Global News Podcast: Trump says he expects to be arrested on Tuesday

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Hi, Namilanta Combo here with some exciting news. My award-winning podcast, Dear Daughter,

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This is the Global News podcast from the BBC World Service.

I'm Charlotte Gallagher and in the early hours of Sunday, the 19th of March, these are our main

stories. Donald Trump has claimed on his social media platform that he expects to be arrested

next week. His lawyers say it's speculation. The UN has announced an 11th hour renewal of the

agreement that allows the sea export of Ukrainian food crops. President Putin has visited Crimea

on the 9th anniversary of Russia's illegal occupation of the Ukrainian territory.

Also in this podcast. The investigation into the first began in January when a farmer reported

that over 8,000 kilograms of his olives have been taken from his land in the Las Vegas region

outside the capital, Madrid. Straight off the press, Spanish olive thieves have been tracked down.

The former US President Donald Trump says he's expecting to be arrested next week over hush

money allegedly paid to an ex-porn star. For five years, prosecutors in New York have been

investigating allegations that money was paid on his behalf to stormy Daniels. If he was charged,

it would be the first criminal case ever brought against a former US president.

Mr Trump said on his social media platform, Truth Social, that illegal leaks from the

Manhattan District Attorney's Office indicate he'll be arrested on Tuesday. Later, his lawyers

said he had been merely speculating on media reports when he made the announcement.

Donald Trump has always denied the allegations. Here he is as president speaking to reporters

at Andrews Air Base before a trip to Texas in 2018. Mr President, when did you? On stormy.

We're not changing any stories. All I'm telling you is that this country is right now running so

smooth and to be bringing up that kind of and to be bringing up witch hunts all the time. That's

all you want to talk about. You're going to see. Excuse me. Excuse me. No, but you have to excuse

me. You take a look at what I said. You go back and take a look. You'll see what I said. You said

no. Excuse me. Excuse me. You go take a look at what we said. But this is a witch hunt like nobody's

ever seen before. Earlier, I spoke to our US correspondent David Willis and asked him what

exactly are the prosecutors investigating? They're looking into so-called hush money payments, Charlotte,

that were made to two women shortly before the 2016 presidential election campaign.

One of those women, the porn star known as Stormy Daniels, allegedly received $130,000

as a reward, if you like, for her silence in regard to an alleged affair that she had with

Donald Trump. That money coming from Donald Trump's lawyer at the time, a man called Michael Cohen.

Now, Mr Trump has denied having an affair with Miss Daniels. It seems the Manhattan District

Attorney's office is looking into how the repayments to Mr Cohen from Donald Trump were

classified internally within the Trump Organization, whether that classification

amounted to the falsification of business records. And because they were put down as

legal expenses, whether that constituted a violation of US election law.

And now Donald Trump is saying that he thinks he's going to be arrested,

and he's also calling on his supporters now. That's right. On his own

truth social media platform, Mr Trump wrote today that what he called illegal leaks from

the district attorney's office, which is looking into the payments, indicate that he will be

arrested this coming Tuesday. There has been speculation in the US media over the last few

days that an indictment might be imminent in this case. But Mr Trump's legal team has

said that it's received no formal indication of that. More worryingly, perhaps Charlotte, is

Mr Trump going on to call on his supporters to protest. That's an exhortation that, of course,

for many people here, automatically rekindles memories of the January the sixth attack on the

US Capitol building just over two years ago, carried out by a mob of Mr Trump supporters.

At what impact would it have if Donald Trump was charged? I mean, it seems unbelievable that

a former US president charged with a crime. Well, there are those, Mr Trump's lawyers,

among them, who maintain that being indicted would actually boost his re-election campaign,

because it would possibly serve, they say, to galvanize his supporters in the belief that

the former president is indeed the victim of some sort of witch hunt, as he has long maintained.

And when FBI officials raided the Florida estate of Donald Trump last summer, as part of an

investigation into the alleged mishandling of classified documents, Mr Trump posted news of it

on social media that prompted a flood of donations to his campaign. And today,

the campaign issued another plea for donations ahead of a rally in Waco, Texas.

So his preparations are essentially in full swing for this 2024 bid. Very much so. And Donald Trump

has gone on the record as saying that he will continue to campaign for re-election as president,

even if charges are brought against him. That was David Willis in Washington,

a deal allowing the export of Ukrainian grain from Black Sea ports, which had been due to expire

within hours, has been renewed. A Ukrainian government minister said the Turkey broker

deal had been extended by four months. Moscow had been insisting on a two-month extension only.

