Transcripts For BBCNEWS Beyond 100 Days 20240713

Government of ukraine to publicly announce investigations that would benefit his reelection. Even as the trial kicks off new information is emerging. New documents are coming to light and new witnesses are speaking out. Also on the programme. On a visit to washington, the eus trade commissioner says theres no chance of an all encompassing trade deal with the uk by the year end, and the two sides will have to decide priorities in the weeks ahead. And the warning signs are everywhere forest fires, melting ice, drought, flooding. Sir David Attenborough says the world can no longer wait. Action is needed now on global warming. The moment of crisis has come. We can no longer prevaricate. As i speak, southeast australia is on fire. Hello and welcome im katty kay in washington. And Christian Fraser is in london. Right now, the chiefjustice of the United States Supreme Court is being sworn in for the impeachment trial of donald trump. At the very same time, the white house has been accused today of breaking us law by withholding aid to ukraine. Even as the formal trial gets under way we are still learning a lot more about mr trumps dealings with kyiv. So lets go straight to the capital and tune in live to history being made there, at this hour. He lament you will see very shortly the door through which the Supreme Court justice will walk. The door through which the Supreme Courtjustice will walk. He will be escorted by the senators. What happens as he gets sworn in, he presides over this whole trial, and then in turn, he will swear the oath of office, give the oath of office to the senators, put them under oath because they will act as jurors in this trial, then the whole thing actually adjourns until next week until tuesday, and that is when the real business of this trial gets in. So today is largely ceremonial. Anita kumar is the White House Correspondent for politico, and joins us now. Thanks forjoining us. Thanks for joining us. Just thanks forjoining us. Just give us a sense of what is actually happening . I should tell our viewers, we are all in boxes, weve also got a box down there of the senate, you can see what is happening there, and we should see the doorfairly soon happening there, and we should see the door fairly soon wherejohn roberts will come through. What are we expecting . You are exactly right, the official real testimony and Opening Statements wont happen until next week. What is happening today and yesterday is just a lot of ceremony. Today and yesterday is just a lot of ceremony. The articles of impeachment, as you know, were brought over to the senate yesterday, and use all house members reading the articles earlier today. You will see the chiefjustice come m, you will see the chiefjustice come in, who will be sworn in and then he will swear in all 100 members of the senate. Then congress leaves for the week. They will be preparing, everyone will be preparing for next week but we wont really see them in front of the cameras until next tuesday, since monday is a holiday here. So anita, when he is formally sworn in, all the 100 senators will sit there asjurors sworn in, all the 100 senators will sit there as jurors through this trial. They have to send in an official summons to the president to . They have to advise him formally that the impeachment articles are there in that he has a case to answer . Definitely, there will be an informal announcement, then they officially know that is coming, and he has his legal team setup. They will get several days, however long they want to sort of lay out the case starting next week. So they can ta ke case starting next week. So they can take as long as they want to sort of explain why they think he didnt do anything wrong. The white house held anything wrong. The white house held a briefing yesterday for reporters, saying that would not take very long at all, that he did nothing wrong and it will not take long for them to explain that. They really hope this will take less than two weeks. From the senate, we are hearing it can take 3 5 weeks. But i think the white house is hoping it will be as quick as possible. Obviously the big decision here is whether they will have witnesses, that will decide how long this takes. Anita, we are keeping an eye on what is happening in the senate. As soon asjohn roberts comes in, we willjump live to that. But lets get towards the other news surrounding the story today because an awful lot has been going on. In the past few hours, the in the past few hours, the non partisan watchdog known as the Government Accountability office or gao ruled that the Trump Administration broke the law when it witheld military aid to ukraine because the aid had already been approved by congress. Separate to that, a new interview has surfaced with one of the men at the centre of the investigation. Lev parnas, an associate of the president s personal lawyer, rudi giulliani, says that military aid was withheld to pressure president zelensky to announce an investigation into the bidens. And rudi giuliani, he said, always made it clear in their meetings with the ukrainians that they were there representing donald trump, personally. That the president didnt know what was going on. President trump knew exactly what was going on. He was aware of all my movements. He i wouldnt do anything without consulting Rudy Giuliani or the president. I have no intent, no reason to speak to these officials, and they have no reason to speak to me. Why would president zelinskys inner circle, or all of these people, or president poroshenko meet with me . Who am i . The soviet born us citizen also held talks with ukraine officials close to president zelensky, and he had ties to prominent Trump Supporters and donors. Parnas says he was charged with trying to persuade the Ukrainian Government to announce an investigation intojoe biden and his son hunter in return for releasing that military aid. In the same tv interview, mr parnas named other Top White House officials he said knew about the scheme to pressure ukraine. There isjohn there is john bolton, there isjohn bolton, the former nsa director, then mike pompeo and the Vice President , mike pence. We should say that this individual is actually under indictment at the moment, he does actually face jail time. So republicans are saying that nothing he says should be taken seriously. But anita, you are still with us. I listened to that whole interview with lev parnas last night, and he seemed to