Transcripts For BBCNEWS BBC News 20240712

Including atlanta and denver, activists make a stand outside the white house, calling for justice for victims of police attacks. Three, two, one, zero. Ignition. Left off. Go nasa, go spacex. God bless bob and doug. A new era for space travel, as the first ever comercial rocket carrying people into space is successfully launched. Welcome to bbc news. There is no sign at all of an end the protests that have spread all over the United States in the last five days. They began to mark the death of george floyd, an African American man from minneapolis who died as a Police Officer knelt on his neck. Some have now turned violent, with buildings set alight, shops looted, and Police Vehicles set alight. Crowds are gathering in los angeles, new york, washington, detroit, atlanta chicago and philadelphia, and many more cities. These are life pictures from new york. It has just gone nine p. M. New york. It has just gone nine p. M. Protesters have new york. It has just gone nine p. M. Protesters have been out on the streets all afternoon in new york. Demonstration starting peacefully, people gathering, blocking the streets and roads, and arrests started to be made and there were arrests around times square, and then scuffles between the police, lines of Police Officers, and protesters staying out on the streets. These are helicopter pictures of things looking relatively calm right now in new york. But right across the United States, these scenes are playing out on these scenes are playing out on the streets of cities from coast to coast, people angry at the treatment of george floyd, angry at perceived Police Violence. Now, it all started here in minneapolis, in the state of minnesota. In minnesota, it is now after 8 00pm, and the state governor, tim walz has pleaded for residents to stay home. The major freeway systems in minnesota will be closed. Stay off the roads. Stay at home tonight, so that we can remove the folks, restore order to our streets. Dont go out, dont go walking, dont drive. We dont want innocent people who simply want to express their frustration and rage over a situation that has ignited this across the country. Parents, call your children. Give them that call. Friends, call other friends. Dont go down looking to see if thisd be something to see. Its not the place to be. Lets get more from our north america correspondent david willis. So this is really interesting, david, isnt it . We were sitting here 2a hours ago. Cu rfew sitting here 2a hours ago. Curfew is brought in, curfews broken. So what were them from the governor couldnt be any clearer. Basically saying stay at home if you are not at home stay at home. If you are not at home, we will presume why you are out and about. What effect do you think that will have . Well, i dont think theres any doubt at all, lewis, that we are looking to have a very long and very violent and very difficult night ahead here, because it is barely nightfall in many parts of this country, and already we have seen police cars on we have seen police cars on we have seen police clashing with demonstrators, and we have seen looting going on. And here in los angeles, where more than 500 people were arrested last night alone, there have been clashes in broad daylight. We didnt take long for a very peaceful demonstration in the centre of the city to get out of control and lead to clashes between protesters and police, and now los angeless mayor has declared a dusk to dawn curfew as far as the downtown area of the city is concerned. This is a city, of course, which more than 25 years ago was the subject of five days of indiscriminate rioting following the capture on tape of the beating of a black man called rodney king at the hands of white Police Officers. And you have to think to yourself, in america, so very little, in many cases, has changed. 0k, david, yes, that incident seared into the culture of that city. Just so you know, were looking at life pictures of minneapolis. Is interesting. It looks very calm. They have been speeches there throughout the day, peaceful protest in the city throughout the day, people laying flowers. There was a sign there saying justice for george. And we are now looking at these pictures of new york. Police on the streets there. David, put us into a bit of context for us. This idea that protests a nd context for us. This idea that protests and destruction of property and vehicles being set on fire in cities thousands of miles, hundreds of miles apart from each other, right across the country. Well, yes, and you have to wonder, dont you, how much of this now is about george floyd and protesting Police Brutality as far as black people are concerned. I dont know the answer to that. What i can tell you is that you have a potentially quite incendiary cocktail here, lewis, because weve got, what, 40 lewis, because weve got, what, a0 Million People in this country who are now unemployed. Weve got an economy that is in its worst shape in decades, and weve got a lot of people who have been cooped up for weeks on end because of the coronavirus, many of whom are well aware, perhaps, that their jobs are not coming back anytime soon. And then we have that videotape, the stark images of the beating the knee on the neck of george floyd. And it is a powerful cocktail, and incendiary cocktail, and incendiary cocktail, and incendiary cocktail, and we just have to wait and see how it plays itself out. This is going to be a very long and very difficult night. Theres doubt about that. 0k, thank you very much for that, david willis in la. We are seeing on these pictures in new york, and interesting what david was bringing out there, the idea of the lockdowns of coronavirus. So many people not just lockdowns of coronavirus. So many people notjust in the us but around the world confined to their houses, told to stay at home, and these scenes right across the states couldnt be a more stark contrast than that. Ive been speaking to david mindich, who is a professor ofjournalism. Hejoined us from downtown philadelphia, where protests are taking place. Yeah, so im standing right in front of city hall, city halls behind me, where the protest began at noon. I was there. It was very peaceful. People were social distancing, and chanting, passionate, but there was no overturning cars and things like that. Later, a couple of police cars were set on fire. Behind me, theres a starbucks that was torched, and theres a fire engine behind me thatjust put out the flames about an hour ago. We are going to leave the us and the protests, and we will come back to them when we get any developments. Englands deputy chief medical officer has warned the nation is facing a very dangerous moment in the fight against coronavirus. Professor Jonathan Van Tam said the Scientific Consensus was that easing the lockdown in england next week would not affect the infection rate, but he urged the public not to tear the pants out of the new guidelines. 