Transcripts For BBCNEWS BBC News 20240714

As donald trump has said, we were ten minutes away from war. More than 50 hours of surgery, and extraordinary skill a special report on the great ormond street team as they start a series of operations to separate these twins. Hello and welcome to bbc news. First to washington, where the four democratic congresswomen told to go back where from they came from by President Trump have accused him of violating his oaths and American Values and trying to distract attention from failed policies. His remarks have been widely condemned. The four women say mr trump has been openly racist and that his attacks are part of a White Nationalist agenda. Despite the occupant of the white houses attempts to marginalise us and to silence us, please know that we are more than four people. We ran on a mandate to advocate for and represent those ignored, left out and left behind. Our squad is big. Our squad includes any person committed to building a more equitable and just world, and that is the work we want to give back to. And given the size of this squad, and this great nation, we cannot, we will not be silenced. A few hours ago the president added more fuel to the fire, taking to twitter again, saying earlier, he accused the congresswomen of hating the United States. If youre not happy here, then you can leave. As far as im concerned, if you hate our country, if youre happy here, you can leave. Muted applause thats what i say all the time. Thats what i said in a tweet, which i guess some people think is controversial. A lot of people love it, by the way. A lot of people love it. But if youre happy in the us, if youre complaining all the time, very simply, you can leave. You can leave right now. The bbcs david willis is in washington. Ina sense, in a sense, this is a new level, but ina in a sense, this is a new level, but in a sense it is nothing new, is it . Those who voted for donald trump knew who he was and what he was and they still voted him into power. Absolutely, and i think it comes down now to an attempt by the president to frame next years president ial election as a choice between a pro capitalist american loving president , and a bunch of socialists who hate the United States. The problem is, there are even those in his own party who dont go along with this, who dont like the rhetoric, and we have heard that nancy pelosi, the house speaker, is intending to table a motion calling for condemnation of President Trumps remarks, and although we have seen some fairly junior republicans come out to attack these remarks by donald trump, there has been a deafening silence, you might say, from senior members of his own party. Yes, the four democrats saying that he is trying to distract from failed policies, with the raids and deportations he threatened not happening this weekend, allegations of human rights abuses at the border, and he failed to get the Citizenship Question onto the test, and also the epstein issues, but he is. Exactly, and i think what he has done is elevate the profile of these four congress women, one of whom, ilhan omar, the only one of the four who was born outside of the us, said this evening that the agenda of White Nationalism has reached the white house. She went on to call for President Trump to be impeached, and another of the four women, alexandria ocasio cortez, recalled a comment of her father when he brought her here to washington, dc as a child, he said, this country belongs to everyone. Where do you see this going next, if it is possible to predict . where do you see this going next, if it is possible to predict . I think President Trump is intent on doubling down on this. I think there area doubling down on this. I think there are a lot of Senior Republicans who dont have it in them to take him on, for the simple reason that he crushes opponents on twitter, but also because he is the most popular amongst the Republican Base that they have seen in a long time, as far as republicans are concerned, and he has the support of his base and he has the support of his base and there are a lot in the republican party, a lot of members, who think that that is what they need to cling to in order to get themselves across the line come the elections next year. So may be plenty more to come, david, thank you very much. Mexico has objected to the Trump Administrations latest effort to stem the flow of Central American migrants seeking asylum in the United States. From tuesday the United States will deny people from Central America the right to claim asylum if theyve already passed through another country without applying. The bbcs will grant is in havana. President trump often tries to characterise people coming across the southern border as coming from mexico, but in fact they are usually coming from Central America, and thatis coming from Central America, and that is the point here . Thats absolutely right. I think the point that you make in the introduction, that you make in the introduction, that if people do not apply on their way through a country towards the United States, that makes them ineligible for asylum there. That is a huge step. Lets face it, if you are coming from honduras or guatemala or el salvador, passing through mexico first, the suggestion is that you must apply there first, and if that fails you would be able to apply in the us. The legitimacy of the application process is being called into question by those who say this is completely unfair, because it will make it essentially impossible for Central Americans to make it into the us through legal means, and not just make it into the us through legal means, and notjust Central Americans, of course. Venezuela, where i am now in cuba, across the caribbean and beyond. Senior people in the Un Refugee Agency suggesting this new policy would be in breach of international law. What are the applications of that . |j of international law. What are the applications of that . I think we can safely say there will be a lot of legal challenges. I believe the aclu has lodged one already. I think the point is that we have to see this within the wider context of the immigration policy being drafted, the asylum policy in particular. President trump wants to create, for example, conditions where guatemala would be considered