♪ ♪ narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... woman: architect. bee keeper. mentor. a raymond james financial advisor tailors advice to help you live your life. life well planned. george: actually, you n't need vision to do most things in life. it's exciting to be part of a team driving the technology forward. i think that's the most rewarding thing. people who know, know bdo.

narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. and by contributions to this pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. announcer: and now, "bbc news". christian: hello, i'n fraser. you are watching "the context" on bbc news p we have breaking news at the top of this hour, a jury in a civil case has reached a verdict in which donald trump is accused of rape.

ej collins dismissed her accounts as a hoax. donald trump did not give evidence in this trial, but he did provide video deposition to 90 allegatio. the nine-member jury have decided the case by unanimous vote. we are you hear the verdict in the next few minutes. do we have any news on what that verdict is? >> not yet come a christian. the verdict will be read in court at the top of the hour. we will then hear if the jury has found donald trump liable or not liable for rape, for defaming e. jean carroll, and if they do find him liable, they will also outline how much money in damages to compensate her for her injuries as well as how much punitive damages they plan to award eugene carol. -- e. jean carroll. the jury has now reached their

decision on those two questions, christian pugh to we will hear what that is shortly. it is important to remind people that the standard of proof in this civil case is a little bit different than a criminal case, sohat obviously factors into the timing of deliberation as well, because they do not have to find beyond a reasonable doubt whether or not donald trump is liable for rape and defamation. they need to decide who they believe more, whether it is likely or not that e. jean carroll's story is true or it is likely false. christian: he did submit a deposition, and some of that deposition was played to the jury. nada: that is right. joe kasatkina, donald trump's lawyer, showed part of the deposition where trump got

angry, saying it was a disgusting, ridiculous story, he said it never happened, that rape is one of the worst things that someone could get accused of, and he set at an upscale department store, they would have heard it happen. joe kasatkina also in his closing arguments address this attack by the plaintiff, e. jean carroll, that donald trump never even showed up, never called any witnesses. he said there were no witnesses for him to call, because the attack never happened, and because e. jean carroll had not provided a specific date, that it had robbed donald trump of an alibi. so joe tacopina was fierce, attackg e. jean carroll's credibility cared we will have to see, christian, if that is enough to overcome evidence that e. jean carroll's attorney has

provided. christian: there was a supposition that it would take some time to come to a verdict, because, as you rightly say, they have to come through unanimous verdict. does the fact that they have come to a conclusion within a few hours, what does that signify? nada: yeah, well, look, christian, i have to say, if you are donald trump right now, you are taking note at how quickly the jury came to a decision. you would think that if this jury had a few people who work disagreeing that working through those disagreements, going through the evidence what take some time. here we never had the jury come back with ankind of additional questions to review any pieces of the evidence, which really signals that perhaps they were on the same page on this, that there were not too many issues that needed to be resolved. i would think if you are donald

trump, that would cause summary -- some worry, but as you say, nobody has been in the room there with them, other than the jury. you will find out in just a few moments. christian: i do not want to unduly put you on the spot, nada, but you do sort of look at the jury selection in these cases you cover for us. obviously in new york, it is to say it is heavily for joe biden, and that there will be a jury in new york for the defense. is there anything you can tell us about this jury that might be problematic for donald trump? nada: i can give you a little sense of how this jury was picked, christian. it is a unique process for usual you have both sides in jury selection questioning members about certain questions about political bias, how they feel about donald trump, if there is any bias they hold that would

prevent them from being able to deliver an impartial ruling after hearing the evidence. in this case, actually, the judge himself did the questioning could he wanted this to be a smooth process to he also made sure that this jury remained anonymous, which meant that every morning, christian, the jurors went to a selected location, u.s. marshals met them and then brought them here to the courthouse. their names have not been released, so really extraordinary measures have been taken to make sure that this jury can do their work without coming under attack by anyone in the public, without having to worry about any of that. and as i say come the judge himself took it upon himself to make sure he ask the questions in the case, so that jury selection could be as smooth as possible, so that could go without a hitch. i think it is really interesting that we have seen donald trump comment on true social today. he has been quiet after, you

