♪ ♪ narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... narrator: pediatric surgeon. volunteer. topiary artist. a raymond james financial advisor tailors advice to help you live your life. fe well planned. brook: these are people who are trying to change the world. startups have this energy that energizes me. i'm thriving by helping others everyday. 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". anchor: you are watce context on bbc news. >> week in the unity will give 100% in any field when we have a goal to protect our people. >> as russia wages war against democracy itself, europe is united and standing up for ukraine. this is our commitment. >> the united kingdom may have

left the eu but we have not left europe. we remain a proud european nation. ♪ >> welcome to the program in iceland right now european leaders are talking about -- we will have the latest. also the threat of ai, artificial intelligence politicians in the u.s. are trying to work out what to do. also president biden is in talks to try to make sure the country can pay its bills, the so-called debt ceiling looms. and five men found guilty of a jewel heist in germany. art thieves and priceless art. first to the summit in iceland

taking place right now these are live pictures you can see playing some music it seems, a musical interlude right now but over the last hour we have seen european leaders stand up and give speeches and crucially give an ongoing commitment to support and stand by ukraine. this is a meeting of the council of europe and has plenty of european leaders. we can take a look at some of those european leaders arriving this evening. this is only the fourth leaders meeting established since 1949 or so. a very old organization. centered around human rights and human rights support, the focus is on events in ukrine. this organization did expel

russia last year and this focus of this get together is how they can hold russia accountable for its actions and continue its support for ukraine. we've heard from plenty of european leaders. lavonda vian has just finished hers but first of all we heard a special speech remotely. it was down the line from ukrainian leader volodymyr zelenskyy let's take a listen to what he said. >> a year ago we were not able to down ballistic missiles and i'm asking one thing now, if we are able to do this is there anything we can't do when we are united?

and determined to protect five. we in unity will give 100% in any field when we have a goal to protect our people and our europe. anchor: that word unity was pretty crucial and it did come up a few times. is is just off the back of him during various european capitals. thinking allies for support but also honoring future support. let's take another listen. >> there is still much to be done. air defensresults like last night's the role throughout the country we need additional air defense systems and missiles. we also need fighter jets without these, no air defense system will be perfect and i'm sure we will get there. 100% should be our benchmark.

we must leave 0% to the aggressor. anchor: we will pick up with that line and other crucial lines from his brief speech. at the university former nato analyst, before we get to the specifics the general tone of his speech and the tone of european leaders at this event what do you make of it? >> one of the things about zelenskyy is his english has come along so well that's the first thing i noticed from where he was even six months ago. it's about unity, it's about a unified picture it's about stressing that to the world and to the russians. at some point by the ukrainians i think we can talk about the weapons that are being pledged

and the effect they may have i also think it's important for zelenskyy showing he still has the support of europe that he's got more sustainable stocks in the way. that's a big thing if you're going to send your forces into harm's way and you're going to take casualties. you need to have the i's dotted and the t's crossed. i think that's important too. certainly unity. lewis: i want to explain so everyone knows exactly what's going on. you are still on our screen but next to you is the so-called family photo it looks like. we are used to it now all the leaders get together for a nice photo. we are just seeing it all set up it looks like at the moment. all kind of lined up nicely.

we are going to keep playing those pictures by the sight of you. that's the general unity as a theme on some of these specifics, what do you make now of what prident zelenskyy specifically is talking about air defenses, he mentioned saying air defense system has it saved lives and called for new projects. >> the attack last night, early this morning really. it was actually 100% successful spar -- four the ukrainian defense. they are very difficult to shoot down and we are not sure and won't know for a while what system shut those down, if ever. the u.s., the netherlands, and germany have given patriotism. the french has given other systems and it could be the

latter in particular that may have shut that down. that is a really important development because these hypersonic missiles have been an emerging threat to national security. if there is a pre-existing system that could shoot them down that's really important. what zelenskyy is saying is we've got the system and the air defense capable of shooting down almost all different kinds of threats but how do we extend that to other cities or concentrations on our forces near the front line which would be very vulnerable if they are identified and attacked. on the f-16s, -- lewis: the fighter jets, yeah. >> the ukrainians asked for a long time, have the west dra its feet because it doesn't want to escalate and ukraine shows it is essential for them to have them. i think it would come once the

defense has started if it's very clear that ukrainian and air force just doesn't have enough airframes and it seems the direction of travel but it is very slowly. look at the offer from the u.k. for example we don't know exactly what kind of aircraft perhaps the same as well. it seems the direction of travel is that way but there's a few, you know, there's a bit to go. lewis: i don't want you to take any offense but you are not on our screens right now because full-screen we have the family photo i was just referring to the who's who of european leaders. it reminds me very much of what we started talking about, what zelenskyy started talking about, which is this idea of unity very clearly, very simple. a unified front being put on here. is it a surprise to you that there haven't been greater divisions and greater splits?