what is called a safe third country. By no stretch of the imagination, if you know Central American politics, can guatemala be considered safe. Obviously the people fleeing honduras and so on spills over to guatemala, whether conditions are as bad. That is just pa rt conditions are as bad. That is just part of the broader context. The Trump Administration is constantly undermining that, they see a crisis here on the southern border, one that they are going to go for with all the legal tools at their disposal. Irans recent breaches of the International Nuclear accord have been played down by the European Unions top diplomat. In brussels, Federica Mogherini said the eu doesnt want to take steps that might lead to the collapse of the agreement. The us abandoned it last year, and imposed sweeping sanctions, prompting iran to begin reneging on the deal. Gavin lee is in brussels for us. Well, the eu is caught in the middle here. 28 Foreign Ministers meeting today to work out how they can keep the nuclear deal with iran, signed four years ago yesterday, in place when it looks increasingly volatile. With the us already having pulled out of that, trying to keep something together, and the americans wanting the eu to what we heard from the us secretary of state in the past 2a hours to agree unilaterally with the us and actually start to pull away from this thing. What we heard today from Federica Mogherini, the Foreign Affairs chief or the eu, she said the deal is not in good health, but it is still alive. It is not quite the 11th hour but shes not sure many days or months steel still has left. Jeremy hunt, the prospective buyer ministerial candidate in the uk, the current foreign secretary, same within a year the iranians will be able to develop Nuclear Capability if they cannot keep the deal on the table. And the spanish, french and germans writing an open letter to the us and the iranians to urge calm and a level of peace in the debate. Well, irans foreign minister, Mohammad Javad zarif, has been speaking to bbc hardtalks Zeinab Badawi about the tensions in the region. He warns theres a risk his country could stumble into war. Of course there is a possibility of accident, but we cannot leave our own neighbourhood. Those who have come from outside have to decide why are they in that neighbourhood, and whether their presence in that neighbourhood is helping stability and security in that neighbourhood. How high do you think the possibility is of accidental war . As donald trump has said, we were ten minutes away from war because had they taken measures against iran, donald trump had been told that iran would be taking measures in self defence. What kind of measures would you have taken . Im not a military man, so ill leave that to the military. Weve heard statements from iranian authorities that there have been attacks on countries such as saudi arabia and dubai, if there was any military action against them. We dont take blind action. Anyone who is helping the us in its war against iran the us is currently engaged in economic war against iran, and there are countries that are supplying the us with logistical support, with reconnaissance, and that means they are participating in the war. So we are not. So that could happen, you could target allies in the gulf . Us allies . there is a war, if there is a war that i dont think anyone will be safe in our region. Let us all try to avoid one, we dont need a war. At least three Million People have been displaced across north and North Eastern india as monsoon takes lives and destroys homes. Storms and floods have ripped through areas of nepal, bangladesh and india, killing more than 130 people. Gareth barlow reports. Southern asia underwater as the annual monsoon unleashes a deluge of rain. More than 100 people have been killed. With homes inundated and travel disrupted, more bad weather is on the way. Translation for four days there have been floods. We didnt get any relief or tarpaulin sheets. We are Drinking Water from the river. We ask the government to give us relief materials so we will survive. All of us are staying on this embankment with goats and cattle. Across the region, millions have been displaced. In bangladesh, 18 People Killed by lightning. In nepal, at least 67 killed by torrential rain. In india, more than 1800 villages swamped in one state alone. Translation the river is flowing above the danger level. Every hour it is increasing to 3 centimetres, and there is a possibility of the water level rising further. The monsoon season lasts until september, meaning more rain and storms, more death and devastation. Stay with us on bbc news, still to come he was the fourth man to walk on the moon, but how about alan beans relatives back here on earth . We hear about life as an astronaut family. After months of talks and missed deadlines, a deal has been struck to keep greece within the eurozone. The immediate prospect of greece going bust, in the worst crisis to hit the eurozone, has been averted. Emergency services across Central Europe are stepping up their efforts to contain the worse floods this century. Nearly 100 people have been killed. Broadway is traditionally called the great white way by americans, but tonight its completely blacked out. Its a timely reminder to all americans of the problems that the Energy Crisis has brought to them. Leaders meet in paris for a summit on pollution, inflation and third world debt. This morning, theyjoined the revolution celebrations for a show of military might on the champs elysees. Finally, wildlife officials in australia have been coping with a penguin problem. Fairy penguins have been staggering ashore and collapsing after gorging themselves on a huge shoal of their favourite food pilchards. Some had eaten so much they could barely stand. This is bbc news. The latest headlines four democratic congresswomen told by President Trump to go back to their countries have described his comments as a racist attempt to distract from his failing policies. Europe says tehrans breach of the nuclear deal is not significant. Irans foreign minister says the us can avoid a war in an exclusive interview with the bbc. Two years ago twin sisters safa and marwa were born in pakistan, joined at the head. Its an incredibly rare condition, but now