tv BBC News BBC News June 15, 2018 3:00am-3:31am BST
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welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is mike embley. our top stories: errors ofjudgement but not political bias — thejustice department's verdict on the former fbi director who investigated hillary clinton's e—mails. new york's attorney general sues the trump foundation, claiming it's been used as donald trump's checkbook for years. a day of remembrance for the 72 victims of the london tower—block tragedy on the first anniversary of the fire. the world cup kicks off in moscow — and hosts russia provide a spectacular opening ceremony and score a big win over saudi arabia. an investigation by the us department ofjustice has found that the former head of the fbi made a ‘serious error ofjudgement‘
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when he re—opened an investigation into hillary clinton, shortly before the 2016 presidential election. the report says that james comey was ‘insubordinate‘ in his handling of the investigation into hillary clinton's use of private email, while she was secretary of state. here's our north america correspondent, nick bryant. hillary clinton believes the fbi's handling of the e—mail investigation cost her the presidency. donald trump believes the fbi failed to prosecute her because it was politically biased against him. and both believe that the former fbi directorjames comey, fired by trump, castigated by clinton, was out to get them. ..will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me god. the internaljustice department report says he made a serious error ofjudgement by making public statements about the clinton e—mail investigation, but found no evidence he had set out to influence the election. "we did not find that these decisions were the result
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of political bias on comey‘s part", the report reads, but it also concluded that he departed clearly and dramatically from fbi and department norms. the report has also revealed a text exchange between two fbi agents already accused by the white house of pro—hillary bias. it spoke of stopping trump from becoming president. that has been seized upon by the white house. it reaffirmed the president's suspicions about comey‘s conduct, and the political bias among some of the members of the fbi. back in 2015, comey announced an investigation into hillary clinton's use of a private e—mail server during her years as secretary of state. i made a mistake using a private e—mail. for donald trump, it was the political gift that kept on giving. let's knock out crooked hillary clinton — crooked as a $3 bill. comey announced the fbi was not recommending charges against hillary clinton. then, just weeks before polling day, comey controversially reopened the investigation. more e—mails had been uncovered.
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it's pretty strange to put something like that out, with such little information, right before an election. in a final twist, just two days before polling, comey again recommended that no charges should be brought. but democrats claim that the damage had already been done, and that comey‘s interventions helped win donald trump the white house. stef kight is a crime and politics reporter with the axios news service in washington and has been covering the story. she told me that both sides of american politics are making capital from the report. we see thatjames comey did not follow protocol and did not announce things when perhaps he should have announced, when it came to the hillary clinton investigation, before the 2016 presidential election. and then we saw another damning text from the two fbi officials that were pro—hillary, saying that we're going to stop trump from making it to the white house.
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yes, now, that's going to be a problem, isn't it? people are going to use that to try to taint the mueller investigation. yes, we've already seen the white house use this, point to these circumstances and say, see? the fbi, they're not unbiased, they're biased against trump. but we're also seeing democrats take this and sayjames comey is the reason hillary clinton didn't win the election, and saying that they ended up helping trump make it to the white house. so we're seeing both the right and the left take this report and spin it in a way that fits what their agenda is. it is quite an irony, isn't it, that the report finds that on numerous occasionsjames comey himself used a personal gmail account to conduct official fbi business. yep, he was using a personal e—mail server while investigating hillary clinton's misuse of her own personal e—mail server. so do you think any of this changes anything, ultimately?
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ultimately, no. even though the report says that the actions of james comey and these two fbi officials damaged the reputation of the fbi, which is a serious, serious issue, ultimately they do not combat any of the final results of this investigation. they still stand by the fbi's decision that hillary clinton should not be investigated for criminal charges. so, ultimately, nothing has changed. but they have said that what james comey did, as well as what the two fbi officials texted, were not helpful for the fbi's reputation. just to be clear, the implication of the report is quite clearly that the only actions influencing the election were actions that damaged hillary clinton, not donald trump — that in effect the fbi did help donald trump become president. well, the report does not go so far as to say that this definitely helped hillary clinton.
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but it does say that james comey should not have taken upon himself to make those announcements so close to the presidential election, that it did hurt the reputation of the fbi, and that he should have consulted with the attorney general more than he did. stef kight from axios. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. the lower house of parliament in argentina has voted in favour of legalising abortion within the first 1a weeks of pregnancy. the vote was a narrow one and the bill must now go before the senate where it may struggle to be passed. pro—abortion campaigners cheered and hugged each other when the result came through. three people have died and eight were wounded when an armed clash broke out at a political rally in turkey. the incident took place in the kurdish—majority town of suruc. pro—government media say the akp candidate was attacked by kurdish militants but opposition sources say it was his bodyguards who opened fire first. turkey holds a presidential election next week. thousands of people have taken part in a silent march past the remains of the grenfell tower in london to mark the first
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anniversary of the fire which claimed 72 lives. it followed a day of special services and a vigil to remember those who died after the high—rise apartment block caught fire. in the early hours of thursday morning — at the exact time that the blaze broke out lastjune — the building was lit up in green — the colour chosen by survivors for this day of remembrance. our special correspondent, lucy manning sent this report. in the middle of the night, grenfell lit up the sky. last year, the horror of the flames. now, green, to commemorate the tragedy. last year, they gathered at the foot of the tower, helpless. now, they stood in the same place to remember. # we all need somebody to lean on...# words from the koran.
