Transcripts For BBCNEWS BBC 20240704

The governor addressed the rising number in his statement. 101 lives have now been lost, 27 of the survey have been completed. I spoke with the president this morning and we speak often. He and joe biden extend their absolute love and heartfelt wishes about the tragedy that has occurred. They are heartsick that we have lost these 101 souls. Joining us now from maui is our reporter, helena humphrey. Helena, the governorjust posted a video on social media with an update. He has confirmed a rising death toll, what else did he say . That is right and the message from the governor has been every time we see that death toll climb upwards, he said that our hearts are a little bit more broken. He has also been saying that residents of western maui can now start to go back into lahaina, although he did specify that would not be able to go into the impacted zone. In a bid to reconnect these areas of the island that have been completely disconnected with the wildfires. He also spoke about housing because that has been so critical in the response and in the early days we saw some people without housing and shelters overflowing. He says now more rooms will be made available and airbnb are providing 11100 units in a bid to get people into spaces out of the open and in some cases. He has also been talking about protecting the land. This is key here. And he says it is the first time he has addressed this and some of his comments previously may have been taken out of context with regard to the government buying up this devastated land and certainly people we have been speaking to on the island have been concerned about that and thank who will come in and buy our land . Are we going to see Big Time Developers coming in and price arthur out with these Tourist High Rise resorts . The government is saying if anyone comes and offers to buy the land, speak to me, comes and offers to buy the land, speakto me, we comes and offers to buy the land, speak to me, we will protect the land it will be up to the residents of lahaina to decide what to do when they, eventually, can rebuild the area. He also mentioned the visit from President Joe Biden saying that will be coming in the coming weeks, saying he has beenin the coming weeks, saying he has been in regular contact with the president and he would teleport himself right here now if you could but the message consistently has been from the white house that President Biden does not want to distract from delicate Recovery Operations, which continue. The Recovery Operation is slow and deliberate, just over a quarter of the affected site already combed, do they have the resources that they need . They say that they do now, that they have more sniffer dogs on they have more sniffer dogs on the ground now but it is painstaking. 0ne the ground now but it is painstaking. One way to illustrate that where the comments from the police chief and he said that the ash on your clothes in that area is the loved ones and this is why they have to comb through it so carefully. He said that they do hope that by the weekend they could have potentially claimed around 90 of that area but then you have a slow process of identifying people as well. If you compare this to other disasters, the Grenfell Tower disasters, the Grenfell Tower disaster for example, disasters, the Grenfell Tower disasterfor example, it disasters, the Grenfell Tower disaster for example, it took around five months to identify all of the victims and the governor was also speaking about 9 11 and the attacks on the world trade center. In that case we know 40 of victims were never identified. This is really what were seeing here, the trauma of having so many people are for and the potential that some of the remains may never be recovered. More than 190 Search And Rescue team members and over 380 fema employees are deployed to hawaii to assist in the recovery efforts, according to a release from the agency. Earlier, i spoke to former fema Associate Administrator and director of Disaster Operations Elizabeth Zimmerman about these sorts of operatiosn. She dealt with over 930 disasters, emergencies and fires while at fema. Thank you forjoining us. Its just a week on from when these fires started and authorities on maui say they have about 25 of the affected area so far searched and cleared. Still a way to go. What do you make of how that rescue and recovery effort is going . Yes, its very important, with the fires going on in maui, there is more than one fire going on. And as they go in and fires are different than other disasters, because they linger. And the area is dangerous. You dont know how deep the fire has gone. And being able to make things safe and secure as well as being very respectful. The Hawaiian Culture is very much dependant upon their cultural, historical places. The different aspects to the island that they have and to protect and preserve that. And, at the same time, theres over 190 Search And Rescue workers over there looking for anything that they can find to be able to make sure any remains, any people that they can find, are found. So i think everything is proceeding as it would, given all of the circumstances. And it still being a disaster area. I mean, theres still very much so in those phases of emergency response. And how should they be prioritising that between that significant area that still remains, as youve described there, to search and recover remains, u nfortu nately. But also, in terms of the significant number of the population who have acute needs right now health care, and particularly housing . Yes, and as were very early on, as you said, its just been a week. Making sure that the people are in a safe and secure environment. I know that maui, the state of hawaii, along with the red cross and many other Volunteer Agencies are all working together to make sure theres shelter for those individuals and to make sure that they have food and water and a place for respite when they need it. And to make sure their basic needs are being met right now. I know that there has been a president ial disaster declaration. So other federal resources that are being brought into maui. We have to remember that its an island, so its not easy to get to, like most of the mainland United States. So making sure that those resources, as you say, are prioritised, so that they get those basic needs first and figure out what the next steps are going to be. We are in just the very immediate aftermath of this. But obviously, questions are already being asked as to how the disaster got to the scale that it is. The State Attorney General is carrying out a review of the policies that led up to that, the decision making. Weve heard numerous reports of individuals not hearing any sirens sounding on the island. Firefighter reports from them, that there was insufficient water supply to help them combat the fires. What lessons can be learned as you see it from whats happened so far . And i think, thats something that were going to have to. Theyll have to look at that as they go on in the days coming, the weeks, the months, to be able to look to see if theres. See what worked, what didnt, and those types of things. 