hello, everybody. how are you doing? it is 9:00 here in the u.k. welcome to the final hour of sky news this morning. putin's generals, the head of the armed forces this morning, we have a round glimpse into the mind of a spy bot and what he makes of the war in ukraine. stay tuned for more on that. plus, going to india,

sitting on the fence in the russian invasion, is that the right thing to do? we ask the international trade secretary and says the decision doesn't sit comfortably about her. and the debate over transright, we have been speaks to politicians and a member of the trans community. it is thursday, the last day of march. that's the misjudgment, the former head of the armed forces says even the russian generals are losing faith. >> it increasingly looks like putin has massively misjudged the situation. >> putin must do so by his security staff, as to the cape at of his armed forces before this campaign started. >> i'm in the western ukraine where president zelenskyy is warning forces to prepare for russian attacks in the east as moscow builds up its troops in

donbas. >> the foreign secretary heads to india for trade talks despite not taking a stand in the war in ukraine. we asked the national secretary if the u.k. is comfortable doing business with india. >> we understand why they've chosen to sit on the fence at the moment. they have connections in the region. >> the cost of living crisis, with bills on the rise, we asked the shadow chancellor of labor to fix it. >> oh, wow. wow. >> chris rock speaks out about that oscar slap, as the academy reveals they are looking into it. the last day of three universal lateral protests in england, the warning from a disability charity, the government is showing a disregard for the most vulnerable.

also, coming up on the breakfast show for you this morning -- ♪ ♪ i'm glad you came. >> sending my love. tributes to tom parker who has died from a brain tumor at the age of just 33. and any idea what this plant is? we will be speaking to the first westerner to get a glimpse of the flower in the philippines and the mammoth trek to get there. welcome, thank you for joining us. are putin's generals losing faith in him? the view of the former head of the armed force, and reacting to

the spy bots on president putin's intentions in ukraine. and the top spy chief, the director of gchq has given a rare speech says the russian leader mass made a massive misjudgment on the limbs of his military might and says defied orders to accidentally shoot down their own aircraft. and the kremlin is turning to private mercenaries to help them in the war and the wider group is going into the numbers but they are likely to be used as cannon fodder to try to limit russian losses. the ukrainian leader says his troops are preparing for the russians to have a large assault in the east of the country in the donbas region. and we spoke to lord dannen who says putin is misled. and first here is the source of the britain spy chief. >> it increasingly looks like putin has massively the

situation. it is clear he misjudged the resistance of the ukrainian people. he underestimated the strength of the coalition his actions would galvanize. he underplayed the economic cons expense of the sanctions regime. -- the consequence of the sanctions regime. and he overestimated the abilities of his military to secure a rapid victory. we've seen russian soldiers short of weapons and morale, refusing to carry out all of this. sabotaging their own equipment. and even accidentally shooting down their own aircraft. and each though we believe putin's advisers are afraid to tell him the truth, what's going on, and the extent of his misjudgments, must be crystal clear to the regime. >> what is interesting is now the intelligence authorities of the u.k. and the u.s. are saying

what many of us who have been observing have begun to believe, that putin must have been misled by his generals and by his security staff, as to the capability of his armed forces before this campaign started, and that he has been shielded to an extent to the harsh reality of what is going on, on the front, so he has believed that his own military is more capable than it has turned out to be. now, you touch on the question, does that mean that he's still in the dark about the reality and one more push if you like, or is he going to accept where he is, and change the plan? >> well, tom and dominic talked to us this morning, we will talk to tom in just a second in beijing, and first dominic in lviv for us, and what do we make of what we heard from the spy

chief. >> jeremy fleming has been trying to do what we have been trying to do for weeks and months really, to get into the head of putin and figure out why he carried out this assault and based on the intelligence that he has at his disposal, very well informed there, is he is miscalculate and badly advised by generals who don't have the courage to tell limb -- him the truth. plan a doesn't seem to be working out. plan a seems to be a blitzkrieg invasion that would be so quickly over that it would topple the regime in kyiv and would t-would lead to the west having to accept that as a fait accompli. instead, he has met very strong resistance and very strong response in terms of sanctions and isolation. plan b is to plow on with more bar baric moves and what that means for the civilian of ukraine. it begs the question, the analysis really, of what those commanders and advisers do next. can they summon up the courage to tell putin that his fantasy of kind of recreating a greater

