Transcripts For BBCNEWS Beyond 100 Days 20171003

High speed train travel. Congresswoman, to take us to a new frontier of high speed train travel. Hs2 is a superfast train line between london, manchester, birmingham and leeds. It will be the biggest building project in europe but at the moment britain doesnt have enough people qualified to make it happen. Could this be the answer . This is the National College for high speed rail, training a new generation of engineers to fill the skills gap. Your opportunities in the Rail Industry are massive. Its first 30 apprentices arrived today. You represent the future of the Rail Industry. They will need to master all aspects of hs2 construction, including state of the art tracks, signalling and trains ahead of the current rail network. They have even got a eurostar. How cool is that . Which of them has what it takes to succeed . Clara which of them has what it takes to succeed . Clara lindsay which of them has what it takes to succeed . Clara lindsay previously worked as an enforcement officer chasing debts. I wanted to become an apprentice because it we dont yet know and maybe we never will what motivated Stephen Paddock to kill so many people. There was nothing in his background that might have alerted the nevada authorities to his state of mind. A 64 year old accountant, a property investor, a millionaire with a taste for high stakes gambling. This is not the profile of a mass killer. And yet today 59 people are dead and 527 are injured. The president said it was a miracle police found him before he killed more. Paddocks rifles were fitted to tripods, he had adapted them to fire on automatic, they were capable of releasing at least 90 rounds every ten seconds. 0ur north america editorjon sopel, begins our coverage. Train carriage. This is from an intercity train. Hs2 will run at 224 mph, almost twice as fast as the intercity. But the apprentices have to start somewhere. Under here is a bearing. You are going to take the bearing. You are going to take the bearing cover off. Who is handy with a spanners . There is some competition as to who can take apart the ball bearing and put it together the stress in the voices of the police, evident. They have located where the firing is coming from, and the impact hes having. We have an active shooter. We have an active shooter inside the fairgrounds. We have multiple casualties. Multiple casualties. Stephen paddock is now dead and police are searching the hotel room on the 32nd floor of the mandalay bay, which had become his armoury. So what do we know about Stephen Paddock . The 64 year old was a former accountant who had invested in property and was a serious high stakes gambler. But he had no criminal record. He lived in this house in the quiet town of mesquite, 80 miles from las vegas, with his partner, marilou danley. His father was a bank robber, who, while on the run from the authorities, was described by the fbi as a psychopath with suicidal tendencies. The president , on his way to puerto rico, and will be visiting vegas tomorrow, had this to say about paddock. He was a sick man, a demented man. A lot of problems, i guess, and we are looking into him very, very seriously. But we are dealing with a very, very sick individual. But any review of gun law seems a long way down the line, if it will happen at all. Meanwhile, more details are emerging about the massive arsenal that paddock had assembled. Some came from this shop in utah. Average, everyday joe blow. Nothing stood out. It was just normal timing, for him to come in. He was talking about how he was new to the area, visiting all the firearms stores in the area, found something on our shelves that he really liked, and it took him a couple of different trips, you could say, before he ended up purchasing. And paddock came here, too, to buy a rifle and a shotgun. The owner of the shop said the background checks were fine. There were no red flags. An expert on the guns industry last night on television was asked, how much ammunition are you allowed to buy. The answer was simple how much money have you got . Last night, normal people did what normal people do in the face of such tragedy. They came together to commune, to remember those killed and injured. America has been here many times before, and in all likelihood, will be here again. On this, history does repeat itself, regularly. Jon sopel, bbc news, las vegas. 0ur correspondent Rajini Vaidyanathan is in las vegas for us. When you listen to the Police Response on the ground on sunday night, the panic and the desperate search for where these rounds are coming from, you get a sense of how quickly they responded and how many lives they might have saved. You do indeed. It is 11 in the morning here and the police in las vegas have been working around the clock not us here at the mandalay bay hotel, but also about 90 minutes away at the gunmans home. You can see the las vegas heat bouncing off the building and emitting a golden hue. 0n the 32nd floor, just out of shot, there are two holes. They are broken windows and it is from that Vantage Point that Stephen Paddock carried out his murderous attack. This city is of course in mourning and yesterday there were a number of vigils remembering the victims. I went to one at city hall, where they lit 59 candles to remember the 59 people who lost their lives. They include a motherfrom people who lost their lives. They include a mother from alaska who was at the concert with her daughters, and off duty Las Vegas Police officer who was also a military vetera n, officer who was also a military veteran, a woman who died in her husbands arms. They were just there to enjoy a concert when gunfire erupted after ten oclock. As well as that heartbreak we are also hearing stories of heroism. I spoke to one woman yesterday who heard the news on sunday night. She just jumped in her carand news on sunday night. She just jumped in her car and started driving between here and the hospital to help ferry people from one place to another. That is continuing today in the city as we see people volunteering, people turning up with water and food, trying to do what they can in the wa ke trying to do what they can in the wake of this tragedy. Are we learning more about Stephen Paddocks motivation . Are the please tell you any more at this point . We are expecting an update on the next few hours. The police and fbi are also searching and other property that he owned, a two Bedroom Properties in another Retirement Community in reno, the other side of this state. We have also been told by the police that they recovered a computer in the room as well as 20 firearms. So they are also searching that to see if they can find any clues. Thank you for that. The last shooting on this scale, was june last year at the pulse nightclub in orlando. 