the headlines: president trump has formally launched his campaign for four more years in the white house with a rally in orlando, florida. he railed at length against hillary clinton, and what he called the fake news media, and said his supporters believed that a nation must care for its own citizens first. his election slogan for 2020: "keep america great". here in the uk, the five candidates still in the race to become britain's next prime minister — and leader of the conservative party have clashed over brexit in a noisy tv debate. conservative members of parliament will vote again on wednesday to reduce the candidates further. the world health organization has issued a warning about the global spread of measles. it says the huge amount of misinformation about vaccines shared online, in particular on social media, is damaging the fight against the disease.

your up—to—date on the headlines. —— you are. now on bbc news, it's extra time with rob bonnet. hello, i'm rob bonnet. on extra times a day, the pathologist who rocked american gridiron football and his research on injury sustained by players. his findings about the physical and psychological damages sustained were initially rejected but authorities were eventually forced to respond. more generally, how far can concern about player welfare really go? and the rough—and—tumble of sport be made safe ? rough—and—tumble of sport be made safe? isn't physical challenge part of the reward in sport?

doctor bennett, welcome to extra time. thank you so much. let's start at the beginning of the story and ta ke at the beginning of the story and take us back to do,000 and two. the legendary nfl player mike webster, what happened ? legendary nfl player mike webster, what happened? i was working as a pathologist —— as a, in pittsburgh in may early 30s. i was struggling with depression. you were? and low self esteem. but a pathologist who studied death, i discovered faith through science. and i practised my science in my faith. so on saturday morning i was scheduled to perform

autopsies, i got to the autopsy room andi autopsies, i got to the autopsy room and i met mike webster. he was a very prominent football player who had played for 17 years. and then after retirement from football he began to manifest a constellation of symptoms. such as? depression, drug abuse, impaired memory, impulsivity, inability to maintain jobs, abuse, impaired memory, impulsivity, inability to maintainjobs, changes in behaviour... he was in a bad way. yes. i introduced myself to him, i also struggled with depression. i promised him i would use all my knowledge and education to vindicate him. to vindicate him? yes. as a fellow human being. 0k. him. to vindicate him? yes. as a fellow human being. ok. so, i had no reason to do his autopsy, but i knew

why he died. when i opened up his goal, his brain appeared normal. he had had a heart attack. yes. we knew why he died, there was no reason to perform an autopsy, but i did. i opened up his skull, expecting his brain to look shrivelled and abnormal. his brain was normal. by naked eye examination i was very intrigued, i was confused. so i chose to preserve his brain in formaldehyde. my boss called me later and asked me why i was saving his brain. i told him later and asked me why i was saving his brain. itold him i later and asked me why i was saving his brain. i told him i didn't know but somejust did his brain. i told him i didn't know but some just did not add up. there we re but some just did not add up. there were questions i couldn't answer. so you move towards a conclusion, then? i studied has been for six months. i

took the brain home with me and i began to see the changes in his brain. specifically? the cumulation of abnormal proteins —week—old towel, —— we call them amyloid is called tau, it didn't follow the patterns of alzheimer's disease. we a lwa ys patterns of alzheimer's disease. we always know when human beings suffer traumatic brain injuries, they could be permanent. it could be presented as post—traumatic encephalopathy, it could have persistent symptoms. but in sports nobody really named the link we believed it was, we thought it was only in boxes and only amyloid. can ijust interrupts you briefly with apologies to ask you

specifically, cte, what is that? it's a disease we know, it is generally except now globally. —— accepted, it's a disease you could suffer from a accepted, it's a disease you could sufferfrom a single accepted, it's a disease you could suffer from a single episode of dramatic brain injury like in a motorbike accident or from repetitive episodes. once you suffer it, it could take up to a0 years to ma nifest it, it could take up to a0 years to manifest and you shall begin to ma nifest very su btle manifest and you shall begin to manifest very subtle changes in behaviour... mild behavioural changes, mild cognitive impairment, impaired memory, impulsivity, mood disorders including depression, sudie idol ideation —— suicidal. disorders including depression, sudie idol ideation -- suicidal. the point as it wasn't only webster,

there were three other players, won't there? over the years you performed autopsies on the man you researched a little bit about the yea rs before researched a little bit about the years before their suicides, because thatis years before their suicides, because that is how they all died. tell us about that. it all began out of my own personal curiosity, i spent my own personal curiosity, i spent my own money because the establishment, including universities, including the sports industry just including universities, including the sports industryjust did not wa nt to the sports industryjust did not want to listen to me. they did not even want to listen to me. they did not eve n wa nt want to listen to me. they did not even want to see my face. so i spent my own money. i began to observe many individuals who have this disease, they committed suicide. all american football is? notjust american football is? notjust american would bowling, other contact sports such as soccer, hockey and rugby. i published this 12 years ago today. when you suffer repeated concussions or sub— concussions across all sports, your