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many of the last words that night were prayers. and then, 72 names. hamid kani. leena belkadi. victoria king. fatima choucair, chameera choucair, sirria choucair, zainab choucair, bassem choucair, forever in our hearts. a year ago, there was the roar of the fire, the screams from inside, the cries from out. today, silence. the survivors and the bereaved were joined by singers adele and stormzy, but this was about those who had lived and lost here. some came with flowers, others with messages.
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the day after the fire, we met mohammed hakim. today, he came to remember his mum, dad, sister, and two brothers. from having a family to not having a family at all is a complete change. you know, their absence is a big thing that i've been left with, you know, to deal with for the rest of my life. and it's extremely painful, and i miss them dearly every day. last year, we also met adel chaoui, desperate for news. he lost his cousin, her husband, their daughter, and baby. 0n the day of the fire, we were just running around,
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just trying to find our relatives and you saw me on the day. but it was the aftermath, and in the aftermath, this whole community came together. what do you think the grenfell community have achieved, a yearon? a desire to make sure this never happens again. at a local church, other families who lost children, parents, sisters and brothers heard calls for healing and justice. we pray that grenfell tower would turn from a symbol of pain and loss, a symbol of our failure to care for one another, into a symbol of change and renewal. they have mourned here as a community, from the day of the fire, supporting each other when those who should have done failed. # something inside so strong.
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# i know that i can make it... at avondale primary, they lost 12 past and present pupils, and a teacher. those who have died are always remembered. we pray for those who have lost their homes. how does a school cope after this? with difficulty. tonight, they harnessed their grief and anger and took to the streets, this corner of west london filled with silence. some walked with the faces of those they had lost in this fire. many had signs demanding justice. the fire has ripped apart families, but united this community. thousands walked, every race and religion, even those too young to know the tragedy that looms over them. at the fire station, they hugged those who saved them,
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their angerfor the policy, the rules, rather than for those who climbed the stairs to bring them out. but, for the firefighters, the pictures a reminder of those who were told to stay in their flats, who couldn't get out. it was a day of dignity, but their campaign for answers does not end here. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: what you didn't know about the titanic. how a cold war mystery is shedding new light on the world's most famous ship. there was a bomb in the city centre. a code word known to be one used by the ira was given. army bomb experts were examining a suspect van when there was a huge explosion. the south african parliament has destroyed the foundation of apartheid by abolishing the population registration act, which for a0 years forcibly classified each citizen according to race.
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germany's parliament, the bundestag, has voted by a narrow majority to move the seat government from bonn to berlin. berliners celebrated into the night but the decision was greeted with shock in bonn. just a day old, and the royal baby is tonight sleeping in his cot at home. early this evening, the new prince was taken by his mother and father to their apartments in kensington palace. the real focus today was valentina tereshkova, the world's first woman cosmonaut. what do you think of the russian woman in space? i think it's a wonderful achievement and i think we might be able to persuade the wife it would be a good idea if i could to get her to go up there for a little while. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: the us department ofjustice says the former fbi boss james comey made mistakes in his investigation of hillary clinton before the 2016 election. families and friends have held a day
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of remembrance for the 72 victims of the london tower block tragedy on the first anniversary of the fire. the state of new york has sued the trump foundation and asked for it to be dissolved. president trump himself and three of his children are also facing legal charges. it's alleged the foundation made payments designed to influence the 2016 presidential election. earlier i spoke with megan tompkins—stange, an assistant professor of public policy at the university of michigan's ford school she explained how personal expenses and political influence had apparently been paid for. this is a pretty big deal for a foundation to be using money that is supposed to be going towards charitable purposes, and is tax advantaged, meaning the organisation does not have to pay any taxes on its assets, for that to be going towards personal ends and especially to be going towards trying to influence the outcome of an election, or otherwise shape public opinion in favour of a candidate. this is what happened
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with the trump foundation, where the money was not going towards charitable purposes, it was going towards dealing and overtly political behaviour, which is not allowed for american private foundations to engage in. i understand that the trump family and the foundation deny that anything wrong was being done or has been done, but this is a landmark case anyway, isn't it? unprecedented, that a trust like this, a foundation, is being officially censured in this way? absolutely, the restrictions on foundation engagement and political activity have been active since 1969 but since that time no foundation has ever been officially censured in this way. foundations are very private organisations and there is very little meaningful accountability for them to be held there in terms of what they can and cannot do, there is no tad of the boat for foundations. public opinion is one
