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00:00:06MUSIC
00:00:13Hello, I'm Geeta Guru-Murthy.
00:00:14This is the context on BBC News.
00:00:17News. Tonight, on the last day of of campaigning, we're looking at
00:00:21at the US midterms. Millions prepare
00:00:23prepare to vote on the eve of Americas
00:00:25Americas crucial midterm elections. elections. Can Donald Trump and the
00:00:29the Republicans keep control of the the US Congress? King Charles is
00:00:32is set to meet with Prime Minister Minister Andy Burnham in Antigua
00:00:36Antigua for the Commonwealth Heads Heads of Government meeting during
00:00:38during the final leg of his Caribbean
00:00:40Caribbean tour. Supermarkets in seven
00:00:42seven European countries report problems problems with their refrigeration
00:00:46refrigeration systems after a suspected suspected cyber attack. The Home
00:00:50Home Secretary scrapped plans for for migrant care workers already
00:00:52already in the UK, to wait 15 years
00:00:54years for permanent settlement. And
00:00:58And nine orangutans saved from forest
00:01:00forest fires in Indonesia have returned
00:01:02returned to the wild. Hello. Welcome
00:01:13Welcome to the programme. In just just a few hours' time, millions
00:01:16millions of voters will head to the
00:01:19the polls in the 2026 midterm elections elections in the United States. In
00:01:22In fact, more than 50 million people
00:01:24people have already voted, but more
00:01:27more than 100 million will do so so in person tomorrow. All the seats
00:01:30seats in the House of Representatives Representatives were proposed. Laws
00:01:33Laws are debated, are up for grabs.
00:01:35grabs. The Republicans hold a majority
00:01:38majority of 219, including two Republican Republican leaning independents.
00:01:41independents. The Democrats have
00:01:43have 214. Two seats are vacant. To
00:01:45To win a majority, you need 218. 218. Next door in the Senate, where
00:01:49where laws are passed, around a third third of the 100 seats are being
00:01:52being contested. Currently, Republicans Republicans have 53 to the Democrats
00:01:56Democrats 47, including two independents independents who vote with them.
00:01:59them. 51 seats secures a majority.
00:02:01majority. So the Democrats are taking taking one or both. Chambers could
00:02:05could spell trouble for Donald Trump
00:02:07Trump in his final two years in office.
00:02:10office. Well, in the last hour or or so, President Trump has been speaking
00:02:13speaking from the Lincoln Memorial Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington,
00:02:16Washington, DC. As you know, this this is the last day before the midterm
00:02:20midterm elections. The most important important midterm, I believe, in
00:02:24in our lifetime. The Democrat Party
00:02:26Party has nominated the most extreme
00:02:28extreme and dangerous slate of candidates candidates in American history. These
00:02:32These are the most dangerous candidates
00:02:34candidates ever put up. Well, in in the next ten minutes or so, we
00:02:38we are hoping to talk shortly to to Kelly Meyer, White House reporter
00:02:41reporter at News Nation, who's been been travelling with the President
00:02:45President and attended his speech speech today in Washington, DC we
00:02:49we will bring her in as soon as we
00:02:50we get her and to one state attracting attracting quite a bit of attention
00:02:54attention at the moment. Michigan, Michigan, where a row has erupted
00:02:57erupted in the Democratic Party after after Congresswoman Haley Stevens,
00:03:00Stevens, who missed out on the party's
00:03:02party's Senate nomination to Abdul
00:03:04Abdul El-Sayed, endorsed Republican Republican candidate and political
00:03:08political rival Mike Rogers. Well, Well, the Michigan contest is one
00:03:11one of the most closely watched and and bitter of the midterms. El-Sayed,
00:03:14El-Sayed, who would be the first first Muslim person ever elected elected to the US Senate, has faced
00:03:18faced a variety of attacks from Mike Mike Rogers and President Trump,
00:03:21Trump, asides criticism of Israel Israel has been a source of tension
00:03:24tension within the Democratic Party. Party. While. Let us discuss all
00:03:28all this and more, we're joined by by Democratic strategist Mary Anne Anne Marsh and political analyst
00:03:32analyst and former member of President President Trump's legal team, Mark
00:03:35Mark cook. Thank you both very much much indeed for being with us. And
00:03:39And Mark, let me start with you.
