gb news. >> good afternoon. britain. it's 12:00 on monday, the 15th of april. >> to strike or not to strike? israel weighs up whether to go big in its retaliation against iran. as allies warn against all out war. should israel strike back. >> as mps prepare to vote on the rwanda bill again today, leaked documents reveal britain wants to replicate the scheme with countries like botswana, or even sonny, costa rica and trump on trial . trial. >> within hours, donald trump will become the first us president ever to face a criminal trial. his supporters argue he will not get a fair one in democrat supporting manhattan , a news just in a bishop and several workers worshippers have been viciously attacked in another stabbing rampage in sydney, australia. >> we'll have the latest on the

ground. now we will, of course, get to australia and the concerning news that is developing there. more information coming in all the time really concerning stuff . but, this top story in our menu is of course israel, iran, british involvement . and what british involvement. and what could happen next. >> yes. what choices do israel have? iran sent roughly 300 missiles, the intention obviously, to cause as much harm as possible. thankfully no deaths as a result because of their defence system and also because their allies got involved to help defend them. >> the raf , the american air >> the raf, the american air force. but even saudi arabia joining the defence of israel there really interesting stuff. >> guess question is >> so i guess the question is should israel retaliate and what should israel retaliate and what should that look like? there seem to be options whether to

completely sit on their hands, not do anything. count this as a win. that's what david cameron said. take this as a win. don't escalate. this could turn into an all out war. others are saying, well hang on, if this had happened to britain, would we just stand back and not do anything return? anything in return? >> there are risks every >> but there are risks in every direction can see that direction here we can see that the price is currently the oil price is currently stable . if there's a big stable. if there's a big retaliation, does this drag into a larger war? does that affect our energy bills here in britain 7 our energy bills here in britain ? does that send inflation on another spike upwards ? should it another spike upwards? should it be the priority to keep things calm and stable or to strike back hard? >> well, let us know what you think. gbnews.com forward slash your say is how you can get in touch. please do throughout the show and of course and everything we're talking everything else we're talking about trial. this about trump on trial. this shocking stabbing in sydney and of course, the rwanda bill to let us know your thoughts. but shall we get the headlines? >> good afternoon. the top

stories this hour, escalating tensions in the middle east will be addressed by the prime minister in the commons this afternoon. the foreign secretary has confirmed raf jets shot down a number of iranian drones and missiles after hundreds were fired at israel at the weekend. lord cameron says the uk will now consider further sanctions against tehran. the united nafions against tehran. the united nations has warned the middle east is on the brink and is urging israel not to retaliate. but the country's war cabinet is split on the timing and scale of any response. shadow defence secretary john healey says israel has the right to defend itself. >> we have a an important role to play alongside allies, as we did over the weekend . it's did over the weekend. it's defensive action and it was in the face of a an utterly, un unprecedented and unacceptable iranian attack. direct from iran as well as from, militia groups in other countries .

in other countries. >> 534 people were intercepted in the english channel yesterday , making it the highest number of crossings on a single day. so far this year. it means the total number of small boat arrivals this year now stands at arrivals this year now stands at a provisional total of 6265. it comes as the government's flagship rwanda policy returns to parliament, with mps due to debate. the latest amendments by peers . three people have died peers. three people have died and another is in a critical condition following a car crash in north london. it happened near the staples corner retail park just before midnight yesterday. five men, all thought to be in their early 20s, were in one car. police don't believe any other vehicles were involved in the incident. three people were pronounced dead at the scene and two others were taken to hospital. the fifth man, whose injuries are not life threatening . a man has been threatening. a man has been arrested following reports of another stabbing in sydney. a live stream of a sermon at the

christ good shepherd church showed a bishop being targeted by a man before worshippers tackled the offender to the ground. it's not clear what he was armed with. new south wales police has confirmed those being treated suffered non—life threatening injuries. treated suffered non—life threatening injuries . meanwhile, threatening injuries. meanwhile, the father of the man, who fatally stabbed six people at a shopping centre in sydney, has apologised for his son's actions. joel cauchi killed five women and a male security guard on saturday. police say they're investigating whether he was specifically targeting women. they believe the 40 year old suffered from schizophrenia and used drugs, including meth and psychedelics. andrew couch says his son was a very sick boy. >> i'm extremely sorry. i'm heartbroken for you . i look, heartbroken for you. i look, this is so horrendous that i can't even explain it. you're trying to get me to give you an intelligent conversation. i can't do it because i'm just

devastated. i love my son. i made myself a servant to my son when i found out he had a mental illness, i became his servant. i did everything because i loved that boy . that boy. >> the first of four criminal trials against donald trump begins later today in new york. the former president has been charged in connection to a case involving a hush money payment to adult film star stormy daniels. he faces a maximum of four years in jail if convicted, but could avoid serving time and be fined instead. the trial is expected to last 6 to 8 weeks. millions of people across the country are set to have access to new long distance rail routes. under new rail industry plans , open access services on plans, open access services on seven routes are being developed , aiming to boost connectivity, increase competition and reduce fares. york based prospective open access company grand union trains plans to launch services between london euston and the

city of stirling in central scotland from june next year. it's also been given the go ahead to run trains between london paddington and south—west wales , and universal credit will wales, and universal credit will need to change to meet the challenges of an older and sicker population . that's sicker population. that's according to a new report. the resolution foundation says the number of benefit claimants who are out of work due to ill health has almost doubled since 2013, the report says both the benefit system and the country have changed significantly since universal credit was introduced. the government recently announced changes to the credit scheme, aimed at encouraging people health to seek people with ill health to seek work . for the latest stories, work. for the latest stories, you can sign up to gb news alerts by scanning the qr code on your screen, or go to gb news .com/ alerts. now it's back to tom and . emily. tom and. emily. >> good afternoon britain. it's

12:07 and let's start with that. breaking news in the last half hour that a priest has been stabbed multiple times while delivering mass at a church in a suburb of sydney. >> well, joining us now with the details is our home and security edhon details is our home and security editor, mark white. what do we know? we've seen shocking footage of this vicious attack . footage of this vicious attack. >> yes, this is the crisis. shepherd church in wakely in western sydney, where this attack happened . it's 9:00 in attack happened. it's 9:00 in the evening in sydney at the moment this happened evening mass at bishop murray. emanuel was presiding over that mass when video shows and you can see a still image of the video there. a man who walks forward then lunged his at this priest, stabbing him in the face, and then multiple times as then members of the congregation jump on top of this man to try and subdue him. the information that we've got at this early stage is

that up to four people may have been stabbed . the police are been stabbed. the police are saying that they have all sustained non—serious injuries. it's unclear what this individual had in his hand carrying out this stabbing. it looked to be a smallish item. it may have been a bladed item that he was carrying, but enough. whatever it was, it clearly inflicted some stab injuries. so up to four people within this church who were stabbed by whatever this man was carrying, he was arrested at the scene , is he was arrested at the scene, is now in police custody as they try to determine the motivation for what was clearly a horrific attack . attack. >> mark, it is shocking seeing the video. of course, we've decided not to show the video in full. the stabbing and frankly, the screaming. but mark, this comes just days after another attack in sydney, another vicious stabbing attack, it's

fairly unusual to see a stabbing followed by another stabbing like this. do we know if there is any link between the two? >> yeah. i mean, this type of multiple stabbing is certainly unusualin multiple stabbing is certainly unusual in sydney. and of course, people are reeling from what has happened just on saturday. they are now to get the news of what is an unfolding. this evening. that stabbing, of course, at bondi junction at the westfield shopping centre there, in which this attacker with a knife managed to stab multiple people , managed to stab multiple people, killing six people, including a mother and her young baby daughter who was stabbed but survived after surgery in hospital. absolutely horrific . hospital. absolutely horrific. and that particular occasion you saw in the news bulletin there, the father of this man talking about how he had suffered from schizophrenia for a number of

years and, you know, absolutely heartbroken and apologetic for what has happened here. the police, with regard to the bondi junction attack, said that they had known this individual he'd never been arrested before, but is someone that they had come into contact with and they're investigating whether indeed he had singled out women and other vulnerable people to attack. and that was borne out, i think, by the demographics of those killed, five women and one man. >> well, thank you very much indeed for bringing us what you know, and we'll bring any developments . we'll also be developments. we'll also be heading live over to sydney to hear a sydney perspective. but, mark, let's turn your attention to the middle east. what options does israel have? the war cabinet is meeting to discuss whether they retaliate, whether they attack, strike back iran. what are their options on the table? >> well, that war cabinet has

just been reconvened . so they just been reconvened. so they are discussing their options. i mean, what israel says is that it will respond, but so far it's saying it will be at a time and of a method of its choosing. clearly international allies are saying to israel, exercise wise restraint here, because there is the real potential for this to escalate into a regional conflict. i mean, what is real is seeing in response to that is this was an attack by another state on the sovereign state of israel . if it was 331 drones, israel. if it was 331 drones, missiles, including cruise and ballistic missiles launched at a western nation, they wouldn't be necessarily urging restraint. but certainly acknowledging the right of israel to defend itself. so we await to really see what the war cabinet will

come up with in terms of the response. iran, for its part, is saying that this operation is concluded that they have sent their message to israel and response to that strike on a consulate in damascus on the 1st of april, in which a number of iranian generals and diplomatic staff were killed, but they say that they will strike again and strike with a greater degree. if israel then retaliates and strikes them. so there is the potential for huge escalation here. but we just don't know yet. until israel decides on their plan of action. >> a hugely tense situation. well, mark white, thank you very much for bringing us the very latest there. both from sydney and from israel. >> well, joining us now is the director of policy at the counter—extremism group, tom wilson. tom, thank you very much indeed. wilson. tom, thank you very much indeed . as mark white was just

indeed. as mark white was just explaining, the war cabinet in israel are meeting, they'll be deciding what to do. what do you suspect they will decide? >> well, it's impossible to know. and it may be that israel simply decides to carry out another series of attacks targeting iranian proxies or the irgc and their infrastructure in places like syria . or it could places like syria. or it could be that they decide that since there's been a direct attack on israeli territory, they will directly attack iranian territory. i think for the israelis, what they're going to be thinking about is how to establish and maintain deterrent to iran, because although there has been conversations here about not escalating, i think israel is very aware that ever since october the 7th, iran has been escalating because it's ultimately inconceivable that something like october the 7th and that massacre could have happened without iranian support. and what we've seen from western policy is an attempt for a number of years now, going back to barack

obama's time president, is obama's time as president, is attempts essentially attempts to essentially negotiate with, appease moderate the iranian regime have now failed. and so a policy of deterrent , of making iran deterrent, of making iran understand there's a very high cost to doing things like what they did the other evening may be the best way that israel can push back against the iranian threat . now, of course, the threat. now, of course, the attack was a failure. there were 99% of those 331 missiles and drones were downed by coalition forces, mainly israel. but of course , the americans, the course, the americans, the brits, the jordanians, the saudis, as well, of course, the message from the united states, from the g7, from the uk is restrain, is one of restraint towards israel. frankly the escalation here to state on state warfare would be incredibly destabilising for the whole world. what is the most restrained action that israel

could do that would also satisfy their legitimate needs to retaliate ? what i mean, they retaliate? what i mean, they could carry out strikes against hezbollah in southern lebanon, as they already had, have been doing . but that wouldn't stop doing. but that wouldn't stop the conflict from continuing . the conflict from continuing. it's very clear that for years now, iran has sought confrontation not only with israel but also with the us . and israel but also with the us. and don't forget that us installations and us consulates installations and us consulates in the middle east have been targeted by iran and its proxies . and i think, you know, it's significant that britain took part in, in the action over the weekend to try and repel the iranian attacks because of the fact that we have also suffered at the hands of iran. it's british troops who were being killed in iraq and afghanistan by iranian made roadside bombs. our embassy in tehran was stormed by the iranians some years ago. and we also, of course, have pro—iranian and extremist groups operating here in the uk . we had, of course,

in the uk. we had, of course, the al quds day march in london only the other week, where hezbollah flags are usually seen flying. they weren't flying this time because hezbollah is now proscribed. i don't think proscribed. but i don't think that's everybody that's because everybody on the march stopped march has suddenly stopped supporting tom, supporting hezbollah. well tom, it's interesting you mentioned that was going to be my next question. that was going to be my next quewhat the implications on >> what are the implications on our domestic security? will our domestic security? how will iran be si king to behave? will they funding terrorist they be funding terrorist activities in this country? i know that israel are calling on the uk government to proscribe the uk government to proscribe the islamic revolutionary guard corps here as a terrorist organisation. what are the implications for the average brits safety ? brits safety? >> well, so far iran has obviously been very careful not to target the british public. but for iranian dissidents who live here in britain, i think that this must be a very frightening time, because there are a series of organisations and networks that are completely augned and networks that are completely aligned with the iranian regime, the degree to which they're

being directed by the irgc. we can't know. but nevertheless, the general atmosphere of extremism, of incitement, of support for terrorism , at least support for terrorism, at least ideologically, is encouraged by many of these different groups. and in the uk, we need to be far more mindful of how a regime thatis more mindful of how a regime that is fundamentally hostile to the west, to western democracy and to britain, how we are acting to make sure that they don't continue to incite and have a divisive influence on on the situation between communities here in the uk. and that should be, the first thing that should be, the first thing that we're trying to do . as you that we're trying to do. as you mentioned, proscribing the irgc would be one very obvious way to do that. but i also think that taking measures to disrupt do that. but i also think that taking |extremistto disrupt do that. but i also think that taking |extremist islamistt various extremist islamist groups in the uk groups backed by iran in the uk would also be an important policy for the uk to pursue. well, we are, of course, expecting a statement from the prime minister in the house of commons a little bit later this afternoon, which may well go as far proscribing irgc and far as proscribing the irgc and perhaps even more sanctions,

that it's hard to imagine what more sanctions we can place upon iran stage. but tom iran at this stage. but tom wilson, of the director wilson, director of the director of policy at the counter—extremism group, really appreciate thank you. appreciate your time. thank you. >> will be very >> yes, it will be very interesting see the interesting to see what the prime has say, prime minister has to say, whether there are efforts whether there are more efforts that made to sanction that can be made to sanction iran. exactly the tone iran. what exactly is the tone he's adopt ? yeah, it's he's going to adopt? yeah, it's interesting to defence of israel and our allyship with that state. >> listening to david cameron this morning, he was out and about saying it's very clear who the bad guys are in the middle east, that iran is the enemy. israel is an ally, actually, frankly , saudi arabia, strong frankly, saudi arabia, strong ally, over the weekend, as well. but the question is, what is in britain's national interest? we know how much detail sized countries particularly destabilised oil producing countries can rock this country can rock , our energy bills can can rock, our energy bills can rock, our general inflation rate can rock , our mortgage rates can rock, our mortgage rates even. and there's got to be an

eye on stability and economic security here for us at home. >> but have we failed as well as justice? yeah, completely. but have we failed to hold iran to account, to accept the threat from iran? have we appeased iran? and when i say we, i, i mainly mean western countries, our country, the united states, have we, tom wilson, suggesting that we have for many years. is that we have for many years. is that a mistake ? but it's been that a mistake? but it's been something so emboldened. countries have been juggling way because of course, was the because of course, it was the obama administration that initially, developed the iran nuclear deal. >> this was to free up frozen assets for iran in return for their stopping their their nuclear program. now of course, trump reversed that. biden put it back into place. this is a question that, regimes have been, grab dealing with for a long, long time. how do you contain iran? because it's a large country. it's a populous country . it's a wealthy country. country. it's a wealthy country. and how do you contain that

threat outside of a full scale war? i don't think anyone wants to see a west versus iran war. we saw the sort of disasters that we've seen in in large scale wars in that part of the world, in the past. >> well, let us know what you think all. should israel think of it all. should israel strike back to extent and strike back to what extent and would be comfortable seeing would you be comfortable seeing the states and britain, the united states and britain, following in that pursuit , but following in that pursuit, but still to come, mps will vote on the rwanda bill again today. this comes after revelations the government has held talks with other countries to replicate the rwanda deportation scheme, including even sonny costa rica. although it is sometimes rainy in costa rica , it's a nice in costa rica, it's a nice houday in costa rica, it's a nice holiday destination nonetheless. good afternoon britain, we're on gb news, britain's news channel .

