Transcripts For BBCNEWS Beyond 100 Days 20180221

Tonight that will never be solved u nless we tonight that will never be solved unless we bring them to the lord jesus christ. And the evangelist billy graham, whos thought to have dies at the age of 99. Get in touch with us using the hashtag. beyond one hundred days hello im katty kay in washington and Christian Fraser is in london. Weve all seen too many Mass Shootings in the us to believe that the latest one in florida will produce significant changes to americas gun laws but the anger and determination of High School Students in the state is a new factor in this old debate. Today those teenagers took their campaign for tighter gun controls to the state capital of tallahassee. They marched to the government building, chanted slogans and met local politicians. Whether they can change anything, no one knows yet, but they are mobilising the support of their peers across the country, and we havent seen that before. Heres the bbcs north america editorjon sopel. A school trip like no other. These students from Marjorie Stoneman douglas havent come to the Florida State capital to listen. They have come to speak and demand change after 17 of their classmates and teachers were killed last week. And theyre determined to be heard. No one needs these weapons that are taking childrens lives, and they should just ban them because all they are used for is destruction. And theyre just not needed. You should go to School Feeling safe and be confident that you are there for an education and a bright future. Youre not here to worry about getting shot. These youngsters will be heard politely and given a warm reception by florida lawmakers. But last night those same people voted against even reopening a debate on semiautomatic weapons. The battle for gun control is going to be an uphill struggle. Youre not up here to give suggestions, you are up here to demand. But that decision not even to debate guns in the state assembly has infuriated pupils, teachers and Community Leaders alike. I buried personally in the last four days three kids from my congregation. I watched a father want to climb into the mausoleum with his son. I watched a mother curled up in a ball who refused to come out to be with herfamily for the funeral. And they have the gall to not even discuss the issue. We are very upset. But from the white house there are small but significant signs of movement. The president apparently in favour of raising to 21 the age at which people can buy weapons. And he tweeted this. Whether we are republican or democrat, who must now focus on strengthening background checks. And he announced yesterday that he wanted to ban bump stocks, the device used in las vegas that turns a semiautomatic rifle into a machine gun. These students have captured public attention with their demand for change. But those who have wearily trod this path before will tell you that winning support is a very different thing to winning reform. Jon sopel, bbc news, tallahassee. Among the students who travelled to the Florida State capitol today was julia salomone. I spoke to herjust a short while ago. On your way to tallahassee you said that you were hopeful that lawmakers would listen to you. Are you still hopeful having met them . Im still hopeful having met them . Im still hopeful about these lawmakers. Ive met with a few this morning and they have been very receptive of the message that we are trying to send that we want reform in gun laws and in the Mental Health system to make sure this does not happen again. Theyre listening to us and we do believe change will happen. You have a specific set of proposals that you would like to see happen when it comes to Gun Legislation and Mental Health . I would say there are just a few things i want to see, not necessarily set out specific things. But i would like to see a registration of firearms in the state of florida and the country in general, that would increase accountability for gun owners. And create safety. I want to see the age of buying and owning a gun raised to 21 for all firearms. I would like to see an extended waiting period for buying a gun. In florida you can walk into a store and buy a gun on the same day with no waiting period. I would like to see three months, six months, so safety can be increased in that area. You were in the school in parkland last week when it was attacked. You said you do not want your colleagues at school, your peers at school to have died in vain. Those who were killed. Do you think that this movement, that it can be attributed them . Yes. This movement is our tribute, so many of us have lost people we have grown up many of us have lost people we have grown up with, people we are close with. People we have been best friends with forever. I lost so many classmates personally and there will be empty seats in those classrooms. This move would make sure they do not die in vain at their lives were not die in vain at their lives were not lost and other lives will not be lost like theirs. So we are honouring them with this movement. How determined are you that there should be change . I am extremely determined that there has to be a change should up and determined to make that change was up and just pa rt make that change was up and just part of it, we are a collective force, not one aged people, we are an entire school and now and entire country of students and teachers and pa rents country of students and teachers and parents and everyone just wanting change to happen. And itjust started with us, now it is bigger than us. It is about honouring the lives of our classmates and making a change. Thank you. Theyre such good speakers and what strikes me about that interview, theyre not trying to divide people guns but looking for sensible solutions such as background checks and age limits. Entered yet we remain, even those sort of things should be achievable but will remain cynical because after sandy hook this kind of things were promised and Nothing Happened so what is different this time . Maybe it is these students and their parents and teachers got that is what we have never had before. After sandy hook the children were aged 67 and did