00:03:41you. Just looking overall at this
00:03:44this incredibly crucial race, which which matters not just for the US,
00:03:46US, but of course it is being watched
00:03:49watched right around the world. What
00:03:51What is your sense? Because polling polling obviously has been favourable
00:03:55favourable to some degree for the the Democrats, but we know polling
00:03:57polling is not always reliable. Well, Well, thank you for saying that polling
00:04:00polling has not been reliable in in the last three presidential elections
00:04:04elections or usually when pollsters pollsters are talking to Republicans,
00:04:07Republicans, we're not picking up up the phone. We're not Answering. Answering. So they have historically
00:04:11historically gotten it wrong. What What I'm seeing across the country
00:04:14country is momentum and where President President Trump has constantly delivered.
00:04:17delivered. So I share his optimism optimism as he has been crisscrossing
00:04:20crisscrossing the country like no no other president through a midterm.
00:04:23midterm. He not only had a rally rally which had a very important important message about securing
00:04:27securing the border and making sure sure that we were safe and secure,
00:04:30secure, but also the fraud. Nobody's Nobody's talking about this enough.
00:04:33enough. I think Democrats want to to just stop this, but it's so important.
00:04:36important. I mean, we're talking
00:04:41talking 233 billion to $523 billion billion of taxpayer money that President
00:04:44President Trump is going to bring bring back so that we're paying less.
00:04:47less. So I think this is all to the the affordability agenda. And unfortunately,
00:04:51unfortunately, Democrats never knew knew who they were this last cycle. cycle. They don't know why they lost.
00:04:55lost. And they're continuing to do do that same mistake. The extremism extremism you're seeing you brought
00:04:59brought up Michigan. I mean, think think about that Lcd's problem is
00:05:02is that he has continued to fund fund and be part of and to help the
00:05:06the muslim brotherhood that is a a terrorist organisation. So we're
00:05:09we're constantly seeing candidates candidates that don't really have
00:05:12have a lot to do and a lot to say
00:05:14say in terms. Well, he's he has never never actually directly talked to
00:05:18to the public to say that he doesn't doesn't support them. He actually
00:05:21actually signed a letter for the
00:05:24the Egyptian muslim brotherhood president president years ago. His family has
00:05:27has those. So I think we have to to start thinking about why people
00:05:30people are leaving the Democrat Party. Party. They don't have a message.
00:05:33message. Socialism isn't a message. message. You're seeing that in the the UK yourself. Marianne Marsh,
00:05:37Marsh, let me ask you to respond respond to that, both on the Michigan
00:05:40Michigan point, which has broke into into the news cycle in the last 24
00:05:4424 hours and sort of wider, but just just answer the Michigan point if
00:05:47if you would. Sure. It's not going going to matter in the election period.
00:05:50period. Full stop. El-Sayed will will win the Michigan Senate seat,
00:05:53seat, Democrats will win the Senate Senate and the House both easily
00:05:57easily and when you look at what's what's going on in this country, country, it's because people are
00:06:00are focused on the cost of living. living. But they know the reason.
00:06:03reason. They can't afford anything anything right now is because of
00:06:06of the corruption of the Trump administration. administration. Donald Trump went
00:06:09went out and got tariffs without without congressional approval. Where Where is that money? Where's all
00:06:12all the billions of dollars? He brags brags about? Is it at the Treasury? Treasury? Is it in someone's bank
00:06:16bank account? We don't know. Then Then he declared war on Iran again
00:06:20again without congressional approval. approval. And those two things alone alone have created our economy. So
00:06:24So voters have been voting in droves. droves. As you said in your earlier
00:06:28earlier segment, 51 million people people 54 million people have already already voted and another 100 million
00:06:31million will tomorrow. And when you you do look at the polls, the trend
00:06:34trend is your friend. And for months, months, weeks and days and hours.
