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[00:00:13] Live from Washington. This is
[00:00:15] BBC News. The US Senate passes a
[00:00:17] a sanctions package aimed at helping helping Ukraine by cutting off funds
[00:00:21] funds to Russia. It now faces a vote
[00:00:23] vote in the House of Representatives. Representatives. Thailand's Prime
[00:00:26] Prime Minister pledges new gun laws laws after a 14-year-old student
[00:00:30] student shoots dead. Six people at
[00:00:32] at a school after killing two of
[00:00:34] of his grandparents and a US appeals appeals court ordered the Trump administration
[00:00:38] administration to stop building a a $400 million ballroom at the White
[00:00:41] White House. The President says he'll
[00:00:43] he'll appeal at the Supreme Court.
[00:00:54] Court. I'm Helena Humphrey. Good Good to have you with us. We begin
[00:00:57] begin with some developing news from from Ukraine. The capital, Kyiv,
[00:01:00] Kyiv, is under attack from ballistic ballistic missiles. Russian missile
[00:01:04] missile attacks have become an almost almost nightly occurrence, with Ukraine
[00:01:07] Ukraine saying that it lacks enough enough air defences to intercept
[00:01:10] intercept them. Earlier, Russian Russian strikes killed three people
[00:01:14] people in the Kyiv region, including including a child, according to the
[00:01:17] the local governor. Meanwhile, here here in the United States, the Senate
[00:01:21] Senate has overwhelmingly passed passed a sanctions bill against Russia.
[00:01:24] Russia. It aims to choke off the the country's economy and bring an
[00:01:27] an end to the war in Ukraine. With With the legislation targets major
[00:01:30] major buyers of Russian oil and gas
[00:01:32] gas and imposes additional sanctions sanctions on Russian leaders and
[00:01:36] and oligarchs. The measure was championed championed by the late Senator Lindsey
[00:01:39] Lindsey Graham. It still needs to to pass the House of Representatives
[00:01:43] Representatives where it may face face some resistance. Now that's
[00:01:46] that's largely because a provision provision in the bill that would
[00:01:48] would give President Trump the ability
[00:01:50] ability to impose tariffs of up to
[00:01:53] to 100% on countries that are major major consumers of Russian energy.
[00:01:56] energy. Lindsey Graham's sister, sister, South Carolina Republican
[00:01:59] Republican Senator Darline Graham Graham and Richard Blumenthal, the
[00:02:03] the Democratic senator from Connecticut, Connecticut, are among the lawmakers
[00:02:06] lawmakers voicing support for the
[00:02:08] the bill. An emotional day in a very
[00:02:11] very exciting day for me. Russia
[00:02:12] Russia has waged war against Ukraine
[00:02:15] Ukraine for far too long, and this this bill assists President Trump
[00:02:18] Trump and his noble efforts to bring
[00:02:20] bring it to a close. This legislation
[00:02:22] legislation was deeply important important to my brother Lindsey,
[00:02:26] Lindsey, and I grateful am that this
[00:02:27] this bill has achieved such a wide
[00:02:30] wide coalition of support. He believed believed that this was the most consequential
[00:02:34] consequential piece of legislation legislation that he had ever led.
[00:02:37] led. Vladimir Putin is watching in in Moscow. I'd like to thank Lindsey
[00:02:41] Lindsey Graham is watching as well well and proud of what we've done,
[00:02:44] done, because today we send a message
[00:02:46] message to Vladimir Putin, you will
[00:02:49] will not win this war. Time to come
[00:02:53] come to the table for peace. Your
[00:02:55] Your economy already on its heels
[00:02:59] heels is going to be throttled, even
[00:03:00] even decimated. Well, Doctor Gerlinde
[00:03:03] Gerlinde Niehus is a former Nato Nato deputy director for Defence
[00:03:07] Defence and security co-operation. co-operation. She told me that the the bill could make a meaningful
[00:03:11] meaningful difference in constraining constraining Russia's war machine.
[00:03:13] machine. If it passes in the
[00:03:17] House. I think the short answer is is yes, but it's under the caveat
[00:03:19] caveat that it's really put into
[00:03:23] into law and it's still it still
[00:03:24] still has to go over one hurdle. hurdle. But if that happens, indeed
[00:03:28] indeed it would be a welcome move
[00:03:30] move because so far I think the Trump Trump administration has not been
[00:03:34] been really spearheading the sanctions
[00:03:37] sanctions efforts against war against against Russia. So if that were confirmed,
[00:03:41] confirmed, it would be good news. news. Good news for Ukraine, but
[00:03:44] but also good news for for Europe.