some kind of splintering of support for ukraine along party lines but you look at, you can take a pic for any leaders on the screen really. it's very difficult to sepate them. >> it has been vetted hasn't been totally easy, has it? germany got there in the end but it took them a long time. it hasn't been all plain sailing you have other countries in the eu which have been trying to block things or a stain -- abstain. it is a unified picture. i think that is very important in terms of what other security chalnges the world is facing in particular the west and europe and giving a unified picture and showing that support for ukraine for example taiwan or china should that escalate. but in america the problem is a

sector of the republican party is starting to become louder and louder about not being in american interests. another thing, the u.s. military has spent about 5% of its defense budget for aid to ukraine. given that that was one of the major threats, that is a pretty good if you break it down to a bank for but it's pretty good business in their terms. lewis: fascinating to hear your thoughts think you very much for being on our program. now the main focus of that summit has been ukraine. however, the ukraine prime minister was there and did speak in the last hour and did speak frankly about ukraine. but, his other issue that he wants to talk about was tackling

illegal migration before the summit started. he gave us this answer. >> part of my approach is put new laws in place. it's novel, it's ambitious but i believe it is on par with our national obligations. we want to make sure the europe court is always conducting itself in a way which is fair, affective, transparent and that's the kind of conversation i will be having today. lewis: just explain to us why he's flying out there talking to european colleagues about this issue. it's interesting because as you heard and as you have been coring the main agenda is ukraine according to the question of illegal immigration is not on the agenda at all. there are reasons i wanted to

raise it. first of all, the speech there is a moral case because those who come here legally but first the reason is partly for a domestic audience the particular argument to the european court of human rights. they spoke to the president of the court. he effectively sang his attempts to stop the vote, to tackle the crossings in the english channel this is within international law. pushing the boundaries of international law secondly, what he wanted to do was try to lobby to get the court to implement some of its rulings probably more flexibly in u.k.'s interest in particular in the jargon what is called rule 39. it allows the eupean court for human rights to stop something from happening if any provable

damage can be done and this is what was used to stop a flight to rwanda. it's a key part of the government strategy to try to produce the fall of migrants across the english channel. single milk migrants who arrived by illegal roots could be deported to a third country. so far no flights have taken off. the way he sees that the european court of civil rights -- human rights. should just abandon britain's adherence to european convention it was instrumental in setting up after the second world war. he wants to resist that but he wants the court itself to be more transparent in effect what he's asking for is perhaps not to interfere directly and also if they are going to be using

these kinds of roles interventions than perhaps you could have member states having their say or appealing against them. he wants to see if he can combat for something. tries to get understanding for his imposition -- his position. lewis: you mentioned there are no direct results straight away. is there any sense of chances of success from his terms in the longer term? >> what he's doing is part of e legislation he allows ministers to mark some, not all, but some of the rulings of the european court. especially when it came to departing migrants to rwanda, for example. if the courts in the united kingdom agreed that was legal. he does not want it to be a

signal to overrule that but what he saying is we are doing this in legislation but we may not have to use this. ministers may have to decide to abide by the rulings so long as they are far more limited in scope for as long as we have a say in doing so. until this legislation has passed is probably not going to get past until the autumn. the u.k. parliament is good to be scrutinize their and it is sized actually quite extensively so it will take some time i think this is just part of what he's trained to do. partly there's a defense as well he also campaigned for more assistance for ukraine but he's also saying we haven't left europe and he wanted to talk more cooperatively lewis: thank you very much for that. now around the world and across

the u.k. this is bbc news. next let's look at some other stories here in the u.k.. again supplies false passports to serious criminals including murderers and drug dealers paid vulnerable people to hd over their expired passports using fugitive photos. very wicked, sophisticated and violent criminals escape justice. the prime minister has pledged to make it easier to source our own food in the u.k.. food manufacturers and farm organizations food price, inflation, and feed security coincide at the meetings being considered. 11,000 journalists over the next

three years. you are live with bbc news now to the u.s. washington and the so-called that ceiling. these are live pictures right now we are expecting president biden and top republican kevin mccarthy you probably all heard the term debt ceiling. need to make progress on the deal to raise the debt ceiling to allow the u.s. to borrow more money to pay its bills. it could be catastrophic default but let's go over to nikki to explain it all. >> we probably all heard the term debt ceiling but what does that mean? it's also known as the debt limit. it's a law that limits the total amount of money that the you was government's allowed to borrow to pay its bills. when we talk about those bills it is a wide range of things

governnt wages paying for things like federal firefighters , there is the cost of the military, social security payments, retirement and disability benefits, the cost of medicare and if that wasn't enough you also have to have the interest on the national debt and tax refunds as well. every now and then u.s. congress meets to vote whether to raise the cup so the government can spend more or suspended. currently the cap is 31.4 chilean, yes, trillion dollars. that is around 94 thousand dollars per person in the united states. the cap was breached earlier this year. the u.s. treasury gives the government cash until it can work out what to do. there is a key date coming up it is june 1. that is when the cash could run out.