0ur Political Correspondent chris mason has this report. Helens bay beach in county down today. In Northern Ireland and in scotland, groups are already allowed to gather outside. England and wales will follow on monday. New rules grant us more freedom, but require us to make morejudgements about what is safe. In bournemouth, the lure of the beach, the challenge of social distancing. In york, the prize of a pint, and, yes, exactly the same challenge. With the number of coronavirus cases falling, ministers say the time is right for a more liberal approach, but some of those advising our political leaders have concerns. If we make multiple releases of the lockdown at the same time, we wont know what is causing the inevitable jump in cases. And we dont have an established test, track and isolate process to follow these people up. So were at a very risky point, where we could take the lid off a pot that is still bubbling in places, and it risks overflowing in these places. Regents park in london earlier, and Primrose Hill too, as the labour mayors of london and Greater Manchester also worry loosening the rules has come too soon. So, at this afternoons Government News conference, iasked. What do you say to those scientists and others who say that youre easing the lockdown in england too quickly . We havent got that much headroom. Thats why the Prime Minister has been clear that we need to proceed in a very cautious way. I believe, and youll recall i was at the podium when the disease activity was very high in the uk, and i said its a very dangerous moment. I believe this is also a very dangerous moment. We have to get this right. The public in general to actually follow the guidance, dont tear the pants out of it, and dont go further than the guidance actually says. Professor van tam knows how to turn a phrase and make a point. He was also asked directly about dominic cummings, the Prime Ministers most senior advisor, who among other things drove 50 miles to test his eyesight during the lockdown. The rules are clear, and they have always been clear. In my opinion, they are for the benefit of all, and in my opinion, they apply to all. Questions about mr cummings keep coming. Questions about loosening the lockdown will, too. Chris mason, bbc news. We can take a look at these pictures from philadelphia a little earlier and you can see things descending a little bit there. They have been peaceful protests in philadelphia, but you can see things deteriorating quite substantially. This was in the last couple of hours, and we we re last couple of hours, and we were speaking to journalists on the ground there, describing a coffee shop that was attempted to be set on fire, a statue being attempted to be toned down. So there is civil unrest there in philadelphia. Now lets talk to Sharmain Matlock turner. Thank you very much for being with us. You very much for being with us. What do you make of these protests descending into causing physical damage on the streets of philadelphia there . Well, thank you so much for having me. I mean, no one is happy that the protest, or some form of the protest, have turned into violence or looting oi turned into violence or looting orany of turned into violence or looting or any of those kinds of things. We all. Those of us who are fighting forjustice and to make sure that people of colour have equal access and are treated fairly in this country want that to be the focus, and not the focus to be about people who have sort of taken over this movement and moved it in a way that is not in our best interests. And is that what you believe . Do you believe this is outsiders coming in and hijacking these protests . Coming in and hijacking these protests . That is certainly what some officials have been saying today, right across the United States, but it is very difficult to disentangle who is there to deliberately set forth their own agenda, and those people who are caught up in the original protests. Well, i think, you know, all of us will ta ke think, you know, all of us will take a look at this and everybody will be doing investigations and reviewing that over time. But when i took a look at the people, and ive been watching the news as well, all day, and watching the film, and sort of seeing the people that i know and communities who work every single day to drive change and have tried to make the world a better place for all of us. I didnt see those people walking up and down chestnut and walnut street, near where my offices, breaking into stores or starting fires. Those are not the people that i see every day who are doing that work. Have you been surprised by what we have seen over the last few days, this incredible pent up frustration and anger that has spilt out onto the streets in so many cities across the country . No, iand cities across the country . No, i and definitely not surprised that the anger. I mean, if you watched that video of george floyd, i dont know how you could not be outraged. How could not be outraged. How could you not be painful . If you are a person of colour, i mean, i have a grandson, and i just kept thinking, i mean, what if that were my grandson who were being treated that way . Who were being treated that 7 i who were being treated that way . I mean, istill get nervous if i am followed by the police in the city of philadelphia. As a matter of fa ct, philadelphia. As a matter of fact, i was followed several months agojust fact, i was followed several months ago just because someone had a car that was similar to my. And i remember, you know, like, sweating at the wheel wondering what the heck is going on here. So people of colour are absolutely know that we are too often targets of the police and of the power structure, and yet we try to fight through