berlin. donald trump pleads not guilty. the former u.s. president faces 34 charges related to falsifying business records. also, finland joins nato. the finish flag is raised as the alliance welcomes its newest member on a day of ceremony in brussels. as britain presses ahead with

controversial plans to crack down on migration across the english channel, we look at the situation from the french side of the border. to our viewers on pbs in the united states and all of you around the world, welcome. armor u.s. president donald trump has pleaded not guilty to criminal charges in new york. trump showed little emotion entering the court building ahead of denying 34 counts of falsifying business records. the charges are linked to hush-money payments allegedly made to three people, including an adult film actor. trump was driven to court in a motorcade from his trump tower complex in new york. he is now heading back to his estate in mar-a-lago, florida. we speak now to scott henderson, a former u.s. diplomat and

governing attorney, now visiting fellow at the brookings institution in washington, d.c. trump pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts. his supporters are calling this a witchhunt. how serious are these charges? >> they are definitely serious, but they all relate to a nexus of one specific type of conduct, a series of falsified records certainly related to each other that all tied back to this alleged payment to stormy daniels regarding their possible extramarital affair. there's much more serious counts from a couple of other jurisdictions that we understand may result in charges on the road. nonetheless it is notable and substantial and certainly historic because he is the first former president to ever face these sorts of charges. >> uncharted waters is what we

have been saying since the indictment became public. talk about where the proceedings go next. where do we go from here? >> from here, we will see a number of pretrial matters that need to get resolved. there will be questions about president trump's ability to travel that do not appear to have been resolved at this hearing, at least not from what we have heard so far. there will be questions about challenges gingerly to some of the legal proceedings. we have seen former president trump and his legal counsel in of the proceedings around the country really be quite aggressive in mounting legal challenges on a variety of fronts. some say is it's part of an effort to slow proceedings or make them as onerous as possible. not an uncommon legal strategy. it is likely we will see something similar here. we will also see legal proceedings over an issue we saw hinted at today which is the fact that former president trump and some of his supporters around him sometimes issue statements that are rarely aggressive, hostile, or can be interpreted as threatening

violence to the people on the others of this legal proceeding. we saw the debate most recently about the tweet trump issue that seemed to be threatening violence toward attorney greg. the judge does not seem to be interested in putting up with much of that, but if those sorts of activities continue, we may see confrontations, debates about it. then ultimately, we will see it from the trial, presently, unless there is an agreement, but that will still be weeks if not months down the road. quite how can all of this affect trump's chances of running again as a republican presidential candidate? could he still run after possibly being convicted somewhere down the line? >> there's no legal bar on him running after being convicted of this particular criminal offense . there are a handful of criminal offenses that can pose issues to reelection, although there's

constitutional questions about a face apply -- about if they apply in this scenario. of course, it could result in a jail sentence. anywhere from 20 to 40 years could be the sentence for a felony such as this is my understanding in new york state, setting aside any mitigating factors, so that obviously could come k serving as president in the white house. this is a situation we have never seen encountered before, so i'm genuinely not sure how exactly we would square that, but again, that is still a ways down the road at this point. >> learning by doing in the united states today. thank you so much. >> thank you. appreciate it. >> finland has become nato's 31st member. the alliance at its headquarters in brussels has seen a day of ceremony.

the nato secretary-general said the expansion shows that russia's attempts to weaken the alliance have backfired. >> finland's flag hoisted high over nato headquarters in brussels, and as anthems ring out, helsinki waves goodbye to its security policy of the past, a move from to directly by moscow's aggression toward ukraine. >> the error of military nonalignment in our history has gone to an end. a new era begins. each country maximizes its own security. so does finland. nato membership strengthens our international position and room for maneuver. >> nato allies take a collective defense pledge under which an attack on one is viewed as an attack on all. that means finnish troops are