49 people were killed. Since then, 477 days have passed and there have been 52 Mass Shootings. Still no action from congress. And yet according to the latest figures from the Pew Research Centre there is public support for tighter checks. 52 of americans say gun laws should be stricter. An overwhelming majority of both those that own guns and those that dont want background checks to stop those with Mental Illness or those on federal watch lists from buying guns. A large majority of people, both gun owners and non gun owners are also in favour of background checks on those people who buy guns privately or at gun shows. But when it comes to calls for a nationwide data base that would track gun sales around the country that is where the consensus ends. Now, look at this chart this compares the us with two countries, norway and canada where there are also relatively high levels of gun ownership compared to the rest of the world. But canada and norway, which have tighter gun restrictions, have far fewer Mass Shootings. Legislation can make a difference. Yes, but dont expect any changes in the immediate future, not while congress is controlled by the republicans. This is a president that campaigned on gun ownership. A short time ago, we spoke to the democratic congresswoman jackie speierfrom san francisco. In 1978, she was shot five times by members of a cult, the peoples temple, while travelling in guyana, south america. The congressman who was with her, leo ryan, who she worked for at the time, was shot dead. Congresswoman, thank you forjoining us on the programme. I wanted to talk about your own experience of gun violence. You were shot five times and badly wounded in jonestown in 1978. The congressman you worked for was killed. Coming back to today, when you see and hear what happened, this monstrous attack in vegas, how do you feel . I am physically ill by what i saw, probably no more or less than most americans who watched that video footage. It was outright carnage. For people to call it a war zone is not being hyperbolic. The man who did the shooting was transforming weapons into automatic weapons and using them as instruments of war. I want to read to you a tweet that you wrote on monday, saying no more moments of silence. The best way to honour the las vegas victims is a moment of action. Why not stand for a moment of silence . Well, the moments of silence are, frankly, done more to show some degree of sympathy, but no willingness to do more than that. So i oftentimes feel like there are moments of silence followed by silence. And the loved ones who have died and the family members who have to grieve over that loss of life arent consoled by moments of silence. When people have been impacted, as i have and so many others have, they want something to be done so that others dont endure the same kind of grief that they are enduring. In this case, the guns were, in all likelihood, purchased legally. But what is problematic about our laws is that we actually ban machine guns, but you can go to your local gun shop and purchase, for anywhere from 70 to 200, a butt stock that will allow you to turn that weapon into an automatic weapon, turn it into an illegal weapon. That is why he was able to fire so rapidly and kill so many. Not that it gives us any solace to know that if we ban them, there would be fewer people that died as a result of his actions, but that is something we can address. There are lots of things we can address that we dont address. The lock that the National Rifle association has on this congress is shameful. It speaks to an unwillingness to do what 90 of the American Public wants us to do make sure that there are gun safety laws on the books, make sure that the instant background check that everyone goes through when they go to a local gun shop is also the same kind of background check that you have when you go online to purchase a gun. It does seem that congress is almost going in the opposite direction. There was a bill that was supposed to be debated this week, called the sportsmans heritage and recreational enhancement act, which sounds innocuous. But if it were passed, it would ease restrictions on silencers, on gun suppressors and on armour piercing rounds. And you wonder why a sportsman or a civilian would need Something Like that. This is the nra at its biggest bravado. This is their dream bill. They cant go far enough. They cant expand the rights far enough. Armour piercing bullets that we have prohibited so that Law Enforcement officers will not be killed doing theirjob is trying to protect life, they want to loosen it. They want to have silencers, arguably so that when they are shooting in the wild, they are not going to scare away the rest of the deer, so they will have a better chance of being able to walk home with some kind of trophy. Ok, i understand that on the one hand. But on the other hand, if you have a silencer on a gun and you cant tell where the gunshots are coming from, you cant engage the shooter and subdue him. But wouldnt the republicans say to the democrats, with some justification, what happened when you were in control . Look what happened after sandy hook in newtown, connecticut in 2012 when you were in control. You didnt have the house, but you had the senate and the white house and you still