welcome to bbc news — broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. i'm reged ahmad. our top stories: the british prime minister tops off a difficult week by winning the support of some of her cabinet‘s leading brexit backers. written but not submitted — president trump says he's finished writing his answers to questions posed by the mueller inquiry into russian election meddling. ifi if i may ask you a question... i said no. that is another. —— enough. the white house reporter who clashed with president trump is to get his press pass returned, by order of a judge. rescue workers intensify their search in california's deadliest wildfire with the number of people missing now over 600. and he was the king of rock and roll. now a0 years after his death — elvis presley is awarded america's highest civilian honor. the bbc understands a group

of five ministers in the uk prime minister's top team are hoping to persuade her to make changes to her draft brexit deal with the eu. theresa may has been moving to shore up support in her government after widespread opposition to the deal and calls from her critics to stand down. the bbc‘s political editor, laura kuenssberg has more — and there are some flashing images in this report. car horn beeps imagine, submitting yourself first thing in the morning to this... and here in the studio with me this morning, the prime minister. ..literally taking a call from the public asking you to quit. why do you think you should stay on as pm when you have failed, despite your no doubt honourable intentions, to honour the referendum results? and if you cannot do that, i respectfully ask

you to do the right thing in the national interest — to stand down and allow someone from the brexit camp to take the lead. i believe that we've got a good deal from europe. we've still got some things to sort out with them, but i believe we've got a good deal from the european union, and that's what i'll put to parliament. she was more keen to pitch her brexit compromise. this message needs to be convincing to survive. myjob is to persuade, you know, first and foremost, my conservative benches, those who are working with us — the dup are working with us obviously in confidence and supply. but i want to say, to be able to say to all parliamentarians, every mp — i believe, truly believe, that this is the best deal for britain. reporter: will you be resigning today, mr gove? good morning. he doesn't think it's much of a good deal. but, after wobbling and wavering, look... the minister's red box, still in his hand. do you have confidence in the prime minister, mrgove? i absolutely do. i'm also looking forward to continuing to work with all of my government colleagues and all my colleagues from parliament in order to make sure that we get the best future for britain.

i think it's absolutely vital that we focus on getting the right deal in the future and making sure that in the areas that matter so much to the british people, we can get a good outcome. thank you very much. we know this cabinet minister, penny mordaunt, doesn't like the agreement that much either. but neither is she going anywhere fast. i've not got anything to say to you, i'm afraid, this morning. and, look who's back. amber rudd, the former home secretary. yet to remember she's got a ministerial car, along with her newjob. and maybe part of her task — to defend the pm and her deal like this. this is not a time for changing our leader. this is a time for pulling together by making sure that we remember who we are here to serve, who we are here to help — and that is the whole of the country. and i worry sometimes that my colleagues are too concerned about the westminster bubble rather than keeping an eye on what ourjob is — to serve people. and you'll soon hear more of this man. meet steve barclay. a big promotion for him to the new brexit secretary. and this long—time

cabinet brexiteer. notjust urging colleagues to back the pm, but no longer saying no deal is better than a bad deal — a complete change. we're not elected to do what we want. we are elected to do what's in the national interest. and, ultimately, i hope that across parliament will recognise that a deal is better than no deal. businesses do require certainty. this melee isn't for a celebrity, but for a leading eurosceptic. there's absolutely no need to have a big flap. no need for a big flap, he says. he and his colleagues are only trying to depose the prime minister! it's time to put the letters in and to have the vote and test the will of the conservative party to continue. he and many brexiteers believe the prime minister has signed up to a relationship that's just far too cosy with the eu. so, letters are being written to try and force a contest. but they need 48. we've done our honest best to persuade her not to stick to it.