now bound to protect other members of the military alliance, and lend, which shares a border with russia, can now count on backup from nato allies like the united states, france, and germany. >> this is a day of joy because finland is gaining more security and nato is getting stronger by the membership of finland, but we wanted finland and sweden to join together. >> but they could not. finland and sweden both applied for membership last year, but not stockholm has been left standing on the sidelines. turkey accused sweden of offering safe haven to terrorists. hungary, too, has been holding out on recitation, -- on ratification. >> there's no reason for the turkish parliament or the hungarian parliament to make any form of delays. >> pressure views nato as a

threat to its security and wants kyiv hard from ever joining. -- russia views and nato as a threat to its security. for now, nato nations say they will keep arming kyiv as the alliance grows from 30 to 31. >> a pretty significant day for nato. that's why i asked our correspondent in brussels who has been at nato headquarters all day long to walk us through the highlights. >> it definitely was a big day for nato. this was a day that even two years ago we could not have imagined happening. finland was quite content to be nonaligned militarily, believing that this was safest for it. sharing a border with russia and not wanting to invite more russian threats. at the same time, once russia invaded ukraine, all bets were off, and finland's entire perspective on its own security

changed. definitely watching that flag be raised at nato headquarters today, i think it was an emotional moment definitely for the fins but also for a lot of people watching finland take this historic step. i know that everyone around me thought it was very momentous, but it also leaves a couple of other countries wanting to get into the alliance, wishing that they had joined along with fill-in. it is not just sweden but also ukraine, which has been promised it will eventually become a member of nato. let's hear what secretary-general jens stoltenberg had to say to ukraine, which is asking to be let in as well. >> ukraine will become a member of the alliance. at the same time, we all realize that to make any meaningful progress on this issue, the first step is to ensure that ukraine prevails as a sovereign, independent nation.

that is the reason why nato allies and partners are provided in on ash providing an unprecedented level of support and will continue to do so and why we are also in constant close contact with the ukrainians. >> pressure's full-scale invasion of ukraine prompted finland to abandon its decades-old policy of nonalignment and join nato. were the finns afraid they might be next? >> i went to finland shortly after the invasion to talk to them about this, and what they were saying at the time, and this was before they had made the decision to join the alliance, is that after the invasion of ukraine, it was not necessarily so they believed russia would come after finland next, but that they could no longer rule it out. for decades, finland had quite secure in its policy. it did not believe russia would come across the border, but that was no longer certain after this

invasion of ukraine. even though they were not certain russia would come after them next and certainly with all of russia's military assets sent to wage war on ukraine it was not going to be imminent, they simply felt he could no longer risk not having the backup of other allies just in case. >> in the meantime, sweden is still on the waiting list, isn't it? >> while hungary also has not yet ratified sweden's membership, the problem really lies with the turks and turkish president erdogan has said he does not think sweden has done enough to join the alliance, even as noto secretary-general stoltenberg and other allies point out that it has fulfilled pledges made in a trilateral agreement made with turkey and finland at the madrid summit last july, so i think everyone thinks that there may be some

loosening of the turkish position after the elections in may, but that's the only hope now because sweden says it has done everything it can to change turkey's mind. >> finland, of course, wanted to join in order to secure its border, but they also bring a lot to the table, right? what value does finland bring to nato now that it is a member? >> there are some very interesting things about finland in this respect. it is one of the best equipped militaries in all of europe, perhaps in all of the world, because they intended to defend their territory alone forever, so they were quite equipped to do. all men of military age are trained. it has one of the largest artillery stockpiles in all of europe, and so inland has already trained with -- finland has already trained with nato for decades. they are very interoperable with

nato's military. it was almost instantaneous that finland passed all of the obligations, all of the requirements nato has for a new member. it was simply getting the ratification of all 30 other members that has held up membership until this day. >> still the fastest accession process in nato's history. for the other side of things, i asked how the kremlin reacted. >> on the military level, the russian defense minister said that this move increases the potential of escalation in ukraine, but also already yesterday, russia said it would increase the military capabilities, its own military capabilities in the regions close to the border with finland. today, the spokesman of the russian president elaborated on that and said russia would be observing and reacting to nato's