00:06:37hours. Now those polls have moved moved towards the Democrats. Donald
00:06:40Donald Trump's personal favorability favorability numbers are in the tank.
00:06:43tank. He's underwater. Unfavorability Unfavorability underwater. And job
00:06:46job performance underwater on the the economy, underwater in immigration. immigration. So Democrats will win
00:06:50win the House and the Senate. It It may take us a few days to get
00:06:53get there, but that's the reality. reality. Democrats will pick up 4
00:06:564 to 7 seats in the Senate, so it'll it'll be either 51 to 54 seats there
00:06:59there in the House. I expect the
00:07:01the House to pick up anywhere from
00:07:04from 12 to 26 seats, getting to 231
00:07:06231 to 241. And that's what the Democrats Democrats will finally put a check
00:07:10check on Donald Trump, stop him from from any further destruction of our
00:07:13our democracy and help the people people of this country get back on
00:07:15on their feet and be able to support
00:07:18support themselves. I mean, obviously obviously we're going to have to
00:07:21to wait for the actual numbers to to come out once people have actually actually cast their votes. But I
00:07:25I just wonder what you're hearing hearing are high, obviously has been
00:07:28been a very interesting focal point
00:07:32point also because the affordability affordability agenda, people's concerns
00:07:35concerns about wars that are still
00:07:37still ongoing and driving some of of that affordability problem. Is
00:07:41Is that something that you have heard heard concerns about? And do you
00:07:44you think this administration has has responded that the President
00:07:46President has responded to those those concerns? Well, I think on
00:07:50on day one, President Trump addressed addressed affordability, right? He
00:07:53He knew what the Biden administration administration had created. It was
00:07:56was the largest affordability crisis crisis that Americans have faced.
00:07:59faced. So he worked with the congressional
00:08:03congressional individuals and individuals individuals in the Senate to pass
00:08:06pass the big beautiful bill which
00:08:07which created tax reforms immediately immediately for the working class,
00:08:11class, for senior citizens, for individuals individuals that are now getting
00:08:14getting no tax on tips. So think think about that. That was a working
00:08:18working class tax cut. So President
00:08:20President Trump heard loud and clear clear what Americans rejected of
00:08:23of Democrats as they continue to to destroy our economy. And President
00:08:27President Trump has also had historic historic levels of ensuring that
00:08:30that we are going to drive oil prices prices down. Look at what we did
00:08:34did in Venezuela. We're getting billions billions of barrels of oil because
00:08:38because we struck a deal and took took out a leader that was oppressing
00:08:42oppressing so many individuals in in the country of Venezuela. So we're
00:08:45we're continuing to see an energy energy independence, making sure
00:08:48sure that those Biden regulations regulations that didn't allow for
00:08:50for drilling for oil and gas, for for exploration, we're expediting
00:08:53expediting those. So while gas prices prices can still significantly go
00:08:57go lower, remember, Joe Biden had
00:09:00had it at $5.86. We're nowhere near near that. But I do believe once
00:09:03once this Iran war ends, which by by the way, my co-panelists said
00:09:06said this. So let's talk about it. it. Most presidents from Obama to
00:09:10to Biden and others have had wars
00:09:12wars without congressional approval. approval. This is absolutely legal
00:09:16legal and if it wasn't, then we wouldn't wouldn't be having this altercation
00:09:19altercation and this war with Iran. Iran. But let me be clear this isn't
00:09:22isn't about just two years for President President Trump. This is about a
00:09:25a lifelong 47 years of Iran holding
00:09:28holding Americans, our individuals individuals and our country hostage. hostage. So we have to end that.