she's made plain that she will, and therefore the party, i'm afraid, now faces a stark choice. and for you, that choice is, she has to go? well, if it means defending the destiny of our country, which i believe is literally what is now at stake, then, reluctantly, i'm afraid to say, yes, she does. it's impossible to tell right now if the tory tussles will end in the prime minister leaving office. no—one in westminster knows. hard for all of us to fathom. i think it's a complete shambles. you don't know from one day to the next what's happening. it doesn't feel as if there's anybody in power. what she's been saying for months and just stringing us along until a boom, right at the end, it's too late to say anything, take it or leave it. i hope we go home for the weekend and they chill off and come back and support her. theresa may's team will do everything they can to help her cling on. but neither the chief whip will anyone knows if in days they'll be fighting a vote to oust her, or only having the hugejob

of pushing her brexit deal through parliament. i've never accepted the argument that the prime minister can come back with whatever she is cobbled together and say, well, it may not be very good, but the alternative is even worse. in the 21st—century, looking at the future of our country, with got to be able to do better than that. tonight, downing street appears at least to have a new and calmer cabinet. but we do not know yet, and they don't either, if theresa may can stay on, because many people in her own party do not wish her well. laura kuenssberg, bbc news, westminster. president trump says he has personally finished writing his answers to questions posed by the mueller inquiry into russian interference in the last us presidential election. mr trump said he had not yet submitted the responses because he'd been very busy. he again denounced the investigation as a witch hunt. there should have never been any mueller investigation

because there was never anything done wrong. there is no collusion, there never has been, you would have known about it long ago if there was. they shouldn't have had it. they wasted millions and millions of dollars. there should have have never been a so—called investigation, which in theory, it is not an investigation of me. as far as i am concerned, i like to take everything personally because you do better that way. the witch—hunt, as i call it, should never have taken place. it continues to go on. i imagine it is ending now, from what i hear, it's ending. and i am sure it will bejust fine. do you know why it will be just fine? because there was no collusion. our correspondent chris bucklerjoins me live from washington. what do these comments tell us?m tells us that donald trump, although

he is trying to dismiss the whole threat, as it, of the investigation, asa threat, as it, of the investigation, as a witch—hunt and something he is not worried about, it does remain very much in his mind. and that is no surprise if you have a look at what he has settled in the past. he says he has answered these questions easily and has dismissed the whole idea that they could potentially be a problem. the other side suggested that there is a potential they are that there is a potential they are that they to trick him in some way. there is also this idea that it is not the end of the matter. there could still be follow—up questions from robert mueller, also the push again to try and get donald trump to a nswer again to try and get donald trump to answer questions in person. we simply do not know. and the thing for president trump is that he does not know was this will be the end of it either. even though he has said that from what i am hearing it is ending, what do we know about where the investigation is at? the truth is that there is a lot of rumour and speculation going on in washington about what exactly is happening inside the special counsel enquiry.

truthfully, it is a very, very closed investigation and we do not know a huge amount. there have been suggestions that the investigation could come to a conclusion and a report published by the end of the year or the start of next year but again that is rumour and speculation. what we do now is over the last few days we have seen a couple of court cases that have preceded that are about people who are involved in donald trump's campaign in 2016, paul manna for, the former chairman and gates, the deputy. they have been charged or pleaded guilty or found deputy. they have been charged or pleaded guilty orfound guilty deputy. they have been charged or pleaded guilty or found guilty to a series of charges connected to their time working in the ukraine. a political consultancy one decade ago. in both cases there has been an attempt to pause things while they continue to have conversations with robert mueller. we know they are cooperating with the special counsel, we don't know exactly what

they are doing what they are saying. there was a specific suggestion in the paul manafort case that something would come clear in the next ten days. it is a sign that this investigation is still quite busy, and still on the mind of the president as well as the minds of many people in washington. thank you very much. earlier the cnn journalist who clashed with president trump at a news conference — and subsequently had his media pass removed — has got it back. ajudge in washington dc has ordered the white house to return the pass tojim acosta, who said the decision was good news for freedom of speech and the independence of the media. 0ur north america editor jon sopel reports. they are hundreds of miles away, though. hundreds and hundreds of miles away. you know what, honestly, i think you shouldn't let me run the country, you run cnn... —— you know what, honestly, i think you should let me run the country, you run cnn... it started as a bad—tempered exchange between an angry president and a provocative cnn correspondent. that's enough, put down the mic. the temperature rising when the white house justified removing acosta's hard pass,

saying he laid hands on an intern. you are a rude, terrible person, you shouldn't be working for cnn. and released an edited video that had been put out by a right—wing conspiracy theory—rich website. when this was ridiculed, the white house change tack and said it because he hadn't given back the microphone. this spat grew when the president threatened to take away the credentials from other journalists he thought were rude. cnn took legal action and significantly, all of the other broadcasters herejoined in, including fox news, normally a cheerleaderfor the president. this is now about press freedom and today in court, it was acosta one, trump nil. we are extremely pleased with the ruling today, this is a great day for the first amendment and journalism, we are very excited to have mr acosta to be able to go back and get his hard pass and report news about the white house. i want to thank all of my colleagues in the press who supported us this week, i want to thank the judge for the decision in a today and let's go back to work. today, jim acosta was able to return