not have contemporaries to speak up on their behalf. But these children from parkland have decided to make this their mission. What has to happen now for things to change it for them to become activists in the way people who are in favour of gun rights are acting. Something like five, 6 of the american voting population for whom the only issue would be built on is gun rights and they will inundate their lawmakers with phone calls and with protest about that. Now there must be the counterpart for that on the gun control site and the question is whether those students become that counterpart. We just do whether those students become that counterpart. Wejust do not whether those students become that counterpart. We just do not know that yet. We will have to see how the movement continues. Its been just over two weeks since february 11th and in that short space of time 346 syrians have been killed in Eastern Ghouta 878 more people have been injured. Those figures come from the un which is describing the situation in syria as a monstrous campaign of annihilation that must stop. A local resident has told the bbc that bombing is hitting every part of the enclave and a doctor tells us 1a separate medical centres have been put out of action. The result, says the un secretary general, is hell on earth for the four thousand people who live there. Our middle east editor jeremy bowen has more. The syrians deny targeting civilians in Eastern Ghouta. Explosions. These, they say, are precision strikes against artillery that has hit central damascus. Screaming. But the evidence from inside the enclave is that civilians are getting hurt and dying. The suffering of civilians could have a political effect. Putting pressure on the rebel groups in Eastern Ghouta to make a deal. The lives of their children against strategic front line territory near central damascus that the regime wants to get back. This activist says helicopters are hovering over us here in Eastern Ghouta. God help us, we are being exterminated. I was able to cross from government controlled damascus to Eastern Ghouta several times at the beginning of the war. Even then it was very badly damaged by regime bombing. Morale among the rebels was high and dozens of young men were joining what they believed was a revolution. What do you think will happen to assad . Killed. Must be killed. When the war started the regime was under severe pressure. It lost control of a crescent of suburbs around damascus. Eastern ghouta is the last of them that has not surrendered. In 2013 Eastern Ghouta was hit by a chemical attack that killed hundreds. The americans threatened a military strike against the regime and then decided against it. It was a turning point in the war after that the regime lost its fear of western intervention. In september 2015 russia intervened, decisively, on assads side. Now he is more secure and he is emboldened, more so than at any time since the war started. And the russians are becoming the dominant foreign power in the middle east. In Northern Syria the president has just sent militia men to join the fight against the turkish incursion. He would not have the confidence to move against nato power without the russians. And it suggests he will not listen to foreign condemnation of the attack on Eastern Ghouta. Jeremy bowen bbc news. Syria reminds me, those pictures we saw from aleppo a year and a half ago and we did not think we would see them again and the pattern is so familiar. We hope the United Nations say it is hell on earth but it does not too much. President assad says hes attacking terrorists in the region and he seems to carry on with these bombings totally with impunity because he has russia on his side. These bombings totally with impunity because he has russia on his sidelj do not see what could break the pattern. Well theyre used to be 12 enclaves around damascus and this is the last and he wants to secure his grip on damascus and on power. I think we will see more bloodshed in the coming days and not less. A pretty grim situation. President trump is preoccupied with the russia investigation and has now tweeted 20 times about the issue since last friday. Today he focused his anger not on moscow on putin, but on obama and the democrats. Heres mr trumps tweet from this morning. Question if all of the russian meddling took place during the Obama Administration, right up to january 20th, why arent they the subject of the investigation . Why didnt obama do something about the meddling . Why arent dem crimes under investigation . Askjeff sessions russia still denies any meddling. At the Munich Security Conference last weekend the former Russian Ambassador to washington was directly confronted about the interference by americas former ambassador to nato, nick burns. If were talking about nuclear security, your government has completely undermined the foundation for it. And you were ambassador when this was happening, so you must have known something about it. I have said already that we did not meddle in the american political life. And to suggest that we started meddling in elections that have not started is even more bizarre to hear. It is your life, it is your fight. And ambassador burnsjoined me from harvard a short time ago. Ambassador burns, President Trump tweeted today that the Obama Administration did not do anything, that they are the ones that should be investigated over the russia collusion issue. Was he right . He was wrong. This is a preposterous statement by President Trump. The facts are that president obama expelled 35 Russian Diplomats from the united states, closed two diplomatic compounds, russian compounds, in the united states. Sanctioned russia and told the American People in the president s last month, what the problem was, publicly acknowledged it. And urged the American People and congress to be wary of what russia was doing. President trump has done none of that. He refuses to this day even with all the tweets in the last couple of days to acknowledge that the russians launched a conspiracy, trump has refused to implement the sanctions voted overwhelmingly by the congress. President trumps statements today are just completely untrue. When