures of the summer �*23 was back injune with 32.2 celsius, but there is a possibility as we go through the week with heat and humidity building, that we could see 32 degrees, maybe even higher. which would be ironic because september is the start of meteorological autumn. for tuesday, though on the whole will start off with a little bit of low cloud, mist and fog across eastern england and maybe shrouding the far north of scotland, but that will quickly burn away. a lot of sunshine coming through, generally light winds. and once again, it is going to feel warm, if not hot in many places

with temperatures peaking once again at around 29 or 30 degrees. now, as we move out of tuesday into the early hours of wednesday morning, we'll see yet again more low cloud, mist and fog developing. a little bit more extensive, perhaps coming in across eastern england. but it will be a mild at night, temperatures widely into the mid—teens. so as we move into wednesday, we're still under this influence of high pressure with lows sitting out across iberia. and that's driving in this southerly breeze, so it will turn increasingly more humid as we go through wednesday and thursday. and it's wednesday and thursday that we may well see those temperatures peaking. so to start off on wednesday, yes, perhaps a murky start, but it won't be long before that sunshine breaks through and we will see those temperatures continuing to climb with that light southerly wind direction. so highs possible of 31, maybe a degree or so higher as well. we will keep a very close eye on that as we go through the day on wednesday. into thursday, there's a risk

of a few thundery downpours breaking out with that increasing humidity, they should be fairly isolated. but if you catch one, you may well know about them and they're likely to be up through the north—west. top temperatures generally of around 21, again into the low 30s across central and southern parts of england and wales. the dry, settled conditions continue into the weekend with the risk potentially of some rain, perhaps from monday onwards. take care.

welcome to newsday. reporting live from singapore, i'm arunoday mukharji. the headlines. kimjong un and vladimir putin are likely to meet in russia this month. the north korean leader plans to travel to moscow and discuss weapons supply for russia's war in ukraine. meanwhile, vladimir putin has poured cold water on turkish plans to revive a deal that allows ukraine to safely export grain via the black sea. translation: this often happens with our western partners, - they've deceived us once more by again doing nothing. that's all.

now we say we're not against this deal. we're just ready to return to it immediately, as soon the promises given to us are fulfilled. an awkward day for rishi sunak as the prime minister denies overseeing budget cuts that led to crumbling concrete in hundreds of schools across england not being repaired. senior doctors and dentists in new zealand will go on their first ever strike — frustrated they won't receive pay rises to match inflation, currently running at six percent. live from our studio in singapore, this is bbc news, it's newsday. welcome to the programme. we start with the war in ukraine, as north korean leader, kimjong un, will travel to russia for talks with president putin according

to american officials and several media outlets.