russia, that never existed, absorbing ukraine into russia is over, it's not going to happen, that low morale, russians abandoning their own tanks and weapons and also shooting down their own aircraft, and the strength of the ukrainian resistance means this is never going to happen. can they summon up the courage to say the game is effectively up and he needs to seek peace, and even if they do, is that going to make any difference? >> with the perspective, as far as china is concerned, tom, because i'm just reading actually, that the russian foreign minister has said it will not refuse a meeting between lavrov and the ukrainian counterpart and talks have been substantive, china has been very cautious about getting involved, hasn't it? >> yes, kay, i think that is exactly right. china has offered a lot of rhetorical support to russia, but hasn't actually really been helping. >> it has been sitting on the sidelines. it keeps saying that it wants to see a cease-fire between both sides and neglects to go along

with what russia is doing as an invasion and refused to condemn, it and that's what we saw from the speech today, despite the focus on ukraine, that is rightly the focus, and a huge chunk of it was given over to china, because that is seen as the next global challenge. yet a warning of the partnership between russia and china and also a warning for china itself, saying it stood to lose more than the kremlin did, in the event of that going sour. i'm not sure that is a warning being heeded in beijing. we had sergei lavrov come to china and met with his counterpart the foreign minister here, and they reaffirmed the partnership, and no limit, that's the phrase that xi jingping, when vladimir putin came here on the eve of the olympics and signed the comprehensive agreement before the russian invasion so russia and china are very much joined and despite what is happening in ukraine, china sees the century defining confrontation as the

competition between the u.s. and russia and china is a vital part of that. >> thank you both. well, earlier, i asked the international trade secretary ann marie how she feels with her talks with india, with the nation notably reluctant to comment on russia's offensive in ukraine and also spoke about the latest news on party gate and the revelation on fines being issued. and i asked about the debate on trans rights currently very much in the headline, all that in a moment. first those views on the foreign secretary's trip to india. >> our trade talks are at the moment, where officials met ten days ago for some discussions, which are progressing, but we will continue those for the time being, as we have several trade deals, on the go, and see how it progress, but it is really important that we see, we understand why they have chosen to sit on the fence at the moment, they, you know, they have connections in both

directions, but for us, it's really important to see all countries who believe in democracy, and the rule of law, and indeed, defending their own territory borders, wanting to have that sovereignty respected by those around you, to stand up for that. >> it doesn't sit comfortably with you that by a country by omission is sanctioning the death of innocents. >> no, we have to stand up as we say for democratic countries where the rights to live peaceably in your sovereign nation is something that should be respected by all and i think this will be continuing, to do what the foreign office is trying to do, to persuade her colleagues in india, of the merits of giving their opinion on putin's outrageous legal movements. >> and they have issued notices, 20 fixed notices and you get one when you break the law. >> we will have to see.

we will discuss it in detail. and as the mps have published anything on this, i think at the moment i want to let them continue their work. >> they have told you that 20 instances, the law was broken, why is the prime minister not saying that? >> well, because he wants to wait for the whole process to go through. >> how do you feel about it? do you think they're wrong in issuing these fixed penalty notices? >> i have no doubt the police are issuing notices on the basis of the law and i want to make sure we can come back to the house and look at the whole thing in the round once they have completed their review of the process and the perceived greater number, which i think many colleagues were frustrated with the police involvement with the round. >> and the deputy prime minister, the justice secretary and former lawyer misspoke when he said there were clear breaches of the law. >> no he is just, he has in his position, i think if you are going to fine, we are waiting to

