Transcripts For BBCNEWS BBC News 20180203

For a flying start against wales. And at 12. 30pm, click travels to dubai to meet the real life robo cop. Good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. The director of the fbi has defended its work after a classified memo was released accusing it of bias against president trump, and abuse of power. The memo written by republican members of Congress Says the fbi got permission to wiretap one of mr trumps advisers in 2016 by using unsubstantiated evidence which had been paid for by his political opponents. Our correspondent peter bowes reports. This is the memo that sunk relations between the president and the fbi to a new low. The document, written by republicans, makes the case that the Justice Department and the fbi showed bias against donald trump while spying on one of his advisers. A warrant for the surveillance operation was based on a dossier of information compiled by a former British Intelligence agent who was desperate for donald trump to lose the election. I think its a disgrace whats happening in our country, and when you look at that and you see that and so many other things, whats going on, a lot of people should be ashamed of themselves and much worse than that. But the democrats say the memo doesnt tell the full story and is a shameful effort to discredit the Ongoing Investigation into the trump campaigns links with russia. The head of the fbi is defiant. Addressing his staff, Christopher Wray said reporter is the memo a dud, sir, is it a dud . Donald trump is smiling again but this is a vicious fight at the heart of the us government. Some are saying the only winners are the russians. Peter bowes, bbc news. Earlier patrick baysham from the washington based Democracy Institute told bbc news the memo does shed some light on the actions of the fbi. I guess the surprise is how clear it appears there is a trail that has been laid inadvertently by the fbi. If what the republican memo says is true then it is pretty Crystal Clear that at least some senior individuals at the fbi were not telling the fisa court rather pertinent information. That is quite shocking. We will have to see whether there is other evidence that counters that but it is a pretty damning indictment so far. For a second time in a week, the leading brexiteer conservative Jacob Rees Mogg has criticised economic forecasts by Civil Servants, regarding the possible impacts of brexit. This morning, he said that treasury forecasts have always been clearly politically influenced. Jacob rees mogg on thursday asked the brexit minister in the commons chamber, steve baker, had he heard claims from a man called Charles Grant of the centre for european reform, a think tank, had he heard claims from that man that treasury officials had essentially been rigging the figures to present all options to do with britain departing a Customs Union as bad . The minister turned to Jacob Rees Mogg, both men well known brexiteers, and said, yes, i have heard that, but didnt then distance himself to say it is wrong. Today he was asked about the same issue. Did he really think that Civil Servants were fiddling the figures. Rather like steve baker backing from that suggestion, he double dont. The obr, the office for budget responsibility, was set up by George Osborne because treasury forecasts had been politicised. It was thought they were unreliable on political grounds. With the referendum with the eu, the treasury has gone back to making forecasts. It was politically advantageous for them in the past. Its the same now. So, yes, i do think they are fiddling the figures. He said it could be an unconscious thing. There is a fear that maybe the political establishment has been tied to europe for so long, thinks so tied to europe for so long, thinks so bad about the possibility of brea ks so bad about the possibility of breaks that. It is theirjob to be independent. A treasury spokesman has put out a statement that both treasury ministers and officials are working hard to deliver the best bread is it possible for britain. The chancellor and the Prime Minister has said we will leave the Single Market and the Customs Union and any suggestion to the contrary is false. This week is a big week for a brexit. We have several key ministerial meetings discussing issues like whether britain should joina issues like whether britain should join a Customs Union in the future. The Prime Minister has ruled out staying in the Customs Union. This group are vehemently against it, this would be putting pressure, they do not want to stay in any form of Customs Union. He is a relatively new backbencher. With that in any way explain the difficulty he had last night when he was addressing students . Trying to address students in bristol. A group of 300. There was a rather lively shall we say interjection. It got rough and tumble. Jacob rees mogg said he was fine and try to talk things down. It underlines what a divisive figure he can be. Just speaking in a debate can be. Just speaking in a debate can drawa can be. Just speaking in a debate can draw a crowd that will try and stop him. Small businesses affected by the collapse of the construction giant carillion are being offered the chance to apply for government backed loans from high street lenders. Thousands of suppliers were left unpaid, after the firm went into liquidation in last month. Our Business Correspondent joe lynam reports. Britains second biggest Construction Company collapsed three weeks ago leaving debts of almost £1 billion and a pensions deficit ofa similaramount. Apart from those directly employed at carillion, thousands of smaller suppliers and contractors faced ruin due to unpaid debts. Oui main concerns are those payments are made. Small contractors and peoples livelihoods of the main thing. This obviously impacted on them. Now the government is providing guarantees to small firms worth £100 million through the state backed British Business bank. These will allow companies who lost money due to carillion get bank loans. But it also means taxpayers might be on the hook if someone defaults. Additionally, the uk Banking Sector has promised to take the circumstances surrounding carillion into consideration if individuals face problems repaying loans, overdraft or mortgages. The extent of the