of confirmed coronavirus infections. the country has now recorded more than 263,000 cases, placing it behind only the united states and russia. more than 1,000 people have died. millions of people are evacuated from the coastal areas of india and bangladesh, as a huge storm bears down on the bay of bengal. cyclone umpun is expected to make landfall later on wednesday. the world health organisation has defended its handling of the coronavirus pandemic, following criticism from the united states. it comes as the who s member states agreed to an independent evaluation of its response. global carbon emissions fell by more than a sixth at the height of the coronavirus lockdown, according to a new study. the reduction was partly due to a fall in the number of cars on the road. now on bbc news, it s time for hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk, i m stephen sackur. the european union has struggled to find a collective response to the coronavirus pandemic. those countries hit first and worst by the virus, italy and spain, have complained of a lack of solidarity. well, is that about to change? because france and germany are now backing a 500 billion euros economic recovery fund that would be made up of grants, not loans. my guest is french finance minister bruno le maire. is the pandemic taking the eu in a new direction? minister bruno le maire, welcome to hardtalk. thank you, good morning. let me start getting your response to the dramatic video conference joint appearance by your president, mr macron, and angela merkel of germany yesterday. mrs merkel said that the eu is facing the greatest crisis in its history, and we must find appropriate answers. do you believe those answers have been found? i think they have been found. and i fully share the assessment of chancellor angela merkel. we are clearly facing the gravest crisis in the history of the european union. an economic crisis, a social crisis, but also a political one. we need a new and strong response, and i really think that chancellor merkel and president macron have been able, both together, to provide the necessary response to the crisis. this is a major step, and i would say an historical step that has been decided yesterday by president macron and chancellor merkel. for the first time in our history, we are ready to provide 500 billion of expenditures, public expenditures, to fight the economic consequences of the virus and to face the economic crisis. this is a historical step for france and germany, and i hope for all european countries. but let us be clear, minister you say mr macron and mrs merkel have decided, but frankly nothing at all has been decided. this is simply a proposal, and it is a proposal that is so historic to use your word that it seems very likely significant numbers of other member states of the eu will not accept this idea of debt sharing which, in essence, is what this is. i know what that it will be difficult to convince the other partners some of the partners, for instance, austria, denmark, sweden, the netherlands to go this way. but when you look at the steps that have been already decided, i think that we are on the right way. we have been able, with the 27 member states on 9 april, to adopt a global package for the economic recovery within the eu with a new loan from the eab, with the so called mechanism sure, with their use of the esm, and with this recovery fund. now france and germany have been able to find an agreement on the funding of this recovery fund with the common debt. but minister. i just want to explain to the other member states. there is no agreement let us be clear. ..and political interest to go this way. there is no agreement, though. after the. it will be difficult to find an agreement, i know that. it will be. but all the member states should be aware of the necessity to adopt new responses to fight such an important economic, social, and political crisis in europe. but the point is surely simple there are significant numbers of countries, mostly in the north of europe, and you ve pointed to austria, denmark, sweden, and many people inside germany, as well who think one of the fundamental principles of the european union has to be that each member state remains fully responsible for its own debt. and your proposal completely eliminates that principal. my response is that nobody is responsible for the way it has been hit by the coronavirus. nobody is responsible for the health crisis and for the coronavirus. and i think that the eu and the eu in the 21st century should not be based only on selfish behaviours, but also on solidarity. and what is at the core of the agreement between france and germany is the fact that the eu of the 21st century should be based on solidarity. when one of the member states is hit by a crisis, by the coronavirus crisis, and if the state needs the help of the other member states, he should take for granted that it will have the support of the other member states. so when the austrian chancellor, sebastian kurtz, says, as he did after the macron merkel meeting yesterday by video when he says, look, we are only ready to approve a rescue fund that gives loans, ie money that must be paid back, rather than grants, you say he s being selfish, do you? i just say that it is also in the interest of austria, but also the netherlands, also denmark, also sweden to have a stronger eu after the crisis. this is a profoundly important moment for the eu, isn t it? because if we take seriously what you are saying and indeed what mrs merkel appears to have signed up to in this plan, we re looking at a massively deeper integrated eu economic system in which fiscal, as well as monetary policy is being collectivized? i think that we are clearly at a decisive moment of the history of the european union. because we are facing the greatest crisis, which is an economic, but also i want to insist on that a social and political one. and now it is time to choose. it is time to choose what kind of a eu we want for the 21st century. there are two choices. either you go the way of having some member states working together without any solidarity, without common funding of innovation, new technologies, disruptive technologies, artificial intelligence, 5g and so on in that case, that is the end of the eu. we never play any role on the international stage because we will be overcome by china in the united states. or we can make another choice, which is, to me and the french president, the right choice for the 21st century for the eu which is to gather our fundings, even through common debts just for the sake of financing the economic recovery, but also financing the new technologies for the sake of having more independence, more serenity, and being able to have our own 5g, our own artificial intelligence, our own renewable energies, our own technologies, not relying on the support of other world powers, butjust relying on our own forces. that is the right choice for the eu for the 21st century, and that is what is exactly behind the agreement between france and germany yesterday. well, you may be absolutely convinced of this, but i wonder if all the french people are, let alone the people of germany, the netherlands, austria, sweden, denmark, and a host of other countries. let me read to you an interesting thought from the financial times‘s chief foreign affairs commentator, gideon rachman, the other day. he wrote, the mutualisation of debt within the eu was always been the reddest of red lines for the german people, the dutch, the austrians, the fins and others. if it is pushed through now in this atmosphere of crisis, it could set a time bomb under the eu. because there will be a backlash, won t there? i don t share that point of view. i think that a large majority of european citizens wants to go the way of more independence and more serenity. they don t want to be dependent any more on china or on the united states. 0r on brussels. they want to be independent, and if we want to be independent, if we want to have our own technologies once again, which is the key point for the 21st century, then we need to gather our efforts. now i want to be very clear that the idea is not to provide money without any conditions. the idea is just to support some of the member states for the sake of having a quicker and stronger economic recovery after the crisis. that is the idea behind that. but you are not really addressing my point, that what we may see it as a backlash in the north european countries where the populations think, we don t want to pay for the debts of the italians, the spanish, and others. and hang on you may see a much deeper division growing. because it is in the interest of these northern countries to have a single market working very well, and making profits and making benefits. that is also the point. let s think about the situation in france in particular, because you are the french finance minister, one of the most senior voices in the government. would you agree with me that the way france has handled its own coronavirus crisis has left a deep sense of unease amongst many in your population? the government has not come out of this looking very good, has it? i agree that there has been critics, doubts, because we have been hit very severely by the coronavirus. did you see the new york times investigation of a couple of days ago that compared emmanuel macron‘s rhetoric about declaring war on coronavirus, promising that all of france s front line health workers would be given the means and protection they needed and the reality was, concludes the new york times, that france was nearly defenseless ? and that even today, if there is a second wave, a new spike in the spread of the virus in france, your emergency services still do not have access to the kind of emergency ppe protective equipment that they would need? you are still dangerously reliant on getting supplies from countries like china? i think that is not the case any more. i hope there won t be a second wave of the virus in france, and i think that we are taking with the prime minister all necessary measures to avoid such a second wave in france. and if we are taking some decisions that are really hard to take and difficult to take, it is for the sake of avoiding a second wave of the virus in france. i will not say that the emergency services do not have the necessary equipment. we have been hit severely by the crisis. we had to take some reactions with a sense of urgency, and we have taken the positions that i think our emergency services now have the necessary equipment to face such a situation. but once again, i hope we will not be in a situation to face a second wave of the crisis. you re the finance minister, you know the french economy is facing a deep recession, like most of the national economies across europe and, of course, that is your prime concern in your dayjob. but you re also watching as france reopens businesses, shops you can even get a haircut in france today, which you couldn t do in london the metro in paris is crowded again. are you entirely happy that france has got the balance right between normalisation, reopening the economy, and maintaining the strictest of discipline in the fight against the virus? that is a balance which is obviously very difficult to find. but we are trying to find this right balance between the protection of the population and the necessity to go back to work. because there is a necessity to go back to work if we want to avoid an economic collapse. so our first reaction was a very strong support to the french economy with partial unemployment scheme, for instance, with loans to the private companies, with temporary cash flow needs that have been provided by the state. then we are entering a second phase which sees support to some specific economic sectors tourism, the automotive industry, and the aeronautic industry. and before the ist ofjuly, we will have decided three sets of plans to support those economic sectors. and then will come the time of huge economic recovery plan that should be announced by the french president in some weeks, i think by the end of august or the beginning of september, to really define the perspective for the french economy. and i think we should get through this crisis, to rebuild the strongest french economy which will be a competitive economy and a sustainable economy. you re looking, it seems, according to all of your national and imf and other estimates, a recession which could see a contraction of gdp between 6 8% this year. you and your government have put aside hundreds of billions of euros in a national economic recovery plan. many french people are wondering, where on earth is this money coming from? will it be tax rises across the board, or are you going to have to slash public spending in the next few years? first of all, that is a choice that has been made by all the major member states of the eu because we did not have any other choice but to support our economy also and i really think it was the right choice. then it will be funded by debt let us be very clear about that and there will be the necessity at some stage to reimburse the french debt. but it will be later. and i really want the french debt to be reimbursed by growth. and that is the meaning of this economic recovery plan, that is the meaning of these hundreds of billions of euros to support our economy, to have a quick and strong economic recovery for the sake of having more prosperity, and being in a situation to reimburse our debts. not through new tech stations, but through growth. right, so just very simply, what is france s debt to gdp ratio going to be in, let s say, a year s time? 0ur assessment now is that, in 2020, it should be 100 115% of the gdp. it could be more because there are some new spendings that might be necessary to support some economic sectors. but once again, the key question is not debt the key question is the economic recovery and growth. so what you have is an economy that is looking extremely fragile in the medium and, frankly, even the long term, and you have a president who came to power promising a whole slate of reforms. and we ve seen his attempts to change the welfare system and the pension system, and we ve seen his popularity plummet, and we ve seen the rise of the gilet jaunes movement of protesters. isn t the truth that the macron plan for changing, radically reforming france, is now off the