00:09:32that. But affordability is the number number one issue, which is why President
00:09:35President Trump will win. And I'm I'm completely optimistic on the
00:09:38the Senate and many of the House House seats as well. Do you think think he's going to hold it? Mary
00:09:42Mary Ann Marsh I mean, if the Democrats
00:09:45Democrats do take one or both of
00:09:47of the houses, how will that affect affect domestic and foreign policy?
00:09:51policy? Briefly, do you think because because the Iran war there's been
00:09:54been a lot of speculation about whether whether there could be a ramping
00:09:57ramping up there after these votes votes are cast? Yeah. Democrats in
00:10:00in the House and Senate will vote vote to stop the war in Iran because
00:10:04because the President never, ever ever got their permission to do it.
00:10:06it. And they've had votes before before this to show the support of
00:10:10of Democrats opposing that war. A A lot of Republicans, when they see
00:10:13see their colleagues in Texas and and Kansas and states across this
00:10:16this country lose their seats, they they will finally get a spine and
00:10:19and start to stand up to Donald Trump, Trump, too. And that's the shift shift you're going to see. It will
00:10:23will be the same on the tariffs. tariffs. And I would say to my co-panelists co-panelists as somebody who fills
00:10:27fills up their tank pretty regularly, regularly, it's over $5 a gallon
00:10:30gallon and plus. So if there's all all this oil coming in, I don't think
00:10:33think anyone is seeing the prices prices go down on anything. But that's that's what Democrats are going to
00:10:37to do in the House and the Senate. Senate. And Donald Trump will be
00:10:39be curtailed and stopped from his
00:10:42his destruction of our democracy democracy and this country in the the last two years. We'll have to
00:10:46to leave it there. But very good good to speak to you both. I'm sure
00:10:48sure we will speak to you again soon. soon. Mary Ann Marsh and Mark cook.
00:10:52cook. Thank you. Well, let us bring bring in Kelly Maher now, White House
00:10:56House reporter at News Nation who
00:10:58who attended President Trump's speech speech today at the Reflecting Pool
00:11:01Pool in Washington, DC we saw a short short clip of that a few moments
00:11:04moments ago. Thanks for being with
00:11:06with us. You've been tracking the
00:11:09the President travelling with the the President. What's the mood been
00:11:13been like with the press corps around around the President and his team?
00:11:15team? Would you say? Well, it's certainly certainly been interesting. You know, know, we're back at the White House
00:11:19House right now. The President is is back in the West Wing right now.
00:11:23now. He's been doing these tele rallies
00:11:26rallies for his endorsed candidates, candidates, and he's not on the campaign
00:11:29campaign trail today, which is something something that was being floated
00:11:32floated previously. He decided to to then stay in Washington and give
00:11:36give this address at the Lincoln Lincoln Memorial. When we arrived
00:11:38arrived and saw the set-up, it said
00:11:40said restoring our nation's capital. capital. There were pictures that
00:11:43that he showed of the construction construction on the reflecting pool
00:11:46pool and a sign there talking about about his beautification of Washington,
00:11:49Washington, DC., as he calls it. it. So much of his speech actually
00:11:53actually focused on what's happening happening here in Washington, DC
00:11:56DC specifically when it comes to to the reflecting pool construction, construction, when it comes to as
00:11:59as he talked about making Washington,
00:12:01Washington, DC safe, as well as other
00:12:04other projects he has going on around around the district, and that really
00:12:07really isn't speaking to the broader
00:12:10broader public beyond Washington, Washington, DC., to the issues that
00:12:14that voters are talking about at at the polls. He did talk for about
00:12:17about 23 minutes on Washington, DC., DC., specific issues and then switched
00:12:21switched into the midterms and briefly briefly spoke about that and some
00:12:24some of the things that he has taken taken on in his administration, but
00:12:26but didn't talk much about gas prices, prices, the cost of the grocery store,
00:12:30store, the cost of living overall. overall. And that is something that that we're seeing voters really concerned
00:12:34concerned about as they head to the
00:12:35the polls. And he sort of did, I
00:12:39I think at one point acknowledged acknowledged that there could be,
00:12:42be, you know, a shift and that there