>> good afternoon. britain. it's 12:24. now. the rwanda standoff resumes. this week as the government's controversial bill returns to the house of commons. this amid reports the uk has held talks with other countries to replicate the scheme. >> yes, including countries like armenia, the ivory coast, costa rica and botswana. now this comes as yesterday saw the single biggest daily total number of channel crossings so far this year. how many times have we had to read that one out? >> there's a common refrain , >> there's a common refrain, isn't it a common refrain? >> 534 migrants arrived illegally uk in just one day. >> well, let's get the very latest now with our political edhon latest now with our political editor, christopher hope, who joins live from downing joins us live from downing street, now, christopher, i know you'll have been speaking with the prime minister's official spokesman , earlier this spokesman, earlier this afternoon, but but frankly , afternoon, but but frankly, these new numbers of a yet another record day across the channelit another record day across the channel, it puts into

perspective how much this illegal migration issue is an issue for the government. how much is riding on this ? much is riding on this? >> yeah. morning, tom. morning, emily. well, that's right. it's almost as though the people traffickers are trying to taunt the government by pushing a cost . 534 people have been small boats, it's over the weekend. we know from our reporting by our colleague mark white, who's been amongst the people traffickers, how they do try and coordinate it. and they they send a lot over at once, and then they send a few over. and they are very, very clever how they do it and how they play cat and mouse with those border force vessels. and it the couldn't be it is the timing couldn't be worse or perhaps better, maybe for the government, but certainly highlights problem. certainly highlights a problem. it'll, it will show tory mps why they and through they must try and push through and the seven and overturn the seven amendments house of amendments today in the house of lords the safety of rwanda lords to the safety of rwanda bill. we fully expect it that to happen. way , it might be happen. by the way, it might be the odd the odd rebellion, rebellion, rebellion, from rebellion, rebellion, maybe from robert buckland, sir robert buckland, the former attorney general , backed the laws

general, backed the laws tomorrow and then back on wednesday commons to wednesday for the commons to reassert their primacy in parliament and then, as i've been saying for weeks now, i expect this to be law on thursday. if that doesn't happen, well , thursday. if that doesn't happen, well, we'll thursday. if that doesn't happen, well , we'll wait thursday. if that doesn't happen, well, we'll wait and see. i've been talking to a peer just now, over in parliament, he thinks that mr sunak, i mean , he thinks that mr sunak, i mean, he says this, he has no, no authority on it that he could call an election to force it through. now, no one thinks that with the tories 25 points behind in polls , but it just shows in the polls, but it just shows how febrile is that how febrile parliament is that this could be a big moment again this could be a big moment again this week for this, this government trying to get through a which say will a policy which they say will ensure it breaks the ensure that it breaks the business we saw over the business model we saw over the weekend, this going to cost weekend, that this going to cost £5 billion to send 30,000 people to rwanda in the first five years of the scheme , of course, years of the scheme, of course, the government would that's, the government would say that's, that's, quite a good that's, that's a quite a good value given they're spending nearly 5 billion a year already, vie on hotels to house people arriving here in claiming asylum. so the battle carries on. week .

on. this week. >> and, christopher, have you heard about the idea heard any more about the idea that home office officials are looking countries , looking at other countries, including costa rica, to replicate this scheme ? replicate this scheme? >> i'll be able to update you more in an hour's time. emily. the lobby meeting, unusually, was evacuated , shortly after it was evacuated, shortly after it started, so it's still on going at the moment. started, so it's still on going at the moment . and because of at the moment. and because of that, i can't talk about what's being said the meeting, so being said in the meeting, so i'll get back to you on that. but certainly heard reporting but certainly we heard reporting over didn't we, in over the weekend, didn't we, in the costa rica, the times that costa rica, armenia , ivory coast and armenia, ivory coast and botswana could all sign up and try and help the uk with this model of breaking as they see it, the asylum, the people trafficking model. we should remind viewers, of course, that the labour party will act this scheme, even if it's shown to be working so the race is on for this government to get these flights off, ensure that the courts don't try and frustrate them it becomes law, them again. if it becomes law, as we expect on thursday and get these flights off and these flights taking off and then to labour, will then a challenge to labour, will you a scheme working i >> -- >> it's lam

>> it's really, really interesting stuff there. chris, we back you. of we will be back to you. of course, that fitting when course, when that fitting when that lobby meeting finishes , that lobby meeting finishes, cunous that lobby meeting finishes, curious evacuation procedure. yeah. looking forward yeah. well, i'm looking forward to hear more about that. but on the house of lords, because of course, this is all part of that famous parliamentary ping pong commons, the lords, the commons, the if the commons passes the lords. if the commons passes this today, is it your understanding that the lords is willing to let it through tomorrow , or will there yet be tomorrow, or will there yet be more amendments added to it? and we start the rigmarole all over again ? again? >> yeah, i think, tom, no more amendments . i fully expect the amendments. i fully expect the lords to return it to the commons tomorrow when they vote on to reassert their their seven changes to the safety of rwanda bill. i think on wednesday is the big day. that's the day when i expect the commons to vote for a third time to overrule the house of lords. a third time to overrule the house of lords . and whips tell house of lords. and whips tell me they expect the lords on wednesday to fold and this bill to become law on thursday .

to become law on thursday. that's how they think it's going to happen. but the lords, of course, the government hasn't got a majority there. it may not happen, that's happen, but that's what everyone's parliament. >> there's prediction parliament. >> christopher prediction parliament. >> christopher hopeediction parliament. >> christopher hope .iiction parliament. >> christopher hope . weon parliament. >> christopher hope . we await from christopher hope. we await to the eventuality. to see the eventuality. but thank much indeed, thank you very much indeed, christopher there outside christopher hope, there outside downing made downing street for us, made a note law by thursday. note of that law by thursday. >> but my goodness, how many, how many road bumps has this legislation found? almost how many road bumps has this legisl be»n found? almost how many road bumps has this legisl be able|nd? almost how many road bumps has this legisl be able to ? almost how many road bumps has this legisl be able to believe ost how many road bumps has this legisl be able to believe it. won't be able to believe it. well so christopher is saying reminding labour reminding us what the labour party that they would party have said, that they would get this scheme if get rid of this scheme even if it's to work . it's seen to work. >> i'm not sure whether they would it was working, they'd would if it was working, they'd be to get rid of it if it be mad to get rid of it if it was working, especially if this isn't a rwanda scheme, isn't just a rwanda scheme, because talking because we keep talking about this this is the rwanda scheme. >> it's about rwanda. it's >> it's only about rwanda. it's not. having somewhere not. it's about having somewhere to deport people who we currently deport from the currently can't deport from the united kingdom. and we saw how successful it was with albanian migrants coming across soon migrants coming across as soon as returns agreement as we had a returns agreement with albania, we were able to get the people stop coming, we were able to deport them and then new ones stopped coming

across. migration fell, illegal migration by a third. migration fell by a third. >> although mark did point out that a lot of them actually were just and stood. that a lot of them actually were justthat and stood. that a lot of them actually were justthat is and stood. that a lot of them actually were justthat is that and stood. that a lot of them actually were justthat is that is and stood. that a lot of them actually were justthat is that is true. d stood. that a lot of them actually were justthat is that is true. but)od. that a lot of them actually were justthat is that is true. but as. >> that is that is true. but as soon as they're across and picked up, they can then be sent back, now we can do back, picked up. now we can do that country. we have an that with a country. we have an agreement with the countries we don't have agreements with. we need that's need third countries. that's where comes in. and if where rwanda comes in. and if it's just rwanda, it's it's not just rwanda, if it's costa rica well, botswana costa rica as well, and botswana and other places, and so many other places, suddenly starts to look suddenly this starts to look like a really viable of like a really viable scheme of not just deterrence but of deportation and in which case, you'd be mad as a new government to get rid of a policy that's working, but there you go. let us know your thoughts. gb news. com forward slash. your say is the to get in touch, but on the way to get in touch, but on the way to get in touch, but on the way, be discussing how the way, we'll be discussing how a saint george's society is disbanding after discovering it can't attract any new members. sad stuff. we'll find out the story. shall we get your headunes.

headlines. >> emily. thank you. the top stories this hour escalating tensions in the middle east will be addressed by the prime minister in the commons this afternoon. the foreign secretary has confirmed raf jets shot down a number of iranian drones and missiles after hundreds were fired at israel at the weekend . fired at israel at the weekend. lord cameron says the uk will now consider further sanctions against tehran. the united nafions against tehran. the united nations has warned the middle east is on the brink and is urging israel not to retaliate . urging israel not to retaliate. but the country's war cabinet is split on the timing and scale of any response. 534 people were intercepted in the english channel yesterday, making it the highest number of crossings in a single day so far this year. it means the total number of small boat arrivals this year now stands at a provisional total of 6265. it comes as the government's flagship rwanda policy returns to parliament, with mps due to debate . the with mps due to debate. the latest amendments by peers . latest amendments by peers.

three people have died and another's in a critical condition following a car crash in north london. it happened near the staples corner retail park, just before midnight. five men, all thought to be in their early 20s, were in one car. police do not believe any other vehicles were involved in the incident . and the father of the incident. and the father of the man who fatally stabbed six people at a shopping centre in sydney on saturday, has apologised for his son's actions. joel cuzshe killed five women and a male security guard . women and a male security guard. police say they are investigating whether he was specifically targeting women. they believe the 40 year old suffered from schizophrenia and used drugs , including meth and used drugs, including meth and psychedelics . for the latest psychedelics. for the latest stories, you can sign up to gb news alerts by scanning the qr code on your screen or you can code on your screen or you can 90 code on your screen or you can go to gb news. common alerts

i >> right. well, you've been getting in touch. it's 1237, by the way , on two major talking the way, on two major talking points today, whether israel should strike back against iran and whether, other countries, not separate from rwanda, including costa rica, might be a destination for channel migrants. well, the government is apparently considering it. i'm not sure that costa rica would be the biggest deterrent in the world. >> so people pay. people pay a lot to go there on lot of money to go there on swanky holidays. >> well, anton says no, don't ruin costa rica. one the most ruin costa rica. one of the most beautiful countries the beautiful countries in the world. says if botswana is world. david says if botswana is another destination, he's happy to recce and a safety to do a recce and a safety report on the conditions. a one way ticket, please. so david would like go to botswana, would like to go to botswana, john says. >> instead having to pay >> instead of us having to pay the costs for immigration, why

don't to don't we just return them to france? could france? this could be done legally any to us. legally without any cost to us. well, i'm afraid the well, john, i'm afraid the french would have to agree. that's problem all of that's the problem with all of these things of that happening. we successful with albania. these things of that happening. we signed jccessful with albania. these things of that happening. we signed acessful with albania. these things of that happening. we signed a treaty. with albania. these things of that happening. we signed a treaty. weh albania. these things of that happening. we signed a treaty. we could nia. we signed a treaty. we could send people back albania. the send people back to albania. the whole about rwanda, whole point about rwanda, botswana, rica, any of botswana, costa rica, any of these is that we these other countries is that we can send someone and they can agree to take them because so far, french have just far, the french have just refused any sort of refused to sign any sort of returns agreement. >> don't forget armenia. yes, but the issue israel and but on the issue of israel and iran, andi says israel should strike once . yes. that would be strike once. yes. that would be a brilliant example of israeli capability. and be popular with innocent iranians. yes, it is worth mentioning that there are a lot of iranians who do not support the current regime, that's for sure. >> and it is such a tough one. of course, because the iran attack failed . the question is attack failed. the question is now what does israel do in return? and what does prevent a wider war that creates an incredibly difficult and unstable situation across the

world, economically and with regard to security as well? can israel strike in a in a controlled way ? and if andy says controlled way? and if andy says israel striking once, what would iran do in return? would they send another barrage of missiles? and would more of our raf jets be scrambled to take some of those missiles down? >> should israel take this as a win that iran was not successful and perhaps just a strike? the drone factories, it's an interesting point. >> wendy says. i don't believe in any fighting as it's always the innocents who suffer. but hamas are nothing but bullies and need to be dealt with. if israel don't find they'll israel don't find back, they'll suffer even more. >> and, tim says, tim >> yeah. and, tim says, tim says, i think we must take action now or we live with this bully, rogue dictatorship calling the shots for the rest of to take action of time. better to take action now before it realises any form of nuclear capability , assuming of nuclear capability, assuming it already. well, there it hasn't already. well, there you go. strong stuff from tim. >> well, maureen says, i hope we keep a safe distance from the israel gaza iran war. goodness

me, it was an israeli israel—hamas war. now we're throwing iran in there too. it's too to get involved in too easy to get involved in trouble very hard to trouble and very hard to extricate ourselves. and that's a hugely popular view. >> absolutely. let's stay out of it as much as possible. it's a view. >> can we stay out of it when you know we're buying oil from that region? this affects our heating bills. this affects the rate of inflation. this affects interest rates. it affects everything in the global economy. it's such a tough one. >> and of course we see a lot of pro—iranian activity in this country too. so can we really stay out of it. but keep your views coming in? gbnews.com/yoursay. shall we move on? >> let's move on. >> because. there's an interesting point that's coming up next week, and it's something that perhaps we don't talk about enough. that is, of course , enough. that is, of course, saint george's day here in england. and is a branch of the royal society of saint george, has announced that it's

disbanding after it can't attract any new members . attract any new members. shocking story. in the lead up to this year's saint george's day. >> yes, the president of the leicestershire society says changing values as well as demographics in the area area are making it simply too hard for the society to carry on. our east midlands reporter will hollis has this gb news exclusive . exclusive. >> in every corner of the world, people celebrate english tradition and values as members of the royal society of saint george. yet here in england, branches are closing as membership dwindles. >> i feel that in this country, saint george is all but dead and buried. >> until recently , vie stephen >> until recently, vie stephen warden, from wigston, was president of the leicestershire branch. despite spending £1,500 of his own money advertising , he of his own money advertising, he couldn't find enough members to keep it running. >> i did everything humanly possible to get new members into the branch from the local environment agent, but they were

just not interested in joining , just not interested in joining, he thinks changing demographics and declining interest in the society's values contributed to disappearing membership . disappearing membership. >> but he also blames political leadership at national and local levels. >> stephen claims his proposal for a saint george's day parade was repeatedly rejected by leicester city council over ten years, a celebration is planned for saint george's day, but like most cities and towns, no parade will pass through the streets. a leicester city council spokesperson said leicester's annual celebrations of saint george's day have been organised and funded by the city council for many decades, and they remain an important part of the city's festival calendar. some in leicester say they would like to see more done to celebrate england's patron saint. >> i think it's a sign of patriotism. i think it helps the country. >> we celebrate a lot of religious festivals here. >> people forget, i think what is important to england. >> maybe it's been sort of ,

