Transcripts For BBCNEWS BBC News 20180120

Welcome to bbc news. We agreed to the contours of that deal. An immigration deal, we could have addressed Childrens Health insurance, disasteraid. Have addressed Childrens Health insurance, disaster aid. We went to the meeting and had a long and productive discussion. I told the president the democrats were willing to fund the military at the highest levels in history. Thorough body in his budget request. Far above. I relu cta ntly his budget request. Far above. I reluctantly put his old request on the table, his request. We left the meeting having agreed to try for a short term cra that would keep eve ryo ne short term cra that would keep everyone at the negotiating table for a few more days. The president suggested, lets do it by tuesday night. We said, great. Several hours later, he called back. He said, so, i hear we have a three week deal. I said, no, mr president , no one has talked to me about a three week deal. No one has talked to me. No one had called to need a leader policy. A few hours later, he called back again. Well, we are going to need this, this, this in addition. It was general kelly, things they knew were far right and off the table. Now, the lunch that seemed so promising was quickly overtaken by ha rd promising was quickly overtaken by hard right forces in the administration. Even though we bent over backwards to meet the president s demands. Negotiating with this white house is like negotiating withjell o. It is next to impossible. As soon as you take one step forward, the hard right forces the president three steps back. Now, idont forces the president three steps back. Now, i dont have the personal animus that a lot of my colleagues have towards the president. We are both want and direct. I agree with him vehemently onjust both want and direct. I agree with him vehemently on just about every issue. But at least we can talk to one another. But it is next to impossible. To strike a deal with the president because he cant stick to the terms. I have found this out, leader mcconnell has found this out, speaker ryan has found this out. So here we are, on the First Anniversary of the president s in operation, mired in the trump shutdown. It doesnt have to be this way. We can get big things done. We can fund the military at the highest level ever. We can commit unprecedented resources to the fight against opioids, to our veterans, to Pension Plans that are drying up. We can protect our southern border as protect Young Americans who were brought here as children. We can pass Childrens Health insurance, and ive never seen something so cynical as republicans hitting groups of children against each other. They hold up chip to hold other. They hold up chip to hold other children hostage. That is a disgrace. That is not what america wa nts. Disgrace. That is not what america wants. We can also pass disaster aid. Which taxes, california, florida and roger ricco wants. We can do big things, but the president needs to step up and lead. And porto rico. The republicans controlled the presidency, the senate, the house. They know who is responsible, the American People know that the republicans controlled the presidency, the senate and the house. They know who was responsible. America knows this is the trump shutdown. Only the president can end it. We democrats are at the table, we are ready to negotiate. The president needs to pull up negotiate. The president needs to pullupa chairto negotiate. The president needs to pull up a chair to end this shutdown. We are ready for your questions. Can you define what you mean when you say you put the wall on the table. 0k, mean when you say you put the wall on the table. Ok, this was not my. Im not going to get into the specific numbers but i will tell you it was the president to suggested a numberandi it was the president to suggested a numberand i said, lets it was the president to suggested a number and i said, lets put it on the table. On twitter, he is leading ten to one. I dont care. Do you feel you can believe. This is the third or fourth time on this issue he has made some kind of commitment and then backed off because he is afraid of the right wing. Whether Stephen Miller does it, whether general kelly doesnt steer him at the right direction and just let that happen, i dont know. But its getting very difficult. You know, my hope has a lwa ys difficult. You know, my hope has always been that senator mcconnell and leader ryan woods c, knowing what they know about the president , that they would set up to the plate themselves, but they are afraid of him, too, i think. Themselves, but they are afraid of him, too, ithink. They are relu cta nt, him, too, ithink. They are reluctant, perhaps. Leader mcconnell has said publicly that he doesnt know what the president thinks, and has told me repeatedly i should negotiate with trump. We did not Reach Agreement. We came close to the parameters of an agreement. The first call came from the president about the three weeks, which was news to me. You would have to ask people who know the white house better than me. All i know is its next to impossible to negotiate when the position keeps changing and changing and changing. Yes . You get the sense that President Trump is just changing his mind . Agreeing to things and then. When you sit with the president , is the second or third time i done this. You can see he really wants to do it. But then, a few hours later, it is of the right wing pressure, he backs off. What i would like to know is, who in the white house is a source of moderating force who says, this is a good thing for you and the country . Dont let these people back you off. I dont see anyone in the white house doing that. Inaudible question. First of all, dreamers, unlike other issues, has huge bipartisan support. It is not something, not my 2013 where ted cruz had his own view that was partisan and not popular. This is very popular. Second, this is the first time we have had 1 Party Control all three parts of the government. The American People know. They know it is their responsibility to reach out and compromise, to get things done. That isa