Transcripts For BBCNEWS Outside Source 20200427

And the overwhelming of the nhs. Globally, there are now more than three million confirmed cases of coronavirus and the World Health Organisation says the pandemic is far from over. Its important that we understand, at this point in time, four months into a global pandemic, a large proportion of the population still remains susceptible. And where is kimjong un . Rumours are circulating as north koreas leader hasnt been seen in public for over two weeks. Welcome to this edition of outside source. Im Lewis Vaughan jones. We start with the news that the number of confirmed cases of covid 19 around the world has now gone past three million. Thats according to the american based Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus data base. Almost a third of those cases have been in the us and there have been a similiar number confirmed across europe. The total number of deaths stands at more than 200 and 8,000. One person to have recovered after contracting the disease is borisjohnson. Today the uk Prime Minister was back at work. In his first public appearance since leaving hospital, he warned against lifting the lockdown too quickly. I know it is tough, and i want to get this economy moving as fast as i can but i refused to throw away all the effort and the sacrifice of the british people and to risk a second major outbreak and huge loss of life and the overwhelming of the nhs. Lets remind you how the Prime Ministers health has recovered since he was diagnosed with coronavirus a month ago. He first developed mild symptoms, including a continuous cough and a High Temperature on march 26th, and so was advised by the chief medical officer to take a test. Here you can see the Prime Minister with the chancellor rushi sunak taking part in a clap for National Health service and care staff on march 26th in downing street. And here you can see him a day later on march 27th announcing on twitter that hed tested positive for covid i9. A week later, on april 2nd, this was the Prime Minister on the steps of number 10 clapping again for nhs workers. A few days later on april 5th, he was admitted to St Thomas Hospital in Central London and spent a week there, including three nights in intensive care. He was given oxygen after suffering breathing difficulties but was not placed on a ventilator. On april 11th, the Prime Minister used this video appearance to thank nhs staff for saving his life in intensive care. Over the last couple of weeks, hes not had any official government work while recovering at his country residence, chequers, although last week he did speak to the queen and President Trump. I want to show you a graph of the daily reported deaths from coronavirus in hospitals around the uk. And you can see theres been another drop in number of deaths in the last 2a hours to 360 so the trend suggests the uk is coming down from its peak. You can see its been a bumpy progress down to where it is now. Well also need to wait and see what happens over the next few days as the numbers from the weekend tend to be under reported. The total number of confirmed dead from coronavirus is more than 21,000 a devastating figure that doesnt include deaths in care homes. Lets speak to our Political Correspondent chris mason at westminster. Chris, good to see you. So a strange combination here, we have the numbers seemingly passed them peak in the uk, seemingly coming down, but a Prime Minister warning that we are still in a huge danger. Yeah, thats right, so symbolically, psychologically a big moment this morning as Boris Johnson psychologically a big moment this morning as borisjohnson returned home, return to his workplace in downing street. He has been convalescing at his country retreat in buckinghamshire just outside london, since he was discharged from hospital. I think what was quite striking, listening to the Prime Ministers words this morning was yes, there was a caution that ran through what he said because he was emphasising the need to maintain the current restrictions due to remain in place until the end of the first week of next month, so for the best pa rt week of next month, so for the best part of a fortnight, but did begin to talk about, in very broad terms, how things might eventually start to be liberated, how things might slowly begin a very, very long journey back towards normality. But i think what you get a sense of, and this is the challenge for governments around the world, there is one thing imposing variations on a lockdown, clearly they are massive and involve a restriction of liberty for people they have never experienced before, but there is a blanket effect of that, which means you impose it and there it is. Unpicking it and trying to work out how you do that in a way that is seen to be fair, that is seen to be economically judicious, seen to be fair, that is seen to be economicallyjudicious, but crucially doesnt cause a second spike that could overwhelm our Health Service is massively, massively complicated, when the advice they are receiving from their government departments, from scientists, from modellers is inevitably sometimes contradictory, confusing, there is different advice being whispered into the ears of leaders. That is inevitable. So a colossal responsibility on the shoulders of the government here in the uk and around the world at the moment. Chris, just very