29/08/2017 Newsnight

This programme contains some strong language.

Tonight, the strongest hurricane to hit the US for thirteen years.

And it's also a test for their president.

As thousands evacuate their homes amid rising floodwaters,

Donald Trump makes landfall in Texas.

Nobody's ever seen anything like this.

Gabriel Gatehouse has followed one family -

As they try to evacuate the most vulnerable from the middle of the

floods. We were in evacuating patients for around three hours.

And we ask the Texan National Guard what measures are being put in place

The PM has defended her foreign secretary.

I've spoken to one figure who said that working with Boris Johnson

is like walking a few feet behind a horse shovelling its shit.

As Japan awakes to nuclear sirens, we look at the country's complicated

Will America rush to defend it now in its hour of need?

The Japanese embassy's gates open in Washington after almost ten years

and the key is handed to Mr Takeuchi and once again the flag

of the rising sun flies as Japan re-enters the community

And they call it whitewashing - white actors have been playing

ethnically diverse roles to please Hollywood for a long time.

But is it what the audiences really want?

Response to natural disaster can make

The shadow of Katrina in 2005 loomed large over the remaining years

His slowness then spoke not just of incompetency - but of priority -

a failure to help the poor and the black communities whose

President Trump may or may not have studied the lessons of Katrina.

But when he landed at Corpus Christie this evening,

There was no talk of ratings, no attempt to re-live the electoral

He sounded like a man who didn't want to speak too soon -

We'll congratulate each other when it's all finished.

The rising floodwater of Houston has left thirty thousand seeking

emergency accommodation - another 40 centimetres of rainwater

And the fear is that the risk of flood may now

stretch to Louisiana - even Mississippi.

Gabriel Gatehouse is in Texas for us - what's the latest?

Emily, this is the sixth day in a row that Houston has been consumed

by Harvey. The rain has abated a little bit but it is still spitting

and raining hard elsewhere and as you can see behind me the rivers are

still rising. We are expecting the rain to stay over Houston until

tomorrow and then move on to Louisiana. This is a record for

rainfall from a single cyclone in the continental United States ever.

Some places already recorded 50 inches and they are expecting more.

A Lebanese South West of Houston has been breached and

residents were told to get out immediately and there have been

other mandatory evacuations which have been made difficult by the

conditions on the roads which we saw ourselves, they are often flooded.

Texan authorities have said at least 13 people have been killed including

a policeman who was killed while driving to work. The biggest

challenge is the sheer number of people who need evacuating. We

reached here last night and ever since then we have been watching

those rescue operations in action. The rescue efforts continue day and

night. The highways are a good place to be, out of the water. Out of the

darkness, they bring another boatload of people. They are

evacuating an old peoples home, just the last few elderly residents to go

now and the rest of the staff. We are going to take you back off this

thing and put you back on the ship. They have seen floods before, but

not like this. These are some of the those fragile people, uprooted in

the dead of night, in the cold and the wet. Still, this is Texas.