compromise, to get things done. That is a press conference being held by the Senate Minority leader Democrat Chuck schumer. He is basically going through a timeline of the conversations he has had with President Trump, and the main point to get from this, he has confirmed that we came close to the parameters ofan that we came close to the parameters of an agreement, but we did not reach an agreement. He keeps stressing this point, that mr trump wa nts to stressing this point, that mr trump wants to make an agreement, as they have talked and spoken on two or three occasions, and he could tell that he wanted to make an agreement, come to an agreement. But, Chuck Schumer said a number of times, it was the right wing, the hard right, but scuppered an agreement being made. He also says it is next to impossible to Reach Agreement when estherjohns position keeps changing and changing and changing. That is a quote. When President Trumps position. Chuck schumer says commitment has been made by mr trump and then he has backed off because he is carried on the right wing. To put this into context, they are meeting again. They met at midday local time in washington to continue to try and thrash out and come to an agreement and stop this Government Shutdown. Just to finish off, Chuck Schumer it saying that resident trump needs to step up and leaves, pull up trump needs to step up and leaves, pullupa chairand trump needs to step up and leaves, pull up a chair and entered the shutdown. She explained that both parties are currently blaming each other for the shutdown. Whereas the republicans have been calling it the schumer shutdown, but this is the first time the government shuts down when one single party is in full control of the congress. In fact, weve been talking to people here and they kind of blamed all politicians. Some have blamed democrats, others have blamed the president , but some also blamed all the politicians involved, because they should have come out with a compromise that would try to reach a solution to avoid this inconvenient situation. In fact, its notjust inconvenient for the us citizens, its also inconvenient for tourists. We met this lady coming all the way from new york to dc, and its the first time shes visited dc in 20 years, and she was really annoyed when she found out that parks and museums, all of this would be closed, and she wont be able to enjoy herself in dc. On the other hand, we will have hundreds of thousands of Civil Servants not showing up at work, and they wont be paid until this issue is resolved. The last time the Government Shutdown happened was back in 2013, during president obamas time, and the government lost billions of dollars. Around 800,000 people, Civil Servants, did not show up at work because of that. There have been reports of a suspected militant attack on a large hotel in the afghan capital, kabul. Several gunmen are reported to have entered the Intercontinental Hotel and opened fire on guests inside. Its unclear if there are casualties. The bbcs correspondent is in tap in. We were according to speak to him. We dont have the best link, but hopefully going back to him. A number of gun men are reported to have entered the continental Intercontinental Hotel in kabul. It isa Intercontinental Hotel in kabul. It is a 5 star hotel, popular with foreigners. Minister of the interior have confirmed that an attack has taken place. We dont know how many gun are involved, but we know that special forces have arrived at the scene. Hello, how are you . Hello. What can you update us on what is going on . The attack is going on according to the interior ministry. A p pa re ntly according to the interior ministry. Apparently for assailants, probably suicide bombers, have entered kabul Intercontinental Hotel, which is a high profile hotel, an important and very secure one. Almost west of kabul. There are reports, unconfirmed reports, that the attackers have taken hostage of the people staying in the hotel. There are also reports of possible casualties, eyewitnesses are talking to afg ha n casualties, eyewitnesses are talking to afghan local tv saying that they have seen dead bodies. Some people who have fled the hotel have said that they have seen injured people, but we cannot at all confirm that because afghan officials and the interior ministry officials, no one has confirmed any casualties yet. Because the hotel is obviously full of people who are staying there, we could expect that there are possibly casualties. It has been going on for the last one hour and a half, or two hours, almost. The Afghan Special forces have been deployed to the area. They are trying to clear the hotel, but apparently it is not going to be an easy task. You mentioned the hotel is being very secure, regarded as a very secure hotel. Just described the security around the intercontinental. M hotel. Just described the security around the intercontinental. It is situated is on a hill in kabul, a small mountain. A very high area. It has very limited access areas, which are checkpoint it. There are three checkpoints you have to go through. To get to the main gates of the hotel. Im not sure how the attackers have found their way there. The hotel has been attacks previously as well, in 2011. Then it was nine attackers, nine attackers entered the hotel in 2011 and kilts, i think, 21 entered the hotel in 2011 and kilts, ithink, 21 people entered the hotel in 2011 and kilts, i think, 21 people and many other we re i think, 21 people and many other were injured. Since then, security has been tightened further, but now we see that this has happened is. We will have to wait and see what will be the figure of casualties, and what will be the result. Very quickly, in situations like this, hostage situations, attacks, how do they tend to be resolved by the afg ha n forces . They tend to be resolved by the Afghan Forces . What tends to happen . The Afghan Special forces have got better in tackling these situations. They have tackled many of them around the city and many other cities in afghanistan. But some of them have turned disastrous, like them have turned disastrous, like the attack that happens two years ago on the military hospital. They we re ago on the military hospital. They were not able to tackle it well. Dozens of people, military people, we re dozens of people, military people, were killed. We could say that the special forces are not as experienced as they are, and they are still. It usually ends up with are still. It usually ends up with a lot of casualties. 