moves in finland, so it is quite a reactive posture. >> is this just saber rattling, or are we actually going to see russia of the anti--- up the ante? >> politically, russia found itself in a sort of paradox. one of the reasons russia said it attacked ukraine was to prevent what it sees as an encroachment of nature to its own borders. as a result, finland joined the alliance at nato's borders, so the presence at the border doubles. he said that on one hand, this movement is an encroachment on russia's security and interest, but on the other hand, a different case, finland is not

as anti-russian as ukraine, as he put it, so he really tried to play it down politically, i think, to get out of the difficult situation. >> we will get right back to you. stay with us for a minute while we move onto belarus where troops have begun training on tactical nuclear weapons deployed on its territory by russia. the move has drawn widespread criticism, and according to the russian defense ministry, a tactical missile system has been delivered to belarusian forces and they have begun training how to use it. this comes a day before president lukashenko is set to meet president putin in moscow. i want to ask you, how worrying is this? >> this is a follow-up to vladimir putin's announcement from march when he said he wants to station tactical nuclear weapons from the territory of

belarus. today, we heard about belarusian soldiers going to russia for training. we have also heard that jets were modernized in a way they can transport nuclear warheads. you did not hear anything about transporting nuclear warheads from russia to belarus and i think this points to the fact that there is still disagreement between russia and belarus. it is still in the making, and this will be something we will be following closely when lukashenko goes to moscow tomorrow. >> exactly. he is heading there tomorrow. he will be there for two days of talks with vladimir putin. it sounds very much like there is lots to talk about. what can we expect? >> yes, i think on one hand, putin -- both of them, they want to send this message of unity, of strength. we know russia is supporting its ally. also as a reaction to nato's enlargement today.

this also comes at a time when russia is preparing for the expected ukrainian counteroffensive. on the other hand, i think this really also shows there are still a lot of questions that both leaders need to talk about. we don't know who is expected to operate the weapon station to belarus. we don't know who will have the ultimate command. there's a lot of things that we will be observing if and what sort of agreement they will reach. >> good speaking to you. let's take a look now at some of the other stories making news around the world today. russian authorities have charged a 26-year-old woman with terrorism in connection with the bombing of a cafe in st. petersburg. the blast killed an influential pro-war blogger. the kremlin said ukraine was behind the incident. kyiv denies all involvement.

at least one person have -- has been killed and dozens more injured in a train crash in the netherlands. authorities say a high-speed night train derailed after hitting construction equipment left on the track. rail services on the busy route have been canceled. australia has become the latest country to ban chinese-owned tiktok from government devices. intelligence services recommended the ban on the app because of ears breaking could be collecting user data. china has protested and called on australia to treat chinese businesses fairly. a massive fire has engulfed a shopping complex in the capital of bangladesh. the blaze began in the early hours of tuesday in the market famous for cloth sellers and home to some 3000 shops. >> what was once a thriving market in the heart of daca has

been reduced to smoldering ashes. shop owners watch in shock as their livelihood goes up in flames. >> i have no one in this world. i have only you, allah. >> there have been several fires in this market already. in 1995, it completely burned down. bangladesh has a history with industrial fires that have killed hundreds in recent years. >> regulations and port enforcement have been blamed. >> if i die but my shop survived, at least my children would have a source of income, but how can i provide with them now? i have only been able to provide an address for -- provide a new dress for eid. i have nothing. >> in just a few hours, thousands of shops have been destroyed as hundreds of people

watch on. firefighters, air force helicopters, and soldiers try to get the blaze under control. >> britain is pushing ahead with a law aimed at reducing migration across the english channel. the bill would mean migrants arriving by boat are barred from claiming asylum. british authorities also want to deport those arriving illegally to rwanda, no matter where they come from. dw looks at how the plans are going down with french police in the port city of calais, 40 kilometers from the coast of written. >> these officers have a clear mandate -- to prevent migrants from crossing the english channel. police patrol in groups of six to 10. they are concealing their faces for security reasons. >> in daylight, i use normal binoculars and infrared ones at