00:12:44there would have to be, you know, know, sort of negotiations and deals
00:12:47deals to, to, to get legislation legislation through and so on. If
00:12:50If there is a shift in the power power base coming up in the next
00:12:54next few days, are you hearing anything anything from the people around him
00:12:58him in terms of what they expect? expect? Well, it seems as though
00:13:01though his inner circle is staying staying positive. They feel as though
00:13:05though that the polling is wrong. wrong. As they say, they feel that
00:13:09that there will be a shift of Republican Republican voters turning out that
00:13:12that could change the tide. That's That's why we saw the President out
00:13:15out there on the road the last several several weeks trying to make sure sure that Republican voters turn
00:13:19turn up to vote and bring that enthusiasm, enthusiasm, as he put it, as if he
00:13:23he is on the ballot to vote as if if he's on the ballot. But then there's there's the question of if Democrats
00:13:27Democrats do win, then is he in part part to blame for that because he
00:13:29he is saying that he is on the ballot ballot this time around, and it will
00:13:33will be interesting to see how this this plays out on Tuesday and then
00:13:36then how the administration responds responds the day following about about how they're going to work with
00:13:40with potentially a Democratic House House or Democrats in control of
00:13:43of both chambers of Congress. And And as I was just saying to our previous
00:13:47previous guest, there's been some some speculation about whether there
00:13:49there could be an increase in, in, in, you know, military action, stepping
00:13:53stepping up a military action in in the Middle East. But also we've we've seen some reports in the last
00:13:57last couple of hours about whether, whether, you know, talks are still still ongoing, very difficult to
00:14:00to know the truth of all this speculation.
00:14:03speculation. But, you know, people people pondering if the President, President, for example, was more
00:14:06more curtailed at home, whether his his attention would shift even more
00:14:10more to foreign policy. What's your your take on that? What are you hearing
00:14:13hearing about that? Yeah, it's an an interesting question. And it's
00:14:15it's actually something that was was brought up at that event today.
00:14:19today. He didn't take questions from from the press, but one reporter
00:14:21reporter did shout, you know, is is he considering strikes on Iran
00:14:24Iran after the midterms? And he said said no. But we have heard from reporting
00:14:28reporting here that it's something something that he is thinking about.
00:14:31about. When I talk with sources at at the Pentagon and defence officials,
00:14:34officials, they say they are postured postured to carry out those strikes,
00:14:37strikes, but no decision has been been made yet. But there is definitely
00:14:40definitely a concern here that that's that's something a step the President
00:14:43President could take as we are seeing seeing those diplomatic efforts play play out. And we've been talking
00:14:47talking with our sources in the region, region, the Qatari sources that are
00:14:49are mediating the talks between the the US and Iran. Witkoff and Kushner
00:14:53Kushner involved in those. But they're they're while they've been positive, positive, we haven't really seen
00:14:56seen any breakthroughs and we don't don't know what step the President President might take. At the end
00:15:00end of the day, he could say no today today and then something changes changes by Wednesday. And it's just
00:15:04just something we have to watch for. for. Kelly mayor, thank you very
00:15:07very much indeed for being with us. us. White House reporter at News
00:15:09News Nation. Thank you. Thank you. you. Busy few days ahead. Don't forget
00:15:13forget you can watch a special programme programme here on BBC News bringing
00:15:16bringing you all the results of the the US midterm elections as they
00:15:18they happen live from Washington,
00:15:20Washington, DC with Clive Myrie Sumi
00:15:23Sumi Somaskanda and Caitriona Perry
00:15:26Perry tomorrow from 11.30 GMT. And And if you can't wait until then, then, you can listen to the latest
00:15:29latest episode of the President's President's Path. See me and Katrina. Katrina. Look at the key states and
00:15:33and seats at play in the coming days. days. You can listen to that on BBC
00:15:37BBC Sounds or wherever you get your your podcasts. We'll take a quick
00:15:40quick break. Around the world and and across the
00:16:45right here on BBC News. Welcome back.