[00:03:47] Europe. And I would argue also good good news for the US. If you look
[00:03:51] look at the picture on the battlefield battlefield right now, many reports
[00:03:54] reports suggesting that Ukraine has has momentum. But I also wonder whether
[00:03:58] whether you think that could be offset
[00:04:00] offset if cities like Kyiv, as we've
[00:04:02] we've been mentioning, continue to
[00:04:05] to come under that intensified attack. attack. Yeah, yeah. I think what
[00:04:08] what we are seeing is really a situation situation of attritional warfare.
[00:04:12] warfare. Both sides are experiencing experiencing significant strain.
[00:04:16] strain. I mean, on the Russian side,
[00:04:18] side, the summer offensive has has
[00:04:21] has failed. Yeah. They only made
[00:04:24] made small tactical progress in some
[00:04:27] some areas. And Russia continues
[00:04:29] continues to terrorise Ukrainian Ukrainian cities. Ukraine continues
[00:04:33] continues to strike deep into Russian
[00:04:35] Russian territory. They achieved
[00:04:38] achieved to probably knock out some
[00:04:41] some 40% of the Russian refining refining capacities. But clearly
[00:04:43] clearly I mean, they face critical critical shortages in air defence
[00:04:47] defence in particular and increasing
[00:04:50] increasing civilian casualties due due to the intensified Russian missile
[00:04:53] missile attacks. So so as I said,
[00:04:56] said, it's a war of attrition, which which unfortunately continues by
[00:05:00] by now longer than World War I. On
[00:05:02] On that point, with regards to air air defences, what do you make of
[00:05:06] of President Trump's shifting tone
[00:05:09] tone on Patriot missile licences
[00:05:12] licences for Ukraine? Why do you
[00:05:14] you think he appears to have changed
[00:05:16] changed his position? Well, I guess
[00:05:20] guess he realised that it's more more complicated than he may have
[00:05:24] have thought because it involves involves intellectual property rights rights from the companies concerned,
[00:05:28] concerned, which apparently were were not involved in the announcement
[00:05:30] announcement he made in, in Ankara.
[00:05:34] Ankara. But I think Ukraine now really
[00:05:36] really has to look into what other
[00:05:39] other options there are because in
[00:05:41] in many ways, relying on these words
[00:05:44] words from Trump is is not a good
[00:05:45] good option. So so I think they need
[00:05:48] need to look into other options which
[00:05:51] which aren't perfect, but there could
[00:05:54] could be this French, Italian, some some T battery which may perform
[00:05:58] perform better. We should move away
[00:06:00] away from looking at Ukraine as a
[00:06:02] a petitioner. Ukraine is much more more than that. It's an added value
[00:06:05] value to our defence and security. security. So we need that mind shift
[00:06:09] shift first and foremost in, in Europe.
[00:06:12] Europe. Saudi Arabia, Turkey and and Pakistan have signed an historic
[00:06:16] historic joint defence agreement agreement saying that an attack on on one country would be considered
[00:06:19] considered an attack on all three. three. The countries have been looking
[00:06:22] looking to strengthen security co-operation co-operation amid the US-Iran war.
[00:06:26] war. The deal was announced at a a meeting between the Saudi Crown
[00:06:29] Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Salman. The Turkish president Recep
[00:06:32] Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and the Pakistani Pakistani Prime Minister, Shehbaz
[00:06:35] Shehbaz Sharif, in the holy city city of Mecca. Saudi Arabia has faced
[00:06:39] faced direct attacks by Iranian forces
[00:06:42] forces as well as by Iran aligned aligned Houthi fighters in Yemen.
[00:06:45] Yemen. The effective closure of the the Strait of Hormuz has also limited
[00:06:48] limited exports of Saudi oil, and and the announcement comes as Iran
[00:06:52] Iran and Oman continue to work on
[00:06:54] on a framework deal to set shipping shipping routes through the strait.
