Transcripts For BBCNEWS Beyond 100 Days 20240714

Before, to achieve what . But one of his supposed friends the Prime Minister of luxembourg launches a scathing attack on that Brexit Strategy after Boris Johnson pulls out of a joint News Conference amid noisy protests. Its not under my responsibility if they are not able to find a United Kingdom back in london and the house of commons and a majority. These are home made problems. Also on the Programme Auto workers at General Motors walk off the job for the first strike in 12 years, fuelling turmoil in the us economy. And the bride who swallowed her ring to hide it from the bad guys who wanted to steal it. Trouble is, she was dreaming it. Hello and welcome im Michelle Fleury in washington and Christian Fraser is in london. The wave of drone attacks this weekend on a major oil facility in saudi arabia, took out 5 of Global Supply and has triggered a record surge in oil prices. President trump says the United States is locked and loaded to respond and says he will use the Emergency Oil reserves if necessary to cover any supply disruptions. But how did a fleet of ten drones penetrate so deeply into saudi airspace, who launched them and where were they launched from 7 our Diplomatic Correspondent James Landale has this report. The attacks over the weekend struck at the heart of saudi arabias economic lifeblood. Air strikes on two of the largest Oil Facilities in the world, knocking out almost half of the countrys production. Iranian backed Houthi Rebels in yemen claimed responsibility. But us officials said satellite images showed a complex and precise assault involving at least 17 missiles and unmanned aircraft, originating from the north or north west, perhaps from pro iranian militias in iraq. Today, irans president was visiting turkey. His spokesman denied any responsibility for the attacks, accusing the us of maximum deceit. But according to saudi commanders, the origin of the weapons was clear. Translation initial findings indicate the weapons used in this terrorist attack are iranian. We will continue our investigations but our findings suggested this attack was not launched from yemen by houthi militias. Whats not clear yet is how the saudis and the us will respond. In a series of tweets, President Trump said the us was locked and loaded, apparently ready to help his ally take on iran. This behaviour is unacceptable. Its unacceptable and they must be held responsible. Make no mistake about it, this was a deliberate attack on the global economy. Tensions in the gulf have been growing for years, largely between iran and saudi arabia. Theyre fighting whats seen as a proxy war in yemen where the Saudi Led Coalition is battling pro iranian Houthi Rebels. And there have been houthi strikes on targets inside saudi territory before. Although few as large as over the weekend. But remember, iran itself has also been blamed for attacks in the region. Earlier in the summer it was accused of attacking oil tankers, and injune it shot down an unmanned us aircraft. Iran, because it has come under pressure, because it has come under renewed sanctions by the us, has tried to push back and has tried to push back by making it more complicated for other exporters of oil in the region. And that could have an impact on the forecourt. Today at one point Oil Prices Rose nearly 20 before falling back later. The biggest rise since the early 1990s. James landale, bbc news. As james was explaining, us officials have been briefing today that the drones could have been launched from inside iran. Reportedly there were 19 strikes on the two oilfields in the east of the country, over 500 miles from yemeni territory. Consider that saudi arabia has been at war with yemen for over four years, on heightened alert throughout. There are american supplied air defences inside the country. Not to mention significant us interests in the region. The us navys fifth fleet is stationed in bahrain. There are us air bases in qatar and the United Arab Emirates and a base in kuwait. Werejoined now in washington by barbara slavin, director of the future of Iran Initiative at the atlantic council. Thank you forjoining me. Lets start with us policy. We have seen this maximum pressure approach does this mean it is not working . think thats a fair conclusion. None of these incidents were occurring until the United States withdrew from the iran nuclear deal, especially not since the us essentially tried to impose a total embargo on the export of iranians oil last may. You remember that the us had waivers allowing some countries to continue purchases of iranians oil, then mike pompeo said he would bring iranians oil exports to zero. We have seen what happens. In the last few weeks we have heard talk about restarting talks with iran, no preconditions, not sure. Is that all out the window . Tension is now likely to increase . that all out the window . Tension is now likely to increase . I dont think it was ever on the cards. If the United States was smart, it would name an envoy with a proven track record of dealing with the iranians and would start lower level talks, may be behind the scenes. We desperately need de escalation. This is not helping anyone. The administration keeps telling us that the maximum pressure strategy they are applying is working, so what does this tell us . Does it tell us that we are seeing iranians weakness oi that we are seeing iranians weakness or desperation, or is it the reverse is or desperation, or is it the reverse is it or desperation, or is it the reverse isita or desperation, or is it the reverse is it a signal of iranians strength . Obviously, the strategy is not working. Iran has become more provocative since the United States withdrew from the nuclear deal. There is no prospect of a new and better deal, which was President Trumps promise when he left the agreement, so iran is suffering. The economic sanctions clearly are hurting, but they are ratcheting up the pressure, and if iran was indeed responsible for this attack, this was the most provocative step they have taken yet. And what is the United States supposed to do about it . There was no military authorisation that allows the United States to retaliate against iran absent and irani an attack on an american target. And we have seen how this drug is in the other countries in the region, so of course yemen has been part of the focus, but also the iraqi Prime Minister has been forced to come out and deny the