damage to the wider uk economy of one firms collapse is coming into sharp focus. Joe lynam, bbc news. Earlier i spoke to the leader of the liberal democrats and a business secretary sir vince cable. I asked him for his reaction to this latest development. It is far too late. I mean, for goodness sake, i mean the government knew about the trouble of carillion months ago, which is why it was feeding it contracts. It should have been aware there was a supply chain. I setup the British Business bank several years ago in the coalition. In order to. This is what will be providing the guarantees . And the question is why on earth wasnt it mobilised much sooner. But i think there is a deeper problem here. I mean one of the fallouts from carillion is that large numbers of small and medium sized companies, which are very well run, are going go down. Its already happening, its a sort of crash in slow motion. One of the reasons is that carillion was not observing the government requirement that you pay your suppliers. A lot of these Small Companies were lending money to carillion, they were on a 120 day payment period. And that should never have been tolerated. Just on this question of taking up the offer. A least one company has told us privately that it wont do it and suspects other Companies Wont do it. Its going to take the risk but it says that others will be worried that if they are seen to take up these offers, their customers will then think, ortheirsuppliers will think, ah, maybe they are in trouble. And then that could actually damage them, almost to take the help thats on offer. Well, there is a confidence issue and the problem is that, you know, you have got a complex supply chain, much of which depends on credit worthiness, and i can see their problem. But the British Business bank was set up several years ago to provide credit to small business. It is already doing it. It happens indirectly through peer to peer lending and other platforms. So i would hope that, actually, Companies Take full advantage of it. Thats what its there for. Let me bring you some news that is coming into us from italy. This is a report from the afp agency saying that four people have been wounded after shots were fired on passers by from a moving car in the town, which you can see is in central italy. Television situation said the shots came from a car with two people inside it. They are being sought by police. Police news report said four people were injured. There was a report reuters was carrying suggesting that the shooter appeared, and this may be what was reported, appeared to be targeting black people. I suspect we will be bringing more on this story to you on bbc news. Three men have been charged with murder after the fatal stabbing of a prisoner. Khader saleh died on wednesday at wormwood scrubs prison in west london. Ahmed kyre, kalif dibbassey and enton marku all in their early twenties are due to appear in court next week. Northamptonshire county council has imposed emergency spending controls as it faces severe financial challenges. The notice bans all new expenditure at the council, with the exception of Statutory Services for protecting vulnerable people. Last month the government said an inspector would look into allegations of financial failings at the authority. It is believed to be the first such notice issued in more than 20 years. The labour Leaderjeremy Corbyn has just been speaking at his partys local government conference in nottingham and he blamed tory austerity cuts for the situation in northamptonshire. This conservative government has sent our Public Services spiralling into crisis. After nearly eight years of conservative government, councils have lost 50 of their funding from Central Government. And yesterday, we found that tory run northampshire council is effectively bankrupt. Austerity is unleashing chaos across oui country, squeezing our local authorities and putting jobs and a Vital Services they deliver at risk. A little earlier tony travers at the London School of economics told me that the cut in Central Government funding was broadly as mr kaufman suggested in his speech, about 50 . Central government grants have followed by a percentage of about 50. They have income from council tax and business rate and that has continued to rise relatively. The overall spend and fall will be less than 50 , probably nearly 25 for most councils, but it is still a big change. Because of that, Many Councils find themselves near the edge. And the question of which councils get to the edge first. And Northamptonshire Council have seem to have done that first. Is there anything particular about Northamptonshire Council which explains why it has found itself in this situation . One of the reasons the leader is giving, northamptonshire had a local council tax take. It was baked into the system by capping, they had been capped for years. It is hard to increase that now. I think Northamptonshire Council has a low ta ke Northamptonshire Council has a low take from council tax. Against that, the neighbouring authorities, many not in radically different circumstances, are not as near the edge. The investigation that the housing secretary has put in place will reveal some of this, we will find out more. It will be politically awkward for the government because it is a conservative run council. It is not good for them to be arguing with their own party leaders. The broader message about this. What do you think it is about the kind of stability of local government finances in england . We have seen council is now under these pressures for eight years. Much more than any other part of the public sector. The question is how much longer can this 90, question is how much longer can this go, the government has protected the nhs, welfare and most of our pensions. That has put extra pressure on council services. Eventually the government has had to step in, Adult Social Care with emergency funding and prisons for more funding. The risk here is if the government continues pushing government local Government Spending down, we will get more of these Northamptonshire Council cases. And if this happens, it allows Jeremy Corbyn to cases. And if this happens, it allowsJeremy Corbyn to pick up on it and have politicalfun allowsJeremy Corbyn to pick up on it and have