[00:06:57] strait. Now Phil Stewart is the chief chief national security reporter
[00:07:00] reporter at Reuters, and he told told me more about the new defence
[00:07:03] defence pact and what it says about about this particular moment in the
[00:07:07] the region. Well, you know, there's there's two ways to look at this. this. You know, all those three countries
[00:07:11] countries are allies of the United United States. But Saudi Arabia has
[00:07:14] has historically dependent on the the US for a lot of its protection
[00:07:17] protection and its support. And so so for the Saudis to now sign this
[00:07:20] this agreement really speaks to the the kind of knife's edge of threat
[00:07:24] threat it perceives as it faces, faces, you know, real hostilities
[00:07:28] hostilities from Yemen's Houthis Houthis and also, you know, warnings warnings from Iran that, you know,
[00:07:31] know, this kind of pact is not going going to protect them. Instead, its
[00:07:35] its policies need to change. Well, Well, let's talk more about what what Saudi Arabia is experiencing
[00:07:39] experiencing the threat level right right now, including those attacks
[00:07:42] attacks that we've seen from the
[00:07:45] the Houthis inside Yemen, but also
[00:07:46] also the threat level for Saudi Arabia,
[00:07:49] Arabia, concerns that they will experience experience a major attack. Right.
[00:07:52] Right. I mean, the Saudis are under under unprecedented pressure. And
[00:07:56] And you know what? You're what you're you're really worried about if you're
[00:07:58] you're a you know, a Middle East East national security expert is
[00:08:01] is a new conflagration between Saudi Saudi Arabia and Yemen. You know,
[00:08:04] know, there was a war that came to to an end, and there was a lot of
[00:08:07] of hope that that war would be in in the past. And what you're seeing
[00:08:10] seeing right now is sort of the beginnings beginnings of a potential re-ignition
[00:08:13] re-ignition of that conflict. You You saw the Saudi Arabia, you saw saw Saudi Arabia joined the United
[00:08:17] United States in strikes against
[00:08:19] against Iran backed militia in Iraq.
[00:08:22] Iraq. That was unprecedented. And And then actually now you're seeing
[00:08:25] seeing these new warnings from Iran Iran as this pact is taking place.
[00:08:28] place. So really a movement of the the chessboard here and we're not
[00:08:31] not sure what the next move will will be. At the same time, we're
[00:08:34] we're hearing from Iran and Oman Oman that they could be close to
[00:08:38] to what a configuration of the strait strait would actually look like. like. And those shipping routes.
[00:08:42] routes. I mean, what do you think think potentially a deal could look
[00:08:45] look like here? And do you think think it's something that ultimately
[00:08:48] ultimately President Trump would would be OK to say? You know, let's
[00:08:52] let's go ahead with this. You know, know, even if it's a compromise.
[00:08:55] compromise. You know, it's amazing amazing if you listen to what's coming
[00:08:58] coming out of Iran. Absolutely not. not. It won't be acceptable to President
[00:09:01] President Trump. But then again, again, you know, the President is is saying that they're close to a
[00:09:05] a deal that would allow for the free free flow of commerce through the
[00:09:07] the strait. What Iran is saying is is that it's going to regulate the
[00:09:10] the strait, all the traffic coming coming into the strait would be regulated regulated by Iran. All the outbound
[00:09:14] outbound traffic would be regulated regulated by Oman and there may even
[00:09:18] even be fees involved. And, you know, know, the President was out publicly
[00:09:21] publicly speaking about how they they have achieved every goal that
[00:09:24] that they sought in these negotiations. negotiations. How could that be acceptable
[00:09:27] acceptable to President Trump? Well, Well, police in Thailand say that
[00:09:30] that a 14-year-old student has killed
[00:09:32] killed at least eight people in gun gun attacks at his home and school
[00:09:36] school on the outskirts of Bangkok. Bangkok. The Thai Prime Minister Minister said the teenager killed
[00:09:40] killed his grandparents and five five teachers before taking his own
[00:09:43] own life. Thai media later reported
[00:09:45] reported that a school student had had died from their injuries. At
[00:09:49] At least 30 other people were injured injured in those attacks and despite
[00:09:52] despite strict gun laws that punish punish illegal firearm possession
[00:09:55] possession with up to ten years in in prison, Thailand has one of the
[00:09:58] the highest rates of civilian gun gun ownership in South East Asia.
[00:10:02] Asia. It's estimated that 40% of
[00:10:05] of guns there are possessed illegally. illegally. Well, these are some live
[00:10:07] live pictures showing the exterior
[00:10:10] exterior of that school in Bangkok. Bangkok. Our South East Asia correspondent
[00:10:13] correspondent Jonathan Head has this this report. We must warn you, it
[00:10:16] it does contain some distressing
[00:10:18] distressing details from the start.