see, and we assume those who were fined by the police will pay their fines and that is the punishment that they have. >> why do we get a fine? we get a fine if we break the law. >> indeed when regulations went out -- >> the fines are being issued, it means that there are 20 instances people have broken the law. >> they have broken regulations that have been sit up and the police deemed what they have done and they are fined accordingly. >> why won't the prime minister say that? >> i say they want to wait until the whole process takes place. >> do you believe that -- making the comments made, about wanting to be trans gender, the prime minister supporting him with a treat, but i just wondered if you wanted to comment on this, i'm sure you will, boris johnson, tweeting his support, but he has also said that the

supper he held, and good evening, ladies and gentlemen, or people who are assigned female or male at birth. what does that say to you? >> jokes made at dinners, i think in order, you know, he has a very, very warm and affectionate personality, and i think he's genuinely wanting to support the decision to shared with world his choice to present himself as trans and i think he is lucky young man and we are hugely proud of him to. continue this discussion, it is so important, but it is also important, that we respect and love each other, as how we want to live our lives and i think that's what the prime minister wants to achieve and we are incredibly proud of taking on the position as a public person and the commentary about his choice and i think that is incredibly brave and we

absolutely share and want to make sure he is comfortable and indeed if he chooses not to be and getting on with being a great mp, that's fine, too. we have been discussing the trans community served in the nhs, we had conversations with mps around pregnancy and pressed on possible distinction between sex and gender. and here's what the shadow chancellor rachel had to say this morning. >> it is important that a spotlight is shown on some of these issues, and that the terrible experiences that people are going through, and many others, we shouldn't deny that valid biology exists as well. >> is it right that everybody should be asked whether they are pregnant before they have a scan in the hospital? >> look, i don't think that most men are -- >> the nhs has decided that everybody must be asked, whether

they are pregnant before they have a scan. >> well, that sounds a little bit odd to me. >> what do you think? you can tweet directly @kay burley. and joining me now, olympic guidelines for trans gender athletes in 2015, she transitions before, and describes herself as a scientist first, athlete second and trans gender person third. thanks for joining us on the program this morning joanna. this is an incredibly complex issue. and you speak from your own standpoint and you accept that there is a much wider debate to be had as well. i wonder if we could just start with that comment earlier in the week, about whether men, or whether both sexes and trans gender sexes should be asked if

they're pregnant before having a scan in a hospital. what do you think? >> well, certainly, trans men often present just the same as any other man, and so if they are potentially undergoing a procedure which would be dangerous for somebody who is pregnant, and someone is uncertain whether this is a trans man or not, it can't hurt to ask, if someone is pregnant, certainly you ask this particular man, would be a trans man and would be pregnant, are pretty small, but it doesn't really hurt to ask. >> it's an appropriate thing to do. on that aside, on the other side of the argument, is about the protection of women's spaces. and do you have experience about that sort of thing? >> well, i mean as women, every

day, yes, of course, and i go there for the same reasons that every other woman does, you know, not to molest or hurt anyone else, right? and that is true of trans people in general. so you know, women's spaces are still safe spaces if trans women are there. >> absolutely, but not all women's spaces are safe spaces, and obviously, they make the headlines because they are unusual, but i'm thinking about someone who is trans depender who transgender and in a women's prin and some of the challenges that could change, how would you analyze that, what would you say to our viewers about that sort of issue? >> so trans-women are not safe in women's prisons. that is clear from many things that we have seen. are trans-women a danger in

women's prisons? perhaps occasionally. and so i would think this is certainly an issue that should be looked at on a case by case basis, but for the most part, i think trans women should be housed in women's prisons. if it's clear that they will be a danger to other women, then something else should be done. >> talk to me about something that you know an awful lot about, the issue of gender, when it comes to sport, you've been involved with the international olympic committee, and setting up their guidelines, and tell me where you are with that. >> so i haven't actually been involved with the ioc since 2019, i was set up with the 2015 guidelines, i didn't go through with the 2021 guidelines, which suggest that no restriction of

trans people should be accepted without a lot more evidence than we currently have. on the other hand, we have institutions like world rugby that has now banned trans women from international rugby, and of course in the news this week is a trans cyclist and what the uci will decide on her, it remains to be seen. i think it is appropriate that we look at this from a sport by sport basis. there's a lot of work to be done. and i certainly hope to continue to work with international sports federations over the upcoming years. >> a woman who helps to build muscle, is it fair for a person who significantly has more testosterone than other competitors to be able to compete with them? >> testosterone is the single most important factor that differentiates male athletes