00:16:53back. At least 24 people have been been killed in a Russian attack on
00:16:56on a settlement in the Zaporizhzhia Zaporizhzhia region of Ukraine. Dozens
00:16:59Dozens more are said to be missing. missing. President Zelensky shared
00:17:02shared this video on X. He says the the settlement was hit several times
00:17:06times today and that a school being being used for humanitarian purposes
00:17:10purposes was struck. President Zelensky Zelensky says after the first aerial
00:17:13aerial bomb strike, there was a double double tap strike with nine more
00:17:16more bombs specifically targeting targeting the shelter where people
00:17:19people were taking cover. Here's Here's the latest from our correspondent
00:17:22correspondent in Kyiv. Dan Johnson Johnson the President's described
00:17:26described this as an utterly horrific horrific Russian attack. He said
00:17:30said it was a school that was hit
00:17:32hit that was being used to distribute
00:17:35distribute aid to the people of this this village. He said the Russians
00:17:38Russians could not have been unaware unaware that every week local residents
00:17:41residents who had remained there there were receiving humanitarian
00:17:45humanitarian aid at that very location. location. He said the search and
00:17:48and rescue operation has been ongoing ongoing and that's why the number
00:17:52number of casualties has continued continued rising. He said this was
00:17:55was further proof that Russia wants
00:17:57wants no de-escalation and no real
00:17:59real justice. The President said
00:18:02said after the humanitarian operation operation in Oleshky, referring to
00:18:05to that temporary ceasefire which which held over the past six days,
00:18:08days, he said there was a moment moment when the next steps could
00:18:11could have shown that progress towards
00:18:13towards peace was possible. But with with these killings, Russia is sending
00:18:17sending an entirely opposite Signal.
00:18:19Signal. Russia, he said, is counting counting on more killings and there
00:18:23there must be a response to this this that temporary cease fire in
00:18:26in the Kherson region ended last last night. And we have reports that
00:18:30that intense fighting has resumed
00:18:33resumed in that region. Once again, again, we understand both sides have
00:18:36have taken the opportunity during during that cease fire to reinforce
00:18:40reinforce their soldiers to re-arm
00:18:42re-arm their units in that region.
00:18:44region. Dan Johnson then Kyiv investigations investigations are under way after
00:18:48after a private jet crashed in Florida, Florida, killing all nine people
00:18:51people on board. This is the moment
00:18:53moment the jet crashed. This is dashcam
00:18:56dashcam footage from a nearby vehicle, vehicle, the Learjet 60, which was was heading to the Bahamas, came
00:19:00came down in Palm Beach County. A A large crater formed in the middle
00:19:04middle of a multi-lane road with with fires burning across it. Nobody
00:19:07Nobody on the ground was hurt and and the cause of the crash is still
00:19:11still unclear. Tom Chapman from the the National Transportation Safety Safety Board shared this update on
00:19:15on the events leading up to the crash.
00:19:17crash. The crew reported the outside
00:19:22outside temperature was -47 Celsius,
00:19:25Celsius, which is -53 Fahrenheit, Fahrenheit, and they were managing
00:19:27managing the ice but were in moderate
00:19:29moderate turbulence. Very soon after,
00:19:32after, the crew transmitted, we are
00:19:35are picking up precipitation, requesting
00:19:36requesting to climb to 37,000ft if
00:19:40if able, which was approved by FAA
00:19:43FAA Air Traffic Control. Less than
00:19:46than 30s later, a transmission from from the aeroplane announced the
00:19:49the descent, followed by a mayday
00:19:53mayday call about 1248 eastern. The The aeroplane transmitted. We are
00:19:57are in an overspeed condition, descending
00:20:00descending with the rest unintelligible. unintelligible. Subsequent communications
00:20:04communications described that the the aeroplane was descending rapidly
00:20:07rapidly and gave an altitude call
00:20:09call out. Sadly all aboard were lost.