corroborate a lot of what we know about this case from a lot of people and other documents, but laid it out pretty clearly in his words, which is that there was a quid pro quo going on here. Exactly right, hes feeling in the gaps of things we already hurt filling the gaps of things we already hurt filling in the gaps of things we already hurt filling in the gaps of things we already heard. According to some people, he has no reason to come forward and say this. He asked why anyone in the ukraine would talk to him . Hes only there because hes representing Rudy Giuliani and mr trump. The white house today pushed back hard, saying exactly what you said, which is that hes indicted and facing jail time, hes not trustworthy. Mr trump has said many times he doesnt know him. He has pictures of him, but he has pictures with lots of people, he says. He says theres no truth to what he is saying. The question is whether he will come forward to the senate and testify, and provide documents to the senate. Anita, were just going tojump in the senate. Anita, were just going to jump in because the senate. Anita, were just going tojump in because we the senate. Anita, were just going to jump in because we will go straight to the senate and listen to what is happening there. Escort committee will now conduct the chief justice of the United States to be issued the oath. So there you have the chiefjustice, john roberts, in his robes, being led into the chamber by two democrats into republicans, all senators. He will be sworn in as the presiding judge of this trial, then he will administer the oath to all the sitting senators, all 100 who are there. Shaking the hand there of chuck grassley, the Senatejudiciary Committee had. The president of the United States. I am now prepared to ta ke United States. I am now prepared to take the oath. Placed her left hand on the bible and raise your right hand. Do you solemnly swear that in all things pertaining to the trial of the impeachment of donald john trump, president of the United States, now pending, you will do impartialjustice according states, now pending, you will do impartial justice according to states, now pending, you will do impartialjustice according to the constitution and the laws, so help you god . I do. God bless you. Thank you god . I do. God bless you. Thank you very much. At this time, i will administer the oath to all senators in the chamber in conformance with article one section three, clause six of the constitution, and the senates impeachment rules. Will all senators now stand or remain standing and raise their right hands . Do you solemnly swear that in all things appertaining to the trial of the impeachment of donald john trump, president of the United States, now pending, you will do impartialjustice according states, now pending, you will do impartial justice according to states, now pending, you will do impartialjustice according to the constitution and laws, so help you god . The constitution and laws, so help you god . The clerk constitution and laws, so help you god . The clerk will call the names in groups of four, and senators will present themselves at the desk to sign the oath book. Mr alexander, miss baldwin, mr barrasso, mr bennett. So the senators come forward now and sign the oath book, which means they are pledging to abide by the rules of the impeachment trial. They come forward alphabetically, so it is not all republicans or democrats, they are being called by alphabetical order, which means you get democrats and republicans coming up at the same time to swear that in. Anita, you have been watching this. Even though we know this is just a ceremonial moment, listening to chiefjusticejohn ceremonial moment, listening to Chiefjustice John Roberts standing there, presiding over this trial, is a pretty historic moment for this country. It is, even though people talk about they know whats going to happen, they know what the outcome will be the reality is we dont fully know what the outcome will be, what this trial will be like. But remember, this is only the third time in history that this has happened. And that is what Speaker Nancy Pelosi keeps saying, even if the Senate Acquits him, he has been preached, donald trump has been impeached, and it will say that in the American History books impeached. So it is a moment that im sure a lot of people around town are washing and looking to see how this will unfold today. Watching. Some Big Questions for the senate as to whether they do allow this new evidence, these documents we were just talking about before the chief justice came in. Right, the big fight here will be whether they allow a ny fight here will be whether they allow any witnesses at all. As you know, Senate Majority leaders Mitch Mcconnell does not want any witnesses, he says it is not necessary and wont change the outcome. The democrats have been pushing for weeks for more witnesses orany pushing for weeks for more witnesses or any witnesses. And now that this new information has been coming out for weeks now, it is putting the pressure on republicans to have those witnesses. What we are seeing. We are seeing senator cory booker, who pulled out of the president ial race, so he wont be running in iowa in a few weeks time. But as we watch the senators come through, there will be a number who are running for the democratic ticket, and they will be sitting in the senate for six days a week rather than out there on the campaign trail. Thats right, iowa isjust around campaign trail. Thats right, iowa is just around the Corner Campaign trail. Thats right, iowa isjust around the corner and i know they wish they were out there. As i mentioned earlier, this may take 3 5 weeks. And what is interesting is in the senate, they will not be able to speak or even ask questions, they will have to write their questions in writing and give it to the chief justice. They are not allowed to have their phones in the chamber. So they will really be restricted on what we can hear and see from them. Senators are not used to that, by the way, theyre not used to having to keep quiet. The reason they have to keep quiet. The reason they have to write their questions down is exactly that senators do tend to grandstand a bit and they dont want even more time to be taken up by these very long questions which are designed for their own voters back home. The first of those senators who would like to be in iowa today but has to be here in washington if they are doing this alphabetically will be amy kluger shar. I