know, his lawyer was told by the judge to have his client stuff going on social media to speak about this case, but donald trump made a claim they are that he was never able to come in person in court, that he was silenced, but, christian, that is simply not true. the judge, even after donald trump's lawyer said he would not testify, gave him an additional few days to testify, gave him until sunday, in fact, sunday evening, to say whether he waed the case to be reopened, to come testify. so i think if the jury finds him liable, if he decides that he wants to appeal this, he will have to find a very convincing argument, because the judge has tried to be as meticulous as possible, to make sure this case, nobody could say it was in favor of one party or the other. christian: j tacopina -- joe tacopina had problems within

that deposition, so he was asked whether he had ever met ej carol -- e. jean carroll, and he said he hadn't, and he picked out his former wife -- sorry, i'm just being told, say that to me again? we are just hearing the verdict that the jury finds donald trump did not rape e. jean carroll. a not guilty verdict. what do you make of that, nada? nada: well, you know, this whole case hinged on e. jean carroll's credibility. i think one of the biggest issues for e. jean carroll was the fact that she could not provide an exact date, not even a day, month, or the exact year. . she went between it being between 1995 and 1996. we saw donald trump's lawyers hammering on that point, silly, saying she could not pick out a

date for something, if it was as traumatic as she claimed, she claimed, she would have been able to come up with. also, his lawyers have said that had robbed donald trump of an alibi. christian: yeah. sorry to just jump in, but there is more. the jury did find that trump did sexually abuse carroll, so not rape, but that he did abuse e. jean carroll. they have awarded $2 million in compensatory damages and also $20,000 in punitive damages for battery claims it i should correct myself, it is not that they have acquitted him on the charges, they have qualified, what they have heard, the evidence they have heard, they awarded $2 million in compensator he damages for battery, and they have found him guilty of sexual abuse. we will need to get a lawyer to take us through that at some point, nada, but i mean,

clearly, for a man who has avoided legal responsibility for so many things over the years, this is ally the first time a court has found against him in a major way, and of course ahead of the primaries later this year. nada: that's right, christian. this is the first time that a former president has been found liable for sexual assault. just to explain that slightly for you, under that verdict sheet, other -- under whether donald trump is liable, there are different categories, the first few, rape, sexual abuse, and finally, forced touching. here the jury has found him, it is like you what you are saying they are, coming from the court, he is liable for sexual assault. as you say, christian, what was interesting throughout this trial is e. jean carroll said this was all about clearing her

name, about getting her life back. she said this had nothing to do with politics. in fact, her lawyers argue that donald trump had been elected in 2016, when many people had heard several allegations out there. i mean, i think now, christian, the numbers are up to more than 20 women who have accused donald trump of sexual assault. they argue many people have already known about these accusations against donald trump, and this is not about affecting any presidential elections, any political motivations whatsoever. i think, though, when you speak to many people, christian, the wider issue is how independent voters, how others who are not a part of donald trump's base will look at the fact that a jury has now heard all of this evidence over two weeks, a jury which is supposed to be impartial, what they will make of them now concluding that donald trump sexually assaulted e. jean carrol christian: yeah.

a jury awards carroll punitive damages and defamation by trump. sorry these are coming to you in pieces. these are top lines i am reading to you. they found trump defamed carol in 2022 on truth social when he called her allegations a "con job." so they arded her extra punitive damages although they did not find him guilty of rape, they have found him guilty of sexual abuse. it is interesting, because there was so much polling this weekend, washington/abc poll, which found that his figures aren't subdued by the many legal challenges he is facing. in fact, with a head to head with joe biden at the moment, he leads, nada, p as well clear of

