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tv   BBC News  BBC News  July 23, 2017 3:00am-3:31am BST

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hello, and welcome. this is bbc news. president trump has insisted he has complete power to pardon people. it comes amid reports that he's been looking at ways of pardoning himself and his family should investigators decide there was collusion with russia during the us election campaign. next week, his eldest son and his son—in—law are due to testify before congress. but there was no mention of the controversy when the president spoke at a naval ceremony in virginia. from washington, laura bicker reports. donald trump hoped this would be a celebration of everything made in america. instead, donald trump is gearing up for what could be one of his biggest battles. he is clearing the deck to try to fight off claims the kremlin helped him win the white house. his core message has become engulfed by the many investigations. as he launched a new aircraft carrier in virginia,
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he gave the kind of sales pitch he'd prefer american to hear. american steel and american hands have constructed a 100,000—ton message to the world. american might is second to none. donald trump is upgrading his team just as the investigation into russian meddling in the us election widens to include his finances, and that has infuriated the president. the full case of the inquiry is also no longer outside the white house gates, it's focussing on his inner circle, his own family, who will give evidence to congress later this week. mr trumps‘ son—in—law, jared kushner, is one of his closest advisers, seen so often at his side but rarely heard. he has done some talking though, to russians during the campaign and he'll been asked about that in congress, on monday. donald trumer is also in discussions about testifying after it was revealed he met with a russian lawyer who had offered incriminating information
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about hillary clinton, during the campaign. white house spokesman, sean spicer, often struggled to convey the president's message amidst a barrage of questions about russia. if the president puts russian salad dressing on his salad tonight, somehow that's a russian connection. he's now saying farewell, making way for a new face, the slick wall street financier, anthony scaramucci. ijust think it was in the best interests of our communications department, of our press organisation, to not have too many cooks in the kitchen. anthony scaramucci will now be in charge of rebranding donald trump's team. donald trump relishes a good fight. he has described the enquiries into his campaign's links with russia as a witch—hunt, a hoax. he is getting combat—readyjust in case investigators do not agree with him. laura bicker, bbc news, washington. venezuelan soldiers on motorbikes have fired teargas at hundreds of masked, stone—throwing protesters in caracas, the latest round of demonstrations
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against the government of nicolas maduro. several people were injured in the clashes, which came as the opposition attempted to march to the supreme court building. greg dawson reports. it's become a near—daily occurrence in venezuela, protesters versus police, molotov cocktails versus teargas. these people are marching towards their country's supreme court, which they believe is biased in favour of nicolas maduro, a president who they claim is turning into a dictator. translation: we have to help our children. we are fighting here for them, and these boys cannot be left alone. while others are in their houses, these people are risking their lives for us all. on friday, opposition politicians elected 33 newjudges to form a so—called "shadow supreme court". president maduro rejects them, as well is ongoing calls for a general election
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in his country. and he's got support, too. for every anti—government demontration, there's a rally in support of the venezuelan leader. this gathering was to back the president's plans for a new assembly to rewrite the constitution. for the last four months, venezuela has been locked in an impasse of political crisis and violent demonstration. scores of people have been killed since the protests began. nicolas maduro says they are led by right—wing extremists. on thursday, millions of venezuelans joined a general strike called by the opposition. president maduro called the effects minimal, and plans to press ahead with a vote for a new assembly next week. greg dawson, bbc news. stay with us here on bbc news.
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still to come. artist's impression. campaigners use a life—size model of a beached whale to raise awareness of sealife under pressure. the hospital which is seeking to remove life support from the seriously ill baby, charlie gard, has contacted the police after staff received death threats. great ormond street hospital said doctors and nurses had faced a "tide of abuse", in the street and on line. it comes as the high court is considering whether charlie's parents should be allowed to take him to the united states for experimental treatment. that's opposed by the hospital, which argues that it's not in charlie's best interests. our correspondent, laura trant, reports. it's a case that's touched people around the world. attracting a growing number of campaigners who disagree with medical experts over the treatment of a critically ill baby boy. a growing number of campaigners
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who disagree with medical experts over the treatment of a critically ill baby boy. 11—month—old charlie gard has a form of mitochondrial disease, a condition that causes progressive muscle weakness and irreversible brain damage. his parents, connie yates and chris gard, want to take him to the us for pioneering treatment, but great ormond street hospital says it in charlie's best interests to turn off his life—support and allow him to die. tonight, the hospital said in a statement that their doctors and nurses have been subjected to a shocking and disgraceful tide of hostility. staff have received abuse both in the street and online. thousands of abusive messages, they said, have been sent to doctors and nurses, whose life's work is to care for sick children. many of these messages are menacing, including death threats. the hospital has reported the abuse to the police. it comes as the high court decides on charlie's future and a day after the judge urged any campaigners outside the hospital to respect the needs and wishes of sick children being treated there and their parents.