dont know quite where we got where we are, but she will be the first. Can i ask you about that lev parnas interview that christian and i were just talking about . How relevant do you think that information might be that came out in that interview, to hear it so starkly when lev parnas, with whole it is issues that he had as an indicted witness, says this was never about the issue of corruption, but about getting an investigation announced into the bidens how much do you think those wavering republican senators might listen to that and say, this has some influence on my decision over witnesses . I think every piece of information thats come out the last few weeks, and yesterday, this interview as you mention has really put pressure on them to not necessarily decide to remove trump from office, but at this point whether to have those witnesses. That is really the first step they must come to, whether they want more evidence and to hear from people in this trial. Sol evidence and to hear from people in this trial. So i think after last nights interview, there are a lot of democrats who are saying that this is it, we have to hear from him and we have to hear from other people, we need to know what the president s role is. One of the things we dont know or havent known untiljust things we dont know or havent known until just recently things we dont know or havent known untiljust recently is what role donald trump played. Because a lot of his top advisers did not come forward to the house and testify. So those people who are closest to him that talk to him every day, we have not heard from them. Sol that talk to him every day, we have not heard from them. So i think the lev parnas interview was interesting because it shed some light on trump and giuliani themselves, much more than we knew. The pressure is really on the republicans to say whether they want to hear from him and whether they want to have witnesses or not. The question i was asking myself this morning when i was watching this, and it was a pretty explosive interview when you watch in full, is why now . Wife several weeks after the house investigation wrapped up . Is there reason for that . Is really interesting because the house has said that they have information. Ever since their investigation close, or we thought it was finished, they have been getting more information and they will plan on putting it out. Theyve said there is more to come out, that they are betting dell macro vetting it, and as soon as they do that, it will come out. But if you talk to those close to the president , theyre frustrated by this because theyre frustrated by this because they think the investigation should be closed on the house side. Why do they continue to have information that comes out . They are preparing themselves, they realise now that it will continue to come out during the trial, it may even come out after the trial that the democrats will keep pushing information out there when they have it available. So the timing is interesting but i dont think it will be over at all. Anita, thank you very much forjoining us. My thank you very much forjoining us. My last look at the pictures, we we re my last look at the pictures, we were still only at the d and e. Before we get to amy clue bashar, the senator from minnesota, before we get to amy clue bashar, the senatorfrom minnesota, and beyond that, that is senator Dianne Feinstein. Beyond that we get of course to bernie sanders, that was Dianne Feinstein from california, it took her a while to go before we get took her a while to go before we get to the ones who wish they were not there today upon the senate. Inajoint meant in a joint meant joint statement, tehran should pay compensation to the families of all the people who were killed in the Ukraine Airline shooting. In a joint statement, canada, sweden, afghanistan, britain, and ukraine all said today that their citizens deserved financial payment. At a News Conference in london, the Canadian Foreign minister representing the country with the Largest Group of people who died when the plane was struck by iranian missiles said tehran now has a choice in how it responds. We are here to pursue closure, accountability, transparency, and justice for the victims. There are many, many questions. Families want answers. All of the countries assembled here today want answers. And the International Community wants answers. The world is waiting for those answers, and we will not rest until we get them. Sir David Attenborough, arguably the world most famous naturalist, has warned that the planet is at a moment of crisis because of the changing climate. The long serving documentary maker made the comments in an interview with the bbc, to launch a year of special coverage of the climate crisis. Attenborough sat down with our science editor David Shukman and accused climate sceptic politicans of playing games. The fires in australia are ferocious, out of control, and far worse than usual. Theyve made headlines around the world, and scientists have warned that Climate Change has made them more severe. Now sir David Attenborough agrees with them. As i speak, south east australia is on fire. Why . Because the temperatures of the earth are increasing. That is a major national, international catastrophe. And to say, oh, its nothing to do with the climate, is palpably nonsense. And because the most recent talks on Climate Change in madrid last month ended with little agreement, sir david says that key decisions can no longer be delayed. We have been putting things off year after year, weve been raising targets and saying, oh, well, if we do it within the next 20 years, or if we do it. The moment of crisis has come. This is notjust having nice little debates and arguments and coming away with a compromise. This is an urgent problem that has to be solved, and whats more, we know how to do it thats the paradoxical thing, that were refusing to take steps that we know have to be taken. And every year that passes makes those steps more and more difficult to achieve. From your observations and travels, whats your sense about whether people understand the importance to their own lives of the functioning of the Natural World . The Natural World is not just an inanimate object from which you can plunder riches and plunderfood, which is whatever you require. We actually depend upon the Natural World for every breath of air we take and every mouthful of food that we eat. That may sound extreme, but if you have the basic understanding