People are strong and mostly cheerful. We waiting long? I am one

of the nurses, we were evacuating patients for three hours. It sounds

scary. It is fine, we were coordinated and got the patience out

and now we are safe and everyone is fine. Daybreak reveals more deluged

neighbourhoods. Thousands of people had already fled their homes before

the waters rose, but many stayed put. What was it like watching the

waters rise? It was the scariest thing we have ever seen. Just, there

are no words for it. This is just devastating for everyone, it is so

sad for everybody. You know. You going to be all right now? Yeah. And

all the family is OK. Yes, sir. So, an amateur flotilla has come to get

them. Boat owners from across Texas and beyond. Some have been called

out on a specific mission. Where are you going? We are trying to get some

elderly men who cannot walk. We're trying to get to him. Is he a

personal family member? My daughter is a schoolteacher. It is the family

of one of her students. It seems that the water is still rising. So

many people have to get out and I hope everyone is listening. It is

not one -- weather, your property is not worth it, your family is the

only thing that is worth it. Others are working as very men. Get ready

to hop on. Spending hours in the water taking complete strangers

across particularly deep and treacherous stretches. It is further

up. It is difficult work with hidden debris submerged beneath street

turned into torrents. The rain is carrying on, the water levels are

rising and these streets have now got crazy Cross currents that we

have to speed across in order not to get swept sideways. As the waters

continue to rise, the authorities have been swamped by calls for help,

hence the community effort, with all manner of craft, jet skis,

inflatables, even a paddle boards. Hurricane Hardy reveals Texans are

the most resilient. This man in his kayak not fleeing home, just off to

do some shopping. You're going to get gas and then going back? Yes. We

need gas. Brave business. You don't want to evacuate? No, we need gas

and some more but -- food. Even as the waters advance, it is not easy

to leave your home. We heard some people screaming, from our

neighbourhood. We were woken up by the screams of people who were

trying to get out because they got stuck. His street may have turned

into a river, but this man will take his chances for now. We did not know

if they were going to open the dam, but I am not sure and then we

thought the water was going to come into the house and I don't know, we

woke up and we saw the water was down a little and we were happy. In

these politically turbulent times, America can seem desperately

divided. The disunited States. But it does not they like that here in

Houston, as people help each other through this crisis. Let us go back

to Gabriel. It is hard to tell on the individual level, but does it

feel like crisis on the same sort of scale as Katrina? Not at the moment.

Even though an anniversary just past of Katrina in 2005, I think this

feels different. For one thing, we have only had 13 people killed,

reportedly so far, Katrina had over 1800. Whether that was something to

do with infrastructure or to do with the fact that the authorities have

learned from it. There was some criticism that the mayor of Houston

did not order a more general evacuation and I think people have

pushed back from that and what we are seeing is that this has been

quite well dealt with by the authorities, as we can see from the

relatively low numbers of casualties. Obviously, still very

big, but relatively low compared to Katrina. Then there is the political

element. You mentioned Donald Trump being very restrained and guarded in

what he said. He said when he came to Corpus

Christi where Hurricane Harvey first made landfall, he said we want to do

this better than before and this suggest that he has Katrina in his

mind and he wants to do a better job. We should say that hurricanes

are unpredictable, this is early days, this President is also

unpredictable, so let's watch him. Thank you. We are joined now by

Colonel Steven Metze from the Texan National Guard. It sounds like

things are getting harder now, not easier, is that your assessment and

how are you coping? We are definitely seeing the situation

changed so much that that is one of our biggest issues right now. I

talked to some people, some of our troops on the streets right now and

they said you can literally drive down a street that is fine and come

back one hour later and it is under six feet of water. The fact that it

keeps changing, we are far from out of danger. We still have people who

need to be rescued and I think we still have a long way to go. What

would help but now in concrete terms aside from the elements? The biggest

thing, we are here to support state, local and federal agencies where

they need us. If people are in imminent danger, that they call 9-11

and that is life limo or eyesight, if they otherwise go to one of the

other sites that put you in the other cute, and you don't call the

National Guard directly, we are taking our cues from them. As long

as people continue to communicate their needs through the right

channels then we will get the message the right way and be able to

prioritise where we move people. There was a lot of discussion about

whether mandatory evacuation would make things easier or more

difficult, do you think the choices made fee like the right one or do

you think more should have been done earlier? That is a complicated

decision, made by the local authorities. Our focus is the Texas

military Department is what we can do now. Our number one security is

safety, security and protection of life. Texas I know has a large

number of people who are clinically obese, has that had an impact on how

fast you and the rescue workers can work? I have not heard anything on

that issue in particular, I know that we are rescuing people with

health issues and that is where a lot of our focus is, people who

cannot get to shelters on their own for whatever reason. I do not know

how much of it is that issue or others, I have heard about diabetics

with that the medicine and people with broken legs, elderly people,

people on rooftops, from my point of view, we are hearing that a lot of

people need to be rescued because they cannot move on their own, but I

do not know how many people have that issue. In Louisiana, they are

telling people Tuesday in their homes, does that feel like the right

call to you now? If the local authorities have not said to

evacuate, then staying in the home is the thing to do until you proceed

a threat to your life, limbs or eyesight. Going out into waters

where you do not know where the danger spots are, whether Mike the

electrical lines or other dangers, put you and your family at risk.