briefly, when are we expecting to hear any kind of plans for how the uk does withdraw from the current lockdown . There was a suggestion from Boris Johnson this morning that within a couple of days we might be able to get something but i suspect that will probably be a plan about a plan. In other words, a sense of what could happen if the data suggests that is feasible in a couple of weeks at that first point where the government is obliged to decide and set out what its going to do next. But it could be very, very gradual, the expectation is that it will be very, very gradual, and crucially as well it will all depend on where the data is at that point to work out how much headroom, blu ntly, point to work out how much headroom, bluntly, there is, in terms of Hospital Capacity to allow some loosening with the expectation that after that there could be a further rise in cases. 0k, we will see when and if we do get that plan about a plan. Thanks, chris. The United States is approaching an unwanted milestone, close to confirming one million cases of coronavirus. Far more than anywhere else of course, four times as many as the second most affected country, spain, though obviously the us has a far higher population. More than 50,000 people have died from covid i9, again, a devastating figure but we should point out the rate of death is actually lower than in the worst affected countries in europe. The debate in the us right now is over when and how to ease the dozens of individual lockdown orders issued by states and cities over recent weeks. Businesses have already been allowed to reopen in a number of states, across the south and elsewhere, with colorado and montana among the latest to ease restrictions on monday. In minnesota, some factories and offices have been allowed to re open. Jacob frey is the mayor of minneapolis. Well, many of the restrictions still will remain in place, and in minneapolis, as things are getting warmer and our parks are seeing an influx of people, we are actually providing even further restrictions than we previously had. But the right strategy is not an all or nothing approach. The right strategy is to listen to the epidemiologists, it is to listen to the scientists, it is to listen to the scientists, it is to look at the data and then determine areas where you are able to open safely, with precaution. On the east coast, the state of new york is the worst affected, more than 17,000 people have died in new york city alone. The current lockdown there runs for two more weeks. The Governor Andrew Cuomo struck a cautious tone earlier. We all have to be smart about it. As we said, there is no light switch when you flick a switch and everybody goes back to doing what they are doing. We have to take these circumstances into consideration, learn the lessons, move forward and be smart, because if you are not smart, you will see that infection rate go right back to where it was. Lets speak to katty kay. Katty, good to see you, hugely confusing picture across the us, some states like new york still in others really not. Yeah, as President Trump has described it, america is a puzzle, a beautiful puzzle, he said, and it is this kind of jigsaw puzzle if puzzle, he said, and it is this kind ofjigsaw puzzle if you like of different entities. Take new york, for example. New york is notjust a state doing things differently, things are being done differently within the state. You heard Governor Cuomo saying there will be areas of u pstate n ew cuomo saying there will be areas of upstate new york, pretty rural, have much fewer cases, where they will start opening some businesses, manufacturing for example, construction going to start opening up construction going to start opening up and there is more rural areas, but then the downstate areas, which includes new york city and long island, many more cases. Thats going to happen later. And that picture if you like is multiplied right around the country, where you have some ten or ii right around the country, where you have some ten or 11 states starting now to open up businesses, starting to open up parks, but some of those states where they have opened up over the course of this weekend, they have seen record numbers of people flooding the beaches, in california, in georgia, in florida, where they opened up state beaches over the course of the weekend, people werent respecting those social distancing rules, anxious to get time out on the beach and enjoy the sunshine, but i think that is a kind of warning sign to statess governors, when you open up, it is not easy to control people and how they will behave, and of course that then brings about the risk you have a spike in cases again. Yeah, a difficult balance, isnt it . Thank you for that, katty. President trump is due to hold a press conference later on. Earlier, the white house cancelled a briefing by its Coronavirus Task force that was scheduled to take place around the same time and said that particular format wont return until later in the week. This, of course, follows the condemnation that greeted President Trumps suggestion at thursdays briefing that it might be possible to look into injections of disinfectant to treat coronavirus. Larry hogan is governor of the state of maryland and a republican. He told cbs news it was critical the president stuck to the facts. The mixed messaging, i have raised concerns multiple times about