were not able to force that is why it is so important for the house to turn over so that we have democrats in control. Not because we want to take anyones guns away, we do not. We embrace the second amendment. We just want to make sure that Law Enforcement officers are not up against someone that has more firepower than they do. That is what is happening. That is what happened in las vegas. Congresswoman speier, thank you for being with us. I should say that that bill for armour piercing rounds has been shelved for the moment. The minority leaderfor the shelved for the moment. The minority leader for the senate has said that when Mass Shootings force you to delay a bill that would make those shootings harder to stop, it is a sign to drop your bill. More on that no doubt in the coming weeks. The us has expelled 15 cuban diplomats, saying havana failed to protect american diplomats from mysterious acoustic attacks. Nearly two dozen us personnel have suffered ill Health Including hearing loss and brain injury after unexplained attacks in the cuban capital. The issue has prompted the us to withdraw more than half its diplomats from havana. Washington has now given the 15 cubans a week to return home. Australian investigators have delivered their final report into the missing Malaysia Airlines flight 370, saying its almost inconceivable that the aircraft has not been found. Mh370 disappeared in 2014 while flying to beijing from kuala lumpur with 239 people on board. The search for the jet was called off injanuary this year, after more than a thousand days. The palestinian cabinet has met in gaza for the first time in three years. The Prime Minister, rami hamdallah, renewed his pledge to end a decade long dispute between hamas, which controls gaza, and his group fatah, which runs the west bank. Palestinians in the occupied territories have been ruled separately since the split in 2007. Tributes have been paid to the american rock musician tom petty, who has died at the age of 66. He suffered a heart attack at his home in california. He was best known for a string of hits with his band tom petty and the heartbrea kers. Our entertainment correspondent David Sillito looks back at his life. Well, i wont back down no, i wont back down. Tom petty had one ambition. As a child he met elvis and then the beatles. His heart was set on rock and roll. I wont back down. His songs were rooted in real life. His band the heartbreakers were formed with an old friend from his home state of florida that he bumped into one night in a studio. I came down to the studio and this band was in the room. They were all people id known. So we played that night, and it was so good, i really enjoyed it, so i went, i have to hustle this one. We formed a band within hours. We were on the album the next day. He was kind and gentle and sincere. I think thats one of the things that people most admired about him. That he wanted to rock and roll. He was in a rock and roll band. He loved what he did. They didnt want people telling him what to do. He kept true to his music all the way through. You can sit around and wait for the phone to ring at the end of the line. It was another chance encounter that led to him joining bob dylan, george harrison, roy orbison and jeff lynne in the travelling wilburys. The tributes today were a roll call of rock aristocracy. Finally, this from his daughter. His final tour ended only days ago. He said it would probably be his last. Rock and roll had been his life and he wanted to make the most of what time he had. Tom petty, whos died at the age of 66. Remember the outcry over Hurricane Katrina . It took president bush 13 days to visit new orleans. Some said his weak response undermined the rest of his presidency. Today, President Trump landed in puerto rico 13 days after maria, keen to avoid the same criticisms. The president has spent most of the day on the island seeing for himself the scale of the destruction. And while meeting officials in the capital sanjuan, he made reference to katrina maria, he said, was as bad in terms of the damage but not in terms of the death toll. At a briefing with officials in puerto rico today, President Trump said the us relief effort had been expensive but worthwhile. Every death is a horror, but if you look at a real catastrophe like katrina and the tremendous hundreds and hundreds of people who died and you look at what happened here with, really, a storm that was totally overpowering, noone has ever seen anything like this. What is your death count . 16. 16 people, versus in the thousands. You can be very proud of all of your people and all of our people working together. Our north america correspondent Aleem Maqbool is in sanjuan, puerto rico. Looking back at the president scomments today before he left the white house commies at puerto rico needed to do more for itself. Then he just puerto rico needed to do more for itself. Then hejust said how much this would cost the us. How are his comments being received . Well, they would not go down well, i would imagine, if people heard them, but 95 of this island of 3. 5 Million People still does not have power since Hurricane Maria tour across the island nearly two weeks ago. Most have no mobile phone communications. More than 90 of the island has no mobile phone communications. A lot of people dont have water. So they will firstly not have heard his comments. And secondly, they have more pressing things to deal with. I imagine they would not be happy at thisjoke about imagine they would not be happy at this joke about how much puerto rico is costing america right now. There are critical because while there may be helped now, and we have about 10,000 troops and emergency workers here come they feel that help did not come along in time. We have had person after person telling us that they feel that if this wasnt a us territory but a us state, they would have been treated differently. They would not have been left for two weeks without power with any real sign that the situation is changing. Politically, it is telling, amid