Take your cues from the local responders, they know the area and

they know where it is safe to go. We were talking about President Trump

landing in your state earlier, what is the most helpful thing that he

can say or do right now for you? I think, what we have seen across the

board is an incredible amount of support for our chain of command.

Everyone has been supportive, everything... We are seeing a

constant influx of people and equipment, we are seeing it from

local agencies, Red Cross, other agencies, all of them are all

working together right now and the level of cooperation that we have

seen and the level of support from our chain of command has been

amazing across the board. I appreciate your time, thank you.

The Prime Minister has had to defend her Foreign Secretary

today after scathing criticism - albeit some anonymous -

declaring him a national and international joke.

Asked if Theresa May had full confidence in Boris Johnson,

But the briefings around his competency, his commitment

and his trustworthiness have been rumbling all summer.

Could today's devastating column in the Times -

or any of the other voices joining the chorus - embolden the PM

to sack a man she is known to have little time for?

Here - with some bad language - is our political editor, Nick Watt.

Boris Johnson, a showman for the cameras, although usually with mixed

results. Our Foreign Secretary's habit of ending up in scrapes his

prompting questions about how long he can last. But is Boris Johnson a

hopeless buffoon or is he actually a statesman of the New World order who

axed and communicates in a way befitting these times? We are now

able to fly the Union Flag once again. And perhaps that new style is

all too much for diplomatic grandees from the past, most of whom can

never forgive his role in taking the UK out of the EU. One withering

assessment was penned last week. The intervention by the former head of

the Foreign Office unleashed a flurry of criticism.

Over in Brussels, they have long memories of the man they remember is

the Daily Telegraph's troublemaking correspondent. It is always

wonderful to talk to him and he is a very intelligent man, we like in

Germany his Churchill biography. But we are not very clear that we can

really rely on what he will do next day. He sometimes has in Europe the

image of a gambler. And that he is taking this question sometimes not

so seriously. When we note that in a discussion about the referendum and

after David Cameron's negotiations in Brussels that nobody was sure,

probably he himself, if he would be for Brexit or against Brexit. Boris

Johnson inspires mixed emotions here at the Foreign Office, he does have

a fan base among some officials who love having a star as Foreign

Secretary who is instantly recognised in chancelleries across

the world. Detractors say those counterparts lightning got for his

autograph do not taken seriously and in fact snigger behind his back --

lining up for his autograph. That is not all. There are some in the

Foreign Office who say Boris Johnson is a liability as Foreign Secretary.

I have spoken to one figure you said that working with Boris Johnson is

like walking a few feet behind a horse shovelling its shit. No doubt

that arresting metaphor will register with a thoroughbred

wordsmith like Boris Johnson. All eyes are Boris Johnson blame Remain

supporters in government for seeking to undermine the Foreign Secretary I

leaking highly damaging and what they regard as erroneous stories

that he cannot be trusted with intelligence. One old friend insists

that criticisms are wholly without foundation. The reality is if you

talk to the Iraqi Prime Minister, the Kurdish Prime Minister, the

Libyan politicians, South America, Asian politicians, they are all

ambassadors around the world to say he is one of the finest Foreign

Secretary is we have had. I have worked with him closely in the

Middle East, he can master a brief literally in half an hour and get

off a flight and engage with our friends and partners and allies in a

very constructive way and, when making them feel really good. One

great thing Boris can do is make people feel good and he has done

that on the world stage, I think. As a politician who sees himself as

a fine figure of a statesman, Boris Johnson will continue to bestride

the world in his own unique manner. Others are braced for incessant

clearing up operations. Their Scottish Labour leader Kezia

Dugdale has just announced her resignation, a bit of a surprise.

Yes, one of the youngest party leaders to resign, Kezia Dugdale in

her mid-30s and she has announced she is going to be resigning with

immediate effect to pass on the bat on to another generation. This is an

interview she has done with BBC Scotland, Brian Taylor. This is a

shock, Kezia Dugdale is symbolic of that new generation, that new way of

communicating in Scotland, Ruth Davidson the leader of the Scottish

Tories and Nicholas Torry June the SNP leader, they tease on Twitter.