of the way that the world works, that the Natural World works, you know that we breathe oxygen, and that oxygen isnt renewed automatically it comes from plants. And if you wreck the oceans, and if you knock down the forests, you reduce the amount of oxygen that there is in the atmosphere for us to breathe. As new Research Says the melting of the ice sheet is accelerating and extremes of weather are set to become more severe, sir david hopes the world will now respond. David shukman, bbc news. And a short while ago David Shukman joined us from glasgow. David, how did you find him, someone who has dedicated their whole life to conservation, and much of it i imagine with a great sense of optimism, now getting towards the end of his life and looking at this moment as he calls it of crisis is he feeling despondent, hopeful . How did you find him . Well it is an interesting question. Ive interviewed him many times over the year, and ive never seen him seem so year, and ive never seen him seem so exasperated and frustrated. He just cant see how you can have stunningly Clear Scientific conclusions about what needs to be done, a growing clamour from the streets, particularly from young people who will inherit this earth, this increasingly world earth and increasingly hostile conditions that come with it. And at the same time, watching the grindingly slow progress of International Negotiations to tackle this problem. A little over a year ago, he addressed the United Nations summit in poland in the hopes that that would encourage people. It didnt have a great effect. Hes hoping now that his words will be so striking that, along with warnings from many other people around the world, people will actually start to listen. As weve seen in recent events, particularly in madrid in the last un summit, a lot of countries dont particularly want to ta ke countries dont particularly want to take action, so the British Government hosting the process this year really faces an uphill struggle. That building lit up behind him as the famous armadillo which will host the conference in november, the cop 26. Thousands coming from around the world, and you can just feel it, theyve got to find some agreement at the conference to make a difference. More than they did in madrid, certainly. Yesterday we showed you that Heated Exchange between Senators Elizabeth Warren and bernie sanders, at the end of the democratic debate on tuesday night in iowa. And now we know what was said. They have found a recording from the stage mics. Have a listen. Laughter. Those six ordinary thing about that is tom stier coming in and wanting to say hi to bernie. Its like a married couple having where is his e0 . Married couple having where is his eq . They are clearly having a fight, and he injects himself, and bernie tells him to shut up. Laughter. Bad timing dont get in front of mummy and daddy when theyre having a big fight, children. They tell us they are good friends. Lets hope they are good friends. Lets hope they are good friends. Lets hope they are still good friends. This is beyond 100 days from the bbc. Coming up for viewers on the bbc news channel and bbc world news russia has a new Prime Minister that no one had really heard of until yesterday. We investigate the radical changes by president putin reforms which could see him remain in power for much long than expected. And the producer of the bond franchise declares that the secret agent should never be a woman. Thats still to come. Good evening. The weather will go from one extreme to the other in the next couple days. Let me explain. Weve had storm brendan this week, more wind and rain to the course of today, tightly backed isobars bringing gails government many southern and gusty areas, and the rain is still going. The early hours of friday is when it will clear. As its been so wet recently, lots of standing water to contend with on the roads, so that is a hazard. The winds are also starting to ask them i could escalate, bringing showers into northern and Western Areas, a few showers elsewhere but generally speaking, as the rain starts to clear away and we see clear skies, amateurs will fall away and tumbled freezing through parts of Northern Ireland and the glens of scotland. Largely frost free but it will certainly be a colder start friday morning. Therefore when the showers come along, there will be some wintering us over the hills in particular, but anywhere could have some hail showers, rumbles of thunder, and with the showers some blustery winds. Winds will not be as strong as theyve been today, but they will be chillier because the air is colder. It will feel chillier this weekend, but it will be dry and bright for most of us as well. The reason . We say goodbye to the area of low pressure and High Pressure builds in. In fact quite at intense area of low pressure will keep those weather fronts and low pressures at bay for the next 3 4 days, so a cold start. Widespread frost away from the far north, so there will be lighter winds and it will be drier. We still have a few showers for the north and west of scotland, and a chilly wind here. But for most of us, temperatures will start to get close to the average for the time of year, and the sunshine from the north will obviously be welcome from any. Sunday morning, similar lease so, a frosty start, the ground is so wet at the moment. 0therwise another widespread frost as you can see on friday, for the most part it is light winds with plenty of sunshine, and a fog should clear through the morning hours. Not particularly warm, 6 8dc, but it looks decent getting out and about. But it is likely with time that it will pick up likely with time that it will pick up more fog because we have so much moisture on the ground. As ever, more is online. This is beyond 100 days. With me katty kay in washington, Christian Fraser is in london. Our top stories. The us senate chief Justicejohn Roberts is sworn in to preside over the impeachment trial. Preceedings start next week to decide Donald Trumps fate. In ukraine, the president knew exactly what was going. Thats what lev parnas a former associate of Rudy Guiliani says. But how credible is that claim . Coming up in the next half hour. In russia, a new prime minster is in place only a day after the entire cabinet resigned. It comes after president putin announced sweeping constituional changes but whats the grand plan . In the modern era, do we need a woman to take up the mantle of 007 . The series leading producer isnt stired by the