>> maybe it's been sort of, jumped on to with the wrong crowd, but i think nowadays it's just completely different. >> the royal society of saint george has 5000 members worldwide and it's non—political, open to all faiths and backgrounds, but is fiercely patriotic , promoting fiercely patriotic, promoting englishness and values like free speech and tolerance. nick dutt is the society's chairman . is the society's chairman. >> patriotism has been linked to nationalism, which are two very different things. we're a patriotic society. if you say in scotland and ireland, wales, europe, you're a patriot. no one bunks europe, you're a patriot. no one blinks an eye. in england, people should take a step back . people should take a step back. and that is a challenge. and it's how we try and change that . it's how we try and change that. >> back in wigston, saint george's cross flies above stephen's home. >> it makes me feel good because i know at least i've not forgotten saint george if everybody even though everybody else has, even though his is gone, still his branch is gone, he's still a member of society. member of the society. >> can't turn his back on >> he can't turn his back on saint george. will hollis gb news in leicester public holiday

i >> -- >> it's got to be no, it's got to be another bank holiday. why not? >> i don't like bank holidays. >> i don't like bank holidays. >> why not? >> why not? >> i don't think they're good for the economy. >> okay. all right. they can be sometimes think sometimes good. i think i think it day that we sort it should be a day that we sort of respect them. >> robert hur mark more. but >> is robert hur mark more. but i think it's to good say i don't think it's to good say one an extra where one just an extra day where literally no one goes to work, where everything shuts down, where everything shuts down, where business slows off. >> hang on, hospitality >> well hang on, hospitality very stays open. of very much stays open. lots of people continue their people continue to do their jobs. just boring jobs. it's just the boring office don't have to office workers who don't have to go in. >> there was an economic study a few ago that showed the few years ago that showed the billions every bank billions we lose for every bank holiday. having a bank holiday. in fact, having a bank houday holiday for i don't think we shouldn't by the shouldn't have had one, by the way. having a bank holiday way. but having a bank holiday for coronation or for the coronation last year or two you know, the two years ago, you know, the price everything and the price of everything and the value of nothing, tom. >> i mean, you can you >> well, i mean, you can you imagine patriotism? >> have problems this >> we have problems in this country people not country with people not believing in britain, believing in need people to in england. we need people to get excited about traditions , get excited about traditions, bnng get excited about traditions, bring people together to celebrate what it means to be

english. >> i think we can do better than saying, have a day off work. i think we can do better, go to work and have a party. the innate patriotism, particularly of think of the english, and i think engush of the english, and i think english don't get enough english people don't get enough opportunity to be patriotic about the thousand plus years of history that this polity has enjoyed. i think very often this little piece of land, this , this little piece of land, this, this earth, this realm, this england. yes. yes. no. the game's afoot. follow your spirit. and on this charge, let us know what you think. harry england and saint george, i want to know what our viewers and listeners are thinking at home. >> you think is time for >> do you think it is time for saint day to be met, to saint george's day to be met, to be celebrated with a public holiday? >> do you know wanted to >> do you know who wanted to make >> do you know who wanted to ma get rid of of the others. >> get rid of one of the others. >> get rid of one of the others. >> oh, i'd like that. yes let's aboush and >> oh, i'd like that. yes let's abolish and replace it abolish may day and replace it with george's day that with saint george's day that that i absolutely approve that i can absolutely approve of. well, us know what >> okay, well, let us know what you you think there you think. do you think there should public holiday? should be a public holiday? gbnews.com/yoursay read gbnews.com/yoursay we'll read out views on out some of your views later on the show. coming up, we're the show. but coming up, we're heading new york,

heading straight to new york, where trump become where donald trump will become the ever go the first president to ever go on tnal. the first president to ever go on trial . we'll

i >> -- >> now in lam >> now in the break, i looked at the cost of a bank holiday. he did? the last time economists looked at it, it was 2010. i ran the numbers through an inflation calculator. worked out the cost to extra bank holiday to have an extra bank holiday today in 2024. £43 billion. so the question is, what do we cut in order to have that bank holiday? the nhs pensions , the holiday? the nhs pensions, the answer is the answer to that question is tom. not everything is about money. thank you jrm for that comment. >> is that jacob rees—mogg? it might be. i'd be surprised. >> it might be. it might be jacob rees—mogg on old your jacob rees—mogg on the old your say gbnews.com/yoursay jrm well shall we jump across from england if you

england or indeed turkey if you want to be pedantic about saint george to the united states of america, because donald trump has become the first former us president to stand trial on criminal charges today as his case involving hush money payments begins in new york. yes, in the unprecedented trial , yes, in the unprecedented trial, he is accused of falsifying business records to disguise a payment made to stormy daniels shortly before the 2016 election. >> well, this could be the first of four criminal prosecutions against trump to go on trial this year. this as he runs for a second turn at the white house. >> so joining us now is the chair of republicans overseas, greg greg, the trial greg swenson. greg, the trial begins today. we shall see. picture footage, live footage of donald trump as he attends. i understand this is all going to be about the selection of the jury be about the selection of the jury today and perhaps for the next few days. how important is this issue of jury selection for this issue of jury selection for this case? >> yeah, it's i think it's really challenging for the president's case because it's in new york city, which is a very

hostile to president trump . and, hostile to president trump. and, you know, biden, the jury pool is 88% democrat, but they're particularly hostile to president trump in new york. and you even saw that in the campaign that alvin bragg, the prosecutor , ran to win election. prosecutor, ran to win election. he basically his central theme of his campaign was get trump. so this is a hostile jury pool, which makes it, i would think, pretty likely that there'll be at least one, but probably several convictions . and then several convictions. and then the question is, does it help or hurt the president politically ? hurt the president politically? i think the cynicism of this and the absolute absurdity of this case will actually help him in the long run. >> and that's an interesting point, because unlike some of the other cases that we've seen, this isn't to do with sort of his role as president or what was proper or improper. nothing at all touching on january the 6th, even. this is all about his personal conduct. >> that's right. and that's why i think the voters will look at this as as particularly reckless or a real weaponization of the

justice system . it also helps justice system. it also helps president trump that this is the first of the four indictments to go to trial that actually helps him, because it's the weakest of the cases. it's the most ridiculous of the cases. and again, i think that will help the president . i knew it would the president. i knew it would help him in primaries and help him in the primaries and the nomination process. and it surely was a point surely did. it was a 30 point swing when announcement, swing when the announcement, when announcement last when the announcement came last yean when the announcement came last year, basically ended the year, and it basically ended the republican nomination process and trump, you know, obviously is clearly on the on the path to the nomination. but, you know, this is this might ultimately help him in the general election, too, because it'll make voters really sceptical of the subsequent trials that that are coming up, possibly one before the presidential election. but greg, do we have polling to back that up? >> do we know what proportion of the american people believe that this is a weaponization of the justice system? >> no, it's a great question . i >> no, it's a great question. i don't know the numbers specifically on that, but i think you saw in the the

think what you saw in the in the republican primaries that republican primaries is that clearly helped him. again, he had point swing very had a 30 point swing very similar the to rate of on similar to the to the rate of on mar—a—lago back in the summer of 22, he went up 30 points, 22, when he went up 30 points, or there was a 30 point swing between the president and governor ron desantis. so look , governor ron desantis. so look, i'm not sure what the numbers are overall. and i think you will see some, even some republicans that will not vote for him if there's a felony conviction on any of these. but that could change also, and you're seeing it in the polls recently where he's doing very well and he's he's leading both overall as well as in the swing states . states. >> perhaps this would be very different if there was only one indictment, if there was only one against trump, one case against donald trump, people might think, my people might think, oh my goodness, have done goodness, might he have done something quite wrong something really quite wrong here? given there are here? but given that there are so different cases from so so many different cases from so many different angles, almost many different angles, it almost looks like a sort of establishment get trump operation. >> oh, surely it is , tom. >> oh, surely it is, tom. i mean, if you look at the fact that most of these cases are real legal stretches and shouldn't this case in

particular should not have been brought? so i think that's a real challenge. and all of the cases are being orchestrated by progressive left prosecutors . progressive left prosecutors. and you know, even this case in in new york, not only alvin bragg but but the judge, juan merchan is clearly a progressive left. so i'm not sure he's going to cut any breaks for president trump in the trial. to cut any breaks for president trump in the trial . but i think trump in the trial. but i think the voters will see through this ultimately . ultimately. >> well, thank you very much indeed. greg swensen, chair of republican fans overseas. we're going to be live in new york throughout the show as the trial begins. the jury selection today , it could go on for weeks, months could go for on months, and it could take up a huge amount of the former president's time four days a week. >> he could be required to be in court. that part of the plan. well, my goodness, i suppose you could that's trying to could argue that's trying to take from campaigning. take him away from campaigning. but it backfire but frankly, might it backfire or smoke without or is there no smoke without fire? that's the gamble. yes. >> also question of whether he

can have a fair trial in manhattan. let us know your thoughts . but coming up, we're thoughts. but coming up, we're going to have all the latest on the church stabbing in the horrific church stabbing in australia, sydney. and we'll the horrific church stabbing in audebating sydney. and we'll the horrific church stabbing in audebating how1ey. and we'll the horrific church stabbing in audebating how israel|d we'll the horrific church stabbing in audebating how israel should be debating how israel should retaliate, should they retaliate to an unprecedented attack from iran. this is good afternoon, britain. >> a brighter outlook with boxt solar sponsors of weather on . gb news. >> hello again. welcome to the met office weather forecast. it's going to be a blustery afternoon with further heavy showers coming through. they do ease later on with the chance of clear spells developing overnight, but generally low pressure is in charge of our forecast for the rest of the day. low pressure sitting in the nonh day. low pressure sitting in the north sea, bringing a gusty and cold northwesterly wind with it. these showers are going to be lively where they occur. hail

and thunder are a possibility, but they do tend to ease overnight with clear spells developing, the showers becoming more to eastern parts more confined to eastern parts along with the gusty wind and with plenty of clear spells towards western and northwestern parts. will parts. temperatures will dip into single figures, into the mid single figures, perhaps a bit lower in 1 or 2 sheltered spots. so a touch of ground frost here and there as we begin tuesday, but otherwise plenty of bright weather. first thing some cloud and thing still be some cloud and showers the east coast, showers along the east coast, and further showers will bubble up as the day gets going elsewhere, but there'll be fewer showers and there'll be more sunshine compared with today with temperatures responding a little better. 14, perhaps 15 in the south, 11 or 12 further north, with lighter winds feeling more pleasant . wednesday feeling more pleasant. wednesday starts off with a frost in places. clear spells first thing. plenty of sunshine through the morning though, although there will be some cloudier skies. returning to northern ireland later and a few showers elsewhere. all in all, it's looking like an improved

picture as we end the week. higher pressure, drier weather, that warm feeling inside from

away . away. >> good afternoon. britain. it's 1:00 on monday, the 15th of april. in a moment, we'll be crossing over to sydney, where a bishop and several worshippers . bishop and several worshippers. >> worshippers have been viciously attacked in another stabbing rampage. serious stuff. >> and to strike or not to strike? israel weighs up whether to go big in its retaliation against iran, as allies warn against iran, as allies warn against all out war should israel strike back. >> as mps prepare to vote on the rwanda bill again today, leaked documents reveal britain wants to replicate the scheme with countries like botswana and even sunny costa rica, and we're looking at live pictures here from new york. >> within hours , donald trump >> within hours, donald trump will become the first us president ever to face a

criminal trial. his supporters argue he will not get a fair one in democrat supporting manhat will bring you pictures as we get them. >> now, it's not one of the largest issues facing the world this afternoon, but it's the one that's got the inbox the most excited, perhaps, and that's this question of saint george's day. we've seen a report from our west midlands correspondent saying that there's a saint george's society that's had to close down. not enough interest in emily, you had idea. in this. emily, you had an idea. >> i did public holiday. public houday >> i did public holiday. public holiday saint george's holiday for saint george's day. why earth not? why on earth not? >> because jeremy corbyn proposed it in his 2017 manifesto, and he was right to do so. you know it was wrong. it's another another day off. it would cost £4.3 billion to the economy. no idea how much it would have an alternative . would have an alternative. >> i've put that in his

inflation calculator and thinks it's gospel. >> i have an alternative plan. we a terrible situation in we have a terrible situation in terms of bank holidays at the moment. suggest it's lopsided . moment. i suggest it's lopsided. we have bank holidays in we have two bank holidays in may. rid of of them. may. get rid of one of them. i suggested that i suggested that, i suggested suggested, i suggested that i suggested, and you jumped board. and then you jumped on board. let's you're let's rewind the tape. you're on. i rewind, your honour. on. i will rewind, your honour. i will get the clip i request and our viewers will remember that initially said, not that i initially said, why not just of the may bank just get rid of the may bank holiday, then you holiday, i think, and then you can emily saint george's day. >> anyway, matthew says, emily, for prime minister bank holiday for prime minister bank holiday for george's day. for prime minister bank holiday for whereas)rge's day. for prime minister bank holiday for whereas margaret, and for prime minister bank holiday for \aandeas margaret, and for prime minister bank holiday for \aand kevin rgaret, and for prime minister bank holiday for \aand kevin allret, and for prime minister bank holiday for \aand kevin all agree and for prime minister bank holiday for \aand kevin all agree with|d for prime minister bank holiday for \aand kevin all agree with me alan and kevin all agree with me that should abolish may day, that we should abolish may day, a socialist holiday, and replace it with george's day, a it with saint george's day, a proper one cancel proper patriotic one cancel may day replaced george's day replaced with saint george's day. great idea, do day. kevin says great idea, do away one of the may bank. away with one of the may bank. why have two bank holidays why do we have two bank holidays in get in may? it's ridiculous. get rid of of them. i've never heard of one of them. i've never heard someone speak so miserably about the concept bank holidays. the concept of bank holidays. >> have that >> we really don't have that many. really do not have that many. >> just have half the year off. why not gb views coming in?

