Chills as low as 40 degrees celsius are predicted. The fa cup, coventry city have claimed the scalp of the premier league side, stoke. Well have results and the best of the action in sportsday in half an hour. Good evening, and welcome to bbc news. Donald trump has launched a new attack on the author whos accused him of being unstable and incompetent. The president told a News Conference at camp david that the book by Michael Wolff was a work of fiction, saying hed been to the best colleges and been a tremendous success on television. He also repeated his denials that thered been any collusion with russia during the president ial election in 2016. David willis reports from washington. Boarding a flight to camp david for meetings with senior republican leaders, the image that donald trump was seeking to project was one of order, professionalism and control. Instead he finds himself battling claims contained in a book, claims which question his mentalfitness. I went to the best colleges, i went to. I had a situation where i was an excellent student and came out and made billions of dollars, became one of the top business people, went to television and for ten years was a tremendous success, as you probably have heard. Perhaps the most damaging allegation, shared claims the author Michael Wolff, by all the president s senior advisers, is that the leader of the free world lacks curiosity, does not read or listen, is like a child. They all came to the conclusion gradually at first and then faster and faster, that something was unbelievably amiss here. But this was more peculiar than they ever imagined it could be. Fire and fury also quotes Donald Trumps former senior aide steve bannon, the man credited with getting him elected, as describing a meeting between a russian lawyer and mr trumps son donald junior as treasonous. Other revelations paint a picture of a chaotic white house at the mercy of a petulant, easily distracted commander in chief. Claims denied by a leading member of the administration. I have never questioned his mental fitness, i have no reason to. We have different management styles. How i make decisions and process information, i have to learn how he takes in information and processes it and makes decisions. Having achieved a major success just before christmas with the passage of tax reform legislation, Senior Republicans had hoped the new year would be a new start for the Trump Administration but instead of moving forward on key issues like immigration reform, the focus it seems is yet again on the president himself, his personality and his mental competence. Donald trump has launched a new attack on the author whos in the last hour, President Trump was asked about the investigation into collusion between his Campaign Team and the russians during the 2016 election. He also responded to a question about why he felt the need to tweet about his mental state. Only because i went to the best colleges, or college, i went to. I had a situation where i was a very excellent student, made billions of dollars, became one of the top business people, went to television and for ten years was a tremendous success, as you probably have heard. Ran for president one time and won. Then i hear this guy, that does not know me, does not know me at all. By the way, did not interview me he said he interviewed me for three hours. It did not exist, it was and has imagination. I was heartened by the fact that so many of the people that i talk about in terms of fake news actually came to the defence of this great administration, and even myself, because they know the author, and they know he is a fraud, and when i saw some of the people say, and you look at some of his past books,he did a book on rupert murdoch, which was a terrible expose it, and was false, so much was false. I consider it a work of fiction, and i think it is a disgrace that somebody is able to have something, do Something Like that, the libel laws are very weak in this country. If they were strong, it would be very helpful. You wouldnt have things like that happen, and you can see what ever comes to your head. Butjust so you know, i never interviewed with him in the white house at all. He was never in the oval office, we did not have an interview. I did a quick interview with him along time ago, having to do with an article. But i do not know this man. I guess sloppy steve brought him into the white house. That is why sloppy steve is now looking for a job. If Robert Mueller asked you to come and speak to him personally, are you committed to doing that . Just so you understand, there is no collision. There has been no crime. And in theory, everybody tells me, i am not under investigation. Maybe hilary is, but i am not. There has been no collision, there has been no crime. But we have been very open, and we could have been very closed, and it would have taken years. When you have done nothing wrong, lets be open and get it over with, because honestly its very, very bad for our country. Its making our country like foolish. And this is a country that i do not want looking foolish. And it is not going to look foolish as long as i am here. We have been very open, and wejust want to get that over with. It reminds me of the big catch 22 if you have a stable genies, would you really say you have a stable genius . What reaction today . You right. By doing this and taking this sort of tactic, President Trump is ina sort of tactic, President Trump is in a sense keeping their story running, isnt he . He came out very vigorously on twitter this morning saying that he is a smarter genius, and refuting claims that he is not fit to run the country, and then taking that matter up in the press conference he gave at camp david, flanked by the public and leaders. The president