idea. The historic impeachment trial of President Trump got under way thursday as senate formally accepted the articles of impeachment. Chiefjustice of the Supreme Court john roberts hasjust been sworn in to preside over the trial. The article of impeachment has been formally accepted. Things are getting under way. Democrat senators are now fighting to get witnesses included in this trial, but they would need a majority to vote. That would take four republican senators to side with the democrats. And so it goes, thats just the number who have said they are open to prospect. Mitt romney, lamar alexander, Lisa Murkowski and susan collins. Those are the ones everybody watching closely. Meanwhile, house Speaker Nancy Pelosi has suggested a special prosecutor should be appointed and took aim at attorney general william barr refering to him as a rogue attorney general. All of this inspired nancy pelosi to reference literary great walter scott. What a tangled web we weave when we first practice to deceive. You see this more and more and more in all of this tangled web to deceive that the administration is engaged in. We can bring in our north america editorjon sopel. I love a bit of poetry at the beginning ofan i love a bit of poetry at the beginning of an impeachment trial. I suspect that is about the prettiest linguist at moment we will have over the next few weeks. Things will get ugly the next few weeks. Things will get very the next few weeks. Things will get ugly very fast wont they . Yes. It will be much more prose then it will be poetry i think as we get into the kind of detail. Docs breakfast perhaps. Yes. What you have seen todayis perhaps. Yes. What you have seen today is formality. Language of a kind of 19th century declarations by senators that i solemnly swear that in all things appertaining to the trial of donaldj in all things appertaining to the trial of donald j trump, in all things appertaining to the trial of donaldj trump, i would do impartial justice trial of donaldj trump, i would do impartialjustice according to the constitution. It makes you think this is a law case which will be judged by 12 men or women getting true. It is politics. Dont forget that. Although we have had the formal words, and it does feel weight and it does feel like a moment because donald trump is only the third president to go through this in the history of the United States of america. Ultimately, although no senators, the hundreds of them, thejury, have place to do impartialjustice, i of them, thejury, have place to do impartial justice, i bet of them, thejury, have place to do impartialjustice, i bet you there is not one person in the senate today who hasnt made up their mind how they are going to vote when he comes to say guilty or not guilty. Some of them might not have made their mind up about whether to call witnesses and some of those who are in states where there will be a tight Senate Contest later in 2020 are starting to feel the pressure. Lets listen to mark masella come the first female pilot to fly in combat now a senator for arizona. That will be a tight race. This was her with cnn earlier. Should the Senate Considered new evidence is part of the impeachment trial . Are you a liberal hat . I will not talk to you. Pretty straightforward question right there. Is that a sign of the pressure or is she talking to a base . laughter . Like an air force pilot she didnt want to be shot down. She fears if she does something that leads to much in one direction or too much the other car should be blown out of the sky. You see republican senators walking a very tight line us up on the one hand, you get an interview like last night from the former contact of Rudy Giuliani who had been so involved saying the president has been lying. And if youre holding a trial, then surely you want to put them on the stand and say that your evidence withstand scrutiny . But of course the republicans want to get this over and done with as quickly as possible. The democrats want to draw it out. And every think of their political calculation. And i think it will be interesting to see. This is the one contested grey area phot i dont think there is any possibility that donald trump will be convicted and removed from office. But will witnesses come called who might be just obliging to the white house . That is the key concern now. I the white house . That is the key concern now. | agree the white house . That is the key concern now. I agree with you. I doubt very much there will be a republican but i suppose it is just possible that a somebody likejohn bolton said there, under oath, so yes he tell the truth, or potentially mike pompeo, and said something that was damaged to the president. I suppose democrats are hoping that that even one republic and senate there say you know what, iam and senate there say you know what, i am swayed by the evidence and i cannot be seen to make this a whitewash. Thats republican senator. That is clearly the calculation yes. But the reason was that there is a lot of to do. We are getting too much into the process of how of how an impeachment process unfolds. There was a bit to do that the house never tried to calljohn bolton. Why didnt they . If they felt he had critical evidence, why didnt they subpoena him. The reason was they got it will be a long process and will delay everything by month. John bolton is still not likely to turn up tomorrow. They would have to issue a subpoena and then be a question of whether donald trump invokes executive privilege and says he cannot because he was working for me at the time and therefore i say he cannot be giving evidence. This could drag on if they go down that route. I think the Republican Leadership will be trying to impress upon the membership they dont want to go down that path. To impress upon the membership they dont want to go down that pathm will be quite odd though if you if he puts his book out later in the year and spills all the beans or ukraine. And they senate has asked the question. Why the checks and balances . You can argue what about the fact there is when an impeachment process going on and donald trump has forbidden any papers to be handed over. In any kind of the key people and his administration to give evidence. They say it is all a hoax and if you wa nt to they say it is all a hoax and if you want to clear your name and say you have done nothing wrong, just end up to this good in the . And that is the best cleanser that there is. Stand up to the scrutiny. This administration has