Of the most well known names on the uk high street has collapsed into adminsistration putting 13,000 jobs at risk. And under covid rules the scotch egg will be classed a substantial meal. Hugely significant to thousands of uk pub goers who must eat, if they are to be allowed to drink. The bad news youll probably still be hungry. Hello im katty kay in washington, Christian Fraser is in london. Lets start with the good news. Things are moving fast on the Covid Vaccine front. Moderna filed for us Regulatory Approval of its vaccine today the second pharaceutical company to do so. And an Advisory Panel to the cdc will meet tomorrow to decide who should get the very first doses. But widespread Vaccine Distribution is still months away and in the meantime the number of infections in the us is soaring. Hospitals are overrun and Health Care Workers are exhausted. This weekend dr fauci warned america could see a thanksgiving surge in cases, on top of the existing winter surge. But the Top Trump Health official, alex azar, was at pains to stress the positive, he is confident both vaccines could be administered to americans before christmas. With pfizer, we at the fda announced an Advisory Committee for december the 10th, and if everything is on track, everything proves out to be what it appears to be, we could be looking at approval within days after that. Moderna is basically one week behind that, and general said from operation warp speed, will ship within 24 hours of fda authorisation. So we could be seen both of these vaccines out and getting into peoples arms before christmas. Moderna has filed for both us and eu Regulatory Approval and it gain uk approval as well. Regulators here are also looking at emergency approval for the pfizer vaccine, as well as the one from astrazenca and oxford university. I know that hope is on the horizon. In the past fortnight, weve made some really significant progress on vaccines, and the nhs now stands ready to deploy a vaccine should one be approved by the uks independent regulator. 0k, ok, so where we are where are we at the moment . Were joined now by from new york by dr uche blackstock, an emergency medical physician and yahoo news contributor and by dr Deepti Gurdasani an epidemiologist and Queen Mary University of london. Doctor blackstock let me start with you. We just doctor blackstock let me start with you. Wejust had doctor blackstock let me start with you. We just had the Holiday Weekend here in the United States, we know a lot of people are travelling, weve seen pictures of airports. What are you fearing most in your hospital as you fearing most in your hospital as you see the potential impacts of those holiday travellers . Right, what i will say is that we saw very long lines of people waiting to get tested just prior to thanksgiving holidays so that they could, against recommendations, spend time with her family. We are already seeing a lot of covert patients coming in. I think in two weeks, we will start to see an uptick in hospitalisations due to covid i9 here in new york city and across the country, u nfortu nately. City and across the country, unfortunately. I think people still can isolate if they were with other people during thanksgiving. They should get tested as soon as possible. Doctor, when you look at the situation here in america from that side of the atlantic, where the uk hasa that side of the atlantic, where the uk has a comp located tier system, people are under a tonne of restrictions, and you see whats happening here in the states. Do you think america could be better off if they went through the National Lockdown that the uk has just went there . I mean, certainly theres beena there . I mean, certainly theres been a huge surge in cases in the us, and there is definitely a need for cove rt us, and there is definitely a need for covert strategy thats consistent in science driven. I think certainly a lockdown wouldve helped because we are seeing an exponential rapid rise in cases in the us, and certainly lockdowns are helpful in curbing those rapid rises that we see so that cases can come down quickly and thats a huge problem in the us based on my understanding. Doctor blackstock, as was said, a huge debate here with the system and whether we should continue with some of the restrictions, which are pretty onerous, how do you see it as an american looking this way . Well, no, i see that we should here in the us have a National Strategy similar to european countries. I think one of the reasons why we see this urge that we see is because there is no coherent evidence based strategy, and essentially, we have 50 different states using 50 different strategies, the patchwork response, and thats why we havent been able to get this virus under control. Doctor, a 30 drop in the last four weeks, so we are flattening the curve, but given what weve been through, would you expect a bigger drop in the infection rate . |j through, would you expect a bigger drop in the infection rate . I think many of us were hoping for a bigger drop in the infection rate, the office of National Statistics estimated that we had 55,000 daily cases at the beginning of lockdown, and even at 30 lower, we still have one in 100 people in england infected with the virus, thats a very large number. So we need to get much, much lower down to really bring this under control. What do you think is going to happen over christmas . Weve just been through the thanksgiving holiday here, you are hearing from you know, the stories of travellers. Are you concerned that if things are used up over christmas and households are meeting again, we could see what anthony is explaining here is a search on a surge in the us to die two fauci . Search on a surge in the us to die two fauci . Ithink search on a surge in the us to die two fauci . I think that if there isa mixing two fauci . I think that if there is a mixing and household over christmas, there will be a surge in transmission in early january. Christmas, there will be a surge in transmission in earlyjanuary. I mean, even transmission in earlyjanuary. I mean, even though the studies results are positive until the declining cases, we are not anywhere near where we need to be. We are still seeing rises of cases in children, and in adults, and all of that will get worse if people mix during christmas, because we know that that is exactly how transmission happens, among households indoors, which is exactly the sort of thing that we will see over christmas. So youve given us the warning scenarios, the position were in right now. Lets talk a bit about the vaccine though, because thats my suppose for all of buses the light at the end of the tunnel. When you look at the situation here in the uk, and in the us, and talking about having vaccines reaching people, potentially into three weeks, can we take our foot off the pedal a bit and think you know can actually, it there is a vaccine around the corner, its not that far away, things