this is bbc news. i'm geeta guru—murthy. the headlines at four: ahead of his state visit to the uk, president trump defies protocol, he praises borisjohnson and his bid to become prime minister. i've always liked him. i don't know whether he's going to be chosen, but i think he's a very good guy, a very talented person. in madrid, fans gear up for this evening's all—english champions league final — liverpool versus tottenham. here in the spanish capital with four hours to go until kick—off, the temperatures are rising, so are the passions here in madrid. the former arsenal and spain player jose antonio reyes has died in a car crash at the age of 35.

in the us state of virginia, 12 people have been shot dead after a gunman opened fire in a local government office. and coming up a little later on bbc news — the week's best interviews and reports from the victoria derbyshire programme. good afternoon. donald trump has broken with convention by commenting publicly on the conservative leadership race — saying that borisjohnson would do "a very good job". in an interview with the sun newspaper ahead of his state visit to the uk, president trump described mrjohnson as very talented. he also expressed his view about some of the other contenders, as our political correspondent, mark lobel, reports. it's not a diplomatic intervention, but donald trump

doesn't seem to much care. ahead of a three—day state visit, the president comes close, very close, to endorsing a candidate as our next prime minister. i've always liked him, i don't know that he's going to be chosen but i think he's a very good guy, talented person. he's been very positive about me and our country. and offers this teaser about the other contenders. other people have asked me for endorsements, i'd been asked for endorsements. other leadership contenders have asked you for endorsements? i don't want to say who, but other people have asked. but there were harsh words for another person standing, health secretary michael gove, after he criticised on trump for sabre rattling over iran. donald trump's team don't want this to overshadow his state visit and have insisted the president is not endorsing a candidate despite all appearances. but conservative party members

will be left in no doubt that boris johnson has friends in high places. when the british government and the white house fixed the date, they probably thought this would not be such a critical moment when we had essentially a lame duck prime minister and an open field for the succession, in which case i think it was inevitable this was a president who will say what is on his mind. meanwhile the leadership race remains wide open. today the home secretary put no—deal firmly at the centre of his bid. speaking in singapore, the defence secretary penny mordaunt, who is thinking aboutjoining the contest, was asked to allay us fears about the uk's relationship with the chinese telecoms company huawei. these are judgments to be made. there are vulnerabilities ofjust having one supplier. so, all nations facing these decisions have to look at the detail, they have to weigh that up. candidates have just over a week left to come forward with 12 standing so far.

and expect a few more to enter the race and for others to publicly back candidates, though not perhaps with the fanfare the words of support from this man gets. mark lobel, bbc news. well, mr trump also praised the foreign secretaryjeremy hunt. our correspondent glen campbell asked mr hunt for his reaction at the world news media congress in glasgow. what do you make of president trump offering warmer words for your leadership rival borisjohnson than he does for you, does that help or hinderyourcampaign? i think you have to ask boris whether that helps or hinders him, but what i would say is i am very proud as foreign secretary that we have the best relationship with the united states, and i am sad that some political parties have used this state visit when we are celebrating and remembering the normandy landings, the 400,000 american troops who lost their lives in the second world war, they are using it as a moment for virtue signalling.

this isn't about any individual president or prime minister, this is about a deep friendship between our two nations, the two nations that have done more than any other to stand up for liberty, freedom, democratic values, the rule of law, things we all believe in. adam bienkov, uk political editor of business insider, told me trump's comments will have very little effect on the conservative membership. i think if you are a conservative mp, knowing what you know about borisjohnson and you still want him to be prime minister i don't think having donald trump endorsing him will fundamentally change that. the problem with the endorsement comes beyond this contest. what it says to the general public who already have strong doubts about borisjohnson‘s character and i think this could cause him problems further down the line going into a general election, because borisjohnson used to be a very popular politician and could reach across the political divide and labour voters,

non—conservative voters, but he threw a lot of that away when he led the leave campaign and is much more divisive in the general public now and i think this endorsement will only reinforce a perception. do you think the us president should be endorsing any of the leadership hopefuls? he has also talked aboutjeremy hunt positively and a few words of criticism for michael gove. by ordinary diplomatic standards this is a major gaffe, but by no means out of character for donald trump, exactly what we would expect. he has already spoken in favour of borisjohnson before when he came over to the uk, he embarrassed theresa may by making similar comments. it is not surprising but out of character for a world leader. is it expected he would endorse borisjohnson given what he said before? they are political insurgents as they would like to see it. the reason why borisjohnson is the current favourite to be prime minister is conservative mps