The grain initiative was first agreed last July, during fears of a global food crisis,

after Moscow blocked Ukrainian exports. President Erdogan of Turkey confirmed the extension.

As is well known, the period of the grain corridor deal, which was one of the main

agreement points between Russia and Ukraine after the war, was expiring today. As a result

of our talks with the two sides, we have secured an extension to this deal, which was ending on

the 19th of March. Imogen folks is our correspondent at the UN in Geneva. And she gave more details

to my colleague, Rebecca Marston. Ukraine has said it's for 120 days. Moscow has said it has

sent a letter to all the Black Sea deal partners that it is for 60 days, which is what Moscow at

the beginning of this week said it would accept on condition that its concerns about freeing up

exports for its fertilizers and some of its agricultural products were addressed. It says

this was agreed in the original deal. This part of it hasn't been honoured. So I think I hope we

can safely say that grain exports will be able to continue, that the deal will not expire today,

but the actual terms of what has been agreed are still a bit unclear.

It looks like we can rely on two months worth of exports continuing. Of course these

exports are incredibly important, not just for Ukraine, but for many other countries.

Yes they are. I mean we know we've had a global food crisis almost this year, with food and fuel

prices rising, successive drought across the Horn of Africa, which has pushed countries like Somalia

to the brink of famine, ongoing humanitarian crises in Yemen and Afghanistan, where millions of people

are going short of food. So a UN agency like the World Food Programme for example,

it relies on buying grain from Ukraine shipped out of the Black Sea. Now it will be pleased,

I'm sure, that there is at least 60 days, but you know planning massive shipments of grain

around the world usually needs a little bit more than 60 days to make things really secure.

So I don't think this is an ideal situation. I think we'll have to start the negotiations

all over again almost immediately to ensure we get some kind of roll over in the middle of May

when this expires again. So it's not great, but it's better than the thing ending completely

today, which was what was threatened to happen.

Imaging folks, the Russian President Vladimir Putin has flown to the Black Sea port of Sevastopol

in occupied Ukraine a day after he was formally accused of war crimes by the International

Criminal Court. He was there to mark the ninth anniversary of his illegal annexation of Crimea.

From Kiev, here's our correspondent James Landau.

Crimea may be part of Ukraine, but right now it's occupied by Russian forces,

and it's somewhere Vladimir Putin can visit without fear of being arrested for war crimes.

The Russian President came to the Black Sea Peninsula only a day after the International

Criminal Court issued a warrant for his arrest for allegedly illegally deporting children from

Ukraine to Russia. In Kiev, we met Miroslava Kochenko, a lawyer who works for Save Ukraine,

a charity which rescues children from Russia. She said potentially as many as 700,000 children

had gone to Russia, some to flee the fighting, others lured to so-called re-education camps,

and only a fraction had come home. She welcomed the court's decision, but...

It's only the first step. Our next step should be returning back all Ukrainian children,

not only because of the reason to reunite them with their families, but in order to receive as

much as possible evidence and testimony from them directly. At a market in the capital,

people told us the court's decision meant the world now knew about Russia's alleged war crimes.

I'm very happy about it because justice will come. Extremely happy why, because

definitely Vladimir Putin is a crime person. The Kremlin has dismissed the allegations as

outrageous, but only days before China's president visits Moscow, Mr Putin's international isolation

has only deepened on his first full day as a wanted man. James Landale. Next to India,

and the state of Punjab has blocked the internet until Sunday afternoon as part of an operation to

detain a Sikh separatist leader. Digital rights groups say India has blocked the internet more

times than any other country. From Delhi, Barbara Pletosha reports. The government of Punjab said

all mobile internet services except for banking would be suspended statewide for 24 hours until

12 noon on Sunday in the interest of public safety. The block was imposed as videos circulated on

social media purporting to show a Sikh separatist leader being chased by police. State authorities

frequently shut down the internet citing security and threats of violence, most often in Indian

administered Kashmir, but elsewhere too. Digital rights activists say the dominant reason is

political instability and protests. Barbara Pletosha. There have been violent clashes between police

and supporters of the former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan as he arrived on Saturday

at court in Islamabad on corruption charges. The seven-year-old is facing a number of allegations

including selling state gifts while in office. He denies the claims saying they're politically

motivated. Our Pakistan correspondent Caroline Davis sent this report from Islamabad.