attack came from his country because he is desperate not to get dragged into this proxy war. Yes, iraq is in the worst possible place. They want to keep good relations with both the us and iran, so we relations with both the us and iran, so we have seen statements that the attacks did not come from a rocky soil will stop i hope for the sake of iraq that that is indeed the case. Barbara slaving, thank you for your thoughts. Barbara slavin. Justin bronkjoins me now. Hes a Research Fellow at the rusi think tank here in london and specialises in combat airpower and technology. How would they put together an attack like this . The first way would be small drones, small missiles with wings and propeller engines, which have seen a lot of use from the houthis in the past as well as in general and the middle east. Those could be launched from yemen and can cover significant distances but have very small warheads, about 30 kilograms maximum, not sufficient to cause damage on this scale unless you get a lot of very lucky hits. With more than smartphone and gps technology, potentially very accurate. That would be one potential element. Then you have cruise missiles, much larger, tend to be launched with a booster, creating a large plume, a lot of light, heat and smoke. After the first few seconds, they will transition to a smalljet engine then would be quite quiet, small and difficult to spot. President rouhani is in turkey today saying this is a reciprocal response to aggression in yemen. I dont know if that amounts toa claim yemen. I dont know if that amounts to a claim of responsibility, but what you just described takes a fair amount of technical know how, and some people question whether the houthis might have that. I am incredulous that they managed to get so incredulous that they managed to get so deep into saudi territory. Lets have a look on the map at the American Interest in the region. They have been on heightened alert forfour they have been on heightened alert for four years they have been on heightened alert forfour years and they have been on heightened alert for four years and would have been looking for this. It is interesting that most of the large, big ticket air defence items which the saudis have purchased, in particular the Patriot Missile system, they are optimised for the Ballistic Missile threat, so very large, fast, high arcing trajectory weapons which have been the major form for houthis to attack infrastructure and other targets, like mecca in saudi arabia until recently. Though systems are incredibly expensive, cant be everywhere at once, and their coverage of the large saudi kingdom, with the curvature of the earth, they would not see them until they we re they would not see them until they were 60 kilometres away. To look for relatively slow targets they are and they are looking for high flying large ones. There are point defence systems, radar guided guns, for example, which russia uses in syria to defend its air bases from the sort of attacks. The russians have only two major facilities to defend, so only two major facilities to defend, so they can have a layered air defence bubble. Justin, ijust wa nted defence bubble. Justin, ijust wanted to ask, there was an attack in may using drones, and we have more drones in this attack seven might looking at the technology, does it look like it was the same people behind both attacks . What is interesting here is that the scale of the destruction and quite how, if you look at the satellite imagery, precise the impact points are across the refinery. That would suggest military grade hardware, so perhaps cruise missiles are more likely to bea cruise missiles are more likely to be a culprit here for the major damage. No doubt some drones mixed if it is a cruise missile, there is only one place the third nights could have got it, if it came from yemen. Where it came from is almost irrelevant. If it was a cruise missile, it was a rainy and produced and given to someone, regardless of where it was launched from. How do you think that shifts our psychology . We have always taken the 0pec cartel as a stable joint that can supply the world oil markets. Does it shift how we think of saudi arabia . And does it also shift how production goes in the future within the 0pec cartel . I think theyve done a fantasticjob of trying to convey this very stable, large producer image. Now the question is, what happens next . Has that psychology been pierced, and what does this do Going Forward for its power within the cartel . Clearly efforts being made to say, we can make up the production, on the part of saudi arabia so that other players dont try to step up to the plate. They dont want smaller producers opening the taps when they have just got them not to flood the market. Lets focus on brexit. Borisjohnson was in luxembourg today for talks with his counterpart Xavier Bettel and the European Commission president jean claude junker. Its customary on these visits for a Prime Minister to stand alongside his hosts, and give some insight into what the meetings had achieved. This borisjohnson was in luxembourg today for talks well, not today. 0ddly, mr bettel had positioned two lecterns for a press conference, in his courtyard, in full view of the street and an anti brexit demonstration. Mrjohnson, booed on his way into the meeting, asked for the Subsequent Press conference to be moved inside, so that people would hear properly. Mr bettel reportedly refused and borisjohnson left without comment. His host proceeded with a briefing anyway, effectively empty chairing mrjohnson. A reflection perhaps of europes growing frustration with the british position. I repeat, this brexit, its not my choice. Its been a decision from a party, it was a decision from David Cameron to do it. They decide, they decide, i deeply regret it. But dont put the blame on us because now they dont know how to get out of this. Situation they put themselves in. Its not my choice. So the eu impatient to see more details from mrjohnson. Before he left luxembourg he gave an interview to our Political Editor Laura Kuenssberg we think we can satisfy the European Commission and ourfriends on the key points integrity of the single market, ensuring there are no checks at the border in Northern Ireland, protecting all the achievements of the good friday agreement. I think we can, while simultaneously allowing the whole of the uk to withdraw. Lets speak now to michael birnbaum, the washington posts Brussels