table? there s no way he can continue with that plan given the situation you ve just described to me. 0n the contrary. because we have been successful in the decisions we have taken during the three first years of the mandate of emmanuel macron. well, not according to the french people. there are many policies that we ve put in place that gave some very strong reserves at the beginning of 2020 we were one of the strongest economies within the uso. which means that after the crisis, our economy will not be fragile because the basis of the french economy is solid. so we will stick to the way of reforms, of improvements of the french economy and the french competitiveness, for the sake of having more growth and more prosperity. we had had some very good reserves, we have been hit by the crisis but, after the crisis, there will be a french rebound. and what kind of france and what kind of europe? will there be a rise in protectionism? we see donald trump with his language which suggests that he believes china is responsible for this virus, also talking about long term implications for us china relationships. you in france have talked about bringing some supply chains home, a much more nationalist approach to economic policymaking in the future is this what france wants to see, a new era of economic nationalism? i don t think that economic protectionism would be the right response to the crisis. that won t be the end of globalisation. what we need is a new globalisation based on more fairness and the fight against climate change. that s the key point. but i don t believe in this economic protectionism. i really strongly believe that there is a need for a new globalisation, being able to have a more level playing field and a better fight against climate change. that s what we are proposing to the other member states of the eu. and is this crisis going to change france s relationship with china, as it appears to be changing the us‘s relationship with china? i think it will change all the relationships among the superpowers. and the key question is whether the eu is one of these superpowers in the 21st century or not. everything that we are supporting with president macron is for the sake of having europe being one of the three superpowers among china and the united states. and if we want to be one of these superpowers, we need more solidarity, more investment, more innovation, and providing the right funding for the states that are in difficulty because we want all the member states to go out of this crisis stronger than ever. and a final thought you ve talked a lot about europe going forward. of course, europe is minus the uk, we re in the current transition phase and, by the end of the year, the idea is that transition phase ends and a new economic relationship is negotiated. and the negotiations right now are stuck at an impasse, michel barnier on the eu side says he s not optimistic about reaching a deal because the uk continues to want to have the best of both worlds. the uk negotiator says, we need a change of eu approach, and the brits appear to believe that if they just let this slide for long enough, the eu will make major concessions. to quote michael gove, a british minister, i think the covid crisis, in some respects, will concentrate the minds of eu negotiators. do you think the british, if they believe that your economic problems will lead to concessions, have got it right or wrong? i m afraid they are wrong. you know, i miss the uk. i miss the uk because i think that we would be stronger with the uk within the eu. but that s not the case any more, and the british people has made its choice about its future. but now, do not make any mistake about that there won t be any further concessions from the eu. and on the contrary, i will think that this economic crisis will lead to the reinforcements of the eu, will lead to more solidarity among member states. and we are not ready to make concessions that mightjeopardise the eu construction, and that might fragile eyes what we once built together. so i hope that everybody will be resilient and we can find an agreement as soon as possible between the eu and the uk. it is up to michel barnier to pave the way for this compromise, but do not believe that being opposed to any kind of compromise would lead to more concessions from the eu member states, because i think it will not be the case. bruno le maire, we have to end it there. i thank you very much indeed forjoining me from paris. thank you. hello there. tuesday was very sunny and very warm for some of us but not for all. in fact, it was the warmest day of the year so far. 26 degrees recorded in stjames‘ park in london. but i suspect wednesday will be warmer still and a little more widespread across the country. however, it s going to be a chance of a few thunderstorms on thursday, then as we head into the weekend, fresherfor all of us. but for the time being, high pressure, the dominant feature, and it s keeping these weather fronts out in the atlantic for the moment. that s allowing ahead of it to southerly feed, a very warm air coming up from the very near continent. so despite a little bit of early morning mist and fog around, it will be a mild start, as you can see, widespread double digits. now, any murkiness close to the coast will lift quite readily away, and there will be lots of sunshine coming through the day. just a little bit of fairweather cloud into the north, and maybe some showery outbreaks of rain into the northern isles. here, a little disappointing, but the warmth will be quite widespread, low 20s into central scotland, as high as 27 celsius perhaps in the southeast that s 81 fahrenheit. it s worth bearing in mind that, if you are going to be spending a little more time outside, well you have got the sunshine, we re looking at high uv levels throughout the day. now, as we move out of wednesday into thursday, that weather front will start to push and from the atlantic, and it ll bring some outbreaks of late showery ring to scotland. so starting off pretty grey and wet to the west, that will drift its way steadily east, allowing for an improvement. and at the same time, it stays pretty hot and humid in the southeast corner, and that could trigger off a few sharp thundery downpours. dodged the showers, keep the sunshine again, we could see highs of 27 celsius. but the real change arrives on friday. you can see quite clearly, more of a significant area of low pressure, tightly squeezed isobars around that centre of the low. so that means the strongest of the winds look likely through northern ireland and western scotland. gales not out of the question. and there will be some sharp showers and longer spells of rain as we go through the day. a little more cloud generally on friday, and as a result, not quite as warm. top temperatures of around 11 20 celsius that s 68 fahrenheit. so a fresher start to the weekend, but look at this for england and wales, as we go into next week, the heat is set to build yet again.
this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. my name is mike embley. brazil s daily death toll passes 1,000. it s now the third worst hit country in the world. pollution and the pandemic. the world sees a dramatic improvement in air quality. millions are moved from coastal areas as a huge cyclone bears down on the bay of bengal. and the mum and dad who never gave up. kidnapped at two years old, mao yin is finally reunited with his parents 32 years later.
tonight at ten. the terrible cost of the coronavirus pandemic on the uk. more than 40,000 people have now died. just some of the faces of the victims. britain and america, the only countries to reach the milestone. each of these deaths is not a statistic but the loss of a loved one for so many families. but there is some good news, latest figures suggest infections are falling dramatically. we ll be assessing the government s coronavirus strategy going forward, as lockdowns begin to ease. also tonight.. spelling out their demands, loud and clear. an end to police violence. the president claims, he gets it. nobody has ever done for the black community what president trump has done. the suspect in the madeleine mccann case is now being investigated, over a missing five year old girl in germany. and prepping for the return of the premier league, but no singing, or chanting on the terraces, as the fans must stay home. and in sport on bbc news. chelsea deserve the women s super league title we hearfrom their manager emma hayes. the decision was made on a points per game basis. good evening. the coronavirus pandemic has resulted in the uk reaching a grim milestone today, with the number of people dying having tested positive for covid 19, surpassing 40,000. britain is now only the second country in the world to reach that number, after the united states. 357 deaths were recorded in the latest 2a hour period bringing the total across the uk, to a0,261. it comes amid falling numbers for new infections in the community. an office for national statistics study of adults and children in private households estimates one in 1,000 people in england tested positive for the coronavirus in the last week of may, not counting those staying in hospitals or care homes. this is down from last week s estimate of one in 400. we ll have more on the rate of infection in a moment, but first, with the very latest, here s our health editor, hugh pym. for families and friends of the bereaved, some of whom spent weeks in intensive care, there have been months of grief and emotional turmoil. my mum, she was my best friend. she was kind, funny. this is just the worst pain in the world. i feel like without the proper protection, then more things like this and more families will lose a loved one. since the first uk death in early march, a total of 40,000 have now died after testing positive for coronavirus. the government s chief scientific adviser said keeping the death total to 20,000 or below would be a good outcome. it s now above 40,000. how do you assess that outcome, given where we are now? the day that the number of deaths from coronavirus has gone over 40,000 is a time of sorrow for us all. we have got to remember that each one of these is. ..an impact on a family that will never be the same again. and my heart goes out to them all. and it makes me redouble my determination to deal with this virus. so, how did we get here? on march 11th, the world health organization formally declared a pandemic. that day, spanish football fans were in liverpool for a champions league fixture. the next day, testing and tracking of new community cases was stopped, with resources focusing on hospitals. the four day cheltenham racing festival was in full swing. on march 16th, people were told to avoid pubs and other social venues, and work from home as possible. the next day, the chief scientific adviser made this prediction. if we can get this down to numbers 20,000 and below, that s a good outcome. on march 23rd, lockdown began across the uk. 0n the 21st of april, the daily death toll hit a peak, with more than 1,000 deaths. since then, the overall total has climbed and now stands atjust over 40,000 deaths, though this doesn t include those in all settings where there wasn t a test. some experts argue the government should have reacted more quickly after seeing what was happening in italy. we had two to three weeks more time to get ready for this but i think we just took it too easy, to be very frank. i think we assumed that we were different, that somehow we were going to respond in a different way, that we could cope. and then, by the time they realised they had the problem, it was too late. the uk covid 19 death toll, at around 40,000, is ahead of other european countries, with italy next on the latest reported figure atjust over 33,500, followed by france, spain and belgium. but adjusted for the size of the population, belgium has the highest death rate, at around 84 per 100,000 people, with the uk at 60, a little above spain, italy and france. there are slight differences in the way each country calculates its figures. this virus has hit lots of very developed nations with robust health care systems, robust health infrastructures, and it has taken a lot of people by surprise and i don t think the uk is alone in having been taken by surprise. i think we need to essentially wait until the end of the pandemic and then have a dissection of what happened and learn lessons from it. for now, the authorities will focus on testing as many people as possible and then tracing their contacts, seen as the best way to suppress the virus. hugh pym, bbc news. well, the first case of covid 19 diagnosed in the uk was at the end of january, and the first death, was back in march. our special correspondent, allan little, now looks at the lives lived of some of those who ve died. behind the statistics, the government charts, the number crunching, are the lives lost. ricardo bonsato, known as ricky, was 54. he worked in a care home in lancashire. the residents knew him for his kindness, compassion and sense of fun. he leaves a wife and two children. ina beaton was 103. she lived through the 1919 spanish flu pandemic, and the clydebank blitz. she died in her care home on the isle of skye. her family said she was known throughout the island, and loved its language and culture. jamshed ahmed siddiqui was a florist from hodge hill, near birmingham. he fell ill on the day lockdown began, and died in intensive care. the consultant sat us down and said look, i don t think he s going to make it, and then my. ijust gave the opportunity to my older brother to, you know, to hold his hands in his last moments. um, yeah. and then i think he spent, like, three to five minutes, and then my father sadly passed away. earl fuller, known as sam, joined the prison service after a 20 year career in the army. he was a physically fit 60 year old. his family said he was hugely popular, always the barbecue man at parties. christina poll was from hornchurch in east london. during the second world war, she worked on breaking the enigma code at bletchley park. she kept her work secret for 40 years she was 97. clive futter from mold in north wales had worked as an airbus inspector. he was 78. his family said he had an amazing sense of fun and an immeasurable lust for life. liz spooner worked as a nurse at the same hospital in swansea for 41 years. she was 62. devastated