0bviously, im not on the ground. I wasnt there when it was all happening. So it is something that they need to look at so that they can learn lessons from it. And moving forward, for the next time. Now, there are some reports coming from maui of some local people being concerned about what will happen next what will happen as part of that rebuilding process, that sacred lands that have been scorched might be primed for development. Concerns around what the future holds. How does fema approach, in general, Rebuilding Situations like this . How does it work with the local community to assuage any fears like those . Thats where its very important to remember that we always say disasters, they start locally and theyre managed locally, and its always going to come back around to what the locals want. So its important and weve seen it with maui being very active right now and the response. But when it gets into recovery also, its important to know that it is that community that is going to direct how they want their recovery, their rebuilding. What they want Going Forward. In situations like these, from your experience in fema, is the goal generally to rebuilding something as it was, exactly as it was . Or is there an option to do things a little differently . And how is that approached . Yes. Thats a very good question. Fema, i know, likes to rebuild things so that it is able to withstand future disasters. Mitigation is very important. So as they go to rebuild, are there things that they can do that would prevent these damages to happen in the future . We know a lot of what was lost is very old historical buildings. But when they go back to rebuild things and starting from scratch build things that are not only as much fireproof as possible, but also looking at the ocean and the hurricanes. As we know, Hurricane Dora played a role in this. So, how those things can be brought in. And looking to the future so that these types of damages whatever you can prevent are minimised effects in the future. Youll want to do that. 0k, well leave it there for the moment. Thank you forjoining us. For the latest information on the hawaii wildfires please check out our website at bbc. Com news. Around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. In other news, fighting in the libyan capital of tripoli finally calmed, leaving 27 dead. Youre seeing the dark smoke that hung over the capital as tripolis two strongest armed factions clashed. The fighting came to a close after one side released a commander of the other faction, whose detention triggered the violence. At least 35 people are dead after an explosion at a Petrol Station in southern russia. The accident happened in the Southern Region of dagestan, on the caspian sea. A State Of Emergency was declared and some 260 Emergency Workers were deployed to the region. The Emergencies Ministry reported that Rescue Operations are ongoing. In ecuador, another political leader has been killed amid unprecedented Political Violence in the region. Pedro briones, leader of the left wing citizen revolution party, was killed by a gunman on a motorcycle near his home. The Fatal Shooting of mr briones marks the third politics related killing in recent weeks, following the assassinations of president ial candidate Fernando Villavicencio and manta mayor agustin intriago. Youre live with bbc news. New details are emerging on just what happens next with Donald Trumps Legal Proceedings in georgia. This comes a day after a grand jury brought a total of 41 charges against the former president and 18 of his allies. They have until friday, august 25th to turn themselves in. Mr trump and the others will be booked into Fulton Countys jail, either in person or virtually, as dictated by the presiding judge. At least one defendant has been pushing back. Former white house Chief Of Staff mark meadows, who faces racketeering charges in the georgia 2020 Election Probe has filed a motion to move the case to a federal court. The 14 page filing argues that the indictment occurred during his Tenure Serving in the trump administration. Earlier, i spoke with bbc reporter kayla epstein, who has been following the events from the courthouse in georgia. Thanks forjoining us. We saw last night the District Attorney has given the 19 defendants until friday, august 25 to surrender. Youve been outside the court all day. Have any of them turned up yet . We have not seen anyone appear to their arraignment yet. What we do know, thanks to the washington post, is the Donald Trumps legal team may be entering negotiations with the District Attorney to figure out what day would come in for his arraignment. As you said, he has until august 25 to appear, as do his co defendants, but it is now awaiting game to see when that will happen. Trying 19 individuals like this, such has been the depth of the investigation, its going to be logistically quite large. A lot of focus on the legal system there in georgia. Whats been the view of the Legal Community there today to all of this . Ive been speaking to legal experts about this all day and theyve told me theyre not surprised that fanni wales brought a racketeering charge. Its a signature charges brought in the past and we expect to see this, but weve still got this indictment which is nearly 100 pages, it names 19 defendants including donald trump. I think a lot of people were struck by the breadth of the evidence she lays out. Almost 70 of those 100 pages are devoted to this racketeering charge. This allows the prosecutor to name donald trump as well as several other defendants, it allows her to paint a broad portrait of alleged crimes in service of a