threatis made possible by. man: babbel, a language learning app that teaches real life conversations and uses speech recognition technology. daily 10 to 15 minute y ssons are voicedtive speakers and they are at babe b-a-b-b-e-l.com. narrator: funding was also provided by... the freeman foundation. by judy and peteunblum-kovler tion. tod by contributions his pbs station from viewers like you, thank you. woman: and now, bbc world news.

laura: this is "bbc world news america." reporting from washington, i am ura trevelyan. the president denies asking his attorney general to say he broke no lawin the call with leader.leader -- ukraine' it is all a hoax, says mr. trump. out on therail in the u.k. we are in leeds ahead of the december pivotallection. plus, the speed machine aiming for the record books. we meet the british team that has been testing out a creation named bloodhound. >> there he goes. an extraordinary moment. six tons of car. within0 seconds it will go 500 miles an hour. laura: for those watching on pbs and around the globe, welcome to "world news amica." as the impeachment inquiry and

unfolds on capitol hill, president trump was on the t tack today. he is furious abports that he asked attorney general william barr to ld a press conference clearing him of any wrongdoing in the phone call with ukrain's leader in which mr. trump asked for a favor as military aid to ukraine was on hold. mr. barr refused to hold a news conference. onmeanwhile, former na security advisor john bolton was a no-show for close-door testimony.av and weseen more transcripts from witnesses who did testify. all this as public hearings are begin next week.s for more, i ined earlier by joe moreno, a former federal prosecutor. the president is very cross about this reporting that he has to bill barr to clear him in a public news conference, what -- but was it necessary for the attorney general to do that? joe: i get that the president is saying he did not make this request. it is reminiscent of reports we heard a long time ago when the president reportedly wanted james comey, former fbi

director, to have a similar news conference back when we were talking about russia and how was that he was upset with jeff sessions not going on the record , our previous attorney general. whether it happened not, keep in mind that the justice department has weighed in on the phone call, and the date of the transcript was released in seember, the justice department made a statement saying that they looked at the transcript of the call between president trump and prident zelensky, and found it was not n campaign f violation and nothing further to investigate. the president sort of did get some kind of weigh-in fromdehe justicrtment. it may not have been in the fashion he wanted. laura: he always wants a public statement of loyalty, the president.et we areng more transcripts released, and one of them from a state department official who apparent said that rudy giuliani, the president's lawyer, was engaged in the ancampaign full of lie incorrect information about the former ukraine ambassador. rudy giuliani has lawyered up.

does he have legal exposure?ay joe: hard tof mr. giuliani personally has exposure. i ha a lot of respect for him. he has a long history of being a very good lawy and very good politician. however, he has been playing what seems like a very dangerous and out his personal defense and advocacy for the president with it is hard to ignot, back to the transcript, when president trump says to president zelensky of ukraine i will have you get touch with my attorney general and my personal lawyer, rudy cauliani, y't help but at least say what is going on here. are we talking personal defense and efficacy -- advocacy or the national policy of the united states? it really shouldn't be both. laga: if democrats are draw up articles of impeachment against the president, the step that would follow public hearings that begin next week, based on all the tnscripts you have seen, what do you think the articles of impeachment might be?

joe: they don't have to be strictly within the boundaries of a formalized federal crime. but that being said, democrats aswill want to reflect at one substantive crime. i think it is going to be bribery or something along those lines. the argument -- i'm not saying i advocate for it, but i think the argument wl be it was in effect a bribe, that president trump said you will get this military aid, ukraine, if in exchange i get the information b want about tens and the 2016 election origin. there could be obstruction charges latched onto that, but at the crux of it democrats will quasi-criminal impeachment article in the hopes that that reflects public opinion and people understand it is a serious matter. laura: joe moreno, thanks for being with us. joe: happy to do it. laura: as the impeachment

inquiry gathers pace in the u.s. it is election season in the ouk. party leaders arand about road testing slogans and so are campaign volunteers. the bbc's christian fraser went out on the streets in leeds with partworkers last night and has this report. christian: with winter coats and sensible sho, volunteers are mustering. here in the west yorkshire drizzle, the groundwork isro --d war is underway. leeds northwest is one of the key labor marginals. they face a zable challenge from the lib dems. no room for complacency. labor is pouring in the resources. it is a big team bolstered bys. young face this constituency has one of the biggest student populations in the country. >> ground-floor, that is. >> no other party matches labor's ground game.

