United Kingdom: BBC News London — BBC News

20260808 00:00 UTC · 00:30:59 · 513 transcript segments · GDELT Visual Explorer · plain-text transcript · Event Map

The latest news from the BBC.

Film strip

One frame every 4 seconds, 466 in all. Click a frame to jump the transcript to that moment, or click a line of the transcript to see what was on screen while it was said. Served from apprised.news, so it loads behind proxies that block Google Cloud Storage.

00:00:00
00:00:04
00:00:08
00:00:12
00:00:16
00:00:20
00:00:24
00:00:28
00:00:32
00:00:36
00:00:40
00:00:44
00:00:48
00:00:52
00:00:56
00:01:00
00:01:04
00:01:08
00:01:12
00:01:16
00:01:20
00:01:24
00:01:28
00:01:32
00:01:36
00:01:40
00:01:44
00:01:48
00:01:52
00:01:56
00:02:00
00:02:04
00:02:08
00:02:12
00:02:16
00:02:20
00:02:24
00:02:28
00:02:32
00:02:36
00:02:40
00:02:44
00:02:48
00:02:52
00:02:56
00:03:00
00:03:04
00:03:08
00:03:12
00:03:16
00:03:20
00:03:24
00:03:28
00:03:32
00:03:36
00:03:40
00:03:44
00:03:48
00:03:52
00:03:56
00:04:00
00:04:04
00:04:08
00:04:12
00:04:16
00:04:20
00:04:24
00:04:28
00:04:32
00:04:36
00:04:40
00:04:44
00:04:48
00:04:52
00:04:56
00:05:00
00:05:04
00:05:08
00:05:12
00:05:16
00:05:20
00:05:24
00:05:28
00:05:32
00:05:36
00:05:40
00:05:44
00:05:48
00:05:52
00:05:56
00:06:00
00:06:04
00:06:08
00:06:12
00:06:16
00:06:20
00:06:24
00:06:28
00:06:32
00:06:36
00:06:40
00:06:44
00:06:48
00:06:52
00:06:56
00:07:00
00:07:04
00:07:08
00:07:12
00:07:16
00:07:20
00:07:24
00:07:28
00:07:32
00:07:36
00:07:40
00:07:44
00:07:48
00:07:52
00:07:56
00:08:00
00:08:04
00:08:08
00:08:12
00:08:16
00:08:20
00:08:24
00:08:28
00:08:32
00:08:36
00:08:40
00:08:44
00:08:48
00:08:52
00:08:56
00:09:00
00:09:04
00:09:08
00:09:12
00:09:16
00:09:20
00:09:24
00:09:28
00:09:32
00:09:36
00:09:40
00:09:44
00:09:48
00:09:52
00:09:56
00:10:00
00:10:04
00:10:08
00:10:12
00:10:16
00:10:20
00:10:24
00:10:28
00:10:32
00:10:36
00:10:40
00:10:44
00:10:48
00:10:52
00:10:56
00:11:00
00:11:04
00:11:08
00:11:12
00:11:16
00:11:20
00:11:24
00:11:28
00:11:32
00:11:36
00:11:40
00:11:44
00:11:48
00:11:52
00:11:56
00:12:00
00:12:04
00:12:08
00:12:12
00:12:16
00:12:20
00:12:24
00:12:28
00:12:32
00:12:36
00:12:40
00:12:44
00:12:48
00:12:52
00:12:56
00:13:00
00:13:04
00:13:08
00:13:12
00:13:16
00:13:20
00:13:24
00:13:28
00:13:32
00:13:36
00:13:40
00:13:44
00:13:48
00:13:52
00:13:56
00:14:00
00:14:04
00:14:08
00:14:12
00:14:16
00:14:20
00:14:24
00:14:28
00:14:32
00:14:36
00:14:40
00:14:44
00:14:48
00:14:52
00:14:56
00:15:00
00:15:04
00:15:08
00:15:12
00:15:16
00:15:20
00:15:24
00:15:28
00:15:32
00:15:36
00:15:40
00:15:44
00:15:48
00:15:52
00:15:56
00:16:00
00:16:04
00:16:08
00:16:12
00:16:16
00:16:20
00:16:24
00:16:28
00:16:32
00:16:36
00:16:40
00:16:44
00:16:48
00:16:52
00:16:56
00:17:00
00:17:04
00:17:08
00:17:12
00:17:16
00:17:20
00:17:24
00:17:28
00:17:32
00:17:36
00:17:40
00:17:44
00:17:48
00:17:52
00:17:56
00:18:00
00:18:04
00:18:08
00:18:12
00:18:16
00:18:20
00:18:24
00:18:28
00:18:32
00:18:36
00:18:40
00:18:44
00:18:48
00:18:52
00:18:56
00:19:00
00:19:04
00:19:08
00:19:12
00:19:16
00:19:20
00:19:24
00:19:28
00:19:32
00:19:36
00:19:40
00:19:44
00:19:48
00:19:52
00:19:56
00:20:00
00:20:04
00:20:08
00:20:12
00:20:16
00:20:20
00:20:24
00:20:28
00:20:32
00:20:36
00:20:40
00:20:44
00:20:48
00:20:52
00:20:56
00:21:00
00:21:04
00:21:08
00:21:12
00:21:16
00:21:20
00:21:24
00:21:28
00:21:32
00:21:36
00:21:40
00:21:44
00:21:48
00:21:52
00:21:56
00:22:00
00:22:04
00:22:08
00:22:12
00:22:16
00:22:20