political fun with it. The headlines on bbc news the head of the fbi has defended its work after a classified memo was released accusing it of bias against president trump, after getting caught in a scuffle with protesters last night, conservative mpJacob Rees Mogg accuses the treasury of fiddling its figures on brexit. The government has announced a package of Financial Support for Small Companies affected by the collapse of the outsourcing firm, carillion. Oligarchs suspected of corruption will be forced to explain how they fund their luxury lifestyles in britain. The security minister, ben wallace, has told the times that he wants to crackdown on criminals and fraudulent politicians who use britain to launder money gained through corruption. Earlier i spoke to dal babu, a former chief superintendent at the metropolitan police. He explained some of the thinking behind the new unexplained wealth orders. I think what they want to do is establish where people have got their money, and if you have £50,000 or more, thats probably not going to affect the majority of us, then they want to have the opportunity to ask people were they got that money from. Actually it could apply a lot lower than oligarchs but that is really what looking at, people who are the International Super wealthy who often choose to live in this country. Absolutely. Ben wallaces interview in the times was very much about the oligarchs and the big headline was, we are coming after you. It would be interesting to see what substance there is nothing this because what we have to remember, there are lots of oligarchs, many of them own football clubs here, many of them are a legitimate Business People here, but there is a thread of individuals, if people have been watching the bbc mcmafia series, they will know there a thread of individuals who are conducting affairs in a sort of unlawful way, and the difficulty is, i was speaking to the cab driver on the way in and he was saying you would be surprised how many people there are, they live a parallel life, huge excesses, huge extravagance. But in terms of what the minister says, what i would be interested in is what resources are put in place. These people are sophisticated individuals. They will have accountants in place. Lawyers. Lawyers, yes. Bitcoins. You trade in bitcoins, that crypto currency, all of this goes under the radar. I would be very much interested in what resources are in place to deal with this. You mention mcmafia, which a lot of people have seen on bbc one, and the interesting thing about that is that it is based on a factual account by the distinguished journalist misha glenny, and they have fictionalised the stories he uncovered. There is clearly something here. The question is, i suppose, whether this is really about cracking down on the money, following the money, as they say, whether there is some politics in this. Clearly there are more tensions now with russia and there have been for many years with britain, and you could argue that people have lived here for many years, completely unmolested by the system because, in a sense, the british didnt really want to pick a fight with russia. Are we a bit more interested, do you think, picking a fight with russia . It is a double edged sword, because on one hand as we look at brexit, as we leave the second biggest world market, we need to be looking at how we trade elsewhere. On the one hand they want to be open to russia and on the other hand they want to be standing up and saying, you cant ride roughshod here. We have seen putin has done that across the world. So i think it is very interesting what actually happens here. A father whose three daughters were among those abused by the former United States Gymnastics Team doctor larry nassar has apologised, after trying to attack him at a court in michigan. Nassar was sentenced to up to 175 years in prison last month, after more than 150 women testified that he had sexually abused them. Nada tawfik reports. To my parents, thank you for all your love and support through all of this. Throughout Larry Nassars sentencing hearings, women have shared their horrific tales of abuse at the hands of the disgraced doctor. On friday, the testimonies continued, with the heartbreaking account of the margraves family, whose three daughters were all victimised. After hearing two of his daughters recount their ordeals, Randall Margraves asked for a turn to speak as a distraught father. I would ask you to, as part of the sentencing, to grant me five minutes in a locked room with this demon. I have a feeling. Would you do that . That is not how our. Yes or no . No, sir, i cant do that. Would you give me one minute . You know that i cant do that. Thats not how our legal system. Well, im gonna have to. The chaotic and raw moment showed the guilt and pain that parents and families are still struggling with. Believing the father had suffered enough, the judge said he would be released without charge. Theres no way that this court is going to issue any type of punishment given the circumstances of this case. At a press conference afterwards, the margraves girls defended their father. It was hard for my father to react to what he listened today. He reacted in a way that i feel most fathers would have done and probably wanted to do in a situation like this. Randall margraves said he was not a hero, but the real heroes were his girls and the other victims. If it wasnt for all the brave girls and women that have come forward before now, i dont know if my family could have come forward now. The case has inevitably sparked numerous investigations into why Michigan State university, where he was employed, along with usa gymnastics and the Us Olympic Committee failed to stop him. Nada tawfik, bbc news. Lady gaga has cancelled the last ten dates of the european leg of her world tour, because of severe pain. Shows in london and manchester are among those affected. In a statement posted on twitter she said she was devastated, but needed to put herself and her well being first. The singer has fibromyalgia, a long term condition which can cause pain all over the body. Some of her fans have travelled from as far as brazil and denmark to see her on her uk dates and are disappointed. I save money all the year furthest. I dont blame her. The same way it