from female athletes so no, if somebody currently has much higher testosterone, than typical female does, they shouldn't be allowed in the women's division. the trickier question is what to do with trans women who used to have high testosterone but now has testosterone in the female range. i personally think in most instances, trans women who have suppressed their testosterone can engage in meaningful competition with our women, but that is not a proven thing yet, and there's much research and discussion that needs to take place. >> yeah, and that takes me on to my next question, about a leah thomas, in the process of transitioning and using homeo replacement therapy, she was previously required to swim for the men's team in 2019, and

2020, the academic year as a junior while undergoing that hormone therapy, which means that she lost muscle mass and strength through testosterone suppression, she has recently taken part in a race with women, and she won by 1.75 seconds, which is a huge amount in swimming race. is that fair? >> she also was in two other race, and one tied in fifth and the other in which she placed agent, so it's clear that when leah was swimming against the best other swimmers in the ncaa competition, she was not head and shoulders above them. she won once, she was beaten twice. clearly this is a situation where there was meaningful competition. >> what do you say to people who say i don't really understand the topic, i want to be able to understand it better, and i want

to be able to be as supportive as i can, but i just can't get my head around it. what is the guidance that you would offer to my viewers this morning who feel that way? >> of course, it's understandable to feel that way. it is a difficult thing, i do have a book out, if people want to read it, but most people aren't going to read a book. there are various things that i could recommend, if people want to educate themselves, but i would say try to keep an open mind, and there are evidence out there from various sides, try to listen to people with different opinions, and make up your own mind about what feels right. >> very, very wise words. joanna, good to talk to you. thank you for taking the time to shine a light on this tommic for

us that has been -- on this topic for us that has been dominating our program for much of the week. thank you. >> you're welcome. >> thank you. tomorrow's take, here she is and politicians tying themselves up in knots over trans gender. >> it seems like some politicians want to make in a dividing line, and labor proposing changes of the recognition act to make it easier to change their gender and it is something that conservatives support the idea and it is not the government as a whole supporting and it is interesting the prime minister's question, boris johnson made a point of saying that biological sex is as it stands although he was very supportive yesterday when a conservative mp came out and said that he's trans or wants to be trans and he had a lot of support from conservative mps so this is something that is shifting, it can sometimes be a political dividing line, but when a conservative mp came out with his personal story, his

colleagues were very supportive. >> what else are we going to talk about today? >> the cost of living is really the issue today. because tomorrow, a lot of things go up. energy bills by an average of 700 pound. tax bills. and of course, tamp, the national insurement hike. and labor announcing for the elections today and making the cost of living the main issue saying the conservative's response to it has been pathetic, this is something he will be saying in a speech today in greater manchester and the labor is on the side of working families. now labor has put together an analysis claiming that people will be 2,600 pounds worse off this year, even after the measures that the chancellor brought in last week on fuel and so on. we asked rachel how they have come up with that calculation, and would some of these charges apply even if labor were in power. this is what she said. >> that's a combination of the tax increases, the increases in the weekly food shop, the

increases in filling up the car with petrol, electricity bill an average of 693 pounds tomorrow, and if you add all of that up, and also increases in mortgage pavements, because of the increase in bank of england base rate, if you add all of that up, the average family in this country is going to be 2,600 pounds worse off under the tories. >> the drip drip drip of party gate continues on. chatting to the chair of the defense committee, he wanted the pm to go last night, didn't he? >> he did. he put in his letter. and you have a lot of conservative mps wanting him to go. 14 of whom went public. and many, many more behind the scenes and there was real plotting going on, i can tell you. it all comes down partly because of ukraine and people feeling like this is the time to change leaders and because we are waiting for the police investigation, not the time to change leaders and because we