00:22:24
00:22:28
00:22:32
00:22:36
00:22:40
00:22:44
00:22:48
00:22:52
00:22:56
00:23:00
00:23:04
00:23:08
00:23:12
00:23:16
00:23:20
00:23:24
00:23:28
00:23:32
00:23:36
00:23:40
00:23:44
00:23:48
00:23:52
00:23:56
00:24:00
00:24:04
00:24:08
00:24:12
00:24:16
00:24:20
00:24:24
00:24:28
00:24:32
00:24:36
00:24:40
00:24:44
00:24:48
00:24:52
00:24:56
00:25:00
00:25:04
00:25:08
00:25:12
00:25:16
00:25:20
00:25:24
00:25:28
00:25:32
00:25:36
00:25:40
00:25:44
00:25:48
00:25:52
00:25:56
00:26:00
00:26:04
00:26:08
00:26:12
00:26:16
00:26:20
00:26:24
00:26:28
00:26:32
00:26:36
00:26:40
00:26:44
00:26:48
00:26:52
00:26:56
00:27:00
00:27:04
00:27:08
00:27:12
00:27:16
00:27:20
00:27:24
00:27:28
00:27:32
00:27:36
00:27:40
00:27:44
00:27:48
00:27:52
00:27:56
00:28:00
00:28:04
00:28:08
00:28:12
00:28:16
00:28:20
00:28:24
00:28:28
00:28:32
00:28:36
00:28:40
00:28:44
00:28:48
00:28:52
00:28:56
00:29:00
00:29:04
00:29:08
00:29:12
00:29:16
00:29:20
00:29:24
00:29:28
00:29:32
00:29:36
00:29:40
00:29:44
00:29:48
00:29:52
00:29:56
00:30:00
00:30:04
00:30:08
00:30:12
00:30:16
00:30:20
00:30:24
00:30:28
00:30:32
00:30:36
00:30:40
00:30:44
00:30:48
00:30:52
00:30:56
00:31:00

Transcript

Original Broadcaster Captioning (Enhanced). Treat it as a searchable index of what was broadcast, not a quotation record.

00:00:13Live from Washington. This is
00:00:15BBC News. The US Senate passes a
00:00:18a sanctions package aimed at helping helping Ukraine by cutting off funds
00:00:22funds to Russia. It now faces a vote
00:00:24vote in the House of Representatives. Representatives. Thailand's Prime
00:00:28Prime Minister pledges new gun laws laws after a 14-year-old student
00:00:31student shoots dead. Six
00:00:36Shoots dead six people at a school after killing two of his grandparents grandparents at a US appeals court
00:00:40court orders the Trump administration administration to stop building a a $400 million ballroom at the White
00:00:43White House. The President says he'll
00:00:45he'll appeal at the Supreme Court.
00:00:56Court. I'm Helena Humphrey good to to have you with us. The US Senate
00:00:59Senate has overwhelmingly passed passed a sanctions bill against Russia.
00:01:03Russia. It aims to choke off Russia's Russia's economy and bring an end
00:01:06end to the war in Ukraine. Now the the legislation targets major buyers
00:01:10buyers of Russian oil and gas and and imposes additional sanctions
00:01:13sanctions on Russian leaders and and oligarchs. The measure was championed
00:01:17championed by the late Senator Lindsey Lindsey Graham. It still needs to
00:01:20to pass the House of Representatives Representatives where it may face
00:01:24face some resistance. That's largely largely because of a provision in in the bill that would give President
00:01:28President Trump the ability to impose
00:01:29impose tariffs of up to 100% on countries
00:01:33countries that are major consumers consumers of Russian energy. Lindsey
00:01:36Lindsey Graham's sister, South Carolina Carolina Republican Senator Darlene
00:01:39Darlene Graham and Richard Blumenthal, Blumenthal, the Democratic senator senator from Connecticut, are among
00:01:43among the lawmakers voicing support support for the bill. An emotional
00:01:47emotional day in a very exciting
00:01:48exciting day for me. Russia has waged
00:01:51waged war against Ukraine for far far too long, and this bill assists
00:01:55assists President Trump and his noble noble efforts to bring it to a close.