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some of the bbc‘s most high—profile female presenters have written a strongly—worded letter to the corporation's director general tony hall calling on him to tackle the gender pay gap. the presenters, claire balding and fiona bruce, are among more than a0 signatories urging mr hall to immediately end discrimination. last week, it was revealed that chris evans is the bbc biggest paid star on more than two million, while the best—paid woman is claudia winkleman on less than half a million. boots, the pharmacy chain, has apologised for dismissing calls to cut the cost of its contraceptive morning—after pills. it had initially refused to drop the price of the medicines because it claimed that doing so would "incentivise inappropriate use." andy moore reports. the british pregnancy advisory service launched its campaign
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with a video mocking the high prices charged in the uk for the morning after pill. they said it would be cheaper to fly to france and buy it there for about £5. wait, so that's. .. 30 quid. 30 actual pounds? tesco and superd rug reduced their prices, but boots refused to back down, saying: there was a vigorous campaign on social media critising the company and calling for a boycott. 30 labour women mps sent a letter to the company yesterday saying boots was taking a moral position on what should be a personal choice for women. then came a late—night change of heart. in its statement, boots said it was truly sorry for its poor choice of words.
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it said it was committed to finding cheaper forms of the drug. it also said that emergency contraception services were freely available on the nhs in many of its stores. campaigners said boots had spectacularly misjudged public opinion. our only disappointment is it's taken this long, and the threat of a boycott by its customers for boots to reach this position. this was a position reached by superdrug, tesco far earlier. but not everyone agrees with the decision by boots. their original position was absolutely fine. they were saying they did not want to encourage irresponsible use of the pill. and you have to remember, the morning after pill is a large dose of synthetic hormones. it's not something that needs to be taken like sweeties or like a paracetamol. one of the mps that signed the letter yesterday said on social media overnight, "welcome news, but shame boots responded the morning after." andy moore, bbc news. so far this year, more than 80 thousand migrants have arrived
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in italy from across the mediterranean — a significant increase on last year. the government in rome is planning to house the new arrivals in towns and villages across the country. but the growing number of migrants is causing rising anger among some italians. and, as our correspondent james reynolds reports from sicily, the towns themselves are resisting the plans. this year, more than 90,000 migrants have landed in italy. many, including these young men from west africa, are sent to stay in the country's smallest towns and villages. the town of torrenova, here at an emergency meeting, has been told to take in around 20 migrants. "i want guarantees," says retired teacher, enzo salvia. "they want medical
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and criminal checks." "they were already checked when they landed," argues this man. "i don't think they will damage our country. " the italian government is struggling find a solution that works. it wants to scatter migrants as soon as they land here in big ports. but that just shuffles the problem from built—up areas to the depths of the countryside. translation: it's not good. it's not good because these here haven't been checked by a doctor. we don't know who they are. it's no good. the mayor of castell‘umberto insists his small town can't cope with its 50 new residents. so the government has agreed to take these men back to the regional capital. translation: i certainly don't want to become their hero. they need someone
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else to defend them. 0ur town is too small. at night, amid cheers from volunteers, migrants are escorted out. they barely know where they're going. i was told i'm going to messina. do you know where that is? no, sir. italy's relocation plan, improvised and haphazard, has to start again. james reynolds, bbc news, sicily. the government plans to introduce a registration system for drones because of growing concern about the risk they pose to aircraft. drone owners will have to complete a safety awareness course. dozens of near misses have been reported in the past year, asjoe lynam reports. gatwick airport has confirmed that some flights have been disrupted this evening by a drone in the area. it wasn't the first time that a drone had flown worryingly close to a runway, but it was enough to close down gatwick airport for a short while three weeks ago.
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pilots have long complained that unmanned aerial vehicles could fly into their engines, causing accidents. drones are also being used to fly drugs and mobile phones into prisons. and now the government wants to act by forcing all drone users to register. the new rules mean that any drone weighing more than 250 grams will have to be registered, and their new owners will have to complete a safety awareness test when they buy them. a new technology to prevent drones flying near airports or prisons will be expanded. they can present a danger to aircraft and to individual users, so it's about introducing a registration scheme, it's about geolocations and geo—fencing to stop them being flown near aerodromes and sensitive areas. so it's worth getting the balance right between the different needs of users and the dangers on the other part. the government wants all drones of more than 250 grams to be registered. but that's not much heavier than a mobile phone. but military experts say that drones
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as light as 400 grams could damage a helicopter window, whilst drones of two kilograms could critically damage a plane. but serious drone enthusiasts say the new rules may penalise responsible users. the problem is other people who have no knowledge, they don't know how to fly, theyjust go and buy the drone and go up in the sky may be 1000 feet high. this is the problem, not us a problem. and the new rules might be hard to police. after all, criminals are unlikely to sign up to a public register. and anyone that imports drones from abroad would be covered anyway. joe lynam, bbc news. you are watching bbc news. our top story: president trump insists he has the complete power to pardon, and attacks the media for its coverage of claims russia interfered in the us election.