are going to get better at the beginning of next year . So can my response to that is that, no, we definitely cannot take our foot off the pedal. We are in the midst of a surge, over the next seven the midst of a surge, over the next seven months, i do think it will be about seven months until the vaccine is available to the Wider Population, you know, we are going to need to really stick to those Public Health measures that we know works so well, otherwise we are going to see astronomical numbers. I think that the vaccine is going to roll out first to Health Care Workers, than to essential workers and elderly people, people in long term facilities, and so the Wider Population would not even start being vaccinated untiljune or july, so we have plenty of time, you know, to still make sure that we are bridging that time by using the Public Health measures that we know work well. Of work well. Of just work well. 0fjust wondering, if work well. Of just wondering, if you work well. 0fjust wondering, if you dont have confidence in people following the advice theyve been given over thanksgiving, whether you have any confidence they will get vaccinated . Well, so that is definitely a concern of myself and other positions of Public Health experts covid is what i was the we need to be using this time right now on robust Public Health messaging campaigns, to use full transparency, to really explain to people watch vaccines are, the importance of the vaccines are, the importance of the vaccine and why they should take a vaccine. Its going to be incredibly important, because whats the point in having a safe and effective vaccine if no one will take it when its available to them in the spring . Doctor, we have never done anything ona doctor, we have never done anything on a scale like this in terms of national Public Health, do you think we are better prepared for this than we are better prepared for this than we we re we are better prepared for this than we were for the testing . No. No, thats not what im hearing. I think its a huge challenge. I completely agree with the points that doctor blackstock made, that its really not the end. A vaccine is not the end all for many, many reasons, and its notjust based on the efficacy of the vaccine, but as you say, the uptake, remember, this vaccine hasnt been licensed in children yet, and children form a large perp elation of the community that transmits. So we dont necessarily see outbreaks coming to an end anytime soon, and its deftly pa rt of an end anytime soon, and its deftly part of Public Health response, not the entire strategy. 0k, we have to leave it there. Doctors, really interesting to get your thoughts, your respective thoughts on the pandemic on either side of the atlantic. Thank you for that. Back in the basement i see, katty for quarantine for two weeks having returned from overseas. Does anybody check up on you . No its amazing to my was just check up on you . No its amazing to my wasjust thinking check up on you . No its amazing to my was just thinking of what doctor blackstock was staying there about the need for some kind of National Strategy, because i landed back here at the airport on thursday. Nobody asked me for my address, nobody at the airport said you should go and quarantine, nobody took my temperature, there was no kind of screening whatsoever, and no follow up. I tra nsited screening whatsoever, and no follow up. I transited through germany, and as i transited through germany, and as i transited through germany, i had one night i was asked for my address, where i would stay, i was told i couldnt leave the hotel, and a guy here to america and there is nothing. It really does feel like there is no plan at the moment. Ifelt feel like there is no plan at the moment. I felt nervous coming feel like there is no plan at the moment. Ifelt nervous coming back here. When you compare thats what weve had on our programme from the far east and how they are locked in hotel rooms for two weeks, not even able to leave the major shows you dozens able to leave the major shows you d oze ns of able to leave the major shows you dozens of how different two approaches are. Yes, and people here, i think, approaches are. Yes, and people here, ithink, that approaches are. Yes, and people here, i think, that Whenjoe Biden comes in, there might be more of a National Strategy, but as the doctor said, there are 50 states, they often come up with their own solutions. Talking about parallel universes, there are two parallel universes, there are two parallel universes in politics at the moment. The first is one in whichjoe biden won the election fair and square, and will take office on january 20th. The second, is that the vote was stolen from donald trump in an election rigging fiasco unprecedented in scale. Mr trump and much of his base, firmly subscribe to the latter even though it is unsubstantiated. On sunday the president spoke with fox news in his first tv interview since the election, repeating many of the conspiracy theories that populate his twitter account. Well should use the word interview under advisement, this was more a 45 minute monologue which went down all sorts of avenues, he even accused the fbi and thejustice department, whose bosses he personally appointed, of somehow being complicit. This is total fraud, and how the fbi and department ofjustice i dont know, maybe theyre involved but how people are allowed to get away from this. Away from this stuff, its unbelievable the neck unbelievable. This election was rigged. The selection was a total fraud. My mind will not change in six months. There was tremendous cheating here, boxes were brought in. The mail in vote is a disaster. Mr trumps rage over the election has not cooled in the way some thought it might. Its a point that Washington Post reporter amy gardner and her colleagues make in a recent article looking at the 20 days between the election and the president finally agreeing to a peaceful transfer of power. Heres an extract. Amyjoins us now. Its really illuminating, amy, to read your article. Youve interviewed dozens of people in the white house. There is one who says, if white house. There is one who says, if you think sees one, its like we wont tell him. We are happy to scratch his itch. Which begs the question, whos going to tell him he lost . Welcome i think there are people who have tried and i think that the president has not wanted to hear from them. So he has increasingly surrounded himself only with people who will tell him what he wants to hear. As we reported in that story, his own pollster, commissioned a poll after the election to show him how much his own supporters believed that he won the election. Its very much emperor has no clothes kind of scenario, and it extends into the legal team of the campaign as well. They had a fleet of lawyers across the country ready to litigate valid, what they consider valid legal battles if there were going to be a situation