you were at the Munich Security Conference over the course of the weekend you confronted the former Russian Ambassador to washington over the issue of meddling in american elections. And he seemed to almost echo the Trump Administration line that this is basically fake news. He did, this was a public forum in munich. I was the moderator and i decided i had to confront him with the facts that Robert Mueller had brought out in his indictment of the 13 russians that the russian government was behind this major conspiracy. Of course he and his boss the Russian Foreign minister sergei lavrov, they hid behind the Trump Administration statements. Sergei lavrov even quoted Vice President pence and other Administration Officials saying the allegations against russia were fake news. So i thought that was profoundly depressing for an american to hear that our president was basically using the same argument that the russians are using to deny the undeniable facts. That the russians interfered in a major way in our elections. And the president , our president , needs to atone for this. So ever since those indictments last week, President Trump has tweeted, i think im right in saying 21 times, about the russia investigation. Does it seem to you not only that this is getting under his skin, this investigation, but that it is preoccupying his presidency . Theres no question about it. I think it is hanging over his entire presidency. No one knows what is going to happen next in the Robert Mueller investigation except for director Robert Mueller and his team. But President Trump has gone overboard in a very unusual way with all of these tweets. What is remarkable to me is that he has never uttered any criticism of president putin. Why do you think that is . He has criticised everybody under the sun but not putin. What is your interpretation of that . You know this is the big question. My own view is that President Trump believes that any indication that russia may have interfered in the election somehow delegitimises President Trumps victory. Against Hillary Clinton. And he doesnt want that to happen. Hes proud of his victory, proud of the way he ran his race. He does not want to see it belittled. But that is not his firstjob. His firstjob is to defend the states. Dan coats who is President Trumps director of national intelligence, said last week that we are under attack by the russians. That we were in 2016, we are in the 2018 elections. And President Trump needs to get beyond himself, his own narrow concern, and be president of 320 million americans and defend us. And help our states to raise their defences. He has not done any of that. Ifind him entirely deficient in this basic role of being commander in chief. Nick burns, thanks very much forjoining me. The indictment of the 13 russians last week established that there was a conspiracy and anyone who supported it or knew about it, Robert Mueller could go after. I think belatedly the president has realised it has made it much more difficult for him to fire Robert Mueller. That seems to be the case. I cannot see why, any other reason for so many tweets in the last few days. That and his National Security adviser saying at the same munich conference that there was undoubtedly russian intervention in the us election, now i think it will be difficult for him as you say to fire Robert Mueller. Theres also talk amongst lawyers here in this town is Robert Mueller has also gone after a lawyer of a Foreign National and theyre all saying this is serious, hes not going to stop at anything but we do not know whether donald trump is reluctant to Say Something about president putin because the russians do have some kind of information about him or because as nick burns suggested he is worried his election victory would be regarded as not legitimate. The watergate investigation took two yea rs the watergate investigation took two years and may take that long but there will be answers about by this president is so reluctant to criticise putin and the russians and so criticise putin and the russians and so reluctant to say there was russian involvement in the us elections. The British Charity save the children has apologised to three female employees who complained about inappropriate behaviour by its former chief executive. Justin forsyth resigned from the organisation after being accused of sending inappropriate texts. Save the children has admitted proper procedures were not followed while investigating the complaints in 2015 and says it has launched a review of its organisational culture. A new study by scientists in france suggests heavy drinkers may risk the early onset of dementia. Researchers looked at the habits of more than a Million People and found that of the 57,000 diagnosed with the disease before the age of 65, half had alcohol problems. Its thought that heavy drinking is associated with smoking, depression and other factors, which increase the risk of dementia. Environmental campaigners in the uk have won another victory in the high court after a judge ruled government plans to tackle air pollution are unlawful. The government has modified its plans to reduce harmful nitrogen dioxide in the past following previous rulings that levels are too high across britain. However, the court says still more needs to be done to comply with pollution laws. Its estimated that outdoor air pollution contributes to 40,000 early deaths a year in the uk. The american evangelist, billy graham, has died at the age of 99. Graham began preaching in october of 1947, and during the course of his life he is thought to have spoken to 215 Million People in more than 185 countries and territories around the world. He was the founder and the master of the art of tele evangelism. Mr graham was close to president s and world leaders. Today Buckingham Palace said the queen will send a private message of condolence to his family. But he was not without some controversy. He apologised after audio recordings revealed hed failed to criticise Richard Nixons anti semitic comments and he was criticised for preaching behind the iron curtain. The problems that face us tonight that will never be solved, unless we bring