Bureau chief. What did you make of the bettel press conference . It wasjust an incredible scene. The Prime Minister of luxembourg is a friendly guy, outgoing, well known within european circles for being extremely cheerful and always bringing. He always seems to be telling jokes at the outset of summits. Today was something different, emotional, passionate, really angry and a real edge and what he was saying, denouncing the current state of brexit affairs. You could just tell he was so frustrated with both the brexit process, and we dont know exactly his conversation with Boris Johnson today, but you know, he was angry and frustrated immediately upon leaving those one on one talks with the british leader. It was pretty noisy and i dont know if they would have heard much of they had continued. Lets talk about what he discussed withJean Claude Juncker. Each said they would intensify their efforts. It is back to the future. They used to say this with theresa may but they went round and round the same issues, and didnt get any further on. We are still going around the same issues stop there is a big disagreement about the irish backstop, as it is called, the Insurance Plan to make sure there is no hard border that goes up between Northern Ireland and the republic of ireland, and the european side says it is open to other ideas, to a uk initiative to find a different way to keep the border open as long as they are respecting eu red lines, which the eu says Boris Johnson respecting eu red lines, which the eu says borisjohnson hasnt come up with any concrete ideas yet. There is real frustration. With any concrete ideas yet. There is realfrustration. Downing street itself is saying, we need to have movement on the eu side, and the eu side is saying, you have to move first. This is your brexit and it is for you to come up with some new ideas, so not a lot of movement right now. Michael, if the uk did lay out some new proposals, is there a sense that brussels would be receptive, given for example the anger we so expressed receptive, given for example the anger we so expressed today by mr bettel . Brussels is ready for a deal that respects what it says its red lines are. That is respect for the European Market and no hardboard. So, if there were, for example, a Northern Ireland only, what they call a Northern Irish backstop, that would be setting up some sort of border between Northern Ireland and the rest of the uk, Northern Ireland inside eu regulations, that would be fine with the eu, and they could probably get that done quickly. The question is whether that would be politically acceptable on the british site, and at the moment, it seems unlikely that that would work. There is openness to a deal but not a lot of optimism that something could work out that would be politically acceptable on both side. Good to talk to you, michael. Thank you for your thoughts. How you view today depends on how you view brexit. I have been looking at social media, and lots of people on the remain side saying, if he is really the whole, he should have been man enough to face down the protesters. 0n the other side, you see mr bettel trying to put the british Prime Minister in an awkward position where he would have been booed and drowned out had he stood there at the lectern. If you think back to the dublin press conference, the irish Prime Minister wasjust as robust as mr bettel was today and mr johnson stood there politely and gave his side of the brexit argument, so i dont think he was frightened to stand there, but i think it was a bit of an old stunt to pull, to be honest. When you look at pictures like the one wejust when you look at pictures like the one we just saw of the empty podium, they speak volumes. We dont see many closer to any kind of diplomacy, and that ultimately is what will be needed if any deal is going to be reached. Plenty of people are saying that this stunt might harden the minds of brexit supporters who will feel motivated by this. I think there is a feeling that there was some progress, and Jean Claude Juncker said he felt there was some progress, and jean claudejuncker said he felt he learned something today, which was that this government feel different about the ha rdboa rd that this government feel different about the hardboard in ireland than the last one. That was new, i think, forJean Claude Juncker. We have heard from dominic raab, the foreign secretary today. We have seen in the past how their proposals have been undermined and they want to present it in the round to the 27 and see if it in the round to the 27 and see if it can get a fair hearing with the added time pressure on top. That would be my hunch. A6,000 auto workers across the us, from michigan to texas, went on strike last night after talks faltered with their employer, General Motors. Its the unions first strike since the automaker emerged from taxpayer funded bankruptcy a decade ago. Their union the uaw wants a bigger share in the companys profits, as well as better healthcare and job security. They say what they are asking for is fair. Gm disagrees. The walkout has shut down 55 gm facilities in states across the us. Gm is likely to lose 50 million a day due to lost production. To put that in context, last year gm posted an 8 billion dollar profit. Talks are ongoing. Meanwhile President Donald Trump has weighed in here we go again with General Motors and the united auto workers, he wrote on twitter. Get together and make a deal for more we are joined now by david shepherdson, who covers transportation for reuters. David, where are we now on the negotiations, given that both sides seem very negotiations, given that both sides seem very far apart . They had a new round of talks this morning after the strike began, and it was really to set up talks for the rest of the week. As you said, there are a lot of issues that have to be resolved. It is worth noting that a letter released today by the uaw said that had gm made this offer earlier in the process, may be a strike could have been avoided, so that it is a positive sign that they may be not as farapart as positive sign that they may be not as far apart as the public blustering would suggest. As you point out, gm has made 35 billion in profits in recent years and the union wants more job security guarantees because there could be a recession and a slowdown in auto sales and they are worried that gm could have another round of plant closures like the one last year. Certainly