[00:10:23] start. Fear and panic in a Thai secondary
[00:10:25] secondary school classroom as shots
[00:10:28] shots ring out in the corridor. Staff
[00:10:33] Staff frantically evacuated the children.
[00:10:35] children. This is a big school with
[00:10:38] with around 3000 pupils. Police officers
[00:10:41] officers and ambulances were on the the scene within minutes, but it
[00:10:45] it took time to find the gunman. gunman. By the time they did, he
[00:10:49] he had taken his own life. He was
[00:10:52] was identified as a 14-year-old boy,
[00:10:54] boy, a student at the school. At
[00:11:00] At first I thought there were sounds sounds of firecrackers or someone
[00:11:02] someone banging on to something loudly.
[00:11:04] loudly. But then we started realising
[00:11:07] realising they were not. And then then it started getting more frequent.
[00:11:11] frequent. Like. Throughout the morning,
[00:11:15] morning, ambulances carried the injured
[00:11:17] injured to hospital. Once the shooting shooting had stopped, distressed
[00:11:20] distressed families rushed to the
[00:11:22] the school seeking information about
[00:11:24] about missing relatives. So what what we know so far is that the young
[00:11:28] young gunman reached the fourth floor floor of this building and was able
[00:11:32] able to move along, firing multiple
[00:11:33] multiple shots into each of the classrooms, classrooms, hitting teachers and
[00:11:37] and his fellow pupils. What we don't
[00:11:40] don't know is how someone so young young managed to get hold of a gun
[00:11:44] gun and that much ammunition. Later
[00:11:48] Later in the day, the Thai Prime Prime Minister visited the scene.
[00:11:52] scene. He says gun laws have already
[00:11:53] already been tightened but Thailand
[00:11:56] Thailand still has some of the highest highest levels of gun crime in the
[00:12:00] the region. The horrific incident
[00:12:02] incident here today. Just one more
[00:12:04] more grim statistic. Jonathan Head,
[00:12:07] Head, BBC News. Nonthaburi, Thailand.
[00:12:12] Thailand. More than 180 thousand thousand households and businesses businesses in Puerto Rico are rationing
[00:12:16] rationing water, with the island island in the grip of a severe drought.
[00:12:19] drought. Now, July was San Juan's Juan's driest month since record
[00:12:23] record keeping began back in 1899.
[00:12:25] 1899. The governor of Puerto Rico Rico said that the situation is out
[00:12:29] out of our hands and blamed the water
[00:12:31] water shortages on climate conditions. conditions. Well, CBS News correspondent
[00:12:35] correspondent Lilia Luciano has the the latest now from Puerto Rico.
[00:12:38] Rico. What you can see, of course, course, is this dry ground. We are
[00:12:42] are standing in what is part of Puerto
[00:12:45] Puerto Rico's or San Juan's largest
[00:12:48] largest drinking water supply. This
[00:12:49] This is the reservoir that feeds
[00:12:52] feeds most residents of the capital capital city of San Juan and adjacent
[00:12:55] adjacent areas. This is Carraizo. Carraizo. And yes, as the governor
[00:12:59] governor said, this is a dire, most most severe drought that San Juan
[00:13:03] Juan and this area in general has has experienced in more than 120
[00:13:06] 120 years. The problem is not just
[00:13:09] just the dry conditions, the drought, drought, but there's also issues
[00:13:12] issues with the sediment where we
[00:13:13] we are standing. This is all impacting
[00:13:16] impacting the supply of water to
[00:13:18] to people. We are talking about years
[00:13:22] years of mismanagement, underfunding
[00:13:24] underfunding in an ageing water infrastructure.