00:01:59close. This legislation was deeply
00:02:01deeply important to my brother Lindsey, Lindsey, and I am grateful that this
00:02:04this bill has achieved such a wide
00:02:07wide coalition of support. He believed believed that this was the most consequential
00:02:11consequential piece of legislation legislation that he had ever led.
00:02:14led. Vladimir Putin is watching in in Moscow. I'd like to thank Lindsey
00:02:18Lindsey Graham is watching as well well and proud of what we've done,
00:02:22done, because today we send a message
00:02:23message to Vladimir Putin, you will
00:02:27will not win this war. Time to come
00:02:30come to the table for peace. Your
00:02:32Your economy already on its heels
00:02:36heels is going to be throttled, even even decimated. Ukrainian President
00:02:40President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked thanked US senators for passing the
00:02:43the sanctions bill. Meanwhile, Russia Russia has seized tens of thousands
00:02:47thousands of homes across regions
00:02:49regions of Ukraine that it had illegally illegally annexed since its invasion
00:02:52invasion of Ukraine. The Russian Russian government told the BBC that
00:02:55that the scheme is part of the, quote,
00:02:57quote, legal framework for integrating
00:03:00integrating the reunited regions regions into the Russian system.
00:03:03system. The BBC has analysed hundreds
00:03:04hundreds of publicly available documents documents detailing how occupation
00:03:08occupation authorities are taking taking away Ukrainian homes. BBC
00:03:12BBC Verify's Olga Robinson has more.
00:03:17more. Ihor Ivashchuk hasn't seen seen his home in the Ukrainian city
00:03:20city of Mariupol for years. The evangelical
00:03:22evangelical pastor fled the city
00:03:24city in September 2022, shortly before before Russia illegally annexed the
00:03:28the region. He hasn't been able to
00:03:30to return since. In his absence, absence, Egor says a man in military
00:03:34military uniform turned up on his
00:03:37his doorstep. He asked what kind
00:03:39kind of housing it was, where the the owner was, what documents there
00:03:43there were and things like that.
00:03:46that. His house is among more than
00:03:49than 34,000 homes that are being being seized by Moscow installed installed authorities across four
00:03:53four occupied regions of Ukraine.
00:03:55Ukraine. The BBC has analysed hundreds
00:03:57hundreds of official documents published
00:04:00published since 2024. This is how
00:04:02how the process works. Moscow installed installed officials first declare
00:04:05declare properties as having signs signs of being ownerless. They then
00:04:08then require the Ukrainian owners owners to obtain a Russian passport
00:04:11passport and prove ownership in person, person, all within just 30 days.
00:04:15days. If Ukrainians fail to do so,
00:04:17so, their homes are declared ownerless ownerless transferred to the local
00:04:21local authority and can be reassigned reassigned to someone else. Mariupol
00:04:24Mariupol has seen most of the seizures. seizures. The city was bitterly fought
00:04:28fought over in the early days of of the invasion, and thousands of
00:04:31of people fled more than 14,000 homes
00:04:35homes and properties here have been been labelled Ownerless and are being
00:04:39being seized. And it's not just a
00:04:41a local initiative. It has the personal
00:04:44personal endorsement from President President Putin, a law he signed
00:04:46signed in December last year formalised formalised the process allowing the
00:04:50the properties to be given or temporarily temporarily leased to Russian citizens
00:04:54citizens only. Experts say this appears appears to be part of the wider efforts
00:04:58efforts to russify the occupied regions. regions. The Russian government told
00:05:02told us this scheme established procedures procedures for managing residential
00:05:05residential property whose owners
00:05:07owners cannot be identified or contacted.
00:05:11contacted. Igor says he doesn't know know if someone lives in his home
00:05:14home now, but still hopes to see
00:05:16see it one day. For me or my family,
00:05:19family, the question is where we we will live to see that time. I
00:05:23I would like to. Ukrainians we spoke
00:05:25spoke to say it's not just homes
00:05:27homes they're losing but their memories
00:05:30memories and heritage. Olga Robinson,
00:05:32Robinson, BBC News. Saudi Arabia, Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan have
00:05:36have signed an historic joint defence defence agreement saying that an
00:05:39an attack on one country would be be considered an attack on all three.
00:05:42three. Well, the countries have been
00:05:44been looking to strengthen security security co-operation amid the US-Iran
00:05:48US-Iran war. The deal was announced announced at a meeting between the
00:05:50the Saudi crown Prince Mohammed bin bin Salman. The Turkish president,
00:05:53president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Erdogan, and the Pakistani Prime Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif, in
00:05:57in the holy city of Mecca, Saudi
00:05:59Saudi Arabia has faced direct attacks
00:06:02attacks by Iranian forces as well
00:06:04well as by Iran aligned Houthi fighters
00:06:06fighters in Yemen. Alex Vatanka is is a senior fellow and founding director
00:06:10director of the Iran programme at at the Middle East Institute. And
00:06:13And I asked him if he thought the the defence pact could be tested
00:06:17tested in this current war. This This is pretty significant development.