a lot of tough bargaining that will have to take place in the coming days to resolve this strike. I was talking to gm auto workers in january who had been affected by the Company Plans to shut some plants, and there was a lot of anger. Is that feeding on and shaping these talks . Absolutely. I think gm is still recovering both here in washington and with its workforce without very abrupt decision in november to close five plants in north america, including two Assembly Plant and two parts plants. The union were caught off guard because the company is profitable, but gm insists it has to do that to shift autonomous and electric vehicles. At the bargaining table, they have to do something to assure they have to do something to assure the union that that is not going to happen again and workers will have some sort of protection. And still to resolve the fate of those two key pla nts to resolve the fate of those two key plants in michigan and ohio that are key to Donald Trumps election chances. We dont hear many union stories. You dont have the same Union Culture in the United States that we have in europe, but the car industry unions still have some clout, dont they . Absolutely. It really is remarkable how few nationwide strikes there are in the us, and how private sector unions are so us, and how private sector unions are so much weaker than they were in yea rs past are so much weaker than they were in years past when they represented more than a third of the us workforce. Gm is still in a pretty good position to weather a strike. They have a big supply of vehicles. They have a big supply of vehicles. They have a big supply of vehicles. They have prebuilt vehicles to prepare for this, but if it goes on for more than a week, it will hurt the company under union, and then the company under union, and then the question becomes, how do they find a way out of this strike if is not about the issues at the table but more about the anger, the prior plant closures and how both sides ultimately save face and reach a deal . David, thanks forjoining us. We will follow this strike as it continues. Five plants closing down, though. Fourin five plants closing down, though. Four in the United States and one in canada. Apparently a 20 million bonus for the chief executive as well, which wont go down well. The other thing to watch out for is, this is the first round of negotiations. Ford is among the other car makers to go later. Will that be affected and will they take this hard line into those discussions . Knock on effects for the big three. This is beyond 100 days from the bbc. Coming up for viewers on the bbc news channel and bbc world news how will everyone be hit by the air strike on saudi oilfacilities . This is beyond 100 days from the bbc. Coming up for viewers on the bbc news channel how will everyone be hit by the air strike on saudi oilfacilities . Well look at when it could mean higher prices for everyone at the pumps. And well hear about the evolution of Country Music we speak with ken burns about his docu series following the genre from hillbilly to honkytonk and ultimately the top of the charts. Thats still to come. Good evening. We had some contrasting conditions today in comparison to the weekend. Hardly a cloud in the sky for parts of england and wales, particularly on sunday, but today it was disappointing. Threatening looking skies at times, although there wasnt that much in the way of rain. But there was a fair amount of cloud across england and wales, the odd spot or two of nuisance drizzle, as well. The best of the sunshine, northern england, southern scotland, Northern Ireland, just a few scattered showers across the north west, the great glen and the northern isles, accompanied by a brisk north westerly breeze. Now, those showers will ease as we go through the night and skies clear. Even that frontal system eases and we will see temperatures widely dipping down into single figures, maybe low single figures in more rural areas. So there could be a little bit of Early Morning mist and fog, as well, first thing. That will thin and break and it stays fairly quiet throughout tuesday. Again, still a noticeable breeze into the far north and running down through the north sea. Now, thatjust may affect the temperatures along that east coast there, 13 15. But highest values are likely 19 or 20. High pressure will continue to drift in from the atlantic. Across the top of that high is a weak weather front and thats going to bring the risk of some light, patchy rain into the far north of scotland. But with lighter winds than of late and the rain very hit and miss, perhaps for some a better story. Dry and sunny elsewhere, values of 10 20, 68 fahrenheit. As we move out of wednesday into thursday, things will quieten down still, that frontal system drifts away. The High Pressure dominates the story and there will be fairly widespread isobars, so light winds. Early morning mist and fog could be a little bit slow to clear away but it will do so and again, we keep that dry, settle theme for many of us with some sunshine coming through. And those temperatures very similar to what we have seen so far this week, highs of 10 20. But we will start to see a change as we move towards the weekend. Were going to lose the blue tones as the warm russets return, because the winds are going to change direction. A south easterly to start with as we move through the weekend perhaps more to a southerly, and so conditions will turn warmer, not just for the south east, right across the country. But we could see temperatures as high as 25. This is beyond 100 days. With me Michelle Fleury in washington, Christian Fraser is in london. Our top stories. In the last half an hour iranian president Hassan Rouhani has said the drone attacks which wiped out nearly half of saudis Oil Production were a reciprocal response by yemen. Borisjohnson admits the eu wants to move on from brexit but the bloc says its still not seen any concrete proposals from the british Prime Minister. Coming up in the next half hour. Plus the advertising worker who brought in the services of a clown to accompany him to a redundancy meeting. Nearly one year after his confirmation onto the us Supreme Court, Justice Brett kavanaugh is facing calls for his impeachment after new details have emerged about alleged Sexual Misconduct in his past involving a woman named Deborah Ramirez and another similar incident never before revealed which the woman involved doesnt