david willis, always great to get you . willis, always great to get you on newsday.want to turn now to south africa, which has been hit by a catastrophe of enormous proportions — they're the words of south african president cyril ramaphosa after he visited some of the most badly hit flood areas of kwazulu—natal. more than 300 people are known to have died and dozens more remain missing in the heaviest rains to hit the country in more than 60 years. shingai nyoka reports from durban. the aftermath of days of torrential rain, a month's worth of rain fell in a single day in some parts a month's worth of rain fell in a single day in some parts of kwazulu—natal. floods and mudslides destroyed key infrastructure. communities are in disbelief. some were lucky to escape with their lives, but the flood walters took everything else. i've got nowhere to go now. i've got no house, i've got no nothing. these are my family's now, my neighbours. we try to give them a place to sleep last night. we never sleep last night. the situation is very, very bad. floods are fairly common here

joining me now is our north america correspondent, david willis. n the fourth of april get onlyjust coming to light now? fourth of april get only 'ust coming to light now? that's riaht, coming to light now? that's right. that _ coming to light now? that's right, that video _ coming to light now? that's right, that video released i coming to light now? that's| right, that video released at coming to light now? that's l right, that video released at a news conference earlier today what led to the protest tonight and there will be further protests, it seems in the days ahead. the incendiary nature of these sorts of images are well known to police chiefs here, andindeed known to police chiefs here, and indeed the grand rapids police chief, eric when strom seemed to acknowledge that tonight when he said the images from this case were going to as he put it impact the city for some while. all of this of course brought into sharp relief by the death of george floyd, who, his neck was kneeled upon by a white police officer in minneapolis, two years ago, that

let's get more from our north america correspondent, david willis, in los angeles. great to have you as always on the programme, david. ijust want to start by asking why did elon musk want to buy twitter in the first place? in elon musk want to buy twitter in the first place?— in the first place? in a word or a coume _ in the first place? in a word or a couple of— in the first place? in a word or a couple of words, - in the first place? in a word| or a couple of words, power in the first place? in a word - or a couple of words, power and influence. i think he is the richest person in the world, and this gives him considerable influence. it would also potentially give him a lot of headaches going forward. regulatory headaches. what sort of content moderation will be put in place? elon musk has made plain in the passed he is not a fan of content moderation and says twitter should be a centre for free—speech, but that comes at some cost, as we've seen at the past with the rise of qanon and conspiracy theory groups. the big question now — will donald trump, who is banned

david willis, bbc news, los angeles.o head to this coffee shop in tokyo, known as the manuscript writing cafe, and you won't be able to leave until you finish the project you have been working on. as you go in and you have to write down your goal and the amount of time you need to finish, and through the day that staff will check to see how your work is going. a perfect cure for those who do get distracted when writing, i could do with a cafe like that. to keep up—to—date on the news, head to our website. you will find our life page focused on the war in ukraine, updated 24 hours a day. you can download the bbc app as well. also after your opinions on the stories we are covering and your own stories. you can get in touch with all of our bbc correspondence on bbc media. it would be good to hear from you. thanks for watching. hello again. it was southern areas of both england and wales that had the best of the sunshine on tuesday, temperatures reaching 17 degrees in parts of southwest england but also around cardiff's bute

david willis reporting there.nny depp brand amber heard a liar in opening arguments of the defamation trial between the former spouses. pol pot, one of the century's greatest mass murderers, is reported to have died of natural causes. he, and the khmer rouge movement he led, were responsible for the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million cambodians. there have been violent protests in indonesia, where playboy has gone on sale for the first time. traditionalist muslim leaders have expressed disgust. the magazine's offices have been attacked and its editorial staff have gone into hiding. it was clear that paula's only contest was with the clock, and as for her sporting legacy, paula radcliffe's competitors will be chasing her new world—best time for years to come. quite quietly, but quicker and quicker, she seemed just to slide away under the surface and disappear. this is bbc news, the latest headlines: britain's prime minister and his chancellor of the exchequer are fined for breaching the lockdown laws they imposed o