common goal. One of the other things about the court system in georgia there is that cameras are allowed in. So we will see part of the proceedings. You were there yesterday and last night, very dramatic. How did it all play out . I think the best word to describe yesterday was unpredictable. We waited at the courthouse for about 12 hours to see if a grand jury would actually vote to deliver an indictment that night, and we were kept on our toes the whole time. My colleague was in the courtroom with the judge, waiting for any sign for that important piece of paper to be delivered to him. I was down in the county Clerks Office waiting for her to come and certify the indictment and really we just waited all night. We followed these officials around, we ask them questions. Every time we saw them. It wasnt until close to midnight that we actually got the indictment and were able to read through it and finally after two years of investigating, see the charges for ourselves. Plenty more to come on this. We will leave it there for the moment. Kayla epstein in atlanta, thank you. From lesser known figures to high profile lawyers, lets take a look at a few of the other defendants who are charged alongside mr trump. Among them, mr trumps lawyer and former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani who faces 13 charges. Former white house Chief Of Staff mark meadows whos facing two charges and hasjust filed a motion to move this case to a federal court. Also named in the case are former trump lawyer Sidney Powell facing seven charges. Then we have former Department Ofjustice official Jeffrey Clark and john eastman, also a former trump lawyer. They are both are facing two charges. And just a reminder that the ex president himself faces 13 charges. This is just 6 of the 19 people charged in the indictment. Just a short time ago i spoke to bryan lanza, the former Communications Director for Donald Trumps president ial Transition Team about this latest indictment. Thank you indeed forjoining us. Looking at that point first of all, mark meadows, the former Chief Of Staff, has filed to move his case out of state level in georgia to federal level, would you expect the former president to do something similar . I absolutely would. Thank you for having me this evening. Those who are federal employers at that time, youve got geoff clark, mark meadows and donald trump, they actually have a leg to stand on. That is going to be supremely more favourable to the tribe and his team then faulty Fulton Countyjury pool looking at the indictment, were you surprised at the breadth and depth of both charges . I was surprised. It felt like it was not only the kitchen sink but the whole library came with these things. The challenge is to step back and look at that and that is what she needed to do to be different to the other indictments. Were now on the fourth indictment is losing its momentum, there is prosecutorial fatigue and i think the prosecutor in Fulton County has Something Different and bold. And this is what it was. Her challenge is there are 19 people indicted on these and it will not be a six month trial, it will probably take close to a to year to set down a jury so it will probably take place well after the november election of 2024 and if he wins, it will throw a unique wrinkle into the process and, if he loses, i said it before, it is either the jailhouse or the white house for donald trump on this one. Hes already responded on this, accusing the prosecutor for having political motives. What sort of defence is he likely to make . I think its pretty clear that the prosecutors raised money of this indictment already, from the investigation, donated money to the democrats, Fulton County is a partisan place and i think that bodes well for him and his base and it will strengthen his argument as to why he needs to move it out of Fulton County because she is a hyper partisan person, and less than 1 of people in the us donate to political candidates and she has a broad history of donating to political candidates, so that is an activist. An activist should not have the safe jurisdiction of her partisan background to push these indictments. Thats my suspicion of what they will say and they probably have a strong leg to stand on. If this case does proceed in Fulton County, an unusual thing will be that there will be cameras allowed and we will see the arraignment, see the trial and and appearances and that will impact on how donald trump presents himself. This is the ultimate reality tv . If it goes that far, if lets Say Donald Trump wins the 2024 election, there will not be a trial. Lets be honest. Theres no way an incoming president or the president of United States will be allowed to have this thing hanging behind his back so the board of governors, the governors involved in this process in georgia, they� re all republican political appointees. They would do what they can at that point to alleviate this pressure because now you have a republican president and it really does not serve the country in a purpose in having some type of trial while the republican president s there. So, so many dynamics we cannot anticipate what will happen but what we can anticipate is he will fight. Hes already telegraphed this is an extension of this part is in fight that has thought of targeted him in a unique way that no one else has been targeted and he will continue to make that case and the thing is, the opposition, the democrats and liberals, theyve given ample evidence to make that case and have a selling point. Looking in the shorter term to next week, the first Republican Debate is set to take place on wednesday, the District Attorney have given donald trump and the other 18 people until next friday, friday week, to present themselves. How do you think he will handle those two appearances, the debate and presented himself . And presenting himself. If im stepping back from a role in his campaign, i dont surrender until friday. That becomes the news of the week Going Forward and everyone forgets there is a debate on thursday, especially if he doesnt show up. So the scenario at least in the media new cycle is very much set up for us to forget that he was even indicted by next friday because the debate is taking place by next friday. Because you will have this surrendering, nothing will be more high drama than that. North korea says the us soldier who crossed illegally into its