said it doesnt wa nt to administration has said it doesnt want to go along with what is happening in this impeachment process. So i think you have a choice, which is does this get long drawn out and messy, which probably is not in Donald Trumps interest, or is not in Donald Trumps interest, or is it over and done with quickly . I think even today, democrat strategist will be taking clips out of the chiefjustice, about impeachment. Impeachment of donald trump. There will be playing that in the run up to november in the president ial election in the hope that it does donald trump some damage. Thank you for that analysis. Can i show you something . This is a card thatis show you something . This is a card that is being handed out to the senators today. Advice on how to deal with the press. Please move out of my way. Do not touch me. Laughter you are preventing me. If you need this is by said they senator, you shouldnt be a senator, should you . Cant say excuse me . You couldnt figure it out without any of those . Well senators are quite capable of handling genderless and dont need that advice. Thats most senators. Martha mick sallys campaign is put out that video of her saying that you are a liberal hack to our acnm colleagues. Their present his Reelection Campaign has posted that piece of video. Clearly they think this is a good thing. And the president s Reelection Campaign. Rc and colleagues. It is that at the new politics . Just own it. Make it as partisan as you possibly can on either side and try to raise money from it. Its been a whirlwind 2a hours in russian politics. On wednesday, Vladimir Putin proposed a set of sweeping amendments to the countrys constitution in a state of the nation address. Hours later his Prime Minister, Dmitry Medvedev resigned as he was expected to and was replaced by the head of the federal tax service mikhail mishustin. His appointment was overwhelmingly approved today by the russian parliament. There is clearly a plan. But what is that plan, and what do the changes mean for putin himself and the office of the president when his term comes to an end in 202a . In a moment well talk to a man who knows more than most about whats really going on. But first, heres our moscow correspondent, sarah rainsford. Few russians could have named this man until today. He is mikhail mishustin, the chief tax man, who is now their new Prime Minister. Its a surprise change many are linking to president putins own political future. Before the vote in parliament, mr mishustin says his role in life was to improve life for russians who were struggling. He says that was Vladimir Putins priority. Translation as the president has said, people should now be feeling real changes for the better. The most important issue is the new quality of management. The president has tasked the government with being at the vanguard of development, creating economic growth, and new jobs. But this game of political Musical Chairs is about much more than social welfare. The resignation of Dmitry Medvedev was totally unpredicted. Prime minister for eight years, he was increasingly unpopular here, but he was a loyal sidekick to mr putin, so this seems like another move to help his president. Just hours earlier, Vladimir Putin himself had addressed the nation. In his annual speech, he called for sweeping changes to russias constitution. It all looks like manoeuvring to retain influence when he has to step down as president four years from now. Mr putin claimed it was all about a more democratic system. Translation you cant help but agree with those who say the constitution was adopted over a quarter of a century ago during a serious domestic political crisis. The state of affairs has changed drastically. The changes will somewhat weaken the presidency, strengthen parliament and beef up the state council, a body mr putin already heads. Some suspect he might use that body to go on pulling the strings of power. Russians will get some kind of vote on it all, though for now theyre unsure what to think. Translation i view it positively. Perhaps things will change for the better. Everything should be for the better in our country. People are quite tired of suffering. Translation its quite sad. It seems that nothing is going to change. These people have left, but they will be replaced by similar ones. After so very long at the top, no one expects Vladimir Putin to disappear from the political scene. He has interests, allies, a whole system to protect here. His detailed plan isnt clear yet. Nor is the question of whether this technocrat could eventually succeed him as russias president. Idid give i did give him some billing. With me in the studio is bbc newsnights International Editor gabriel gatehouse who by his own account is a bit of a russia nerd. We showed this tweet yesterday when the news broke. I dont think we have your tweet. I dont think we have your tweetlj dont even know who the new guy was. I guess you know a little bit more about it now. A little bit. Hes been in charge of the federal tax average for a decade. He supposed to have done a good job. He is a bureaucrat come a good job. He is a bureaucrat come a good incompetent win apparently. He likes ice hockey. Very useful. Putin likes ice hockey. Very useful. Putin likes ice hockey. But the main reason he has been picked is because he doesnt have a political base. He is not a threat. The only question in russian politics at the moment and has been for a long time is what will putin do in 2024 when his term is up. If putin had denominated or pick somebody with a political power base, that would have set off a whole sequence of infighting amongst the various clans that make up the greater kremlin if you like and that wouldve been very turbulent. You sat there ate too much to go after you came back from when your visit to russia, you explain to me you have to see this power structure like a tree, Vladimir Putin is the trunk and all of the power structure essentially like the bibles on that tree, you said to me that you have to understand that when you take putin out of the picture, that power structure is in risk of collapsing. Anx structure is in risk of collapsing. An x essential threat to the system. Absolutely. In a country of weak institutions, thejewish or overcome the problem as you saw today, and the problem as you saw today, and the Parliament Rubber stamped this, that wouldve been a surprise at the parliament hadnt approved. The judiciary and the weak institutions. This is a country with weak