what is going on in las vegas, that he has stuck to this timetable to come to puerto rico. He is conscious of the history today. He made reference in that briefing to katrina and the problems in new o rlea ns. Katrina and the problems in new orleans. A lot of people here feel he has not been conscious enough of it. But clearly, it became very political in recent days. He had row with the mayor of sanjuan, who said americans were killing Puerto Ricans through their inefficiency. She said this was a life and death situation and the American Government was not seeing it that way. So that raised the stakes and it is not surprising that donald trump decided he was not going to postpone the trip to puerto rico. But a lot of people here either feel it is too late, or it is meaningless. What mattered was what was shown in the first week or so after the disaster struck this island, which was very little help. We have been travelling across this island for the last couple of days. We have reached communities which say they have still seen no american help come their way. These are desperate people. Thousands have lost their homes. Many are still living in temporary shelters. Imagine living without power for two weeks and the kind of impact that has and the desperation it would cause. Aleem maqbool in puerto rico. Reports here in the us say white house officials are looking into a third and previously unreported email account owned by the political power couple, ivanka trump and jared kushner. Politico is reporting that the accounts on the Kushner Family domain had received hundreds of emails sent from white house addresses since january. Politico also says that many of those emails didnt get sent to their personal accounts, but to an address they both had access to, which was shared with their household. I cant icant imagine i cant imagine that the president is happy about this. He has had a lot to say about Hillary Clinton. There is a distinction, of course. She was using a private e mail server and they are using a private e mail account. Server and they are using a private email account. The main charge here will be one of hypocrisy. During the campaign, if you look at how much was made of Hillary Clinton putting National Security at risk, now here we are with questions about the e mail use of this power couple. We are with questions about the email use of this power couple. You are watching beyond 100 days. Plenty more to come on the programme. Coming up for viewers on the bbc news channel and bbc world news we get the latest from las vegas and cross live to our correspondent whos at the University Medical center, where many of the victims are being treated. And the catalonian capital is hit with general strikes as the region continues to protest over the central governments crackdown during the independence referendum. Thats still to come. Today brought most of us a window of fine weather. There was some sunshine and showers, but it was a decent day for this weather watcher in st ives in cornwall, although the sunshine did turn a bit hazy as the day went on. Just the first sign of an approaching atlantic weather system. See all this cloud beginning to pile in from the west. That cloud will bring some outbreaks of rain in places, particularly across parts of scotland, eventually drifting into Northern Ireland. Windy across the northern half of the british isles, particularly around the Northern Isles of scotland. Further south, largely dry with clear spells. In the countryside, some spots could get cold enough for a glass of frost touch of grass frost. There will be sunshine around first thing, particularly the further south and east you are. More cloud drifting across northern england. Certainly more cloud for Northern Ireland and southern scotland with this band of rain. Some hefty showers in the Northern Isles. Here, the winds continue to strengthen during the morning. We could see wind gusts of 60 mph across the Northern Isles. Through the day, we will see increasing cloud and rain across Northern Ireland into southern scotla nd Northern Ireland into southern scotland and northern england. South of that, there will be some sunshine, but generally more cloud as the day goes on. In the evening, this area of rain will intensify, with increasingly strong winds. Through wednesday night, we could develop a deep area of low pressure which could give Gale Force Gusts of wind in places. Heavy rain as well. On thursday, that will clear away to the east. Things will brighten up again. There will be sunshine and showers which could be heavy in the north, and not particularly warm. A mainly finder to come on friday after a chilly start. We will see rain spreading from the west on saturday. This is beyond one hundred days, with me Christian Fraser in london Michelle Fleury is in new york. Our top stories. Police in las vegas are still nowhere near knowing what motivated a retired accountant to kill 59 people, injuring hundreds more. President trump, whos in puerto rico surveying damage from Hurricane Maria, condemns the gunman as sick and demented. Coming up in the next half hour. Im Damian Grammaticas reporting live from barcelona on a day a general strike crippled catalonias biggest city. The Pro Independence movement isnt giving up its fight. The head of the European Parliaments Biggest Group says its unclear whos speaking for britain theresa may or borisjohnson . I dont have a clue what is now the position of Great Britain and that is my problem. The Prime Minister must give clarity, one option could be to sack the foreign minister borisjohnson. Let us know your thoughts by using the hashtag beyond one hundred days. A librarian, a grandmother, an engaged teacher, an off duty police officer, a wrestling coach, a navy veteran and the list goes on. Just a handful of those who lost their lives on sunday when Stephen Paddock opened fire in americas worse mass shooting. The motive of the gunman, as yet, remains unclear. Many of those killed have yet to be identified, but so far 59 people have been confirmed