like florida in the year 2000, where you know, if the vote might have come down to a single state under very small counts, but thats not what happened. Theyre trying to overturn the results in six states, where hundreds of thousands of votes separates president elect biden from President Trump will stop and so those lawyers who are queued up to help with those battles are out. Theyre gone. And the people instead who are by his side and continuing to, you know, disseminate these false attacks, false accusations are out there doing it today. Amy, we know that donald trump has a long history all through his Business Career of suing people and litigation. You may or may not a lwa ys litigation. You may or may not always through the course of his career believed in his case or the validity of his case, you cover him at the white house, do you think he really believes the election was stolen, or is hejust going to go out in flames saying that it was stolen because that suits him politically . I think that we all know that President Trump hates to lose. Hes been open about it, he stated it himself. We know that he has said privately that he believes he lost, that he will not refuse to leave the white house on january the 20th, but at the same time, its as if hes not capable publicly of admitting that, and the incredible interview on fox news that you excerpt is case in point. All of his instincts of denial to surface out publicly, none of which has any basis in fact, and so coming know, some of his advisers think that this isjust a death rattle, thrashing at the very end, but at the same time, hes continuing to eat, you know, sort of excite his most ardent supporters and encourage them to believe falsely that this election was believe falsely that this election was stolen, and by the way, its worth mentioning, hes also continuing to raise hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars that he claims is to help with his legal defence fund, but most of that money is actually going to his super pack. Amy, you chronicled the 20 days since the election, what do you think the next, what we got . Another two months of President Trump in the white house, what do you think they look like . Its going to be more of the same. I think there is some hope among republicans and democrats that once december 14 arrives, the day the Electoral College makes its votes, and become so official that president elect biden is our president elect biden is our president elect that the language will tone down and there will stop being as much attention on this subject of whether the election was stolen. Of course, i thank you allude to a much broader question to what kind of president will he be for the next two months . And we have seen some hints of it. Hes been seeking to make career federal employees political so that they can be fired. Hes been undoing some Wildlife Protection standards in our country. He has plans to continue leaving his mark on government, and its very important that we in the media continue to watch that and see what it is that he does. 0k, amy gardner, thank you very much from the Washington Post. Very interesting. I mean coming away, you are right, question you said to me before, you dont neck he is saying this in private, but he says it in public too. Its not a secret what hes thinking. Meanwhile within team biden, theres been quite a few developments. Yesterday the president elect unveiled his new comms team , and its an all female line up. Mr bidens Deputy Campaign manager Kate Bedingfield will be the new White House Communications director and jen psaki the person who was formerly the Communications Director in the 0bama white house will this time serve as press secretary. The other news on sunday was mr bidens foot. He has sustained hairline fractures to his right foot after he slipped and fell while playing with his dog, major. Which means we will be seeing him in a alking boot for the next few weeks. Fortunately there is plenty to from a sedentary position. Today he and the Vice President elect will receive their first Daily Briefing today, which means they will be brough up to speed on the National Intelligence issues. So, the president very quick to send joe biden his good wishes and aid tweets. Drawing attention to the fa ct tweets. Drawing attention to the fact that the president has fallen over. I mean come its not a Health Disaster commits a pr disaster come in they know that, because whenever weve seen them, joe biden on stage recently in wilmington, he jogs to the platform, doesnt he . They are so keen to portray him as someone with that useful vigour, spring in his step, the ever young 78 year old whos fallen over before he even ta kes whos fallen over before he even takes office. I know, you are very cruel about this, christian. We were talking about this earlier. Your rights, of course its not great, they dont want him to look old, they dont want him to look old, they have tried everything they can to make them look young. Heres the counter theory, we are a dog loving programme now, officially both christian and i have dogs. So maybe the fact that he fell over playing with his dog, is that a mitigating factor . Thats gratitude for you, is dick . Is a rescue dog. He has a twitter account, by the way laughing how is your dog doing, by the way . I wouldve thought. And mikey ran away from home today. Anyway, anyway. Moving on. Please do not tell that to the rescue people. Moving swiftly along. For those watching on bbc world news well be right back. The british singer, rita 0ra, has apologised for having a party in a restaurant in london on saturday to celebrate her 30th birthday, in breach of englands lockdown restrictions. She has now called it a serious and inexcusable error of judgment. Its reported there were up to 30 people at the party, which the singer described as a small gathering our correspondent David Sillito sent this update from outside the restaurant in west london. Rita ora was celebrating her 30th birthday on saturday evening at this restaurant. It said, though not confirmed, there were up to 30 people here. Just after nine oclock, police arrived. Today, read or issued a statement saying, the gathering of a small group of friends was a spur of the moment decision, which she now deeply regrets. Given the restrictions, i realise how irresponsible these actions were and i take full responsibilty she will, it said, pay any fine imposed, meanwhile, number ten says its important that everyone sticks to the rules and that very definitely include celebrities. Arcadia, the retail giant owned by sir philip green, has gone into administration. The group owns some of the most well known names on the uk high street, from topshop and burton to Dorothy Perkins and miss selfridge. It puts 13,000 jobs at risk. No redundancies are being announced immediately and stores will continue to trade. The group had been seeking a last minute rescue deal to help it plug the gap from lost sales during the pandemic. Lets go to our Business Reporter ben thompson. 