Stones hit police barricades and tear gas filled the air as Imran Khan arrived at court in an

armoured car, supporters clinging to its sides. Pakistan's former Prime Minister left his home

in Lahore for this long-awaited appearance in Islamabad charged with not correctly disclosing

money earned from selling state gifts. We spoke to Imran Khan at the entry to Islamabad where his

convoy had been stopped. His group had been told no weapons would be allowed into the city. He was

adamant that the authorities intended to jail him. Putting in prison means that they will keep me

out of the election race right till the end of the elections so I won't be able to campaign,

that's the whole thing. The government has said that the cases have nothing to do with politics

and that Mr Khan is trying to use his supporters as a human shield. At court Mr Khan argued the

clashes meant he could not get inside and registered his appearance instead at the court's gates

before being allowed to return home. The unrest shows that months of battles in Pakistan's courts

are now spilling into its streets. Caroline Davis, now to something very different and of

interest to food lovers everywhere. A series of heists have been puzzling Spanish police for

months. Just how have thieves been making off with tons and tons of olives? But finally,

a breakthrough. Olivia Noon reports. The investigation into the theft began in January

when a farmer reported that over 8,000 kilograms of his olives had been taken from his land in

the Las Vegas region outside the capital Madrid. However, thieves had also targeted another five

farms in the region. Early last month police were alerted to five people in a vehicle in broad daylight

with more than 140 kilograms of olives. None of those in the vehicle could prove the olives were

legally acquired. Investigators then raided two olive presses in the Toledo and Guadalajara region

that were allegedly receiving the stolen fruit. Police say they uncovered documentation relating

to more than 17 and a half tons of stolen olives. That's nearly the same weight as a blue whale

and seized several tanks which contain more than 6,000 litres of olive oil.

Spain is the world's largest producer of olive oil, with the gold and liquid a major export

and source of revenue for the country. The price of olives and their oil have rocketed in the last

year following a severe drought. Sixteen people have been arrested and a further five are being

investigated. That was Olivia Noon. Still to come. I love Loretta Lynn, I love Patsy Klein, I love

George Jones but Elvis would have to be number one. So how old do you have to be to become the

longest-serving woman radio presenter in the world?

Nigerians voted on Saturday for the second time in a month as most of the country has been

electing state governors and regional lawmakers. But as the BBC's Encheke Ogbonna who's in Lagos

told Rebecca Kesby, it hasn't all been smooth. Today Nigerians had the governorship elections

and state assembly elections. Now the state assembly elections are electing lawmakers into

the local state assemblies in each of the 36 states of the country. While the governorship elections

are happening in about 28 states out of the 36 states, governorship elections are very important

in Nigeria as a result of the powers that those governors have. Each state governor is also the

chief security officer of the state. They are the chief economic planners. They control the local

resources. They have terms of four years each. And given that we have seen some trouble at a

number of stations, polling stations today, particularly in the Lagos area. What can you

tell us about that? There have been some cases of violence that have been reported in some parts of

Lagos, Nigeria's commercial nerve center. Faster personally, I went to a polling unit where I saw

disruptions of the electoral process. Some unknown group of men attacked voters,

snatched voters, phones, intimidated voters, as well as scaring of electoral officials.

And so elections did not happen in some of these parts that I went to personally. However, on the

wider scale in Lagos, they have been reports of several violent attacks. We have seen videos

of people shot dead, people who have been injured by assailants.

And checkie Ogbonner in Nigeria. The images are horrifying. Millions of dead fish stretching

off to the horizon along the Darling River in Australia. They're concentrated close to a small

outback town called Minindi in New South Wales. And while it's not the first fish catastrophe of

recent years, the reasons for this one are slightly different. A journalist in Canberra,

Sarah Tomewska, told us what was happening. Basically what's happened over the past few months

in northern Australia, we've seen huge flood events. And as that water has come down the

Murray-Darling Basin system into the lower Darling where Minindi is, the fish have been enjoying,

you know, lots of water. And they've actually been living across flood plains that stretch

several kilometers across. Now, as that water reduces, all of the fish whose populations

have boomed during this time are being suctioned into essentially a much narrower channel of water

as they head back into just the river system. Now, the other element is all of the floodwater

has scooped up, plant matter, debris. So there's a lot of biomass building up now in the river system.

And all of that is vying for oxygen. And with the heat wave that out back in New South Wales is

experiencing right now, you know, they've got temperatures in the high 40s. Well, that just

makes the oxygen levels even lower in the water. And so we're seeing these mass fish kills.