hurts so much. Going back home without seeing her again. Hurts so much. Going back home without seeing her againm hurts so much. Going back home without seeing her again. It has been five years. The first that has been five years. The first that has been cancelled and i have no idea. And booking flights and trains for hamburg and cologne and berlin and london and manchester. You were going to see all of the dates that have been cancelled . Going to see all of the dates that have been cancelled . Yeah. Earlier, music business journalist eamonn forde told me that lady gaga it will not have been taken without much. Artists will have to have an independently verified medical check to make sure that they are match fit and go on tour. It is an incredibly draining experience, with in terms of travelling and the performance on stage every night. And around that isa stage every night. And around that is a huge infrastructure. There are hundreds of people involved. Anyone will have two mitigate against that with insurance. And any Health Issues will have a knock on effect for other insurance, it will increase the premium. But nobody would go on tour in this day and age without insurance to compensate or cover when things unfortunately like this happen. Which are incredibly rare. Most artists fulfil all their obligations. It is rare for an artist to cancel for Health Reasons like this. Many gps feel undervalued, unable to provide safe care and want to quit theirjobs, according to research with doctors who have left the profession early. Nhs england has promised an extra five thousand gps by the end of the decade, but recent statistics suggest the service is continuing to lose doctors. The government insists it has the highest ever number of gps in training. Ajudge ina ajudge in a lower court a judge in a lower court sees the document last week. I was before the former president was due to fly to ethiopia. On wall street the dowjones took a steep dive yesterday plummeting more than 660 points closing two point five per cent down on the day. It ranks as the worst day on the markets since donald trump took office, and came despite a strong jobs report which showed wage growth. Two russians have set a new record for the longest space walk ever done by cosmonauts but their eight hour stint outside the International Space station has not gone entirely to plan. Alexander misurkin and Anton Shkaplerov faced the tricky task of replacing an outdated antenna a task not intended to be done in orbit. The new antenna is pointing in completely the wrong direction. Mission controllers are now evaluating whether the cosmonauts may have wasted their time and checking whether the antenna is still operating. How frustrating. At least they had a wonderful view when they did it. Lets get to the bbc Sports Centre now. And it is batman again, mike bushell. Less than two hours no to the start of this years six nations. That a man again. The most recent evidence is that they are able to, to train at pace and intensity that can match the best teams in the world, that go into places like cardiff and put on a really good performance and they are together. We have felt there is are together. We have felt there is a real togetherness that has built up a real togetherness that has built upfora a real togetherness that has built up for a while now and it comes out in the way the top together and the way they work hard for each other. It isa way they work hard for each other. It is a good game for us. The players involved last year were disappointed with losing away at murrayfield. And they feel there is a great chance for us to get the campaign off to a good start, against a Scottish Team that have been resurgent and will test us and cause us a number been resurgent and will test us and cause us a number of problems. So wales versus scotland kicks everything off to 15 pm. The programme starts at 1 45pm. Before france versus ireland. That is live on bbc one. The champions in waiting Manchester City can extend their lead at the top of the premier league to 18 points. They travelled to bu rley league to 18 points. They travelled to burley in the early kick off. That is in a few minutes time. Despite the huge gap at the top, Pep Guardiola is insisting his team are not believing they are champions just yet. There are still points to play. We have 15. It is not over. We have an amazing couple of games to play. Tomorrow, to go to stoke city, for example, goodison park. And we have arsenal, tottenham united, chelsea, definitely a struggle. Theres a spring in the step of the british david cup team, ahead of todays doubles rubber, in spain against spain. Jamie murray and Dominic Inglot, play with the tie at 1 1. It followed the heroics of debutant cameron norrie, who produced the performance of his life to beat, Roberto Bautista agut, whos 91 places higher in the world rankings. He only turned professional last june and this was his first ever professional match on red clay. Andy murray tweeted this was one of best results ever. Ijust looked at my forehand the whole match and thought i was tougher than the guy through the whole match. Physically had some problems in the end but i was really pumped with my efforts, its given me lots of confidence. My first match on clay so im just stoked. Jamie murray and Dominic Inglot play in the doubles rubber later today and its live on bbc two and the bbc sport website from 1 oclock this afternoon. Lee westwood remains in contention at golfs European Tour event in malaysia after carding a two under par 70 in the third round. He goes into tomorrows final day on 12 under three behind spainsjorge campillo and Dylan Frittelli of south africa. Scotlands marc warren is joint fifth, one shot ahead of westwood on 13 under. He carded a third round of 69, which produced 5 birdies, including this one on the final hole. Thats all the sport for now. More to come through the afternoon. Next it is time for the weather with ben rich. In places, especially over high ground in the north, some snow. This will continue on a north through the afternoon, tending to fizzle away. Something greater into the west but with a scattering of heavy showers and temperatures not doing very well, 3 7d. Through this evening and tonight, patches of rain and tells zero will fizzle away. And