back to the white house. in this topsy—turvy world, the man who was meant to report the news seemed to be enjoying being the news. decorum, yep, they practised decorum... while the president, has never shied away from a fight, bemoaned the lack of decorum in white house conferences. john sopel, bbc news, washington. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: the number of people reported missing in the california wildfires doubles to more than 600. we'll be live in the town of paradise. benazir bhutto has claimed victory in pakistan's general election. she has asked pakistan's president to name her as prime minister. jackson's been released on bail of $3 million after turning himself into police in santa barbara. it was the biggest demonstration

so far of the fast—growing european antinuclear movement. the south african government has announced that it's opening the country's remaining whites only beaches to people of all races. this will lead to a black majority government in this country and the destruction of the white civilisation. part of the centuries—old windsor castle, one of the queen's residences, has been consumed by fire for much of the day. 150 firemen have been battling the blaze, which has caused millions of pounds worth of damage. this is bbc news, the latest headlines: leading brexiteers in the british cabinet rally behind theresa may amid attempts by rebel mps to challenge her premiership. donald trump says he has personally finished writing his answers

to questions posed by the mueller inquiry into russian interference in the last us presidential election northern california's air quality has become the worst in the world, according to monitoring groups, as the state battles devastating wildfires. the famous golden gate bridge in san franciso is barely visible through this thick cloud of smog which now blankets the region. air quality network purple air says the air is now worse than cities in india and china. at least 63 people have died in the camp fire — the state's deadliest blaze — and the number of people missing has increased to more than 600. the bbc‘s dave leejoins me now from one of the areas worst affected by the fires. what is it like to be there, what are you seeing? throughout the day

here we have seen some of those search teams coming into this area, you probably cannot see it to our right because it is dark, but we are in what used to be a mobile home park, it was called the enchanted forest. as we understand it any elderly people live here seeing out their retirement, and when you look at the list of unaccounted for people from this town, from paradise, that list is overwhelmingly filmed with people in their 70s, 80s and 90s. who it is feared were unable to get out of this fire quickly enough. that is why this location has been the focus of some of those search efforts, we have seen different teams come through, removing the roots from some of these mobile homes to make it easierfor a second some of these mobile homes to make it easier for a second team to come through and make it —— search for any remains, and once that happens a third team from the coroner's office will come through and try to identify those remains. that is living to be difficult because the ferocious nurse and speed of this

fire came through here is making dna matching very difficult, in fact some people who fear their loved ones may be victims of this fire have been invited to come into the police department and share belongings that belonged to their loved ones, to see that can speed up the dna matching process. 0verall loved ones, to see that can speed up the dna matching process. overall it is an extremely tragic scene here frankly. what is happening with the fires at the moment, are they threatening any other towns? there are still a great number of people that remain evacuated, more than 50,000 people are not in their homes. not all those homes are being destroyed, we understand around 12,000 structures have been taken by this fire. there hasn't been much progress frankly from where we are today from where we were 2a hours ago. containment is around 35— 40% here in northern california, the number of acres burned is around 130,000 acres, an enormous blaze but

it has not shifted in the way it has done this time last week when it swept into paradise. this can be put down to the wind level dropping, it is very still where we are now, it is very still where we are now, it is wind that has been the real ca ta lyst is wind that has been the real catalyst with these fires moving through. those evacuees are in, some are in official evacuation centres that were set up as a contingency plan —— plan for wildfires, others earand plan —— plan for wildfires, others ear and more plan —— plan for wildfires, others earand more —— plan —— plan for wildfires, others ear and more —— others are in more ad hoc basis, we were in a walmart car park were a tent city has been set up, with clothes, toys, medical supplies, all the things that people needin supplies, all the things that people need in the short term to at least try and have some comfort in their lives after having to rush out a town so quickly. the beer question will be for president trump —— bigger question will be for president trump, he is expected to arrive here on saturday, and many people will be asking what is the plan to get people back on their feet. it is a town of 27,000 people just in paradise, they are going to need somewhere to live and they are