them to the lord jesus christ. Charismatic and handsome, billy graham preached a simple message that he took around the world. That people should turn tojesus. He had a remarkable effect on a sometimes disinterested public. God loves you and if theres one thing you get out of these days we are in edinburgh it is that god loves you. In 1954 london first experienced the force of the billy Graham Brandt of evangelism. We have come here at the invitation of these churches to lead you ina invitation of these churches to lead you in a crusade to win meant to jesus christ. As his reputation grew, so that the crowds. From new york to nigeria. He was god and he was also man. I want you to get out of your seat right now and say i wa nt of your seat right now and say i want my sins forgiven. It was as a billy game rally in earls court in 1966 the Cliff Richard publicly declared his christianity. He reached hundreds of millions. And he was courted by american president s. From nixon to clinton. Though he never took sides. Im looking forward to death because i wa nt to looking forward to death because i want to go into the glorious new world i believe everyone that knows jesus christ is going to go and i will have all the answers that now i would like to have cancers too. |j asked daddy what do you want on your tombstone and he thought and said, just preacher. That is it. Despite cancer and parkinsons disease, billy graham was just that. A preacher, into old age, and thousands still flocked to hear him. So how did this farm boy from North Carolina comes to speak to so many people around the world . What is amazing but the graham he was born at the end of the First World War but mastered the very modern technology of television. He understood that was how he was going to reach millions of people around the world. He was an icon, it is ha rd to overstate the world. He was an icon, it is hard to overstate his influence on the Christian Movement here in america. He bridged in south africa to integrated audiences, he preached in north korea and the soviet Union Service which was global for but if you track billy graham and his telly evangelical movement with the rise of evangelical christianity around the world there is a parallel. You could say he the founder of that. Most of my knowledge came from the crown all these president s since robert schumann, but he said he never advised them, all but he did was to pray with them. He was criticised for being too close to some of the president s and that was the source of some controversy. Now were focusing on this norwegian cioss were focusing on this norwegian Cross Country skier who has become the most successful winter olympian of all time after winning bronze in the Cross Country team sprint where we re the Cross Country team sprint where were the americans . That is marit bjoergen. This is beyond 100 days from the bbc. Coming up for viewers on the bbc news channel and bbc world news we return to the issue of gun control will talks between the president and survivors of some of the worst School Shootings bear fruit . And ever been to the nile . How bbc viewers can now explore it using the power of virtual reality. Thats still to come. Good evening. The weather is going to change over the next few days and things will become significantly colder. But today we had some beautiful sunny skies. There will be more sunshine to come because High Pressure is currently exerting influence across much of western europe. And it will feed in colder air in the coming days from the east. It turns quite chilly through tonight, some clear spells but also some areas of cloud. Temperatures in the towns and cities around freezing but dropping below out in the countryside. So thursday morning from any some spells of sunshine after a ny from any some spells of sunshine after any early mist and fog has cleared. Through the day generally more clout bubbling up. Still a decent look to the weather. More clout and the strengthening wind into Northern Ireland and the west of scotla nd into Northern Ireland and the west of scotland and temperatures around five, 7 degrees. Into friday a similar looking day, a lot of sunshine. Some areas of cloud here and there. The breeze perhaps becoming more noticeable down towards the south and making it feel a bit colder. Then we head into the weekend, High Pressure still the dominant feature. But it has moved further north at this stage across scandinavia. So the air is coming in all the way from siberia. Through the weekend things to turn increasingly cold. Getting down to perhaps 4 degrees is the maximum temperature on sunday. But adding on the strength of the winter it will feel even colder. And the High Pressure remains dominant as we get on into next week. What you can see on into next week. What you can see on the chart is just the suggestion that we might see some snow showers. As we continued to import those cold easterly winds. The cold air not only reaching the uk but going a way south across europe and some parts of the mediterranean. For as the amount of snow are uncertain as we get into next week but we can say it will be cold with a widespread frost and bitter wind. And the chance of some snow. This is beyond 100 days with me katty kay in washington. Christian frasers in london. Our top stories. Students in florida take to the streets in the state capital to demand stricter controls on gun sales. The un secretary general demands an immediate end to fighting in Eastern Ghouta in syria, saying the besieged rebel enclave has become hell on earth. Coming up in the next half hour. The american evangelist, billy graham, has died at the age of 99 after battling parkinsons disease for several years. He devoted his life to spreading the christian message. The massive dam that can control the river nile across three countries. But this multi billion dollar project in ethiopia could trigger a major regional conflict. Let us know your thoughts by using the hashtag. The United Nations secretary general has called for an immediate halt to all fighting in the syrian rebel enclave of Eastern Ghouta, which has come underfierce bombardment from Government Forces for a fourth day. Antonio