remember. Many of you will recall that in 2018, during kava naughs confirmation process, he faced another misconduct allegation from Christine Blasey ford, who said that kavanaugh assaulted her while they were teenagers. Kavanaugh denies both sets of allegations against him but his appointment to the Supreme Court was protested by many. So will anything change with the publication of these new reports . Joining me now in washington is jonathan tu rley, a constitutional law professor at George Washington university and bbc legal analyst. Many people will be scratching their heads going can you impeach, what is what many people are now calling for, a Supreme Courtjustice . You cant. Judgment are subject to impeachment clauses. I was lead counsel on last impeachment on a federaljudge before the us senate. There have been variousjudges federaljudge before the us senate. There have been various judges who have been removed from office. It is not very common. There has only been one Supreme Courtjustice ever subject to impeachment. The difficult quality to this as you wa nt to difficult quality to this as you want to make sure impeachment is not ado want to make sure impeachment is not a do over of a field confirmation effort. Democrats are deeply aggrieved that kava nagh effort. Democrats are deeply aggrieved that kavanagh made it through. To get an impeachment they would need the most compelling possible evidence that he lied. This is not a charge for what he did in college, the charges did he lie in his confirmation hearing when he categorically denied that he ever did anything like this . You have got the justice did anything like this . You have got thejustice committee, judiciary committee, has got to decide if there is enough for an investigation, you have got President Trump tweeting that the department ofjustice must come to the rescue of cavanaugh. Once again President Trump has made things much worse for brett kavanaugh. Department ofjustice does not rescue people, it investigates. The Founding Fathers created something called good behaviour, it isa something called good behaviour, it is a legal term, that allows the chief justice to be is a legal term, that allows the chiefjustice to be removed by judicial process. Does this reach the bar of good behaviour . Well, it does not, if the allegations are true. The problem is we do not have much evidence to judge the veracity of this witness who came forward with a new account. Indeed, part of the problem is that the New York Times did not initially report that that woman involved has no memory of this incident. Now the report does have other damaging fa cts. Report does have other damaging facts. 0ne report does have other damaging facts. One is that there were other people that they say corroborated the Deborah Ramirez allegation, also a large number of people that told the reporters that they tried to give evidence during the confirmation process but the fbi never called them back. We will leave it there. Thank you very much indeed for that as we watchjudge kavanaugh, to see if he responds. I think he will respond. The president is encouraging him to sue for libel, but one defence is a true story, or a true account. Some people are advising him not to get involved in it. We shall see. President erdogan of turkey says he wants to send three million Syrian Refugees back to their country accommodating them in what he called a safe zone in the north. The beginnings of such a zone are already being established in cooperation with the United States. He set out his plans at a meeting on syria with president putin of russia and the iranian leader, Hassan Rouhani. Retiring house of Commons Speaker john bercow has been speaking about brexit at new york university. Bercow spoke about the nature of democracy and his role to faciliate the desire of the house of the commons. He said borisjohnson will make decisions based on whats best for the country but that the next steps forward are unclear. Scientists think they have found a way to stop the common cold and closely related viruses which can cause paralysis. Instead of trying to attack them directly, the researchers targeted an essential protein inside our cells which the viruses need to replicate. The approach gave complete protection in experiments on mice and human lung cells. I have always believed in a Conspiracy Theory that i think i have perpetrated which is that i think i know how to they know how to solve the common cold but they make such a fortune from medicines thatis make such a fortune from medicines that is an industry that would disappear if they solve the common cold. Ido cold. I do not know about that butjust think what would their world be without man calls . That is a trickier one to solve because as you know the man cold is a more serious strain of the common cold than the ones that the fairer six suffer. That is the way i push it at home. The sacklers have become one of the worlds most contraversial families, their company inextricably linked with fuelling the devastating opioid addiction crisis in the us. And now, Purdue Pharma has filed for bankruptcy. The move is designed to resolve the thousands of lawsuits it is facing in connection with the epedemic. Its alleged they aggressively marketed the prescription painkiller 0xycontin while misleading doctors and patients. Purdue and the sacklers deny allegations that they have contributed to the crisis. Nick bryant is our north america correspondent and joins us from new york. Half of the states have agreed to the settlement, half have not. Why have they not all signed up . You had 48 states pursuing Purdue Pharma. Half of them have agreed to the settle m e nt half of them have agreed to the settlement which the bankruptcy of Purdue Pharma, and half of them have not, including big states like new york, connecticut, which is where Purdue Pharma is based, newjersey, pennsylvania, some of the big states, who have been very aggressive not just states, who have been very aggressive notjust in pursuing Purdue Pharma, but certain members of the family with involvement in the company. They think they should put up more money. Minimum is 3 billion of that family fortune as pa rt billion of that family fortune as part of this proposed settlement. States like new york would like to see more. They would also like to see more. They would also like to see the Sackler Family and Purdue Pharma actually accept blame for what they accuse as they are a part