[00:13:26] infrastructure. All of that existed existed before this drought. The
[00:13:29] The drought is only aggravating conditions. conditions. Today I had the opportunity
[00:13:32] opportunity to talk to the President President of the Water Authority Authority and I said, look, I understand
[00:13:35] understand the drought is the reason reason why you're having to ration
[00:13:38] ration water. But every Puerto Rican Rican who has tens of thousands of
[00:13:42] of them who have seen water shortages
[00:13:44] shortages for more than three months, months, sometimes days on end, understand
[00:13:48] understand that it is not just the the drought. So there's a great deal
[00:13:52] deal of frustration. People are taking taking to the streets in protest
[00:13:56] protest and demanding change. It It is not just this administration. administration. This has been piling
[00:13:59] piling on for years, but some of of the people I talked to here in
[00:14:02] in San Juan, the mood is they're they're feeling like they're not
[00:14:06] not being heard. What they're saying saying is, look, we are not seeing
[00:14:09] seeing the solutions implemented implemented fast enough. I asked
[00:14:12] asked about whether the federal government, government, FEMA could play a role
[00:14:14] role and the President of the authority
[00:14:16] authority told me, well, they have
[00:14:19] have provided some funding for some some of the management. But right
[00:14:23] right now the urgency is the drought. drought. So I said, so how do you
[00:14:26] you fix that? And basically the answer answer I got over and over is we
[00:14:30] we need it to rain. Of course, that that is something that not the Puerto
[00:14:33] Puerto Rican people or the Puerto Puerto Rican government can solve
[00:14:36] solve at this point, no human can
[00:14:39] can cause rain. So the feeling here
[00:14:43] here is on top of rolling power outages outages that have gone on for years
[00:14:46] years and years, worsening after
[00:14:49] after Hurricane Maria because of of that infrastructure that was ageing,
[00:14:53] ageing, that was underfunded and and that was mismanaged. Now they
[00:14:55] they have an even more urgent need
[00:14:58] need for that most important resource
[00:15:00] resource that is water. A US appeals appeals court has ordered President
[00:15:04] President Trump to halt construction construction of his $400 million
[00:15:07] million White House ballroom. The The judges ruled that the ballroom ballroom being built on the site
[00:15:11] site of the demolished East Wing, Wing, needs congressional approval.
[00:15:15] approval. President Trump vowed an
[00:15:16] an immediate appeal to the US Supreme
[00:15:19] Supreme Court and our North America
[00:15:20] America editor Sarah Smith has more.
[00:15:23] more. Donald Trump still essentially essentially thinks and behaves like like the property developer he used
[00:15:27] used to be. One doesn't one thing. thing. Three months ago, he was proud
[00:15:30] proud to show off the construction construction site where the East
[00:15:33] East Wing previously stood. Its sudden
[00:15:37] sudden demolition last year shocked shocked many and sparked a lawsuit
[00:15:40] lawsuit aimed at stopping him building building his massive new ballroom.
[00:15:43] ballroom. Today, he's been told he he does not have the authority to
[00:15:46] to dramatically alter this historic historic landmark. The ballroom has
[00:15:50] has become something of an obsession obsession for President Trump. He
[00:15:53] He carries pictures of how he wants
[00:15:55] wants it to look on Air Force One. A lot of people are giving in
[00:15:58] in really good reviews. Some are are giving it reviews without even even seeing the building because
[00:16:02] because this just came out. After After a gunman caused them to be
[00:16:05] be evacuated from the White House House Correspondents Dinner in April.
[00:16:07] April. He argued that showed the the need for a secure ballroom. It's
[00:16:11] It's drone proof. It's bullet-proof bullet-proof glass. We need the ballroom. ballroom. That's why Secret Service.
[00:16:15] Service. That's why the military military are demanding. It today, today, he complained on social media,
[00:16:19] media, the military and Secret Service Service are viewing this horrendous,
[00:16:22] horrendous, politically motivated motivated and unlawful ruling as
[00:16:25] as a national security threat. There There is a state of the art military
[00:16:29] military bunker being built underneath underneath the ballroom. Work on
[00:16:31] on that is allowed to continue. You You can see building work is still
[00:16:35] still going on in the ballroom today today with these cranes that are
[00:16:38] are operating above the White House. House. And President Trump's got got two weeks in which he can carry
[00:16:42] carry on while he appeals to the the Supreme Court, hoping they will
[00:16:45] will rule that he can finish the the construction. If that fails,
[00:16:49] fails, though, he can go to Congress Congress and ask them to vote to to give him the authority to finish
[00:16:53] finish the ballroom. But it's far far from certain that he would actually
[00:16:56] actually win that vote. There is is some mystery about what's going
[00:17:00] going on behind the scenes with the the funding for this project. President
[00:17:04] President Trump has raised hundreds hundreds of millions of dollars from from private donors, but won't tell
[00:17:08] tell us how much they've given or or what he may have promised them
[00:17:11] them in return. Oh, that's so great.
[00:17:15] great. The disastrous refurbishment refurbishment of Washington's reflecting
[00:17:17] reflecting pool has become a deeply deeply embarrassing flop for Donald
[00:17:21] Donald Trump. Now he has to ask the the courts or Congress to let him
[00:17:25] him complete his renovation of the
[00:17:26] the most famous house in America.