>> i particularly like the ones that say agree wholeheartedly that say i agree wholeheartedly with there are a lot with emily. yes, there are a lot matthew says for prime matthew says for emily, prime minister even rather nice, minister even it's rather nice, isn't gb news. com forward isn't it? gb news. com forward slash your sake. in touch. slash your sake. get in touch. but get your headlines. but let's get your headlines. >> good afternoon. the top stories from the gb newsroom . stories from the gb newsroom. escalating tensions in the middle east will be addressed by the prime minister in the commons this afternoon. the foreign secretary has confirmed. raf jets shot down a number of iranian drones and missiles after hundreds were fired at israel at the weekend. lord cameron says the uk will now consider further sanctions against tehran. the united nafions against tehran. the united nations has warned the middle east is on the brink and is urging israel not to retaliate. but the country's war cabinet is split on the timing and scale of any response. shadow defence secretary john healey says israel has the right to defend itself. >> we have a an important role

to play alongside allies as we did over the weekend. it's defensive action and it was in the face of a an utterly , the face of a an utterly, unprecedented and unacceptable iranian attack direct from iran as well as from , militia groups as well as from, militia groups in other countries. >> 534 people were intercepted in the english channel yesterday, making it the highest number of crossings on a single day so far this year. it means the total number of small boat arrivals this year now stands at arrivals this year now stands at a provisional total of 6265. it comes as the government's flagship rwanda policy returns to parliament, with mps due to debate. the latest amendments by peers. three people have died and another is in a critical condition following a car crash in north london. it happened near the staples corner retail park just before midnight. five men, all thought to be in their

early 20s, were in one car. police do not believe any other vehicles were involved in the incident. three people were pronounced dead and two others were taken to hospital . the were taken to hospital. the fifth man injuries are not life threatening . emergency services threatening. emergency services have now removed the wreckage of the vehicle . the fbi has the vehicle. the fbi has reportedly opened an investigation into the baltimore bridge collapse. six people were killed when a cargo ship lost power and hit the structure last month. the washington post says the federal criminal investigation will partly focus on whether the crew knew the vessel had serious problems with its systems before it left the port. work to clear the wreck and restore traffic through the shipping channel is ongoing . a shipping channel is ongoing. a man has been arrested following reports of another stabbing in sydney. livestream of a sermon at christ the good shepherd church in the suburb of wakely, shows a bishop being targeted by a man before worshippers tackled the offender to the ground. it's

not clear what he was armed with, new south wales police has confirmed those being treated suffered non—life threatening injuries . meanwhile, the father injuries. meanwhile, the father of the man who fatally stabbed six people at a shopping centre in sydney, has apologised for his son's actions. joel cauchi killed five women and a male security guard on saturday. police say they're investigating whether he was specifically targeting women. they believe the 40 year old suffered from schizophrenia and used drugs, including meth and psychedelics. andrew couch says his son was a very sick boy. >> i'm extremely sorry . very sick boy. >> i'm extremely sorry. i'm heartbroken for you. i look , heartbroken for you. i look, this is so horrendous that i can't even explain it . you're can't even explain it. you're trying to get me to give you an intelligent conversation. i can't do it because i'm just devastated and i love my son. i made myself a servant to my son. when i found out he had a mental illness. i became his servant. i

did everything because i love that boy . that boy. >> over to the us, the first of four criminal trials against former president donald trump is due to begin shortly. you can see live pictures here from outside of the courthouse in new york. the former president has been charged in connection to a case involving a hush money payment to adult film star stormy daniels. he faces a maximum of four years in jail if convicted, but could avoid serving time and be fined instead. the trial is expected to last 6 to 8 weeks. millions of people across the country are said to have access to new long distance rail routes here in the uk, under new rail industry plans, open access services on seven routes are being developed, aiming to boost connectivity , increase connectivity, increase competition and reduce fares. york based prospective open access company grand union trains plans to launch services between london euston and the city of stirling in central

scotland, from june next year. it's also been given the go ahead to run trains between london paddington and south—west wales , and universal credit will wales, and universal credit will need to change to meet the challenges of an older and sicker population . that's sicker population. that's according to a new report. the resolution foundation says the number of benefit claimants who are out of work due to ill health has almost doubled since 2013. the report says both the benefit system and the country have changed significantly since universal credit was introduced. the government recently announced changes to the credit scheme aimed at encouraging people with ill health to seek work . for the latest stories, work. for the latest stories, you can sign up to gb news alerts by scanning the qr code on your screen. or you can go to gb news complex. >> good afternoon britain. it's

1:08. now let's start with that horrific news from the last hour that a priest has been stabbed multiple times whilst delivering a mass at a church in sydney, with the incident coming just days after a man killed six people in a westfield shopping centre in the same area. >> well, we can now speak with a member of the australian parliament for the division of fowler you very fowler daley. thank you very much indeed forjoining us. absolutely shocking what the world has seen. footage from this church , this priest this church, this priest brutally stabbed. from what we can see. and i know that other worshippers have also been harmed, as we understand. is that right , harmed, as we understand. is that right, no. look, harmed, as we understand. is that right , no. look, it's, it's that right, no. look, it's, it's a bishop. and it was in his church, he was giving a sermon, a wonderful bishop, i church, he was giving a sermon, a wonderful bishop , i know church, he was giving a sermon, a wonderful bishop, i know him personally. we. i've attended his service , and, you know , a his service, and, you know, a looks like a young man came up, and tried to stab him, while he

was giving the sermon, but i understand that, you know, it has created a lot of it was a shocking, obviously shocking incident in our community. vie is still reeling from that shock. and as you mentioned , shock. and as you mentioned, earlier, the last couple of days, the incident in bondi, which is about 45 an hour away from where we are, there in the eastern suburbs of sydney, whereas we're in the western suburb of sydney, that that obviously impacts the community, my understanding is that the bishop is currently in our local hospital in liverpool, and it's not fatal, so thank god for that. but he's a very, a wonderful man, a wonderful bishop. and i know for sure that he would also call for calm, i have one of the most multicultural and multi—faith electorates in the country, in australia, so i'm very cognisant of the importance of maintaining

cohesion at this very obviously , cohesion at this very obviously, sensitive and disturbing time. so i think people are still in shock from the weekend's stabbing and killing, of innocent lives . so this is just innocent lives. so this is just i think people already on the, on the edge, and, but but i know that i've heard from the community members and the community members and the community that, he is in hospital, and it's not fatal. >> it's very , very reassuring to >> it's very, very reassuring to hear that it's not fatal. he seemed like he was such a big figure in the community. i know he had over 100,000 subscribers on youtube, which is not a particularly common thing for a member of the clergy, but this does seem like australia is in a moment of crisis right now. it seems like there is something that has gripped particularly sydney and its suburbs over the weekend, and today, what is the

sense in australia ? what's gone wrong? >> look, i don't think it's we're in crisis. it was a very tragic incident on the weekend. and as i don't know if you heard, the man who was shot dead by a wonderful by a great, courageous policewoman, has suffered , suffered from, you suffered, suffered from, you know, mental health, illness , know, mental health, illness, he's dead, i think i think that's it's just a shock of the lives lost , that's it's just a shock of the lives lost, and i think people are still reeling from that . i are still reeling from that. i don't think that, really is about australia overall what's happening. i mean, we have, obviously economic challenges, cost of living crisis , but we cost of living crisis, but we also have an increase in mental health issues in our community. just, post covid and i don't know, how how, you know, we are deaung know, how how, you know, we are dealing with the whole, you know, i'm sure in britain as well, covid has taken a toll on a lot of people's mental health

and wellbeing, so from my perspective of, you know, i hope that , these two incidents, of that, these two incidents, of course, they're not connected, but i just hope that people will take time to , not, not get, so take time to, not, not get, so emotionally reactive, judgemental and come at the at a time when there's so much world conflict that is really causing a lot of tension. yes >> and i understand you have to be you have to be careful. but do we have any idea of a motive when it comes to this, church attack ? attack? >> look, i, i don't have a motive. i don't know what the motives of this young person, this young man from the from the obviously video was a young man, you know , you don't know you know, you don't know people's motives at this stage. i mean, like that, that man who went and stabbed and killed people, at at bondi junction,

what was his motive ? i mean, he what was his motive? i mean, he had mental health, sometimes something could snap, so i let's not jump to conclusion. let's not jump to conclusion. let's not jump to judgement at this stage . i would like to leave all stage. i would like to leave all of that to the police, to investigate. but the most important thing is for me , as important thing is for me, as the elected member here, that our community are very have a very strong assyrian , heritage, very strong assyrian, heritage, a group of australians here who are who love the bishop and the bishop loves his congregation . bishop loves his congregation. >> and i should just say we're looking at images of protests now outside the church. could you, could you explain what's going on here? there seems to be a huge mass of people who have who have got to, to be outside this church now , look, i'm not this church now, look, i'm not there, but from my guess, is that, i mean, like his church, he does, draw a lot of followers, and as you mentioned, he's got a huge following , and i he's got a huge following, and i think the word would have spread. and, you know, in social media, it gets worse, gets

spread so quickly and information gets sent out and the area is a high population of australians of assyrian heritage that live around there. so i have no doubt they would have heard about it and they would have tried to come out and see what was going on. and of course, the rumours is that the, the, the, the person , who tried the, the, the person, who tried to attack the bishop who is still in the church . so i think still in the church. so i think these, community members were angry because the police got there , so that's that's from my there, so that's that's from my understanding, people are very on the edge at the moment. i think my community. so i would, urge, you know , obviously urge, you know, obviously people, you know, just to be very calm, let the police and i have no doubt that when the bishop gets, get out , he would bishop gets, get out, he would also ask for calm and he's a wonderful man. he he i can just imagine what he would do. he

would say, listen, you know , would say, listen, you know, god's willing, god is, you know, protected him. and we should be forgiving that that is just him. and i can hear him , and, my, my, and i can hear him, and, my, my, you know, my, that's the bishop there, he's the bishop of the, there, he's the bishop of the, the good samaritan . because the good samaritan. because there we've got a few churches of assyrian heritage here, a syrian churches. he's his one church. there's other churches of assyrian, lineage or, you know, orthodox . sorry, not know, orthodox. sorry, not orthodox syrian church. yep. well >> daly. thank you so much for bringing us all of that. really, really appreciate you staying up for us and talking us there from, from your your division there in parliament, the independent australian , member independent australian, member of parliament there for the division of fowler. >> yes . and we wish everyone >> yes. and we wish everyone well, of course. and to the bishops himself. but let's move on domestic because on to domestic news, because a record number of migrants have

crossed the channel this year so far , over 6000 people have far, over 6000 people have arrived in the uk. now on small boats this year, a 30% increase on the previous year. >> it comes as the government's flagship migration plan, the safety of rwanda bill, is being debated again today in parliament. >> shall we speak to our homeland security editor , mark homeland security editor, mark white, the number of people who continue to make this perilous journey from the french coast to ours continues to increase. the government have said that they've got the numbers down, but it seems like actually, the facts now show that they have not. >> well , they do show that >> well, they do show that indeed.i >> well, they do show that indeed. i mean, the timing could not be worse for rishi sunak, as the rwanda bill is back in the commons. and of course, he wants the focus to be on the fact that it will become law within days and paved the way, he hopes, for these flights to go to east africa with those who are coming across the channel. and the hope, of course, being that this

will break the business model of the people smuggling gangs. but all the while more people are coming across the channel. we had 534 who arrived in ten small boats yesterday, and 214 who arrived in five small boats the day before. so we're looking at around 750, just over this weekend. and that figure from yesterday was the biggest daily arrival this year so far, taking , as you say, the total to now 6200. and that is almost 30% up on where we were at this period last year. and the government was able last year to stand up and to trumpet the fact that they had led to a third in a fall of those crossing the engush fall of those crossing the english channel. they said rishi sunak and other ministers that that was in no small part due to the government's stop the boats

policy. the not able to say that now, while the total reversal has happened here and let's see just how this progresses as the year moves on, because if we get consistent good weather in the channel and it's a bit unpredictable at the moment, but if conditions improve as we move into the summer and we start getting record numbers crossing the channel, it's going to be very difficult, very uncomfortable for the government, very difficult indeed. >> well, mark white, thank you very much for the latest. there some shocking new numbers. let's cross now to westminster with our political editor christopher hope joining us live from downing street. christopher, what for us? what do you have for us? >> hi, tom. hi, emily. yeah well, the broken up lobby meeting, which was evacuated from 70 whitehall moments ago, is now concluded . and we have is now concluded. and we have heard from the government on those numbers that marks describing the government says number 10 says it's unacceptable. number of people still crossing the channel. and this is why this this is so

important, safety rwanda important, this safety of rwanda bill, expect to be law bill, which we expect to be law by thursday after the lords reject again tomorrow and reject it again tomorrow and it'll be pushed through, i think by wednesday, i expect and there's a message here from number 10 from the pm official spokesman peers, that spokesman to peers, saying that parliament opportunity parliament has the opportunity to pass a bill which which has the ability to save lives. now is the time to change the equafion is the time to change the equation of these gangs and unite these gangs that mark knows very well. he's been in france doing some brilliant reporting for news. he has reporting for gb news. he has seen they flex numbers going seen how they flex numbers going across. to push across. they know when to push them and when to hold them across and when to hold back how to play cat and back and how to play cat and mouse a border force . and mouse with a border force. and the police, i should the french police, i should say the french police, i should say the french police, i should say the french stopping a lot of the french are stopping a lot of boats crossing the channel, on one day last week, hundreds were stopped in small boats crossing those numbers tally up those numbers may may tally up with numbers that mark with the numbers that mark revealed there, but there are more trying to get across and the french are doing their bit. but no question, the government has got hope can get has got really hope he can get the rwanda bill through the safety rwanda bill through this and over to the

this week and then over to the courts, let's see if 150 or courts, and let's see if 150 or so can take off in the first plane, maybe as as next month. >> well, thank you very much indeed, christopher. hope there outside downing street for us bringing the latest, the government's bringing the latest, the govern pressure bringing the latest, the governpressure on the peers in to put pressure on the peers in the house of lords to essentially just let this bill pass. that's what they're asking. >> well, i've got the got the date in my diary. thursday is the potential conclusion of this bill's passage. and my goodness, it had long, long sort of it has had a long, long sort of journey through both houses and what they've known as ping pong. but on that yes but more on that later. yes because coming up as lord cameron, david cameron urges israel to be smart as well as tough on iran. >> will be debating just how israel should respond to that unprecedented attack from iran. should they fight back , how should they fight back, how exactly should they respond? stay with .

