without the top. 15 or 16 on. this is the news live from for let us president trump visits california as a battles historic wildfires with blazes raging now across 3 states california officials tell the u.s. president that climate change is a major contributing factor with a larger correspondent also on the show. open up markets and respect the rule of

law germany delivers a tough talking message to beijing as e.u. and chinese leaders meet virtually to discuss a key investment deal. and life on venus scientists say they found what might be the 1st signs of extraterrestrial life on earth neighboring planet. i'm brian thomas could have you with us the u.s. president doll trump is back in washington after meeting with officials in california who are battling the worst wildfires on record there and in 2 other western states trump downplayed arguments that climate change is fueling the record places instead he said poor forest management is largely to blame. these are some of the scenes providing the backdrop to the president's visit to

california. raging wildfires that have burned millions of acres wiped out whole communities and left dozens dead. the scientists say places like these are being made worse by climate change. but donald trump spoke of other concerns after landing in california to meet with top officials. and we have to do a lot about forest management obviously forest management in california is very important. california governor gavin newsome said those concerns were justified but he and other officials went on to press tromped on climate change just as they are forced management science. and observed the evidence is self evident that climate change is real and that is exacerbating this if we ignore that science and sort of put our head in the sand and think it's all about vegetation management we're not going to succeed together protecting californians ok it'll start getting

cooler but i was just you just watch i wish science and anybody but. i don't think science knows actually. and earlier that day harsh words from trump's democratic presidential rival joe biden if you give a climbing arsonist 4 more years in the white house why would anyone be surprised if we have more america blaise if you have a climate denier 4 more years in the white house why would anyone be surprised when more of america is underwater. but trump has his supporters even in deeply democratic california i was displaced by the taubes fire i woke up with my city in flames and the democrats have not done their due diligence policy wise and so if there is a component of global warming it is a very very small component because the democrats are failing california meanwhile

firefighters on the front lines face challenging conditions with shifting winds and drier weather sparking several new blazes. let's get more now it did abuse i mean as of joining us from the capitol building in sacramento california good day to you . these fires are absolutely catastrophic the images certainly are very disturbing and they've also become highly politicized how are they playing a role in president trump's campaign strategy considering he only spent just a few hours in california. that's right it was a quick stop and it was unplanned it was not part of his trip out west part of his campaign trail if you will but he came in anyway and it seems to show that trump is conscious that with these fires unprecedented fires making headlines nationally and internationally he had to finally say something he's been quite silent about that

for a couple of weeks he wants to perhaps look like he has the situation under control now in the meeting as you can see he deflected criticism that this was his fault and said that it had more to do with forest management in california. i mean what's been the reaction from some of the voters where you are to the president's visit. well this is a largely democratic state which is one of the reasons why you hadn't planned on coming here he's not really worried about the votes here he thinks he'll lose the state anyway he lost to hillary clinton by 4000000 votes in the last elections so this wasn't a part of his planned trip because the voters here already turned against him just 2 years ago he said that californians need to rake their forests more and totally denied that climate change had anything to do with this this doesn't sit well with people here especially since the federal government owns more than half of the

forests in california in the state only owns 3 percent so it doesn't sit well with those voters there were a lot of trump supporters at the airport this morning however to see air force one land to give their their support for their presidential candidates so there is a bit of a mix here but then again there was a protest there as well and they clashed with trump supporters yeah we heard some of those antics some protesters actually ended up in hospital during the president's visit can you tell us more about that. it was a scene that's becoming much more common in the united states where protesters protesting trump black lives matter protesters lining the streets blocking traffic are hit by cars now this happened in 2 separate separate instances here in sacramento where protesters were attempting to block the streets and cars just ran into them or side swipe them and that sent 2 people to the hospital there was

another instance of a protester climbing up on a police vehicle and being dragged away by that vehicle ok no the president's visit comes as california struggles with the pandemic with the effects of the lockdown what kind of economic impact are these fires having. some estimates brian have put that figure at $150000000000.00 in costs to the west coast because of these unprecedented wildfires that's a big number but to put that into human figures this means thousands of homes thousands of businesses burnt to the ground this means thousands of people homeless hotels are almost fully booked in this area it's hard to find a hotel room because so many families have been displaced by these fires there was actually a collection of cans of canned food at some hotels in around here this morning for