is an understatement, one of her friends there said. another dear colleague lost. gordon reid, known as gogs, was an edinburgh taxi driver. he was 68. his friends, unable to attend his funeral, paid tribute outside his local pub. he was cautious, stopping work to stay at home, days before the lockdown began. only one gogs. my dad was funny, we just had a huge amount of fun with my dad. he absolutely doted on his grandkids, and my kidsjust adored him. we just had such a lot of fun. he had a huge group of friends. everyone that knew him just loved him really. he was a fit and healthy guy, liked going out and playing golf. and just socialising with his friends. we just. it was always about fun with my dad, really. poornima nair was a 56 year old gp from county durham. a wife and mother. it s unbelievable, her practice manager said. her heart was with the nhs and what she could do to help. she will be so missed. steve lynham from burnham on sea was 44. he and his wife denise would have celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary next year. she was also in hospital with covid 19, and recovered. steve was loving, caring and fun, she said. please take this seriously. stick to the rules. don t go through our heartache. alan little, bbc news. there has been some encouraging news today in the pandemic. new figures suggest coronavirus infections in the community are falling substantially. the office for national statistics says the number of cases in england is down to 5,600 a day, from 8,000 a day, last week. however, one study suggests that in the north west and south west of england, the rate at which the virus is reproducing, could be near one, suggesting infections may rise. with more, here s our science editor, david shukman. with people out and about across the uk over the past week or so, what do we know about the virus and whether it is under control? well, despite the scale of the death toll, there are some signs that things may now be going in the right direction, at least for the moment. the latest survey shows how the percentage of the population testing positive for covid 19 has fallen in each of the last five weeks, which is of course good news. but bear in mind that there is a very wide margin of error with this study and also that the swab tests were carried out by people themselves. because that is not easy, the results may not be that accurate. i think it is incredibly important for us not to lose sight of the fact this is a virus which is incredibly contagious, can transmit very easily and efficiently between people, and still, most of the population have not seen this virus and are susceptible which allows it to spread very rapidly if we let our guard down. the big worry is that more contact will mean more infections. so what is the latest assessment about the speed with which the virus is being spread? at the height of the outbreak, the infection rate, the r number, was running at about three, meaning anyone infected was on average passing it on to three others. the key was to get it down below one because, below that number, the disease does not escalate, and the latest estimate is that we are for the whole uk running at about 0.7 up to 0.9. below one, but not falling rapidly. and if we break that down across the uk, the picture varies. 0ne computer model shows that in most areas of england, the rate is thought to be below one, except in the north west and south west, where it is estimated to be right on one. a different study suggests that scotland, wales and northern ireland are on 0.8. so, for the moment, the advice is still to keep at least two metres apart, and barriers and signs have been springing up to remind people. the lockdown has suppressed the virus, but it hasn t killed it off. david shukman, bbc news. our health editor hugh pym is here. more than 40,000 dead in the uk, a total no one could have predicted after the first death in march. devastating death toll and the new daily reported case numbers are falling, that is what the seven day rolling average sirs, pointing downwards, says. we should remember the nhs cope throughout the early stages and the peak in april and may, but a few worrying pointers, hospitaladmissions and may, but a few worrying pointers, hospital admissions with covid 19 patients have moved up slightly, they are down in northern ireland, and there is no data in scotland, but they are up in england and wales. there are issues around the regional r numbers, in the south west and the north west, and tameside council in greater manchester has written to local schools today are urging them not to reopen as planned on monday, to leave it a couple of weeks because of concerns about where the r number is. the health secretary matt hancock looking at this weekend and mass demonstrations planned, he said he was appalled by the death of the george floyd and he was sympathetic to people who wished to be out there but he said people really should not ta ke but he said people really should not take part in large gatherings, demonstrations above the number of six people. thanks forjoining us. people living in the republic of ireland will be able travel anywhere inside their own county from monday, instead of being limited to a range of 20km from home. the irish cabinet is accelerating the easing of the country s lockdown, allowing groups of up to six people to meet indoors or outside, provided social distancing is maintained. the european union s chief brexit negotiator, michel barnier, has accused the uk of backtracking on its commitments over a future trade deal. however the government s chief negotiator, david frost, says the latest round of talks had been positive in tone and the uk remained committed to a successful outcome . time is running out, with just six months to go to reach an agreement, before the end of the uk s transitional arrangements with brussels. here s our political correspondent, alex forsyth. remember this? it was the end of january when we left the eu. since that moment, the clock has been ticking towards the end of this year the current time frame to agree a new future relationship. earlier this year, negotiators from both sides held talks face to face, but it doesn t look like this any more. coronavirus means it is all online, and today, the eu said there is no significant progress, claiming the uk s backtracking on commitments made so far. round after round, our british counterparts seek to distance themselves from this common basis. we cannot and we will not accept this backtracking on the political declaration. among the key sticking points, the so called level playing field. measures to ensure businesses on one side don t have an unfair advantage over competitors on the other. fisheries, access to markets and waters, and governance, including how any agreement will be enforced. number 10 s chief negotiator agreed today progress has been limited. but the government s still adamant it won t extend the process beyond the end of december. given the time that s passed, it s time for both sides to work together, and we are willing to accelerate that work, to get that final agreement, based on a vision that has been agreed, and then we can progress. borisjohnson is due to meet senior eu figures this month, which some hope will give a fresh push to these talks, but uk officials have warned they don t want them to drag on to the autumn, because at some point, they say, businesses will have to prepare for no deal at the end of year. with the economic turmoil already caused by coronavirus, some businesses have warned that could be deeply damaging. the uk and the eu say they want to avoid that, and a deal is still possible, but that will take some serious compromise on both sides and quickly. alex forsyth, bbc news, westminster. there s renewed anger in the united states over police violence. footage has emerged of a 75 year old demonstrator, protesting the death of george floyd, being pushed to the ground by officers and suffering serious head injuries. it happened in the city of buffalo, in upstate new york. the two officers involved have now been suspended. protests have continued across america after the death of mr floyd, who died at the hands of four police officers, in the city of minneapolis last month. 0ur north america correspondent aleem maqbool has more details. for days, the people of washington have been taking their calls for change to the white house. now the city s mayor has approved her own. the renaming of an area on the president s doorstep, black lives matter plaza. but nearby the protests go on, in the shadow of the memorial to martin luther king. some scenes of police brutality he s witnessed in recent days may have seemed disturbingly familiar. in buffalo, new york, for example, a 75 year old protester was shoved to the ground by a policeman. another officer goes to help him but is held back, even though the man s now motionless and bleeding from his skull. police filed past and no one else is allowed to go to his aid. two officers have been suspended. but it s just the latest in a torrent of apparently unjustified use of force at these protests. an assault from behind in seattle. the arrest in charleston of a man peacefully trying to reason with officers. and police in la driving into protesters, to name but a few examples. for the incident that sparked all this, three officers have now been charged with aiding and abetting murder. another‘s already been charged with murdering george floyd. minneapolis says officers will now be required to intervene if they see a colleague using unauthorised force. the president of the united states. the president has called for authorities to continue to be tough on the street, but has also talked of equality for black people. they have to receive fair treatment from law enforcement. they have to receive it. we all saw what happened last week. we can t let that happen. hopefully george is looking down right now and saying there s a great thing that s happening for our country, there s a great day for him, it s a great day for everybody. nobody s ever done for the black community what president trump has done. think of it. well, it is easy to say there should be fair treatment for african americans, but given the deep rooted issues with racism in this country and as we re seeing almost daily with police culture, that is of course far harder to achieve in practice. aleem maqbool, bbc news, in washington. more details are emerging of the new suspect in the madeleine mccann case, who according to german media is now also being investigated over the disappearance of a five year old girl in germany. it s reported the suspect is being named as christian b, a 43 year old man who s believed to have been in the same area of southern portugal where three year old madeleine went missing while on holiday in 2007. 0ur correspondent gavin lee has more details. this is christian b. the man suspected of the murder of madeleine mccann. she disappeared in 2007. ten years later german police received a tip off from a friend of the suspect in a bar in germany. christian made comments that made them think he could be involved in madeleine s disappearance. here in praia da luz we re told portuguese police have been making house to house inquiries since then. candido works close to one of the properties that was used by the suspect. translation: i think i have seen this man, at some point i saw him, not here but in the town. he also said that police searched for madeleine s body around this land in 2014 and several times after that. translation: they searched over there. in that ditch there and up over that side, too. it was extensive. it was all over the place. two years before madeleine mccann went missing from this hotel apartment, a woman was raped in praia da luz. christian b is remanded in germany charged in connection with that case. he is also in prison for other crimes, including child sex abuse. locals here are questioning why portuguese police hadn t picked up this man with an extensive criminal past before that. in the years after madeleine mccann‘s disappearance, the suspect is said to have moved several times between germany and portugal. in 2015, he owned this run down property in the east of germany. it emerged today he s also been investigated there over this german girl who went missing from a family party. that investigation has now been reopened. the search for madeleine mccann has been unprecedented in size and scale, with numerous suspects that have since been discounted. this seaside villages synonymous worldwide with this unsolved, shocking case, one that s 110w unsolved, shocking case, one that s now reliant on a public appeal for help if there is to be a breakthrough. gavin lee, bbc news, praia da luz. the bbc has appointed a new director general, who ll take over from tony hall in september. tim davie is currently the head of bbc studios, one of the corporation s commercial subsidiaries. among his priorities for the corporation will be funding and the future of the licence fee. our media editor amol rajan is with me. it isa it is a toughjob, running this place. some understatement, clive. you can say that again. what do we know about tim davie and what are his challenges? he was acting director general before tony hall got thejob. before director general before tony hall got the job. before that he ran director general before tony hall got thejob. before that he ran bbc radio services. it came from a commercial services, he worked in marketing for the pepsi company. he is charismatic, he s a crystal palace fan, popular with the staff but intriguingly most of the recent director generals have come from bbc news, behind you, but tim davie is from a commercial background. his experience in making deals around the world. his first and foremost task is making a deal with number ten. in 2022 the bbc celebrates its lengthy centenary, there will be a tough negotiation over the licence fee, that will be nasty and brutish and long and he has to come up with and long and he has to come up with a good deal. the other big challenges commercial, the biggest most powerful companies in human history, apple, facebook, google, they are competing with the bbc for oui’ they are competing with the bbc for our attention and eyeballs and he has to allow the bbc to compete with them and persuade young people to keep paying for a licence fee. he has to make the