clearly feels that this is another attempt by the fake news media, as he calls them, are discrediting his administration, and he believes, he takes as very seriously, clearly, and very personally, that the claims in Michael Wolff us Controversial Book need to be refuted. Even claims that some of what he regards as if it news media have been coming to his defence. Who and how . Well, certainly to an extent they have, and that there have been those who have pointed out that Michael Wolff has in the past been perhaps a little economical with the actuality. Now, that is the view of those who supported donald trump. I have to say there have been some in the Mainstream Media who have also pointed out that very same thing, and the fact that the book has no fa ct and the fact that the book has no fact checker, and it does contain some fairly elementary errors. That said, it is potentially dynamite, and it has sold out. There have been in long queues, we have seen an here in washington, dc, with people looking to buy this book in very cold temperatures, outside book stores. Yes, they really wanted to get their hands on it. The president was also critical of the amount of free speech that is possible in munich estates, the fact that in other countries, the libel laws might have made this big bit more difficult to publish. Yes, he did say that, didnt he, that the libel laws are stricter elsewhere, and he would have more room to pursue legal action. The cease and desist notice that his lawyer sent out clearly had no effect whatsoever, indeed the publicist just brought forward no effect whatsoever, indeed the publicistjust brought forward the release of this book, and they have claimed, Michael Wolff has claimed, that all this just claimed, Michael Wolff has claimed, that all thisjust adds claimed, Michael Wolff has claimed, that all this just adds to sales, the publicity is good for him, and it is good for book sales. David, thank you very much. And well find out how this story, and many others, are covered in tomorrows front pages at 10 30pm and 11 30pm this evening in the papers. Our guestsjoining me tonight are eve pollard, the broadcaster and former fleet street editor, and the economics commentator and author, dharshini david. An Ambulance Service has apologised to the family of a pensioner who died after waiting nearly four hours for help to arrive. The 81 year old woman had rung 999 complaining of chest pain. The east of England Service said it was stretched, and had warned of the pressures its staff and the nhs were facing. Our correspondent Sarah Campbell reports from clacton in essex. Sirens the period over new year was, according to the local Ambulance Service here in essex, the busiest ever. On the day in question, they received more than 4000, 999 calls, far more than usual. A statement in response to the death of the 80 year old woman said. The Union RepresentingHealth Workers also blames wider pressures on the Health Service. I think there is chronic underfunding. It is endemic. It tells us the Public Sector is under so much strain that it is now beginning to kill people. This is the second death in recent days which has been linked to an overstretched service. 88 year old Josephine Smalley died following a seven hour wait for a bed at the Queen Alexandra hospital in portsmouth. In recent days, the Health Secretary and the Prime Minister have both apologised to patients after thousands of nonurgent operations were cancelled. The Health Service says a combination of winter flu and cold weather are adding to pressure on the service. Here in clacton, the local mp is demanding answers. I am furious. It shouldnt happen. We need an enquiry, we need to get to the bottom of it and find out what happened and make sure it never happens to anybody again. Is the government doing enough, your government . Well find out when we have that enquiry. With temperatures once again dropping, the worry is the Health Service simply wont be able to cope. Sarah campbell reporting from clacton in essex. 17 people are reported to have been killed in syria in further air strikes on a besieged, rebel held stronghold close to the capital, damascus. The british based syrian observatory for human rights said another 60 people were wounded in the enclave, which is known as eastern ghouta. Earlier, aid workers said that over ten hospitals had been hit by air strikes in as many days in both this area and the rebel held, province of idlib. Hamish de bretton gordon, an adviser to the union of medical and relief organisations, gave us this update a little earlier. As you have already said, although the past ten days, we have seen a vast increase in the air attacks, particularly in ghouta, and particularly in places which were supposed to be safe, which was agreed a while ago. But we have seen great intensity, and as your report says, its now focused on the hospitals, focused, as you say, on ten hospitals that were put out of commission in the last ten days, and only today, again, major attacks entered ghouta. 