0k, we will be speaking to you later. Thank you very much for that update. The headlines on bbc news many Government Services an america have shut down after politicians failed to pass a spending bill. Essential Services Including National Security and air Traffic Control will continue. Mary lou mcdonald is confirmed as the only candidate nominated several Gunmen Attack the Intercontinental Hotel in kabul with officials suggesting some of them included suicide bombers. There are reports that a number of people have died and others have been taken hostage by the gunmen. Mary lou mcdonald is confirmed as the only candidate nominated to replace gerry adams as sinn fein president. Sinn fein has announced who will succeed gerry adams as its party president. Mary lou mcdonald, a member of parliament in the irish republic, was the only candidate for the role. Mr adams emerged from Northern Irelands turbulent history to become leader more than thirty years ago. Ms mcdonald comes from a very different background. Our ireland correspondent, chris page, has been following the story, and explained how significant the appointment was. It has been thought for some years now that Marylou Mcdonald was the likely successor to gerry adams. She has been a very strong presence at his site, at the political events recently. Her personal political journey has been very different to her brood assessor. Nestor adams was brought up in west belfast, a working class area, the crucible of the conflict in Northern Ireland. Security sources believe he was a south rebel robbie ira, which he has a lwa ys south rebel robbie ira, which he has always denied. Mary lou mcdonald grew up in a middle class suburban dublin, and joined sinn fein during the Peace Process will stop today sinn fein confirmed that she was the only nominee to succeed mr adams as party president. She said she would be putting her own stamp on the job. The truth is, no one will ever feel gerry adamss shoes. Applause the truth is, my friends, i wont thoughtjerrys the truth is, my friends, i wont thought jerrys shoes. But the news is that i brought my own. She will ta ke is that i brought my own. She will take over officially as sinn fein president at a special Party Conference in three weeks. That will mark a generational shift in the party away from people who have ira connections, towards new figures to have no direct in action with the troubles. Sinn feins political opponents will continue to focus on the links to the ira, and sinn fein will continue to defend the ira campaign. These days the party prefers to talk about present day politics rather than the paramilitary violence of the past. Turkey has launched a new military offensive against kurdish militants in Northern Syria opening a new front in the seven year conflict there. Turkish warplanes have bombed positions of the ypg, which ankara says is linked to kurds who have been fighting an insurgency in turkey for decades. Mark lowen sent this update from hatay, it began today, so called operation olive branch. Turkish f16 fighter jets pounding afrin, an enclave of Northern Syria under the control of the syrian militia, the ypg. And Turkish Backed syrian rebel fighters are on the ground as part of that offensive. Turkey sees the ypg as a terrorist group, linksed to turkeys kurdish militants, the pkk, who have been fighting an insurgency here in turkey since the 1980s. But it is a dangerous operation, because the americans back the ypg in the fight against the Islamic State group. Now this operation puts turkey in direct confrontation with its nato ally, the us. American support of the ypg has consistently infuriated the turkish government. There are also Russian Military personnel on the ground, and the Syrian Regime has warned that they would shoot down any turkish jet and see an incursion by turkey as a violation of syrias sovereignty. Plenty of perils as turkey launches the operation, and yet it has still gone ahead, determined to reclaim territorial control of the ypg, fearing they were consolidating territory on the other side of the border. This operation could bog turkey down in a potentially long and deadly military offensive. British tourists travelling to jamaica are being advised to stay in their resorts after a state of emergency was declared around monteego bay. Theres been a surge in gang related violence in the area. Every year, around 200,000 britons visit the popular holiday destination as nick davis reports. For a country that depends on tourism, the pictures of troops on the streets in montego bay, jamaicas biggest resort, isnt ideal. But the government says it is something that needs to be done. The Security Forces are expected and have been directed to treat citizens with respect and protect the dignity and safety of all. Most of the tourists who visit montego bay and much of the north coast stay in gated, guarded, all inclusive hotels, where security isnt an issue. But a growing reality for people who live in the city is that crime has spiked. Last year saw over 1600 people murdered in jamaica. 