dead. Over 500 were injured. James cook reports on the victims of the las vegas attack. Lives wasted. Families broken, futures stolen. The faces of the dead and missing tell so many stories. Las vegas is a city in pain. There are heroes here as well. Taylor winston was dancing with his girlfriend moments before the massacre. The former marine commandeered a truck to drive survivors to hospital. I saw a field with a bunch of white trucks, i tested my luck to see if any had keys in, and the first one we tried opening had keys sitting right there. I started looking for people to take to hospital, but there were too many, it was overwhelming how much blood was everywhere. Once we dropped them off, we thought, lets go back for round two and get some more. This is where the most seriously injured people were brought on sunday night. Surgeons say it was like a war zone as dozens and dozens and dozens of patients arrived. More than 100 in all. The battle to save lives here is continuing. But there is only so much anyone can do. Bob patterson lost his wife in the massacre. My wife was a great person. She was very active in the church. Brought up my three kids. I was with her for over 30 years. I cant believe shes gone. I have my two older kids with me and my eight year old daughter is at home. I dont know how i will tell her. I have no idea. She loved her mummy so much. Its going to be devastating. Many lives have been saved thanks to the people of this city. Thousands have volunteered to give blood to help the wounded. People need to show their support and there is a lot of people injured on the strip, i used to work in a Trauma Centre here and i know the importance of donating blood. Its been surprisingly communal. I think people are bonding together through this in a way that sometimes is very difficult in las vegas. The grief is both personal and extensive, the scale of the suffering inflicted here is difficult to comprehend and even harder to bear. James cook, bbc news, las vegas. Lets get more on those still being treated our correspondent dave lee is outside one hospital in las vegas. I was talking to a friend who was in one of those hospitals and he said some of the things that he thought was horrendous. We forget sometimes talking about the dead just what the injured suffered as well, these were high calibre rounds. Absolutely, we have had one of the doctors working in this facility come out this afternoon to tell us how he thinks these injuries in his words were not normal because of the strength of the weapon being used. They deal with gunshot wounds every day, this is the main Trauma Centre for the las vegas area, theyre not on used to seeing gun attacks but this in particular was very strong. There are still 12 people in Critical Condition being treated here. They had one for people coming in total on sunday evening, so theyve had to deal with a lot of patience theyre pleased with how that has gone. They tell is 80 of the injuries are gunshot related but others are sustained simply in the panic that ensued when the firing happened. One woman were told was injured after being hit by a car as she was trying to run away from the gunmen. So just an idea of the breadth of what these doctors and surgeons are having to deal with. But i must say they have been pleased with the quality of ca re been pleased with the quality of care that has been given. And the third estate had it not been for the Rapid Response and ability to get the injured to hospital quickly, i think that number of 59 dead could have been considerably higher had the quality not been so good. Thank you for that update. The spanish king is due to address the nation shortly, as crowds continue to gather in barcelona to protest against the Police Tactics used during sundays disputed independence referendum in catalonia. A general strike is being held across the region; schools and shops have closed, and only a quarter of buses and trains were running during the rush hour. Our europe correspondent Damian Grammaticas is in barcelona. So often the king is used in position of trying to bring the country together but his job must be very difficult this time. This is going to be a very difficultjob and a very unusual thing for the king to address the nation. The last time that happened was back in 1981. Like theres a special address and not just an annual christmas address. Everyone waiting to see what hes going to say. If you look down here this is one of the main streets through the middle of barcelona, the crowds have been out, tens of thousands of them today. This is where the focus of their protest is because down there is right outside the National Police officers here in barcelona. It was those National Police officers who were the riot squads who came in to break up the voting, in the polling stations. The National Government have said they we re National Government have said they were only acting following orders, obeying the law because it was the voters and these people protesting who were breaking the law by staging the referendum in defiance of a Constitutional Court ordered that it should not have gone ahead on sunday. So a deep split there. And what of the reaction from the European Union . I think everyone is disappointed in a way here because many of these people we have been talking to are pinning their hopes, catalans, who were Pro Independence, they have staged this boat, there are pinning their hopes on outside intervention, mediation is what they want. From the European Union, that would be their ideal, to come and have the Spanish Government sit on the other side of the table from them to discuss their independence demands. But the eu has made clear that it sees this as a spanish matter, it does not want to get involved. It says the referendum was illegal on sunday and this is an issue for the Spanish State to sort out. With the catalan Pro Independence forces. But both sides of the minutes seem very far apart. Eyeing each other up i think to see who takes the next step. You said who takes the next step, clearly we