00:20:13lost. BBC News partner in the United
00:20:16United States, CBS News have named named the co-pilot involved in the
00:20:19the Florida air crash as 20-year-old
00:20:2220-year-old Natalia Filgueiras. Now
00:20:25Now dozens of supermarkets across across six European countries have
00:20:28have been hit by a suspected cyber
00:20:31cyber attack affecting their refrigerators refrigerators and freezers. Around
00:20:35Around 40 supermarkets were hit in in Belgium, seen here and Luxembourg
00:20:39Luxembourg and a number of shops shops were hit in Sweden, Ireland,
00:20:42Ireland, Estonia and the Netherlands. Netherlands. It's believed that the the attack used the same method as
00:20:46as last month's incident that hit hit hundreds of French supermarkets,
00:20:49supermarkets, where hackers turned turned the machines to defrost. We'll
00:20:52We'll talk about this in a moment moment with technology reporter Will
00:20:54Will Guyot. But first, this report
00:20:58report from Nick Beake. Everything
00:21:01Everything must go. Not a sale, but
00:21:03but a binning of once frozen food. food. Just some of the damage in
00:21:07in this latest cyber attack to hit hit European supermarkets. All that
00:21:11that you can see here is having to to be thrown away. But come and have
00:21:14have a look at this because it tells tells the story. The boss of this
00:21:17this supermarket just outside Brussels
00:21:19Brussels reckons that about 100,000
00:21:21100,000 worth of produce is having
00:21:23having to be thrown away. That's
00:21:26That's more than £80,000 worth of
00:21:27of stock. So here we've got ice creams,
00:21:32creams, pizza all that useless. Now
00:21:34Now this is one of 40 Delhaize stores
00:21:37stores in Belgium hit by the attack, attack, which boosted the temperature
00:21:41temperature of fridges and freezers
00:21:44freezers to 50 Celsius in Sweden Sweden and five more European countries.
00:21:47countries. The same cyber hack switched switched on the defrost mode, making
00:21:51making the food warm up. In some
00:21:56some organisation has hacked into into the temperature monitor system
00:21:59system for refrigerators and freezers. freezers. They've gained access and
00:22:02and tampered with settings and the the like. It's insane. I don't see see where they stand to gain from
00:22:06from it. It's a form of terrorism, terrorism, really. Terrorism that
00:22:08that are you. Cyber security agencies
00:22:12agencies from the affected countries countries are now trying to work
00:22:14work out who was behind this. We We definitely should be worried about
00:22:18about this happening again. It's It's not the first time that it's it's happening. It has happened just
00:22:21just a couple of weeks ago in France France and now it's happening throughout
00:22:24throughout the rest of Europe. It's It's thought many supermarkets had
00:22:28had tried to tighten their security security since the French cyber attacks
00:22:32attacks last month. But once again
00:22:34again hackers have caused disruption
00:22:36disruption and damages running into
00:22:38into millions of euros. Nick Beake,
00:22:41Beake, BBC News Brussels. Let's speak speak to tech reporter Will Guyot.
00:22:44Guyot. Thanks for being with us.
00:22:47us. Will what are we able to deduce deduce about who could be behind behind this? From the details that
00:22:51that we're getting from these hacks, hacks, does it could it be individuals?
00:22:55individuals? Does it have to be a a state or a rogue group? I mean,
00:22:57mean, how complicated is it to do do these sorts of attacks? Yeah,
00:23:01Yeah, it's always hard to say whether whether or not it's a state or not.