conflicting messages. We had hundreds of calls on our hotline in maryland, people asking about injecting or ingesting these disinfectants, which is, you know, ha rd disinfectants, which is, you know, hard to imagine that people thought that was serious, but people actually were thinking about this, was this something you could do to protect yourself . Straight back to katty. These comments from President Trump, made last week, but still following him around, and therefore it seems, i dont know, is there a link between those comments, the fallout from that, and the cancellations of the usual briefing . It is the on again, off again briefing, today now back on again, so we were told there would be a briefing, then we were told about three hours ago no, the briefing was off, and then about an hour ago the white house said there would be a press co nfe re nce white house said there would be a press conference in about an hour and a half time. You look at the leadership, you would expect some kind of clarity on the existence or not of a press briefing today, you are getting a chaotic not a clear picture. The president suggested there should be some sort of ingestion of disinfectant, which should be has been roundly criticised not just by should be has been roundly criticised notjust by the usual critics of the present but also supporters of the president. Over the course of the weekend we watch the course of the weekend we watch the president s twitter feed as we so often do, and he was critical of the familiar outlets, washington post, new york times, nbc, cnn, of those are the usual go to is, but you also have a president criticising fox news and wall journal, which are two conservative publications traditionally more supportive of the president , the president attacking them on twitter too and i think that tells you a lot about the kind of feedback he has been getting for those comments about disinfectant and why that has been roiling the white house over the course of the last few days, leading to today where we will have a briefing or not, now it looks like it will be a press briefing by the president , so he will be taking questions and we will be watching those. Whatever form that briefing ta kes we those. Whatever form that briefing takes we will of course bring you here on bbc news. Thank you, katty. Stay with us on outside source, still to come the leader of north korea king john has not been seen in public for more than two weeks. Inevitably king john and has not been seen in public for more than two weeks. Inevitably rumours are circulating king john. The issue of ppe personal protective equipment remains a burning issue in the uk. Heres an update on the situation in wales. As of today, we have provided more than 56 million pieces of ppe to our nhs and to local authorities for onward distribution to all social ca re onward distribution to all social care settings in wales. We have provided that from our central stores, and to thousands of places where the nhs operates across wales. Ppe to hospital, pharmacies, Emergency Dental clinics and as far as social care is aware, we are going twice a week to stores for onward distribution to social care settings. This is outside source, live from the bbc newsroom. Borisjohnson is back at work after recovering from coronavirus. He says now is the moment of maximum risk for the uk. You may be aware of the rumours swirling about the health of north koreas leader kimjong un. Needless to say, given how hard it is to get any reliable information about north korea, extreme caution is advised on every aspect of this story. Ros atkins has been looking into it. Good to see you. The reporting around the health of kimjong un began in the middle of last week. Cnn reported that he was in grave danger after surgery, according to a us official. One msnbc anchor katy tur tweeted that nbc news had spoken to two us officials who said the north Korean Leader was brain dead. She then deleted the tweet out of, she said, an abundance of caution. More broadly, the story has maintained momentum. At the weekend, readers of tmz saw this kim jong un reportedly dead. So what we can we say with any certainty . First some good advice from apsjean h lee of ap. She says. What sourcing do we have . In the case of nbc and cnn, both have long records of reliably sourced journalism but we cantjudge their sources in these cases, as theyre not named. In the case of tmz, well, it references Media Outlets in china and japan but says it hasnt confirmed the reports. So lets look at all the key questions. First do we know kimjong unis dead . No. Definitely not. Next do we know kimjong un had heart surgery . Well, we know the south korea based website daily nk has reported that that had happened based on a single unnamed source. The south korean government has questioned whether the hospital it said would carry out heart surgery. Translation ive never heard of kim jong uns visit there, and since it isa jong uns visit there, and since it is a regular health clinic, this is not a place for a medical procedure. Next is north korean media behaving differently . No, says bbc monitoring, which is watching north korean tv and websites. In fact, north korean media is still publishing reports of mr kim sending letters and the like. Is there anything different happening in north korea . Heres a spokesperson for the south Korea Unification Ministry