surgeons at great ormond street hospital in london have successfully separated the girls. The surgery was so complex it was performed over several stages totalling more than 50 hours and involving a huge team. In the first of three reports this week on conjoined twins, our medical correspondent fergus walsh and producer Rachael Buchanan have had exclusive access to the family and the surgery. So we have one case for the list today safa and marwa, two kids, one case. Theyre in this journey together. In order for one of them to do well, theyve both got to do well. Joined at the head, safa and marwa have never seen each other. This is the start of an incredible journey, aimed at giving them independence. It is october 2018 at great ormond street hospital. Their mum has been praying for this day for nearly two years. Safa and marwa are what is known as craniopagus twins. Their skull is one long tube. Its incredibly rare. The 21 month old girls have separate brains, but they are misshapen. The surgery is so complex, it will happen in three stages over several months. The twins wont be physically separate until the final operation. So we can see the artery, but to do anything to it, well use the microscope. Each twin is supplying the others brain with blood. Cutting these connections is dangerous, and will take two operations to complete. So the artery from safa going to supply marwas brain has been clamped. The twins have been in theatre now for more than seven hours, and there is still seven hours of the operation to go. So far, everything is going to plan, and both girls are doing well. This central segment will be our rigid keel, to hold the head together. A frame is made from pieces of the twins skull, which can be detached in later operations. Being older, theyre pretty active, and so whatever we do really has to be Strong Enough to resist the twisting and bending forces that theyll be putting on their heads. The twins are from pakistan. Ideally the surgery should have been done a year earlier, when healing ability is strongest, but there were delays finding a donor to pay the medical costs. s despite the risks, the family and doctors believe it is right to go ahead. It is clearly very difficult to go through life when youre joined together like that. Piece so it does make a very persuasive case in favour of doing attempting the separation, and the family are very clear on that. If we felt there wasnt a high chance we could do it safely, we would be thinking carefully about whether we should do it or not. And i think the whole team feel that theres an excellent chance of a successful separation here. Models of the twins brains and shared skull have been created using a 3d printer. One, two, three and come up. For surgeons, its massively helpful. So actually being able to touch and hold things makes so much difference to understanding how things are. This hemisphere, which is the right hemispheres of the brain, is standing up, and so this is actually projecting into the other childs skull. What we need to achieve is to untwist the brains, and thats pretty difficult to do, just in your head. And this is surgery without scalpels. Absolutely incredible this is exactly what we wanted. Using virtual reality. It works, it really works. So now we can see a whole lot more information, a level of detail we havent been able to access previously. I mean, this is clearly the way of the future. A month after the first operation, the twins are back in theatre. Surgeons have to finish separating their shared blood vessels. Theres something oozing deep down there that i cant see at the moment. But marwas heart begins to fail. They fear losing her. Were not stable, but we are less unstable. Good enough for me. The crisis passes. Because marwa is the weaker twin, the surgeons give her a major blood vessel, to increase her chances of survival. But it disadvantages safa. Shortly after the 20 hour operation, she has a stroke. We were very close to losing her. She stayed in that critical state for a8, 72 hours after the surgery. It was a very difficult time for the girls, their families, and the entire team looking after them. But, after a lengthy time in intensive care, both twins pulled through. The last two months after their last operation on the brain has been a little bit of a stormy time for safa and marwa. But theyre hanging in there, and are both reasonably well. The next challenge will be to separate the girls. Fergus walsh, bbc news. More on that extraordinary story 0011. Lets get some of the days other news Anti Terrorism police in northern italy have seized an air to air missile and other sophisticated weapons during raids on far right extremist groups. Neo nazi propaganda was also seized, in the raids. Three people have been arrested. The raids were part of an investigation into italian far right help for russian backed separatist forces in eastern ukraine. South africas former president jacob zuma has told an inquiry that allegations of corruption against him were a conspiracy aimed at removing him from the political scene. The inquiry is investigating allegations that mr zuma oversaw a web of corruption during his term in office. The former South African president has denied breaking the law. Apollo 11s Historic Mission paved the way for Space Exploration and apollo 12 was the first to follow in november of 1969. On board that rocket was astronaut alan bean, the fourth man to walk on the moon. His wife and daughter have spoken to the bbc about life as an astronauts family. Men were leaving the earth to land on the ocean of stones. My father is alan bean and he was the pilot on apollo 12, fourth man to walk on the itiooii. He was not your typical astronaut stop he didnt come across as superman show, although he was kommer but he was more introverted and artistic. Allen was such a dedicated pilot and a dedicated astronaut and really a dedicated american. Our neighbourhood was very close to nasa. Everyone was either an engineer, a flight controller, a physician. They had a very focused gold. We didnt really think about it that much. Ijust knew he was training to go into space. March the eighth was very exciting launch date. It was a rainy day. Me and the whole family gathered around. He trained 7. 