david willis reports from los angeles.et was transformed into a crime scene. the incident sent police racing to the sprawling desert ranch in new mexico. newly released police bodycam footage shows the chaos that confronted them on arrival. 42—year—old film—maker halyna hutchins, regarded as a rising star in the movie industry, was airlifted to a nearby hospital where she later died. alec baldwin, who was both the star of the film and one of its producers, appeared stunned and disbelieving. he said he didn't pull the trigger and he didn't know who put a live round in the weapon he fired. the newly released footage also includes his first interview with the police. i take the gun out and as i take it, as it clears, as the barrel clears, i turn and cock the gun, the gun goes off. it should have been a cold gun with no rounds inside or dummy rounds, cosmetic rounds, no flash. i take the gun out slowly. i turn and cock the pistol, bang. it goes off, she hits the ground, she goes down, and then he starts screaming. and i'm thin

david willis.ican province of kwazulu—natal are on high alert for further floods as more rain is expected over this weekend. 400 people are now known to have died. those living in the area have been urged to move away from low—lying areas. the bbc�*s vumani mkhize sent this report from durban. the mountains of debris and junk washed up on this durban beach are an indication of the severity of this floodwaters that ravaged the city. waste pickers salvage what they can to recycle and sell, while residents also remove the washed—up debris. volunteers and waste pickers have begun what is a monumental clean—up operation here at the durban beachfront and, as you can see behind me, the scale of debris that was washed away by the raging waters is immense. unfortunately for the kwazulu—natal province, more bad weather is expected over the easter weekend, which is going to hamper the clean—up operations. while the torrential rains and mud slides could not be avoided, residents say infrastructure degradation

david willis, bbc news, los angeles.e about sovereignty. it sparked an unexpected war with britain which lasted 74 days. like many families there, the davidsons woke to the reality of life in a warzone. they�*ve now made their home in the scottish highlands but as elizabeth quigley reports their memories of a conflict 8—thousand miles away, are still vivid. here in the peace of the highlands, war seems a distant memory. but for margaret and don davidson, the events of 40 years ago have never left them. we thought it was all posturing. we never thought for one minute that it would... it would happen. it was simmering away, but you never expected invasion. but that�*s exactly what happened. argentina has invaded the falklands. in 1982, the davidsons were running the malvina house hotel in port stanley and bringing up a young family. all three of their children were born in the falklands. the youngest was just six months old when war broke out. explosions, rifle fire. that�*s how you know they�*re coming. we knew exactly wh

let's speak to david willis in los angeles. s stage about what happened? weill. david, what more do we know at this stage about what happened? well, the latest figures. — stage about what happened? well, the latest figures. a _ stage about what happened? well, the latest figures, a total— stage about what happened? well, the latest figures, a total of _ stage about what happened? well, the latest figures, a total of six _ stage about what happened? well, the latest figures, a total of six dead, - latest figures, a total of six dead, ten injured, according to reports on the ground there from the state capital, sacramento. this is a downtown area, littered with bars and restaurants, it is close to an arena called the golden i centre, where basketball games and concerts take place, and the police say that office is located at least 15 shooting victims, including six who are deceased. as you heard in that interview a short while ago, the police have no suspects in custody, and they are appealing for any witnesses to come forward, an

david willis, bbc news, los angeles.n the house of commons "offensive" and "steeped in classism". in an interview this morning, angela rayner told lorraine kelly on itv that there needs to be cultural change. it came after an article in the mail on sunday — based on comments from anonymous conservative mps, which said ms rayner crossed and uncrossed her legs in order to distract the prime minister. the price of groceries in uk supermarkets rose at its fastest rate in more than a decade in the year to april. the market research firm kantar says prices went up by nearly 6% — adding £271 to the average annual shopping bill. our business correspondent, emma simpson is here. again, cost of living crisis is what we keep saying. again, cost of living crisis is what we keep saying-— we keep saying. absolutely. just about every _ we keep saying. absolutely. just about every household _ we keep saying. absolutely. just about every household bill- we keep saying. absolutely. just about every household bill is - we keep saying. abso