again. Translation there is nothing we can confirm on chairman kim jong uns health, but as the National Security Council Standing committee has said, it confirmed there is no Unusual Movement in north korea. That stance is still valid. Next does the fact weve not seen or heard from kimjong un mean anything . This is the last time kim jong un was pictured in the state newspaper on april 12, attending a meeting of the politburo the day before. We know he missed high profile events such as his grandfather kim il sungs birth anniversary on 15 april and a 12 april session of north koreas parliament which isnt really a parliament, but thats a different story. State media also failed to report a 14 april weapons launch that would usually dominate coverage had kim been present. All of which may suggest something is wrong. But remember, this is a guy who back in 2014 didnt appear for a0 days, then reappeared with a cane. And we still dont know what happened then. And listen to this from Professor Robert kelly. North Korean Leaders have actually done this kind of thing before. I think on the outside we tend to see that and say what is going on, and partly is because we see so little about what is meaningful behaviour from north korean elites. As i mentioned before, you have trolling or playing with us, north Korean Leadership figures have missed events and we have said, have they been exiled, liquidated, and then they show up three or four weeks later, so if kim were to pop back up in two or three weeks, that actually wouldnt be that out of the ordinary for north korea. This is sort of what they do. Theyjust dont tell us what they do. Theyjust dont tell usa what they do. Theyjust dont tell us a great deal and theyjust dont ca re us a great deal and theyjust dont care that we dont know. Next, what about the south korean official who said kim jong un was alive and well. Our seoul corresponent laura bicker can help us with this. When it comes to the south korean president ial adviser, when it comes to the south korean president ialadviser, he when it comes to the south korean president ial adviser, he has actually gone further. He has said kimjong un is actually gone further. He has said kim jong un is alive and well and at his resort in one sam. However it is worth noting that his adviser is not a memberof the worth noting that his adviser is not a member of the president ial team, and he is not privy to any intelligence briefings. What about the rumour that kim jong un was injured in a missle test . No evidence of that. Or that hes quarantined because a bodyguard has covid 19 . No evidence on that either. And then we need to look at the chinese angle. Over the weekend, reuters cited unnamed sources saying that a team of chinese doctors had travelled to north korea to provide kim with medical assistance. Reuters is of course very reliable but even if we could be certain of the story, that in itself only tells us so much. And if you want to know what the chinese are saying publicly here you go. Translation i want to say that i dont know the source of the information. I have nothing to offer, in terms of the detailed question you ask. You may also have seen this satellite image, from analysts at 38 north. It shows what analysts think is kimjong uns personal train at a resort that hes known to like. Theres speculation he could either be quarantining or recuperating there. But we dont know. In fact after all this do we even know if kim jong unis poorly at all . No, we dont. And very few people would know that perhaps fewer than ten. He does lead an unhealthy lifestyle, but so do lots of people who live to be a lot older than him. So how do we assess this . Andrei lankov is director of the Analysis Firm the korea risk group. Im very sceptical about reports about his death. Judging by behaviour of the top north korea officials. They are not acting as they would act had they known he has died or isjust about they would act had they known he has died or is just about to they would act had they known he has died or isjust about to die. But then listen to chad ocarroll ceo of korea risk group. The point being people who study north korea every day arent sure. And thats a very good guide for all of us, unless better and clearer information emerges. There you go, lewis, i did my best to ta ke there you go, lewis, i did my best to take you through it. Thank you very much, extreme caution is the watchword, isnt it . To bring you up to date with europe. Its seven weeks today since italy locked down, but from next monday, some restrictions will start to lift. Parks, takeaway restaurants, manufacturing and construction businesses will be the first to reopen. People will also be allowed to exercise again outdoors, and funerals are resuming. The bbcs mark lowen has more from rome. Europes first lockdown is now set to ease in a weaks time. There is a road map to reopening that the Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte laid out. From monday 11th of may, a week from now, take away will be offered at bars and restaurants. They will be able to swing back into action for that service. Parks will reopen, people will be able to exercise again outdoors. They will be able to move within their own region, they will be able to visit family and relatives, but Wearing Masks and no large social gatherings will be allowed. Athletes will be able to train again on