are looking at him. they are seeing the rise in populist politicians, donald trump in america and across europe. borisjohnson is of a similar mould. we have nigel farage and the brexit party doing so well in the recent european elections. in a poll this week in second place ahead of the conservative party, looking at that and thinking things are in a really bad state at the moment for the conservative party and perhaps borisjohnson has what it takes to win in this landscape. the formerjustice secretary, the labour peer lord falconer, says the party should expel a prominent party member who was suspended yesterday. peter willsman is accused of saying the israeli embassy was "almost certainly" behind complaints of anti—semitism. lord falconer is leading labour's inquiry into the claims. earlier today he spoke to the bbc about the current position of the claims and the process. well, first of all, my task is now effectively being done by the equalities commission, that are launching a full—blown investigation into allegations of anti—semitism in the labour party.

the issue of pete willsman is an acid test for the labour party. peter willsman has, in this recording that was published by a radio station yesterday, said that the allegations of anti—semitism in the labour party are, in effect, orchestrated by the israeli embassy. that is a conspiracy theory which has absolutely no foundation whatsoever. if you were a member of the jewish community, it would give you little hope that the labour party would deal fairly with allegations of anti—semitism, if somebody on its main ruling body — the national executive committee — had those views. it's right that he's been suspended, but the next step for the labour party is to deal with the disciplinary case against him as quickly as possible because, otherwise, people will have little confidence in our setting ourface strongly against anti—semitism. john mann, mp for bassetlaw and

chair of the all party—parliamentary group against anti—semitism — said he was horrified peter willsman had only been suspended. we expect the labour party to act decisively. he is a repeat offender. he is one of the key figures in the labour party. it happens to be i am in the labour party as well of course and i expectjeremy corbyn to have already acted and expelled him. i am horrified that he hasn't done, but he has only been suspended. this man is obviously should be out of the labour party already. this is about whether racism is dealt with or not. a web of the people are. after what he has done it is not the first time he has done it, there is no ambiguity about the slander he has come out about. it is extraordinary the comment and he gave the game away by very naively saying, off the record, the words let me try and get away with that, let me sneakily tell you what i think, rather

than be captured doing it. butjenny manson, co—chair ofjewish voice for labour, denied that peter willsman's reported comments amounted to anti—semitism — and said a full investigation should be held before any decision is made on his future with the party. there was a very alarming lack ofjustice in the way that claims of anti—semitism are being dealt with, but by the press and by the public, too often, if peter willsman has made statements people find offensive that is one thing, there is nothing he has said that i have heard that his anti—semitic. what should be done instead is if the party wants to investigate what peter willsman said it should be dealt with as a confidential issue and are to be no commitment to expelling anybody until thorough investigation. as to that particular comment, about israel, we know israel has been involved to some extent in british politics because of the film made

by aljazeera in 2016, shown in early ‘i7, called the lobby, but it is not unusual, governments interfere overtime and other country's politics... but it is not anti—semitic to make that claim. just an update about what is going on in the conservative party, because a number of neighbours have been under pressure over the brexit vote. philip lee has responded to the fact that his local party issued a vote of no confidence in him earlier today. he said in the future i may or may not decide i can continue as a conservative member of parliament, and the conservative party may or may not wish to re—adopt me, but we will not be forced into taking a decision by this orchestrated destructive campaign from outside the party, he says, that has done nothing but spread hatred, intimidation and distrust over a single issue. mr lee says that is not the conservative

way, it is not the bracknell way. there is more on that and we will update you as it comes in. around 70,000 liverpool and tottenham hotspur supporters will be in madrid tonight — for only the second ever champions league final to feature two english clubs. fans have been told they won't be able to watch the game on the big screens as officials have confirmed that fan zones will shut before kick off for safety. if tottenham win, they'll lift their first european cup — liverpool will be hoping they can win their sixth. anna holligan is in central madrid, where fans are beginning to gather, and simonjones is at a pub in north london — tottenham's heartland. and now, let's go to your first in the madrid sunshine. can you just explain for us first about where fa ns explain for us first about where fans who don't have a ticket can actually watch the game? glorious