are waiting for the police investigation and we now have 20 fixed penalties so are there 20 instances where the law was broken? dominic raab the justice secretary sat here yesterday and said clearly that is the case and labor says blindingly obvious that is the case and why is the prime minister then saying we can't get into that right now? because the prime minister's defense is that his understanding is that the law wasn't broken. and while we have this disconnect, between what he is saying and what other cabinet ministers are saying, and as we wait to see whether the prime minister himself is going to get one of these fixed penalties which downing street are braced for, although it doesn't appear he got one this week, then it is going to dominate the headlines. and what was said about whether he is still hoping the prime minister steps down. >> you can't ignore the fact that our party lost its way, we were not exhibiting the leadership, the state craft that we are capable of, and i think what the nation expects.

number 10 was in a bad place. you know, if some of us hadn't chosen to speak out, it was worried that it would continue to drift and the prime minister has now acknowledged this and a new team is now being formed but the last time i considered withdrawing my letter, given that i was pleased with the progress that was made, we then get a speech where the freedoms of brexit are compared with the very freedoms that ukraine is fighting for. >> that causes a lot of problems as well for the pm. when will we know if he will get fined. >> we don't know how long the police investigation is taking place but we know the police commissioner is stepping down in april and we hope it would be included by then. so any time. there could be more fines coming in at any time. we know that these 20 fines were the first batch, and that more will be coming, and they had a lot of evidence to look through, and they sent out 100 questionnaires to people, so it could be quite a lot more coming. and i think the difficulty in

the meantime is that if people resign or apologize, or are forced out of their jobs as a result of getting these fine, we don't know who any of them are at this stage but inevitably it will become clear and people will say so and high profile people feel they have to say something, that will put more pressure on the prime minister and certainly the resignation, it does look like at the moment, as if he is going to survive, with some damage, but voter does remember, it and is this all going to come back when it depends on what happens to some of the other people involved? >> and the may elections. >> indeed. >> and how much of it is plays on an issue in the may elections and the cost of living issues which the government concedes is going to be very difficult in the next few months. >> thank you very much, tamara. the prime minister saying he wasn't aware of these rules being breached but of course, as we all know, ignorance is no defense in the law.

still to come on the program for you, we will be speaking to the daughter of a holocaust survivor who has written a book about her mother's incredible bravery. >> the first westerner to get a glimpse of this rare flower, tracked all the way to the philippines, he will tell us about his journey coming up. and then we will be speak together man attempting to complete 70 triathlons in 70 days. show-off. before that, though, the organizers of the oscars say will smith was asked to leave the awards ceremony after slapping chris rock, but he refused, and let's just remind you of the moment. >> i'm out here -- whoa. oh, wow.

wow. will smith just smacked the [ bleep ] out of me. >> leave my wife out of your -- >> wow, dude. >> it was a gi jane joke. >> keep my wife's name out of your [ bleep ] mouth. >> i'm going to, okay? >> going on to win the best actor oscar. he was seen dancing and singing to his own song at the oscar vanity fair after-party. and chris rock was seen for the first time last night, arriving at his own gig and he reportedly talked about protesting what happened, and let's get the latest on this. >> there have been a lot of questions about why something wasn't done at the time of this incident, and it's clear the academy was just taken by

surprise, as everyone else who was watching, things unfolded in a way they could not have anticipated they say in a statement. they do say that will smith was asked to leave the ceremony, after that incident, but refused. and they also say that they recognized they could have handled things differently. they are now taking action though with the disciplinary proceedings for violating the code of conduct, as they say inappropriate physical contact, abusive or threatening behavior, and they accused will smith of, the potential punishment for that, it goes right up to expulsion from the academy. now, in modern times, that has only happened to the likes of harvey wine stein, roman planski, people guilty of serious sexual offenses so that is seen as unlikely to happen. also the suggestion that will smith could have the oscar taken back, again seen as unlikely, it has only happened once in the history of the academy, whoopi goldberg an academy governor says it is not going to happen in this case. the most likely result will be some sort of temporary