0h, oh, dear, this is awful, just before christmas as well. You know, it wasnt performing well even before the pandemic, was age . No, a lot of scathing criticism, christian, that this was an analogue retailer in the digital world. A lot of criticism that service so you excerpt philip green, the boss at arcadia, had failed to invest in this business over the last decade, and the likes of boo hoo over the last decade, and the likes of boo hoo and over the last decade, and the likes of boo hoo and online retailers really stealing its customers. Of course, Big Questions about what happens next. Arcadia says it will continue to run these stories, even though its in administration. It wants customers through the doors. When they can reopen in england, this week, but theyre also just make Big Questions about who would wa nt make Big Questions about who would want to potentially buy this company. Now, topshop is one of its premier brands, that could find a buyer, but the Big Questions about whether anyone would want wallace or evans or ms. Selfridge or Dorothy Perkins, the other brands that fall within the arcadia so few questions about its future about whether it can be sold as a going concern, but youre absolutely right. So many jobs that stay great before christmas, terrible timing and a really worrying time for so many staff and customers of the firm. Such iconic names on the high street. They go back years and yea rs, street. They go back years and years, dont they . There was a report today that mike ashley, who bought house of fraser that he was going to put money into savings, a last ditch effort, what happened to that . Yeah, what you have to remember here, christian, katty, there are so many big egos and retail, and this is about a lot of people throwing money around and saying, look, i can save you, i will bail you out, but would philip green except 50 million quid from his arch rival . Probably not. Arcadia were also very keen to point out that if this was about 50 million quid. They could find that, they think that the problems are much deeper. Because it really does tell the story of that shift that we have all seen, moving away from bricks and Mortar Stores around the world to online. And if the firm is failing to keep up, if its not going to get customers through the doors come it will struggle to survive. So this feels like a more fundamental problem for arcadia. They have yet to find a way to be relevant in this new age of online retailing. So, yes, you are right, mike ashley had offered that money is part of his group, feige dont neck Frasers Group, feige dont neck Frasers Group as its own, he would offer that to them to try and offer a lifeline, but i think its fair to say that arcadia thought that that would come with a lot of Strings Attached from the strings that they we re attached from the strings that they were not prepared to accept. Its also worth pointing out here that albums is also in this picture. Now, thats the Big Department store here in the uk that again has very well documented problems. It is entirely separate to process. Its not owned by arcadia, but we have to remember is that a lot of concessions within the Department Store are arcadia. So its things like ms. Selfridge, therefore, if that goes under, it could put that in doubt too. Ben, thank you very much. Its a grim picture, is dick . Itsjust a reminder isnt it that wall street does not mean street as they say in america. You can see shares taking off in Companies Like amazon, but that doesnt translate necessarily. Now, and for the 13,000 people whose jobs are at risk, that doesnt mean very much at all. Now. Stay with us, plenty more to come on the programme. Hello again. Well, its been another pretty grey day for most of us, but a big improvement in my book. At least we could see more than a few hundred metres. The mist and fog having cleared out of the way by patches of rain. That rains been pushing southwards over recent hours, and you can just make out this little line of rain just coming into parts of merseyside on the radar picture. Thats actually the cold front, and to the north of the cold front, thats where we had some proper sunshine working in across scotland, although there were plenty of showers here. We also had some sunshine, too, in the north east of england. Overnight tonight, those clearer skies will continue to push southwards, so good parts of wales, most of england and much of eastern scotland having that clearer weather. Its going to be cold with some patches of frost developing in the countryside, but thicker cloud in Northern Ireland, where therell be some drizzle, and temperatures here mostly staying above freezing. Tuesday, cold air in place, then, but eventually well see this warm sector, this milder air pushing into the north west, but quite late in the day. Now, for eastern areas of scotland, eastern areas of wales and most of england, there should be some sunshine around, but well have cold northerly winds and those temperatures around the east coast struggle. Highs 5 7 degrees for some. Turns milder in the north west, but with that a lot of low cloud and again probably some mist and fog over the high ground and certainly some patches of drizzle around. Midweek, weve got a narrowing warm sector pushing across the uk. A cold front on the charts, colder air follows. And what all that means on wednesday is that its going to be a cloudy day for england and wales with some patches of light rain and drizzle pushing southwards and eastwards. Much brighter skies follow with some sunshine, but lots of blustery showers being blown in as well. Those temperatures drop as colder air pushes in. Temperatures across scotland and the far north of england about 5 6 degrees celsius. It gets even colder across the north on thursday, with the showers here turning increasingly to snow above 300 metres elevation or so. Weve got heavy rain for wales and for parts of england, particularly in the south, with some strong winds working through the english channel. So it will be a blustery day, perhaps with some gales here as well. Beyond that, towards the end of the week, low pressure takes up residence to the eastern side of the uk. Colder air filtering in all the while across western areas. We may well see some of this rain turn to snow towards the end of the week, but for the most part, it looks to be over the high ground above 300 metres elevation, so a few of you could wake up to scenes like this by the end of the week. Youre watching bbc news with me katty kay in washington, Christian Fraser is in london. Our top stories. Asjoe biden receives his first Intelligence Briefings well examine the Foreign Policy challenges the president elect will inherit when he enters the oval office. The government is set for a key vote on covid restrictions in the uk but they might not have the votes up to 100 tories