bbc reflective of the whole of britain and make sure it s a trusted brand in the age of social media when impartiality is under scrutiny. most tagged rector director generals are judged with how they deal with crises they couldn t foresee, like the savile scandal and equal pay, the same will be true of tim davie. tim davie s job is going to be much harder. a lot of people wish him luck and goodness knows, he s going to need it. amol rajan, thanks very much. as the uk reaches more than 40,000 dead in the coronavirus pandemic, we ve seen in the last two months the poorest communities hit the hardest. the death rates in the most deprived areas of england are more than double those in the most affluent. now public health england says the pandemic has, in some areas, deepened existing health inequalities. our special correspondent, ed thomas, has been hearing from families on merseyside. it is an uncomfortable truth. coronavirus is more likely to kill the vulnerable and most deprived. and these are the people who feel forgotten during this crisis. it s like they ve closed up on us, and they ve just forgot about us. it s like being on death row. obviously, if i go out, it could kill me. nobody s rung, nobody s knocked, nobody. this is just one street on merseyside, in one of the uk s most deprived areas. and along this short cul de sac, three people have died recently two linked to coronavirus. he was loved to death. everyone loved joe. and then the test come back, it was covid 19. joe had cerebral palsy. in april, he started struggling to breathe. he was 26 when he died. if it would have been a different time, he would have went right into intensive care, he would have, but there was no treatments available, whatsoever. and then they phoned me back. the doctor, who was explaining to me, said there was no hope whatsoever. joe couldn t speak and tell you what was going on, so he would have been petrified. just a few doors down, another man died. what s left behind is a shared grief and anger. i was close tojoe. joe round the corner. is there a sense of being forgotten in this area? totally has, yeah. this area always gets forgotten, whether it s about crime, health, wealth, whatever, it always gets forgotten, doesn t it? we re the forgotten street. merseyside has some of the highest rates of health deprivation in the country. for some, during this pandemic, it s a challenge to access treatment. i have cancer that s incurable. my husband, he s got severe copd. my children have been in since 23rd march. no one has left the home in more than two months. it s a prison behind our doors. a family that desperately needs help. how am i supposed to get my bloods done? going back in march, and i m still waiting on the waiting list for someone to come to my home address. we re not noticed. we re not recognised. for those struggling financially, the anxiety is not knowing when this will all end. so my income s been halved and the pressure is immense. louise is a single parent who s just lost herjob as a dementia carer, now on benefits for the first time. i feel terrible. as a mum, sometimes i feel like i m not good enough, i can t provide the way i should be. universal credit is covering the bills. charity for everything else. i shouldn t be struggling the way i am, and my mental health and anxiety through the roof, worrying if i can afford my rent. ifeel at the moment a little bit lost, isolated. ifeel like a failure because i m not in work. and what of those young witnesses to this crisis? for children living through this hardship, obstacles will remain long into the future. ed thomas, bbc news, liverpool. chelsea women s football team is celebrating tonight, having been named the winners of the super league, after the season was abandoned. but in england the men s premier league is gearing up to re start in 12 days time, with 92 games still to play. natalie pirks has more from brighton. solly march, first time cross. murray! for fans craving that match day rush, the premier league s return cannot come soon enough. but this won t be football as we know it. yes, it will be rather lonely in these stands, but at least fans will be able to watch more than 30 of the remaining 92 games on free to air channels. broadcasters will let you decide whether to watch with or without crowd noise, and clubs will pump in music at key moments to enhance the action. here at brighton, they ll fill the top tiers with cardboard cut outs of fans. but players say it s nothing like the real thing. i think it will be good to try to generate an atmosphere but deep down, we know it s fake. ijust look forward to the day that the fans can return because i think this has shown, more than anything ever has in the past, how the sport is basically the fans, and without fans, it s nothing. around 300 people will need access to the stadium for every game, with teams of 20 players and 12 coaches and medics. stadiums will be split into three distinct zones red, amber and green zone. now, the tunnel and the pitch will form part of the red zone, and only a maximum of 105 people will be allowed here, after temperature checks. that s considerably fewer than usual and means there won t even be ball boys or girls. well, here on the bench, players will sit two metres apart. and out on the pitch, there will be water breaks midway through each half, where players will drink from their own bottles, and balls and cornerflags can also be disinfected. it was initially proposed that neutral venues should be used, mainly to stop fans congregating. but brighton and others felt strongly they should be allowed to play at home. now it seems they have largely won the argument. i think the most important thing is, please stay away from the stadium. you know, we ve been given the opportunity to play out our remaining games in our own venues, notjust brighton
mr cummings was photographed back in downing street. and on the 19th of april, newspaper reports say a witness spotted mr cummings in bluebell woods near durham. the prime minister defended the position of his chief of staff, dominic cummings, who this weekend it was revealed had travelled across the country while sick with the virus during lockdown. i want to begin by answering that question people have been asking in the last 48 hours, and that is, is this government asking you, the people, the public, to do one thing while senior people here in government do something else. have we been asking you to make sacrifices to obey social distancing, stay at home, while some people have been basically flouting those rules and endangering lives? and it s because i take this matter so and it s because i take this matter so seriously and because it is so serious that i can tell you today that i ve had extensive face to face conversations with dominic cummings andi conversations with dominic cummings and i have concluded that in travelling to find the right kind of childcare at the moment when both he and his wife were about to be incapacitated by coronavirus, and when he had no alternative, i think he followed the instincts of every father and every parent, and i do not mark him down for that. and though there have been many other allegations about what happened when he was in self isolation and thereafter, some of them palpably false, i believe that in every respect, he has acted responsibly and legally and with integrity. and with the overwhelming aim of stopping the spread of the virus and saving lives, and i stress this fundamental aim, because it is thanks to this country s collective resolve in achieving that aim that we continue to make progress. let s talk to sara jones, the labour mp, whojoins us from south london. hello, and thanks forjoining us. i think you just heard the prime minister there saying that mr cummings acted as every father and a pa rent cummings acted as every father and a parent would and i do not mark him down for that. he was following his instincts. what do you think? well, i think millions of people have made sacrifices over this period and that press c0 nfe re nce was sacrifices over this period and that press conference was an insult to all the british people who have worked so hard to bring our infection rates down. the prime minister took a nakedly political decision to shift the rules so that his political adviser would be safe. the way that he spoke, where he didn t answer questions, we still don t know a lot of the facts about what happened, when and how, but to suggest that the rules said it was fine for him to follow his instincts, to travel across the country because they might need childcare flies in the face of everything that the british people have been doing, the sacrifices people have been making, and it is really disappointing that the prime minister didn t answer any questions and didn t give the british people the respect that they deserve for the respect that they deserve for the sacrifices they made by saying, actually, we all should live by the same rules. and i think now we really have come to the point where the civil service need to step in here and the cabinet secretary, who we have written to, asked him to set up we have written to, asked him to set up an enquiry into this, he needs to set up that enquiry because we need those answers and we need to make sure that we understand what happened and that action is taken appropriately. mr cummings, he had a four year old child, he had a wife who was displaying coronavirus symptoms. he claims that he was worried that he would go down with the virus himself and not be able to look after that child. can you begin to understand why he did what he did? we are all sympathetic to everybody who s had coronavirus, who has lost loved ones, we are sympathetic to the people who haven t been able to be there when their loved ones have died. the mothers who have not been able to 90, mothers who have not been able to go, and we think of ishmael, and i know people are talking about and today, he died 13 years old and his pa rents today, he died 13 years old and his parents could not go to the funeral because they had covid 19 symptoms. the rules were really clear. when the prime minister told us to stay at home and protect the nhs and stay live save lives, he said if you think you might kneel childcare, you can travel 260 miles across the country and what is awful is that the entire government has been defending dominic cummings, saying, of course, he s a parent, many of us are parents but the rules were really clear and we were told not to follow our instincts. we were told if you had coronavirus to not leave your home for any reason and that was the guidance. it was really clear. it s just not fair to everybody who s made such a sacrifice to have such an insulting response by the prime minister not answering questions from journalists, not engaging in the issues, brushing it off. it sjust not acceptable and we need the cabinet secretary to step in and set up cabinet secretary to step in and set up an enquiry. you say the rules we re up an enquiry. you say the rules were clear. grant shapps this morning said that the rule suggested that if you are living with children, follow this advice to the best of your ability. however we are aware that all of these measures may not be possible. do not leave your home for any reason. that was the advice. if you have symptoms, do not leave your home for any reason. all the fantastic volunteers we ve had in our communities, here in croydon there are loads of people who d been bringing food to people who are having to isolate because they ve got symptoms. i know of a single mother who was really sick and had to stay at home with her son, who was only ten, and we had to get food delivered to them. people have made these great sacrifices and had a really difficult time and we have the highest death rate in europe. it is not acceptable to say after the event, oh, actually, the rules meant something which we all know they didn t. we all know it was clear that you stay in your home if you had the symptoms, and for good reason. and this is what is so distressing. we all collectively have brought those infection rates down, we have brought down the number of people who got covid 19 and who have died, and that is because people have done the right thing. can ijust ask because people have done the right thing. can i just ask you because people have done the right thing. can ijust ask you on schools, the prime minister has made it clear that there will be a phased reopening of schools, primary schools, in a way that is manageable as possible? early years reception, year one and six, and this will be from the universe. a lot of controversy from the universe. a lot of c0 ntrove rsy over from the universe. a lot of controversy over this, obviously full stop the prime instead is going ahead with this. what is your view? obviously schools are open already, most of them with some children, including mine. my husband works in a hospital. i ve done a survey of pa rents a hospital. i ve done a survey of parents locally and over 50% of them say they are not comfortable sending their children back and i think we really need a collective show of leadership from the government to bring in the parent bodies, the unions, the schools and the local authorities to try and find a solution here. it is a model at the moment on the prime minister confused it more by saying some schools will go back on the 1st of june and some won t. we know people are worried, that there are concerns, and the way to fix that is to bring everyone together and then also to make sure we have the test, track and trace system in place by the 1st ofjune. track and trace system in place by the 1st of june. the track and trace system in place by the 1st ofjune. the four elements of it, including the app that we need to hear about, and how that will work, so parents can have confidence and teachers can have confidence and teachers can have confidence and teachers can have confidence and we can all work together to get children back to school, which is what we all want to see. we will leave it there. the labour shadow policing minister, thank you forjoining us. some breaking news or some reaction from the snp at westminster. their leader in response to the coronavirus briefing that borisjohnson gave where he defended his special adviser dominic cummings, mr blackford says borisjohnson‘s breathtaking arrogance sends out the message