that to continue to stand with and let you know what our humanity is, and that we absolutely do not deserve this kind of treatment. Briefly, and i know this is an impossible question to answer briefly, i am sure, but what are the concrete things that you want to see change as a result of this . Well, in philadelphia, i am excited to say that i was a big advocate foran say that i was a big advocate for an African American woman to be police commissioner. Commissioner 0utlaw is something that all of us fought really, really ha rd something that all of us fought really, really hard to make sure that she was here, and we are here to support her and help her to be successful. So i think that that is extremely helpful. I think the other thing is we must continue the work of community policing. We have to connect the Police Department with the community ina Way Department with the community in a way that they see everyone in the community as human, as people, and not as us and them. 0k, people, and not as us and them. Ok, i people, and not as us and them. 0k, iam people, and not as us and them. Ok, i am afraid we will have to leave it there, but thank you so leave it there, but thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us, we really appreciated. Thank thank you very much. The first commercial spacecraft to carry people into space has successfully launched from Cape Canaveral in florida. The capsule built by elon musks spacex has two astronauts onboard and they are now on their way to the International Space station. Rebecca morelle has more. The astronauts are now several hors into their flight and theye been Live Streaming a tour of their capsule. Now that we are in zero gravity, we were requested to doa gravity, we were requested to do a back flip, i am going to do a back flip, i am going to doa do a back flip, i am going to do a side spin which is a little bit of a permutation on that request so hopefully you can see what it is like to actually float in zero gravity and it was notjust doug and i who accomplished the launch here, we have others aboard. We have to boys who are super interested collecting dinosaurs between the two hours and the apatosauraus made the trip into space today with us and that is a supercool thing for us, for us a supercool thing for us, for us to do with both of our sons. Ididnt us to do with both of our sons. I didnt think i would be talking about floating dinosaurs in space today. Lets get more from florida, we can talk to Garrett Reisman who is a a veteran of several Space Shuttle and International Space station missions and the only astronaut who, as a consultant to spacex, helped build the new rocket. Its really great to talk to you. What a day in the history of space exploration. Just remind us why today is so different and significant. Significant for a number of reasons. First and foremost is, its the first time in nine yea rs its the first time in nine years weve launched our nasa astronauts on our own vehicle. Ever since we flew the last Space Shuttle, weve been borrowing rides from the russians, actually paying for rides from the russians to get oui rides from the russians to get our astronauts up to the space stations are having that capacity domestically is huge but its more than that, its the beginning of a whole age because that vehicle, the rocket and spacecraft are not owned by nasa, they are owned and operated by spacex and that opens up the door all kinds of new possibilities. The two astronauts we saw spinning about now, they are spinning out above us somewhere. Just remind us, what is their mission and what are they up to . They are going to the space station and tomorrow morning, they will arrive and talk if all goes well and they will stay there and we need their help on the space station because right now, we are shorthanded. There is only one american astronaut on the space station. He needs some help and some company and we will provide that for a couple of months and then bring them back and on one hand, we want to keep them there to do work on the other hand, we want to bring them back because until they come back to get all the data on the mission and com plete data on the mission and complete the mission, the certification process is not complete. Thats interesting because there is a kind of tempered joy today because the launch was successful, which is obviously a huge step but until they are back with their feet on the ground, that is the moment really for celebration. What does it mean for the rest of us in the kind of future of more commercialised space travel . So the thing about this is, we can use the same vehicle, the rocket and spacecraft to take ordinary citizens up into space and that is Something Different from the way nasa has operated in the past and spacex hopes to do that as early as next year so the very earliest we can use the very earliest we can use the very earliest we can use the very same capsule and first stage of the rocket and the next person to arrive, it could well be a non nasa astronaut so well be a non nasa astronaut so that is really the beginning ofa so that is really the beginning of a commercial agent space that has been long coming but is finally here. Its been so good to speak to you, absolutely fascinating. Thank you for taking the time, we appreciated. The us attorney general william barr has been speaking about the case. He blamed what he labelled outside radicals and agitators for hijacking the protests but he also said they were working at speed to prosecute those responsible for George Floyds death. Unfortunately, with the rioting that is occuring in many of our cities around the country, the voices of peaceful protest are being hijacked by violent radical elements. Groups of outside radicals and agitators are exploiting the situation to pursue their own separate and violent agenda. In many places, it appears the violence is planned, organised and driven by anarchic and left extremist groups, far left extremist groups, using antifa like tactics, many of whom travel outside the state to promote the violence. Pooja gehi is the National Executive for the National Lawyers guild which has been offering Legal Assistance to those whove been arrested during the protests. I spoke to her a short while ago. This is nothing new. Weve seen Police Violence against brown and black communities throughout