set times -- 11:00 p.m., 4:00 p.m., 6:00 p.m. just committed, just enthusiastic. christian: any student or forme studom leeds knows about the notorious pub crawl, 16 pubs into the city center. you know what, it is like the elecon campaign. it is long, it requires great stamina, and no one really knows where it is going to end. at lea i didn't. but the is aerious point -- student turnout in the run-up to christmas, better get them early. turnout is important for the conservatives. they are defending a mority from labor of just 331. what is the brexit message? >>he brexit message is we are here to get brexit done. christian: it ha perfect start to the tory campaign. they hope it is the prime minister's message and not the remarks by rees mogg. cutti does it make you angry when you need every one of these votes?

>> of course it is frustrating, but those things don't matter to people here.ou christian: are labour supporter? of old? >> of old. oothey are out there. christian: it is brexit you will be voting on? >> it is a tossup between conservatives and the brexit party. christian: which is why the mood in the lib d cap is as bright as the jackets. >> people are now saying i voted t labor in the past'm disillusioned with jeremy corbyn and i'm coming to you because yor brexit position. christian: they have five weeks to inform and change minds. it is humbling for the candidates.er cadepend on these volunteers. in the depths of yorkshire sorely tested.enthusiasm will be ura: christian fraser

reporting from lee on the general election battle. other news, french president emmanuel macron has de nato as brain dead and accused the biggest contributor, the u.s., of a waning commitment to the transatlantic alliance. speaking to "the economist," he said the u.s. failed to consult its nato allies over syria and called on european nations to be strategic in the face of challenges from russia and china. president trump has beenrdered by a judge in new york to pay $2 amages for misusing funds from his charity, taking the money to pay off debts owed by his companies and to boost his 2016 eleion campaign.e the court said also used theto funduy artwork. in london, emergency services were called to a west end theater after part of the ceiling collapsed. five people were tated in hospital for minor injuries. it happened during a performance of arthur miller's play "death of a salesman."

jeff sessions is attempting a political comeback. he is expected to announce tonight that he is running for the u.s. senate in alabama. thathe is his old seat, the on gave up to become attorney general for presidtht trump. but e job didn't work out so well. exactly a year ago, mr. sessions resigned as donald trump's attorney general. he was in the presidential doghouse for recusing himself from the russia investigation and was mocked by mr. trump frequently. bridget bowman has written abouh for "roll call" and joins ed me earlier. why is jeff sessions attending this political comeback right bridget: that is aion that a lot of republicans are asking right now. republicans were panicking that theyould get a problematic candidate in this race. the candidate that lost the special election a couple yearsi ago is run again. but there are several other strong contenders on the republan side. the question on a lot of republicans' minds is why now. there is speculation that this could be about his legacy,

someone who is in the senate for 20 years, and as you mentioned, resigned as attorney general and mae wanted to boost his legacy a bit after his tumultuous time n.in the trump administrat laura: the president, is he going to look kindly on this or not? bridget: that is a very big unanswered question. loyalty to trump ifaa major we have seen that ss thees. country in multiple races at all different levels. a real qn here is what role is the president going to play. could actively campaign againste sessions, just given his disdain for him. i but thatunclear at this point. the president will be in wlabama thkend at a college football game. we will see what he says about the race.ha laura:could a divided republican field do to the democrats' chances of holding onto the seat? you covere election.al bridget: that's right, i was down there for the special election.k

i th democrats if you are crowded and divisiv -- democrats view and crowded divisive republican primary as a good thing for them. as republicans are fighting it out, the democratic incumbent, doug jones, can continue raising a lot of money and is on his own on the campaign trail. that being said, alabama is a very republican state. president trump won it by nearly 30 points in 2016. even with a divisive republican primary, it will be a tough race for doug jones. laura: presumably republicans don't want to step on their own lines given that doug jones is vulnerable. bridget: he is the most vulnerable senator next year. given the likelihood that they could flip the cecum it could inmitigate a loss elsewherhe country. the flip the siege, it could mitigate a loss--li the seat, it could mitigate a loss elsewhere in the country. republicans can essentially el out if they lose a ra in a more competitive state, it gives them a better shot of