They communicate in a new way. The Labour Party in Scotland had a much

better expected result in the general election and came back from

nowhere to get 11, 12 seats and they could be on their way to another

bounce back. You could say Kezia Dugdale surely has had a success at

some supporters of Jeremy Corbyn have said, you are incredibly

critical of Jeremy Corbyn and that election result we had in June, that

was downed Jeremy Corbyn and not you. Do you think that is what this

is about, a falling out, or is it more subtle? I think there is

interesting politics going on, there is an assumption her successor will

be Neil Finn Lay, who is more on the left, although Allan Smith won the

Labour leadership contest in Scotland against Jeremy Corbyn.

Kezia Dugdale recently announced she is in a relationship with an SNP

member and they have been on a trip to the United States and they fell

in love and it was really touching. But there has been under the scenes

criticism at Holyrood from Labour SNP is saying, you want to be

candidate for First Minister, Labour First Minister? And some people in

the Scottish Labour Party are saying that Kezia Dugdale has faced quite a

lot of pressure even though people were delighted about the romantic

story. Nick, thank you very much indeed.

Well, Japan may have other things on its mind this week

beyond the minutiae of a possible trade deal with the UK.

Residents in the northern island of Hokkaido were awoken this morning

by sirens warning of a ballistic missile launch from North Korea.

The first to fly over Japan since 2009.

Within three minutes of the weapon being fired,

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had gathered his officials.

Six minutes later, the missile - travelling at around

7,500 miles an hour - had hurtled beyond

Japan is, of course, no stranger to nuclear assault.

So what effect will today's test flight have on Japan's

own militarisation, and its ability to depend on others to protect her?

It was in August 1945 that the US changed the history

The two atomic bombs dropped on the Japanese cities

of Hiroshima and Nagasaki killed an estimated 150,000 people.

Japan had no choice but to surrender.

A pacifist constitution was drafted, as punishment

It prevented Japan from having a military, even after it

Over the years, Japan's self-defence forces have grown, as the perception

The end of the Cold War and rising tensions with China in particular

mean that Tokyo now finds itself amongst the world's

In May, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe set a target to modify

the constitution's so-called 'peace clause' by 2020.

Moves away from pacifism, though, are not accepted lightly.

Two years ago, when Mr Abe pushed through a law that would allow

Japanese troops to fight overseas for the first time since

the Second World War, it drew mass protests on the streets

Nevertheless, Japan is the only country to have

suffered a nuclear attack - one that went deep into

In 2016, Barack Obama became the first serving US

Controversially, he offered no apology, but said the memory

But at 6am local time, a missile was fired over Japan

from near the North Korean capital, Pyongyang.

It flew over the Japanese island of Hokkaido, before

For the Japanese, this may be a game-changer.

The last time North Korea did anything like this

Then, it stymied any rapprochement with Pyongyang.

This time round, the sound of sirens in Hokkaido will embolden

military hawks in Japan, and Donald Trump's refusal to play

the role of world policeman may leave Tokyo no choice but to listen.

The UK's former Ambassador to Japan, Sir David Warren.

And in Washington, from Shihoko Goto, who is a senior associate

Shihoko, does Japan still enjoy being a pacifist country?

Well, there is certainly a disconnect between what the Prime

Minister of Japan once and what the public wants. The Japanese Prime

Ministers Shinzo Abe has been pressing for changes in the

constitution so Japan can play offence, especially in light of the

new development in North Korea which will only strengthen it. But there

is a lot of public hostility, even today, about Japan increasing its

military capabilities. You said Japan has suffered a nuclear strike,

the only country to come and a nuclear attack not just once, but

twice. And Japan is also unique in the world insofar as its forces have

never faced any casualties since the end of World War II, so no body bags

in Japan since 1945 and a lot of Japanese want to keep that.