00:06:20development. I don't think you can can under estimate what this agreement
00:06:24agreement could potentially mean, mean, but I would just caution and
00:06:27and this is really early days to to say that the agreement as of right
00:06:30right now is anything much more than than a political statement. It's
00:06:34It's significant as a political statement, statement, but whether it sort of
00:06:38of turns into a genuine military
00:06:40military force of sorts and a commitment
00:06:42commitment to, you know, folks out out there are comparing this to article
00:06:46article five of Nato really early early days to say that, you know,
00:06:49know, we're talking about three significant significant regional players Turkey,
00:06:52Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. Pakistan. But there are significant
00:06:56significant in their own ways and and they have their own priorities priorities of Turkey and Nato. State
00:07:00State has a huge defence sector.
00:07:01sector. The Saudis are oil super
00:07:04super power, plenty of financial financial capacity, many different
00:07:07different security threats that they're they're under. And the Pakistanis
00:07:11Pakistanis also a serious military military power, if you will, but
00:07:14but would focus on India and a history history of being very reluctant to
00:07:17to be dragged into actual combat. combat. What the Pakistanis have
00:07:20have been very good at is to help help the likes of Saudi Arabia. But
00:07:24But when it came to, for example, example, showing up and fight along
00:07:26along the side alongside the Saudis, Saudis, saying the case of the Yemen
00:07:30Yemen war, the Pakistanis said, thank thank you, but no thanks, but we're
00:07:33we're in a different place, Helena, Helena, because this war that just just happened in the last few months,
00:07:36months, six months we're into it it has put the region in a different
00:07:39different place. And that might just just mean that this agreement is
00:07:42is actually going to be qualitatively qualitatively different than the the failed ones we've seen in the
00:07:46the last decade plus. Police in Thailand
00:07:48Thailand say that a 14-year-old student student has killed at least eight
00:07:51eight people in gun attacks at his
00:07:54his home and school on the outskirts outskirts of Bangkok, the Thai Prime
00:07:57Prime Minister said the teenager teenager killed his grandparents
00:08:00grandparents and five teachers before before taking his own life. Thai
00:08:03Thai media later reported that a
00:08:05a school student had died from their their injuries. At least 30 other
00:08:08other people were injured in the the attacks and despite strict gun
00:08:12gun laws that punish illegal firearm firearm possession with up to ten
00:08:15ten years in prison, Thailand has has one of the highest rates of civilian
00:08:19civilian gun ownership in South East
00:08:21East Asia. It's estimated that 40%
00:08:2340% of guns there are possessed illegally.
00:08:26illegally. Our South East Asia correspondent correspondent Jonathan Head has this
00:08:29this report a warning that it does does contain distressing details
00:08:32details from the very start. Fear
00:08:38Fear and panic in a Thai secondary
00:08:40secondary school classroom as shots
00:08:42shots ring out in the corridor. Staff
00:08:47Staff frantically evacuated the children.
00:08:50children. This is a big school with
00:08:52with around 3000 pupils police officers
00:08:56officers and ambulances were on the the scene within minutes, but it
00:08:59it took time to find the gunman.
00:09:01gunman. By the time they did, he'd
00:09:03he'd taken his own life. He was identified
00:09:06identified as a 14-year-old boy,
00:09:08boy, a student at the school. At
00:09:14At first I thought they were sounds sounds of firecrackers or someone
00:09:17someone banging on to something loudly,
00:09:18loudly, but then we started realising
00:09:22realising they were not. And then then it started getting more frequent.
00:09:26frequent. Like. Throughout the morning,
00:09:29morning, ambulances carried the injured
00:09:31injured to hospital. Once the shooting shooting had stopped, distressed
00:09:35distressed families rushed to the
00:09:36the school seeking information about
00:09:39about missing relatives. So what what we know so far is that the young
00:09:42young gunman reached the fourth floor floor of this building and was able
00:09:46able to move along, firing multiple
00:09:48multiple shots into each of the classrooms,
00:09:51classrooms, hitting teachers and and his fellow pupils. What we don't
00:09:54don't know is how someone so young young managed to get hold of a gun
00:09:58gun and that much ammunition. Later
00:10:02Later in the day, the Thai Prime Prime Minister visited the scene.
00:10:06scene. He says gun laws have already
00:10:08already been tightened but Thailand
00:10:10Thailand still has some of the highest highest levels of gun crime in the
00:10:14the region. The horrific incident
00:10:16incident here today, just one more
00:10:18more grim statistic Jonathan Head,
00:10:21Head, BBC News Nonthaburi Thailand.