increasing the Opioid Crisis and the choices which fuelled the crisis. And this deal, this proposed settlement, which is going to be put before the Bankruptcy Court at Purdue Pharma. This is the response from new York State Attorney general. Any deal which treats americans out of billions of dollars allows the sacklers to evade responsibility and allows the family to continue peddling their drugs, a bad one which new york state remains opposed to. It sounds like this will go on. So many communities across america have been affected by this epidemic. How do you think they will benefit . The idea is that the company goes into bankruptcy, it will be restructured into what is called a Public Benefit trust and revenues that are generated by its ongoing sale of drugs will go towards these communities, towards addressing the Opioid Crisis, towards treatment, towards help for people who suffer from addiction. Also to help defray some of the police and cost involved. If you go out with the police in america these days in one of these communities affected by the Opioid Crisis, and most are, you will see that policemen are often medical responders, they are also people who manage to revive the victims who have overdosed. A lot of this money is earmarked for that sort of thing. What Purdue Pharma has said is that hopefully in time the parties who disagree and challenge this in court will be supported because they will see it is right to focus on what they say are Critical Resources into the people and problems who need them rather than financing even more litigation. But some of the state attorney generals gave that short shrift, irrespective of Purdue Pharmas actions says the delaware attorney general, they will pursue that action. Saudi arabia says they have found debris and wreckage around the Oil Facilities that were targeted this weekend, which suggest iranians weapons were used. But they have stopped short for now of apportioning blame directly. The strike removed around 5 of global oil supplies. 0n the markets, oil posted its biggest ever intradayjump breifly surging over 71 a barrel. Just to underline how significant this is. Here are the top 10 biggest ever disruptions to world Oil Production. And you can see that the weekends attack was even more serious than saddam husseins scud missile attacks on saudi arabia in 1991. But earlier today, the Trump Administration reiterated that they were able to handle events like these given the strength of americas position on the global oil market. This is not the 1970s oil market, it is not 1990 with iraq invading kuwait, we are now eight net oil exporter, the American Market is well protected. Lets go to the Trading Floor in chicago and speak to our old friend scott shelady, aka the cowguy from marex solutions. Tell us what has been happening on the future markets today and how thatis the future markets today and how that is going to affect me, the consumer . We have spikes like you said in the preamble there. It will settle down. What we are worried about here is not whether or not what this has done to the markets but i think what we should worry about is how this could happen again. Let us talk about the oil be lost, 5 of global output. It is not that big a deal. It is a big deal for saudi arabia but the markets have taken it very well. Like it was said, there is a big amount of oil in the United States, they have gone from Energy Independence to Energy Dominance and that is part of the reason why the market has not traded higher. If this was 15 or 20 years ago you would have seen dollars per barrel trading much higher. Strategic oil reserves in the United States are full to brimming. You have got the fracking boom in there in america. Maybe you are better disposed to Something Like this than we are over here in europe . That is largely why we had the bump anyway. If that world was that us would not have made much difference. 596 would not have made much difference. 5 of oil output. It is a much bigger deal for saudi arabia and 5 of oil output. It is a much bigger dealfor saudi arabia and not such a big dealfor here in the us but again if this was 20 years ago we would have calamity is probably a strong word, but a much higher price. We have to worry about how this could happen again. Could this drone strike happen in the states, anywhere else in the far east . That is another issue. We have to worry about how it happens not why it happens. Let us talk about some big numbers for a second. In the us penny that you add on to a gallon of petrol or take away results in a 1 billion swing to the consumer. That could be 14 billion annually. That is 1 billion. Into a 14 trillion economy. Therefore it is not that big a deal, one sense, even 5 cents. The us has done a good job about fracking and the things that we have donein fracking and the things that we have done in the last ten and 15 years. This would have been a much bigger story 20 years ago but today that us oil supply has kept things muted. It signs that you are seeing the psychology long term will be affected, that could keep the price of oilup affected, that could keep the price of oil up higher for a affected, that could keep the price of oil up higherfor a while. What is the damage that that does to the us economy at a time when people are already concerned about the strength of the American Consumer . That is a very good point. The American Consumer is 70 of our economy. The quickest way that we can get money to or from the American Consumer, i have always said, is at the gas pump, the petrol pump. If we are giving them five or ten backs every time they fill up with gas that could be twice a week, ten or 20 bucks per week, no other better vehicle to give money to the consumer or take money away from the consumer. That could absolutely be the reason why you could see may be a further slowing, we are still growing but at a slower rate, so thatis growing but at a slower rate, so that is a negative on the economy. If you start to see things psychologically get out of control like, could this happen again, another drone strike at another important production place . Again when you look at their psychology, that also causes problems. We need to get in front of the psychology and let everybody know that as the consumer goes we are still very healthy. Have you got a new shirt . Where is the jacket . Is that a cow shirt . It isa the jacket . Is that a cow shirt . It is a new line of clothing. Ido it is a new line of clothing. I do not want to see your underpants. I do not care if they are underpants. I do not care if they a re cow underpants. I do not care if they are cow underpants. Good to see you. All right. Good. Heres a story from san diego, about a wedding ring and a dream that came true. And it is not what you are expecting. Bride to bejenna evans actually swallowed her wedding ring. And this is where the dream came true. There she was, fast asleep, dreaming of fiance bobby howell, who was with her on a speeding train, and together they were trying to protect the ring from the bad guys. And so she put it in her mouth and she swallowed it. And then she woke up and the ring was gone. Which resulted in a panicked visit to the hospital where doctors agreed it would be unwise to let nature take its course. They x rayed her and there it was a 2. 