the rest of the field, the rest of the primary challengers, the likes of ron desantis, who is his closest challenger. this must be a huge concern at mar-a-lago tonight, as to how this is going to affect his campaign, with these other legal challenges that you talked about still pending. nada: yeah, i mean, look, christian, now you have a situation where donald trump will be branded as somebody who has been found liable of sexual abuse, forever on the campaign trail now. you can bet that is challengers will be hammering this point, especially trying to appeal to women. i mean, to be frank, it is not a good situation for donald trump to be in. i will say that when i was here over the last few weeks come outside of the court, speaking to people coming and going, i did run into a few of donald trump's supporters, and, you know, they talked about how his persona of a fighter, someone

who is willing to take on big battles appealed to them, and looked, they had already made their decision, to be frank, about this case, before this trial to supporters, and they spoke about how they do subscribe to this notion that this is all a "witchhunt." of course now we have heard from the jury, and they certainly do not think that is the case, so that will be something that donald trump is going to have to contend with now, while he tries to remain in front runner for republicans. and we will have to see how other republicans, who are, quite frankly, afraid of assaulting donald trump's base, how they work around this. christian: let me read to our audience the truth social post donald trump put out an hour ago, waiting for a jury desion on false accusations, where i, despite being a leading candidate, and not allowed to

speak or defend myself, even as hard-nosed reporters scream questions about this case at me. in the meantime, the other side has a book falsely accusing me of rape and is working with press. i will not speak until after the trial. that is not troop your he was given ample opportunity to appearn court to defend himself, and in fact, the judge waited until sunday to give donald trump more time to consider. nada: that's right, christian. i can tell you that caused a lot of angst for e. jean carroll's lawyers, who were wondering if they needed to be preparing all weekend for the prospect of donald trump turning up sunday evening, saying that he would testify in this case. i spoke to lawyers who say, you know, there was so much risk attached to him testifying, because anything he said could be used in any of the other investigations that are ongoing against him, any of the criminal

cases that are ongoing, the civil cases. so clearly has lawyers would have advised him not to do that. but to say that he did not have the opportunity is simply not true. i mean, the judge, as i was saying, has bent over backwards asking him, you know, time and time again during the trial if that was something he plans to do. when he was overseas in ireland and scotland, open up a golf course, when he was coasting on social media, his lawyer had to make it clear time and time again he was not coming. so it is interesting to see that the approach he has taken in that post, but this was not a fair trial, he also in the post said he would b appealing the unconstitutional silence thing. but i have to say, given how many opportunities he was afforded to come and testi i don't see that as being a grounds for appeal. we will have to see when joe tacopina, if he comes and speaks to us, we are outside, waiting

see if e. jean carroll and her team will talk to us, if joe tacopina will make comments, and if there is any chance that they will appeal the case. we will let you go and get some reaction and see if joe tacopina comes out and speak to reporters. if you're just joining us, just remind you, and the last few minutes, a jury in new york has determined that former president donald trump is guilty of sexual assault in a case brought by the former columnist e. jean carroll, but they acquitted him of rape. the court awarded 2 million dollars in compensatory damages and an additional $2.7 million for defamin ms. christian:, so that would be $4.7 million -- ms. carroll, so that would be a total of $4.7 million. let's turn to other events, as

we wait for that. today was victory day in moscow, a national public holiday across the country to commemorate the end of the great patriotic war and russia's defeat of nazi germany. these parades have become a muscular display of russian might, with all the latest weaponry, tanks, nuclear missiles. compare that than to the parades that we saw today on red square. moscow correspondent steve rosenberg was watching [crowd chanting] steve: it is the day pressure likes to project power and invincibility. ♪ despite security concerns, the annual victory day parade went ahead on red square. to commemorate defeat of nazi germany.

but the war in ukraine made this file very different ninth of may. the 80-year-old t 34, the only tank on display here. modern tanks are usually a feature of the victory day parade. not this year. there was no military flight past, it was canceled, and there are fewer soldiers here than normal. watching from the stands, russia's commander-in-chief. vladimir putin is under intense pressure. his invasion of ukraine has not gone to plan,, but he continues to blame the west. >> [speaking russian] translator: today, once again, civilization is at a decisive turning point. a real war has been unleashed against our homeland.