[00:17:29] America. Sarah Smith, BBC News Washington. Washington. And a little earlier,
[00:17:32] earlier, President Trump posted on on his social platform Truth Social
[00:17:36] Social and said that it's within within the rights of a United States
[00:17:39] States president to, quote, fix, fix, renovate, secure, protect and
[00:17:43] and beautify the White House grounds, grounds, which has been built and
[00:17:47] and rebuilt, renovated and renovated,
[00:17:49] renovated, repaired and simply made
[00:17:51] made better many times since 1792 1792 and never needing the permission
[00:17:55] permission of Congress or anyone
[00:17:58] anyone else to do so. Now, President President Trump's pick to lead the
[00:18:01] the US Justice Department is on the the verge of being confirmed after
[00:18:05] after a rocky nomination process. process. Todd Blanche is President
[00:18:08] President Trump's former personal personal defence lawyer. He's been
[00:18:11] been serving as acting US Attorney Attorney General since the President
[00:18:14] President fired Pam Bondi back in in April of this year. His confirmation
[00:18:18] confirmation was in doubt after Republican Republican Senator Susan Collins
[00:18:21] Collins and Lisa Murkowski said that that they would vote against him.
[00:18:24] him. That left his confirmation dependent
[00:18:27] dependent on a yes vote from another another Republican senator, Bill
[00:18:30] Bill Cassidy. And on Thursday, Senator Senator Cassidy, a Trump critic,
[00:18:33] critic, said that he would vote to to confirm Mr Blanche as Attorney
[00:18:37] Attorney General. Well, here's Senator Senator Cassidy on the Senate floor
[00:18:41] floor on Thursday. This is not a
[00:18:43] a referendum on President Trump. Trump. It is a decision regarding
[00:18:46] regarding Mr Blanche in very specific specific circumstances. All considered,
[00:18:50] considered, I will vote for Mr Blanche.
[00:18:53] Blanche. I'll be criticised for this
[00:18:54] this vote. What's new? Well, Josh
[00:18:57] Josh Gerstein is senior legal affairs affairs reporter at Politico, and
[00:19:00] and he gave us his take on the path
[00:19:02] path that led to Todd Blanche's confirmation.
[00:19:06] confirmation. The biggest obstacle obstacle was this sort of enormous
[00:19:10] enormous fund that the Trump administration administration decided it was going
[00:19:13] going to attempt to set up almost
[00:19:16] almost $1.8 billion, that they were were going to give away to victims
[00:19:20] victims of what they called lawfare lawfare and weaponization. It's something
[00:19:23] something that actually caused a a screaming match between Blanche
[00:19:27] Blanche and Senators behind closed
[00:19:29] closed doors before he was nominated nominated to this position, and it
[00:19:32] it became a huge albatross around
[00:19:34] around his neck during the confirmation confirmation process, although not
[00:19:38] not sufficient to actually prevent prevent him from getting the nod.
[00:19:41] nod. It looks like as of this moment
[00:19:42] moment now. And just remind us of
[00:19:45] of other concerns that had been expressed
[00:19:48] expressed about his appointment. appointment. Well, there are concerns
[00:19:51] concerns about also about retaliatory
[00:19:53] retaliatory prosecutions. We've seen seen the former FBI director Jim
[00:19:57] Jim Comey being charged with in two
[00:20:00] two different criminal cases. You've You've had Trump openly calling for
[00:20:04] for other people he considers to to be enemies to be charged. And
[00:20:07] And you've seen the Justice Department
[00:20:09] Department follow through with that. that. In some cases, that troubled
[00:20:12] troubled a bunch of senators. You You had comments just the other day
[00:20:16] day that Mr Blanche made to religious religious activists about abortion,
[00:20:19] abortion, that he was going to crack
[00:20:22] crack down on the availability of of abortion across the country. That
[00:20:25] That was also something. But I think think it was just generally a concern
[00:20:29] concern that as a former defence defence attorney for the President,
[00:20:32] President, as you mentioned, that that he was just a little too close
[00:20:36] close to President Trump to really really be the nation's chief law
[00:20:39] law enforcement officer. But of course,
[00:20:41] course, Josh, this was President
[00:20:43] President Trump's pick. If he is is confirmed, which looks likely,
[00:20:47] likely, what will this mean for President President Trump? Surely something
[00:20:49] something of a victory for him. Yeah, Yeah, it's definitely something he's
[00:20:52] he's going to tally as a win. I don't don't know that it affects that much
[00:20:56] much what Blanche was going to be be able to do, which is why this
[00:20:59] this has always been something of of a symbolic fight. He is the confirmed