guterres described the situation in the area as hell on earth. Local activists say that more than 40 people have been killed in air strikes today, i short time ago i spoke to and a short time ago i spoke to dr bassam bakri an anesthesiologist whos been treating patients today. And hes doing it in fear of his own wife, under the constant threat of bombardment. Feels not enough equipment. There is not enough equipment. There is not enough equipment. No medicine. Its so hard. Its catastrophic. We dont have morphine, we dont have any medicine. I dont know, its so hard. Does that mean that youre treating children and operating on children and you cant make them comfortable . Yes. It is so hard to treat children. There is no safe place to send them, not enough medicine, as i told you. No food. You cant feed them. We have money, maybe more than 330 injured children. And youre dying this amidst bombs falling around and youre doing this. Yes, maybe more than 200 bombardment and missiles. Artillery. So, you cannot imagine the danger and how it scales the children. And how its scares. It is so hard. How do you think this will end, doctor . I dont know. I will end, doctor . I dont know. I will stay here until people. Its our country, our towns. Well stay here and say people and help the injured. Thats what we have to do. What you say to the outside world, the International Community . The International Communityjust watching us and leaving us to be called. I dont know why. I dont know whats our fault, just ask for our freedom. Know whats our fault, just ask for ourfreedom. We know whats our fault, just ask for our freedom. We want some United Nations convoys, medicine and food. Stop killing. We need real pressure on this criminal regime. Terrible listening to that. Heres a humanitarian and doctor and cant help the patients with them. Theyre not even working in a hospital. Theyre having to hide in buildings and basements. Earlier today when trying to get in touch with him, he said, is it possible that we said, is it possible to get an interview . He said, ive been working flat out all day. Then he said, if i get time, if im alive. Our hearts go out to them. Returning now to the students from parkland, florida who are taking their calls for gun control to the states capital. Earlier many of them spoke passionately and here is just a sample. Iama i am a high school senior. I dont know the exact course of action to take. I dont know exactly what needs to be done. Ijust know that what were doing there was nowhere near enough. If i have to keep seeing neighbours die, friends die, other people on the news deal with this same tragedy. They do not deserve this. America does not deserve this. America does not deserve this. America does not deserve this. Humanity does not deserve this. Humanity does not deserve this. Humanity does not deserve this. That was an Amazing Group of articulate students who are so passionate. As those students press their case in florida, today the president is holding a listening session with students and teachers here in washington. For more on the politics of this we are joined now by former advisor to George W Bush, ron christie. You, like me have seen this happen time and time again after each of these events. We think things will change and america will find a way to stop these killings but that doesnt happen. It doesnt happen. One of the reasons is we have the Second Amendment in the united states. Its in the bill of rights. It says on the constitution youre allowed to bear arms. There has been such a growing politicalfight allowed to bear arms. There has been such a growing political fight after each one of these shootings where we think we will reform the gun laws and expand background checks but ultimately, the congress and president do nothing. Part of the reason on this and i think we have the numbers is that the number of people for her and our rights a single issue is a bigger number than those who want gun control. If you call your congressmen, they listen to you. Having worked in that area for many years, we had many calls saying, dont restrict my right to bear arms. And yet, they voted not to have a discussion on gun ownership. But devoted to have a discussion about pornography, that is bad for your elf. Nothing about the pornography of guns, which is terrible for the children gathered outside the state is in tallahassee. To elected representatives would even discuss it. These children are still traumatised by what happened to them and decided to exercise their First Amendment rights. To go to tallahassee and come to washington, dc. There was a big demonstration earlier today to demand lawmakers do something. We can debate with the right what the right course of action should be, but given the fact that the 1824 action should be, but given the fact that the 18 24 year old demographic is the largest one, larger than seniors any native states, these politicians better be worried because i think these young people will mobilise the vote. Ryan, thank you forjoining us. This is a debate we will return to several times. Oprah winfrey and various celebrities in hollywood have backed the students. Is that a good thing . No, at the moment, the key is the students. They are the offence take voices and new in this debate. We have had liberals in hollywood weighing in before, but the new thing now is these didnt. Is these students. He was americas pastor thats how former president George W Bush described billy graham and today the tributes have been pouring in for the preacher who reached millions. The spirtual guidance he gave to multiple us president s is the topic of a book coauthored by nancy gibbs former editor in chief of time. She joins us from new york now. Nancy, guilmette billy graham several times while you were researching this book. What was it about him, do you think, that catapulted him from end of the First World War birth to farm boy, to being the famous preacher he became . Well he of course would say that it was not anything he did, it was what god did. In a way, that tells you everything you need to know. Somehow, a man who spent more years in public life on the public stage than almost