holding onto their majority in the senate. laura: how does jeff sessionshi playwith the president? if he wants to get his backing, is there a possiy of some kind of rapprochement with the president? what will you be watching? bridget: i will be watching to see how much he talks about the president. i would imagine he would obviously talk very positively about him and his policies. jeff sesons was the first senator to endorse presidewa trump when hthe candidate running for president. you can stillxpect him to talk positively about him. there have been reports that he did not reach out to the white house when considering running for senate. it seems unlikely that there would be some kind of reconciliation between the two of them. the real question is how aggressively is the president going to campaign against him, or is he going to between all -- going to be tweeting all the time about him. we will wait and see. laura: bridget bowman, thanks for being with us. bridget:hanks for having me. laura: you are watching "bbc world news america." still to come on tonight's program, rivals on more than just trade. we look at the complex relationship between the u.s. and china, even as trade tensions could be easing.

laura: indonesia produced more than 600,000 tons of coffee beans last year, enough to make a staggering 60 billion single espressos. isolated town.r in an reporter: indonesia's most sought after coffee beans can only be found here. in the past, farmers sold a kilo of them for $3.50. they are now selling for six times the price. laura: farmers consultant for -- >> farmers consultant to product to -- farmers can sell their produc to farmers who buy them directly or online. sometimes the little man would

cheat the farmers. reporter: the coffee trade from this remote area has benefited those outside the farming community. it is extraordinary. some local students send local other cities to fund living expenses and tuition fees. reporter: coffee consumption in indonesia has nearly doubled in the past 10 years. in one town, the unique taste has won over the local population and led to more cafés popping up. >> in the past, coffee like this was only for export. after our generation gain more foknowledge, wd that this coffee is healthier and tastier. now the ty it is coffee. reporter: this appears to be the new brew in town, and could pave

the way for coffee tourism. global buyers are visiting the ecea to se supply deals. laura: the u.s. stock markets roared to record highs on thursday. investors were encouraged by reports that the u.s. and china have agreed to lift some tariffs in stages. but nothing has been signed yet. reporter samira hussain in new york. the chinese are sayinghere is an agreement to lift tariffs, but what about the u.s., are they confirming that? samira: the united states earlietoday did confirm that there is that agreement, both of the united states and china say that if there is going tbe some sort of phase one of a trade agreement between the two countries, it would have to include lifting some of these tariffs that have been put in

place between e two on goods coming in and out of each country.ay thateem like a really incremental, tiny incremental step, but you have to consider just how significant these -- this trade war and the tariffs has been on trade between the united states and china, and of course the global economy. we are seeing a ripple impact around the world. even looking at europe and germany, facing a stark slowofwn as a resulhat is happening between the united states and laura: why did thets react so favorably when nothing officially announced or signed yet? samira: in part they are just desperate for any good newwhen it comes to this ongoing trade war between the united states d china. more specifically, we go backag n to how damaging these ntriffs have been on diffe companies and especially some of these companies in the united states that are very heavily

exposed in china. any kind of si that the two sides are going to ratchet back some of these tit-for-tat taxese is beingas something really good for companies andth investors sa is great news for them. laura: are there real sis that the tariffs are becoming a drag on u.s. economic growth? t what d last gdp figures show? samira: there is certainly evidence to show that right now we are seeing an impact of this trade war. c rse there is business sentiment and business confidence, and all of that has been rocked.e i think whatve seen in the latest numbers is that the manufacturing sector in the united states is facing a slowdown, and that is a direct result from this trade war. if there are people that are wondering whether or not there has been an impact we eing hard numbers to show that there are some impacts.ur

samira hussain in new york, thank you. so the trade war tensions. between the nd china may be easing of it, but the two naucons are at odds over so more. technology, military poweryiand the unde question of which will bepo the supr of the next 100 years. david grossman has this report from washington. david: washington has changed its mind on china. a few years ago, it was seen as a tential ally. now it is regarded as a deadlyva it is easy to see this is simply a product of the men at the top. -- see this as top. -- see this as simply a product of the mant the top. pres. trump: we cannot continue to allow china to rape our country, and that is what they are doing. david: the shift in u.s. chinar policy goes eper than a few stump speeches or late-night tweets from the president's bedroom. >> i think if you saw for hillarclinton presidency or