institutions in the best way to look at it is to look at putin not as an individual, people make the mistake of thinking he is a power hungry dictator along the lines of gadhafi. He is not. He is been in powerfor, idida he is not. He is been in powerfor, i did a little calculation on the way, 7321 days. How is that far beyond 100 days . Laughter. Hes been around for a while. But he is an institution. As it currently stands, he has to step down in 2024 so the best way to manage it as an american is that imagine in four years time, the presidency was going to be a bullocks in the constitution would expire. Everybody would be doing their net. That is currently what is happening. The presidency was going to be abolished. We saw yesterday the first tentative steps to try and ensure disability and the longevity of the system that putin now embodies. I suppose the question is that these new changes to the system, could they be good for russia and a post putin era . Are they actually think that would benefit the country if we can imagine what russia is like and if russians can imagine what russia is like after putin . It is very hard to imagine russian in a post putin era. He has been a powerfor 20 years. Clearly, what they are trying to do is set out some options whereby putin can continue to pull the levers of power after he steps down as president. Either through this state council, or as an emboldened Prime Minister. But it seems to me that at the moment, they dont have any options to find a successor. Putin has to stay. This is his problem. He is in a gilded cage. Evenif problem. He is in a gilded cage. Even if he wanted to leave, and i have are from various sources that various points he has thought about stepping down, if he wanted to, those around him when it allowed him to as things currently stand. Because they fear the system would collapse. Putin is trapped in this gilded cage. Yes there is a lot of self interest in there and he has become a very rich man but also he believes that he is insuring the stability of russia and he is at the moment trapped. What we are not saying is a proposalfor a big change. We are seeing people trying to maintain the status quo. Fascinating. Thank you for coming in, gabriel. That is about the best explanation ive heard of what is going on in russia. So fascinating. You have to see. For the worlds longest leaders are and the former soviet union. Three of them are in africa. Guess what they all share in common . They are all men. Yes. This is beyond 100 days. Still to come is it time for a female bond . Not according to the woman whos family have overseen the franchise for almost 60 years. Prince harry has made his first public appearance at an official event since he and his wife announced they would be stepping back from their roles as senior royals. Prince harry hosted the draw for next years Rugby League World cup. Nick witchell has more. Was this harrys way of saying farewell . There is on the Instagram Account tonight, the music, the stone roses and the song which includes the lyrics i would like to leave the country for a month of sunday. He was at Buckingham Palace in the palace gardens he had been in his element. Talking to young people about support. And rugby to be precise. Those who are with harry said he was relaxed authentic come and engage. But you didnt need to be told that. You can see in his face and actions. Reporters tried to ask questions about his future. Unsurprisingly, they were ignored. The occasion was the draw for the 2021 Rugby League World cup, to be staged in england. Harry was being harry. Well done the old harry, someone said. He was there as patron of the rugby league. Thats one of those things that the royals do. And Something Else harry has done is highlight Mental Illness in sport. Its a cause which matters to him. The perception of rugby league is that you need to be tough. You cant show your feelings. You have to grin and bear it. But Something Like the Mental Fitness charter will help us make Real Progress in getting rid of the stigma associated with Mental Illness. By this time next week, harry will probably be several thousand miles away, beginning a somewhat semi detached royal life with his wife. There will be fewer occasions like this. His easy charm will be missed. Nicholas witchell, bbc news. The eus new trade commissioner phil hogan who will play a starring role in the upcoming brexit negotiation is here in washington this week trying to improve trade relations with the us. The president has already raised tarrifs on european steal and aluminium, there are fears the car industry will be next. Regular viewers will know that the European Commission has set itself targets for its first 100 days in office. Which is breathing new life into the title of our programme. And one of those commitments is to globally champion rules based international trade. So mr hogans first visit to the us is a key test. By reputation he is known to be more direct than his predecessor and true to form he warned today a full eu uk trade deal by the end of the year is just not possible. He was also dismissive of any suggestion the uks simultaneous trade negotations with the us and the eu, could provide opportunity for three way talks. There will be no three way conversation. 0k. Check that. How are you going to manage that . That is a matter for the United Kingdom. And the United States. If you want to do a deal, together, i wish you well. But im hearing messages from various players here in this city and town, it wont be as easy as the United Kingdom and the states think. It certainly wont be as easy as the United Kingdom thinks. Earlier we spoke to heather conley, who you saw there interviewing the commissioner. She is Vice President for europe at csis. Heather, is this just the European Union wanting to pour cold water on the chances that britain may have of striking a trade deal with the United States . So. I think he was definitely making sure london understood that the difficult road ahead of going down two roads simultaneously. I dont know if it was pouring cold water. I think it was pouring reality into the conversation rather than rhetoric. What specifically did he think was going to make a us uk trade deal difficult whilst also negotiating with the eu . I think Commisioner Hogan absolutely comes from both an environmental and agricultural background. What was very clear is that as the uk is negotiating with the eu, whether there is convergence or divergence, if there is convergence