Were so gallantly streaming. And the rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air gave proof through the night that our flag was still there. O, say does that starspangled banner yet wave oer the land of the free and the Home Of The Brave will we begin this morning with a fox news alert, a tragic update out of maui. Now at least 80 people are confirmed dead after devastating wildfires. Rachel Officials Say more than 1,000 people are still unaccounted for as rescue and Recovery Efforts continue. Joey another fox news alert, Washington Attorney general Merrick Garland making a big announcement about the hunter biden criminal probe. Im here today to announce the appointment of david weiss as a Special Counsel. On tuesday of this week, mr. Weiss advised me that, in his judgment, his investigation had reached a stage at which he should continue his work as a Special Counsel, and he asked to be so appointed. A. Joey Alexandria Hoff is joining us live with the9 story. Reporter Special Counsel
and first of two days of commemerations in europe to mark the 80 years anniversary of the normandy landings. good evening, a day is a long time in politics. this morning the front pages brough some brief respite to the conservatives. snap polls suggesting that it was rishi sunak who had come out on top in the first leadership debate of the campaign. the prime minister had referred several times in that debate to a so called independent assessment of labour s spending plans, which the tories suggest will mean every working family paying £2000 more in taxes. the prime minister said that was a figure that had been signed off by civil servants at the treasury. the only problem is it hadn t. the bbc has obtained a letter from the most senior civil servant in the treasury, the permanent secretary, james bowler who wrote to labour making clear the civil service had not been as involved as the conservativesclaimed. as you would expect, labour is furious. here s our political editor
however, if you look into the detail of individual polls, it is often possible to find that information. thank you very much indeed to all of you who have sent in questions. to keep them coming. i reminded to contact us at bbc your voice at you can find your poll tracker on the bbc news app. we will have more on that tomorrow night. two of the main battleground areas in this election will be the midlands and northern england. known as the red wall the bedrock of the labour party s support for generations. at least it was until 2019, when that wall collapsed. many of the former mining towns lent their support to the tories in the debate over brexit. 0ur correspondent, rajini vaidyanathan is out on the road visiting today the different constituencies in and around greater manchester. she has been in leigh, then westhoughton in bolton west. now she s in cheadle. so you will forgive her forfinishing her day in george & dragon pub in cheadle. still sober i hope. but a good time of the n