suspension, perhaps a reprimand, but will smith has two weeks to respond before his fate is decided at a board meeting in the middle of april. which i should also say chris rock on the other end of that slap of course has been back on stage as a standsup comic, he says he is still protesting what happened on that oscar -- processing what happened on ha oscar stage. >> for tomorrow, the majority of people in england will have to pay for lateral protest, and the decision has been criticized by some, a total disregard for the government for the fears and concerns of people at risk. and we have more from a pharmacy in london to find out more. hello to you. we were saying in the last hour, and we haven't been able to get a hold of these test force weeks. >> yes, you and me both. >> we're not the only ones, kay. we have come people coming in this morning, already asking for free tests and the pharmacy has had to turn them away empty

handed because they themselves have not been able to get a hold of free test force a month and every day, they get calls from 30 customers a day and that's how keen people are to get a hold of them but unable to do them. going forward after tomorrow, some will be eligible for free mests, and vulnerable and only when symptomatic and that's what criticized as charities and the scope is critical indeed, these tests have allowed the vulnerable to live their normal lives and without them, the charities say they are unsafe and afraid to go out and you can still buy lateral flow tests but they cost about five pounds each and not affordable for a lot of people and there are many, many people this morning who are very unhappy about this move. >> thank you. such sad news now, i'm afraid, tributes pouring in for the star who has died at the age of 33. he had been diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor a quick reminder of one of the most

well-known songs. ♪ the sun goes down ♪ the stars come out ♪ >> the band rose to fame in 2009 and had two number one singles "glad you came" and "all time love" after they disbanded in 2014, they once again reunited last year, for a charity benefit, when tom told sky news he was feeling a lot better. >> with this disease, you get quite a natural decline, but if anything, it seems to be on the incline. i feel a lot, lot better than i did a couple of months ago. but yes, just with my increasing health getting better, i'm here today. >> ed sheeran has led the music industry in paying tribute on

wednesday. in an instagram post, so sad to hear of tom's passing. thoughts for his family, what a lovely guy. he was only 33. he passed away peacefully, surrounded by his family, and friends. every day, in the uk, 150 people die from out of hospital cardiac arrests, making it one of the nation's biggest killers. it makes defibrillators a vital lifesaving resource yet new research reveals less than one in five people would feel confident in using one. but could that be about to change? our chief medical officer, dr. stevens brooks and bettman cup, a cardiac arrest survivor and aed campaigner. thank you very much for joining

us on the program. to you, first, doctor, tell us about this new device. >> well, the device, which i have in my hands is the world's face hand-held miniaturized and very ultra low cost defibrillator. and this is being designed from the very beginning to be easy to use and affordable, and we hope that it is going to address the barriers that we have right now to making these available to the public. >> so does it work in the same way that we understand the machinery works at the moment? >> yes, so the device has been miniaturized so that it works to provide a small electrical shock to the chest of someone whose heart has stopped to restart the heart again. the new design has removed all of the unnecessary component, and made it small enough for to you put in your bag or have in your home and have it easily used without any medical

training whatsoever. as you can see, in the video, it's meant to be snapped in half, and the two halves of the device are actually the pads that stick on the chest of the cardiac arrest victim. >> tell us what happened to you. >> yes, so i was 17, at the time of my sudden cardiac arrest. i was at work, and it happened to me. so that was a big moment in my life, and it is very important that there was a defibrillator on-site at my work that could obviously be used to save my life available but the device is so readily available and to increase the chances of survival by ten-fold. >> amazing. amazing. and doctor, how do we find out more about it, how do we get a hold of them. >> these devices are available for pre-sale today, on the web site and the major innovation is these devices are available for a tenth of the price of

conventional aeds at 199 pounds and we hope that lower price will remove barriers to get these in homes and workplaces and available so that more people who can have them close to them and have them save a life, when this occurs in public. >> okay. doctor, thanks for explaining to us. thanks for sharing the video us with. and benjamin, i'm glad you're all better. thank you both very much. >> thank you. >> thanks a lot. in jeerm, when they invade the -- when germany invaded the netherlands, this person joined the resistance moment without a second thought and survived three concentration camps facing multiple interrogations and her daughter ava after her death discovered letters about her incredible life and she has written a book about it and now known with us, ava taylor. hello, thanks for joining us. tell us about your mom's story. >> well, it was a big surprise