But on this scale, it's quite confronting, you know, the images really, you know,

it's 10 kilometer stretches of just wall-to-wall dead fish.

That was Sarah Tomewska in Australia. The actor Sam Neal has revealed he's been diagnosed with

non-Hodgkins lymphoma and is receiving chemotherapy. The star of films, including Jurassic Park and

the piano and TV's Peaky Blinders, has written a memoir called Did I Ever Tell You This,

in which he discusses his illness as well as his 50-year-long career on the silver screen.

In his first broadcast interview about the book, Sam Neal has been speaking to our arts

correspondent Rebecca Jones about his life and cancer diagnosis.

It's about exactly a year ago I was given the diagnosis that I had a very ferocious

type of lymphoma, non-Hodgkins. I was told it was a very aggressive one and we were going

to try this chemo. And that made me take stock of things and think, what's it all

amount to? I wasn't able to work and I thought I shall start writing. And I didn't have a ghost

writer a year later, not only have I written the book, but it's come out in sort of record time.

I suspect my publishers are delightful people, but I think they want to get in a hurry,

just in case I kicked the bucket before it was time to release the thing.

How have you dealt with it all? I mean there must be glum days, mustn't there?

Oh yeah, there are some dark days, but I've sort of regarded it as being sort of an adventure,

a dark adventure, but an adventure nevertheless. And the good days are just fantastic and when

you get some good news, it's absolutely exhilarating. I would get up in the morning and think,

what do I feel like writing about today? Oh, let's write about Barbara Streisand, say,

and it would give me a reason to get through that day, stuck in all as I was in my flat,

looking like a badly boiled egg. And the story about Barbara Streisand is definitely

worth listening to. The pair met in the 1980s to discuss a role in her film, Yental.

While I've always enjoyed her on screen, I've never enjoyed her singing, and I was flown

off to New York to meet her. I had about two hours with Barbara, but there was a pause in the

conversation, and I said, because, you know, I was feeling the empty air. Are there any songs in

the, is there any music in the film, Barbara? And she said, yes, would you like to hear some? And I

said, yes, that'd be great. And she sang from a distance about four or five feet away from me.

Papa, can you hear me at full volume? I was in a state of sort of shock and dismay, really,

and I didn't quite know what to say at the end of it. And then she said, would you like to hear

another one? It's a dinosaur. Best known for starring in Jurassic Park, Sam Neill has enjoyed

a long and varied career and seen plenty of developments in the film industry along the way.

One thing that you seem to think has changed, and I'm quoting here, is you write in the book,

there's a great deal of mumbling now. Mumbling on screen. How bad is it? Because I was writing this

book in rather a hurry. There were grumpy days, where you can tell Sam is having a grumpy day

today, because he's grumpy about people mumbling. And I think it's a thing that a lot of young

actors have that it's kind of sexy to have a kind of whispering that no one else can hear. When you're

working on a soundstage now, there are microphones around the place, but mostly it's a neck microphone

and you can get away with just sort of whispering and mumbling because the neck microphone is going

to record everything. I mean, it's ridiculous, you know, we speak so that we can be understood.

We don't go around mumbling because someone has hung a microphone around our necks.

You were in the running to play James Bond in the 1980s. You auditioned, but you write in the

book that you didn't actually want the role. Why? I had a very assertive agent at the time,

and she said, darling, you're going to Pinewood on Thursday and you're going to audition for Bond,

and that's it. My friends call me Bond. James Bond. I really didn't want to be the Bond that

everyone didn't like. I didn't really want that gig at all, because you're stuck with it. If you're

a Bond, you're a celebrity forever. I live a pretty normal life, and I think that's completely priceless.

And life is looking up. Some Neil is still being treated but is now in remission,

and is about to start filming a new movie. I'm not afraid of dying. What I don't want

to do is to stop living because I really enjoy living, and I don't really want to terminate

their life because it's been such a lot of fun. That was the actor Sam Neil speaking to Rebecca

Jones, and now I'm thinking about him playing James Bond. He would have been so good at that.

He would have been amazing. Now, here's an optimistic story for radio presenters and a case

of broadcasting stamina. So Mary McCoy is 85, and she's the longest serving woman radio presenter

in the world. The Guinness World Records announced on Tuesday that Mary has been ruling

the airwaves for nearly 72 years. She started off on a high, performing with Elvis' backing band

with the King himself in attendance, and she's never looked back.