night. >> illegal migration across the channel to britain sword last year with a record 45,000 new arrivals, up from 17,000 the previous year. to curb that number, britain will supply france with more money and extra british border police. london plans to deport migrants who do manage to reach british shores back to france. for their part, french police try to track down smugglers who supply the boats used by migrants. >> we patrol a large area packed with hiding places. >> the officers doubt that the new stricter asylum laws on the others of the channel will deter migrants. >> if you have traveled thousands of kilometers and can virtually see britain, you are not going to give up. 30 kilometers to the finish line.

>> hundreds of migrants are sheltering in this camp. 20-year-old mohamed is one of them. he says he and his brother fled government persecution in sudan three years ago. his dream is to study medicine in britain and become a doctor. coastal patrols, he says, will not stop him from trying to reach his destination. >> if i have a dream, i'm going to try to do. >>'s determination is not uncommon says an ngo worker who believes britain's new measures will only increase migrants suffering in calais. >> last year, news that illegal migrants in britain would be sent to rwanda sparked panic. at least two people took their own lives as a result. >> the patrol has returned from duty to the police station.

they did not catch any migrants preparing to make the crossing tonight. it shows the boat they confiscated a few weeks earlier. >> this was not a smugglers vehicle. >> it is huge. >> how many migrants fit on a boat like this? >> at least 50. >> what is your response to british criticism of french police? >> they are welcome to do better. >> they don't know what's going on here. they could not do any better. >> even with a lot more personnel, it would still be hard. >> that's because france's kilometers long. here in calais alone, the coast guard has to keep its eyes on a 30-kilometers stretch. >> a women-only bus service has opened in pakistan's biggest city.

for many women, even leaving the house to use public transit is a huge step and they often face harassment from men. >> this is how most women commute. a small, women-only section is often occupied by men, shoving and pushing. a very uncomfortable and unsafe experience for millions of women. but these new women-only pink buses are a relief for many. they have better safety systems such as an emergency exit, lights installed, and also security cameras. and a one-way fare of less than a quarter of a euro is affordable for most of the women. one of the passengers is a

28-year-old pharmacist who now commutes to her workplace on the pink buses. >> when you are going in this bus, you don't have to worry about your clothes or your things, and you are stressed-you. sometimes when you are going on the regular bus, there is anxiety in your head that something might happen. >> many of the women commuting on the bus have experienced harassment. >> once, i was sitting on a bus, and a man sitting behind me was touching me. i called him out. but no one there took a stand for me. sometimes men enter the women's section if the bus is overcrowded. this is where women experience

shoving and pushing by men who do it, intentionally taking advantage. >> but the initiative is still too small. sexual harassment is a widespread structural problem. critics say the government should make efforts to change the attitude of men towards women. >> the law is there. we just need to somehow encourage people to enforce or to help the government enforce the law by lodging the complaint. unfortunately, there is a taboo that society attaches to it. most people are reluctant to accuse others of such matters. >> such instances continue. -- while such instances continue, many women believe the pink buses are a first step at keeping them safer. quite here is a reminder of the top story we are following for

you at this hour. donald trump has plead not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records in court in new york. the charges relate to the alleged payment of hush money to three people before the 2016 presidential election. that's all for now, but stick with us. i will be back to take you through "the day" after a short break, and i hope to see you there. goodbye. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

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>> it is 10:00 p.m. in paris and you are watching france 24. donald trump pleads not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. the republican former president faces indictment charges in a case which threatens to upend the 20 u.s. presidential race. finland has joined nato, doubling the security block's frontier with russia, resulting in a threat from moscow of countermeasures. china has vowed to defend its national sovereignty ahead of a meeting