335 of them in stjames, the area where montego bay is. Most of the crime is gang related and focused in a small number of communities. The Foreign Office has advised holiday makers that they should only travel to and from the airport to their hotels and when they do take excursions, to make sure they are arranged by official tour reps. The Authorities Say there will be more roadblocks and vehicle searches as they go after the gangs and their guns. A similar state of emergency in 2010 in kingston saw the murder rate dropped to its lowest levels in years, a statistic that meant lives saved. In montego bay, it is hoped they will happen again. Nick davis, bbc news, jamaica. We can speak now to apriljackson a former miss jamaica universe, Restaurant Owner and one time candidate on the bbcs apprentice. She grew up in kingston and is on holiday in montego bay. How is the holiday going . Im glad to report that my holiday is just as amazing as when i arrived on sunday last week. Do you feel safe . Pardon . Are you feeling safe . Completely safe. I think thats why i was urged to talk about it. If i was reading the headlines i have seen, i would probably be quite worried. He underground, i wouldnt know. Whyd you think it is that people outside ofjamaica you think it is that people outside of jamaica are very you think it is that people outside ofjamaica are very worried, when we have spoken to two people. It looks like we have lost april. That isa looks like we have lost april. That is a shame. We were speaking to apriljackson error. She is on holiday, born in kingston. Can you hear me . I can hear everything. Why do you think it is that outside of jamaica, people are very worried . Whats going on . I think. When im in brixton and my restaurant on something happens in brixton, whether it is my crime or a shooting, when you read it it can be quite concerning because we dont apply the same rules to our homes as we do to places that are less familiar. I also think that people get a bit. They dont really understand that your gritty of jamaica. Whilst we are an island s in montego bay, it isnt that small. The crime is in isolated areas. Hence why my holiday hasnt been affected at all. I have been out of the property, i read a headline that said that the paradise was on lockdown. And we were forced to stay in our rooms. I can show you that i have left the property, in shopping, at that night, and i havent you my 60. I have strongly urged other people to come down for a second, because it might not be exactly as they are reading it. When we see pictures of armed vehicles, soldiers on the streets, it is very worrying. That doesnt look normal. How was it regarded on the streets . It is only confined to certain parts of montego bay, where there are problems, but how was it regarded there . |j bay, where there are problems, but how was it regarded there . I think its also important to say that its not normal for us either. In jamaica, you dont live in walk around and familiar seeing military vehicles. But i think its also when pausing to highlight that being here in montego bay, i havent seen a military vehicle. I have heard the stories, i have heard from other people who work here you have in stocks and have experienced that first hand, but i think its really important to let people know that as a tourist they are not going to see anything in real life. They will probably learn a lot more from the reports, because the reality is that on the ground its very much business as normal. There are other destinations in jamaica business as normal. There are other destinations injamaica that wouldnt have heard. I was speaking with some get here from canada who had no idea that there was this sense of urgent concern. The picture being painted is that you land in the International Airport and fearing for your life, and that really bothers me. Its so far from the troops. Its not missing a minor detail but isjust like night the troops. Its not missing a minor detail but is just like night and day. So far from the truth. Thank you. The family of the american rock star tom petty has revealed that his death last october was caused by an accidental drug overdose. He was found unconscious at his home in malibu, days after completing an extensive tour to mark the 40th anniversary of his band, the heartbreakers. The 66 year old was on medication for a range of issues including emphysema and a fractured hip. Six women from the british army have become the largest all female group to ski coast to coast across antarctica. The Ice Maiden Team began the 1,000 mile expedition on 20th november each pulling an 80kg sledge behind them. After 62 days on the ice, the six soldiers crossed the finish line at the hercules inletjust before 10am this morning. One of the ice maidens, major nat taylor, has been speaking to the bbc about the expedition. For the last two months we have been going out for ten hours and then back in. There have been moments, like randomly two weeks ago i crazy jam sandwich. Of all the things you really wa nt, jam sandwich. Of all the things you really want, a jam sandwich. The first thing i want to do is have a shower. That was the best shower i have ever had. That was the ice expedition, the ice maiden expedition. What about over here . Isere to as well. We are looking at another messy, wintry mix as we head into sunday. Some travel disruption probably likely. Systems pushing in from the west as we had overnight, bumping into the cold air which is currently across the country, turning into snow across Northern Ireland and parts of wales. Snow and ice a problem here. Further east, cold and dry. Very cold across scotland, maybe below 11 fell sea. Stay tuned to the weather forecast. Some disruption in central and northern parts of the uk in particular. The weather fronts continuing eastwards. Wintry weather down to lower levels, maybe even down to lower levels, maybe even down to lower levels, maybe even down to the south east of england. Transient snow as it continues to be confined to easter in and northern arius. Behind it, turning my other. Back to rain here. Double figures in the far south west. Sunshine for Northern Ireland. Into next week, turning my otherfor us Northern Ireland. Into next week, turning my other for us all. Turning my other for us all. Turning my other for us all. Turning my other. This is bbc news, our latest headlines. The Us Government grinds to a halt on the First Anniversary of President Trumps inauguration, as the senate fails to agree on a budget to fund many public services. America knows this is the trump shutdown. Only the president can end it. Gunmen in afghanistan are reported to have attacked a top hotel in the capital, kabul. Mary lou mcdonald is confirmed as the only candidate nominated to replace gerry adams as sinn fein president. Turkey deploys tanks to shell kurdish fighters in Northern Syria,