going to turn to president trump to provide the solutions for what is becoming an enormous problem. thank you very much. the un says both sides in the war in yemen, which has triggered a vast humanitarian crisis, have promised to attend peace talks soon in sweden. the un's envoy to yemen, martin griffiths, told the security council the commitment could be a crucial moment in the war between the government and houthi rebels. i have received firm assurances from the leadership of the yemeni parties, the governor of yemen, that they are committed to attending these consultations. i believe they are genuine and i expect them to continue in that way and to appear for those consultations, and indeed so for those consultations, and indeed so do the many people who are desperate for a political solution toa war desperate for a political solution to a war in which they are the main victims. let's get some of the day's other news. ten days after the midterm elections in the united states, the democratic party candidate

who hoped to become the country's first black female governor has acknowledged that her republican rival will be sworn in. stacey abrams says she's run out of legal options to challenge the outcome of the contest in georgia. the official result has yet to be declared. in florida, a manual recount of votes in the race for a senate seat is under way, more than a week after voting took place in the us mid—term elections. an initial electronic recount revealed that the margin of victory for the republican candidate, rick scott, was less than 0.25% over his democrat challenger. friends and relatives of the murdered saudi arabian journalist jamal khashoggi have begun a wake for him at the family home in jeddah. the wake, which will continue for four days, is an acknowledgement by the family that mr khashoggi's body is unlikely to be found. saudi arabia has admitted he was killed inside its consulate in the turkish city of istanbul last month by agents from riyadh. 0scar—winning american screenwriter, william goldman, who wrote the scripts for butch cassidy and the sundance kid and all the president's men has died at the age of 87. born to a jewish family in chicago,

goldman worked for the pentagon before embarking on a writing career. he also wrote the scripts for marathon man and the princess bride, which he adapted from his own novels. more than a0 years after his death, the king of rock and roll, elvis presley, has been awarded america's highest civilian honour. he's among seven recipients at president donald trump's first medal of freedom ceremony since taking office. gareth barlow reports. # down the end of lonely street at heartbreak hotel... #. an icon, a legend, the king of rock ‘n‘ roll. elvis presley led a music resolution —— revolution and over a0 yea rs music resolution —— revolution and over a0 years after his death he is still winning awards. # for brokenhearted lovers... the

man behind hound dog and heartbreak hotel was among seven recipients of the presidential medal of freedom, america's highest civilian honour. elvis presley remains an enduring and beloved american icon. the art of state is proud to orient —— on this american legend. the president of elvis presley enterprises collected the middle on his behalf. 0ne collected the middle on his behalf. one of the most beloved artists and most enduring cultural icons that has ever lived. the king of rock 'n' roll, the true king, and you have to say that, elvis aaron presley. among the other recipients honoured at the white house were the 20th century baseball legend babe ruth, and the late supreme jaw —— supreme court justice scalia. elvis presleyjoined other music legends like bob dylan and ella fitzgerald in winning one of the nation's highest awards. a

true sign that he remains one of america and music's biggest stars. with me is rock critic and editor of dante magazine, mark beech. we use a prize that is no? yes in many ways i was —— were you surprised at this honour. in the past it has been that these awards has gone posture astley, but —— posthumous lee. but for this amount of time it is unusual. he has now been dead for almost as long as he has been alive, still as the president was saying, the king of rock 'n' roll. why do you thinkjust speculating, donald trump would have given elvis presley this award after so given elvis presley this award after so much time, what is he trying to say? it is deliberate timing in his first lot of presidential awards that he has done this. he wanted an

all—american icon, to use that word, someone all—american icon, to use that word, someone who is a true patriot, and elvis presley was certainly that, he a lwa ys elvis presley was certainly that, he always said he was, and in that senseit always said he was, and in that sense it seems a good noncontroversial person to honour.l lot of older people would remember elvis and have memories of him, but how much does he really touched the younger generation, the millennial is? of course the older people will know he sold whatever 600 million albums in his day, he had 30 plus number one singles, there are the titles of all these things, for people under the age of 30 there was a third —— survey done in the uk not long ago where the name recognition for elvis presley and the beatles was not as much as you would think it might be. i hope as a result of this young people will go to spot a fire or youtube and discover what a great talent he was. —— spotify. what is it about elvis that made him