can hear the spanish expressing their views, but on the political side you have the Prime Minister rajoy on one side and the leaders from the catalan Freedom Movement on the other. De laet any sense of who was going to move first, what is likely to happen next . I think what we have seen is a clear signalfrom the next . I think what we have seen is a clear signal from the Spanish Government in madrid that it is not going to move. They have said clearly that this referendum, there are not recognising even the fact that illegitimate vote was held. Theyve said, the Prime Minister has said he will not even discuss this until next week with the national parliament. In the meantime pressure is on the catalan authorities who staged the poll, they have not officially announced a final result and that is important. That could come in the next day so and once that happens they then have two days under the law that they passed here, if they want to begin a formal process to declare formal independence, separation from spain. So the pressure on them at the minute on the catalan leadership, the thought is they may bring the results and get the clock ticking in the next few days. So we could be looking towards the beginning of next week when things may come to some kind of ahead. But in the meantime the Catalan Government still only saying partial results showing 90 of people supporting independence. But of course on a turnout of Something Like 40 of the electorate. So disputes on all sides about what the results of this poll might show. Thank you very much for that update. Still to come. No room for yes men, the Prime Minister denies borisjohnson for yes men, the Prime Minister denies Boris Johnson is for yes men, the Prime Minister denies borisjohnson is weakening her position on brexit. The government is to ban the sale of acids to anyone under the age of 18. The home secretary says she also intends to drastically limit the sale of sulphuric acid that can be used to make explosives. The announcement follows a large increase in assaults using corrosive substances, more than 400 attacks in the six months to april. Our Home Affairs Correspondent Daniel Sandford has been speaking to a victim of one such attack his report contains distressing images. The agony of the aftermath of an acid attack in east london in july. Thieves had thrown a corrosive substance in the face of motorbike delivery driverjabed hussain and police were trying to reduce the pain and save his face. Fortunately, he survived without serious injury, but this afternoon he told me the attack had left him mentally scarred. After that incident, im really scared. I know the pain what happened to me, i never cried like that on the street, and i dont want anybody else should cry on the street like me. Others like resham khan and her cousin Jameel Muhktar have suffered life altering facial burns and today the home secretary promised she would change the law. As well as a complete ban on selling to people under 18, her proposals would make it illegal for anyone to carry corrosive substances without good reason and people would need a licence to buy one of the most dangerous liquids, sulphuric acid, but victims fear young criminals will still be able to get hold of it. They can arrange from their home kitchen, they can arrange from anywhere. They can buy it by somebody else. So, its not going to help like that. The rising numbers in the uk, particularly in london, have made it one of the worst countries in the world for acid attacks, some rules on selling corrosive substances were relaxed just two years ago. Daniel sandford, bbc news. It was top talent tuesday at the Tory Party Conference in manchester today with speeches from home, health, brexit, and foreign secretaries. But the one that stood out and which the conference had been most excited about was the speech of borisjohnson. The foreign secretary has had plenty to say in recent weeks, at times setting himself against the Prime Minister, challenging the direction of travel in the brexit negotiations, advocating a tougher stance on the withdrawal payment and the length of any brexit transition period. Earlier today, Prime Minister may defended her decision to keep the outspoken mrjohnson in her cabinet, choosing not to fire him, despite the perception among some that he is challenging her authority. I dont set red lines. Everybody uses this phrase, red lines. I dont set those sort of red lines. All i would say to this is that actually, i think leadership is about ensuring that you have a team of people who arent yes men, a team of people with different voices around the table so we can discuss matters, come to an agreement and then put that government view forward, and that is exactly what we have done. Borisjohnson, is nothing if not upbeat, and today was hammering home his message on the uks post brexit opportunitites. Look at the united kingdom. The lowest Unemployment Rate for 42 years, the highest number of people in work ever, the number one destination for investment into europe. And every time one of these facts emerges, it is reported in tones of slight disappointment, with the inevitable qualification despite brexit. It is time to stop treating the referendum result as though it were a plague of boils or a marine on our cattle or an inexplicable aberration by 17. 