david willis reporting on the shooting in sacramento.neral election, the ruling fidesz party currently leads by 60% versus 29% for opposition alliance and 23% votes counted. a word of caution, it depends on the pace of counting and less there are electronic counting methods in rural areas. there is a difference between the list system and constituency system and it is a combination of the two that will determine how many seats each party or coalition will have in the diet in the hungarian parliament so that picture will not emerge for some hours but for now fidesz, the long serving party, the longest serving in the eu at the moment leads with 60% of national party list votes versus 29% opposition alliance, 23% of votes counted. we are at an early stage. the conservative mp david warburton has been admitted to a psychiatric hospital to be treated for shock and stress — his wife has told the bbc. it comes after allegations about his conduct that led to him being suspended from the conservative parliamentary party. accusations of sexual har

david willis there.e can now speak to social media consultant matt navarra, hejoins us now from cardiff. thanks for making time for us. looking at the reaction on twitter, people projecting both their hopes and fears about what elon musk could do with twitter, based on what we know of him and what he has said of his intentions. you see what twitter needs right now? i think we can certainly twitter needs right now? i think we can certainly rely on the fact that he is going to spice things up on the platform. in one of the things the platform has struggled with his making money over the years and also growing its user base. and i think they given his track record interning businesses around and making successes of businesses there is some hope in that respect for the platform. interestingly, he has said he is not particularly interested as much in the economics of the deal and he is more interested in the freedom of speech aspect of it. i think we can expect nhfic and changes once this is all put into play

david willis, bbc news, los angeles.edding gift for his daughter princess beatrice. nehebat eeshbilen is claiming at the high court in london that her business adviser selman turk "dishonestly misappropriated" £38 million of her assets. the business adviser denies the claim. there is no suggestion of wrongdoing by princess beatrice or prince andrew. there�*s been protests here in britain against the worsening cost—of—living crisis. it comes as energy prices continue to soar. trade unions say chancellor rishi sunak s spring statement last week did nothing to allay fears about rising inflation. and there have been calls for an emergency budget to help families. the cost of living crisis has been affecting muslim communities, with some estimates saying 50%of households are struggling to afford food. shazia arshad is from the charity islamic relief uk who says many muslim families will be struggling to break their fast during this holy month of ramadan. ramadan is normally a time of celebration but muslims around the world a

our north america correspondent david willis told me more.two page diplomatic mode, delivered to the us state department from the russian embassy in washington, dc. it basically accuses the us and the west of prolonging the conflict in ukraine and threatens what it calls "unpredictable consequences" if those shipments of military assistance continue. the timing of this is potentially very significant because this note was sent on tuesday evening of last week, just as word was beginning to leak out of another package of us military aid to ukraine, $800 million worth, which for the first time included some heavy and sophisticated weapons, including howitzers, long—range artillery, and those sorts of things, designed to match russian capabilities on the ground in eastern ukraine, around the disputed donbas region. it does not appear that this is going to provoke any sort of change in strategy on the part of the us and indeed,, it does not seem to have concerned people at the white house very much. there was a tweet from the state department spok

david willis there. country's parliament on the advice of the prime minister imran khan, who's survived a move to oust him from power. the parliament's deputy speaker dismissed a no confidence motion against the government, saying it was unconstitutional. fresh elections are now expected to be held in the coming weeks. mosharraf zaidi is a political analyst and columnist and former policy advisor to the pakistan ministry of foreign affairs between 2011 and 2013. good to have you with us. give us the background, who was trying to oust imran khan from power and why? imran khan has been a sort of mediocre, _ imran khan has been a sort of mediocre, from a political strength perspective, prime minister, ever since _ perspective, prime minister, ever since he _ perspective, prime minister, ever since he took office in 2018 and took _ since he took office in 2018 and took the — since he took office in 2018 and took the oath. what has been required _ took the oath. what has been required throughout his political