if that happens, and there is no political agreement then the government really will be able to pay its bills that means no wages and no benefits and jobs will be lost. a lot of experts say if that did happen it could trigger another global financial crisis. lewis: thank you very much for that. something we want to avoid. talk us through what we are expecting to be happening right now. >> this is round two of the meetings between president biden and house speaker kevin mccarthy as well as other t congressional leaders. got on or around 20 minutes ago. they are trying to compromise, trying to find some sort of middle ground to meet the deadline, june 1. if they don't the u.s. is looking at, to put it

mildly, economic ruin. less time we were here which was only last week when kevin mccarthy came out after the meeting, the republican, he attacked president biden saying he doesn't want to negotiate or compromise. the democrats came out as well, check schumer and hakim jeffries the republicans are being extreme saying they wouldn't take defaults off the table. we will see what comes after this meeting there in mind president biden is due to go to japan tomorrow in order to attend the g7 summit and then he's heading to australia so he won't be back until around may 26 or 27. it's really close to the deadline so there's a huge pressure on congressional leaders and the president to come up with some sort of solution if not today then chris by the end of the week. lewis: we will come to the economics in just a moment but just on the politics of it this idea of actually defaulting is

june the first, is that something that politicians there are genuinely prepared to contemplate actually happening? >> we've been here before in 2011. this happens when president obama was in the white house and a deal was struck in the 11th hour. raising the debt ceiling or suspending it should be a formality. but much like everything in the u.s. now it's so politically divisive. the democrats and republicans are so far removed from each other they can't find common ground on anything. what tends to happen is a deal is struck in the 11th hour but delays are still not good last time this happens remember the republicans used the debt ceiling to try and extract policy concessions out of a reluctant democratic president. the last time this happened they struck a deal the delay wasn't good for america the stock markets, where they are

currently, america's credit was downgraded and it cost the economy so much money. the longer we go on, there's a still huge pressure on the u.s. and pressure on the white house to come up with the deal as soon as possible. lewis: thank you so much for that. i'm joined now by chief economist mark zandi think you so much for joining the program. >> it's good to be with you, thank you. lewis: what is the risk of this actually happening? >> uncomfortably high. still 90% probability lawmakers get it together like they have done for the past century. compromised, signed on the dotted line, there's going to be turmoil in markets but at the end of the day they get it done anytime. the reporter said it's very

discordant in the house of representatives that the majority. one in 10 probability it's very uncomfortably high. lewis: hypothetically let's say it does happen, how damaging would that be for the u.s.? >> depends, right? if we breach andreach means someone doesn't get paid by the government on time and it lasts for a day or two because the turmoil on markets is so great it puts pressure on lawmakers then, you know, it's not great but i think we can kind of navigate through without an economic downturn. obviously there will be ongoing damage because investors will say to themselves well what about next time? what are you going to do next time? are you going to preach for a week or two weeks? the cost of the economy will be significant. if it's longer than a week, we go into recession because the

economy is already fragile. if it lasts for more than a few weeks ruin is a pretty strong word but it's pretty close. it's good to be catastrophic. lewis: what about damage already done by the uncertainty? >> it manageable. the russian war, the banking crisis, and this debt limit drama is par for the course. we have been down this road so many times. investors aren't even reacting to it. they will at some point when it becomes clear lawmakers might not get it together we will see big declines but so far nothing of any consequence. the damage so far rather limited. lewis: mark zandi great to have you on. maybe we should get you back on in case that one in 10 does happen. let's hope the nine in 10

happens but if the one in 10 happens we will get you back in. >> take care. lewis: that's it i will be back in a couple of moments. this is the context on bbc news. ♪ 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. ♪ ♪

narrator: you're watching pbs.

♪ ♪ narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... narrator: pediatric surgeon. volunteer. topiary artist. a raymond james financial advisor ilors advice to help you live your life. life well planned. brook: these are people who are trying to change the world. startups have this energy that energizes me. i'm thriving by helping others everyday. people who know, know bdo.