[00:21:03] confirmed deputy Attorney General, General, and the law is pretty clear
[00:21:05] clear that if we don't have a confirmed
[00:21:08] confirmed Attorney General, the deputy deputy Attorney General fills that
[00:21:10] that position. So it's more of a a symbolic battle over whether he
[00:21:13] he got to have the title and whether
[00:21:16] whether President Trump still has has the political might on Capitol
[00:21:20] Capitol Hill to push his nominees nominees forward. It looks like he
[00:21:24] he does, although only by the very very narrowest of margins. That's
[00:21:27] That's a good point, Josh. I mean, mean, do you think that this vote
[00:21:30] vote or at least the run up to it
[00:21:32] it and some of the rows that we saw
[00:21:35] saw kind of exposed lingering divisions divisions within the Republican Party
[00:21:38] Party over Trump's influence? Oh,
[00:21:41] Oh, that's definitely the case, especially especially when we look at the fact
[00:21:44] fact that a couple of the senators senators who were very wobbly here,
[00:21:48] here, maybe three of them I can think think of had trouble because they
[00:21:52] they had been opposed by President President Trump in their own primaries
[00:21:56] primaries for re-election and basically basically are going to be leaving
[00:21:59] leaving the Senate at the end of of this year, in large part due to
[00:22:02] to President Trump's personal political political opposition to them. So
[00:22:05] So that became a huge hurdle for
[00:22:08] for him to try to overcome in this this process, trying to get his nomination
[00:22:11] nomination through with people that that he had basically crossed swords
[00:22:14] swords with politically just in the the last few months. Well, turning
[00:22:18] turning to the UK now because there's there's been a new development in
[00:22:21] in the investigation into the murder
[00:22:24] murder of the Conservative Minister, Minister, Ann Widdecombe, British British counter-terrorism police
[00:22:27] police say that they are reopening reopening an investigation into an
[00:22:31] an attempted burglary that happened happened last year after they identified
[00:22:34] identified a new line of inquiry inquiry that may be relevant. The
[00:22:38] The BBC understands that this refers refers to an incident at Nigel Farage's
[00:22:42] Farage's home in south London, which
[00:22:44] which the reform UK leader previously
[00:22:47] previously described as a lit incendiary incendiary device being pushed through
[00:22:50] through his letterbox. Ann Widdecombe, Widdecombe, a prominent member of
[00:22:54] of the reform UK party, was found
[00:22:56] found dead at her home last month. month. The Spanish government has
[00:23:00] has introduced controls at its borders borders for travellers arriving from
[00:23:04] from Italy as a row over migration migration continues to escalate.
[00:23:07] escalate. Madrid has said that it
[00:23:09] it will temporarily impose controls controls at internal borders, ports
[00:23:13] ports and airports. Now Spain has has been angered by Italy's response
[00:23:17] response to the sudden influx last last week of tens of thousands of
[00:23:21] of Moroccans into the Spanish North North African territory of Ceuta,
[00:23:25] Ceuta, Italy promptly imposed border border restrictions on travellers
[00:23:28] travellers from Spain and today said said that it intended to keep them
[00:23:31] them in place for at least another
[00:23:34] another week. Now Hunter Biden, the
[00:23:36] the son of former US President Joe
[00:23:38] Joe Biden, has defended the controversial controversial presidential pardon
[00:23:42] pardon granted by his father in an an interview with the BBC's Newsnight,
[00:23:45] Newsnight, the former president's president's son also spoke candidly
[00:23:49] candidly about his father's cancer cancer and his own battle with addiction.
[00:23:52] addiction. Hunter Biden also said said that he did not advise his father
[00:23:55] father to run for a second term against against Donald Trump, and he spoke
[00:23:58] spoke to BBC Newsnight presenter presenter Paddy O'Connell. Did you
[00:24:01] you advise him to run again? No,
[00:24:08] No, I did not because what was it it like for you explaining this love
[00:24:11] love and respect, watching the 2024
[00:24:15] 2024 presidential debate? Where were
[00:24:16] were you? Hunter, when your father
[00:24:19] father failed to complete a sentence
[00:24:22] sentence on primetime television
[00:24:25] television during a presidential presidential election campaign? Where
[00:24:27] Where were you watching that? I was
[00:24:32] was alone in. I wasn't alone, I was
[00:24:34] was at my house in here in California, California, and I was watching and
[00:24:38] and I always like to if I'm not with with him, to be able to watch alone.