weather and a glorious day for english football. the question, though, is, where will the fans be later? because spanish police have decided to shut down the two fan zones here in the city, the two separate zones, and the idea is they would try to divide and conquer or control these passions in some way, but we are already hearing that two liverpool fans have been turned away from a bar not far from where we are now, and that is when the tensions may rise, if they find that they can't get into these venues to watch this game that they have all travelled so far for. we have spoken to people here in madrid who have come from australia, they've been travelling for days, driving all the way from the uk. they want to be pa rt way from the uk. they want to be part of history. those who have got tickets, they are in the minority as far as we've spoken to. they are being told to hold onto them, because uefa are warning that people may be posing as official stewards

in yellow vests and with fake devices trying to get people to show their golden ticket and then steal them. so a word of warning if you are among the lucky ones. we have four lads here who have travelled all the way from liverpool. i will start with you. liverpool's sixth champions league final. yourfirst. how does it feel? just happy to be here, to be honest. quite nice weather and that, yeah. and you don't have a ticket, but you don't really have to, do you? because this is what it's all about, and the feeling of camaraderie, there doesn't seem to be much rivalry. are you feeling that too? yeah, the fans are getting along well, like. there's not much trouble going down, so, yeah. good luck, and obviously we are saying that the tottenham fa ns we are saying that the tottenham

fans too. having said that, it feels extremely safe here, but i can hear a helicopter up above, there are about 5000 police patrolling the streets here. this is considered of course to be a high—risk event. but it is the first time in more than a decade that we've seen two english sides in this final, and the hope is that this cordial atmosphere will continue right throughout the evening, and it's not long to go now. and i, we will be back to you soon. for now we now. and i, we will be back to you soon. for now we are now. and i, we will be back to you soon. for now we are going to cross over to simonjones, soon. for now we are going to cross over to simon jones, who soon. for now we are going to cross over to simonjones, who is in north london, the heartland of tottenham, and simon, i think you are in a pub, is that right, a few fans with you? that's right, i may have not got the gig to go over to madrid, but the sun is out here in north london, and ta ke sun is out here in north london, and take a look down there, hundreds of tottenham fans are gathering. the kick—off may be just under four hours a away, but the atmosphere is

high here, a lot of people singing, counting down the hours, excitement and nervousness. let's talk about a couple of the spurs fans, joe and alex. how are you feeling? nervous. the first european final is always going to be a nervous affair. all to play for, what can you say? optimistic? before today i definitely thought it would be optimistic, but now it is getting closer to kick—off, i think if it goes to extra time we have got a chance. extra time? you want to put yourself through that?|j chance. extra time? you want to put yourself through that? i don't want to put myself through that, but liverpool have got good players, and asa liverpool have got good players, and as a spurs fan, we are naturally pessimistic fans. are you naturally a bit thinking, it is spurs, it will probably go wrong? not it will probably go wrong? not it will probably go wrong? not it will probably go wrong, but i think we are good enough to pull out a result. but you never quite know. it

isa cup result. but you never quite know. it is a cup final, a one—off game. spurs have got a great team at the moment, and you just never know, it isa moment, and you just never know, it is a european final, you can't predict it. in a way, the cup final almost didn't happen because of spurs almost didn't make it through the qualification stage in the initial group stages, and then almost knocked out by manchester city, ajax. it is a bit of a dream to be here. everythingjust seems like a bit of a bonus. up until about four o'clock today i was thinking i wasjust happy to be here, and now it's not the worry about winning, it's about winning the champions league. i can accept losing. if we win the champions league, what does that mean next? what is next for spurs, really? thanks, guys, thank you forjoining us. thanks, guys, thank you forjoining us. i know there is still a few hours to go, but here may be a little bit, they are just daring to dream. are they going to be going that strong for the next few hours? i can't believe that level of enthusiasm behind you. thank you,

simon, thank you very much indeed. and you can see all the build—up to the game here on the news channel, and then listen to live commentary on bbc radio 5 live at eight o'clock tonight. the former arsenal footballer, jose antonio reyes, has died in a car crash at the age of 35. the spain international signed for arsenal in 2004 and returned to spain after two years, going on to play for real madrid, as well as atletico madrid, and sevilla. the headlines on bbc news: ahead of his state visit to the uk — president trump defies diplomatic norms, praising boris johnson and his bid to become prime minister. in madrid, fans gear up for this evening's all—english champions league final — liverpool versus tottenham. the former arsenal and spain player jose antonio reyes has died in a car crash at the age of 35. and in sport: with less than four hours