4 Million People. It is time to be bold, to seize the opportunities werejoined now from manchester by henry newman, former government adviser and director of the eurosceptic think tank open europe. Good to see you. It was love and harmony today. Looking at quotes from borisjohnson harmony today. Looking at quotes from Boris Johnson he harmony today. Looking at quotes from borisjohnson he said he agreed with every syllable of the florence speech but what do you think is the real story . I think there has been the focus on personalities here and ha rd to the focus on personalities here and hard to stretch back and think this is about policy as well. I thought boris was fantastic, ive heard some of the speeches here and the speech i heard from boris was great. Michael gove also brilliant and amber rudd. He divides opinion obviously particularly amongst brexiteers and remainer is but one thing that stands out, and what has been a fairly gloomy party conference, is the optimism that he brings. That is right. I think he is setting up a powerful vision for the country. The Prime Minister is also delivering something similar. We will hear more from her in in her speech tomorrow but she will also pick up some of that sunny upbeat tone. I was curious, we heard Boris Johnson speaking about being bold, have read any more about the tory view on what they want brexit to look like . I think there is a lot of discussion around splits within the party. First of all i would save the party. First of all i would save the party is still very united around the lancaster house position that were leaving the Customs Union and Single Market and now florence we learned there would be a transition period of around two years. There is some discussion over that, whether it could be less than two years, slightly more, but relatively small areas of disagreement. But the real argument is what kind of country do we wa nt argument is what kind of country do we want to be after brexit. We have a choice of options, canada which is a choice of options, canada which is a free to deal with europe, countries like norway switzerland which essentially are in the Single Market or just which essentially are in the Single Market orjust outside, and where do we wa nt market orjust outside, and where do we want to be in that spectrum. That is not something we yet have. Were hearing shes spearing to one side or the other, producing some blame lies with theresa may and that she has not yet picked her cause. Lies with theresa may and that she has not yet picked her causelj think she likes to take her time to come to a decision and that is perfectly sensible. But she said today, not wanting to have yes men in the cabinet, that is exactly right, leadership is about having a tea m right, leadership is about having a team of rivals as Abraham Lincoln famously had. Some would wonder whether the first year government really embodied that, what weve seen since june is really embodied that, what weve seen sincejune is the flow of power away from the Prime Minister and back towards the cabinet. Philip hammond getting his mojo back and also david davis and johnson. I think we do need vigorous discussion around the cabinet table about brexit which is one of the fundamental issues facing the country. Stay with us if you would. Those tensions in mrs mays government were discussed today in the European Parliament. Meps were debating whether britain has made sufficient progress on the withdrawal issues to move the talks onto trade. The parliament voted no, while criticising the divisions in mrs mays cabinet which they said left them unsure who was really in charge. From strasbourg, adam fleming has more. Reporter hows it going, mr barnier . Going well . Everybody. Its not going well, everybody, the eus chief negotiator Michel Barnier told meps at their gleaming home in strasbourg. The eu says it means the uk cant have what it wants moving on from talks about Brexit Issues to talks about the future relationship. And, they say, britain is to blame. The Prime Ministers speech in florence was conciliatory. But speeches are not negotiation positions. And as Michel Barnier, the commissions excellent chief negotiator, said last week, work still remains to be done. We have not yet made the sufficient progress needed. A few a very few think its the other sides fault. Youve treated us as if we are some kind of hostage. That unless we pay a ransom, unless we meet all of your demands. All of your demands, then you wont even have an intelligent conversation with us about trade heading on from here. But in a building where they speak 24 european languages, its striking how many people want to talk about the tories far away in manchester. I hear the speech of theresa may in florence. I read the article from Boris Johnson in the newspapers in Great Britain. And i dont have a clue what is now the position of Great Britain. That is my problem. And i think the Prime Minister must create clarity. One option could be to sack the foreign minister, borisjohnson, and the other could be to sit together and find a common wording. The meps who sit in these seats will only have a formal say right at the end of all of this, when thers a final deal on the table. This was all about sending a message to eu leaders because it is they who will decide how the process is going when they sit down for a summit in a fortnights time. The British Government said its focus is on the next round of talks, due next week. Here, theyre crossing their fingers for a breakthrough. Adam fleming, bbc news, strasbourg. Lets bring in henry newman again. Just to pick up the comments from that piece, from a german member of the European Peoples Party calling twice for the sacking of Boris Johnson. I thought those comments we re johnson. I thought those comments were outrageous. Most people would find the idea that European Parliament should dictate to Member States who is in and out of their executive is unforgivable. I was shocked. Equally we should remember that as adam fleming said, it is not the European Parliament itself which is that Crucial Institution here. It has a relatively limited role. And also this conflict going on between different european bodies. Jean Claude Juncker described the parliament a few months ago is ridiculous. That is the president of the european commission. So we would pay more attention to what the commission is doing and the parliament. Thank you for being with us parliament. Thank you for being with us for the being with us. Many Americans Still coming to terms with what happened in las vegas it goes down as americas worst mass shooting in modern times. Police are still trying to find a motive but as yet there is nothing in Stephen Paddocks history that might have flagged a problem. And so las vegas is a city in mourning. Tributes, flowers, candles have been left at the site of the attack. 