risk of suicide increases about 600%. that is substantial! it was a beautiful paper that came out of sweden —— there was, in 201a, doctor frazier and his group, he looked at 1.1 million children, and he looked at them for a2 years. this is a global pandemic. parents need to be aware of that. i've just published my last book, the brain damage in contact our sports. we will get that out. how did the nfl, the authorities were gridiron, react to yourfindings? authorities were gridiron, react to your findings? they chose to focus on the business of foot of and ignore the humanity of football. —— business of football. i chose to focus on the humanity of football,

the nfl pretty much denied me, ostracise my work. you were ostracised and abused. there was this systematic effort to delegitimise me. how did you react to that? it made my faith stronger. i believed that there can only be one truth. and come what may the truth will prevail. as far as webster, you say that you wish you never made the discovery? webster, you say that you wish you never made the discovery7m webster, you say that you wish you never made the discovery? it has made my life very difficult. if you asked my wife, you will never see her in public, but for her it was traumatic. it was a big effect on your personal life. it simply disrupted my life. did you consider curtailing your research? putting an end to it? i love my job, i lost my

job, i relocated to a remote town in california in the middle of nowhere just to be left alone. yes. my depression got worse. i don't for a long time with depression. as far as the nfl is concerned, you were struggling against a culture of, let call it violence, i suppose, in american football. that is how the game works. let me read you a couple of quotes, one from the top linebacker of the san diego challenges. " the risks are never going to be complete lee removed, we are trained to be like gladiators. " eric dixon, you are supposed to be tough, you are supposed to play through pain, you are not supposed to cry. we thought early on in the as kids, tough sport, brutal sport is like being a gladiator. so that is like being a gladiator. so that is the culture you are coming up against. well, you know, especially homo sapiens by nature will evolve.

we change over time. and as we evolve we become more intelligent stop and as we become more intelligent we give up the less intelligent we give up the less intelligent ways of our past. and i would want any subculture that refuses to evolve with science and the global culture to be left behind. boxing is to be a global sport that moved hundreds of thousands of audiences. where is boxing today? so it is indeed interesting. football and other high contact sports should evolve and change otherwise our children and our children's children shall not be playing football. of course the nfl is saying now, and we are fast forwarding now to two or three years or so ago, 2015, the football's players association —— football

players association —— football players association —— football players association saying that the film concussion was a teaching film about the not so ancient history of how the league mismanaged a serious health and safety issue. commissioner roger goodall "we've made the game safer stop was great he says by taking the unnecessary risks out of the game. we've made 39 real changes to make the game safer. that is the nfl's reaction to your research. football experts results will always tell you about making football safer, not safe. it's like we're making a gun safer, ok? football safer, not safe. it's like we're making a gun safer, 0k? are you saying the nfl hasn't taken any notice of your research? football is a naturally violent sport. yes. human beings are engaging with our behaviour. but has always been my stance. because it is a naturally,

intrinsically, inherently violent sport, it should be left only to adults. to make the changes at a quote, what would you propose —— adequate? only for adults, over the age of 18, as well for mixed martial a rts age of 18, as well for mixed martial arts and wrestling. that is a very radical proposal. that is not radical, that is intelligent. it is radical, that is intelligent. it is radical two, if i may say so. laughter . you would effectively be killing the sport. you don't join the united states armed forces until you are 18, where is the supply chain coming from? you are trained when you are 18 and you joined then. so that argument is paradoxical. if you begin to play as a child, by the time you are 18 you have already suffered significant brain damage and you wouldn't play much up top.

if you preserve your brain until you are 18, we can take football to heights and levels of play that have never, ever been seen. heights and levels of play that have never, ever been seen. how do you come to that conclusion? your brain is pristine if you haven't played when you are 18, otherwise you can only play a marginal levels. so i see playing young as a negative. we should be positive in our thinking and optimistic and the — a job ever changing science. i take your point. but if you are going to ban children from playing up to the age of 18, you might as well bound the whole sport. one thing injury can't occur to people who are over 18? like driving, how we were educated to drive was different. this is new world thinking. we shouldn't remain enslaved by our past. we should be

open—minded and embrace the limitless promise of a future by embracing and adopting new ways of thinking. you have already hinted you would bring other sports into that category of under 18. you have focused on soccer, as it is known in the united states. football. what are your particular concerns that? if you notice in soccer, soccer is a high dexterity, high visual spatial sport. children who are five, six, seven, have not attained the level of neurological development. when you watch children play they are very sluggish. they run around and clustered around the ball. and they are more likely to slam and run into one another. so soccer, as we play it, should be played by children who are old enough and who have