00:10:24Thailand. A US appeals court has
00:10:26has ordered President Trump to halt halt construction of his $400 million
00:10:30million White House ballroom. The The judges ruled that the ballroom, ballroom, which is being built on
00:10:33on the site of the demolished East East Wing, needs congressional approval.
00:10:37approval. President Trump vowed an an immediate appeal to the US Supreme
00:10:40Supreme Court and our North America
00:10:42America editor Sarah Smith has more
00:10:45more now. Donald Trump still essentially essentially thinks and behaves like
00:10:48like the property developer he used used to be. One does one thing. Three
00:10:51Three months ago, he was proud to to show off the construction site
00:10:54site where the East Wing previously
00:10:57previously stood. Its sudden demolition
00:11:00demolition last year shocked many many and sparked a lawsuit aimed
00:11:02aimed at stopping him building his his massive new ballroom. Today he's
00:11:06he's been told he does not have the the authority to dramatically alter
00:11:10alter this historic landmark. The The ballroom has become something
00:11:13something of an obsession for President President Trump. He carries pictures
00:11:16pictures of how he wants it to look look on Air Force One. A lot of people
00:11:19people are giving it really good good reviews. Some are giving it it reviews without even seeing the
00:11:23the building because this just came came out. After a gunman caused them
00:11:26them to be evacuated from the White White House Correspondents Dinner
00:11:29Dinner in April. He argued that showed
00:11:30showed the need for a secure ballroom. It's drone proof. It's
00:11:34It's bullet-proof glass. We need need the ballroom. That's why Secret Secret Service. That's why the military
00:11:38military are demanding. It today, today, he complained on social media,
00:11:41media, the military and Secret Service Service are viewing this horrendous,
00:11:44horrendous, politically motivated motivated and unlawful ruling as
00:11:47as a national security threat. There There is a state of the art military
00:11:51military bunker being built underneath underneath the ballroom. Work on
00:11:53on that is allowed to continue. You You can see building work is still
00:11:57still going on in the ballroom today today with these cranes that are
00:12:00are operating above the White House. House. And President Trump's got got two weeks in which he can carry
00:12:04carry on while he appeals to the the Supreme Court, hoping they will
00:12:07will rule that he can finish the the construction. If that fails,
00:12:11fails, though, he can go to Congress Congress and ask them to vote to
00:12:13to give him the authority to finish finish the ballroom. But it's far
00:12:17far from certain that he would actually actually win that vote. There is
00:12:20is some mystery about what's going going on behind the scenes with the
00:12:24the funding for this project. President President Trump has raised hundreds
00:12:27hundreds of millions of dollars from from private donors, but won't tell
00:12:30tell us how much they've given or or what he may have promised them
00:12:33them in return. Oh, that's so great.
00:12:37great. The disastrous refurbishment refurbishment of Washington's reflecting
00:12:39reflecting pool has become a deeply deeply embarrassing flop for Donald
00:12:43Donald Trump. Now he has to ask the the courts or Congress to let him
00:12:47him complete his renovation of the the most famous house in America.
00:12:50America. Sarah Smith, BBC News, Washington. Washington. Well, just to let you
00:12:54you know, in the last hour, President President Trump has posted on his
00:12:57his social platform truth, social, social, social, saying that it's
00:13:01it's within the rights of a United United States president to, quote,
00:13:04quote, fix, renovate, secure, protect
00:13:07protect and beatify the and beautify beautify the White House grounds
00:13:11grounds which has been built and
00:13:13and rebuilt, renovated and renovated,
00:13:15renovated, repaired and simply made
00:13:17made better many times since 1792
00:13:201792 and never needing the permission
00:13:22permission of Congress or anyone
00:13:25anyone else to do so. Well, Columbia
00:13:27Columbia has inaugurated a new president, president, the conservative Abelardo
00:13:31Abelardo de la Espriella has vowed
00:13:33vowed to launch a war on drug running running guerillas and improve relations
00:13:36relations with the United States. States. An ally of President Trump.
00:13:39Trump. Mr de la Espriella has offered
00:13:41offered to engage in joint military military operations with the United
00:13:45United States and to host American American troops in Colombia. Well,
00:13:48Well, the Argentinian president, president, Javier Millet, US acting
00:13:51acting Attorney General Todd Blanch Blanch and president of Fifa, Gianni
00:13:55Gianni Infantino, attended the inauguration
00:13:57inauguration in the city of Cali
00:14:00Cali on Friday and BBC Mundo's, Colombia
00:14:03Colombia correspondent Jose Carlos Carlos Cueto Lopez told me what voters
00:14:06voters can expect from the new president.
00:14:10president. Well, Colombia can expect expect an iron fist on security.