territory last month wanted to seek refuge there. This is the countrys first public acknowledgement of the soldier being detained. State media says travis king harboured ill feelings towards the us army. Private king ran across the heavily fortified border with south korea while on a civilian tour of the area. In the last hour i spoke about this with our seoul correspondent, jean mackenzie. The First Official confirmation from north korea relating to travis king, what are they saying . Its been a month since he made that dash across the border and into north korea where he was taken into north korean custody. This morning, we have heard for the very first time from the north koreans who have released a statement through their state media channel and in that they say that travis king said that he chose to seek refuge in north korea because he was being inhumanely treated in the us army and being racially discriminated against. They also said that he was disillusioned with inequality in america and he wanted to seek asylum, in either north korea or a third country. Of course this is just what the north koreans are telling us that travis king said. And the us pentagon this morning has said that it cant of course verify that this is what travis king has told the north koreans, but i think its worth looking at some of the background to this which is travis king was serving here in south korea and he was in trouble with the us authorities here and with the army, so hed actually spent some time in detention. He was due to be sent back to the us where he was going to be disciplined by the army and possibly even discharged. So he chose not to get on that flight back to the us. He booked onto this tour when he dashed across. Also, travis kings family gave an interview to abc news in america just a couple of weeks ago. And in that interview, they said travis king suggested when they spoke to him on the phone that he had experienced some racism in the military and his Mental Health had deteriorated up until that moment in which he crossed. The other thing i think to note in the statement is the north koreans say that he admitted he illegally crossed into the country, so admitted he broke the law. But theres no word on how they are now going to treat him and whether hell be prosecuted. Do we know anything more about travis king at this moment, his whereabouts, his condition . So at the moment, this is the information that is missing from this statement this morning. We dont know his whereabouts, we dont know his condition and we know the us is incredibly concerned about his welfare. The pentagon has said this morning they are trying to negotiate his safe return which they had been doing but we know the north koreans hadnt been particularly responsive, so what the us has been doing is trying to speak to the north koreans through this diplomatic channel they have with the unc, the un command which runs the demilitarised zone. They have a direct hotline to the North Korean Army but the north koreans have only, to our knowledge, sent one message back, essentially saying that they have travis king in custody and tha theyre investigating. 0k, Jean Mckenzie in seoul, thank you. Do stay with us here on bbc news. There hello. Well, were just into the second half of august, and guess what . It looks like summer is not over yet. In fact, over the next few days, it is going to turn warmer, more humid. And this time next week, some of the Computer Models are indicating even warmer weather. � but thats still a long way off. Lets concentrate on the here and now. A weak area of High Pressure is over us. That means light winds, fairly stable conditions out there. Weve had some clear spells, apart from central and eastern scotland, where it has been damp in places, a relatively mild ish morning between 10 and 13 degrees. But because of the light winds and all of the moisture weve got out there, it does mean its foggy in places, certainly around dawn and just after, certainly across england and wales, the more prone spots. But it wont last for very long. It never does this time of the year. So lots of sunshine eventually and then clouds will bubble up. Theres Cumulus Clouds and well see a few showers, but very hit and miss. Here are the temperatures. 22 celsius in glasgow, 22 celsius in birmingham, about 26 celsius expected in the south east, a bit like on tuesday. Now, tuesday, wednesday, well see this and into thursday well see this area of High Pressure still across the uk, but its drifted a little bit further towards the north. And with the help of this low pressure here, were picking up more of a breeze from the south southeast, a very warm direction this time of the year. So that does mean that the temperatures are going to be creeping up. So, yes, one or two showers developing here and there, but generally speaking, a bright, if not sunny day. And look at these values, 23 celsius in liverpool, 23 celsius expected in glasgow and no doubt in some spots itll be even warmer than that in the south east, possibly 27 28 degrees celsius. And then thursday into friday, these low pressure Weather Fronts try to sweep in and they will. We are expecting some rain showers to move into south western and western parts of the uk. So i think friday, overall, quite a cloudy day with a chance of rain, but also humid and warm. Look at these temperatures, despite the cloud and the rain still low or mid 20s. And then the outlook into next week, look at these values, 27 28 degrees celsius, maybe even 29 celisus at some point. So certainly looking warmer. And in the north, it looks as though temperatures will rise a little bit as well. To see when that will happen. V0|ceover this is bbc news. Well have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, straight after this programme. Welcome to hardtalk. Im stephen sackur. Imagine a writer with a blank piece of paper. 0n the face of it, theyre free to take their imagination in any direction they choose, tell any story they like. But its not that simple. They need money, a commission. They need to win an audience, and for that, they must constantly adapt to changing tastes and technologies. My guest is one of the uks leading playwrights and screenwriters, lucy prebble. Shes had huge hits and one notable broadway miss. For a writer, how daunting can that blank piece of paper be . Lucy prebble, welcome to hardtalk. Hello, stephen. Thanks for having me