any figure in the 20th century managed to not have that com pletely century managed to not have that completely distorted view of the world and have pride go to his head. By world and have pride go to his head. By the 1950s, he was photographed at more than Marilyn Monroe and he was more than Marilyn Monroe and he was more famous than those president s he became such good friends with. And i think that at some level, extraordinary humility that he managed to hang onto, despite the same and the millions and millions of people who would come out to hear him night after night. Really distinguished him and gave his message a kind of resonance with atomic age population who wanted reassurance and understanding of something that felt real, affecting an accessible to them. He came from that tumultuous time in unaided in the 1960s in the native states. But he managed to reach people around the world. Was it through television that he understood this new means of Mass Communication . He certainly did. He understood radio. He had a newspaper column and published books. He had a massive audience that never saw him in person. On the other hand, he is probably an individual who spoke to more people in person than anyone who has ever lived. Well over 200 Million People. So it was both. People would come to see him at these enormous receives all over the world but then he also had his virtual ministry that was ecumenical, global and used every form of medium available to him very shrewdly. He understood the power of media far better than certainly most religious speakers of age. But there was the controversy. He went behind the iron curtain at a time when that wasnt done. Why do you think he did that . He did it because he felt every human being has the same need to hear the gospel. And he was pretty immune to the criticism, because, in a way, he could answer by saying, he needs to hear gods worth more than the people who are enslaved by communism or do not enjoy freedom of religion in the country . So he was fully prepared to withstand criticism if it allowed him to preach in places where christian leaders had never stepped footin christian leaders had never stepped foot in recent years. And he gave the indication that the invocation at nine president ial inauguration. Residents done to him in their darkest hours. What was it about and that they wanted to talk to and what spiritual guidance to tea for them . This is whats remarkable. He was valuable to them privately and publicly. The kind of things they talked about in private, from eisenhower wanting to know whether he would see his parents in heaven, and johnson, who was terribly afraid of death, wanted billy graham to fly with him because he would say, god is not going to let this plane Godin Billy Graham is on it. When Ronald Reagan was shot, nancy reagan took to the hospital. When Hillary Clinton faced enormous turmoil in her marriage, billy graham is the one she wanted to talk to. These are most intimate, private kind of emotional and spiritual issues. At the same time, he was enormously valuable to these public figures in public. And to have billy graham at yourside, figures in public. And to have billy graham at your side, whether that your inauguration of the night before the gulf war began for president bush 41, after the Oklahoma City bombing for bill clinton, after 9 11 for George W Bush, at these moments of enormous National Pain and concern, having billy graham there was a signal to the country that the president is a thoughtful, spiritual man and people are praying for him. With him. Nancy, thank you for sharing those stories, as we remember billy graham. A letter sent to the uk Prime Ministerfrom 60 brexit supporting mps makes clear they are not prepared to swallow many more compromises when it comes to breaking free from the eu. Its the timing of the letter thats important. It comes on the eve of tomorrows away day summit at chequers in which theresa may hopes to bring all sides together. Its clearly not going to be easy. Whats more, a leaked government document leaves some ambiguity over the length of time the transition period should last. Earlier, i talked to influential conservative back bencherjohnny mercer. I put it to him that the Prime Minister goes to chequers tomorrow to hammer out a deal with colleagues who might be clear that they dont wa nt to who might be clear that they dont want to compromise. Im beginning to get fed up with all these letters going to the Prime Minister. I think she has a going to the Prime Minister. I think she has to 2 f . , going to the Prime Minister. I think she has to getee. , going to the Prime Minister. I think she has to get this 5 going to the Prime Minister. I think she has to get this settlement right moment to get this settlement right for the next ten, 20 years. And i dont want to see her bullied by factions of the party. Theres actually a hell of a lot more people who didnt sign that letter as parliament. I the concerns of those who did, but we should calm down a bit and get behind the Prime Minister, get this deal done. That is what people want, who voted for us. We have also seen a leaked government document which is rather ambiguous about the length of transition there would be when brett lee the European Union. Your voters in plymouth voted to leave. Would they be happy with an open ended transition . No, i dont think they would. We need a clearly defined time where people can see what the planners. Speaking to people in businesses, they want that vision and timeline. What is this transition going to look like and how long will it last for . What does the future like beyond that . That is what we need to focus on. I accept that they will be elements of negotiation in this and some might wa nt to negotiation in this and some might want to see it open ended. I dont think that is at it. People voted to leave and we need to get on with it. It transition phase may be part of it but not an open ended one. Outside of the 60 mps who wrote the letter, what do backbenchers think . Another debate is of course the customs union. People say it is not possible to keep the border in ireland open if you leave the customs union. I