00:23:04not. But this feels like this could
00:23:07could just be hackers finding opportunities.
00:23:10opportunities. There were 4500 of of these units still online last
00:23:13last week. Despite this hack happening happening a couple of weeks ago.
00:23:16ago. Now in the world of cyber security, security, that would be deemed a
00:23:19a fail. But when it comes to fridges, fridges, I don't think that supermarkets
00:23:23supermarkets are geared up to have have the software updated on a fridge
00:23:27fridge in that period of time. So So this is now a well documented
00:23:30documented hack. And you know, it's it's a surprise. It's taken this
00:23:34this long since the instance in early early October for this to happen
00:23:37happen in France to happen elsewhere. elsewhere. And can supermarkets and
00:23:41and anyone who runs these sorts of of big refrigerators quickly and
00:23:45and easily protect themselves or or not? Well, a software fix has
00:23:49has been available for over a year, year, but probably the easiest thing
00:23:51thing to do here is disconnect it
00:23:54it from the internet. One of the the biggest questions that's been been asked to me today is why on
00:23:58on earth do you need all these freezers freezers connected to the internet?
00:24:00internet? Well, the reality is if if you've got, you know, 20, 30,000
00:24:0430,000 of these fridges connected connected to these controllers, it's it's far easier for you, easier for
00:24:08for you to do that online across across all of them than it is to
00:24:10to go around each store and adjust adjust them. But for now, if there's there's a chance that they could
00:24:14could be tampered with, disconnect disconnect them from the internet, internet, that's going to be the
00:24:17the simplest way to stop this happening happening in other countries like like the UK, which this hasn't yet
00:24:21yet happened in, but we still have have these devices in our supermarkets.
00:24:25supermarkets. How much of this is
00:24:27is to do with AI and what other sort
00:24:30sort of bigger perhaps more, you you know, critical systems could could be at risk from these sorts
00:24:34sorts of cyber hacks. This one looks looks as though it's not AI. This
00:24:37This is a bug that's been around around for a long time and well documented. documented. But as we've seen in
00:24:41in the last week with AI, now it's it's going to find all the errors
00:24:44errors in code. There's millions millions of lines of code in lots
00:24:47lots of software. Humans are going going to have introduced errors into
00:24:49into that. That could be unwitting unwitting mistakes or that could could have been a Friday afternoon.
00:24:53afternoon. Ooh, that looks good enough enough for me. And AI is now going
00:24:56going to uncover every bug that's that's ever been written in every every piece of software. If you use
00:25:00use a chat bot or an AI tool to find find it, and that's going to be the
00:25:03the big challenge over the next year year or year or beyond, I would think
00:25:07think it's going to be a bumpy road road because lots of errors that that have been in code for years
00:25:10years will suddenly be found. What What are the most worrying areas
00:25:13areas at risk? Just briefly? It's It's hard to speculate. Anything
00:25:17Anything that's connected to the the internet and has an open path path to the internet could theoretically
00:25:21theoretically be hacked. And those those are the things that companies companies are going to need to rush
00:25:24rush to protect quickest. And that that comes at a cost, doesn't it?
00:25:28it? Yeah. Well, yeah, it's going going to come to a cost for the companies
00:25:31companies to develop these fixes fixes and for the businesses that
00:25:34that own affected devices to roll roll out it people to help them support
00:25:37support them. Companies fix laptops laptops all the time. They don't
00:25:40don't necessarily fix freezes or or traffic signals or those kinds
00:25:43kinds of things that might have, have, you know, these similar controllers controllers in them. Yeah, obviously
00:25:46obviously we can all think of even even more worrying areas that we
00:25:49we ought to be thinking about. Governments Governments hopefully are. Will Guyot.
00:25:52Guyot. Thanks very much indeed for for being with us. More coming up.
00:25:55up. Do stay with us. This is the
00:25:57the context on BBC News. I'm Geeta
00:26:01Geeta Guru-Murthy.
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