good afternoon. britain. it is now 1:25. and let's get the growing tensions in the middle east. there are fears of escalation of this conflict following iran's enormous missile strikes on israel. >> yes. iran warns they'll strike again with greater force if israel or the united states retaliate. retaliate. meanwhile, foreign secretary lord david cameron has urged israel to be careful in how it responds and to think with its head, not its heart. now now, just how should israel react? >> joining to us debate this is the former british army officer and defence analyst, stuart crawford, who thinks that israel has every right to respond. and the co—founder of novara media, aaron bastani , who doesn't think aaron bastani, who doesn't think they should retaliate and there should be a clear de—escalation now. well, stuart crawford, let's start with you, why why is

it in the interests of israel? but frankly , also britain for but frankly, also britain for a for a strike back to occur, well, whether it's in the interest of britain, of course, is another thing altogether. and that very much depends on how the us supports or chooses not to support israel. but i think the first duty of any government is to defend the state and the people who live there. and we could argue till the cows come home who started it and go back decades. if not hundreds of years, to try and come up with some sort of for tat thing. but it's a bit like a playground , it's a bit like a playground, argument at the moment. there's no doubt that the instigator of the current round of violence was the israeli strike on the iranian consulate in damascus. but i'm not convinced that the two, irgc brigadiers and their entourage who were killed in

that strike just happened to be passing by and had popped in for a cup of tea and a chocolate biscuit. i think that something was afoot there that the israelis knew about, and they decided that the time was right to do a pre—emptive strike, and they were right to do that . i do they were right to do that. i do feel that iran's response by sending over 300, assorted aerial, vehicles has handed the initiative back to israel because israel is not no longer the bad guy. the iranians are in world view. and so israel will decide as as it has every right to when and if it's going to respond. but i suspect there will be some sort of response, but not necessarily an attack on mainland iran. >> well, let's throw that back to aaron bastani. aaron, this was an unprecedented attack by iran. surely israel has a right here to respond . here to respond. >> i think that's that's the perfect word. tom right. they

have of course, they have a right to defend themselves. i don't think anybody would dispute that. the question is, is it rational? should they. and i don't think it's in israel's rational self—interest to, i can hear myself coming through twice for you guys. maybe somebody. >> i think we're having some some audio issues there. let's see if we can sort those out to get back to you. because i think thatis get back to you. because i think that is a really important point, that we're raising there about what the, the rationale response is, stuart, should we come back to you on this then, lots of people calling for israel to think with its head, not its heart. but i can't help but think that if such an attack had been launched on british territory , we would not sit on territory, we would not sit on our hands . our hands. >> well, no, i don't think we would. i mean, i think the government would be expected by the population of great britain to retaliate in some way or other. and i don't think turning

the other cheek is really an option, given the severity of the attack that has been made upon israel , even although it upon israel, even although it was largely defeated. but i think iran has made a strategic mistake, and i think that the ball is now in israel's court andifs ball is now in israel's court and it's up for the israeli government to decide how and when it's going to respond, if at all. and, despite president joe biden, the us president, saying that the us will not join israel in any sort of retaliatory strikes, you can bet your bottom dollar they will not let under any circumstances israel be defeated. >> absolutely . i suppose the >> absolutely. i suppose the worry here is, though, that if israel decides as a matter of pride or as a matter frankly , of pride or as a matter frankly, of self—assurance as a nation which faces many threats on its borders , i believe we have aaron borders, i believe we have aaron bastani back with us now. aaron, sorry we were only halfway

through your point before we ran into some audio issues, you believe that there is a difference between the right of israel and what perhaps is rational ? rational? >> yeah, i think that's absolutely right. so, for instance, right at the top of the conversation, we were asking, does israel have a right to strike back of course it does.i to strike back of course it does. i mean, any sensible person has a right to strike back and the right to self—defence, sovereign self—defence, as any sovereign country the question is, country does. the question is, is is it is it intelligent? is it rational ? and i think, you know, rational? and i think, you know, there's thing that really there's one thing that really struck after the events of struck me after the events of the is that we the weekend, which is that we mobilise anne diamond to bring down these drones , ballistic down these drones, ballistic missiles, etc, etc. 300 projectiles of various kinds to bnng projectiles of various kinds to bring those down according to an idf source, the best part of $1 billion. it's not cheap to oversee one of the best anti—missile protection systems in the world, if not the best. that's quite an expensive thing to do. and i think that probably has to teach israel's rationale as well. you know, if this

happens three, four, five times, you're looking at multiple billions of dollars. and i think there will come a moment where there will come a moment where the white house will say, look, we've just given you $14 billion aid and you know, we aid package, and you know, we don't we don't think it's particularly wise use of funds. if we can if we can get it. i think it is avoidable , i hope in think it is avoidable, i hope in a symbolic show of force, aaron, aaron, what country in the world would accept such an attack on their territory? >> and essentially just sit on their hands and accept it because they don't want to risk any kind of escalation here? i mean, this attack, if it had been successful, could have wiped out huge numbers of israeli people . is it really israeli people. is it really realistic for israel to just say , well, we need to be a bit calm about this and, and not do anything in return. okay. i think we're having a lot of issues with aaron's line there, which is a real shame. we'll have to come back to stuart, stuart, just to just to finish

on you then, what options exactly do israel have? you've said that they may decide to do something. you say that they may choose not to. what would you say is the most sensible strategic move for israel ? strategic move for israel? >> well, i don't think it would make any sense for anybody for them to attack, tehran and iran with conventional military forces at this stage, although they could do it if they if they wish to, because the route to iran from israel is over mainly friendly or neutral airspace. and they can do that . and i know and they can do that. and i know the us has said it won't join in, but the us has a huge military presence in the region, and i think it would be difficult for the united states to stay out of it. but i don't think, an extreme, response is necessarily the wisest at this stage. and i all i would say is i think we'll be looking at,

attacks against proxy, iranian proxy military and militias in lebanon, syria, iraq and elsewhere. and also, if i was a senior general in the irgc, i'd be certainly changing my routine, ditching my mobile telephone and checking under my car before i get into it. >> goodness me , what a warning >> goodness me, what a warning there. stuart crawford, thank you very much for joining us there. stuart crawford, thank you very much forjoining us and you very much for joining us and talking through that. and, and thanks to bastani, thanks to, to aaron bastani, earlier as well. big apologies that the line there wasn't as clear as it could have been. yes. >> we'll find out what happened and but coming we'll and fix it, but coming up, we'll be hundreds of be discussing how hundreds of manchester arena terrorist attack now suing attack survivors are now suing the m15 attack survivors are now suing the mi5 for an alleged failure to take action that could have stopped the bombing. what is their case? but let's get their case? but first, let's get your headlines. your news headlines. >> good afternoon. the top stories at 133, escalating

tensions in the middle east will be addressed by the prime minister, rishi sunak, in the commons this afternoon . the commons this afternoon. the foreign secretary has confirmed raf jets shot down a number of iranian drones and missiles after hundreds were fired at israel at the weekend. lord cameron says the uk will now consider further sanctions against tehran. the united nafions against tehran. the united nations has warned the middle east is on the brink and is urging israel not to retaliate . urging israel not to retaliate. but the country's war cabinet is split on the timing and scale of any response . 534 people were any response. 534 people were intercepted in the english channel yesterday, making it the highest number of crossings in a single day so far this year. it means the total number of small boat arrivals this year now stands at a provisional total of 6265. it comes as the government's flagship rwanda policy returns to parliament, with mps due to debate. the latest amendments by peers . the latest amendments by peers. the fbi has reportedly opened an

investigation into the baltimore bridge collapse. six people were killed when a cargo ship lost power and hit the structure last month, the washington post says the federal criminal investigation will partly focus on whether the crew knew the vessel had serious problems with its systems before it left the port. and the father of the man who fatally stabbed six people at a shopping centre in sydney on saturday, has apologised for his son's actions. joel cauchi killed five women and a male security guard, police say they're investigating whether he was specifically targeting women . they believe the 40 year old suffered from schizophrenia and used drugs, including meth and psychedelics . for the latest psychedelics. for the latest stories, you can sign up to gb news alerts by scanning the qr code on your screen. or go to gb news .com/ alerts. >> for a valuable legacy your

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i >> -- >> good afternoon. britain. it's 1:39 now. hundreds of manchester arena terrorist attack. survivors are suing mi5 for an alleged failure to take action. that could well have stopped the bombing . bombing. >> yes, the group of more than

250 victims and their loved ones submitted the claim, which is understood to be the first time legal action has ever been taken against the mi5 for an alleged failure to stop a domestic terror attack. what does this mean? >> well, joining us to discuss this is barrister rebecca butler . rebecca, it wasn't until relatively recently that the government even acknowledged mi5 existed . and now it seems that existed. and now it seems that there is an ability to take it to court. i do the claimants here have any grounds, well, arguably they do have grounds. i mean, the tribunal that they've issued their claim in is the investigatory powers tribunal, which was set up in 2000 but has been amended over the years. and it's normally a tribunal dealing with, surveillance and, you know, cctv evidence and things like that. and yeah, the security services are included in the remit of the tribunal. so arguably, yes , it's, the

arguably, yes, it's, the remedies available could arguably also apply to the manchester arena. bombing victims families. so it is a it is a groundbreaker, but it's not outside the remit of the of that specific tribunal , as a matter specific tribunal, as a matter of fact. >> very interesting indeed. i wonder then, could there be a legal challenge for any terror attack that happens domestically? could victims of a terror attack say, well, the mi5 should have foreseen this, they should have foreseen this, they should have foreseen this, they should have done more. therefore, i have a legal case. >> well, i think you have to look at how this would have come aboutin look at how this would have come about in the first place. and this is from the sirjohn this is from the sir john saunders inquiry into the manchester arena bombings, which i know you did cover, tom, on your programme . and at the time your programme. and at the time it was acknowledged that there were two key pieces of information that mi5 didn't react upon and they only told us what one of them was, and that was the fact that salman abedi

arrived back in the country from libya four days immediately pnor libya four days immediately prior to , to the, to the attack. prior to, to the, to the attack. so that was one piece of evidence. we weren't told what the other piece of evidence was, but sir john saunders was very clear that it might have prevented salman abedi . they prevented salman abedi. they might have looked at his car, they might have looked at his flat , which they might have looked at his flat, which is they might have looked at his flat , which is where they might have looked at his flat, which is where all they might have looked at his flat , which is where all the flat, which is where all the bomb making equipment was hidden . so it does come off the back of an inquiry . vie where there of an inquiry. vie where there is a judicial statement that says that there was a failing in communication between mi5 and the and the police in relation to this particular, assailant. you'd also look at the fishmongers hall inquiry, the coroner's report there actually led to a fatal death report, which was recently reported on. i think that was december last yeah i think that was december last year. and that also dealt with

the failings of the security and the failings of the security and the probation services. so, yes, there is precedent for this, but i think you wouldn't really felt you had access into the investigatory powers tribunal until you had a judicial statement, such as the sirjohn saunders statement in the inquiry itself. >> it does seem very odd here, given, frankly, how successful our security services have been since seven over seven. we haven't had many large incidents . of course, 2017 was a particularly bad year with this number of, of attacks. but but frankly , there have been frankly, there have been relatively few terror attacks in the united kingdom . manchester the united kingdom. manchester arena stands out as the sort of the only mass terrorist attack, really, frankly, since the 2000, i just find it very hard to see how you can expect as a reasonable person to think that the security services will get it right every single time , that it right every single time, that every single threat must be

completely quashed. i mean, wouldn't the court find that thatis wouldn't the court find that that is an unreasonable expectation ? expectation? >> it's certainly open to that tribunal. actually, tom, and if you look at the results of that tribunal, it is only a handful of percent. and i mean, under 5% that actually do bring successful claims within that tribunal. but i think, you know, it's interesting the way you phrase that question, because it's almost as though you've normalised terrorist activity and said, well, actually, we've only had one since 77, but but actually we haven't. we've had a lot of terrorist activity. it's just a mass sukh beside bombing. we haven't had we've had lone wolf attacks and we can't become a society that normalises it because if we normalise it, then we start saying we don't have to try and do better. and one of the key facts in both the fishmongers hall and the manchester arena bombings is a

failure in effective communication between the agencies of mi5 and special branch. there was actually specific reference by sir john saunders to the corporate response of mi5 to si king to seek to retroactively justify why their failure to act, and he said that was merely a corporate response, because when intelligence officers were asked to report to him, he said that if they had seen the intelligence, they would have acted differently . so, you know, acted differently. so, you know, it is i think this is a good thing, by the way. it is breaking legal ground. it would be nice to see the investigatory powers tribunal tell us a little bit more about many people bit more about how many people are actually on the terrorist watch list, because it's inevitable . as you've pointed inevitable. as you've pointed out, the mi5's going to say we've got 80 to 100,000 people on our watch list . how can we

on our watch list. how can we possibly do everything ? but possibly do everything? but we've also got ai. we've also got massive computing , and got massive computing, and skill. we've got all of those . skill. we've got all of those. >> absolutely fascinating, rebecca, to see what happens with this case. thank you so much for your expertise on this one. really great to speak to you, barrister rebecca butler. >> they're absolutely right to pick on the fact that pick me up on the fact that there have been more terrorist attacks. lone wolf ones, attacks. but lone wolf ones, rather sort mass bombing rather than sort of mass bombing campaigns . very, very interesting. >> know what you make of >> let us know what you make of that conversation. but coming up, is on his up, donald trump, he is on his way court . up, donald trump, he is on his way court. his up, donald trump, he is on his way court . his motorcade up, donald trump, he is on his way court. his motorcade has way to court. his motorcade has just set off in new york. now, this is a live shot from the court where he will arrive very shortly. lots of presence shortly. lots of police presence there. you can see there's a oh, there's aerial shot tracking there's a aerial shot tracking shot. that a trump tower? shot. and is that a trump tower? what's that? no, that is the court looks like the court court that looks like the court there in new york will of course, be live

i >> -- >> now lam >> now we're still waiting for donald trump to arrive at that new york courthouse . but in the new york courthouse. but in the meantime, a leading motoring organisation has called for all new drivers to be banned from giving lifts to friends for six whole months after passing their tests. >> yes. the aa says around 5000 people every year are killed and seriously injured in crashes involving at least one young motorist . it wants graduated motorist. it wants graduated driving licence introduced in licenses . introduced. driving licence introduced in licenses. introduced. graduated driving licenses introduced with limitations imposed on a period of time after a driver passes their test. so a two tier system well , is this their test. so a two tier system well, is this sensible or yet more ageism when it comes to regulating our habits in the united kingdom? >> let's speak to quentin wilson, a motoring journalist and transport campaigner. really interested to get your thoughts on this, quentin, there are a lot of people who instinctively will say this is state

overreach. this is telling adults that they can't do something that they've done for generations . owens, what's your generations. owens, what's your view? >> w the recent >> well, look, the recent accident with the convertible mini where people were twerking in back , this is due to in the back, this is due to driver education. the person in control of that car really should have told the passengers just to buckle up and stay still. so as far as i'm concerned , putting restrictions concerned, putting restrictions on on licences is putting it bolting the stable door after the horse has run the first furlong. we're not teaching kids to drive properly, we expect them to do all this stuff below them to do all this stuff below the dashboard. grinding of gears, hazard perception, position of car in this very, very small time window when we should be doing it from school age teaching , hazard perception age teaching, hazard perception and road safety. and you can't put road safety messages into a teenager who spent the last decade playing grand theft auto and watching top gear. the time to do it is when they're young

and they're responsive . so i've and they're responsive. so i've been a patron of an organisation called young driver, whose delivered 1.4 million lessons to 11 to 17 year olds on private land with 80 qualified instructors with dual controls . instructors with dual controls. and the accident rate for that group is 4% of past pupils who have had accidents since the programme, the national average is 20, so look, we can do this. we can reduce these fatalities if we teach kids earlier about road safety. i mean, is this is this an issue, frankly, with teenage boys, if i cast my mind back to my school days when i got my licence, i was extremely careful and wanted to be as safe as possible. perhaps perhaps too careful, perhaps too hesitant, even. careful, perhaps too hesitant, even . but some of my friends who even. but some of my friends who were boys, i mean, i won't go into the type of driving they were doing, but let's say there may have been a little bit of recklessness and showing off the testosterone does always seem to come through. >> doesn't it? i mean, i've got