until the all—english champions league final kicks off, more liverpool and tottenham fans are arriving in madrid. many don't have tickets, with some paying ten of thousands to get in. england have lost their final warm—up match before the women's world cup. they were beaten 1—0 by new zealand. phil neville's side play scotland in their opening game of the tournament next sunday. and world number one naomi osaka has been knocked out of the french open in the third round. the reigning us and australian open champion was beaten in straight sets by katerina siniakova. i'll be back with more on those stories later. a team of eight mountaineers, including three britons, has gone missing on its way to the nanda devi peak in the himalayas. the expedition — led by experienced british climber, martain moran — failed to return to base camp yesterday after attempting to reach the 7,000 metre peak. a rescue team searching

for the group have struggled to find them due to bad weather. in the united states, at least 12 people have been killed and several injured in a shooting at a government building in virginia. the suspect has been named by police as dewayne craddock, described by officials as a disgruntled city employee. he fired indiscriminately at the location in virginia beach last night. our washington correspondent, chris buckler, reports. some of the employees who were finishing up their work on friday afternoon never had a chance to go home. the police say one of their long—time colleagues walked in and started shooting indiscriminately, killing a dozen people. they said to stay and wait until the cops got there and let us come out. there was probably about 20 of us in an office, crammed in. we barricaded the door. did you hear any gunshots? yes, we did.

several people were wounded and had to be airlifted to hospital. the gunman is said to have made his way from floor to floor, shooting wildly, before being killed in an exchange of fire with police. an officer was also struck, but he was saved from serious injury because he was wearing a bullet—proof vest. the suspect, and this will be the only time we announce his name, is dewayne craddock. he was an engineer with public utilities, and was employed with that department for approximately 15 years. the suspect's family has also been notified. behind the cordons, police teams, the fbi and forensic officers are examining the scene and trying to piece together the background to this country's latest shooting. it is believed the gunman was a disgruntled public employee, based here at the offices at virginia beach. there will be a full investigation to try to determine what led him

to commit these murders. but the wider debate once again will be about how easy it is to get guns in america. this is the 150th mass shooting in the united states this year. chris buckler, bbc news, virginia beach. from today private tenants in england will no longer have to pay letting agents fees when they sign up to rent a property. the new rules, announced in 2016 by the chancellor, have been described as the biggest change to the renting industry in decades. but there are warnings rents are already being pushed up as rental businesses try to claw back income. our business correspondent, katy austin, reports. today's changes affect letting agents, landlords and millions of private renters, like kirsty in coventry. this is what she had to pay on top of her first month's rent. application fee, that was 300. deposit, 895, i think it was.

so, £120 to then renew the contract, to stay for another 12 months here. the fees charged to kirsty were fairly typical, but for years there have been complaints that some agents have been charging far more and that some of what renters have had to pay simply hasn't been justified. there's already a ban on fees charged to tenants in scotland, and now england too. charges including application and referencing fees are banned. deposits are capped at five weeks rent. some things can still be charged for, including replacing lost keys, but only reasonable costs. campaigners worry letting agents willjust make money in other ways. some letting agents are looking to use things like deposit alternative products, which they get a commission from, but can end up being very expensive for renters. agents say they're already charging landlords higher fees to boost income, and they will raise rents. but businesses who can't make up the difference, they say, will fold. it will have a massive effect. they will close offices,

and we've already seen that started. it's going to be the smaller ones, the independents, that are going to suffer more. landlords agree rents will rise and say more will self manage to avoid agents‘ costs. do you have the training, do you have the time, do you have the experience for it? and if they don't, they are probably going to go out of the market. it's not worth it, especially with tax changes coming up in the next year as well. tenants like kirsty are just happy their next move will involve lower upfront costs. katy austin, bbc news. people protesting against lgbt lessons at a primary school in birmingham have been banned from gathering outside its gates by a high court injunction. birmingham city council made the application after more than two months of demonstrations at anderton park school. the education secretary, damian hinds, said it would allow parents to "continue peaceful discussions with staff". the coastguard say they've been helping the border force deal with 13 incidents in the english channel,