we have a post international terrorism in the past. now we will protect the people of donbass, and we will ensure our security. steve: and security has become a problem for those running russ. less than a week ago, this happened, an apparent drone attack on the kremlin. the russian authorities blame it on ukraine. these, too, in recent weeks, there has been a string of drone attacks on russian territory and on russian-occupied crimea, as well as bombs targeting railways and powerlines. citing considering -- citing security concerns, several officials have canceled local victory day events. for the kremlin, it was important to keep calm and carry on in the capital, but the red square parade was shorter than normal. what was once a showcase of russian military might this year seems to highlight problems.

more than 40 months after the kremlin launched a full-scale invasion -- 14 months after the kremlin launched a full-scale invasion of ukraine. steve rosenberg, bbc news. christian: threatening to withdraw troops from back mood and less he gets more ammunition he posted a new video claiming russian troops have abandoned from a two kilometer position on the russian line pure he claims his paramilitary group plugged of the line, but he says they will not be able to defend against a counteroffensive. if getting for goshen -- pr igozhin not to be completely trusted. we have a senior fellow of the brookings institute and an author of a book about president putin. sorry we have been so long coming to you, but you will

understand there is breaking news out onew york aired we n see the microphones in the box next to you, so if things happen, do forgive me if i peel away for that. but let's talk much more about russia. i wonder what you made today of the parade, a single tanks rolling through. what does that tell us about the state of the armed forces? >> obviously the russian armed forces are overstretched. they need more men, they need more ammunition for her on the other hand, you have a fairly fiery speech from pugin -- boudin, with all the normal complaint against the west -- putin, with all the normal complaints against the west, and saying that russia will defeat the west, just as they defeated nazi germany. so trying to drum up more populist support for it, but it certainly was scaled-down. christian: deeper goshen -- the

prigozhin video was quite extraordinary. he talked about regular troops exploding -- at abandoning the line. it feels like an outburst against putin himself, and i wonder, if putin allows that to go unpunished, can he challenge the czar and get away with it? >> he has attacked the russian military, defense, the chairman of the joint chiefs, but he has not actually criticized putin. in this video today, he talked about all the grandfathers and the mistakes that they have made, again, an illusion, we don't know who it is. -- an allusion, we don't know who it is. the issue is, you know, has prigozhin gone too far?

but pugin has relied on wagoner to do so much -- wagner to do so much fighting in ukraine. christian: the message today is that the world is at an inflection point, that russia is engaged in this patriotic struggle for its future. how effective is that message at home? does it convince the russian public, do you think? >> opinion polls show that about 70% of the russian population still support this war, either actively or passively, although 50% say that there should be negotiations. many russians have left russia, and they do not buy this line at all. once ones who stayed, they are trying to enact a working life. this is still annexes essential -- according to pugin, this is still an existential struggle, because the world is out to defeat russia. christian: what if prigozhin is

right, and some of the russian held areas fall to the ukrainians, that the line collapses? how will that beor stability inside pressure? >> well, as long as putin can portray this as war with the west, it may be ok, but i think if ukrainian succeed in this counteroffensive, if russia suffers more casualties, that i think, you know, support for this war may begin to wane. i'm surprised we have not seen more protests from the families of those, what, 200,000 young men who have either been killed or wounded. christian: i guess what we should say is the more serious indication of this rhetoric, angela, is that he views the special operation as an existential threat to the motherland, and therefore he is not going to give up, is he? he cannot afford to give up. >> no, he has defined this as an

existential threat to the motherland, and i think he believ that the west will ode, and it will die down, and that russia can do this. christian: angela stent, narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... narrator: financial services firm, raymond james. man: bdo. accountants and advisors. narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. and by contributions to this pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. ♪ ♪

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♪ ♪ narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... woman: architect. bee keeper. ment. a raymond james financial advisor tailors advice to help you live your life. life well planned. george: actually, you don't need vision to do most things in life. it's exciting to be part of a team driving the technology forward. i think that's the most rewarding thing. people who know, know bdo.