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let's stay with that story. richard painter is a corporate law professor with the university of minnesota, and former chief ethics lawyer for president george w bush. hejoins us now from minneapolis. richard, in your legal opinion, can the president pardon his family and himself, if it is found he engaged in wrongdoing? well, the president probably has the power to pardon his own family members, in addition to other individuals, if he so chooses. and that would probably be a valid pardon. it would also almost certainly lead to his impeachment and removalfrom certainly lead to his impeachment and removal from office, certainly lead to his impeachment and removalfrom office, if he would be pardoning family members or close associates this early in his term, in connection with this russia investigation. he does not have the power to pardon himself. no one can bea power to pardon himself. no one can be a judge in their own case. that
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is an ancient common—law principle, and that includes the president using his own pardon power. he cannot be a judge in his own case. there is no precedent of a royal pardon, the king anywhere pardoning themselves, as opposed to pardoning other people. and that is where the pardon comes from, is the president of the royal pardon. nowhere have i've been able to find an example of anyone pardoning i've been able to find an example of anyone pa rdoning themselves. i've been able to find an example of anyone pardoning themselves. itjust doesn't happen. even the pope says confession to another priest. it just doesn't happen. the president of the united states cannot pardon himself. but if he goes ahead and does it, you are saying he will be impeached. but his party has both houses of congress. what is to stop him, really? i have been active in the republican party for 30 years. this is obviously a very distressing time to the republican party. but those of us who would like for their to continue to be a republican party certainly need to stand up to
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president trump. he is not conducting himself in office as a president ought to, and this is not a part issue. it is not a democrat oi’ a part issue. it is not a democrat or republican issue —— part as an issue. there was collaboration with the russians, that is cruelly what happened in trump tower lastjune. we have corroboration of the fact that the russians would have provided dirt on secretary clinton, the opponent, and that is clearly unacceptable, and robert mueller, the special counsel, needs to continue his investigation and get to the bottom of it. and i don't think the republican party is going to get anywhere if there is the perception that we are standing in the way. there does seem to be differing legal opinion about whether collusion is a crime or not. but is the heart of this issue what governs appropriate behaviour from the president is to do with protocol and convention, rather than hard law with hard consequences? well, when
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we choose a president, we are choosing the person who is going to lead our country among the free nations of the world, to seek to make the world a better place, to make the world a better place, to make a country a better place. we cannot accept a situation where the president merely tries to adhere to the bare minimum of what is legally required in his personal conduct or in the conduct of his office. we certainly cannot have a situation where the president is attacking the press, is attacking the judiciary, oi’ press, is attacking the judiciary, or the special prosecutor. we are not going to this. it is not going to last much longer. he is either going to change his approach or he is going to have to have to move on. and those decisions will be made in pa rt by and those decisions will be made in part by mrtrump and those decisions will be made in part by mr trump himself, about whether he wants to be president of a democratic country such as the united states. in those decisions may eventually be made by congress, and of course, the voters have an input when they choose a new congress in 2018, if it lasts that long. we will have to wait and see
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what happens, but thank you very much for your time. sunday marks two months since militants inspired by the islamic state group took over the city of marawi, on mindanao, in the southern philippines. the number of soldiers killed trying to recapture the city has now passed 100, and fighting is still going on. new pictures have revealed the intensity of the conflict. bill hayton reports. gunfire. packed into an armoured vehicle, this unit is on a rescue mission. ahead, a comrade lies wounded in the rubble of marawi. pictures provided by the military show them dropping smoke grenades for cover. only then can they pull the man to safety. two months of fighting have devastated marawi. nearly 600 people have died — over 400 militants, more than 100 soldiers, and dozens of civilians.
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the military has struggled to cope with a well—prepared enemy. we need to adapt on the situation. so we bring our — our minds, our brightest minds, we adapt the tactics of the enemy, to hunt our game. in late may, marawi was taken over by the maute group, named after its founders, who pledged allegiance to the islamic state. security analysts fear they are supported by foreigners, and that mindanao could become a haven for is in asia. in response, president duterte imposed martial law across the island, and on saturday, congress extended that for the whole of the year. but human rights groups say martial law is allowing authorities to abuse civilians. a move that has no basis. factual basis. the factual basis of these systems, the real threat of rebellion in marawi is highly questionable.