K-Star country, 99.7 FM, about 18 minutes after 11 o'clock. There's a rocket along here. What you

got, Mary? Oh, listen up. The Outlaw Music Festival is coming to the Woodlands Pavilion on Sunday,

July 2nd with Willie Nelson and family, whiskey, mirrors, and more to be announced. Get your tickets

early at LiveNation.com. That's Mary McCoy and her amazing voice presenting on Friday,

her own country music show on K-Star Country Radio in Conroe, just north of Houston in Texas.

She's been doing that particular show since 1992 for six days a week. You know, I think some of our

colleagues could learn a thing or two from Mary. Instantly, the reason we're flagging up is that

she's the longest broadcasting woman is because there is a man, Herbert Cool Gent Rogers Kent,

who's been presenting his program from Chicago in the US since 1944. Back to Mary and my colleague

Audrey Brown was lucky enough to speak to her about her career. So where did it all start?

I knew what I wanted to do when I was very, very young. At three years old, I was yodeling

and my dad's friends would come over. I'd get my little rocking chair. They couldn't talk or visit

because I sat down in front in the middle of them and I would yodel the whole time they were there.

I picked that up because I listened to the Grand Ole Opry on Saturday nights.

Which is a radio show?

I wanted to sing. I wanted to make records and I wanted to be in radio. That was my goal. 1950,

my mom heard them testing on the radio and she said, I think there's a radio station coming

into Conroe. Well, I got so excited because that was my dream. I said it's about to come through.

That station had Grand Ole Opry on Sunday. Well, that following Saturday they had a talent show

at the radio station. I had to borrow a guitar. That was three times my size because the puff

went and would blow me away. I didn't wear all the pants.

So you went to perform?

I did. I wrote that big ol' Greyhound bus up into Conroe and I was there for the show that morning

at nine o'clock.

What did you sing?

Well, I yodeled and when I heard myself singing, I started crying. I thought that was the worst

thing I've heard in my life and my mom said, Mary, what's wrong with you? I said, I'm not going back.

My career has ended.

Let's talk about the thing that jumps out immediately when you read your story and you

performing. You shared a stage with Elvis Presley.

Oh, yes, I did.

You see, the Louisiana Hayride was on a tour and Elvis was on that tour. Elvis's group

backed me along with Lloyd Cramer and Elvis and I, we were standing at the foot of the steps.

He said, Mary, why don't we go over and get something to eat before the show?

When I looked up, he had about 15 or 16 girls behind him. They weren't still coming in.

And I said, Elvis, you're going to have all the company that you need.

I said, but I'll be here waiting for you when you get back.

So let's go back to the long life you've had as a radio announcer.

So what sort of show do you have because you're still at it and still loving it?

It's a country classic show.

Some morning when you wake up all alone, just come on home to your blue Kentucky girl.

My partner and I, Larry Gallo, who I worked with for many, many years, we do that show

two hours a day, Monday through Friday from 10 to 12. And then on Sunday from eight to 10, we play

strictly the country classics. And after that, it goes back to, you know, the music of today.

And of course, with each passing year, the list of classics and country classics grows, right?

Which three, let's say, are your favorites?

Well, I love Loretta Lynn, I love Patsy Klein, I love George Jones, but Elvis would have to be number one.

What would you say is the secret of your success?

The secret of my success is working and loving people.

That's such a good motto, isn't it? I've just been looking at some photos of Mary online,

and she is unbelievably glamorous. And there is an amazing photo of her hugging Elvis Presley.

It's just a real moment in history. And that was my colleague, Audrey Brown, speaking to her.

And that's all from us for now, but there will be a new edition of the Global News Podcast later.

If you want to comment on this podcast or the topics covered in it, you can send us an email.

The address is globalpodcastatbbc.co.uk. You can also find us on Twitter at Global NewsPod.

This edition was mixed by Julian Farmer. The producer was Liam McCheffrey.

The editor is Karen Martin, and I'm Charlotte Gallagher. Until next time, goodbye.

And a lot of the news that's been covered have emerged from Iraq.

How on earth do you go about working with people when you are a foreign invader?

Why was the intelligence wrong about Saddam's weapons of mass destruction?

We were being used, and we were like enablers of an alcoholic.

In shock and war, Iraq, 20 years on, I'm trying to get to the truth of what happened,

why it happened, and its legacy today.

It went horrible, it's Iraq, it's a great country, why?

For new insights into possibly the most controversial period in recent history,

search for shock and war wherever you get your BBC podcasts.

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