the people here so i don't want to exaggerate but i have to say it is bleak here especially with the pandemic in california still being in partial lockdown. i mean as a for us in sacramento california thanks very much for that update. let's get you a brief down some of the other stories making the news at this hour in japan the former aide to x. nissan boss carlos going has gone on trial greg kelly is accused of helping go and i'd tens of millions of dollars payments go and should also be in court but he fled to lebanon in december both men dying wrongdoing this trial is expected to last 10 months. 3 british lawmakers have given their initial approval to a controversial new brights a bill despite concerns that it breaches international law this bill would allow boris johnson's government to override parts of the withdrawal agreement which was agreed with you in january if passed it passed despite several conservative m.p.'s

voting against. german chancellor angela merkel says european union trade with china must be conducted on a level playing field machall and other e.u. leaders met with china's president xi jinping for a wide ranging talks on trade climate change and the coronavirus demick the original plan was for a face to face major summit to see on historic china investment agreement but progress has stalled following china's crackdown in hong kong and its systematic internment of muslim minority gorse. parmesan cheese rounds from china chinese companies are known for copying products from elsewhere in the world that was one item on the agenda at the video summit between the you leaders and chinese president xi jinping china pledged to ensure that regional specialties like wine from the mozart and beer from munich are respected a small success in some we are on the right which and you know

those. needs to be done we made it clear where we still don't think he you is demanding greater access to the chinese market for european companies to reflect the access that chinese firms have in europe the e.u. also wants beijing to commit to more environmentally friendly policies and to swear off new coal fired power plants china's activities in hong kong were a point of intense dispute the e.u. says beijing must respect human rights but chancellor angela merkel could not claim success on that front and demonstrates the human rights dialogue will continue president she offered that so in this respect there's common ground for a further joint approach but that does not mean that there is agreement on these questions. and business was much more on that story this coming up right after the news russian president vladimir putin has granted a $1500000000.00 loan to belarus that in face to face talks with the embattled

leader alexander shango in sochi look shanker was facing unprecedented anti-government demonstrations back home and is looking to moscow for support. it was smiles all around as russian president vladimir putin offered his better recent counterpart alexander location co a seat in the face to face talks in sochi are the 1st since location co claimed the presidential election in august extending his controversial 26 year grip on power in belarus. and co has had a lasting relationship with moscow since he 1st took office in may 1994 he signed an agreement with then president boris yeltsin to integrate into a political and economic union with russia but he didn't fully implement it now look it could be forced to fully commit to the terms of the agreement placing his

country under the aegis of russia during the talks between valve to stand even closer with the question. russia remains true to all of our agreements including the agreements stemming from the union states treaty and the collective security treaty organization we see as our closest ally and obviously as i've told you in our numerous phone conversations we will fulfill every obligation. issued what appeared to be a warning to antigovernment protesters back in that a risk the main thing is not to cross the line there's a red line and you are familiar with this even more than myself you had to draw these lines in chechnya when you were a young president i remember that and god forbid this happens in belarus but there are certain red lines nobody has the right to cross. a creek unprecedented protests sweeping batteries are

now in the 6 week an estimated 150000 people turned out in minsk alone at the weekend the aim is clear they want to. look if shango from power. the united nations it is receiving was are described to us along reports of the repression of peaceful demonstrations the un human rights council has agreed to an e.u. proposal to call an emergency meeting to discuss the antigovernment uprising in belarus . astronomers have encountered potential signs of life on venus they've detected a gas in this atmosphere that has so far only been found here on earth it's usually a byproduct of organic matter breaking down this discovery has been held by the head of nasa as the most significant development yet in the hunt for extraterrestrial life. is there life in the clouds around venus.

too early to tell but an international research team has discovered a clue the rare gas fos feen on earth it's produced by microbes who live in low environments. telescopes in chile and hawaii spotted the gas by its chemical signature. phosphate in molecules in venus is clouds absorbed short wave radio waves that exist in the lower atmosphere but can the gas really come from microorganisms. the researchers explicitly say that they are not in the position to state that they've discovered life in venus is atmosphere. could result from national processes like lightning volcanic activities or for other reasons any of his. if there really

are microorganisms in venus as clouds they would be hearty beings indeed those clouds are full of it which is far to life. whether there is truly life in those clouds must be confirmed by further observation a russian space probe is expected to reach venus is surface in the coming decade. then with business looking at that china deal we mentioned will be right there. like. a muggle or says my mom. for the russian so. so

many different walks of life. some are. on.