threaten to rebel and now labour will abstain. Also in the programme. Brussels is pushing for a renewed Transatlantic Alliance withjoe bidens america, looking to bury the tensions of the trump era. I have been stuck at home twice with this because first of all, my grandkids got the virus and then secondly, somebody that i work with at home they got it. So twice i have been stuck like this and it is really difficult. People think you get to stay home for two weeks. And she is the martriarch of one of the worlds most famous families sharon 0sbournejoins us to discuss how the Entertainment Industry has survived covid, and her christmas plans. President elect biden will received his first Intelligence Briefings today. They will include the nations most fiercely guarded secrets and the short and long term security threats deemed credible by the intelligence community. It couldnt be more timely. On friday irans Top Nuclear Scientist was assassinated and all eyes are on tehran and how it might respond. The hardliners there vowed swift retribution. But there is another view among the moderates that surround president rouhani, that maybe they are being baited by the outgoing us administration. And should take their time. Lets speak to one of the architects of the 2015 iran deal Robert Malley he served as a special assistant to president 0bama. He is now president of the International Crisis group. He joins us from washington. Of the International Crisis group. Do of the International Crisis group. You think this was to do you think this was a move to try to subvert diplomacy and make it harderfor to subvert diplomacy and make it harder forjoe to subvert diplomacy and make it harderforjoe biden to reach out to subvert diplomacy and make it harder forjoe biden to reach out to iran potentially strike a new Iran Nuclear Deal . I suspect it was two things. Number one income if it is israel, and there is ever suspicion that those were the ones behind it, it much they could before elect Biden Takes Office but also as you suggested, it is very hard to reach any of the conclusion to make the path back to the promisee more difficult. So i think it is a win win, they get as much they can before President Biden because President Biden and they also make his path forward one full of additional obstacles. The path to diplomacy was already going to be difficult. What iran has done since the us pulled out of the Iran Nuclear Deal was not going to make it easy forjoe biden to strike something new even if he wanted to, was it . No, but what joe biden has said throughout the campaign and even said throughout the campaign and eve n m ost said throughout the campaign and even most recently is that he intends to go back into the Iran Nuclear Deal so long as iran resumed this noncompliance because it is self violated the deal. That equation is difficult for the reasons one could imagine politics ona reasons one could imagine politics on a ringside and the us side, but that equation remains the same even after the killing of iran prospect Top Nuclear Scientist simply because the interests have not changed. As you suggested, the real question will be there as iran reacted and doesnt decide to retaliate and if it does, how much harm does that due to the prospects of diplomacy. It does, how much harm does that due to the prospects of diplomacylj know to the prospects of diplomacy. know president 0bama ruled out any of these assassinations in 2013 as they were beginning the negotiations. Im trying to get inside the head of what might be going on in tehran at the moment. Might they be thinking that if they dont respond now, given that President Trump still has too much to run, there might be another attack . . Absolutely. We spoke about two ca m ps attack . . Absolutely. We spoke about two camps that i suspect their views are two camps that i suspect their views a re pretty two camps that i suspect their views are pretty shortly defined. 0n the one hand, those who are saying this isa one hand, those who are saying this is a trap and if we do respond, there will be a counter response and we will not be in a position to get back to the diplomacy wentjoe biden and therefore we should avoid this trap and the other camp which will say at this point if we dont respond any notion of iran that disappears in all of our foes think we are a paper tiger can get a guard got the rest. I think that is a vivid debate and it appears at this point up until now because this is not the first step that has been taken against iran in recent months. I bittante taken against iran in recent months. I bitta nte now taken against iran in recent months. I bittante now the camp and said lets wait and lets be patient and lets wait for a new page to be turned to washington. That camp has prevailed but who knows how many what will happen in the next 60 days and whether they can sustain that view until then. Sitting on the sidelines of course, the europeans, who presumably were not consulted about this if as you suggested it was something smashed up between israel and the United States. Yet it is the europeans were desperately trying to keep the still alive. Right. Their message i suspect is to say be patient, you waited this long, dont give into the temptation or to the provocation and the last two months but again i dont know what the state of the bay is in iran andi what the state of the bay is in iran and i suspect theres two camps, maybe there are others, are debating it right now, and we will see and the other question and i think you mention it, is this the last attack we will see or will we see other steps whether it is military, cyber attacks, sabotage or assassination of iranians on a rain . And at what point will become more difficult if not impossible for iran to respond . That is what is at stake over the coming weeks i think. Thank you for joining us. Interesting because there is quite a long tradition of transition period is where you get these National Security threats and we had them frequently over the course of the last few decades and you wonder whether we will head into a rocky transition couple over the next december and january as well. No question european leaders are breathing a sigh of relief that joe biden will be returning to the white house. He is a known commodity in brussels and by all accounts they aim to move quickly. According to a draught report seen by the financial times, the European Commission is to pitch to the Biden Administration a plan for a new global alliance, that will reset the relationship once donald trump is gone. But will it be that easy . We are not in 2016. The us is more hawkish on china, they still have deep reservations about the world trade organization, eu is under greater pressure to regulate tech giants the uk is no longer a member of the trade bloc. And what about that digital tax. Lets go to rome and speak to Nathalie Tocci director of the Italian Institute for International Affairs and