to me to find all of these documents. tucked away in her at tick. i knew she had been in the resistance, and i knew she had been in the concentration camps but i did not know that she had all of this evidence, so it was very nice to discover a whole new person in fact. >> okay, so tell me about some of the information that was within these documents. >> well, there were personal letters, from her, written in jail, while she was in jail, in amsterdam, smuggled out of jail in her laundry and sent to her mother. there were love letters from her fiance who was shot down over france, almost killed. and most importantly, intriguing of course, was a series of love letters from a german concentration camp guard who wrote to her while she was in the camp, who in fact saved her life. >> how did he do that? >> well, he protected her. he gave her medication. he made sure she got personal

attention from the doctors. he gave her clothes and food, and he saved not only her life but also the life of two of her friends. >> wow. and she was in three separate concentration camps. how on earth did she survive? >> well, it's hard to say. a lot of luck was involved, i think as well. and it was also i think the determination to survive, she had a very, very strong will to survive, and although she many times was on the edge of death, she always was convinced she was going to survive the war. and she did. >> she was, she found herself in a concentration camp when she was i think 22, and sha that she had been, and that she had been helping hide people from the nazis and then she was betrayed. >> she was betrayed unfortunately, as was most of the group that she was in resistance with. she was merely the only

survivor. all the rest were either executed or sent to concentration camps and done and that was a piece of luck for her as well. >> how did she manage to finally get out of the concentration camps to tell the story? >> she was liberated by the red cross eventually, about two weeks before the whole camp was liberated. and that was really thanks to the guard who put her on the evacuation list for the first evacuation out of the camp, which was just in time, because she was very close to death at the time. >> that's amazing. and she went on to have you, and the rest as they say is history. thank you very much indeed for taking the time to join us and tell us about it. thank you. >> thank you. now, a british bot nist is the first westerner to see an extremely rare plant in the philippines. chris traveled for days in the rain forest for 45 minutes with

the flower. i don't know how to pronounce. it and the experience moved him to tears. >> we have traveled for days to get to this very special site and with the help of the banal tribe who live in these very forests, they have taken us to see an extraordinary flower. it is so very, very special. here it is. this is the flower. >> joining us now is chris, the oxford botanic garden is where he is broadcasting to us from this morning, thanks for joining us on the program. >> good morning. >> why did you do this? >> this is just one of the most extraordinary feets of botanical engineering. you can see this flower, it grows to half a meter across. it is a leafless flower that erupts from the forest floor.

who wouldn't trek to see it? >> how long does it stay in flower for? >> just a few days and luckily for me i was joined by the indigenous county and they know the flower so well with my fellow bot nists in the philippines and it was astounding and so exciting to see it. >> how many people have seen this sort of flower? >> so there are between 30 and 40 species across southeast asia, and this one is really, really rare, so i'm the third bot nist to see it, my colleagues who are in the philippines saw it before me, but i'm incredibly lucky to have seen it. so privileged. >> so tell me about you walking through the jungle, let's call it the jungle i'm guessing it is, and you weren't sure you were going to see, it it only flower force a few days, it has taken you 14 days to get there, and then you turn around the corner and there was. >> yes, it was like that. it is a pathless wilderness. and so the community that i was

with, they machete a tunnel into the rain forest. we were swinging on vines, i got covered in leeches. absolutely my arms pouring with blood, i got stung, bitten, and quite honestly, i was a mess by the time we reached this forested slope, and then we crossed a river, and then we climbed on to this steep forested area, and there they were. we were surrounded by these magnificent flowers and it is just an experience. absolutely beyond compare. >> what is the point of the flower? what does it do? >> this is actually a parasitic flower, no leave ors roots and lives for most of its life in the tissues of a tropical vine and erupts through the forest floor so it is truly an enigmatic flower, and poorly understood and few people have seen it and very much undocumented and that was the purpose of the trip to understand more of this highly elusive plant. >> and have you learned more about it? >> we have.