a 19 year old daughter now who's just, you know, passed her test and been driving two years and she's now lecturing her male friends road safety . so, friends on road safety. so, yeah, there's an absolute corollary between male and female drivers and risk. but we know i'm terribly sorry, but we're just getting live footage of trump entering the court, so we're going to have to leave it there. >> quentin willson yes, this is indeed trump's motorcade. >> his motorcade driving to new york. we're going to be looking at this. it's an almost presidential motorcade, really. of course donald trump lost that election four years ago. but we can now see this motorcade sort of , driving can now see this motorcade sort of, driving fairly can now see this motorcade sort of , driving fairly slowly here, of, driving fairly slowly here, down through the streets of new york, heading towards that courthouse. of course, this will be the first time that a former president has appeared at a criminal court hearing. and today, the hearing is all about selecting those all important

members of the jury. >> yes. >> yes. >> a lot of work will go into selecting the jury. they've got to try and find people who won't have preconceived views, which may well be impossible. you'll have to, considering who don't own televisions, you'll have to find people who aren't on the internet. >> i'm being facetious, of course, but it's very hard pressed, especially in new york city, find individuals who city, to find individuals who don't have a strong opinion one way or the other, about one of the most controversial presidents of recent history . presidents of recent history. >> and this is the hush money trial. of course, it's all about the falsifying of business records. the allegation records. that's the allegation here. first criminal trial of its kind for a former president, isn't it? >> absolutely. fascinating stuff . now, in one of those cars is the former president, donald trump. they're taking up that entire road. you can sort of see them straddling both lanes, making sure no one can get past a security measure. of course , a security measure. of course, but these cars will be rocking up at that courtroom and we'll

be bringing you all the very latest on this sensational trial, it comes as, of course, the president, the former president, takes on joe biden in this election season. fascinating stuff . stay with us fascinating stuff. stay with us here on gb news. we'll bring you all the latest. >> a brighter outlook with boxt solar , sponsors of weather on . solar, sponsors of weather on. gb news. >> hello again. welcome to the met office weather forecast. it's going to be a blustery afternoon with further heavy showers coming through. they do ease later on with the chance of clear spells developing overnight, but generally low pressure is in charge of our forecast for the rest of the day. low pressure sitting in the nonh day. low pressure sitting in the north sea, bringing a gusty and cold northwesterly wind with it . cold northwesterly wind with it. these showers are going to be lively where they occur. hail and thunder are possibility, but they to ease overnight they do tend to ease overnight with clear spells developing, the showers becoming more

confined to eastern parts along with the gusty wind and with plenty of clear spells towards western northwestern parts. western and northwestern parts. temperatures will dip into the mid single figures, perhaps a bit lower in 1 or 2 sheltered spots, so a touch ground frost here and there as we begin tuesday, otherwise plenty of tuesday, but otherwise plenty of bright first thing tuesday, but otherwise plenty of brigibe first thing tuesday, but otherwise plenty of brigibe some first thing tuesday, but otherwise plenty of brigibe some cloud: thing tuesday, but otherwise plenty of brigibe some cloud and1g tuesday, but otherwise plenty of brigibe some cloud and showers still be some cloud and showers along the east coast, and further showers will bubble up as the day gets going elsewhere, but there'll be fewer showers and there'll be more sunshine compared with today , with compared with today, with temperatures responding a little better. 14, perhaps 15 in the south, 11 or 12 further north, with lighter winds feeling more pleasant . wednesday starts off pleasant. wednesday starts off with a frost in places. clear spells first thing. plenty of sunshine through the morning though, although there will be some cloudier skies. returning to northern ireland later and a few showers elsewhere. all in all, it's looking like an improved picture as we end the week. higher pressure, drier weather, that warm feeling inside from boxt boilers,

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i >> -- >> good afternoon. britain it's 2:00 on monday, the 15th of april. >> yes , and here we are. trump >> yes, and here we are. trump is on his way to court. we've got live pictures there on the left here from new york following his motorcade within hours , donald trump will become hours, donald trump will become the us president ever to the first us president ever to face a criminal trial. >> yes, and of course , >> yes, indeed. and of course, this new york trial is controversial today , of course, controversial today, of course, is the selection of the jury. and there are big questions donald trump supporters asking, can it be a fair trial in one of the most heavily democratic cities in the united states? how will they be able to find 12 jurors who can maintain an impartial and unbiased opinion of one of the most controversial

men in the united states? >> and i'll have 12 jurors, and they also need to find an extra six, don't they, as stand ins as well. they'll be asking many questions of those jurors to check whether they may be may have political biases. >> but here we are. the motorcade seems to have stopped, and we might be able to catch a glimpse of the 45th president of the united states stepping out into a first in the united states of america, a criminal trial of a former president. >> yes, it's difficult to overstate just how unprecedented this trial is in american history. the world is watching as we speak, the motorcade there. we're expecting donald trump to at some point step out and head in. we'll see how he reacts. whether there's press out there waiting for him. there's a huge police presence that we can see. >> and indeed, there's over ten cars in this motorcade . it's cars in this motorcade. it's been a long journey for donald trump and his large entourage of

advisers and indeed lawyers as they make their way towards this courtroom. but as we say , the courtroom. but as we say, the motorcade has now stopped. a dooris motorcade has now stopped. a door is opening and we can see we can see that donald trump stepping out of the car he's heading towards. he's waving to the media and he's stepping towards that courthouse . so towards that courthouse. so there you go. a momentous moment in american history. and frankly, in this years presidential election due to take place in november, how long will this particular trial last? could it could it dominate? frankly, this year's presidential campaign and of course, many of his supporters will argue that this is a weaponization of the justice system. >> others will see this as justice in action, but we will follow what happens in that court to the t as well. but yes, the jury selection first. that could take days. that could take days. so the whole thing could

take months. >> well, there we go . >> well, there we go. >> well, there we go. >> we've seen donald trump, his motorcade arrive at that court, his, his entourage stop, the former president step out . he is former president step out. he is now inside that courtroom. we'll bnng now inside that courtroom. we'll bring much more of that and much more. on other news, domestic and foreign, of course, here on good afternoon britain. have your say gbnews.com/yoursay. but before all of that, let's get your very latest news headlines. >> tom. emily, thank you very much. these are your top stories from the newsroom this hour, escalating tensions in the middle east will be addressed by the prime minister in the commons this afternoon, the foreign secretary has confirmed. raf jets shot down a number of iranian drones and missiles after hundreds wood fired at israel at the weekend. lord cameron says the uk will now consider further sanctions against tehran , the united against tehran, the united

nafions against tehran, the united nations has warned the middle east is on the brink and is urging israel not to retaliate . urging israel not to retaliate. but the country's war cabinet is split on the timing and scale of any response. shadow defence secretary john healey says israel has the right to defend itself . itself. >> we have a an important role to play alongside allies as we did over the weekend. it's defensive action and it was in the face of a an utterly, unprecedented and unacceptable iranian attack direct from iran as well as from, militia groups in other countries . in other countries. >> 534 people were intercepted in the english channel yesterday, making it the highest number of crossings on a single day so far this year. it means the total number of small boat arrivals this year. now stands at a provisional total of 6265. it comes as the government's flagship rwanda policy returns

to parliament with mps due to debate. the latest amendments by peers . three people have died peers. three people have died and another is in a critical condition following a car crash in north london. it happened near the staples corner retail park just before midnight. five men, all thought to be in their early 20s, were in one car. police do not believe any other vehicles were involved in the incident. three people were pronounced dead and two others were taken to hospital. the fifth man's injuries are not life threatening . two men have life threatening. two men have been jailed after police discovered a cocaine haul hidden inside blocks of cheese . just inside blocks of cheese. just over £17 million worth of cocaine was seized from the blocks of gouda after officers raided a unit in blackburn last may. 46 year old saleem chowdhury has been put behind bars for 27.5 years for admitting conspiracy to supply cocaine and money laundering,

whilst rachel mohabbath has been jailed for 16 years. a man has been arrested following reports of another stabbing in sydney. a live stream of a sermon at christ the good shepherd church in the suburb of wakely, shows a bishop being targeted by a man before worshippers tackled the offender to the ground. it's not yet clear what he was armed with, new south wales police has confirmed those being treated suffered non—life threatening injuries . meanwhile, the father injuries. meanwhile, the father of the man who fatally stabbed six people at a shopping centre in sydney, has apologised for his son's actions. joel cauchi killed five women and a male security guard on saturday. police say they're investigating whether he was specifically targeting women. they believe the 40 year old suffered from schizophrenia and used drugs , schizophrenia and used drugs, including meth and psychedelics. andrew kc says his son was a very sick boy.

>> i'm extremely sorry. i'm heartbroken for you. i look, this is so horrendous that i can't even explain it. you're trying to get me to give you an intelligent conversation. i can't do it because i'm just devastated . and i love my son. i devastated. and i love my son. i made myself a servant to my son. when i found out he had a mental illness, i became his servant. i did everything because i loved that boy . that boy. >> the fbi has reportedly opened an investigation into the baltimore bridge collapse. six people were killed when a cargo ship lost power and hit the structure last month, the washington post says the federal criminal investigation will partly focus on whether the crew knew the vessel had serious problems with its systems before it left the port. work to clear the wreck and restore traffic through the shipping channel is ongoing and in the us, the first of four criminal trials against donald trump is due to begin

shortly . the former president shortly. the former president arrived at the court in manhattan just a few moments ago. he's been charged in connection to a case involving hush money paid to an adult film star, stormy daniels. he faces a maximum of four years in prison per charge. if convicted, however, it's more likely he'd avoid a jail time and be fined instead. the trial is expected to last 6 to 8 weeks. for the latest stories, you can sign up to gb news alerts by scanning the qr code on your screen, or go to gbnews.com slash alerts. now it's back to tom and . emily. now it's back to tom and. emily. >> good afternoon britain. it's 2:08 now. we saw donald trump arriving at that court in new york for his historic trial . york for his historic trial. we're just waiting to see him walk through these doors . and walk through these doors. and now we're expecting that any

moment , any now we're expecting that any moment, any moment now. >> and this is, of course, his long awaited hush money trial. this is over a payment of $130,000 he made to the adult film star stormy daniels. we are waiting for him to arrive. this is the start of this historic trial. and for the time being, it's all about that jury selection . and this is hugely selection. and this is hugely controversial. donald trump and his lawyers and his supporters are saying that it will be near impossible to have a non—biased, fair jury selected in manhattan fairjury selected in manhattan because it's overwhelmingly democrat . that but a lot of work democrat. that but a lot of work is going to be put into trying to select such a jury. >> indeed, one of the early wins for donald trump in this whole saga was that his lawyers successfully argued that they would be able to veto members of the jury. so that's what the questioning will be all about. trying to find those who can produce a fair trial. of course, the other side can veto members of the jury as well. there'll be no trump fans, but also no trump

haters. at least that is the hope of this exercise. but my goodness, so far this trial has stretched on for years. at least the seeds of it were planted years ago and so far, the tactic of donald trump's lawyers and perhaps even his political advisers, has been to draw this process out, to make it go for on as long as possible. there is a world in which this trial stretches beyond even november's presidential election. >> will be very interesting to see how this impacts him politically. his chances of becoming the next president of the united states . once again, the united states. once again, we've seen previously that there's been an uptick in his popularity, when we've been spoken speaking about his, criminal charges against him, which is very interesting indeed, how this reflects on the pubucin indeed, how this reflects on the public in general. >> it would be perhaps less survivable for donald trump were

there to be one indictment where everything to focus on one large charge, however , perhaps what charge, however, perhaps what has been most successful for donald trump here? what's been able to create this narrative of trump versus the world is the fact that this isn't a single charge. indeed, donald trump faces 100 indictments of from all directions over many different aspects of his presidency and indeed pre—presidency life too. there are many political commentators that say this charge of criminality over hush money payments and the declaration thereof, of those hush money payments perhaps is the weakest because it focuses in on his private life, on something that perhaps was already, already baked in to everyone's understanding and idea of donald trump. >> yes, he very much wants the to world see this as a weaponization of the justice system . of course, lots of

system. of course, lots of people will argue the reverse, that he must be held accountable for any crimes he may or may not have committed. but there you go. we're outside the court in new york as he's due to arrive very, very shortly. we were watching his motorcade earlier, ten cars, 11 cars. >> it was it was over ten cars, but tantalisingly , this door but tantalisingly, this door keeps opening and closing, and every time we sort of lean forward and think, is this the former president? not quite yet , former president? not quite yet, but it does look like there is movement there. there are phones being held aloft. so quite possibly we're about to see the 45th president of united 45th president of the united states. this is, of course, states. but this is, of course, an important political moment as well legal just what well as a legal one. just what are implications for the are the implications for the presidential election? and given that this is a criminal trial, the first criminal trial of a president or a former president in the history of the united states, just what will the reactions be? i'm delighted to say that we're able to join now with the founder director of the ucl centre on us politics,

doctor thomas gift and doctor gift . as we're waiting to see gift. as we're waiting to see donald trump and his trademark long red tie peer out from behind this, rather industrial looking door. just what are the implications of today's court heanng implications of today's court hearing ? heanng? >> well, this is a big moment in american politics of course, because this is the first time we've ever had a president or in this case, a former president, face an actual criminal trial. you know, there's somewhat, degree of anti—climatic racism here simply because we've seen all of the indictments, the success of indictments, but, you know, in terms of the politics, trump is going to use this moment as he has used every legal moment, the legal challenges that he has faced, really the cornerstone of his campaign. he's used them to fundraise. used them to fundraise. he's used them to galvanise his base by essentially framing himself as the victim, saying that he is sort of on the receiving end of

a political vendetta by the government, by democrats, by the deep state, and so on. and so i expect, you know, trump to essentially double down on that narrative. >> and what happens if he is found guilty? >> well , if found guilty? >> well, if he's found guilty, he could face prison time. but i think that the more likely outcome is that he would simply face probation. this case is expected to last about 6 to 8 weeks. trump is going to try to drag it out as long as possible and delay, but i think the odds of trump ever setting foot inside of a jail cell, at least inside of a jail cell, at least in this case, are very, very small , but it in this case, are very, very small, but it is possible. >> and are there any restrictions , thomas, on what he restrictions, thomas, on what he can say about this case while the trial is on? >> so there are a lot of restrictions , and in fact, the restrictions, and in fact, the judge has already imposed a gag order on him. but what we've seen from trump is that he tends to flout those, regulations and he has been in violation, or at

least close to violation of these gag orders in multiple, instances previously. he essentially says that these court cases are election interference and that they are impinging on his first amendment freedom of speech rights to express himself, which he suggests is even more important in the midst of an election campaign . campaign. >> now, you say donald trump is seeking to frame himself as a victim here, saying that sort of the political establishment is against him, that these are political prosecutions , people political prosecutions, people who can't win at the ballot box seeking to lock up their political opponents. just how much is the american public buying that narrative? >> well, i think, as you would expect , the numbers are very expect, the numbers are very split by partisanship . so most split by partisanship. so most republicans are behind trump, and they believe that this is a witch hunt. they do believe that the government is acting inappropriately. i do think it's worth pointing out that there's quite a lot of variation, even across the cases. if you look at