that there is one rule for the tory government and another for the tory government and another for the rest of us. he is trying to take the rest of us. he is trying to take the public. but i have no doubt that people will see right through it. families across all parts of the country have struggled through the lockdown without the ability to call on friends and family for childcare ina on friends and family for childcare in a desperate attempt to save his adviser, borisjohnson in a desperate attempt to save his adviser, boris johnson has in a desperate attempt to save his adviser, borisjohnson has thrown public health advice on the solidarity and sacrifice of millions to the wind. that is the response from the snp at westminster, their leader, ian blackford. we heard from him ahead of the news conference from downing street and hejoins us now on bbc news. hello to you and thanks for being with us. we know that boris johnson to you and thanks for being with us. we know that borisjohnson is sticking by his senior adviser. your thoughts on his comments concerning mrcummings? thoughts on his comments concerning mr cummings? i m not entirely surprised that he has stood by mr cummings, because boris johnson stands by his friends. i am disappointed, in this instance, because i think it is for the country and the administration a bad decision. do you believe that a line has been drawn under the matter now? ifear has been drawn under the matter now? i fear not. people has been drawn under the matter now? ifear not. people have has been drawn under the matter now? i fear not. people have said to me, well, what are you going to do now question about the answer is, in short order, i will probably go away and shut up. but me shutting up will not be the end of the story because there is probably more to emerge. and so many people have expressed their concern about the manner in which mrcummings their concern about the manner in which mr cummings not only behave, admittedly in the interest of his son which is understandable, but the way he flouted his own rules. there are thousands of people all over the country who have had childcare problems, and i think a lot of people are going to find it very ha rd to people are going to find it very hard to believe that given the size of the city of london and the number of the city of london and the number of people there it was impossible for of people there it was impossible foer
the funeral of george floyd, whose killing by us police triggered anti racism protests around the world has taken place in houston, texas. the eulogy was delivred by the civil rights leader al sharpton who made an impassioned plea for police reform and racialjustice. the un has issued a stark warning that food shortages and hunger in north korea are being made worse by coronavirus measures, and the five month closure of the border with china. the human rights investigation also says the number of homeless people including street children is increasing. the russian capital has loosened it s lockdown measures, even though coronavirus infections continues to rise rapidly. in the past week moscow has seen around two thousand new cases but the strict permit system is being brought to an end so that people can move around freely. now on bbc news.hardtalk. welcome to hartog. i m stephen sackur. will the wave of anger and protests a nd sackur. will the wave of anger and protests and this went to cross america since the killing of george floyd in minneapolis have a lasting impact on race relations. hard talk. surely americans will be skeptical. systemic racism and discriminatory policing has survived all previous efforts to deliver on the promise of equality and justice for all. my guest today is the historian and veteran civil rights campaigner mary frances berry. what will it take to engineer genuine change? mary frances berry, welcome to hard talk. thank you forjoining me from new orleans. thank you very much for having me. where having beautiful weather here. there is a bit of a hurricane through your window. let us hurricane through your window. let us focus on the storms that have been sweeping across america in recent days. the whole world has been watching the killing of george floyd in minneapolis. you have in historians i:e.. does all of this feel different to you from previous cases of the killing and police detention of unarmed black man? now, what s different about this one, we had video before when eric garner was chokehold in new york city. and saidi was chokehold in new york city. and said i can t breathe. and that was just to remind everybody, that was six years ago. so we had video then. in earlier protest before that time on most occasions and earlier murders of unarmed black people, we didn t have video. what happened this time i think, makes a different. it s the virus, and they stay at home orders that have locked us stay at home orders that have locked us infor stay at home orders that have locked us in for months now. with a lotta people anxious to get out and the fa ct people anxious to get out and the fact that students, college students, university and many people who have been working aren t working. schools were online and now oui’ working. schools were online and now our semesters working. schools were online and now oui’ semesters are over. working. schools were online and now our semesters are over. and so there are people who are engaged and who know about this and watch this and who may have supported doing something about police reform before but now they have the energy, the time, the response to the virus sort of put some tinder there. and the discontent with trump. which has been visceral since the 2016 election. so if you throw all that together you can see that there is a difference. so let us start with your characterisation of who has come out onto the street in terms of the protest, the public anger in the last ten days or more. barack 0bama has said that what he has seen is a far more representative cross section of america out on the streets this time then he has seen before. including he says, going all the way back to the civil rights campaigns of the 1960s. do you see that broader cross section of people at work right now? obviously. anyone who looks at the crowds can see the difference. lots of young white people who are involved in it. and older ones too. people who are motivated to get out here and do something about these issues. it all started in a sense, before the shootings occurred with the election of trump. we have been in a state of continuous sort of, revolt, if i may put it that way and resistant since he became president. some people still can t believe that he became president. so we ve in been in a continuous state. there s been one thing after the other about trump. so we had revolution on the first day when he was trying to get inaugurated we had marches and protests a nd inaugurated we had marches and protests and big ones, so on. bigger than the people who came out for the inauguration. so this continuous attitude, resistance and then you have the virus and then you have the stadium and then you have all the couege stadium and then you have all the college students across racial lines who are out. the young people and the older people withoutjobs and you put that mix together, you can see the people. during the civil rights movements in the 1960s there we re rights movements in the 1960s there were white people who were involved in the movement. some of them very courageous people will stop some of whom got shot. viola lose i can t recall the names but i won t call all of them here. engaged in these protest. with the numbers were smaller. what strikes me though is that you already and this it interview have used the words resista nce interview have used the words resistance and protest throughout, what you have it referred to is riots and rioting and riot tours. but all around the world we have seen the pictures from numerous american cities where young people in particular have been engaged in violence as well as expressions of protest or some are wondering for you, and you referred to your own background in the us civil rights commission, your long time record as a campaigner, whether you are deeply disappointed by the degree to which there has been violence. i ll limited, mixed in with the widespread protest. limited, mixed in with the widespread protestlj limited, mixed in with the widespread protest. i wouldn t describe my reaction as a disappointment. i would say that i expected some of this kind of violence. for many reasons. and every protest that has ta ken violence. for many reasons. and every protest that has taken place there have been some people who have engaged in violence. even going all the way back to the civil rights movement there were some people who didn t accept nonviolence. and there are groups of people who want to create violence. if you go all the way back to the 1990 protests against wto in seattle and against globalism, there were anti fascists or there were people on the left who broke things and rioted in the streets and. and they ve been involved somehow and some of these others. and there are people that just loot because they have the opportunity to loot. i think that what has been pleasing to me is one, the small numbers of people who are engaged in that kind of behavior. they are so overwhelmed by the number of people who are protesting and have their eyes distinctly on the prize of doing something about police reform and the underlying causes of continued racism. in our country. so what do you say to those young people both black and white who we ve seen who are throwing bottles at the police, who are trashing stores, sometimes taking goods from within stores. spraying graffiti across towns and cities. what do you say to them? i would not say anything to them until i understood in each case why they we re understood in each case why they were doing it. there may be some people who are just so angry that they re doing it. then there may be others who are criminal. they are in fa ct, others who are criminal. they are in fact, in some cases destroying the property of black businesspeople and the like. who in minneapolis i saw patrolling themselves to protect their own businesses. what i would say is, that this whole series of protests were set off by the arsonists, as it were, which was a police officer who put his knee on mr floyd s neck. and killed him. and so therefore, and the other officers who stood around to and any repercussions from that that go on, some of them may be unfortunate and a lot of them a very positive, have to be traced back to that episode. let me talk to you, and you are a civil rights campaigner and your champion a cause of black people for a very long time how important is it to you that right now the campaign, whether it be black lives matter or the wider civil rights campaign reaches out to middle america. because it strikes me that over many yea rs because it strikes me that over many years middle americans who may not like what they see of the brutality at times and the militarization of police forces who work in black communities, they may not like it but they somehow manage to look away or ignore it. you need to reach those people. how important is it that you have a strategy for reaching white people? that you have a strategy for reaching white people ?|j that you have a strategy for reaching white people? i think there isa reaching white people? i think there is a strategy for reaching them. i think the strategy is in fact working. because many of them i ve seen people in the protest where i am. who ve never protested anything before and who come from the suburbs, older white people, middle aged white people. who are out because they are so offended by the latency of what has been happening. and they see that and blatant sea. they support law and order and they support being police protect them and all that but they simply can t wrap their minds around how we can have these obvious violations occur. and not do anything about them. anti polls show that a majority by a wide majority, americans are in favour of doing something about this. no matter where they live. you know what, the polls are interesting. you re absolutely right. the clear majority of americans report that they oppose the police practices that were epitomized by what happened in minneapolis. they support the right to peaceful prospect did not protests but also, i m looking at one pull recently that says 79% of americans polled say that the property damage caused by some demonstrators does in their view undermine the original intent of the protesters ca m pa ig n after undermine the original intent of the protesters campaign after george floyd s death. that must be worrying. it s worrying in the sense that even though you can trace the causes back to the episode where he was killed, that in fact you want more people to support the cause. so that you have a chance this time. which we ve never had in any of these riots. there have been reports or protests, there been report after report after reports commissions, you can name all the reports. the report on police practices when 0bama was president. which was never followed through on. the guy who chaired it said all he did was gather dust. and you never really get a handle on these problems. and never do anything about the underlying causes. which is a much more difficult problem. dealing strictly with the police. i hope now we can get something done. the looting of the burning of the violence doesn t undermine that. here s an interesting question that may be a challenge for you, are you ready to metaphorically embrace people you might never have dreamed ofa people you might never have dreamed of a pricing before in terms of and pricing. i m thinking for example mitt romney. long time republican politician and senator who walked in one of the black lives matters protest marches just last weekend. and professed himself to be a supporter of black lives matter. some black people will say hang on a minute, that is ridiculous. this is pure hypocrisy, we are not ready to work with people like mitt romney. what do you say? i say that i knew mitt romney father george when i was at the university of michigan he was governor. during the detroit riots in 1967 governor. during the detroit riots in1967 and governor. during the detroit riots