we learned a bit more how many there are, how frequently they flower, that sort of thing, and that's really important to inform conservations as well because these plants as you can imagine, growing very endangered parts of the world, in forests that are endangered or threatened and it is really important that we understand more about these plant's abundance and biology so we can inform their conservation and protection. >> what's next, what are you going to look for next? >> well, you know what, southeast asia is just for me it is the flower capital of the world and i would just spend as much time as i could trekking through these forests, with the unchartered wildernesses, you find species and i can't wait to get back there and see what else is there. >> and you haven't seen what grows in my back garden, let me tell you. >> what was your --

>> you haven't seen what grows in my back garden, let me tell you. >> and see what else --

now, i'm up to hopefully monday morning, starting 70 in a row. >> what sort of toll does that take on your body? and when do you eat? >> it just comes as taking in food, spreading it out across the day, and so to maximize the absorbsancy, that's the challenge, to be honest. what's the other question? >> and how do you start to train for something like and when do you eat and the toll it takes on your body. >> so far, it has been fine.

i have been looking at the plan and we stuck to it really well. i kind of went through a winter training block, so kind of between 20 and 27 hours a week, training, so i've been fortunate enough to take a bit of a leave from work to focus on it. so yes, i just slowly building tup and it is kind of a half distance for what the challenge will be and it will be about 50 hours a week. >> that's mistake. are you doing it to raise money for a charity? >> i am, yes. i'm coming from an alcoholic addiction background, i'm choosing to go with alcohol change u.k., and i'm kind of more local, which is human kind and also going with mental health charity. >> sure, so how do people find out more? >> they can go on to insta and facebook, and you can look for the world record challenge on both of those, social media

apps, and they can just follow, and watch what i'm getting up to over the next kind of ten weeks, that would be great. >> amazing and which of the three disciplines it is your favorite? >> swimming easily. first of all, it is the first one, the shortest one. and i don't even have to count laps. so you can just kind of drift off. and as long as i can do the meditation, and i can do ten laps without even realizing it, i think it is an order, where the bike, and then the run at the end, it is the half hour, after five hours of exercise, so yes, you just kind of deal with it when you get there to be honest. >> and i have always wondered about the transition, when you have been swimming and then you cycle, do you not get that really sore feet? >> well, running from one to the other? >> when you come out of the pool, and then you're out of the water and your feet are really wet and everything and you immediately put your feet into trainers in order to do the

cycle, you don't get athlete's foot or something? >> no, i've got two athlete's feet, actually. no, not really. you got a whole day. and my partner has been amazing throughout all of this organizing, and we've been working together, and most of the time, really tired, and we're going to croatia and go scuba diving and go out to the adriatic and i can't wait. >> that's fantastic. well done, thanks very much for joining us. >> thank you. >> see you. good luck. >> bye. >> thanks. >> i like him calling me mate. before we go, a quick look at this. this is our twitter feed from

today. this is what was the most popular tweet. many thousands of you watching already. party gate, yes, what does the secretary think? click on that. and find out. and in addition, to that, we've got one more for you, another story, you guys are speaking about in my interview with the shadow chancellor on the rights of the trans gender community and it is important to shine a light on trans gender but not deny the valt of biology in this case and many of you were quite conflicted in the comment section, unsurprisingly. tell me what you think at lome if you think the shadow chancellor's comments were unclear. and at the end of a very long week. there we go. check it out. and let me know. that's it for us for this morning. we'll be back at 7:00 on monday morning. and i really hope that you will be joining us next week. and up for you, sky news at 10:00. have a great day.

that oddly satisfying feeling

when you don't do it yourself.

vladimir putin, misinformed as the russian military fails to advance on ukraine, advisers say they are shielding the russian president how badly things are going. we will show you what the biden administration is saying about that. and despite vowing to scale back the offensive, russia is stepping up attacks in kyiv and other areas of the country. a live report in ukraine in just a few minutes. plus, the morning's other big headlines. president biden gets a second covid booster shot. what chris rock is now saying about getting slapped by will smith. and bruce will is s