david morris there for us. —— david willis.ardy, who is in lviv, in western ukraine. it feels this weekend there has been something of a development, an unwelcome development, as russian forces seem to be retreating it seems that more and more we are seeing civilians caught up and perhaps even being targeted. is that the sense you are getting of the direction things are going? 0r the sense you are getting of the direction things are going? or is it too soon to say that?— too soon to say that? that's right. as russian — too soon to say that? that's right. as russian troops _ too soon to say that? that's right. as russian troops are _ too soon to say that? that's right. as russian troops are withdrawing from _ as russian troops are withdrawing from certain areas it means journalists and camera crews are able _ journalists and camera crews are able to _ journalists and camera crews are able to get— journalists and camera crews are able to get in and particularly in the town— able to get in and particularly in the town of bucha whe

let's speak to our north america correspondent david willis. the west coast, so what more do we know about this? it what more do we know about this? , . ., , ., this? it is certainly an intriguing _ this? it is certainly an intriguing tale. - this? it is certainly an intriguing tale. two . this? it is certainly an - intriguing tale. two men, one of them with alleged links to pakistani intelligence are alleged to have duped secret service agents in washington, dc into believing that they were members of law enforcement and they went to elaborate lengths it would seem in order to pull this off. finding out who worked as local law enforcement officers in a particular washington, dc apartment building, targeting those people, plying them with tens of thousands of dollars worth of gifts including iphones and television sets before the fbi caught up with them. the fbi searched vehicles and apartments belonging to these men, they confiscated ammunition, weapons, body armour and they also found a list of details of who was living in the apartment buildi

our north america correspondent, david willis is following the story and hejoins me now from los angeles just listening to what president zelensky said there and looking at the sanctions that we have now seen from the us, in terms of who they target and how effective they target and how effective they are, take as do the details and does present zelensky have a point? element present biden was very emotional today as he talked about the latest atrocities committed by russians in ukraine. he said they amounted to nothing less than war crimes and he said that they must, there must be an immediate and severe price paid by russia for what he called it a sickening brutality, hence these new sanctions which have been directly linked to those latest reports. over the weekend, from they include a ban on russia's two biggest banks, on dealings by vladimir putin's two daughters and also targeting the russian foreign minister's wife and daughter and various other russian oligarchs and diplomats. and present biden is also intending to sign an executive order which would ban any new investment from t

our north america correspondent david willis is across the story and hejoins me now from los angeles.f this, david, he has tried to do this, david, he has tried to do this before and that time in london, but now he is trying again, because he was not successful that last time, why does he think he will be successful this time? that is a very good _ successful this time? that is a very good question. _ successful this time? that is a very good question. as - successful this time? that is a very good question. as you i successful this time? that is a i very good question. as you say, johnny depp has tried this before, unsuccessfully, suing the sun newspaper was accused him of being a wifebeater and now, in a sense, he is taking his career on the outcome of this case in fairfax county, virginia. this libel case he is bringing against his ex—wife. and that ruling, the high court in london in november 2020, led to him losing his place in the fantastic beasts franchise. and he lost his role as captain jack sparrow in the pirates of the caribbean. he is suing amber heard for $50 million, bas

joining me now is our north america correspondent, david willis.s warning came in a formal diplomatic note from moscow, what do we know about its contents?— what do we know about its contents? . �* , ., , contents? that's right, it was a 2-page _ contents? that's right, it was a 2-page diplomatic- contents? that's right, it was a 2-page diplomatic note - a 2—page diplomatic note delivered to the us state department from the russian embassy in washington, dc. it basically accuses the us and the west or prolonging the conflict in ukraine and threatens what it calls unpredictable consequences if those shipments of military assistance continue. now the timing of this is potentially very significant, because this note was sent on tuesday evening of last week, just as word was beginning to leak out of another package of us military aid to ukraine, $800 million worth, which for the first time included some heavy and sophisticated weapons, including howitzers, long—range artillery, designed to match russian capabilities on the ground in eastern ukraine, ar