also special adviser to the eus Foreign Policy chief josep borrell. Lovely to have you back with us. It is great in theory, one words in exchange and maybe some backslapping, a friend returning to brussels and joe biden but there is an awful lot that separate the two sides at the moment. Yes there is but i think it is important to start from the starting point and the starting point we will be part of the same family once again. Beyond the same family once again. Beyond the differences or disagreements, or agreements about what reaction we do wa nt to agreements about what reaction we do want to do in the world, it is really a story about who we are in i think this is the first and almost message that you the institution the Member States want to send to the joe Biden Administration. It is about sharing and being part of the same community of values. It is basically about playing on the same tea m basically about playing on the same team when we act in the international system. And then yes indeed, there will be a host of policy issues where we will have differences and disagreements, trade, china, digital, there will be a long list and get, we will be talking to one another and we will be coordinating with one another on the basis of the fact that we belong to the same family. Who is pushing this . Weve heard from Emmanuel Macron and president of france in the last few months that there has to bea the last few months that there has to be a third way in global affairs, he doesnt want to be stuck between china and the United States and being pulled one way or the other. He wants a new way, europe is forging its own path, is this the Eastern European singlet to get him back on board with the us . Are they shoving brussels . To be honest, i dont think developing our own autonomy as europeans necessarily means forging a third way between the United States and china. I think what it does mean is that we want to make sure that we are the ones that make sure that we are the ones that make the choice where we will stand. In this global confrontation to shipping up. It is very clear that our choice will be that of siding with the United States, with whom we do share values and a set of interest. Who will want to make sure thatis interest. Who will want to make sure that is our choice from an order to the make sure that it is our choice, we need to develop our own prerogatives of power if you like. So ultimately this is the message that Emmanuel Macron was referring to, my personal view is that perhaps the timing was not the best one but in terms of the actual content of what he was saying, i dont know that i would not necessarily reeded as saying european economy is basically built in contras with the United States. I rather reeded essay that a time to be is a precondition. I rather reeded as metonymy is a precondition. Joe biden come to the office on january the 20th. Precondition. Joe biden come to the office onjanuary the 20th. What concrete early wednesday you think the eu might look to in those first weeks of a joe Biden Administration that would give us some indication of how different this is or is not going to be . I will say three things. First and very clearly, pandemic response. Something this is which the European Union and its Member States had real difficulty in working with the trump of menstruation. That is been far more. Menstruation. That is been far more. menstruation. That is been far more. Trump administration. Working together on that not only with one another but above all in terms of distribution of the vaccine in developing countries. Secondly i was at the moment recovery and economic recovery. Taking together the 620 economic recovery. Taking together the g20 and deeds in order to make sure that a recovery to the pandemic and economic recovery is also a dream recovery. Third is what you we re dream recovery. Third is what you were discussing earlier which is basically issues relating to the Iran Nuclear Deal. It is clear that it will not be allotted Time Available to ensure that we actually do get to some concrete results on this because essentially before the president ial elections in iran over the summer so they will invest very much and trying to ease thejoe Biden Administration way back into the ua knowing full well as we have been saying the last few days this is going to be an uphill battle. That new treaty to be renegotiated with russia in february as well. Thank you forjoining us. Uk Prime Minister borisjohnson is battling to win support for the introduction of three tiers of restrictions in england from wednesday as he tries to head off a rebellion by his own mps. Hes acknowledged that many people think theyre in the wrong tier but insists the restrictions are necessary to slow the spread of coronavirus. The government today published an Economic Impact assessment of the tiered system in a bid to persuade tory mps to vote for it tomorrow. But, this evening, labour has confirmed it will abstain on voting for the tier system, putting the government in a potentially very tight spot. 0ur political correspondent, Jonathan Blake is at westminster how perilous is the for the Prime Minister . I dont think there is any releva nt minister . I dont think there is any relevant doubt that the government players will pass when members of Parliament Vote on them tomorrow. But as you mentioned there, labour avenue said they will abstain so they will need a back no vote against the government plans tomorrow and the other small opposition parties here westminster will abstain as well. Almost certainly so what that does is set up certainly so what that does is set upa bit certainly so what that does is set up a bit of certainly so what that does is set upa bit ofa certainly so what that does is set up a bit of a showdown of the house of commons tomorrow among the governments own mps. And wass it is certain all but certain that enough of them will vote for these plans for them to get through, the number that vote against him will give us a goodidea that vote against him will give us a good idea of the strength of opposition within borisjohnsons own governing conservative party. To this new stricter 3 tiered system of restrictions that the government is planning to put in place in england. When the National Lockdown ends on wednesday. And as the pandemic has gone on it is become more and more difficult for the government to keep its own mps on side with what it wa nts to its own mps on side with what it wants to do. They labour leader sir keir starmer says that it is not in the National Interest and irresponsible to vote down the proposed measures. Why is he not voting for a a very good question. His response for that was was that the labour party has serious misgivings with what the government is trying to do here but the alternative if you like to the governments plans would be no restrictions, and that will be a bad outcome because obviously, it would let the Coronavirus