in 1967 and when he was secretary of hud during the nixon administration. he was a very wonderful, moderate republican and a man with a high ethics and when his son came on the scene i kept hoping he was getting beat like his father. maybe as time goes on he is becoming more like him. if so that s great. let me get to donald trump. you ve referred to him already. and we all know it now, over the last couple of weeks has been tweeting like crazy. some of those tweets have stuck in peoples minds. the one i m looking at right now is, any difficulty, he s talking about what happens in the street and we will assume control when the looting starts the shooting starts. he talked repeatedly about dominating the streets. he told governors if you don t dominate you are wasting your time. they are going to run over you. you are going to look likejerks. going to run over you. you are going to look like jerks. these the united states. do you believe that donald trump and his approach to this has been fundamentally different from every other president of your lifetime? no, he hasn t been fundamentally different. he s mostly inarticulate. and mostly clumsy and what he says and what he does which creates problems for him. so you don t by generaljames madison is claim, accusation i guess you could call it about donald trump which he wrote just the other day, donald trump is the first president in my lifetime who doesn t try to unite the american people, he doesn t even pretend to try. he tries to divide us. you re saying that that s misguided to misunderstand what has been happening in america?” misguided to misunderstand what has been happening in america? i say that we are divided and we ve been divided at more polarisation since trump was elected in 2016. and when he did not get a majority of the popular vote. and was elected only by the electoral college. we have been divided. and in any poll he is likely to be on the losing end because most people never voted for him in the first place. and never supported him. and aren t planning to anytime soon. as for general matters, i never make statements about something never happened before. and this one is the first one. there have been other presidents historically, who have done things that we regarded as unconstitutional. when abra ham lincoln took measures to repress the south at the beginning of the civil war. there is a book called, about the constitutional invasions that he made, several liberties and all sorts of things, there ve been presidents who ve done these things. i think that trump, the way he does it, a lot of what trump does, his problem is how he does it, what he says about it, his timing on everything. which creates a problem for him. but i understand that he and general mattis did not get along. that is true. it s believed that particular spot aside and focus on what now. it s interesting to me that you have publicly supported the campaign to end this is the words, do you find police forces in cities across america, particularly those who what you would regard as very poured records when it comes to upholding civil rights. for black communities. we ve already seen in minneapolis the council there, the city council has overwhelmingly voted to dismantle the city police force. from california to new york we ve had other senior politician saying that financing for the police should be cut. is this really going to fight with the american public? because donald trump is simply going to say this is a licence for anarchy, for a total breakdown in law and order. i think it is perfectly reasonable to say that the police have become militarized in the united states. ever since johnson and nixon administrations, when they were given all kinds of military equipment and which they are training seem to be as if they we re are training seem to be as if they were an occupying force rather than officer friendly. who s were an occupying force rather than officerfriendly. who s here to help you. and that s unfortunate. at more and more resources have gone into that. professor. if we don t get at the underlying causes of cries whenever gena stops crying. so i believe in giving it to community programmes and that will help us in maintaining law and order. and we will reform the police and have a better police force. forgive my attempt at a very rude interruption, iam mindful attempt at a very rude interruption, i am mindful that i am speaking to you as a renowned civil rights campaignerand you as a renowned civil rights campaigner and has during an academic. how do you think your words are going to go down, we talked about before, white suburban communities across america. where they are going to hear people like you calling for the dismantling of police forces. complete. in the first place are, i did not call for the dismantling of police forces. i called for and what the movement calls for and it s unfortunate that they label that they use is misinterpreted at a explain. and my own analysis shows that when something is hard to explain it you probably aren t going to get it. ok? soi probably aren t going to get it. ok? so i understand that. but i think it s perfectly reasonable to talk about reforming the police, reasonable to talk about not funding military equipment for the police, it s perfectly reasonable to talk about taking some of the funding and using it for community programmes where people even work with the police. so a shift in funding for some of these things. which won t harm law and order and which might improve infant improve it if people understood that i don t think they would be irritated. but they will be irritated because they are opposed to the label itself. which sounds like you re going to dismantle the police force which is not at all what i am far. and i don t think most of the people who say that are for it. ijust wonder if most of the people who say that are for it. i just wonder if you are mindful of what happened in minneapolis when the mayor who is regarded by many as a pretty progressive liberal guy, he said that he could not in all good conscience support the abolition of the police department. which the council has been pushing for.” agree with the mayor. he should not abolish the police force. no one should abolish the police force and any place in the country. we need the police force to maintain order and to suppress terminal behavior. yes. the point i m trying to make is, hundreds of black lives matter is, hundreds of black lives matter is campaigners around him at the time at this public forum booed him and didn t want to listen to him and ultimately he basically had to end his speech. it seems to me there is going to be a real pressure point in the next few weeks where the more radical elements within the campaign are not going to be satisfied with anything short of very radical measures. measures which may frighten, if that s the right word or be very difficult for other elements in the liberal coalition to accept. the experience and the history shows when you have radical elements who called for things that are radical, which are good to happen, it sometimes pushes the middle to enact reforms that are radical but they at least will make some kind of positive change. that s the history of it. two quick thoughts before we end, one is about the systemic discrimination. we know still exists in america. you ve been campaigning for 50 years but during those 50 years you haven t managed to change things in terms of the disproportionate imprisonment of black men in the penal system of the united states. unemployment much higherfor black united states. unemployment much higher for black people, united states. unemployment much higherfor black people, a united states. unemployment much higher for black people, a whole raft of measures by which black americans still see. that in many ways their existence as second compared to their white brothers and sisters. as i can change, do you believe any time soon? some are talking of a tipping point. do you have any faith that systemic discrimination is going to change? systemic discrimination which now we call white supremacy in the united states, the young people call it that and it s a history. will not go away unless we understand that politics by itself won t do it. voting is very important but we ve been voting for years. now. resistance, protest, litigation, all those things added to politics. can make some change. and we have said made some change over the years. we all say the glass as file and its half empty. we can continue to make some. but we are not going to make total change unless we continue to resist and show some resistance to what goes on. final thought, which is about politics, you framed it to say look, don tjust get obsessed with politics it s about much more than that. america this november faces a fundamental choice, you even told me what you think of donald trump. what i m interested to hear is what you think ofjoe biden. there are many who worry thatjoe biden the democratic candidate for president cannot and will not be an agent for meaningful change because of his own record when it comes to race issues. what are you as an historian, what you stated that? we have a fundamental problem. we have two parties democratic, republican. most of the officials in the cities where the police abuse has taken place and people have been murdered are controlled by democrats. the merits of a democrat, minneapolis city council and they been democrats for yea rs city council and they been democrats for years and all those cities. in fa ct for years and all those cities. in fact they seem not to have made the changes that need to be made. and joe biden has historically on race issues, most of the time not been very brave or courageous. in fact on some things my admission that have undermined black people. like supported and the like. i don t think biden will be i do think joe biden will be more pleasant. he he ought to win given the circumstances, if he doesn t it will be really ironic. and it will be more peaceful and pleasant in the country. but i don t expect any great change on the issues of race and white supremacy in the country. mary frances berry it has been a very pleasure to talk to you. thanks for joining very pleasure to talk to you. thanks forjoining me. all right, love hard talk. we love hearing that thank you very much indeed. hello there. we ll take a look at the uk unsettled weather picture in just a moment, but first of all, one place that has seen some very high temperatures over the last 2a hours is the arctic circle, where temperatures reached 30 celsius on tuesday. amazing to think temperatures can get that high that far north, but they do from time to time. that, though, could be a newjune record for that particular area. looking at our weather picture, it is unsettled. we saw rain gathering across the northwest of the uk yesterday, and that was associated with an area of low pressure, and that low pressure is moving right over the heart of the united kingdom for today. 0ften cloudy with spells of rain that could be lengthy and heavy at times. some of the heaviest bursts of rain in the west. wales and north west england. there will be some areas that don t see much rain. but i think they re be the lucky few. for most of us very wet with temperatures between 1a and 18. for most of us. once the rain has moved south, this particular area of low pressure will deepen and move back and influence our weather for six days. we have rain moving into england and wales. on thursday. some of the heaviest rain could be in north east england. it could turn very wet here for a time. and increasingly as we go through the next few days, when the rain does come, it will become heavy. thursday is a windier day and will feel more humid as well. for friday, we have got further bands of rain pushing north. probably the heaviest coming into the south. a chance of thundery down pours and may see some localised flooding. the less rainy weather in the north west. that continues into the weekend. saturday, is a day of sunshine and heavy thundery showers. the showers could be intense and the he heaviest in wales and south west england. humid and highs up to 24. but staying unsettled.
this is bbc news. i m mike embley, with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. the funeral of african american george floyd whose death in police custody caused global outrage hears impassioned pleas for racial justice. until we know the price for black life, is the same as the price for white life, we re going to keep coming back to these situations over and over again. president trump provokes criticism by accusing an elderly protester who was injured by the police of being an extremist provocateur. demonstrators demand the removal of a statue of cecil rhodes, one of the most controversial figures in the story of the british empire. the russian capital loosens its lockdown measures even though thousands of new cases are being