5 years. We were just excited it was finally going to happen. Wed been waiting for so long. Three, two, one, zero, all engines running. Commence, lift off. When that goes, theres so much noise. The ground shakes, the birds fly. We just went off to school, because thats what we were supposed to do. Mum trying to keep our normal routine as kids. Of course, we were enjoying the moment and being there, but we have to keep doing what we we re but we have to keep doing what we were supposed to do, and that was important to our dad stop you always have at the back of your mind that something could go wrong. And he told me, remember, im im doing what i always love so dont worry. I did have great confidence in his skill. Wed rather he did what he loved even though it had a big risk. I cant believe it, amazing start the countdown, go for landing. The day that he landed on the moon, it was about 12 30pm houston time, and we we re was about 12 30pm houston time, and we were alljust sitting around watching the tv and hoping for the best. No one else can tell you i love you to the moon and back and really mean it. I know that that was true. So often he would say, how his thoughts would drift back to his family. When he was on the moon, he looked up and saw that earth and thought, gosh, everybody i love is over there. When they first got home, he had lost a lot of weight. He was a finicky eater, and that space food was not his thing. You know, he didnt talk about it a lot when he came home. Not that he wasnt proud or anything, but he just wanted to be with his family, you know . When you see somebody thats been working so hard and has such a dream, wejust working so hard and has such a dream, we just knew how hard hed worked. And we had too stop in both of my parents, they made a lot of sacrifices. He really did love us to the moon and back. I think hes still up there thinking about us. Life as an astronauts family. Finally four democratic congresswomen told by President Trump to go back to their countries have described his comments as a racist attempt to distract from his failing policies. Chuck schumer, the Democratic House leader, said republicans have made a deal with the devil and said that no american president has been so open and bigoted so often. Thats it for now. Thank you. Hello again. Well take a look at the weather picture through tuesday, and i think theres going to be quite a bit of cloud in the sky first thing in the morning, because this is whats going on at the moment. Weve got a stripe of cloud in the west. This is a weather front thats going to be pushing eastwards. As it does so, it is all the time pushing into an area of high pressure, so the front itself is going to be a weak affair, but it will provide the focus for some showers. Now, for Northern Ireland and also for scotland, expect some showers running in here over the next few hours, so it might be worth taking a waterproof jacket with you or an umbrella if youre heading outside over the next few hours. There is also the chance of some shower developments in north wales and north west england, but otherwise, across eastern england, eastern scotland, its going to be a dry morning. Now, through the rest of the day, those showers in Northern Ireland and scotland will continue on and off through the morning. As the heat of the day builds further southwards, well see further shower Development Across wales, Northern England, and perhaps the midlands as well. Some of the heavier showers could be across more eastern portions of england, perhaps across the pennines, somewhere like that. But towards the south east, its going to be a fine, sunny afternoon, feeling warm and humid, temperatures up to 27. But more typically, temperatures for most areas low to mid 20s. Now, looking at the low pressure into the middle part of the week, an area of low pressure is going to be moving off the atlantic, ultimately pushing a band of rain in, with strengthening north westerlies as well. So turning wet for Northern Ireland and western scotland through the morning. A dry start for eastern scotland and for england and wales on wednesday, with some morning sunshine. Things will tend to cloud over as the day goes by, with the rain getting into western fringes of england and wales, and across into eastern scotland as well. Now, to the east of our weather front, thats where the highest temperatures are going to be. Well still be reaching temperatures of around 25 for norwich and london, still feeling rather humid, but ultimately that weather front will push through. Its a cold front, and it will be bringing that fresher air right the way across the country by the time we get to thursday. So thursdays a day of rain clearing, followed by some drier weather and sunshine for england and wales. Showers moving into Northern Ireland and scotland, and perhaps Northern England as well. The showers quite widespread, heavy, and likely to be thundery at times too. Temperatures high teens across northern areas, 23, 2a degrees in the warmest spots further south. What about the end of the week . Well, another area of low pressure looks set to move in, but theres a lot of uncertainty how far north or south this ones going. Some models take it north, some move it right the way across southern parts of england and wales. Either way, it looks like its going to be unsettled for some of us, at least, through friday and on into the weekend, with rain at times. Thats your latest weather. This is bbc news. The headlines four democratic congresswomen told by President Trump to go back to their countries of origin have described his comments as a racist attempt to distract from his failing policies. Mr trump has again taken to twitter to accuse them of hating america. A senior democrat, chuck schumer, says republicans are making a deal with the devil by ignoring the racist tweets. The significance of irans breaches of the International Nuclear accord have been played down by the European Unions top diplomat. And in an exclusive interview irans foreign minister has warned that theres a risk his country could stumble into war with the United States. More than three Million People have been displaced across north and North Eastern india amid monsoon rain that has cost lives and destroyed homes. Storms and floods have ripped through areas of nepal,