this one in particular, it's probably the weakest substantively, and it's a little bit tortured . in terms of the bit tortured. in terms of the legal logic. trump essentially gave hush money, which is not illegal in and of itself. but the accusation is that he falsified business records so that complexifies the issue a little bit. it allows trump to muddy the water. and i think the result of that is it wasn't just republicans, but also some democrats who, whenever this indictment came out, suggested that this maybe isn't the strongest case. and i think that that works in donald trump's favour, because if this is the narrative that is in the minds of voters , subsequent cases, of voters, subsequent cases, that may be a little bit more strong in terms of the classified document case. january 6th case, and in terms of the georgia case over vote rigging, they might just discount the rest and say , well, discount the rest and say, well, this doesn't look so serious. so i'm guessing that the others are not as well. >> i suppose that's donald trump's biggest advantage almost here. the idea that all of these cases sort of dilute one another

and say he's cleared of, i don't know, 9 in 10 of them, he'll be able to say, look, i'm 90% innocent. whereas if there was only one that he was struck by, the balance would appear just the balance would appearjust through simple presentation terms to be the other way around i >> -- >> well, trump hum >> well, trump is such a showman. and of course, he'll use this trial to his advantage. we saw that both in the two impeachments, while he was president, he essentially said, well, i'm exonerated because the senate didn't convict me. and so i expect him to do a very same thing here. i think that the odds of actually getting a conviction are very small. and so we can probably imagine trump standing in front of the courtroom with a newspaper in his saying, exonerated, his hands saying, exonerated, even not what a not even if that's not what a not guilty verdict actually means, that's going to frame that's how he's going to frame it. so i do think that there it. and so i do think that there holds political pitfalls , holds both political pitfalls, but also political opportunities for trump here. >> and issue of jury >> and this issue of jury selection. it's very much being hyped is it possible to find

hyped up. is it possible to find a jury that is totally , a jury that is totally, completely, 100% impartial? >> well, i certainly think it's a reasonable question to ask. and there are a couple reasons why. one is this case is being tried in new york. of course, new york is notoriously liberal, and a whole lot of registered republicans on the voter list. but, you know, at the same time, trump is such a polarising figure, and these cases have attracted such media attention that, you know, even individuals who might not be strong republican or might not be strong democrat, it's hard to say that they're , you know, say that they're, you know, going into this case, completely objective. and so a lot of the questions that are going to be asked are going to regard things like, did you ever follow donald trump on social media? do you watch cnn or do you watch fox news? do you ever have any sort of, sort of any predisposition toward trump in this particular

case? you know, i and will the press be privy? >> oh, sorry. will the press be privy to the jury selection? will they be present? will they hear the decision making on that? you know , i have to admit, that? you know, i have to admit, i'm not sure about that. >> i don't think so. this case is not going to be televised. generally they're going to be snapshot photos. but think snapshot photos. but i think that jury selection is going that the jury selection is going to private. because to be private. simply because the are not the individuals who are not going on the jury, they going to be on the jury, they don't get out. but don't want that to get out. but but not 100% sure, to be honest. >> in this case, the fascinating, sort of series of events that could happen here just all seem to me to get weirder and weirder and weirder. one of the most peculiar culminations of all of these things in sort of the possible future trees that we could travel down, is that it could end up that the former president is incarcerated, is then elected president again , and pardons president again, and pardons himself. is that a possible pathway here? >> it's certainly possible. i think it's unlikely. i do think

that the odds that trump is jailed for this particular case are very low. and i think that the rest of the cases are going to go beyond the election. but you're absolutely right. technically trump could pardon himself. some sort of himself. there is some sort of constitution . well, rb8 about constitution. well, rb8 about about whether that is permissible, but you can bet that donald trump would take advantage of that if he had the opportunity, it's more likely that we're going to see probably a not guilty verdict here, and then if donald trump is elected, what he can do is terminate all of the federal cases against him simply by installing a favourable attorney general who promises to end these prosecutions and investigations that will still leave the georgia state case, because it's not a federal, it's not under the purview, but this is sort of a possible scenario. >> and this georgia case is the most dangerous one for him. so if we zoom out of new york and go right down to the south, it's peculiar because georgia , has

peculiar because georgia, has been more politically volatile than perhaps many people might expect. and he might not be able to get himself out of that one, even if elected president . even if elected president. >> yeah. i mean, that's that's a really interesting case because you're right, it's a state case andifs you're right, it's a state case and it's not a federal. and so he wouldn't have any jurisdiction over that. of course, there's all sorts of politics right now surrounding the in that case and the judge in that case and whether there's sort of impartiality there . but you're impartiality there. but you're right. the georgia case in many ways, probably is the most serious because you have trump on audiotape saying, can you find me more votes? now, i do think that sort of the way that you frame that gives him sufficient room, and sufficient wiggle room, and there's of ambiguity there's a degree of ambiguity there's a degree of ambiguity there even in that there that even in that instance, unlikely to be instance, it's unlikely to be found guilty. but yeah, i mean, it's very unprecedented. the terms often overused. i think . terms often overused. i think. but with trump, we really haven't seen anything like this

before. so it's hard to predict. >> and thomas tactic. thank you, by the way, for, giving us your thoughts extensively, but tactically speaking, from a political of view, when it political point of view, when it comes the democrats how political point of view, when it comedealthe democrats how political point of view, when it comedeal with)emocrats how political point of view, when it comedeal with this, :rats how political point of view, when it comedeal with this, do s how political point of view, when it comedeal with this, do they how they deal with this, do they talk about a lot ? should talk about this a lot? should joe biden comment on this? should they be making a big thing of this from their perspective? will this do them well, serve them well politically to be very outspoken on the issue of donald trump and this court trial? >> well, i think you're going to see a split in terms of democrats when it comes to joe biden. he's going to be completely silent or silent as you can get on this particular case, because he doesn't want to give the appearance that he's putting his thumb on the scales of justice, particularly in his role in the white house. but i think for other democrats, obviously, they're to obviously, they're trying to make that donald trump make the case that donald trump is a criminal. and do you want someone like this in the white house going to be a key house that's going to be a key theme emerge in theme that will emerge in superpacs and with with, joe biden's surrogates. but yeah,

biden's surrogates. but yeah, biden himself, i think, wants to stay at an arm's length from this particular case and won't discuss it . discuss it. >> now, for those just joining us, i should explain that we're staring at two rather imposing doors with which we're expecting to open any moment now and see the 45th president of the united states, donald trump, walk out of with us is the founding director of the ucl centre on us politics, doctor thomas grift and thomas. we have seen previous . oh. that was a very previous. oh. that was a very naughty opening of the door. i got very excited there for a second, but but thomas, we have seen it previous events like this. donald trump, make a little statement, give a little speech, almost a stump speech, to assembled media, do you to the assembled media, do you think that he'll do something like that on this occasion? >> yeah. it's possible again, i don't think he wants to violate the gag order right away. he'll probably , wait a little bit, for probably, wait a little bit, for that. but this is all highly curated. and the donald trump

campaign knows what it's doing. it knows what message it wants to communicate. so it wouldn't surprise me. i don't know exactly what's in the minds of the trump campaign at the moment. you know, if they want to do this here, if they want to do it later, if he just wants to make a statement on trump social, but rest assured, we will hear from donald trump the day. >> and i think everyone will be fascinated to see how he responds to this, because perhaps interestingly, perhaps most interestingly, throughout this, despite what everyone assumes and the sort of narrative around the hush money and the case of stormy daniels and the case of stormy daniels and all of her lurid , tell all, and all of her lurid, tell all, sort of verbiage about, i don't quite want to go into the detail of what she has been intimately describing about donald trump, but he still maintains that there was no affair . there was no affair. >> yeah, that's absolutely right . so donald trump has been complete, he's essentially denied all of these charges. he's denied the affair, and he's also denied falsifying business

records. so you know, he's basically saying i should go get off scot free here, both legally as well as politically . as well as politically. >> now, it's absolutely fascinating, this case. and as you say, this is one of many cases to come. perhaps shapps the least, serious in terms of, legal implications for donald trump , although it is the first trump, although it is the first criminal trial that he's facing. well thomas, would you mind reminding us of exactly what he has been accused of? >> sure. so the details of this case are quite salacious in terms of, you know, the context and the background, you know, involving porn stars and hush money and all of this really the legal case itself simply hinges on whether trump falsified business records with respect to the hush money payment, essentially to avoid taxes. this goes to sort of campaign finance laws. so that's really the main issue at stake , and it's one issue at stake, and it's one

that trump denies . that trump denies. >> and it's fascinating really. all of the theatre around this , all of the theatre around this, donald trump is such a theatrical politician . there theatrical politician. there must be a part of him that actually quite enjoys this. the eyes of the world upon him . he eyes of the world upon him. he he loves being the showman. he brought back sort of the politics of the rally to the united states. in some ways, he'll enjoy the anticipate in the eyes of the world on this moment, on these doors. >> i absolutely agree with you . >> i absolutely agree with you. donald trump is a megalomaniac. you know, he enjoys the spotlight. he likes nothing more than to be the centre of attention. you know, i don't necessarily think that all news is good news for donald trump. he did try to delay this. and he did, you know, try to avoid this trial actually occurring. but now that it's here, he's going to use it. he's going to exploit it. he's going to leverage it. and he has been very effective. so just from a pure political standpoint , so just from a pure political standpoint, so far, you

so just from a pure political standpoint , so far, you know, standpoint, so far, you know, the language that he used , the language that he used, ability to resonate with republican voters to really emphasise the politics of grievance and to fit that into a broader campaign narrative about how elites and the establishment and washington are not operating in the best interest of america. it's hard to deny that he's been very effective at that. and that's one reason why, even though the polls are very close, he seems to have an edge. according to most data. >> touch on those >> well, let's touch on those polls because there have polls now because there have been there has been a narrative that sort of donald trump is almost the assumed next president the united states . president of the united states. and of course, he has won before with, less than half the popular vote. what really matters is the crucial swing states . but as you crucial swing states. but as you say, things are on a knife edge as things stand. >> right. i think you're absolutely correct that this race is essentially a dead heat .

race is essentially a dead heat. and almost all the polls that i have seen, the margin of difference between trump and biden is within the margin of error. and so i think it's very difficult to make any projections this far out. and of course, the national polls don't mean anything. but even if you look state by state times have done some recent battleground state polling , and pennsylvania state polling, and pennsylvania and ohio and michigan and wisconsin, arizona, georgia, almost all those cases, it's about 50 over 50. it's one reason why i think that a candidate can really make a difference. i don't think that a third party candidate can actually , but a third party actually, but a third party candidate has to do is attract a few percentage of the votes in one, two, three, maybe a handful of states. and that could really be enough to tip the balance one way or the other. robert f kennedy jr , you know, according kennedy jr, you know, according to some polls, has upwards of 15% of americans who say that they will at least consider voting for him. he'll probably attract a lot of trump voters,

as well as a lot of biden voters, a lot of sort of who he ultimately appeals to will be determined by how he frames himself in the general election. but i think that that's a big x factor that we're not looking at as we sort of gaze at these polls that are very, very close. >> and in terms of demographics, in demographics, who is in terms of demographics, who is supporting donald trump currently has his support grown in, ethnic minority, diverse areas? is his support based on white america? tell us whether that's shifted? >> well, the bulk of trump voters are still members of the white working class . this is a white working class. this is a demographic that has really experienced a realignment, used to be solidly with democrats , to be solidly with democrats, and now has turned republican, especially over the last two elections. but it is interesting to note you're absolutely correct that trump has made significant inroads with minority voters, no more so than with young black voters. he's also made significant inroads

with some members of the asian community. it's hard to talk about some of these demographics as complete monoliths , because as complete monoliths, because they really do vary in terms of their background and geographically. but donald trump's coalition, if he is re—elected, could look quite a bit different than the one that ushered him into power in 2016. i think it actually will be more diverse demographically, doctor thomas, i'm going to have to interrupt you there. we can see the 45th president of the united states, donald trump, now making his way through this court house, this new york courthouse for what is the first criminal trial of a former president of the united states. it's a long corridor . the united states. it's a long corridor. now that he has to walk down, let's listen in. >> nothing like this has. been anything like it. every legal scholar said case is nonsense. it should never have been brought . it doesn't deserve brought. it doesn't deserve anything like this. there is no

case. then they've said it. people that don't necessarily follow or like donald trump said, this is an outrage that this case was brought. this is political persecution . this is a political persecution. this is a persecution like never before. nobody's ever seen anything like it again. it's a case that should have never been brought. it's an assault on america. and that's why i'm very proud to be here. this is an assault on our country, our country that's failing the country that's run by an incompetent man who's very much involved in this case. this is really an attack on a political opponent that's all it is. i'm very honoured to be here. thank you very much. i believe that this is donald trump taking no questions. >> he said there is no case to answer. this is an assault on america, an outrage, a political prosecution . but curiously, that prosecution. but curiously, that he was very proud to be here. still with us is the founding director of the ucl centre on us

politics, doctor thomas grift and doctor grift. that was a very strident statement there from donald trump . from donald trump. >> it was. and it's more of the same for donald trump. he really is presenting himself as a martyr. i think it's notable that he articulated that he's proud to be here, he's honoured to be here in this situation. and you know, much of the language that trump uses is all about us and we and he very much talks about , about us and we and he very much talks about, his about us and we and he very much talks about , his constituents about us and we and he very much talks about, his constituents in those terms that he wants to ensure that republican voters know that this isn't just an alleged assault on him, but that it's an alleged assault on everyone. and that really goes to his brand of grievance politics that has been so effective and has resonated so much with his base . much with his base. >> absolutely. he's so, so interesting to see that donald trump says he's proud to be here again. that leads into that idea that perhaps underneath it all, he's quite enjoying it.