am not going to pretend i know the answer to what the problem is in Northern Ireland. There is clearly an issue to how we have frictionless trade with the European Union and when you leave the customs union. I want to see a gracious brexit with give and take ona number of gracious brexit with give and take on a number of different sides. But ultimately, we get the best results for the people in this country who voted to leave the European Union. And yes, there clear issues around Northern Ireland and the customs union. The department under david davis and the Prime Minister are working as hard as they can to get through that now. The time to judge them, and through that now. The time to judge them, and i know that is that nothing patted the thick time to judge them is when this is done. You would agree it is time for the plan . Ido would agree it is time for the plan . I do agree. I think we need to see a bit more vision and a programme to like the way ahead so that businesses in places like plymouth have an idea of what is going on. I was with the cbi today and yes, it is tough. People knew this would happen. I dont buy this argument that people did not know what they we re that people did not know what they were voting for. They were stupid voting for brexit. It was clearly laid out by the remain campaign and david cameron. People knew this would be difficult. But lets get on and work harder to get a plan so people can start making decisions posted 2019 when we actually leave. The future is bright but we need to light it up and show that vision to people in this country. This is beyond 100 days. Still to come the river nile in virtual reality. We take a different perspective on the project to build africas biggest hydroelectric dam. Two victims of the black cab rapist john worboys have won a Landmark Legal case against the metropolitan police after officers failed to take action when they reported him. The Supreme Court ruling means police may now face legal action if they fail to properly investigate serious cases. Heres our legal correspondent, clive coleman. For years, john worboys cruised the streets of london in his black cab looking for women to dupe, drug and sexually assault. This woman, known for legal reasons as dst, was attacked by warboys in 2003 and was the first to report him to police. I put my trust in the police. I went to them, for them to sort this out. I knew who had attacked me. Didnt know his name but i knew who was responsible for this. They had all the information there, they should have caught him, they could have stopped him. Warboys was able to continue to attack women until he was finally brought to justice in 2009. Dsd and another warboys victims brought a legal challenge claiming claiming the Police Failures breached their human and amounted to inhuman and degrading treatment. The metropolitan Police Fought them to the Supreme Court. Today, the court ruled in the womens favour. We have held that failures in the investigation of crimes, provided they are sufficiently serious, will give rise to liability on the part of the police. And we have further found that there were such serious deficiencies in this case. Todays landmark ruling has huge implications for both of Violent Crime and the police who investigate it. If they seriously fail in an investigation, they can face human rights actions by the victim and have to pay out compensation. Todays judgment cant make up for the Police Errors in investigating john worboys. But it will put real pressure on them to ensure such mistakes dont happen again. The project to build africas biggest hydroelectric dam on the river nile is threatening to provoke a major conflict between some of the countries affected. The dam is being built by ethiopia, and sudan says it welcomes the prospect of cheaper power. But the egyptians are deeply unhappy fearing the flow through the aswan dam and on to cairo will be weakened, in a country already facing serious water shortages. Our africa correspondent Alastair Leithead has travelled to all three countries and sent the first of his special reports from ethiopia. Lake tana. The source of the blue nile. A sacred lake of mystery and legend way up in the ethiopian highlands. But as this great river launches itself on a long journey to the sea, there are Turbulent Times ahead between the three countries that share its waters. Its all about this. The grand ethiopian renaissance dam. Five years in and two thirds finished, this multibillion dollar dam can already control the flow of the nile and thats upsetting downstream egypt. When its finished, this will be the largest hydroelectric power station in africa. And one of the biggest dams on the continent. It will not only power this country, but the surrounding countries as well. And ethiopia didnt even ask the countries downstream before it started building. That is the scale of this countrys ambition. This project is a project that is being built by ethiopians. And that will benefit other african brothers, sisters, and other countries across the globe. The project manager insists that downstream countries should not worry. As it will not consume any water. The reservoir it creates will be bigger than greater london. It will flood the river valley for 250 kilometres upstream. But if it is filled up too quickly, the flow of the nile, 85 of which comes from here, will be reduced. That is what egypt is worried about. These pylons will soon take cheap power to sudan which supports the dam. It will bring electricity to some of the 70 million ethiopians without. And it will drive ethiopias industrial ambitions. Modernisation is already changing life in the capital addis ababa. Ethiopia wants to pull its people out of poverty, to create jobs and get over its historic image of drought and famine. To the government, Economic Growth is everything. More important than human rights or democracy. And the dam is a modern defining national project. It is one of the most important flagship projects for ethiopia. So egypt has nothing to worry about . Theres nothing to worry about. It is not about control of the flow. It is really about providing opportunity for us to develop ourselves. The