Extraordinary legacy for a country to have that. So do you think Shinzo

Abe will now succeed in changing the constitution bluntly, do you believe

that Japan is on track to go nuclear, what is your sense? There

is two issues. The nuclear issue is a highly unlikely issue because

under several international treaties, Japan is unable to nuclear

race. But in terms of increasing its military spending even further,

increasing its ability to operate overseas and perhaps even strike

down North Korea's missiles going overhead, that is certainly

something that will be entertained. The problem is that Abe's and

support domestically has weakened rapidly over the last few months and

so even though as he has said he wants to make changes in the

constitution over the next few years, that is going to face a lot

of difficulty. I say that because changing the constitution requires

the approval not only of the upper house and the lower house, two

thirds majority, but it also requires a public referendum and the

majority of Japanese need to support that. As we know from the British

experience, public referendums are often difficult to gauge. David,

Japan, if it chooses to remain pacifist, relies on other countries

to come to its defence. As America, in your opinion is the one of those?

I believe that it is, I believe with Shihoko Goto this may embolden hawks

in Japan who like Shinzo Abe want to see Japan's self defence forces

become more militarily -- defensive. There is not a groundswell of

popular support in Japan for that move. When you hear Donald Trump

memorably talk about America first, how he did not want to be the

world's policeman was quite critical of Japan on the election trail, is

he really now going to come to defend Japan in its hour of need? I

think Prime Minister Abe has positioned Japan skilfully with

President Trump, both as crucial to the President's economic agenda

because Japan is a major investor in America and crucial to its security

agenda in terms of maintaining stability in North East Asia. The

worry about President Trump is he is volatile and unpredictable and his

tweets and public statements inspire as much concern and fear as they do

reassurance. But I do not think Japan has many options but to double

down on the Alliance. Is that right, do you sense America is still the

glue that keeps this region in its place, away from war? Whether or not

the United States and its commitment to that role remains strong and

Trump remains to be seen. But certainly, expectations from Asia

and in Japan as well as in Korea, that remains very strong. British

eyes very much on Japan now, with the arrival of Theresa May who is

looking for presumably affirmation that there is a world outside of the

EU for trade, will she finds that, will she be received well with that

in Japan? She will be received well by the Japanese because our

relations with Japan warm and close. Japan is a major trading partner for

Britain, we export ?10 billion worth of goods and services a year and an

even more important provider of investment in the UK with hundreds

of thousands of jobs depended on Japanese companies. What the

Japanese will be looking for from Theresa May is reassurance we will

not fall off a cliff edge over Brexit and that these Japanese

companies in the UK will continue to enjoy the same frictionless access

to the single market and the customs union that they do at the moment.

Talk us through how the language will work. Make to something? The

Japanese government produced a detailed paper where they set out

clearly what they wanted to see in the negotiations and they have

pressed for transparency and cleared -- clarity since then. They are

worried about the principle of Brexit if it means that Britain does

not have access to the single marker without friction. They are too

polite to say so publicly, they are puzzled to why we have taken what

they see as a result -- and action of self harm. Theresa May may want

to pursue a free-trade agreement with Japan when Britain is able to

do so when we leave the European Union. But Japan I think has higher

priorities in that area, in terms of pushing the EU Japan free trade

agreement over the line and salvaging as much as they can from

the Pacific free-trade agreement that President Trump has pulled out

of. Thank you. Critics call it 'whitewashing' -

the Hollywood practice of casting white actors in roles of characters

of a different ethnicity. Today, the British actor Ed Skrein

announced he was leaving a remake of Hellboy,

after his appointment sparked fury it should have

gone to an Asian actor. He bowed out, saying he didn't

want to continue a worrying tendency of obscuring ethnic minority stories

and voices in the Arts. And that seems pretty

easy to understand. And yet, if we welcome

the new female Doctor Who, or a black James Bond,

or a woman playing Shakespeare's Kings,

then shouldn't - purists argue - we move past the confines

of character and cast who we want? I'm now joined from LA by comedian

and actress Jenny Yang. And with me in the studio

is Metro's Chief Film Critic Very nice to have you both. Jenny,

Ed Skrein dropped out of this, was at the right thing to do?