their own. People will be able to attend funerals again, though there will be a Maximum Capacity of 15 people at funerals and they will have to wear masks. Manufacturing and construction and wholesale companies will be allowed to restart activity, then two weeks after that, the 18th of may is the day that libraries and museums will be allowed to reopen. Sports teams will be able to practice on their own again. Smaller Construction Companies also will be allowed to restart and then from the 1st ofjune, well, that is the date planned at the moment for restau ra nts, planned at the moment for restaurants, bars, cafe is, hairdressers and beauty salons to reopen. Schools, though, will remain shut until september. So this is an attempt by the Italian Government to tell the people that their sacrifices are paying off. In germany, its now compulsory to wear a facemask on public transport and in most shops, as part of the fight against coronavirus. Here you can see facemasks being handed out to people using public transport in frankfurt. Germany has been following in the footsteps of a string of other European Countries where mask wearing is mandatory, including austria, poland and the czech republic. Germany has reported almost 6,000 deaths from covid 19 a much lower number than in italy, spain, france or the uk. In spain, there have been more than 23,000 confirmed virus related deaths. But now with the number of daily fatalities now falling, children have been allowed to leave their homes for the first time in six weeks. Dont forget you can get in touch with me and some of the team on twitter im lvaughanjones iam i am Lewis Vaughanjones and this is bbc news, goodbye. Hello. It has been so dry for so very long that it is high time we got some rain, and rain is on the way. A fair got some rain, and rain is on the way. Afairamount got some rain, and rain is on the way. A fair amount for southern parts of the uk, and im sure our gardens will love it, as well as our parks, and lets face it, most of us are stuck at home. Now, the rain clouds are visible on the satellite picture, they are coming in from the south. That is tomorrows rain, and this band of cloud here, thats the weather front that will come our way on wednesday. You can see how over the next few days one weather system moves the next few days one weather system m oves a cross the next few days one weather system moves across southern parts of the country and this next big area of low pressure swings in front in our direction as well. So the forecast for the coming hours, through the course of the night we expect the cloud is thicken across the south. It will stop raining almost anywhere from cornwall to the tip of kent there come into the midlands, quite possibly early hours of tuesday morning, not particularly cold here, because we will have the cloud and a bit of a breeze and the rain, so 10 degrees, whereas in scotland where we will have a clear skies overnight, a touch of frost. Here is that rain, and the thing about it in the south is that it will be very slow moving, so hanging around in any one place for a considerable amount of time, which means it could bea amount of time, which means it could be a wash out in some parts of southern britain, and chile too. Those temperatures will be suppressed, perhaps nine or 10 degrees in some spots, but different across the lakes, northern ireland, and scotland, you can see here all through the day, bar the odd shower here and there, actually will be mostly clear. Then towards the end of tuesday, that rain should clear a way out into the north sea. This is what is happening through tuesday night into wednesday, one weather front night into wednesday, one weather fro nt m oves night into wednesday, one weather front moves away and then this big area of low pressure swings in. The difference with this weather front mid week is rather than it being slow moving like tomorrows rain, this wednesday, the weather front will move through quicker, so in birmingham we might get a couple of hours worth of rainfall, then behind we have showers coming on as well, but this rain will spread a little bit further north on wednesday, so for example glasgow will get some rain too. Then beyond that it looks as though the weather will remain u nsettled, as though the weather will remain unsettled, perhaps an indication that things will be turning a little less chilly towards the end of the week there, around 16 in london. Thats it, goodbye. This is bbc world news, the headlines. Globally there are now more than three million confirmed cases of coronavirus, but many countries in europe are beginning to ease their lockdowns, as it appears the peak of infections has now passed. The british Prime Minister, borisjohnson says he wont throw away the progress made so far by easing the lockdown restrictions too soon. It was his first address since recovering from the coronavirus. After much back and forth, donald trump will brief the nation with updated coronavirus testing guidance, the white house had previously cancelled the briefing. A spokesperson for mike pence said we like to keep reporters on their toes. Theres been another spectacularfall in the price of american oil. West texas intermediate, the us benchmark, dropped to less than thirteen dollars a barrel. Brent crude, the european standard, is also down by nearly eight per cent. You are watching bbc news now,