our north america correspondent, david willis has the details.s he was a wife beater and lost. now he is suing his ex—wife, amber heard, for $50 million, that she defamed him in an article that appeared in the washington post in 2018, in which she described herself as a domestic abuse survivor. now that, according tojohnny depp, amounts to a claim that was himself an abuser. the london court laid bare some very unsavoury details about the couple's relationship. his affinity for drugs and alcohol and he said that it cost, the surrounding publicity, cost him his role as captainjack sparrow in the pirates of the caribbean franchise and a role in fantastic beasts. for her part, amber heard has said he basically libelled her when he described her as a liar and she is counter suing for $100 million. now, opening statements are due to begin in the morning. proceedings will be televised and even though the judge in this case has urged both amber heard and johnny depp to avoid posing for photographs and giving autographs outside the court, as they did in

intelligence with ukraine to help defend them against russian aggression. 0ur north america correspondent david willis package. president biden said vladimir putin would never succeed in occupying all of ukraine and this latest package of military aid is intended to help ukrainian forces in that forthcoming battle in the east, the disputed donbas region. russia, of course, has been putting a lot of forces in place in that region and the president said this latest package would be aimed at providing the sort of tactical missiles, tactical weapons, i should say, that will be needed for the particular terrain in that part of ukraine. and that includes heavy weapons such as dozens of howitzers and thousands of rounds of ammunition, as well as tactical drones which were specially developed by the us military here for deployment in ukraine, for precisely the sort of use that they are going to be put to. president biden said that this was a critical window, as he put it, in the battle in ukraine and it could earmark the next phase in the conflict there. . ., dozens of people have been killed in four bomb att

our north america correspondent, david willis explained more about the latest us sanctions.y as he talked about atrocities committed by russia in ukraine. he said they amounted to nothing less than war crimes and he said there must be an immediate and severe price paid by russia for what he called sickening brutality, hence these new sanctions which are being directly linked to those latest reports over the weekend from ukraine. they include a ban on russia �*s two biggest banks on dealings by vladimir prudence two daughters and also targeting the russian foreign minister sergei lavrov �*s wife and daughter and various other oligarchs and diplomats. and president biden is also intending to sign an executive order which would ban any new investment from the united states and russia. this was all hammered out between the uk and the us. the eu has yet to come on board because it has been talking about other things, whether it can afford for example to ban imports of russian coal. about 40% of natural gas to europe comes from russia, 33% of oil comes from russia, 33% of oil come

our north america correspondent david willis is across the story and hejoins me now from los angeles. what we to know here? johnny de -, as what we to know here? johnny depp. as you _ what we to know here? johnny depp, as you said, _ what we to know here? johnny depp, as you said, sued - what we to know here? johnny depp, as you said, sued the i l depp, as you said, sued the i newspaper over claims he was a wife beater and lost. now he is suing his ex—wife, amber heard, $450 million, that she defamed him in an article that appeared in the washington post in 2018, in the washington post in 2018, in which she described herself as a domestic abuse survivor. now that, according tojohnny depp, a or claim that was himself an abuser. the london court laid bare some very unsavoury details about the couple's relationship. his affinity for drugs and alcohol and he said that it cost, the surrounding publicity, cost him his role as captainjack sparrow in the paris of the caribbean franchise and a role in fantastic beasts. for her part, amber heard has said he basically labelled her when he descri

they also say 12 people have been injured in the shooting. 0ur correspondent in california david willisornia's state capital, sacramento. this is a downtown area, littered with bars and restaurants. it's close to an arena called the golden 0ne center, where basketball games and concerts take place. indeed, there was one taking place there earlier this evening. and the police said earlier this morning in a tweet that officers located at least 15 shooting victims, including six who are deceased. as you heard in that interview a short while ago, the police have no suspects in custody and they're appealing for any witnesses to come forward, anybody who might have a video. there is some unverified video circulating on social media which shows a group of people, women and men, involved in a scuffle on the street corner, whereupon gun shots can be heard. don't forget, we will be bringing you all the news from the grammy awards overnight. to stay with us on bbc news for the very latest on all these stories on bbc news website. hello there. a big change is taking place in our weather. some place