00:14:13security. De la Espriella has already
00:14:15already promised to increase military
00:14:17military spending and has given an an ultimatum to drug traffickers
00:14:21traffickers and armed groups, which which is surrender to the justice
00:14:25justice system or face a strong military
00:14:28military action. He also has pledged
00:14:31pledged to bomb narco camps and narco narco vessels, which is a strategy
00:14:35strategy that echoes a bit. The one one of the Trump administration,
00:14:39administration, the Trump administration, administration, military campaign
00:14:41campaign in South American waters,
00:14:43waters, which has killed around 200
00:14:47200 people since last August. De
00:14:49De la Espriella also said that Colombia Colombia will be joining the Shield
00:14:52Shield of Americas, which is this
00:14:55this initiative. Coalition of Security
00:14:58Security and political allies that that other countries in Latin America
00:15:02America are member of, like Ecuador, Ecuador, Peru, El Salvador. It is
00:15:05is expected that as early as today
00:15:08today or early tomorrow, Abelardo Abelardo de la Espriella could be
00:15:12be signing his first executive orders
00:15:14orders or those are likely to be
00:15:16be concerning security issues. And
00:15:20And there you can see a military military parade which is currently
00:15:24currently under way there in Colombia
00:15:27Colombia for his inauguration, which which is taking place not in Bogota,
00:15:31Bogota, the capital, but in Cali
00:15:35Cali instead. Now, President Trump's Trump's pick to lead the US Justice
00:15:38Justice Department is on the verge verge of being confirmed after somewhat
00:15:42somewhat of a rocky nomination process. process. Todd Blanch is Donald Trump's
00:15:45Trump's former personal defence lawyer. lawyer. He has been serving as acting
00:15:49acting US Attorney General since since the President fired Pam Bondi
00:15:52Bondi back in April of this year. year. His confirmation it was in
00:15:56in doubt after Republican Senator Senator Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski
00:16:00Murkowski said that they would vote
00:16:01vote against him. That left his confirmation
00:16:04confirmation dependent on a yes vote vote from another Republican senator,
00:16:07senator, Bill Cassidy, on Thursday, Thursday, Senator Cassidy, a Trump
00:16:11Trump critic, said that he would
00:16:12would vote to confirm Mr Blanch as
00:16:15as Attorney General. Well, we can can go live now to Josh Gerstein,
00:16:19Gerstein, a senior legal affairs affairs reporter at Politico. Good
00:16:21Good to have you on the programme. programme. So confirmation looks
00:16:25looks likely, but it certainly wasn't
00:16:27wasn't an easy path to get to this
00:16:29this point. No, it certainly wasn't.
00:16:32wasn't. And the biggest obstacle
00:16:34obstacle was this sort of enormous
00:16:36enormous fund that the Trump administration administration decided it was going
00:16:39going to attempt to set up almost
00:16:43almost $1.8 billion, that they were were going to give away to victims
00:16:46victims of what they called lawfare lawfare and weaponization. It's something
00:16:49something that actually caused a a screaming match between Blanch
00:16:53Blanch and senators behind closed closed doors before he was nominated
00:16:57nominated to this position. And it it became a huge albatross around
00:17:01around his neck during the confirmation
00:17:03confirmation process, although not not sufficient to actually prevent prevent him from getting the nod.
00:17:07nod. It looks like as of this moment moment now. And just remind us of
00:17:11of other concerns that had been expressed
00:17:14expressed about his appointment. appointment. Well, there are concerns
00:17:17concerns about also about retaliatory
00:17:20retaliatory prosecutions. We've seen seen the former FBI director Jim
00:17:23Jim Comey being charged with in two
00:17:26two different criminal cases. You've You've had Trump openly calling for
00:17:30for other people he considers to to be enemies to be charged. And
00:17:33And you've seen the Justice Department
00:17:36Department follow through with that. that. In some cases that troubled
00:17:39troubled a bunch of senators. You You had comments just the other day
00:17:42day that Mr Blanch made to religious religious activists about abortion,
00:17:46abortion, that he was going to crack
00:17:48crack down on the availability of of abortion across the country. That
00:17:51That was also something. But I think think it was just generally a concern
00:17:55concern that as a former defence defence attorney for the President,
00:17:58President, as you mentioned, that that he was just a little too close
00:18:02close to President Trump to really really be the nation's chief law
00:18:05law enforcement officer. But of course,
00:18:08course, Josh, this was President President Trump's pick. If he is
00:18:12is confirmed, which looks likely, likely, what will this mean for President President Trump? Surely something
00:18:15something of a victory for him. Yeah, Yeah, it's definitely something he's
00:18:19he's going to tally as a win. I don't don't know that it affects that much.