amid a pandemic so that people could come together. they had nights of unrest, and then they had more peaceful nights. minneapolis getting ready with a memorial for george floyd. stay tuned to fox news channel has recover it for you. i m harris. here s the daily briefing. dana: hello, everyone. i m dana perino. this is special coverage of the memorial for george floyd. a live look at the service in minneapolis where george floyd, an unarmed black man in handcuffs died on memorial day after a police officer knelt on his neck for nearly 9 minutes. his death has been protested around the nation and around the world for the minneapolis memorial one of several being held in several cities over six days. yesterday, minnesota s attorney general added a second-degree murder charge against the officer who knelt on floyd s neck and also charge the other three officers who were at the scene with aiding and abetting murder. let s begin with steve harrigan reporting live for minneapolis. this is expected to be a two hour memorial, about 1,000 friends and guests invited inside. outside here, a pretty big crowd on the streets and media from all around the world as this has become an international story, probably the two key addresses today will be from the family attorney, and the eulogy from reverend al sharpton. there have been to autopsies in both of them concluded the cause of death was homicide. also determined that he tested positive for covid-19 before his death. the mood here has changed dramatically over the past several days especially since the arrest of the other three police officers who were involved in floyd s arrest. arrest as well as the charge of second-degree murder has really cool tensions here, but the state attorney general says getting a conviction for murder against a police officer will still be difficult. the reason thoroughness is important is because every single link in the prosecutorial chain must be strong. needs to be strong because trying this case will not be an easy thing. winning a conviction will be hard. the other three police officers are appearing in court this afternoon, and the total charge, the maximum sentence for second-degree murder here, 40 years. back to you. steve harrigan, thank you so much. i know you re watching some singers they were at the memorial service as they get attendees ready to pray over george floyd. and another live look now at the new york city memorial service for george floyd being held in brooklyn at the same time as the one in minneapolis. family, friends, local political leaders and community members all gathering there. laura ingle is there for us. laura? the field here has been filled with thousands of people to honor the memory of george floyd. we also have a second camera closer to what is being called camilla to give you a closer look. is a massive turn out for which was organized based here in new york including his brother. we are expecting to hear from them shortly. last night in brooklyn, saw more violence when a suspect allegedly stabbed an officer here, then somehow got a hold of one of their guns and shot two offices into very big events happening here in brooklyn in the last 24 hours. the fbi s joint task force now involved with the nypd where the two agencies are searching the suspect s home today to try to get some answers on a motive. new york city mayor bill de blasio was at the hospital where the three officers injured are being treated and are in stable condition and he is expected to be here today at this memorial. meanwhile, still plenty of activity with demonstrations in cities. last night, 180 arrest of protesters breaking the 8:00 p.m. curfew in new york. this as they continue to tally the number of new york police officers injured in clashes with protesters over the last few days. right now, stands at more than 200. the protest remained largely peaceful here in the city of new york and again, we ve got thousands of people here at this memorial, a large memorial invited here, andrew cuomo the governor of new york, bill de blasio and a lot of other city leaders and we are waiting to hear from the brother of george floyd at any moment. dana: i am struck by the number of people that are there. i know you can see it over here on the screen. tell me more about the crowd that has gathered there. the crowd started forming pretty early in the day and when we first got there, the massive field at the park, it has been slowly growing and just before 1:00, we had a mass of people and they were children and families and police officers, nurses, and we have seen a lot of health care workers and a lot of these protests over the last few days who have come not only from this area, but from out of state to help in the covid crisis who said i came here for covid but now i am here to stand with george floyd and his memory. so it s been a really interesting mix. has been largely peaceful, a lot of chanting and we now hear some music beginning to play on the field. laura ingle, thank you for that. we will get back to her is that develops as well. i want to bring in our panel now, martha maccallum anchor of the story and lawrence jones, fox nation host. maybe i will start with you here today as we start the memorial, does it feel like to you the next step here as we process the murder of george floyd? we are moving forward, dana. and i think there was a strong statement from the attorney general and the fbi talking about that this was the breaking point and there would be reforms issued, so that was a great thing, but just to give the audience some background, in the black community, we don t call them funerals. we call them home going celebrations. so while you see the reason why you see so much music and people clapping their hands is that these are known as celebration. and home-going means that here on earth is not our final resting place. he was a believer in christ and so he is resting with jesus christ right now, and if you can look at that mural that may be a little bit hard to see of george floyd, in the very bottom, it says i can breathe now. and the meaning of that of course, because he is resting with jesus christ now, he can now breathe in the afterlife. dana: what a beautiful sentiment. i like the idea of a home-going. let s get your thoughts today as we move to this next step. it s a positive way to celebrate the end of george floyd s life, which we all watch taken from him so mercilessly and that s why i am very struck looking at the enormous crowds that you see in brooklyn and all of the people in this church for a man who most of them did not know except for obviously his family and friends gathering minneapolis today and one of the things that struck me that the attorney general said today about what he wants to do moving forward, and first of all, he talked about how speedy the justice system has turned its wheels in this case in terms of the arrests that have happened. justice is coming. and then he said something to the effect, not verbatim, that african-americans lack confidence in the american justice system, and i think that is probably a very important way of looking at this because there s a lot of debate going on right now about whether or not there is systemic racism, the numbers of police brutality and whether or not they match the outrage we see in these cases, but i think what is true across the board and that everyone can understand is that there is a lack of confidence in getting justice for many in the african-american community and that s a scary feeling in something that needs to be addressed and that needs to be rectified in the coming days and weeks and months. dana: it is such a good point. and i wondered if we could share with people what you and i were communicating about earlier, which is i ve seen this video from an african-american man who said if he looks at his text from his mom, it is always are you okay? all good? highways like to check in. and said she s always checking in to see if i m alive and also talked about how he gets pulled over all the time out on the curve and talked about a 50 proposition of him being able to get out of that. now, that type of feeling, that anxiety for an american, any american is something that i think is hard to live with, and then i check in with you, and you said that your mom had similar texts to you. you re talking about alex to sound who was a trainer for many of us that ride the balaton, and he had this heart-wrenching testimony of the conversations between him and his mother and her always being concerned about his life, and it s not just me, not just alex, tim or scott that is talked about his experience, there is a real fear they are. and keeps talking about the national conversation, and part of that is listening. when you have people that are so polar opposite when it comes to their political ideology, and when it comes to this one experience, when you have juan williams who we typically fight on the five and go back and forth or other democrats while they can saying i ve had this experience too. i would just caution the audience to just listen for a second, and the text messages are are you okay, don t be combative, don t wear this because you could be assumed of committing a crime, just do whatever you can do to go home alive. don t debate it, even if you feel like you are right, don t make any sudden movements. just get home alive. you don t answer the phone within two hours then start the concern, share your location with your parents just because the fear exists, and i think that s what you heard attorney general trying to explain to the country today. he didn t necessarily know the solutions, but it is a step to acknowledge that pain. dana: we have donna brazile joining us, fox news contributor, you know from all of the wonderful accomplishments in her life and was explaining to us that this is not necessarily called a funeral. we are calling it a memorial but he said it is a home-going and that on the mural down below, it says i can breathe now, which was insightful and lovely thought, as he s now in heaven. let s get some of your thoughts today as we await this memorial to get started. first of all, i want to say to lawrence who was my little brother how much i love you and the words that you have just shared with the fox viewers, and of course dana, my sister, we ve gone through so much together, a lot of pain also in the recovery efforts of that terrible catastrophic hurricane. we call it a celebration, a celebration of life. is not how he was taken from us, but what he did while he was here. the way he lived, the life he gave whether, this is a man who had a life, who had dreams, who wanted to do something, one to be something. the fact that he ended up in minneapolis is because he traveled to find work. because work is about dignity. and so we lift him up and his family in prayer because in celebrating his life, we also have these joyful moments. the bible says we believe in that. today, as i was trying to draw strength for this moment, i thought about my grandparents and what it must ve been like to come through slavery, and to raise their children, to raise them with hope and faith. those twin pillars that we rely on to move in moments like this. and i thought about my own parents, especially my dad. my dad who had to cancel not just his boys, but his girls, on the proper behavior, the things to do. so the pain i ve had, and i know lawrence understands this, is that pain that comes from generations and generations of parents and grandparents that just try to tell their kids to behave, to be respectful, to be loving, and to have your life taken this way is a very painful moment, but we are going to come through this not just with our words, but also with our actio actions. dana: we ve been saying i believe that jesse jackson has just arrived at the memorial in minneapolis, a little hard to see there but i believe that s the case. the martha maccallum they are in brooklyn, mayor de blasio and his wife were also speaking in front of that large crowd. al sharpton will be giving the eulogy, and he has said i don t know what the announcement is. said there was going to be some sort of announcement about possible reforms, police reforms that he makes in his speech today. there you can see on the screen mayor de blasio and his wife at the memorial. the entire nation affected by this and lots of different ways with her in anger but also with rampant crime and looting and arson and the writing that we ve seen. has been a terrible week in so many ways, and may be these memorials are the beginning of that next step to getting back to the country that we all know we can have. i hope you re right. it s been a really painful period. obviously on the individual level beginning with george floyd and the english that he went through when i think all of us when you look at derek chauvin s face during that video, it is as difficult to look at his face as it is to look at george floyd s who was going through so much pain because you just have a hard time understanding how anybody has that much in them that allows them to crush the life out of someone in the streets that way i think is just so disturbing and so upsetting. that s why you ve got such an outpouring across the country as we watch the beginning of this service because of what it represents in terms of evil, which exists, it exists in the country and in human beings, and i think that is the thing that powers through all of this experience for everybody. when you look at mayor de blasio they are speaking out today is a day to remember george floyd, to recognize him at this memorial, there s a lot of politics obviously that underlies this, and we have seen relatively peaceful evenings. there was an awful incident in new york city last night, mayor de blasio has been under a lot of pressure to take a tougher stance and last night we saw the stabbing of a police officer, than a gun was taken from that police officer and two others were shot in a very difficult situation, so there is a lot of governing that needs to go on in this moment, but as i say as we listen to this beautiful music, that is the background and the meaning of this moment for everybody today. dana: is everybody get settled there in the church, taking a little while because of coronavirus and covid-19, might take them a while to get seated. starting at 2:00, everyone is getting ready now. the new york police chief eric clifford because you have been right there on the front lines, and you had said when you took a step back and you thought about what needs to happen, you thought one more concrete things could happen in your police department. maybe talk a little bit about that and also if you wouldn t mind, tell us about the pretty amazing moment where your officers join with the protesters and took that walk with them together. thank you very much for having me. a pretty amazing moment last sunday. protesters came to the city. they were demanding to be heard. they marched over to our police department and came around the side and asked to speak to abbas, went out there and spoke to them and made it pretty clear that they want to be peaceful and they were looking to ask them questions and i allowed them to do that and at the very end of the question process, they asked me to take a knee with them and i agreed to do that, i agreed to do that in solidarity because i wanted to let them know that i understood how they felt and that we were in this together, and i thought joining them in taking any was a small gesture that i could do to bridge the gap between their perception of the police and what we are doing as a police department to better meet their expectations. dana: tell me a little bit about a nationwide standard is needed and some of the tactics used by police. that is something that i think our local leaders really should start looking