where a number of boats carrying migrants have been spotted off the kent coast. reports say four boats have been stopped, with about 30 people on board. eight men were seen in an inflatable dinghy at winchelsea beach in east sussex. our reporterjohn mcmanus has been speaking to the local mp, charlie elphicke. 13 incidents in the channel today according to the coastguard who have been assisting border force vessels and finding migrants who are making the crossing from northern france. we know the numbers are increasing. last month 140 migrants made the crossing. that is two more than in december when 138 came crossing into calm conditions and it is also very calm today. has the government lost control of this situation? joining me is the local mp for dover charlie elphicke. has the government lost control of this? this was a crisis at christmas. the home office said they were putting in a plan with the french to bring the situation under control. and yet the numbers are simply starting to surge

through the summer. it's urgent the home office get a grip on the situation and that this crisis is brought to an end. and to be clear, sajid javid become secretary on new year's day he was bringing back two border force vessels from southern europe and they were going to be patrolling the waters behind us. he was going to increase cooperation with the french on the ground in northern france. have you been getting updates about any of that has been going and if it has made an impact at all? that is right, the french and british authorities entered an agreement in january and we were told that that would bring an end to this crisis. but we can see from the number of arrivals, the unprecedented number of arrivals today, that it isn't working, that more action is needed and that the home office need to get the situation under control. who do you think is not taking this seriously, the uk or france? i think what needs to be done is to see a step change in what people are doing and how britain and france approach this.

we need to see the english channel become a joint safety and security zone so that any migrants anywhere in the channel can be helped carefully to safety back in france. we have to remember this isn'tjust a border security crisis, this is a dangerousjourney for people to be taking, in overcrowded boats with men, women and children on board. the chances of a tragedy happening increase the more trips that are taken. that is why urgent action is needed and we have to remember that action is also needed against the people traffickers who are behind this crisis, exploiting vulnerable people. we need to bring them to justice and put an end to their activities as well. on that particular point i think it will strike many people as rather strange that the french police and security forces can simply find where these gangs are and they must be nearby, and arrest them ? that is what we need to see here. we need to see more action on the french side of the border. people say isn't it easierjust for the french to send them across, the answer is no. calais then becomes a migrant magnet

and we saw it before, with the notorious calaisjungle, you end up with a large number of people trying to get to calais and there is an equal problem on the front side of the border as much as our side of the border. and indeed a crisis in terms of exploitation of people and the danger people are in, that is why it is an everyone's interest to take action and bring this crisis to an end. do you think people who are brought ashore by uk forces should be returned to france? what is needed is a compact between britain and france that any found anywhere in the channel should be returned back to france and that anyone trying to get to britain should know they have no hope of succeeding because that is the only way we will get the message to the migrants, to the traffickers, and needs to be a pact between britain and france for more aerial surveillance to see anyone setting off from the french coast and make sure they are picked up rapidly before they get too far into the channel particularly as the weather can change so quickly on the channel and conditions can worsen and we have to remember it is important to preserve and protect life here as well. numbers are growing

but they are small beer compared with other parts of southern europe where there are water vessels patrolling the borders between greece and turkey, is is being taken out of proportion and i wonder what local people are saying to you. people often say it is just a few people, what does it matter, the answer is this is how the calais migrant magnet starts, it always starts slowly and then gathers pace, we saw it with the calaisjungle and there were 10,000 people living in squalid conditions with people traffickers roaming free and violence happening on an appalling scale. no sanitation either so people were suffering greatly. we cannot see that situation return and that is why action is needed now before the situation gets even worse. charlie elphicke, mp for dover, thank you very much. conditions in the channel behind me are extremely calm. the authorities think that might encourage migrants to try to make the crossing that the government wants to be clear, a calm sea is not

sea is not a safe sea. and they say they are going to try to disrupt this trade, these migrant crossings, using all the resources at their disposal. now it's time for a look at the weather with nick miller. the uk recorded it highest temperature of the year so far today but the heat isn't evenly across the uk. the best sunshine at the end of the day is across east anglia and south—east england. elsewhere affirmative cloud round. elsewhere a fair amount of cloud round. wetter later in the evening across northern ireland over night, rain spreading northwards across scotland and parts of wales and western england. quite muggy where it has been hot overnight across the south—east of the uk but everywhere will have a mild night to come. breeze picking up three sunday. we start with cloud and outbreaks of rain and showers towards the north and west. this area of showers moves further east during the day. it weakens as it moves east. the breeze continues to pick up particularly close to low pressure towards the north—west of the uk

and it turns quite blustery here.