400,000 people are trapped there, including 125 children who desperately need life saving surgery. We, with the un and the International Red cross, managed to get 29 people out on the 27th of december who needed desperate, life saving surgery, and at this moment, i understand 25 of the children in ghouta are dying of malnutrition. They have had no food or medicine is delivered to them for the last four months, and in fact no real proper aid for a couple of years. So, it is an absolute desperate situation in ghouta at the moment. The Department Store house of fraser has confirmed its asking landlords to reduce the rent it pays for some of its shops. The group is set to release christmas retail figures next week with some analysts suggesting its takings over the Christmas Period were disappointing. It is one of the key brands on our high streets, with 59 stores and more than 7000 staff. We do not yet know how christmas was for house of fraser but we know it has asked its landlords to cut the rent. So what do people think when they think of house of fraser . It has got the shops that i like to browse in within the Department Store so it is quite easy to just go from one place to the next. It has a lot of good quality brands, and quite a lot of variety. I think it has a good reputation for good quality products. And i know all the high street has been affected at the moment and is not doing well. In terms of reputation it is up there withjon lewis, maybe a bit more down market thanjon lewis so it occupies that gap in the market. I kind of think it is for older people but maybe because it is more expensive. It is not unusual for retailers to seek rent reductions from their landlords, marks and spencers and next are already doing so and traditional retailers face challenges such as rising rent, especially in big cities, the National Living wage going up which pushes up costs and of course online. £1 in every £6 now spent shopping online. And then there is overall sentiment. Shopping is a vital part of the uk economy if consumers tighten their wallets then gdp suffers. Conditions are pretty tough for households. Inflation hit a five year high in the run up to christmas and this is putting personal finances under pressure. Our research showed about 50 of consumers said they spent less this christmas than last year and almost two thirds said they did some of their shopping online. The success or failure of one retailer will not tell us whether the high streets are healthier or not. But if consumers throughout the uk cannot afford to spend as much as previous years then more big names may struggle to survive. Joe lynam, bbc news. The headlines on bbc News Donald Trump angrily hits back at an authors claims he is childish and impulsive calling him a total loser, and describing himself as a very stable genius. An Ambulance Service apologises to the family of a woman who died after almost a four hour wait for paramedics. Air strikes on a rebel held area of syria are thought to have killed at least 17 civilians. Plans to improve the reading standards of children from disadvantaged backgrounds have been announced by the department for education. Therell be a network of 35 literacy centres across england, to work with primary schools in challenging areas. Heres our education correspondent, elaine dunkley. Closing the inequality gap in classrooms is key to giving every child the best at. Research shows that fifield who struggle with language or six times less likely to reach the required standards at age 11 than those with good language skills. Today, the government has launched a 26 what you buy an investment to improve standards in reading and writing. The idea will enable high performing skills tojet knowledge and resources with those in deprived areas. This is about investing around the country, bringing together teachers and literacy specialists, so that we can make sure that we do even better on reading and writing and standards, but also that we dont see any children falling behind. The plans also include a £5 Million Investment to improve vocabulary for children before they go to school in the north of england. Labour says the north of england. Labour says the funding body nothing to change government cuts to his school budgets. We had joined now byjed whelan who has been a head teacher for 3h yea rs. Has been a head teacher for 3h years. Thank you forjoining us. How well will investment of this type that has been announced in platelets improve legislate rates . Any additionalfunding is improve legislate rates . Any additional funding is always welcome, but i get the feeling that this is really just welcome, but i get the feeling that this is reallyjust a drop in the ocean, and it may be well if you live near the 3a hubs, but if we are trying to make sure that we beat every child in the country, i cannot see this money going very far. What sort of support to those children need their Literacy Rate is to be improved . I think the most important thing is that they have a first class teacher, and at the moment in education, we are concerned about the recruitment. Only earlier this week, we got figures from the tft that the recruitment for teachers applying for teacher training are down by one third, which is really concerning. The only two areas where there is a surplus is in pe and basu teachers, so actually recruiting first class english graduates are people who are able to teach literacy would be a starting point. What would make teaching more of an attractive proposition for those graduates . I think it actually we wa nt graduates . I think it actually we want collectively with government do short, actually, as thejob satisfaction in teaching can be, when actually we have a highly trained and supported, but also valued workforce in education. However, i think that in regards to the funding cuts which have an impact on resource in, and also the Accountability Measures that are there for teachers, but also the growing need for teachers to actually provide more every support for students in terms of Mental Health and well being is not actually making the profession attractive to young graduates. What about the role that parents have in supporting the legislate that they are trying to teach in schools . Given the fact that we are all struggling to get our kids of screens a lot of the time. Yes, it isa screens a lot of the time. Yes, it is a complex question, but this implicitly about it is that education is about the magic triangle. It is about the parents, the schools, and