>> yeah, i think you're absolutely right. you know, just from the sheer entertainment perspective, this is a reality tv star. it's someone who likes being in front of the cameras, who likes the attention being on him. i think that he is enjoying it. whether he'll, you know, still enjoy it in week three or week four when he's sitting in a courtroom on a thursday afternoon listening to, you know, details alleging that he did this or that. that's another question . but for now, it's question. but for now, it's really to exploit this abbotship for all it's worth. this will be a big distraction during the campaign, though, because he is going to be required to sit in the courtroom. unlike some of these civil trials that he has faced before. and so that may impinge on his campaign schedule. >> let's just have another little , replay of what donald little, replay of what donald trump had to say. he made sure to make a political attack on joe biden . there he is

joe biden. there he is. >> well, he's walking up to that, barrier there. it's quite a long walk in a long corridor. journalists very far away. but let's listen . in. let's listen. in. >> nothing like this has. been anything like it. every legal scholar said case is nonsense. it should never have been brought. it doesn't deserve anything like this . there is no anything like this. there is no case. and they've said it. people that don't necessarily follow or like donald trump, that this is an outrage at this case was brought. this is political persecution . this is a political persecution. this is a persecution like never before. nobody's ever seen anything like it again. it's a case that should have never , ever been should have never, ever been brought. it's an assault on america . and that's why i'm very america. and that's why i'm very proud to be here. this is an assault on our country. it's a

country that's failing the country that's failing the country that's failing the country that's run by an incompetent man who's very much involved in this case. this is really an attack on a political opponent. that's all it is . i'm opponent. that's all it is. i'm very honoured to be here. thank you very much . you very much. >> voters believe that this is possible, right now. >> and there we go. that was donald trump, a quick statement as he goes into the court. thomas just to finish. and then we'll let you go , he clearly is we'll let you go, he clearly is setting up him versus a corrupt political justice system . political justice system. >> republican primaries framing himself as the victim, saying that he is on the receiving end of a political vendetta orchestrated by democrats , the orchestrated by democrats, the deep state, who he alleges does not believe in democracy. and so i think that this is very much a preview of what we can expect

over the summer. and heading into the fall, it really is a strong indicator of how trump expects to run his campaign . expects to run his campaign. >> well, doctor thomas griff, the founding director of the ucl centre on us politics, really appreciate your time talking through a wide ranging conversation there on the implications of what is a historic day in new york at that courthouse. wow >> so let us know your thoughts. gbnews.com/yoursay what did you make of donald trump's statement? they're very interesting indeed, but closer to home, we are moving on because the rwanda bill is back in the commons today, and we're joined by our political correspondent, katherine forster, who is on downing street for us, catherine, what is happening this afternoon ? is happening this afternoon? >> yes. so mps are back in westminster today and the safety of rwanda bill back in the house of rwanda bill back in the house of commons. there'll be about seven votes over a couple of hours this evening . it's hours this evening. it's expected that all of the house

of lords amendments put forward before easter will be voted down. the bill will then go to the house of lords tomorrow. it will then come back to the commons. we're expecting it to be done and dusted, potentially by thursday. that then clears the way at last for flights taking off to rwanda . it is two taking off to rwanda. it is two years and one day since the then prime minister, boris johnson, and the then home secretary , and the then home secretary, priti patel, announced this scheme, they said if you cross the channel illegally, you would be sent on a one way ticket to rwanda. no exceptions . well, it rwanda. no exceptions. well, it hasn't quite turned out like that yet , but has it? but the that yet, but has it? but the government are still sticking to the line that they're going to get flights within weeks . and i get flights within weeks. and i asked in the lobby briefing if the prime minister still meant the prime minister still meant the spring, which of course ends at the end of may, they wouldn't be drawn on that, but they are confident that we ask them to

about exactly how they're going to get people there. given that a number of commercial airlines have been approached here in the uk and don't want to have anything to do with it, the same appues anything to do with it, the same applies to rwanda airlines. the prime minister spokesman said, oh, well, they're they're working on this. they they deport people all the time and they a range of options. so they have a range of options. so we see. but certainly it we shall see. but certainly it looks like finally this week the bill will pass into law. and of course , it's specifically course, it's specifically designed to make sure that legal challenges cannot stop these flights from taking off. the government is confident , and government is confident, and let's face it, it does need a win because we had that record number of migrants crossing the channelin number of migrants crossing the channel in a single day this yeah channel in a single day this year. yesterday, 534 and as labour have pointed out since 2018, there's been 120,000 people arrived illegally, a

third of them on rishi sunaks watch . so the government dearly watch. so the government dearly needs to get some flights to off rwanda at long last. >> catherine, i should say we're looking at pictures now of the debate in the house of commons, home secretary james cleverly on his feet, answering points from across the house. but catherine, perhaps what's new and has picked up the ears of many people today, is a leak, really, from the government, suggesting that if rwanda, happens, if this bill passes , indeed, if it bill passes, indeed, if it passes this week, flights get off the ground. this is only the start of the big operation of this government to find places to send illegal migrants to also on the list to strike similar deals to this are botswana, costa rica , many other costa rica, many other countries. what can you tell us about the new deals the government is seeking ? government is seeking? >> yes, that was reported in the times this morning and we asked the prime minister's spokesman specifically about that. he

said, oh , well, these are based said, oh, well, these are based on old documents. i would guide you away from that. but then he went on to say it shouldn't be a surprise. we are always in contact , contact with contact, contact with international partners to tackle migration challenges. they went on to say of course, it's not just us struggling with migration . the whole of europe migration. the whole of europe is. the numbers have gone through the roof in the last year or two, and other countries too, are looking at processing these claims offshore . so these claims offshore. so certainly the reports in the times there was a whole long list of countries, some of which had been discounted . but those had been discounted. but those four that you mentioned, tom, it sounds like if rwanda gets up and running, potentially they might look to do deals with those countries to expand this even further. of course, the hopeis even further. of course, the hope is that when they start sending large numbers of people to rwanda, people will simply think, actually, i'd rather stay in france .

in france. >> yes. and as we know, you mentioned europe. they of course , voted on a new migration asylum pact , , voted on a new migration asylum pact, which , voted on a new migration asylum pact , which they hope asylum pact, which they hope will, help with the whole immigration issue. that, of course, as you say, is very much a global one, what happens next, then, if this bill is finally passed and the government sets it into legislation and we see it into legislation and we see it go through , i guess the hope it go through, i guess the hope is that flights will be pretty much immediate. >> well, a few weeks i think. so it's looking like end of may best case scenario, early june , best case scenario, early june, they've got various bits to iron out, not least how they're going to physically get people there, but they are already selecting the first tranche of migrants that are going to go there. although the care for calais charity, it's reported today to, are trying to get volunteers to basically help people that are selected for those flights to

fight back to mount legal challenges . now, the government challenges. now, the government are confident that this is going to be legally watertight, that rwanda is safe, that it won't be overturned by the courts. but some of these charities , of some of these charities, of course, have got very, very different ideas. >> well, katherine forster, live from downing street. really appreciate your time. on this issue and indeed on what the government has been saying . but government has been saying. but let's get to the root of why mps are talking about this. why mps are talking about this. why mps are debating all of these lords amendment right now . it's all amendment right now. it's all about migration that we're about the migration that we're seeing channel. and seeing across the channel. and today we've seen least today we've seen at least yesterday's numbers. another record day. let's get more with our home and security editor mark white. >> well, we've had an improvement, tom, in the weather over the past couple of days. over the weekend there, from the stormy conditions that we saw last week. and that meant that 750 very close to 750 of these migrants came across the english

channelin migrants came across the english channel in 15 small boats, 214, in five small boats on saturday and then 534 came across on sunday, a record daily total for the year. so far. and that takes the year. so far. and that takes the number who have crossed the engush the number who have crossed the english channel since the beginning of the year to more than 6200. and that's almost 30% up on where we were at this point last year. and the importance about that figure is that, of course, last year the government was able to trumpet the fact that the numbers of people crossing the channel had dropped by a third. they said that that was down in no small part to the stop the boats policy of this government. well, they're not at the moment able to claim the same thing because there has been a total reversal. and the real worry for rishi sunak as this election year progresses is that we get much

better weather conditions in the channel as we head towards the summer, and we see very significant numbers coming across. if it is as the summer progresses, still more crossing the english channel than last yean the english channel than last year, it's going to be very difficult to go into an election and say that that policy is working. >> and as you were telling us last week, this is getting more and more dangerous for the authorities. and for the people smugglers and for those seeking to cross the channel violent clashes becoming more commonplace. >> well, because it's a multi—million pound business for these criminal gangs and as hideous as they are in the work that they do, they have become very sophisticated in both reading the tide, the weather conditions out there, but also in their business operations in the way that they source all the component parts for these small boats, and they get the migrants who sometimes are not in the camps in northern france , but

camps in northern france, but further inland. and then when it's their time to take that trip across the channel that illegal voyage, then they are shipped to northern france from these locations further inland . these locations further inland. but our gb news kent producer has been speaking to contacts of his on the other side of the channel his on the other side of the channel, who have told him that thousands of people are already now gathering in northern france, waiting for the weather conditions to improve to get across the channel to the uk to claim asylum, to enter the system and hopefully from their point of view, to not be sent to rwanda. >> well, we'll have to wait and see to see what happens with the passage of this bill and indeed, what happens with those thousands now waiting to cross further. mark white, thank you very much for bringing us the very much for bringing us the very this enormous issue. >> yes. coming up, the uk government reportedly gave £240,000 in covid funding to a

pro—iran islamic centre. we'll have the details very

us. >> good afternoon. britain. it's just coming up to ten minutes to three. now. an islamic centre labelled the nerve centre of iran in the uk is said to have received £240,000 in government covid payments, despite having a reserve of over £4 million. yes. >> the payments were revealed by the think tank policy exchange, who had called for a ban on visas being issued for iranian nationals to work at this very centre. the report said that all four of the directors of the centre since 1994 had been named as representative in the uk for iran's supreme leader, with the centre holding frequent events to mark the 1979 islamic revolution. really really

shocking stuff. >> but we can now speak to gb news reporter charlie peters for more on this story. and charlie , more on this story. and charlie, it just beggars belief taxpayers money was going to this. >> well, the islamic, the islamic centre for england occupies a former cinema in maida vale, the leafy west london suburb , and in that london suburb, and in that building it has hosted several events to commemorate the 1979 islamic revolution of iran. >> and the stated aims of the charity are to promote the tenets and the values of shia islam, but at the same time it does stand accused today of being a nerve centre for promoting the political and religious demands and desires of the iranian regime . and this the iranian regime. and this report from the think tank policy exchange has pointed in particular to an event in january 2020 after the assassination by then president donald trump of the islamic revolutionary guard corps

commander qassem soleimani. the general was struck by a drone in baghdadin general was struck by a drone in baghdad in iraq, and they reacted by describing him as a great martyr. that's what the director of this charity says at the time. now £240,000 of taxpayers cash has arrived to the charity since these were made during the covid 19 pandemic. in two separate payments, £109,000 as part of the furlough scheme, job retention approach and then another £120,000 in 2021. of course, that scheme was rolled out very quickly by the treasury to ensure that job losses were not significant and they were not, as many critics have said, significant checks and balances conducted at the time. they just wanted to get the money out to keep those charities and those jobs safe. now, the reaction has been pretty stark to those

claims, at least in part because in 2022, the charity commission did eventually launch a statutory inquiry into that eventin statutory inquiry into that event in january 2020. when it did commence narrate the death of qassem soleimani. now that is just a small part of this report from policy exchange, because it looks at a much wider set of concerns around how tehran projects itself in britain, and it points to this islamic centre for england as the nerve centre of a much wider informal, informal nexus of groups that coalesce to promote the ideals of the regime. >> and we know there have been many warnings from the police and counter—terrorism , towards and counter—terrorism, towards iranian dissidents living in london, in other parts of the uk, that they could be at heightened risk of kidnap and other threats. >> that's right. and even some reporters from an iran linked tv

channelin reporters from an iran linked tv channel in britain have also faced several of those threats. in west london, we have seen armed police presence covering a tv studios in that location , and tv studios in that location, and one of the things that policy exchange has pointed out in its report today is that mi5, the security services, have not described their counter—subversion measures in great detail. it pointed to a previous statement on the security services website, saying that they no longer conduct counter—subversion activities . this is one of the activities. this is one of the roles and responsibilities of the security services. they deal in espionage and dealing with terror threats, but also subversion. the more menacing undercurrent to destabilise a wider society. this was a popular strategy for the security services during the cold war, when russian subversion was key . and i think subversion was key. and i think what many of the analysts involved in this policy exchange report are pointing out today is that a new threat has arisen.

it's almost snuck into britain, britain through many of these groups and is now, they claim, coalescing and acting again to push forward pro—iranian messages. >> hugely shocking story and couldn't be more timely given what is going on now between iran and the rest of the middle east and indeed the united kingdom. but charlie peters, thank you very much for bringing us details. us all the details. >> as if didn't have >> yes, as if you didn't have enough worry about. thank you enough to worry about. thank you very much indeed, charlie peters. that's it us today, very much indeed, charlie petersyouat's it us today, very much indeed, charlie petersyou for it us today, very much indeed, charlie petersyou for tuning us today, very much indeed, charlie petersyou for tuning in. today, thank you for tuning in. >> lots live events. but >> show lots of live events. but don't martin daubney is don't worry, martin daubney is up he joins now, and up next. he joins us now, and martin, i'm sure there's lots more to come with you . more to come with you. >> yeah. cracking show guys as more to come with you. >> y> y> y> y> y

500 people arrived via small boats yesterday , and ten years boats yesterday, and ten years on, since smart motorways were introduced , the rac and the introduced, the rac and the campaigner whose husband was killed wants them banned. that's all. come on my show. but first it's all. come on my show. but first wsfime all. come on my show. but first it's time for your latest weather forecast . weather forecast. >> a brighter outlook with boxt solar sponsors of weather on . gb news. >> hello again. welcome to the met office weather forecast. it's going to be a blustery afternoon with further heavy showers coming through. they do ease later on with the chance of clear spells developing overnight , but generally low overnight, but generally low pressure is in charge of our forecast for the rest of the day. low pressure sitting in the nonh day. low pressure sitting in the north sea, bringing a gusty and cold northwesterly wind with it. these showers are going to be lively where they occur. hail and thunder are a possibility, but they do tend to ease overnight, with clear spells developing, the showers becoming more confined to eastern parts

along with the gusty wind and with plenty of clear spells towards western and northwestern parts . temperatures will dip parts. temperatures will dip into single figures, into the mid single figures, perhaps lower in 1 or perhaps a bit lower in 1 or 2 sheltered spots, so a touch of ground frost here and there as we begin tuesday, but otherwise plenty of bright weather. first thing be some and thing still be some cloud and showers along the east coast, and further showers will bubble up day gets going up as the day gets going elsewhere, but there'll be fewer showers and there'll be more sunshine compared with today , sunshine compared with today, with temperatures responding a little better. 14, perhaps 15 in the south, 11 or 12 further north, with lighter winds feeling more pleasant . wednesday feeling more pleasant. wednesday starts off with a frost in places. clear spells first thing. plenty of sunshine through the morning though, although there will be some cloudier skies. returning to northern ireland later and a few showers elsewhere. all in all, it's looking like an improved picture as we end the week. higher pressure, drier weather, that warm feeling inside from boxt boilers, sponsors of weather on gb news.

>> news

good afternoon. and a very, very happy monday to you. it's 3 pm. welcome to the martin daubney show on gb news. broadcasting live from the heart of westminster. all across the uk. on today's show, as the world stares down the barrel of all out war in the middle east, the prime minister is today set to speak on the issue, and we'll bnng speak on the issue, and we'll bring you rishi sunak speech and sir keir starmer's response live from the commons in around about 30 minutes time. and it's a busy day for prime minister as mr day for the prime minister as mr sunak's rwanda bill sunak's flagship rwanda bill once again pongs back to once again ping pongs back to the the day after the commons the day after a record 500 asylum seekers arrived by small boats. the big question is this the same as ever? will a single flight ever

leave for rwanda? next up is