Spread unabated across england and further across the uk and that would be an outcome that the labour party and indeed nobody else wants to see but it does as you highlight what their question but the labour party in a bit of a tight spot because it will undoubtedly face criticism from the conservatives as it already has done this evening. Downing street put out a statement accusing the labour party are playing politics with this issue, some might say they are sitting on the fence. What it does do is asi sitting on the fence. What it does do is as i say highlight the infighting within the conservative party as well, but people could well look to keir starmer and say are you for the use or are you against them, but in fact they have chosen to abstain and in doing that set the stage for the restrictions to almost certainly pass in the house of commons. For the moment thank you very much. Which tier you are in really matters if your anterior to it means you can go out for a anterior to it means you can go out fora drink on anterior to it means you can go out for a drink on friday night. The real debate now. You may remember in october there was heated debate here in england over whether a Cornish Pasty was substantial enough to be considered a plated meal. She it is a critical distinction because the lockdown Restrictions Mean alcohol can only be served currently if you are eating. The question is what constitutes substantial . In the end the Cornish Pasty was deemed worthy, so long as it came with a salad garnish. I remember you produced a a pathetic honestly to go with yours. Pathetic scottish leaf to go with yours. So what about a scotch egg. Its an egg surrounded by sausage meat and coated in crispy breadcrumbs. A meal . Well, according to environment secretary George Eustice it is, because it would normally be served as a starter and so would constitute a substantial meal if there was table service. Which was instantly picked up by friday night gang. 0n whatsapp my friend ian. Say is more than happy to order a scotch egg orfour if it means he can escape the house. But as i pointed out since we are not in the same household wed have to drink outside. So i checked the weather and it is going to be 1 on friday night and raining, probably sleeting. Sounds like a top night out dont you think . You can have three. You can come. We can have two scotch eggs, grab a brightly. Shiver outside. I have really had a more appealing offer for a night out honestly. Itjust sounds fun of you to include me. I will throw in the garnish. The one let asleep . Really slowly. If you are that desperate to get out of the house and have a drink, go for it. Ian pointed out we could go outside ifi ian pointed out we could go outside if i went error. Which i have done before. Maybe that is not in the spirit of things. If i went as his carer. My knee one by the end of the night. We are not advising that on this programme. Might need one. Surely there is a simple equation. The more time we spend at home, then the more popular Day Time Television becomes. Youd expect record ratings . And you would be right. But how tricky is to feed that appetite for daytime programming when everybody who stars in those programmes is bound by the same rules as the rest of us. Very difficult, is the answer. And yet there are programmes like this morning and bargain hunt here in the uk, or lets make a deal and the talk in the usa that have found a way. So to whet your appetite, heres what the american viewers are watching. So good to see you. We have our small but mighty audience. 12 people and 18 people at home, so this is an amazing new type of way of doing this. And we also have our virtual friends. Hello look at these humans in this Brand New Technology hey, Everyone Welcome to the season 11 premiere of the talk we are alive it really is a massive achievement to keep these programmes on air and someone who know that more than most is the iconic sharon osbourne, who co hosts the us daytime programme the talk. She joined katty earlier to talk about the challenges of producing Live Television day after day, week after week, during a pandemic. Sharon, thank you very much. We all know that everybody wants to watch a lot of tv and we are all stuck at home. Huge demand but huge hurdles. How are you managing on the show . My lord, everything can change. I mean, first of all, we have to be tested every single day. They have a big testing place here. All the crew and all the talent go to every day to be tested. Constantly everybody on the crew has to wear a mask and the visor thing. And we cannot go near each other. At the show, there is somebody all we are filming that sits in the audience to make sure, we dont have an audience, but they sit there and watch that we dont go near each other like talking private to anyone or touch anyone. I have been stuck at home twice with this because first of all, my grandkids got the virus, and then secondly, somebody that i work with at home, they got it, so twice i have been stuck like this and it is really difficult. People think you get to stay home for two weeks. No problem. No, it drives you crazy. People dont think of the mental effect it has on you. It is really not good. How have you faired . You have been in quarantine and not really had a thanksgiving. Have you been stuck at home with ozzie . Yes. Three of us at home, my eldest daughter amy, ozzie and i, and for the last two weeks, thatis and i, and for the last two weeks, that is at. How is he fearing with it all . He finds it extremely depressing. La, you wouldnt recognise it if you came here. All the sops are boarded. There is more homeless than ever. All the shops. It is not really fun here at all. It is quite depressing to see what has happened to the city. Honestly, you would not recognise it. You have used that word, depressing was that yet spoken candidly about your own battle with depression which i know a lot of people welcomed. It is not an issue that gets enough attention when we talk about quarantine and lockdown. It is not. Nobody has said what is the effect of this on people. If you have to keep isolating from the world. And you are there and how you haveis world. And you are there and how you have is the news which is every day it is more heartbreaking with more people dying in more people in quarantine it is just people dont think about that at all. And it has had a terrible effect on so many people. Before i let you go, i want to execute, a period of change in america and it will be changed at the white house. You are the Celebrity Apprentice with donald trump. As you sit on the sidelines and watch this now, what are your thoughts . I am relieved that i dont have to wake up frightened every day anymore. Because of what donald trump has said or what his plans are, and literally, i would wake up afraid of what he has done next. And the insanity that is been going on in the craziness and the people that he has around him