so huge, he didn't travel overseas, was at the man was at the time?m was at the man was at the time?m was an element of both. john lennon famously said "before elvis there was nothing". he completely revolutionise music and what he was doing. the songwriting quality was clearly there, and at the time all this happened, he was in his 30s when he got the grammy as our lifetime achievement award. if he hadn't have died in 1977 aged a2, he may very well have got the presidential medal of freedom when he was still alive. is there a sense with the awarding of these metals, that we are going to see what kind of skills or talents donald trump will award going forward? of skills or talents donald trump will award going forward ?|j of skills or talents donald trump will award going forward? i think very much so. it is an interesting choice, and it does make you think that barack choice, and it does make you think that ba rack 0bama choice, and it does make you think that barack 0bama gave more medals than any other president, and only two years ago he was giving one to bruce springsteen. it makes perfect

sense, springsteen is a democrat as well as a great talent, at one can imagine that if trump was minded to give to bruce, it pretty unlikely given their political differences, bruce would likely say no. it is the same with many hollywood stars, they would most likely say no or not be co mforta ble would most likely say no or not be comfortable with it, so it is likely we may see more posthumous awards like this one. how do you think elvis fans feel today? i should imagine they feel very pleased about it. it really is, trump has done a bit of old shuker up —— all shook up on the frontier, and if it results inafew on the frontier, and if it results in a few more people playing tracks like "don't be cruel" or "hound dog" isa like "don't be cruel" or "hound dog" is a bad thing. —— it is not a like "don't be cruel" or "hound dog" is a bad thing. —— it is nota bad thing. thank you very much, chatting about that honour for elvis presley. much more coming up on bbc world

news. hello. some of us got to see sunshine on friday but for many more today was spent under cloud shrouded in mist and murk. but as we progress through the weekend, more and more of us will see that sunshine. with that though, it will start to turn chilly. high pressure anchored across the heart of europe, winds moving high pressure around in a clockwise direction, that gives us a south—easterly wind which will bring us some dry air. watch the cloud, it starts to break up. we will see more and more sunshine. let's look at that in more detail. a lot of cloud, some mist and murk and fog to start the day, the odd spot of drizzle. east anglia and northern scotland seeing some brightness, the cloud retreating westwards during the day, more and more of us see those blue

skies overhead, so by lunchtime devon and cornwall and west wales might still have some cloud but for the midlands, east anglia and the south—east there should be some sunshine. similar story for north—west england. north—east england and eastern scotland, particularly around higher ground, may well keep more cloud. it will take awhile to brighten up across northern ireland, but western and northern scotland will see some sunshine. temperatures around 11 or 12 degrees, but a noticeable easterly breeze particularly in the south, making it feel cooler than that. into early sunday with clear skies overhead, it is going to be a cool night, probably too much of a breeze to allow things to get really cold, but your towns and cities will get down to a—5 degrees, maybe just a bit colder than that in the countryside. getting on into sunday it is a beautiful looking day for most of us, we will see plenty of sunshine, still perhaps some cloud at times feeding into some of the eastern slopes of the pennines, parts of eastern scotland, and those temperatures, 9—12, just subtly creeping downwards. a sign of what is to come, because going into the start of the new working week, high pressure will still be sitting here, those winds

moving clockwise, but that will introduce some colder air from the east and that will also bring back the cloud. more cloud around on monday, perhaps the odd spot of drizzle, still a keen breeze particularly in the south, and the coldest feel will be in southern areas. single digits here, we may get to 10 degrees for belfast and glasgow, but it does look decidedly chilly into the middle part of the week. there will be cloud and the odd spot of drizzle, and over high ground maybe just a flake or two of something wintry. this is bbc news, the headlines: the uk prime minister, theresa may, has moved to shore up her government, following widespread opposition to her brexit deal with the eu. mrs may has won the support of some of her key brexiteer ministers, but she has had to defend herself against further calls from critics to stand down. donald trump says he has personally finished

writing his answers to questions posed by the mueller inquiry into russian interference in the last us presidential election. mr trump said he had not yet submitted the responses because he'd been very busy. he again described the investigation as a witch hunt. the white house has agreed temporarily to allow the cnn journalist, jim acosta, back into press briefings, after a court ordered it to do so. the journalist's pass was revoked last week after he argued with president trump during a news conference. now on bbc news, the week in parliament.