00:18:22much. What Blanch was going to be be able to do, which is why this
00:18:25this has always been something of of a symbolic fight. He is the confirmed
00:18:29confirmed deputy Attorney General, General, and the law is pretty clear
00:18:31clear that if we don't have a confirmed
00:18:34confirmed Attorney General, the deputy deputy Attorney General fills that
00:18:36that position. So it's more of a a symbolic battle over whether he
00:18:40he got to have the title and whether
00:18:42whether President Trump still has
00:18:44has the political might on Capitol Capitol Hill to push his nominees
00:18:48nominees forward. It looks like he he does, although only by the very
00:18:52very narrowest of margins. That's That's a good point, Josh. I mean,
00:18:55mean, do you think that this vote vote or at least the run up to it
00:18:59it and some of the rows that we saw
00:19:01saw kind of exposed lingering divisions divisions within the Republican Party
00:19:05Party over Trump's influence? Oh,
00:19:07Oh, that's definitely the case, especially especially when we look at the fact
00:19:11fact that a couple of the senators senators who were very wobbly here,
00:19:14here, maybe three of them I can think think of had trouble because they
00:19:18they had been opposed by President President Trump in their own primaries
00:19:22primaries for re-election and basically basically are going to be leaving
00:19:25leaving the Senate at the end of of this year, in large part due to
00:19:28to President Trump's personal political political opposition to them. So
00:19:32So that became a huge hurdle for
00:19:34for him to try to overcome in this this process, trying to get his nomination
00:19:37nomination through with people that that he had basically crossed swords
00:19:41swords with politically just in the the last few months. Josh Gerstein,
00:19:44Gerstein, their senior legal affairs affairs reporter at Politico. Good
00:19:47Good to talk to you. Thank you. Josh.
00:19:49Josh. Thank you. Well, Hunter Biden,
00:19:52Biden, the son of former US President
00:19:54President Joe Biden, has defended defended the controversial presidential
00:19:58presidential pardon, which was granted granted by his father in an interview
00:20:01interview with the BBC's Newsnight. Newsnight. Now, he said that he feels
00:20:03feels like the most privileged person person that there is, while acknowledging
00:20:08acknowledging that people would find find it unfair. The former president's
00:20:11president's son also spoke candidly candidly about his father's cancer
00:20:15cancer battle and his own battle battle with addiction. Hunter Biden
00:20:17Biden also said that he did not advise advise his father to run for a second
00:20:21second term against Donald Trump, Trump, and he spoke to BBC Newsnight
00:20:24Newsnight presenter Paddy O'Connell. O'Connell. Did you advise him to
00:20:28to run again? No, I did not because
00:20:34because what was it like for you
00:20:35you explaining this love and respect,
00:20:39respect, watching the 2024 presidential presidential debate? Where were you?
00:20:43you? Hunter, when your father failed
00:20:45failed to complete a sentence on
00:20:48on prime time television during a
00:20:51a presidential election campaign?
00:20:52campaign? Where were you watching
00:20:56watching that? I was alone in. I
00:20:59I wasn't alone, I was at my house
00:21:01house in here in California and I I was watching and I always like
00:21:04like to if I'm not with him, be to
00:21:06to able to watch alone. And so I
00:21:09I was alone in a room with the TV TV and I was watching it. And like
00:21:12like everybody else, I was shocked.
00:21:15shocked. I could tell as soon as as my father came out that something
00:21:18something was wrong. I've never seen
00:21:21seen him with a kind of the 100 yard
00:21:24yard stare that he had and you know,
00:21:28know, everybody has their questions, questions, you know, of. But the
00:21:31the reason that we know about that
00:21:33that is not because Joe Biden wasn't
00:21:35wasn't on TV or in public a million
00:21:38million and a half times before and and after. The reason that was so
00:21:42so shocking is because it had never never happened before, and it hasn't
00:21:46hasn't happened since. And so I can't
00:21:49can't necessarily explain it. I have have theories about it. I have theories
00:21:52theories about the fact that he had had travelled as much as he did,
00:21:55did, and he was taking Ambien, I I believe, which they I'm positive
00:21:59positive they gave him when he was was going back and forth from Asia.
00:22:03Asia. I think he had flown, I think,
00:22:05think, eight different legs in a a three week period of time. But
00:22:09But regardless, these are just theories theories of mine. I also know that
00:22:12that he obviously had cancer. Whether Whether it impacted him or not, he
00:22:16he had by the. Nine months later later he was diagnosed with stage
00:22:19stage four prostate cancer and stage stage four metastatic bone cancer,
00:22:23cancer, none of which we knew. But
00:22:25But my reaction to it was that I I was as shocked, I think, as anyone
00:22:29anyone who knew Joe Biden was. More
00:22:33More than 180,000 households and and businesses in Puerto Rico are are rationing water with the island
00:22:37island in the grip of a severe drought. drought. Now, July was San Juan's
00:22:41Juan's driest month since record
00:22:42record keeping began back in 1899.