developed such neurological capacities, 12, 1a. under 12—1a we should have less contact forms of soccer. but no child under the age of 18 should be allowed to head the ball in soccer. under18. it should be left for adults. they changes the game completely. if every aspect of our life changes, why shouldn't football change? forgive me for sounding like a conservative, there are plenty of traditions in football and other sports as well, it would meet enormous resistance to this. what have discovered is that there is so much confirmation of thinking in sports. informational thinking is whereby we embrace a cast of the mind. we conform to a certain expectation, look, we have always played soccer this way. who says soccer cannot evolve to become a more intelligent sport? since we are becoming more intelligent. we should only be afraid, there are many

letters —— ways better than the past. they will use that word radical again. when you come up with such a radical idea, don't you think you are stating the case to where it undermines your credibility? aye and pro life. a pro life. but anti- sport. you are pro life but anti— sport. you are pro life but anti— sport. i am not anti- sport. am ante brain unfriendly sports. eye support grey noncontact sports for children under 18. there is swimming, track and field, basketball, there is badminton, volleyball, there are so many. a pro sport. but while being pro sport i am being pro life. they don't think the life of one human being, the life of one human being has no value, it is valueless, beyond value. sports does not supersede the value of humanity, of life. you have used the term child

abuse, haven't you... what a sad is asa abuse, haven't you... what a sad is as a physician i am someone who has to report child abuse. child abuse is injury. once a child's brain is irreparably damaged. this is no joke. just after one season. knowing what we know today, that when a child plays a high impact hi contact sport there is almost a 100% risk exposure to injury. if we allow that child to go and play and damage his brain, that qualifies as child abuse. but i have not said that any pa rent abuse. but i have not said that any parent should be prosecuted. what i am saying and what i have encouraged

is that we should encourage 21st—ce ntu ry is that we should encourage 21st—century ways is that we should encourage 21st—ce ntu ry ways of is that we should encourage 21st—century ways of thinking. that is who we are as human beings. 21st—century ways of thinking. that is who we are as human beingslj understand. i understand you want to change perceptions. they got that. you talk about 100% risk. change perceptions. they got that. you talk about 10096 risk. risk exposure. your you talk about 10096 risk. risk exposure . your exposure you talk about 10096 risk. risk exposure. your exposure to risk is about1.5 — 2% exposure. your exposure to risk is about 1.5 — 2% likelihood of that happening. no. there is the truth and there is the alternative truth. when you suffer a violent blow, lake studies have shown that paper came out from stanford university, that in one game a foot tall a child's headis in one game a foot tall a child's head is exposed to about six violent hits, injust one game —— head is exposed to about six violent hits, in just one game —— football. and each violent hit consists a brain injury. if not at the gross level, symptomatic level, but on the cellular, microscopic level. foot falls on much lighter than when i

used to play the game. when i used to play it was a leather football which used to absorb water, rainwater on the pitch, and, indeed, they were very, very heavy and you certainly got a headache after 90 minutes of football. but these days, partly out of player safety, partly out of the manufacturers' wish to create or flowing game, out of the manufacturers' wish to create orflowing game, the bulls are lighter. remember, soccer for adults, they defend the rights of an aduu adults, they defend the rights of an adult above the age of 18 to do whatever he wants to do. if you want tojump whatever he wants to do. if you want to jump from the sky. ok. whatever he wants to do. if you want tojump from the sky. ok. if whatever he wants to do. if you want to jump from the sky. ok. if you are an adult you have every freedom, liberty, and free will to play soccer, to play boxing, whatever. but not children. who was listening to all this? instruction are you gaining with the ideas? 1957, 11 yea rs before i gaining with the ideas? 1957, 11 years before i was born, the american academy of paediatrics, these are the best doctors who treat

children, published a paper in the pennsylvania medicaljournal that children, published a paper in the pennsylvania medical journal that no child under the age of 12 should play football, american foot all, wrestling, and boxing. this was in 1957. who is listening now? parents. that's rather ironic. there was a generation of soccer moms that grew up generation of soccer moms that grew up in the 1990s in the united states who thought that they would direct their children towards a soccer because they thought that american football was too violent. and now he was saying football was too violent. and now he was saying soccer football was too violent. and now he was saying soccer is violent. football was too violent. and now he was saying soccer is violentlj think soccer should be left for older children. soc as we played from 12—1a. they should not be any heading. —— soccer. younger children from 1—11 should play the noncontact sports or we develop a certain form of less contact soccer for them where there is more kicking, they kicked from one ball to the other u nless kicked from one ball to the other unless contact. and now, your most