another democrat or republican in 2016, there would be a sharp turn, both in the executive branch and on capitol hill, a sense that our approach to china in the u.s. wasn't working. david: from speaking to insiders in washington, the reason is clear -- it is not just trade, but power. brigadier general robert spalding was the chief architect of the national security strategy published in 2017. how big a threat is china to the western order? hink it is the most consequential, existential threat since the nazi party in world war ii. i think it is a far greater threat than the soviet union ever was, as the number twoy econ the world. it h reached particularly into the government, all the institutions of the west, far exceeds what the soviets ever maged. david: according to the u.s. government, china has gamed the system of international trade and also stolen u.s. technology.

the result has been a huge wave of factory closures and job losses. >> more and more companies came to the conclusion that being in g with china,r ultimately was not turning out to be profitable, and could be downright negative. 'david: ch's more assertive military in places like the south china sea, also alarming policymakers in washington, as ls china's stated aim of becoming the worder in new technologies like ai and robotics. >> if china were to succeed in these areas, it probably wouldla su the united states as the leading power in the world. david: althoh mr. trump is keen to sign a phase one trade deal with china, u.s. rhetoric is as tough as ever. >> the fbi has over 1000 investigations involving attempted theft of u.sd technology that lead back to china. >> if the chinese do not make au seeffort and demonstrate a

serious effort to reduce their noncompliance with intellectual proper, i don't see any change. david: the chinese goverent disputes the u.s. characterizati of its activities. it denies stealing intellectualp prty or gaming the trade system, and claims soveignty over the south china uea. it seeikely that u.s.-china relations will get warmer soon. here in washington, this is seen as a battle for the future that america cannot afford to lose. david grossman, bbc news, washington. laura: now to the sounds of south africa, where a team from brit trying to break the land speed record. their half-car, have-rocketshipo is called ound. it has already clock 500 miles per hour in a test run and is trying to go en faster, as andrew harding reports. andrew: imagine trying to drive a car at 1000 miles an hour.

steering it, keeping it on track. where would you even start? perhaps here on the flattest piece of my -- piece o mud in the world, dried up lake bed in the kalahari desert. every stone, every petal carefully cleared away. in a tent by the test track, nasa technology meets garden sharing enthusiasm. >> dng what i want to do. andrew: funding all this, a yorkshire businessman who sees an opportunity to inspire. >> the reality is we need more engineers to solve the problems of t future, and inspiring engineers is something we should do as much as possible.

if ks don't get into it at school level, it is diffi ilt to get in later. andrew: and out it comes. driven by the record holder.speed >> every single part of this car has been produced to a level that has never been attempted bethre. is why we are confident we speed record, we wl smash it. andrew: final checks before a test run. the car is powered by a fighter plane's jet. next year they will strap on aro cket, too. half formula one, half space travel.he ans off. there it goes. extraordinary moment. six tons of cargo and within 30 seconds it will be going up 500 miles an hour. then of course it has to slow s down, which is why it nech a long track.

inside, andy green wrestles with the steering as the gust of wind blows him off the 10-mile course. this is a difficult, dangerous mission. and on he hopes to drive the car twice as fast. another eccentric of session with speed, or something to stir hearts andnspire? andrew harding, bbc news, south africa. laura: the current land speed record is 763 miles per hour. bloodhound is hoping to smash that by reaching 1000. w. you can find much more of the day's news on our website. to see what we areorking on it anytime, make sure to check us out on twitter. i'm laura trevelyan. ank you for watching "world news america." or: fuing for thisreseation is made possible by... babbel, an online program designed by languagepecialists

teaching spanish, french and more. na: funding was also provided by... the freeman foundation. by judy and peter blum-kovler foundation. pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. and by contributions to this pbs station fr viewers like you, thank you. narratorore, pbs. ♪

captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening, i'm judy woodruff. on the newghshour to a clearer picture-- testimony from the state department official who raised concerns about the bidens is accuses the president's personay of waging a campaign based on lies to oust the then, the fires are contained, but the anger still burns, with california officials weighing a breakaway from the energy giant implicated in the crisis. and,s genealogy allows law enforcement to rpen cases long ne cold, investigators see a triumph for justice, while the wrongly accused see an invasion of privacy undone.that cannot be