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of the only ways to keep them accountable for their engagement in the public sphere. it is interesting to see, in this case, that the foundation is being faced with penalties that actually have real teeth, including closing the foundation altogether and barring some of its board members from being involved in non—profit organisations in the future. so this is a really raise an example —— brazen example, in an area where foundations typically go to great lengths to avoid crossing that legal line in terms of what they can and cannot do. if, presumably, this is all proven, what do you think is most likely to happen? my guess is that there will be found guilty of engaging in this political behaviour, and i think it may present a watershed moment for the philanthropy sector. there's been a chilling effect
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since the 1969 restrictions. by and large, this has been mostly self regulated over the years. it has been foundation stopping themselves from engaging in the kind of behaviour that will lead to formal censure. my guess is that there will be more attention to this in the future from official channels. it marks a departure for the nonprofit sector in the united states, and will leave it more accountable. protesters have clashed with police on the streets of the bolivian seat of government — la paz — in an ongoing dispute over university funding. at least five people were injured as students threw petrol bombs, and police fired tear gas in return. the country's finances have suffered with falling prices for its natural gas. andrew plant reports. the bolivian capital la paz, right police charged by protesters firing firebombs forcing officers to retreat and take cover. translation: these are the most radical protesters. they a re
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these are the most radical protesters. they are physically assaulting our officers with firecrackers —— firecrackers and molotov cocktails. la paz is home to the el alto public university. activists say professors have not been paid since january and student support funds have not appeared. this, the latest in a series of clashes here. a student died during one at the end of may. the cause of his death is still in dispute. 0n thursday protesters attacked the new presidential palace, a symbol they believe of the government's misuse of government money. police responded by firing tear gas. at least one officer injured in a confrontation and later, water cannons were used to break up the crowd. the finance minister has called for talks with the country's 15 public universities in what is a difficult time for president morales, mired in allegations of corruption and with a struggling economy, reports that he has now
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flown to russia to attend the world cup have only angered protesters more. andrew plant, bbc news. russia has won the opening match of the world cup — with a 5—0 victory against saudi arabia in moscow. it was the first of 64 matches to be played across the country — with the final in a months time. before the game — president putin welcomed millions of watching fans to what he called his open, hospitable and friendly nation. 0ur sports reporter alex gulrajani reports. the wait finally over for russia and the prize they are all here to try and win. the 21st world cup opened in full party mode. robbie williams entertaining those who packed into luzhniki stadium, a show full of colour both on and off the pitch until it was time to get down to business. a message from president putin as he welcomed all to russia including today's opponents, saudi arabia, and a world cup first. video assistant referees here — would they be needed today? well, there were no doubts about the tournament's opening goal, the hosts off to the perfect start,
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thanks to yury gazinsky. a first for his country, leading to some high—level diplomacy in the stands. but there were some nervy moments for russia, especially when alan dzagoev, their tallies man, hobbled off injured early on. his replacement, denis cheryshev, quickly put them at ease. after the break, russia pushed on and made sure of an emphatic win. artem dzyuba made it three before cheryshev scored easily, the goal of the match. russia now in full cruise mode, a chance to increase a goal difference that may become very important in their group. aleksandr golovin added to the rout. five goals for the hosts. the party, well and truly started in russia. alex gulrajani, bbc news. and we caught up with some of the fans after the match. so amazing, impressive,
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full of energy. i'm going to the bar, cheers! i think it is a good experience. it's very good. it's different, but it's nice. i think we will have go out from our group, but we will not win world cup, but... quarter—final, we can go to quarter—final, i think. and to keep up to date with what's going on in the world cup, go to the bbc sport website. we'll have all you need to know about the remaining 63 games — building up to the final on july the fifteenth. go to bbc.com/worldcup. canadian police are investigating the brazen apparent theft of a banksy print from an unauthorised exhibit of the british artist's work in toronto. cctv captures a man walking into the exhibition space, picking up a print worth $35,000 and quickly leaving with it. its disappearance was discovered after police responded to a call over a break—in. the titanic still
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captures our imagination, more than a century after the massive passenger liner struck an iceberg and sank. now an exhibition in washington looks at the secret mission that led to the discovery of the wreckage. during the cold war, an ocean explorer, robert ballard, went looking for sunken us submarines. he was told that if he finished on time, he could search for the titanic. here's his story. it is amazing how the titanic touches a button in everybody. titanic: the untold story. it's really taking the wraps off what was, at the time, a top—secret mission i was conducting as a naval intelligence officer.