radical ideas have eventually controlled our future. for example, it was a radical idea at some point to send a manta space. it's a radical idea to send someone to miles. —— a man to space. but if we don't think radical we cannot move mankind forward. i understand that. i understand what you are saying. a pa rt i understand what you are saying. a part of the beauty of sport is in facing the challenge, facing the physical challenge. so many sports people across a whole number of physical sports will say that to you stop and they are prepared to accept the risk because they like the reward of overcoming that challenge. there is now the information age. we should not only think of the physical challenge, but about the intellectual challenge. would you ove rco m e intellectual challenge. would you overcome physical challenges and then undermine your intellectual capacity? that is not an intelligent model. so we should face physical and intellectual challenges

together. together. ok. that isjust the point i'm making. if you notice, what defines you as a human being is your intellect, not your physical prowess. especially in the 21st century. there are plenty of people who have physical prowess as well. what about the leaders of industry and academia, they are the most physically capable people? laughter. 0k. physically capable people? laughter. ok. we go from here? for example, do you try to lobby fever, the world governing body forfootball? you try to lobby fever, the world governing body for football? no, no, iam nota governing body for football? no, no, i am not a lobbyist. you are operating in a kind of vacuum then. not a vacuum. i am operating on the platform of my faith. like i said earlier, a practice my faith in my science and my science in my faith. we are dealing with human beings. i love your child as much as they love my own child. what i wouldn't asked

my own child. what i wouldn't asked my child to do, i wouldn't ask your own child to do, this is about recognising that we are all one family of mankind. i want every child born to earth to grow up and attain his or her god—given capacity and ability mentally and intellectually. because if you play soccer, by early 30s, especially in american foot all, 25 years is your professional span, what happens to you after retirement? not every soccer player is lionel messi. many are mid—level. what happens to them when they retire from soccer? one final question. how would you expect your work to be remembered, do you think, as it usually significant and beneficial development in player safety or as a medical interference and sports men and women who accept risk comes with reward? no, i want

to be remembered as a man who fought for the truth, the radical truth. and who fought for the upliftment of the humanity of every human being, of every man, woman, child. doctor bennet omalu, thank you very much for joining bennet omalu, thank you very much forjoining us on the programme. thank you. hello there, good morning. by thursday, the weather should be much more straightforward, but we've still got cloud around at the moment, bringing some outbreaks of rain, and there are some storms around, too, as this warm and humid air

pushes its way northwards. that cloud bringing the rain, this cloud bringing the storms as well, and they're tending to track their way across the south—east of england and east anglia, and this is the main area at risk of further thunderstorms as we head well into wednesday. there could be some really gusty winds, some hail and some thunder too. this is the story as we head towards the end of the night. we've got a lot of cloud for england and wales. outbreaks of rain, the storms moving away from the south—east of england, pushing across east anglia and into the north sea. things are more straightforward for scotland and northern ireland, where we've got sunshine and showers arriving from the north—west. but, by late morning and into the afternoon, we could see a fresh crop of thundery downpours arriving in the south—east and east anglia, even a few patchy bursts of rain across the midlands and lincolnshire. much brighter further west, across england and wales, and those temperatures very similar to what we had on tuesday. so some rain, unfortunately, again for the tennis at queen's, and some rain for race—goers at royal ascot. thursday probably dry for ladies day. certainly drier, i think, on friday by then. but it will be feeling a little bit fresher. the humid air ahead of that weather front is going to push into the near continent, the storms heading away, as well, and this fresher air will pull in from the atlantic

around that area of low pressure. closer to that area of low pressure in the north—west of the uk, this is where we keep showers going overnight into thursday. clearer skies, a cooler, fresher feel for england and wales, but the promise of some early sunshine. now, some places may stay dry, but there are some showers heading eastwards from wales and the south—west of england. probably the driest weather and sunniest weather across northern england. but a scattering of showers for northern ireland, and some frequent, heavy showers across scotland, and again those temperatures 16—20 degrees. as we head towards the end of the week, we're starting to see high pressure building up from the south. but across the northern half of the uk, particularly northern scotland, we're closer to that low pressure. that means some showers will keep going in northern scotland, and it will be quite blustery as well. after a sunny start for many other areas, we're going to find cloud building up, but there's a good chance you'll stay dry, with some spells of sunshine into the afternoon. and those temperatures really aren't changing very much at all over the next few days —16—20 degrees. however, over the weekend, it looks like all of us will get warmer. saturday looks mostly dry, with some sunshine. things start to change on sunday, as we see some rain beginning to arrive in from the west. that's it from me, goodbye.

hello, this is the briefing, i'm sally bundock. our top stories: president trump launches his re—election campaign for 2020 with a rally in florida. he promised to, in his words, "keep america great" and told his supporters they were part of a new political movement. it's a movement made up of ha rd—working patriots who love their country, love their flag, love their children and who believe that a nation must care for its own citizens first. after a noisy tv debate dominated by brexit, candidates still in the race to become britain's next pm face another vote today.