4 carat ring, lodged in her stomach. But alls well that ends well after a small procedure she was reunited with her ring. I would like to point out that i have still got my ring on here. We are all good. Mine is welded on. The longer you are married the knuckle grows fatter and the bottom of the finger at withers away and even if you had a dream like that you could not get it off anyway. Also, that was quite a chunky ring, shall we say. It was a chunky ring, yes. I got that bit. We understand that. This is beyond 100 days. Still to come pull your boots on, its Country Music time. Well take a look at the popular genres complex history in the United States. Liberal democrat leader, jo swinson, says her party wont go into coalition with borisjohnson orjeremy corbyn. Speaking in bournemouth she also denies that her party is being anti democratic in saying it would cancel brexit by revoking article 50 without another referendum. Chief Political Correspondent vicki young sent this report which contains some flash photography. Liberal democrat conference is not everyones idea of fun. But this year at some new recruits are throwing themselves into the experience. Six former labour and conservative mps have defected to the lib dems because of brexit. There might be more to come. After some difficult times activists are feeling optimistic. Yesterday the party agreed to revoke article 50, cancelling brexit altogether, if it wins a general election. Leaderjo swinson denies she is ignoring the referendum result. Ithink swinson denies she is ignoring the referendum result. I think it is about being straightforward and honest. I totally accept that lots of people will not agree with it, but i think you have to stand up for what you think is right. The lib dems want voters to be in no doubt that they are against brexit. Some think the new policy shift could harm the chances of the party and former strongholds. harm the chances of the party and former strongholds. I think that taking the extremist position in going to revoke article 50 is counter productive if we are trying to keep some of our leave inclined. Butjo swinson to keep some of our leave inclined. But jo swinson is to keep some of our leave inclined. Butjo swinson is focused on victory, she says in such volatile political times anything could happen, and she is aiming to be Prime Minister. She is rejecting any suggestion should be propped up another party. The lib dem strategy depends on the next election being all about brexit. As Boris Johnson next election being all about brexit. As borisjohnson tries to attract brexiteers jo brexit. As borisjohnson tries to attract brexiteersjo swinson will be going all out to appeal to those who voted to remain. She is certainly aiming high but there are not many who think she will be the next Prime Minister. Songwriter Merle Haggard famously said that Country Music wasnt fiddle, banjo, melody or lyrics, but a feeling. Others say its the best way to tell a story. A new documentary series takes a deep dive into the origins of Country Music. It started as the songs americans sang to themselves in farm fields and railroad yards, to friendly gatherings on porches and in parlours and finally to the bright lights and big stages of nashville. For more on how Country Music changed with nation, i spoke earlier with film maker ken burns from new york. As i was watching the First Episode last night, i was struck by sort of how many different artists there were, how many song choices. How do you distill all of that to create something that is approachable for the average viewer, who may not be steeped in Country Music . The burden is always that there is always conventional wisdom about a particular subject, in the case of Country Music, its just one thing when it is in fact made of many diverse constituent parts. And even at the beginning of Country Music, the two main supergroups, superstarjimmie rodgers and the Carter Family dont sound anything like from one another. And within their own roots, they have many tangled ingredients. When you look back over some of your past works, youve often relied on historians. But here you were able to talk to a lot of those who were directly involved, the musicians telling their own story. Youve got figures like Merle Haggard, who passed away in 2016. Do you have a sense of urgency that some of those you are speaking to are older in age or indeed have passed away and so there is a sense of time running out to get their stories on tape . We were aware that many of the people that we wanted to talk to were getting old, or later in age, and so we started with them first. And of the 101 interviews that we did, 41 of them happen to be in the Country Music hall of fame, weve lost 20 of them. Very sad, but also we were kind of relieved that we were able to get them and offer them, you know, a little bit of immortality by inclusion in our series. And no one was more central to that than Merle Haggard. He is zeus. Every time he comes on, he seems to be speaking with such great authority. Its not a lightning bolt of fear but of gentleness and love and compassion. I feel so grateful that we had our time with him. You talk about love and compassion, this is, when you talk about Country Music, its about love but its also about loss. Thats right. I think we, you know, commerce and convenience have categorised Country Music into a sort of, as if its one thing. Imprisoned in a silo that means that it isnt attached to everything else. Its attached to every other form of music and the borders are completely porous. Its not an island nation. You dont need a visa or