david willis, bbc news, los angeles. more parts from david willis on that case today.ed, it seems to be every five minutes or so, to be honest. if you want to get in touch with me, you are very welcome. you can message me on instagram or tick tack or twitter. you can do that anytime of day or night, if you really wish. thanks for your company today. the headlines coming next. over the next few days it will turn warm up for all the buzz put into it next week it will be freshening up again. today we have this weather front pushing into the northern isles are taking reign with it. there is not much in the way of breeze or even wind today. but the crowd continues to break up. sunny spells develop, further showers across parts of england and wales. lines from wales towards lincolnshire and the south—west of england towards east anglia. these are the ones that are likely to be heaviest and some thunder. we are looking at offshore breeze today across eastern parts of england, so it won't feel as cool a the north sea coastline as it did yesterday. temperatures ranging from sev

david willis has the latest.is quick draw only moments before a film set was transformed into a crime scene. the incident sent police racing to the sprawling desert ranch in new mexico. newly released police body cam footage shows the chaos that confronted them on arrival. 42—year—old film—maker halyna hutchins, regarded as a rising star in the movie industry, was airlifted to a nearby hospital where she later died. are you doing 0k? no, i'm not, actually. alec baldwin who was both the star of the film in one of its producers of the film and one of its producers appeared stunned and disbelieving. i don't know what to do, ijust don't know what to do. he said he didn't pull the trigger, and he didn't know who put a live round in the weapon he fired. newly released footage also includes his first interview with the police. i take the gun out, and as i take, as it clears, as the barrel clears, i turned it and the gun goes off. it should have been a cold gun with no rounds inside or dummy rounds, cosmetic rounds. no f

david willis, bbc news, los angeles.when he died earlier this month after a short illness. our correspondentjon kay reports. "it's not about me," he always said. "it's about the boys who didn't come home." but today, it was about harry billinge — d—day veteran, fundraiser, family man and friend. the church so full that extra space had to be found in a nearby hall. for harry, it was never about him, it was always about them. we've got to say thank you for all that he did. normandy, of course, comes to the fore. but his christian faith, his love of his family, his skills as a barber. so all sorts of things that perhaps a lot of people didn't know he did. many of those attending met harry through his fundraising. take care, my darling. god bless. in his chair at the local market, he raised tens of thousands of pounds to build a memorial in normandy for the british service personnel who lost their lives. six months ago today, he finally saw the completed monument. don't deserve that. we did it. he needed people to know- and

david willis, bbc news, los angeles.n the latest development on that story from new york throughout the programme. it from new york throughout the programme-— from new york throughout the rouramme. h , , programme. it is 12 minutes past six and the easter— programme. it is 12 minutes past six and the easter weekend _ programme. it is 12 minutes past six and the easter weekend is _ and the easter weekend is approaching, let's find out what the weather is going to do, carol is smiling, that is a good sign! find smiling, that is a good sign! and she is on the _ smiling, that is a good sign! and she is on the beach! wouldn't that be nice! it is not a bad start because it is quite mild in terms of temperature and it is going to be a warm day. rain to clear the north—east of scotland and most of us will have a day of sunny spells and showers. starting off on a cloudy note, there is the rain i was talking about, drifting towards the north—east. the cloud breaking through the day, and you will find that would spark some showers,