time, and in the United States, a disproportionate criminalisation of those communities and people are just rising up at this moment, they are fed up and theyre trying to be heard and we are seeing excessive charges being brought against black communities in particular who are protesting, and the charges include, and i think this is related to covid and the consolidation of power that the state has at this exact moment around stay at home orders and shelter in place orders, Something Like that and people are disproportionately being charged the things they are doing. So if people are being disproportionately charged, what kind of support do they need when they are in that system . We, the national lawers guild, is a member Led Volunteer based organisation with chapters all over the country. We are currently doing Legal Support in around 15 different cities who are providing real support for protesters on the ground and the way that we do that is set up legal observers who are mutual bystander lawyers, legal workers and lawyers who are observing Police Violence, in particular, taking notes, and making sure people are being seen, you know, and there is accountability and we also dojail support where we process people through the system and provide representation have a know your rights guide for activists which is at www. Nlg nyr. And if youre talking about that disproportionate nature of what is happening out there, people are being disproportionately rested for lockdown breaches or whatever, what other structural or whatever it is, what are the structural changes you think need to take ways to solve that . I mean, i think to stop murdering black you know, like not pretend it is not a completely racialised system of hyper. Is it a completely racialised system . Of course, there are areas here which are being painfully exposed, which are hugely problematic but it cant completely be the case everywhere 100 of the time . I practised law for very long time and i think its disproportional in the way people are criminalised across the board and it has been, and in this exact moment when we are seeing brown, black and indigenous communities being impacted affect it by covid which has led to poverty, incarceration, criminalisation, unsanitary access to needs, and i think it is disproportionate across the board, the reaction. Let us take you now live back to minnis expect to minneapolis, the city where these rights were sparked, after the death of george floyd, after he was held down bya floyd, after he was held down by a Police Officer with the need to the back of his neck. People are breaking the curfew thatis people are breaking the curfew that is supposed to be in place in that city in that city and people are still on the streets. Stay with us, we will bring you all the latest. Im Lewis Vaughan jones and this is bbc news. Hello there. Saturday brought more dry, sunny, and warm weather across the whole of the united kingdom. Now, it was a fine end to the day in london and west london did quite well for temperatures. Heathrow got up to 26 degrees. But for the most part on saturday, the highest temperatures were across the north and the west of the uk with kinloch here in the highlands of scotland, the nations hotspot with highs of 27. Were going to see similar kind of temperatures for these Western Areas as we get on into sunday as well. Now over the next few hours, most of us are going to keep the clear skies but probably some low cloud and some fog begin to push onto the Eastern Shores of scotland and although temperatures in the towns and cities between around 8 13 degrees, in the countryside the coldest spots get down to about 3 degrees so it will be quite chilly for some of you to start sunday morning. Sunday, well, that low cloud and fog can take the first few hours of the morning to clear away from east scotland. Maybe a bit of mistiness as well in north east england. But otherwise, a sunny start to the day and a sunny afternoon. Now, the highest temperatures in scotland probably again to the north west of the country, the highlands doing ok with highs probably reaching around 25 26 degrees celsius here. You might see another 23 or 2a for westernmost areas of Northern Ireland. And some of the highest temperatures in england across Western Areas along with wales too. You could see highs locally hitting around 27. Now, for mondays forecast, the High Pressure is still in charge of our weather, so weve got more of that dry weather to come. More of the sunshine as well. Temperatures still on the high side for the time of year, looking at highs of 2a in glasgow, 26 or so in cardiff, but from then on were going to start to see the weather changing somewhat because an area of low pressure is going to start to develop to the north of the uk and move in as we head towards tuesday and wednesday. So, that is going to be bringing some cloudy skies with rain or showers pushing southwards and as well as that, the area is going to be getting cooler. So temperatures will be coming back down close to normal for the time of year, and normal isnt something weve seen for quite a long time. So, scotland is going to be cooling down as you can see, there will be some rain and showers around as well as we go through tuesday and wednesday. Perhaps some of the heaviest rain actually working through during tuesday night. Further southwards across england and wales, still hanging onto some warm sunshine on tuesday but the change comes really on wednesday with thicker cloud. Again, rain or showers working in. Thats your latest weather. This is bbc news. The headlines protesters have ignored curfew orders in minneapolis and cities across the United States over the killing of African American george floyd by a Police Officer. Officials have called for the National Guard to assist local law enforcement, to prevent riots which have followed the protests. Englands deputy chief medical officer has warned of a very dangerous moment in the fight against coronavirus. Professor Jonathan Van Tam said easing the lockdown would not affect the infection rate, but he urged the public not to tear the pants out of the new guidelines. The first commercial spacecraft to carry people into space has successfully launched from Cape Canaveral in florida. The capsule, built by elon musks spacex, has two astronauts onboard, and they are now on their way