with the European Union trade standards, that is going to impinge on the ability of the us uk free trade agreement, like in agriculture and other things. It is riding two horses at the same time. At some point, a choice will have to be made. He talked specifically about the uk and eu negotiations. There is a 36 page document on what this future relationship will look like. But he seems to be pretty pessimistic that both sides can get what they want. Are we looking at a fairly skinny deal to start with the by the end of december 2020 . Yes. Commissioner hogan was pretty clear that the clock, and this very short 11 month time window, may work against an ambitious big deal, and he seemed to suggest that priority is the only way the eu will do it. So honing in on those key priorities and doing as much work as possible before the end of 2020, and hopefully, after that, there will be some more room to continue on in a broader deal. Of course this week, the job for him is to try and find some Common Ground with the americans. They are as we said concerned about tariffs may be coming within the car industry. And today, lo and behold, we get a story in the Washington Post that donald trump threatened germany, france and britain with 25 tariffs on cars unless they accused iran of breaching the nuclear deal. That is the sort of thing that strains the relationship. Yes. Youre absolutely right. There is information the German Defence ministerjust confirmed that Washington Post story suggesting that that threat in fact did exist. I think this is the challenge that the United States now views everything as leverage. And crossing the streams of foreign and Security Policy in addition to trade policy, if it does not get what it wants that it will use very strong trade measures to try to in many ways bully an ally into agreeing with this line of thinking. Heather speaking to us a short time ago. Daniel craig will hang up the walther ppk and his exploding wristwatch this april in a final outing as james bond. And already, the speculation is rife as to who the next 007 will be. Still as popular as ever, though the series has been criticised in recent years for the way it portrays its female charcters. However, that idea has been swiftly dismissed by producer barbara brocolli, whos family have been the caretakers of the longrunning spy series since the 1960s. Bond she says will always be a man speaking. I read that wrong. It will always be a man. In a an interview with variety magazine, she said. Women carry synthesis to generally. Laughter. You women carry synthesis to generally. Laughter. You can read sentences. Ijust laughter. You can read sentences. I just blew my laughter. You can read sentences. Ijust blew my chance of being james bond. It was looking so good. The producers were calling to up. But there have been lots of women spies on camera subcarrier russell. It is not jane bond. It on camera subcarrier russell. It is notjane bond. It is james bond. It is just not have been a franchise. Next it will be a cat for mary poppins. It is james bond. See you next week. Get with the 21st century some time, guys. See you next week. That evening. The weather will go from one extreme to the other in the next few days. Let me explain. We fed storm brendan this week and more wind and rain through the course of today. Tightly packed isobars bringing gills and many southern and Western Areas that are wendyj in the rain is still going. Falling across southern and eastern areas. It will be friday before he clears. As it is been so wet recently, a lot of standing water to contend with on the road. That is a hazard. The winds are starting to escalate west. A few showers elsewhere as well, but generally speaking, as the rain sta rts generally speaking, as the rain starts to clear away, we see clearer skies, temperatures will fall away and tumble to freezing through parts of Northern Ireland and possibly the glens of scotland. Elsewhere largely frost free but it will be a cold start to the friday morning. Therefore when the showers come along, there will be wintering this over the hills but just along, there will be wintering this over the hills butjust about everywhere can have some hale showers and rumbles of thunder and with the showers, some quite blustery winds but on the whole, ones will not be as strong as they have been today but it will feel chillier because the air is colder. It will feel chillier still this weekend. But it will be dry and bright for most of us as well. The reason, we say goodbye to the area of low pressure and High Pressure builds in. Quite an intense area of High Pressure will keep the weather fronts in the low pressures at bay. A cold start, widespread frost away from the far north, lighter winds, and will be drier, we do still have and will be drier, we do still have a few showers in the north and west of scotla nd a few showers in the north and west of scotland in particular any chilly can wind here before most of us, despite the frosty start, temperatures will try to get close to the average for the time of year and a sunshine and lighter winds away from the north will be welcome. Send him is suddenly another bright and frosty start we could start to pick upa and frosty start we could start to pick up a little bit of fog. The air and ground is so wet at the moment but otherwise another widespread frost as you can see on sunday. But the most part it is light winds, plenty of sunshine, any fog should clear through the morning hours. It will not be particularly warm. But it looks fairly decent for getting out and about. It is likely what time we will pick up a bit more fog because we have so much moisture on the ground as ever. More on line. This is bbc news, im samantha simmons, the headlines at eight. We are out of time it will be just to meet make life or death decisions on Climate Change now. A warning from sir David Attenborough. Weve been putting things off year after year. Weve been raising targets and saying oh, well, if we do it within the next 20 years or. The moment of crisis has,. Us senate chief Justicejohn Roberts of crisis has,. Us senate chief Justice John Roberts has of crisis has,. Us senate chief Justicejohn Roberts has sworn in to preside over the impeachment trial proceeding start next week to decide if donald trump fate. Knife crimes and with the wells the highest they have beenin been ina been in a decade. What went wrong for labour at the last election . 0ne of the candidates of the parties leadership says they need