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most of the cold war was fought underwater, and most of it was never known to be american people. and it was really president reagan who won the cold war by pushing the soviets to their limit. and he wanted me to conduct a highly classified mission to go out to two submarines, the only two submarines we lost during the cold war, uss thresher and uss scorpion. one was lost off portsmouth, maine, and the other was lost south of the azores. and conveniently between the two was the wreckage of the titanic. i only had 12 days left in our mission when we arrived on scene at the titanic. this was my first view of the titanic, was from that. initially, what we were seeing was the keel of the titanic. and then as we went up, portholes started to come into play and our lights were bouncing off, and it was like the eyes of the ship looking at us. i was waiting to see a face in a porthole. we're in the section of the titanic: the untold story exhibition that talks about the lives of the survivors from the tragedy, and personalities of people who you may have heard of,
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and who you may not have heard of, from that fateful night. so, this is one of only seven titanic deckchairs that survives, and dozens of them were thrown overboard to help the victims in the water after the titanic tragedy. the crew threw them over because they thought people would have something to hold on to and it might save them from drowning. and the sad reality is that most of them died of hypothermia, not of drowning after all. wallace hartley was the leader of the eight person band on the titanic. they continued to play songs as this tragedy was unfolding on board. at first they started with some of the songsjust to keep the mood light on the ship, and as the night went on, the songs got more and more sombre, until they played nearer my god to thee. the captain said, you know,
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stand at your station, be british. the engine room went on and the band played and they all passed away. you had women and children first, you had all of these dramatic acts that were played out by all the people that were on board, that i think is straight out of central casting. straight out of hollywood. and you can get in touch with me and most of the team football fever has spread all the way to the united nations, ambassadors to the security council wearing t—shirts. the un secretary general took on the role of a referee. much more on the bbc website. and you can get in touch with me and most of the team on twitter — i'm @bbcmikeembley. hello once again, thanks forjoining me.
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let's get you right up to date with how we see the next few days or so across all parts of the british isles. storm hector pretty much lived up to what we expected of it. some of the gusts were really quite disruptive. this was the damage as seen in muirkirk, in the eastern side of ayrshire. but it wasn't like it everywhere. further south, once the frontal system cleared away, yes, it was a breezy old day, but at least there was some sunshine to speak of, and that will be the way of it for the most part on friday, as well. there's hector heading away towards the top end of the north sea, up into the norwegian sea. still quite a powerful beast, so it will still be quite breezy across northern parts of scotland, but nowhere near the sort of strength that we saw during the course of thursday. there will still be quite a raft of showers, longer spells of rain getting into central, western parts of scotland initially, then gradually dribbling away a little bit further east. further south, the odd isolated shower, no great organisation about them, and the top temperature on the day of 22. so the weekend — saturday showers, if not longer spells of rain, but the weekend by no
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means a write—off. here we are on saturday with quite an active little frontal system for the sort of top half of the british isles. so northern parts of wales, the north midlands, and all points north at some point in the day seeing some really quite heavy rain. further south, the trailing portion of that weather front, well, there'll be a lot of cloud, there'll be the odd bit and piece of rain. gardeners, that won't be the answer to your prayers. that frontal system takes the time to move away as the low pressure transfers away off into the north sea. and there's a little ridge of high pressure just follows on behind, trying to set sunday up as a better day than saturday. and it will succeed, for the most part, although you really couldn't rule out, later in the day, perhaps a cold frontjust dragging more cloud and the prospect of a wee bit of rain into the far west of england, western wales, and then arcing away to the south—west of scotland, maybe up into northern ireland too. so generally speaking, on sunday, the further north and east you are, the drier and brighter your day should be.
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here we move you from sunday on into monday, and again a little weak ridge of high pressure just trying to settle things down across the southern half of the british isles. looking further north, well, you've still got that prospect of a south—westerly breeze, probably a bit of it, as well, and just about enough in the way of cloud for there to be showers, if not longer spells of rain, again affecting the western side of scotland, and perhaps ireland too. but, in the sunshine further south, 23 could be yours. this is bbc news. the headlines: the us department ofjustice says the former head of the fbi made a ‘serious error ofjudgement‘ when he re—opened an investigation into hillary clinton. the report says james comey was ‘insubordinate' in his handling of the investigation into hillary clinton's use of private email but was not politically biased.
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the us state of new york is taking legal action against president trump's charitable foundation — and asked for it to be dissolved. president trump himself and three of his children are also being sued. it's alleged the foundation made payments designed to influence the 2016 presidential election. thousands of people have taken part in a silent march past the remains of grenfell tower in west london to mark the first anniversary of the fire. the names of the 72 people who lost their lives were read out at a memorial service. rolls—royce is to cut more than four and a half thousand jobs as part of a major restructuring. the company says many of the cuts will be at its headquarters in derby
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