00:22:461899. About 61% of the island is is currently experiencing drought,
00:22:49drought, according to the US Drought Drought Monitor and the governor governor of Puerto Rico said that
00:22:53that the situation is out of our our hands and blamed the water shortages
00:22:57shortages on climate conditions. conditions. CBS correspondent Lilia
00:23:00Lilia Luciano reports from Puerto
00:23:03Puerto Rico. Residents in Puerto Puerto Rico's capital, San Juan,
00:23:06Juan, have been filling up jugs and and buckets of water in preparation
00:23:10preparation for a massive rationing rationing measure that went into
00:23:12into effect this morning, impacting
00:23:14impacting hundreds of thousands of
00:23:17of people. It's brutal. This resident
00:23:20resident says it's unbelievable to to live through this today. The island
00:23:23island is facing a major drought drought in San Juan. July was the
00:23:27the driest month in more than 120
00:23:29120 years. In an effort to conserve conserve water, more than 180,000
00:23:33180,000 customers in Puerto Rico Rico will be without water for 48
00:23:3748 hours at a time. Starting today. today. And there's no clear end in
00:23:41in sight. Adam Johnson is the chief chief meteorologist at local station
00:23:44station Wapa TV. So it's not going
00:23:47going to take one tropical system.
00:23:50system. It's going to take many tropical
00:23:54tropical systems and the winter precipitation
00:23:57precipitation for us to get out of of this drought crisis. Low income
00:24:00income Puerto Ricans are spending spending money on bottled water,
00:24:04water, and the elderly are relying relying on neighbours and family
00:24:06family to carry water to them. The
00:24:12The governor, she says, did nothing. nothing. She didn't do anything.
00:24:15anything. In a statement about the the rationing, the governor said
00:24:18said that the government is taking taking the measure responsibly and
00:24:22and that it is out of their hands hands at this point. But after a
00:24:25a lawsuit having to do with the water
00:24:28water shortages before the drought, drought, she acknowledged that the
00:24:31the infrastructure needs more funding funding and maintenance. Lilia Luciano,
00:24:35Luciano, CBS News, San Juan, Puerto Puerto Rico. Well, dozens of hot
00:24:38hot air balloons have been up in in the skies above Bristol at the
00:24:41the start of this year's Balloon Balloon Fiesta. Graham Satchell has
00:24:45has that story. Sunrise over Bristol
00:24:49Bristol and a clear blue sky begins begins to fill with extraordinary
00:24:53extraordinary balloons. A bear, an
00:24:56an alien, a suitcase, a scarecrow. scarecrow. It's wonderful to do this.
00:24:59this. I've been flying for over 30
00:25:0130 years and every flight is special. special. And in this company, what
00:25:05what better company? And what a way way to spend the, you know, the morning
00:25:08morning flying. From the ground. ground. It is a spectacular sight
00:25:11sight from the air. If anything even
00:25:13even more so. Artist Emily Powell
00:25:15Powell captured this year's event
00:25:18event on canvas. I could see for
00:25:20for miles it was so clear and the the colours were phenomenal. And
00:25:24And then now I've got my oil pastels
00:25:26pastels and I'm just adding the final
00:25:28final touches to the piece. The day
00:25:30day began with an explosion of green
00:25:34green smoke and the balloonists setting setting off their burners at the
00:25:37the launch site. A world record attempt.
00:25:40attempt. How many times up and down down in a tethered balloon in an
00:25:44an hour. Jo Bailey was seriously seriously ill last year and needed
00:25:47needed life saving surgery. She smashed
00:25:50smashed the record. You can get your your life back. I never thought this
00:25:53this time last year I'd ever get get in a balloon again. And I can't can't believe I've actually done
00:25:57done it. Coming back down can be
00:26:01be precarious. The scarecrow ended ended up in a school car park. Some
00:26:04Some of the biggest crowds of the the day at Clifton Suspension Bridge.
00:26:08Bridge. A wondrous sight made even
00:26:10even better by more than 200 hot
00:26:13hot air balloons. Graham Satchell, Satchell, BBC News. And before we
00:26:17we go, I just want to take you to to Colombia, where an inauguration
00:26:21inauguration is going on for the the country's new president. This
00:26:24This is in Cali, the city of Cali
00:26:28Cali as opposed to the capital Bogota, Bogota, where a military parade has
00:26:31has been under way. The new president president has been praised by
00:28:05some parts of Iraq.
00:30:25online at bbc.com/business to get get the latest news wherever you
00:30:28you are. Business on BBC News. Make
00:30:31Make the connection. Now on BBC News
00:30:42News exploring the latest innovation innovation and technology shaping
00:30:45shaping our lives and with the inside inside track on global trends and
00:30:49and advancements in the tech space space today. From AI and robotics
00:30:53robotics to health, climate, transport
00:30:55transport and gaming tech. Now.
Data courtesy of The GDELT Project (gdeltproject.org), from the Internet Archive TV News Archive. Film strip and transcript are GDELT's, rehosted here under their terms of use, which permit it with this citation.