[00:24:42] alone. And so I was alone in a room room with the TV and I was watching
[00:24:46] watching it. And like everybody else,
[00:24:49] else, I was shocked. I could tell tell as soon as my father came out
[00:24:52] out that something was wrong. I've
[00:24:54] I've never seen him with a kind of
[00:24:57] of the hundred yard stare that he
[00:25:00] he had and you know, everybody has
[00:25:03] has their questions, you know, of. of. But the reason that we know about
[00:25:07] about that is not because Joe Biden
[00:25:09] Biden wasn't on TV or in public a
[00:25:13] a million and a half times before before and after. The reason that
[00:25:16] that was so shocking is because it it had never happened before, and
[00:25:19] and it hasn't happened since. And
[00:25:23] And so I can't necessarily explain explain it. I have theories about
[00:25:25] about it. I have theories about the the fact that he had travelled as
[00:25:28] as much as he did, and he was taking
[00:25:31] taking Ambien, I believe, which they they I'm positive they gave him when
[00:25:34] when he was going back and forth
[00:25:37] forth from Asia. I think he had flown, flown, I think, eight different legs
[00:25:41] legs in a three week period of time. time. But regardless, these are just
[00:25:44] just theories of mine. I also know
[00:25:47] know that he obviously had cancer, cancer, whether it impacted him or
[00:25:50] or not. He had by the. Nine months months later he was diagnosed with
[00:25:54] with stage four prostate cancer and and stage four metastatic bone cancer,
[00:25:58] cancer, none of which we knew. But
[00:26:00] But my reaction to it was that I I was as shocked, I think, as anyone
[00:26:03] anyone who knew Joe Biden was. Hunter
[00:26:07] Hunter Biden there speaking on Newsnight. Newsnight. I'll see you
[00:28:26] online at bbc.com/business to get get the latest news wherever you
[00:28:29] you are. Business on BBC News. Make
[00:28:32] Make the connection. MUSIC
[00:28:44] MUSIC Now Now on BBC News. Following the discovery
[00:28:46] discovery of 35 bodies and half a
[00:28:48] a tonne of human ashes, we uncover
[00:28:50] uncover how Robert Bosch, a debt debt ridden undertaker, betrayed
[00:28:54] betrayed grieving families in the
[00:28:56] the big cases. MUSIC
[00:29:03] MUSIC
[00:29:10] It's 6:00. Here's the latest BBC
[00:29:13] BBC News. Police cordons are in place
[00:29:16] place at three funeral service premises premises across Hull and East Yorkshire
[00:29:19] Yorkshire as officers investigate investigate what they describe as
[00:29:21] as a report of concern for the care
[00:29:24] care of the deceased.
[00:29:47] Reports are in relation to legacy independent funeral directors.
[00:29:51] directors. The police are encouraging
[00:29:52] encouraging anyone affected to contact
[00:29:55] contact them. I don't know if she's
[00:29:59] she's at my home or if she's back back in the mortuary and I just want
[00:30:03] want to know. Quick answers. You You believe that he'd already been
[00:30:07] been cremated? Yeah, yeah, because because his son has got his ashes
[00:30:10] ashes and his son talks to him all
[00:30:12] all the time. Mr Bosch. What have
[00:30:15] have you got to say to the family? family? He's picked on the poor people
[00:30:18] people won't be able to afford the
[00:30:21] the £4,000 funerals. He completely completely exploited them. He tried
[00:30:24] tried to act like he was their friend, friend, like he was doing them a
[00:30:27] a favour. Like what? A reasonable,
[00:30:28] reasonable, nice guy he was. So the
[00:30:32] the volume we're talking about is
[00:30:34] is half a tonne of ashes. Some were
[00:30:37] were babies as well. All heartbreaking, heartbreaking, heart-wrenching stuff
[00:30:39] stuff that just really made you feel
[00:30:41] feel sick. Police are working to
[00:30:44] to formally identify 34 bodies they've they've removed from the premises
[00:30:48] premises of a funeral home in Hull. Hull. Now it follows calls from members
[00:30:51] members of the public over concerns
[00:30:52] concerns for the care of the deceased.