representing him. His team of lawyers, you look at them and you wouldnt trust any of them. They are all like used car salesman. You wouldnt trust any of them. And to think that these people are now going to be gone, it is a sigh of relief. Any plans for the 0sbournes to return . Were always thinking about it. We are always like should we, shouldnt we, it is like should we, shouldnt we, it is like well may be something. You should, we miss it. I think people need a little light relief and i think maybe we make people laugh, that its for sure. We all need a bit of that. Sharon, lovely to see you and to catch up. Take care. God bless to ozzie. God bless to you and happy holidays. Thank you. bless to ozzie. God bless to you and happy holidays. Thank you. I like watching ozzie. The countdown to christmas begins tomorrow and for the trump family whatever the president tells us it will be their last in the white house. And so first lady, Melania Trump has been busy with this unveiled this years decorations. The theme . America the beautiful. I hope we decorations look as good as that, christian. Nowhere coming near. The thing is while melania would claim to be excited to show off the white house decorations this year her comments to a friend suggest otherwise. Cani can ijust can i just say that the light decorations . Do you like getting out all the bobbles . I love them. I love putting them up. I hate putting them away. Ditto. I hate putting them away. Ditto. I hate putting them away. Make sure you write them up properly. What if somebody came to adjudicate your Christmas Decorations . I sort of side with her. I done the three years and all her. I done the three years and all he ever say is i dont really like those. That is not my style. I feel where she is coming from here. Dont you . Ijust where she is coming from here. Dont you . I just hope where she is coming from here. Dont you . Ijust hope you would never be caught. But would you say that if you are the first lady of the United States, Christian Fraser . I can see you being the first lady, the first husband of the United States. I hope my wife is not watching. You are not meant to complain about Christmas Decorations. Hello there. Over the weekend, the air across parts of the uk stagnated beneath an area of high pressure. The winds stayed very, very light, so there was nothing really to move the weather along. However, on monday we started to develop these brisk north north westerly winds and that has brought something of a change in the weather. So although monday started off with a rather familiar murky kind of look across southern england, southern wales, the midlands and east anglia, we did see those brisk north north westerly winds bringing much brighter weather to the Northern Areas of the uk with some sunshine and showers. Now, there are going to be some further changes in the weather picture over the next few days. Tuesday, weve got cold air across parts of england, wales, and eastern scotland, but then this warm sector will begin to bring milder air in from the north west. But, before that happens, Tuesday Morning will start off on a cold note. Therell be some patches of frost to start the day across parts of scotland, england and wales. And through the day a fair bit of sunshine for east wales, for much of england, perhaps eastern scotland for a time. Cold northerly winds blowing and around those east coasts temperatures struggling. Highs of around 5 or 6 degrees celsius in places. Further north and west weve got the milder air pushing in, but with that comes a lot of cloud. There will be some drizzle around and probably some mist and fog patches forming again up over the high ground. Now for the middle part of the week, weve got this narrow warm sector getting squeezed out, colder air then follows behind this cold front that will be pushing its way eastwards across the uk. So england and wales, wednesday, a lot of cloud. Again, therell be some patches of light rain and drizzle pushing south eastwards during the day. The skies brighten up for scotland, Northern Ireland and northern england, perhaps north wales too with some sunshine. Strong winds with perhaps gales for western scotland and showers. Those showers get blown right across scotland into Northern Ireland and across into the far north of england. Its getting colder. Temperatures across Northern Areas 5 to 7 degrees celsius and the colder air will continue to feed in, getting colder still on thursday across Northern Areas. Further south, weve got this area of rain thats going to be moving its way in and that rain is going to be heavy rain across wales and southern counties of england. The winds also pretty strong, perhaps reaching gale force, around some of our southern coasts, but the coldest air will be across more Northern Areas. Well have a mixture of sunshine and showers, but look at the temperatures. Highs of about 4 in parts of scotland, 5 for Northern Ireland, although showers will start to turn to snow up over the high ground mostly above over 300 metres elevation. Now, we end the week with this colder air still feeding in, low pressure developing somewhere to the east of the uk, bringing heavy outbreaks of cold rain. However, as some of that colder airfeeds in, we could see some of that rain turn to snow, more especially over the high ground, again, probably above around 300 metres elevation or so. But it does mean that we could see some snow across the mountains in scotland, the mournes in Northern Ireland, the peaks, the pennines, the fells in england and over the high ground in wales, particularly snowdonia. So we could see scenes like these and its not completely out of the question that you see something a little bit wintry lower down, but those details arent knowable just at the moment. Now for the weekend, weve still got low pressure around about the uk, but again, theres uncertainty exactly where the low centres are going to be. So i cant tell you exactly where the rains going to be, where the showers are going to be, where the drier weathers going to be over the weekend, but overall, it looks like being an unsettled kind of picture and the temperatures im more confident in. Its going to stay on the cold side, with temperatures struggling below par for the time of year, highs of around 6 or 7 degrees, but certainly its going to get colder for all of us by friday. Thats your weather. 13,000 jobs at risk at arcadia, sir philip greens retail empire, which has gone into administration. The group, which includes topshop, burton and Dorothy Perkins, had been looking for a new injection of cash after sales collapsed this year. Sir philip has been criticised by former executives for not investing enough in arcadia and for being too slow to embrace online shopping. I think that the pandemic has accelerated what would have happened in perhaps three or four, five years time, and will also happen, i think, to a number of other high street retailers, too