Definitely. Ed Skrein finally made the move we have all been waiting

for. Someone got a high-profile part that originally was a character for

an Asian character or a non-white character and a white person was

cast and they finally said, I am not going to take this role because

representation matters. He could have checked it on Google before he

accepted the role. It would not have been hard to

find out. Probably not. At this point when no one else has ever done

this, when it came to recent history of Asian characters, we will

appreciate Ed Skrein for what he did and I hope you set an example for

the rest of Hollywood, both on the front end when you are making the

deals and going through the casting process and also in the final

moments when you are saying, yes, I will take this role. Jenny, before I

finish this, do you think there is a problem specifically with Asian

characters in Hollywood, rather than black characters, do you think

Hollywood has a particular Asian problem if I can put it like that?

You know what, I would say that Hollywood like many

other institutions of power has a lot of problems when it comes to

representing bodies that are not typically able white male or

straight. Asians tend to be more invisible sometimes than you think.

Because of the power of Hollywood in our global culture, I think it is so

important that we really advocate for the kind of roles that will

represent Asian-Americans or bodies as whole people. Hollywood does this

presumably because they think that is what audiences want, do they? I

think we are realising that they do not want this. You have to look at

the people making these films, Hollywood is run by old white guys

and they think that what everyone wants

to what is them representing themselves and the audience,

everyone always said, the only people who watch films are white

guys between 18 and 30 and that is because the films they been shown is

like that. You have a film like wonder woman becoming a smash hit

and it is finally giving women and little girls what they want. They

want to see super-heroine. How far would you push this? The question I

raised before, if we now accept that Doctor Who can be a female or James

Bond can be black or Fiona Shaw can play Richard the second, then don't

you say, this is about a character? It is not about ethnicity race or

gender? I take that on and I think lots of actors would agree but

ethnic actors do not have the luxury of choice. There are very few parts

available for them so them getting taken away by white actors, when

they are supposed to be in place of equality, it is not equal. A

reminder of that phrase that Samuel L Jackson used when he criticised a

British black actor for playing a black American cop. Where does that

end up when you are saying, you have to have the right race and colour

and are white men allowed to play straight men, they are actors,

right? Let us be real. There is no one high Council of people deciding

what is OK when it comes to diversity casting. A lot of this is

very negotiable. This is culture and art, some of the soft stuff we argue

over and I would say, because of the rise of technology and Twitter and

Facebook and YouTube, we have a greater say, beyond the traditional

gatekeepers to say we will not accept white folks only been

all of the characters. Let's have some more colour or invoices or

nuance and I think to argue over whether or not a British black actor

can play an American black character, we are talking about

crumbs here. What is the bigger picture? It is about more diversity

in our stories, more actors getting more roles. It is the bigger picture

it that you have to do this around the back of Hollywood, I am thinking

of something like big little lies where Nicole Kidman and Reese

Witherspoon, from what I understand, got together and made that script

themselves, because they wanted the Pirates, is that the answer? There's

a difference between people making their own films and you see this in

Hollywood with older female actresses like those actresses who

have now got that credibility setting up their own companies and

that will be the big change when you have black and ethnic minority

actors making films, not just starring in them. Does that actually

shot Hollywood out of the picture or are we a long way from that? Let us

be real. Just because Ed Skrein said I am not going to take this Asian

character part, it is not a radical move, he has just been a decent guy

who says I think representation matters. Above all of this, we have

a whole movement of Asian American creators, disable creators, queer

creators and we are making our own work and hopefully someday, the rise

in the tide of our creativity will affect Hollywood property --

properly. Great to speak to. Thank you for coming in. The Guardian

tomorrow has weaker pupils dumped by top grammar. Schools accused of

unlawfully throwing out sixth formers who did not get the required

grades and AS-level is to improve their results. It has got a picture

of Milan near Trump in those shoes that no one on social media can take

their eyes from. Apparently she did change their high heels before she

landed. The daily Terror that, but in steering at Michel Barnier, the

EU negotiator tells EU to behave -- the Daily Telegraph. The Times

follows up on the story from yesterday, the judge ruling that the

child must leave unless foster home the paper says it has been praised

for exposing the tower Hamlets council failure.

Until recently, the country of Georgia remained one of the last

nations where drone pilots could fly in relatively unregulated skies.

In a few days, they will adopt European-style flight restrictions,

so photographer Amos Chapple took advantage of the final frontier

of photography and took these images of the country.