dam can already control the flow of the river. But its full impact downstream isnt yet known. It is a political row that is pulling in the neighbouring countries. And we can find out a bit more about some of the stunning pictures you saw in that report because Alastair Leithead is here. I spent all afternoon in a vr lab with this man today. He has done the most extraordinary thing in television. Go to the front page of the bbc website and get some of these goggles that we will show you. These are the cardboard goggles. He has done this extraordinary Vr Experience down the nile so that you can actually look around and ill like this and follow the story. Tell us about how you did it. It is a very different way of broadcasting. Asa very different way of broadcasting. As a former Foreign Correspondent yourself, your job is as a former Foreign Correspondent yourself, yourjob is to take people to places will stop explain things to places will stop explain things to them and get them to understand stuff. But when you can actually ta ke stuff. But when you can actually take them there and show it to them. This is cardboard, it is a cheap version, about eight or 9. You put your phone in the front, put some headphones on and youre in that virtual world. It is so immersive. This is the camera here. Your best friend. Margin. It films in 360. You want, the clouds, at your feet. Its the sound as well. Ifi your feet. Its the sound as well. If i look at you here, i get the soundin if i look at you here, i get the sound in this year but overhear, different sense. Do that . That spatial audio. You can do that with good headphones. We get the sound and located in space and people can be drawn to look in the right place. As you say, you can look anywhere. You could see it with that interview with the minister elliott. You could see his desk, things like that. Having experience of being there as well as hearing the story. This is really cool and their loved one you did on the website. But they have to say, iam did on the website. But they have to say, i am a little bit disappointed because i thought you would come into the studio with something super high tech and supermodel and all youve got is a little Cardboard Box thats the point. We need to try get people to use these things. Its hassle to get a bit of kit to put your phone in and watch this stuff. But its worth it. What were trying to do, doing this film, while were on a journey on the river nile anyway, is to get people to look at it and see it the way that we want to it. The best way to see it is going to bbc. Com. We are after the nile because that looked like too much fun. These Foreign Correspondents dont know theyre born. I used to have to go to these places and film things myself how the world has changed. Thanks forjoining us. That was great. Good evening. The feel of the weather is going to change in the next few days and things will become significantly colder. But the look of the weather should change much. Today, we had beautiful sunny skies from this weather watcher in cumbria. More sunshine to come because High Pressures currently exerting its influence across much of western europe. As the high remains in place in the coming days, colder air remains in place in the coming days, colderair in our remains in place in the coming days, colder air in our direction from the east. In fact, colder air in our direction from the east. Infact, it colder air in our direction from the east. In fact, it will come quite chilly out there tonight. Some clear spells but that is quoted as well and perhaps mist and fog patches for parts of east anglia, yorkshire and north east england particularly. Temperatures in towns and cities hovering around freezing but dropping below right in the countryside. So we get into thursday morning and for many, spells of sunshine once any early mist and fog clears. As we go through the day, generally more cloud bubbling up. Sunny spells rather than clear blue skies. A decent look to the weather. More cloud and strengthening winds and in Northern Ireland and western scotla nd and in Northern Ireland and western scotland and those temperatures typically around 5 7dc. Into friday, similar looking day. A lot of sunshine to be had with some areas of cloud floating round here and there. The breeze perhaps becoming more noticeable down the south, making it feel a little bit colder. Temperatures on the for monitor still restoring 4 7dc. Into the weekend, High Pressure still the dominant stage. This time, it is moved to scandinavia, allowing us to bring the air other way from siberia. Through the week, things will turn increasingly cold. Getting men for celsius, which is the maximum damage on sunday. Add on the strength of the easterly wind, it will feel even colder than that. That area of High Pressure remains dominant as we head into next week. What you can see on the chart here is just the what you can see on the chart here isjust the suggestion what you can see on the chart here is just the suggestion that we might see some snow showers as well, as we continue to import those cold easterly winds. The cold air not only reaching the uk. It will get a long way south and some buzz of the mediterranean could see a lot of snow. Very uncertain as we get into next week but we can certainly say that it will be cold with widespread frost, bitter wind and a chance of some snow. This is bbc news. The headlines at 8pm. Judges call the Police Investigation into the serial Rapistjohn Worboys seriously defective. His victims could now claim compensation. Disagreements over the brexit transition period a government document suggests ministers want it to last longer than the 21 months suggested by brussels. Hell on earth the verdict of the head of the un on the syrian capitals last rebel holdout as it emerges regime bombing has killed around 300 people this week. New figures show the strongest six months of growth in economic productivity since the recession of 2008. Also this hour growing calls to tighten gun laws in the us. Survivors of the High School Shooting in florida march through the state capital, demanding changes to the law. Students say theyre determined to be heard