some relaxed immigration status or a passport. Everybody flows back and forth and its very important to celebrate that in Country Music, its diversity and the sources of it. Country music is hugely popular here in america, but it hasnt been so big internationally. Why do you think that is . Why hasnt it always been given the same sort of seriousness that other forms of music have . Well, i thinkjazz has that sense of the american art form and there is a place for it at the lincoln centre, deservedly so, but i would push back a little bit on your assumption. And lets also remember that the beatles, every single one of them had as their significant musical influence was country first. Ringo starr said that it was the cowboy music of gene autry, for George Harrison it was the songs, the blues ofjimmie rodgers and the guitar playing, the jazz inflected guitar playing of chester atkins, chet atkins. For paul mccartney, obviously, it was the ballads of marty robbins. And forjohn lennon, its clear that he was drawn to Hank Williams tunes. So all of those go into making, you know, the greatest rock and roll band of all time, bar none, period. All of them have country at their roots. And if you look at many of their albums, particularly the white album but not limited to that, youve got country songs in there. The influence of Country Music casting a long shadow. Ken burns, thank you so much. My pleasure, thanks for having me. I notice he did not mention rolling stones, another british band also influenced by Country Music. It is interesting, if you look at popular genres of music in america, country ra nks genres of music in america, country ranks in the top three, the top five, not necessarily the case when you look internationally, in the uk it has not historically been the case but increasingly some artists are sort of leading the way in making it more popular. I do not know if you have been getting into your cowboy boots and line dancing, but Country Music increasingly popular where you are. And there has always been a place for kenny rogers in the freezer household. When Josh Thompson from auckland received an email from his bosses asking to discuss his role at work he knew he was facing redundancy. And its never easy to learn youre being ousted from yourjob so when the Hr Department encouraged him to bring a support person to help cushion the blow he took them up on their offer. Who to bring. A Family Member . A friend . Even a pet by todays standards. But no. Josh opted for. A clown. Called joe. Joe accompanied josh to the meeting, where he, amongst other things, made balloon animals, though he had to be told to stop a few times as the sound of screeching of plastic made it hard to hear. Josh says he thoroughly recommends hiring a clown for anyone going through a difficult experience. Did they clown park his car and the chief executives parking space . Did he, when they were trying to close the door, get his clown excised shoes in the door as they we re excised shoes in the door as they were trying to push him out the door . That is what i want to know. Take a clown with you. You are having too much fun with this. I love it. Take a clown with you when you go to one of these meetings. We will see you tomorrow. We had some contrasting conditions today in comparison to the weekend, hardly a cloud in the sky. Today it was disappointing. Although there was disappointing. Although there was not that much in the way of rain. Buta was not that much in the way of rain. But a fair amount of cloud across england and wales. Best of the sunshine in northern england, southern scotland, Northern Ireland. Just a few scattered showers across the great glen, accompanied by brisk north westerly breeze. Those showers will ease as we go through the night and skies will clear. That frontal system eases away and we will see temperatures widely dipping down into single figures, may be low single figures in rural areas. There could be Early Morning fist Early Morning mist and fog. Still a noticeable breeze into the far north and running down through the north sea. That just may and running down through the north sea. Thatjust may affect and running down through the north sea. That just may affect the temperatures along that east coast, 1315dc, temperatures along that east coast, 13 15dc, highest values 19 or 20 celsius. High pressure will drift in from the atlantic. Across the top of thatis from the atlantic. Across the top of that is a weak weather front, that will bring the risk of light patchy rain into the far north of scotland. With lighter winds than of late and the rain very hit and miss, perhaps for some a better story. Dry and sunny elsewhere. Highest values of 1020dc. As sunny elsewhere. Highest values of 10 20dc. As we move out of wednesday into thursday things will quieten down. That frontal system drifts away. High pressure dominates the story. There will be fairly widespread isobars. Light winds. Early morning mist and fog could be slow to clear away but it will do so. Slow to clear away but it will do so. Sunshine coming through. Temperatures very similar. Highs of 1020dc. We will temperatures very similar. Highs of 10 20dc. We will start to see a change as we move towards the weekend. We will lose that cooler blue tones as the warm russets returned because the winds are going to change direction, south easterly to change direction, south easterly to start with, as we move through the weekend, more to a southerly. Conditions will turn warmer, not just for the south east, right across the country, we could see temperatures as high as 25 celsius. This is bbc news. The headlines borisjohnson meeting this is bbc news. The headlines Boris Johnson meeting eu this is bbc news. The headlines borisjohnson meeting eu leaders, but they say the still not seen any concrete proposals. The Prime Minister warns europe wants to move on from brexit. I think they have had a belly full of all this stuff. They want to develop a new relationship with the uk. Theyre fed up with these endless delays. They have delayed twice before, to achieve what . Protesters force Boris Johnson to pull out of a press conference with the Prime Minister of luxembourg, who attacked the uk for failing of luxembourg, who attacked the uk forfailing to agree of luxembourg, who attacked the uk for failing to agree a brexit plan. It is not under my responsibility if theyre not able to find a United Kingdom back in london and in the house of commons and in