59 people were shot dead. Rajini vaidyanathan is back with us, and you were on the strip last night meeting people at the vigil. You always get these vigils but so many upsetting stories. That is right, we know that las vegas is world famous for being a party city, full of hazardous, brightness and energy. Last night the lights of the strip went dark as hundreds of people gathered on the strip for a vigil in honour of the victims. It was one of the number of vigils, there was another i attended at city hall. It is unfortunate now as part of myjob as north american correspondent that all too often i end up covering Mass Shootings. This is the first one ive covered, not the first one, probably not the last. Theres one thing i see in the wa ke last. Theres one thing i see in the wake of these horrific tragedies and thatis wake of these horrific tragedies and that is an unbelievable sense of resilience in these communities. Something i saw yesterday at the vigil, i met at ness, a young man named john and on sunday night he was not on shift but as soon as he found out what was going on he got the call, he got his Rapid Response tea m the call, he got his Rapid Response Team Together and went straight to the hospital. And he worked around helping dozens of people. He said he had never seen in his life, even though they prepare for these traumas, hed never seen anything like it in his career. The thing that shows you the unbelievable resilience of people in the wake of these tragedies is the story ofjohn because despite working round the clock treating people he then tells me that he himself had lost some friends in the tragedy which unfolded in this building behind me. You said this is a party town, what is the mood like where you are now . How are people coping in the aftermath . I have not yet been out on the strip but from what i understand there are still hotels that are open of course, apart from the fact they have this kind of dark period yesterday, people are still checking into hotels from all around the world. People from every corner of the globe come to las vegas. And i think local people want to make sure that Something Like this does not deter people from coming to las vegas. In many ways talking to some of the surgeons and First Responders yesterday, people were prepared for Something Like this possibly to happen. The surgeon but i spoke to yesterday said they have regular drills in anticipation of Mass Shootings. What i thought was interesting is a friend of mine who is in india asked the question about why there was not more security as people enter hotels because in the wa ke people enter hotels because in the wake of the attack in mumbai, now you have to have your card check as you have to have your card check as you drive into a hotel. And that is something that people here are asking, is security tight enough in some of these hotels. How did the gunman managed to get 23 firearms past security and into his room. The speech to devastate with devastating consequences. Thank you very much. Coming up next on bbc world news ros atkins is here with outside source and for viewers in the uk well have the latest headlines from martine croxall. And the spanish king is due to speak any moment now about the fallout from an independence referendum in catalonia. We will bring you all news of that. For now from Michelle Fleury in new york and me Christian Fraser in london goodbye. Good evening. Today brought most of us good evening. Today brought most of usa good evening. Today brought most of us a window of fine weather, some sunshine and some showers as well but a decent day here in st ives in cornwall. Although the sunshine did ten a little bit hazy during the day. Just the first sign of an approaching atlantic weather system. All this cloud moving in from the west. That will bring some outbreaks of rain through tonight especially across parts of scotland, eventually drifting down into Northern Ireland. Windy across the northern part of the british isles. Further south largely dry with clear spells. Out of the countryside some spots could get cold enough for some grass frost. So for many southern and central areas tomorrow gets off to a fine start. Some sunshine around first being especially further south and east. More cloud drifting across northern england, Northern Ireland and southern scotland. This band of rain, slightly brighter skies further north but hefty showers in the Northern Isles in scotland and the Northern Isles in scotland and the wind continuing to strengthen through the morning. During late morning we could see gusts of around 60 miles an hour across the Northern Isles. As we go through the day we see increasing amounts of cloud and rain across Northern Ireland and southern scotland, northern england. To the south about some spells and sunshine, generally more cloud developing is the day goes on and temperatures around 12, 16 degrees. Through the evening this rain drifts across central and northern parts of the uk and tends to intensify with some heavy bursts of rain and increasingly strong wind. A bit of uncertainty about the detail of this but it looks like through wednesday and into thursday morning it could develop quite a deep area of low pressure. That could be Gale Force Gusts in places and heavy rain. During thursday that clears the way to the east. Remaining quite blustery to the day but brightening up blustery to the day but brightening up again with sunshine and showers. Mainly fine day to come on friday after a chilly start. Rain spreading from the west on saturday. This is bbc news. The headlines. Killed dozens and injured more. Sick man. Demented man. We are looking into this, dealing with a very sick individual. The stories and faces of the victims are merged. And those who tried to help. Two weeks on from Hurricane Maria, President Donald Trump looks at the damage himself. Theresa may denies borisjohnsons interventions on brexit are we telling her position. The