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fighting is far from over in marawi, and the consequences for its inhabitants, the philippines, and the region, will last much, much longer. bill hayton, bbc news. in an area of philadelphia known locally as the badlands, some of the purest heroin in the country can be bought for just $5. but, from next week, the city authorities will clear the area to stop the heroin trade. but where will the addicts go? the bbc has been to the city to find out. we live in a world of heroin. that's the reality we live in. heroin is what's killing people, but, like, not giving people the opportunity to say "help me," not giving people the opportunity to ask for or seek treatment, keeps them in the basement, keeps them in places like the train tracks. you know, that's why they're down there, that's why
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they're in abandoned buildings, because they can be left alone. kensington has the purest heroin in the country. it's the most potent and it's also fairly inexpensive. it's about $5 a bag. at gurney street, it's kind of like a safe consumption site
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underground, that nobody knows about. they save lives and are there for each other. my son — he was addicted to heroin, he's actually in recovery. but, during his addiction, he was on the streets of kensington on and off for five years. we know, if we go to gurney street, there's a certain group of people that we might
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always see there. when we disperse people, where are we dispersing them to, and are we going to be able to find them once we disperse them? the actorjohn heard, best known for his role in the home alone films, has died at the age of 72. us media reports say he was found dead at a hotel in california. as well as enjoying a successful film career, john heard earned an emmy nomination for playing a corrupt detective in the tv series the sopranos. an amateur poker player who normally enjoys a modest game at his local casino in hull in north—east england is celebrating a win worth more than $2.5 million, at the world's most prestigious tournament, in las vegas. john hesp, a 64—year—old caravan salesman, finished fourth in a field of 7,000 entrants. he has played pokerfor 20 years, but always as an amateur. despite his success in sin city, he said he had no grand plans for the money he had won. i'd like to take my wife on holiday. my wife isn't that bothered
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about going away on holiday, but we're quite happy to go away to our humble static caravan in the yorkshire dales, at pateley bridge. so that's about it, really. i can't say any more than that. now, if you happened to visit paris this saturday, you may have had something of a surprise. all the normal attractions were there, exactly as you would expect. but there was a rather unusual guest, and a guest that was large in stature. the bbc‘s tim allman explains. at first glance, this looks somewhat surprising — a giant sperm whale washed up on the banks of the river seine. a medical team appear to be examining the body. tourists look on with more than a little interest. but things are not what they seem. this is in fact a giant
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replica, created by a group so much so that they won't break character, even for the cameras. translation: this happens fairly often but not in paris. he come up the river to escape sonar, and we found out he had an eye infection, so he couldn't see properly. he came up and got stuck over there by the bridge. the firemen were called, and pulled him out with a crane, because you can'tjust leave a body in the water. similar replica beachings have taken place across europe, and it seems like the artists do a pretty convincing job. someone posted an article, but we thought it was real. so we came over, and then my mum saw in the morning that it was a sculpture. of course, i had to look it up, and i saw that it was a sculpture. and i was, like, "that's amazing!" it's like a really neat thing that they did to bring awareness. the team behind this say
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they want to explore the boundaries between reality and fiction. in the shadow of notre dame, it is certainly an interesting place to try. tim allman, bbc news. here is the weather, with nick miller. hello. saturday turned into the day of the downpour. not surprising when you see skies like this and many others from weather watchers. the heavens opened shortly after this was taken, and the area of low pressure producing those showers and outbreaks of rain on saturday are still close by on sunday. even if you have a dry start, be prepared for some showers as the day goes on. a lot of cloud around first thing, and perhaps still some outbreaks of rain in the midlands and northern england and eastern scotland, with low cloud. we will look at things in greater detail at 9am in the morning. where we have clear skies overnight, mist and fog patches in wales and south—west england. they will clear.
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england, brighter spots, sunny spells. a fair amount of cloud to begin the day. rain in the midlands and it will clear into showers and brighten up. northern ireland, bare the odd shower, dry weather to come. western scotland starting fine. east scotland, low cloud and a cool breeze. some outbreaks of rain. that rain will go south during the day across scotland. it should brighten up again after moving through. northern ireland, the odd shower. dry weather. sunny spells. late morning into the afternoon, showers getting going in england and wales. some could be heavy. sunny spells in between. temperatures in the high teens and low 20s. so what does that mean for the final round of the open golf at royal birkdale? a cloudy and damp start. 0vernight rain lingering. some showers. improving pictures through the day, although it will be breezier compared to saturday. the women's world cup, sunshine in the morning,
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but in the afternoon, the increasing chance of a shower that could be heavy. and some of those showers will continue into sunday evening, before slowly fading. an area of rain moving out of scotland into northern england, and by the time we get to monday, it is only slowly clearing from parts of eastern england. a cool breeze with that. elsewhere, a dry and sunny day. temperatures in the west approaching the mid—20s. looking at the big picture for tuesday. in between weather systems. most places will have a fine day. but look at this. the next weather system is not too far away. so take advantage of the fine day on tuesday. some pleasantly warm and sunny spells. by the time we get to wednesday, that system will come in and more rain will come in with it from the west.
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