jonathan lemire, david ignatius, eugene robinson are all still with willie and me.t hours after top white house officials reportedly used the railways to meet with the country's president in kyiv. at least one worker was killed, four others injured, according to ukrainian officials, when the strikes hit the stations in the western and central parts of the country. the barrage came just a short time after u.s. secretary of state antony blinken and defense secretary lloyd austin traveled by train to a diplomatic meeting with ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy. moscow later confirmed the attack, saying the strikes targeted train stations where weapons were being imported from nato countries. willie? >>> joining us now is ukraine's minister of foreign affairs, dmytro kuleba. i want to talk about the rhetoric we've been hearing from russia, about the potential for world war iii, about, quote, considerable possibility for the use of nuclear weapons from your counterpart in russia. what is your reaction to that kind of talk? >> well, this is russia's traditional scare

willis in a 2001 movie. >>> police in london are investigating a reported burglary at david and victoria beckham's residence. they were apparently home when the invasion took place. no one was harmed but a number of items were reported stolen. the incident is said to have taken place a month ago today. >>> coming up, a brand-new milestone for a civil rights pioneer. >>> and america's oldest park ranger retires at the age of 100. that's next. you're watching "world news now." scene 103, take one. here we go. my name is wesley, and i'm with my knucklehead brother. my friend nafi. my boyfriend doug. i thought we'd be on the same page about this and we're not. how do i know the way i'm going to respond to it? there's not that long term research out there yet. i don't want to be on the front line. but you're human. you're going to make a mistake. i'm just saying everyone has a right to make their own decision. but why would you want to take that risk? can you imagine being the person that goes to somebody's house and gives them the virus that kills them? what if you end up in a hospital? yeah. that's what i'm sc

willies. what do you think having elon and twitter's quarter or at least on the board means for facebook? davidwould reiterate having him in your corner is bad for your rivals. period. i would say many of us find things that have happened on facebook give us the willies in recent years, so i can understand why he would say that. i do think twitter, on balance, has been a more responsible platform than facebook. but the confusing thing is his repeated statements, several times saying he wants free speech to be more allowed on twitter, he thinks it's maybe too restrictive. it doesn't really make sense since he's never been restricted by twitter. he's been restricted by the sec and i think he's had second thoughts about some of his own tweets, but it's bad for facebook. i do i think maybe an edit function is a good idea for twitter. i personally have trouble using twitter. i just find it awkward and off-putting in many ways. i'm an outlier in the tech journalism community in that way. but i can understand. twitter needs product improvement. even jack dorsey says that all the time and doesn't make

willis. it is never enough for these guys. reporter: absolutely right. you will be astonished at these numbers, david. if you're a member of the 150 million american households that filed federal taxes today, well, congratulations you just contributed to the irs' biggest tax haul ever. irs collections hit all-time record for $2.1 trillion for the six months ended in march. but irs, david says, is crying poverty. commissioner charles redigr telling the senate finance committee saying it needs more funding to do its job. assistant secretary for mick h economic polly, advocating additional $80 billion of irs funding over a decade, to step up collections and programs like new compliance initiatives, requiring online platforms to report customers with revenues over $600 a year. so much for that side gig. as gop lawmakers are accusing democrats of weaponizing the irs to failing to help address the backlog amid a difficult filing situations. 15 million tax forms from 2021 languished on irs desks last september, because the service has to input paper forms by hand. 24 million forms have not been processed all

willie. >> holding out with the civilians. joining us now, retired army colonel peter mansoor. he served 26 years in the armed services, including as an executive officer to general davidg. your initial impressions of this new invasion, a new front in the war as russia is calling it, into the donbas, the eastern part of the country. they've had time to pull back, regroup, rearm, resupply. what does it look like so far? >> well, i'm not sure the russians have entirely regrouped. they took a beating in their initial invasion, and they're going to need more time than this to reconstitute their forces. so they've begun with a giant artillery and air bombardment, but the ukrainians are dug in pretty deep. they've been in this area since 2014 fighting the russians. it's unclear whether the russians are beginning to be making headway, because they have the same forces they used and failed in the battle for kyiv. so this is going to take a while to sort out on the ground. there's not many observers there, but my money is on the ukrainians. >> but, colonel, as you know, i'm sure you're well aware, that the russian idea of waging war is to prep the field with humongous numbers o