at is a national standard. we are doing things a lot differently here in new york, and we have a really strong criminal justice system that gives us guidance, but that might not be the same standard that s being held in minnesota or california or any other state and as you can clearly see when something happens in one state, it affects us all. what s going on in every state in the nation right now is because of what happened in minnesota. we have to all get standardized on how we use force and how we react to the communities that we serve, and as a profession, as long as we get on the same sheet of music, i think we will make some great strides with meeting expectations of those. dana: one last question for you. you wrote that when the citizens gathered, one of them was that they asked you why should they trust you? i m curious how you answer that. that is always a question i get asked. because i am constantly trying to meet their expectations, i do it behind the scenes of everything that we do, whether it is why we are making the arrest that we make, so i am in the head of the agency. that s why they should trust me and hold me accountable for everything that s done and if i m not meeting their expectations, ask me why certain things and i will answer them and if we have to open up a dialogue on changing the way we do things, i m open to that and hearing their concerns. dana: chief eric clifford, thank you for joining us today. we appreciate it. thank you. dana: as we await for the beginning of this memorial service here in minneapolis, also one parallel happening right there that you can see at the top of your screen. lawrence jones, perhaps i could talk to you a little bit about that. i know you have paid a lot of attention to criminal justice system, policing, and when there are suggestions that there should be specific concrete changes are nationwide standards, what you think of that? first of all, for the audience that don t know, my first job was working in a juvenile court and i worked between them and the school district a kind of get them back on track. so i ve been studying this pretty much my whole life. there is federal standards that you can do but in many cases, it doesn t work. you have to start on the local level, and the chief is definitely doing the first right step, and it starts with the relationship in community policing. you have to know the areas where you police, and there is a lot of calls to change the standard when it comes to the use of force, there were also calls to change what we prosecute and what we don t prosecute. in many cases, police have to deal with these ordinances and these laws that they shouldn t even be having to enforce any way. they are petty crimes. causes tension between them and the community. i would caution people, i understand there was a need for monitoring on the federal level, but when the federal government gets involved in a lot of cases, it causes more harm than good. this requires local attention. the conversation must start between not even just community leaders but with these police chiefs and the public, and we ve seen that across this country like with sheriff swanson s out there with the protesters. i think we have accomplished this. and i know you need to get to some of the panelists, but i want to let them know some of what they re getting ready to see here. they are going to see the reading of the new testament as the family members come in, and this is to set the scene for this home-going celebration, martin luther king jr. the third that is also in the crowd there and other civil rights leaders and community leaders, but right now, the family hasn t arrived. that typically takes place last you ll see everyone that is currently their rise as the new testament and old testament is red, and they will march out and they are separated between generations, so you will see the cousins and then you will see gradually that generation increase the great-grandparents. and so on. dana: so helpful to have your perspective, and donna brazile, you ve been to more memorials than you would ve ever liked to have gone to an last night, i saw a clip of george floyd 6-year-old daughter, somebody asked her what you know about your dad and she said i know that my dad change the world. in do you think they will be lasting change from sandra: i pray that there will be. i hope that the death of george floyd is a catalyst for us to change so that we have a new covenant not just between the police had in the community that they serve, but a new covenant between all of us as american citizens, as souls that thrive each and every day to be better, to be good people. this is the moment that you can be a catalyst for change. that little girl will go on without her daddy but i hope like bernice king and so many others before her that she will know that her dad did not die in vain, that we use this moment to better ourselves and if she can grow up in a country and a world that keeps her that bright beautiful star she was born to be than the catalyst in the moment met each other as we did. dana: martha, i know that you are a loving mother of your wonderful children and one of the things that donna has pointed out early on is at the end of his life, george floyd was calling for his mom so as the family gathers here to celebrate the life of george floyd, there is a lot of hurt that these family members have an one thing that i keep thinking about is they don t have to wonder how george floyd died. it s there for all of us to see and in some ways of course, that is good because there is evidence, and then that has led to the charges, but also, it is something that must be very hard for the family because it will always be there in their mind. i think it s a heartbreaking moment to hear that on that tape when he calls out for his mother, he reminds me of its many stories that i ve read about world war ii and about vietnam and in these situations, it is very heartbreaking that people often do that and they re dying moments, call out for their mother. i think it is something that sort of goes right through everybody when you hear that, and obviously, it evokes a tremendous amount of empathy for him in that moment, and i am struck by how difficult in some ways this makes this i would imagine for the family. what is normally a private affair that is shared with family and friends has become out of nowhere into this enormous scale, you heard earlier that there is international reporters on the scene today, and listening to your comment about what his daughter says. all of this becomes such an enormous thing for this family to cope with on top of their personal loss that so many families experience across the country every day, so obviously, it complicates things for them, i would imagine as they enter this grieving process and they ve got all the celebrities they are in all these people who would never have been there otherwise, so it is a complex situation that we are watching her unfold here today. dana: i believe you are seeing the reverend al sharpton walk into the memorial, going to be giving the eulogy which we are going to wait for this memorial to get started, one other thing to bring to you today, there s another case rocking the nation and we have an important update on that now. there is a hearing that is resuming in the case of ahmaud arbery. that is the unarmed black man shot and killed while jogging in brunswick georgia back in february. two of the three men charged with murdering him appearing before a judge today as prosecutors start to present their evidence in the case and the phil keating is live in brunswick for us. could you catch us up on what s going on there? absolutely. the hearing itself is just about to resume from the lunch break or just data, but this evidentiary air rehearing is critical for the judge decide whether there is enough probable cause to move forward to trial and at this point, we still don t know. this hearing has been going on for nearly five hours now and due to coronavirus concerns, the two defendants, the father and son combo are appearing via live video stream from the jail next door, only people in the courtroom where the judge and the attorneys and the witnesses. this case triggered a racial outrage weeks before the current george floyd minneapolis police case sparked protests and rioting across the country. now, gregory and travis mcmichael, the father and son are charged with felony murder and aggravated assault. they are claiming self-defense but today s testimony by the georgia bureau of investigators and special agent reveals both of them admit everything that happened, travis admits i shot him three times in the chest with a shotgun as we struggle with it. they admit chased them in the pickup truck because they saw him running through and had a gut feeling that he was up to a burglary in the neighborhood. no evidence of that, they told the cops. just greg mcmichael s instinct. while the other defendant is the one that took that famous videotape of the ending of the chase on the struggle of the shooting, outside the courthouse, there were 75 to 100 demonstrators here earlier today chanting things like black lives matter and equal justice for all in today s testimony also revealed that the shooter, the son, travis mcmichael routinely used the n-word when talking or in text messages. have fact, according to testimony after he was shot dead in the street lying at his feet, he once again said an expletive and the n-word. dana? dana: phil keating, thank you for the update on that. we ve been following that case, and we will keep on as well. the memorials are getting ready. in brooklyn you can see that as a memorial thousands of people there, and terrance floyd, george floyd s brother is there. they have many speakers, and that will continue as the main memorial in minneapolis is getting ready to get started as you can see there, reverend al sharpton who was going to be giving the eulogy today has just arrived there. lawrence jones, i wanted to pick up on something that martha mentioned, and that was there are reporters there from all over the world. we live in a very connected world, we know there have been protests on behalf of george floyd in cities and capitals across the world, but i want to talk about what would you say to young black people today who might feel dismayed? you might feel they can t trust the system, who might think this country is not what we know it to be? i would say the same thing that i hear the attorney general now saying, and i hadn t heard an attorney general say that before. we hear you. as sad as i am about what happened to mr. floyd, and i ve been honest with you in the audience, it s been one of the toughest experiences of my life to come on tv and be vulnerable with the audience about my own personal experiences as well, but it seems as if change is coming when it comes to justice, and so we should celebrate that. we shouldn t stop fighting, but it should, her heart a little that people are hearing all across the world and saying what we are seeing here is not enou enough. our great reporter phil keating just gave us some more commentary, and i was watching it from the investigation and what an investigator says is in the ahmaud arbery case, the guy who hunted him down said the n-word. we shouldn t be doing that in 2020. dana: i want to pause you there so we can listen and because the memorial is getting underway. on behalf of everyone here, i want to personally express our deepest condolences for this tragic event. now to open the service, the celebration of his life, we will have a scripture reading from reverend jerry mcafee, pastor of new salem missionary baptist church followed by an opening prayer from dr. scott hagan, president of north central university and a solo by mrs. porter. on behalf of the pastors and preachers from minneapolis and st. paul, the bloods on the south side, disciples on the south and on the north side, psalms 27. the lord is my light and my salvation. whom shall i fear? the lord is the strength of my life would whom shall i be afraid? when the wicked mind came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell and my heart shall not fear, the war should rise against me and this will i be confident. one thing have i desired, that will i seek after that i may dwell in the house of the lord all the days of my life to behold the beauty of the lord and to inquire in his temple, for in the time of trouble, he shall hide me in his pavilion and the secret, he shall set me up upon a rock. [applause] just once again on behalf of north central university, i want to welcome the floyd family to our campus. this is truly an undeserved honor for a university. i ve been praying all week that this sacred space would become a table of healing for the floyd family, the city of minneapolis, and for the world that is grieving beyond these walls. in just a moment, i want to offer a brief prayer, but before i offer that brief prayer, i just want to announce as president of the school the institution of the george floyd memorial scholarship. even before announcing the scholarship yesterday unsolicited, over $53,000 was handed to me to contribute for the educational promise of aspiring young black american leaders. but here is what i really want to say. a far beyond north central university, i am now challenging every university president in the united states of america to establish your own george floyd memorial scholarship fund. so people across this nation can give to the college of their choice. is time to invest like never before in a new generation of young black americans who are poised and ready to take leadership in our nation. so university presidents, let s step up together. i want to invite you now to pray with me, if you will. lord, your word in proverbs 31 is dynamically clear. says to speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, ensure justice for those being crushed. speak up for the poor and the helpless and see if they get justice. lord, we are asking today for you to take this table of healing here in minneapolis today and multiply this healing all over this nation as part of that now never fading voice crying out on behalf of those who have been and who are now being crushed in body and spir spirit. at this table of hearing today, lord, we ask that you touch the floyd family with supernatural comfort and grace that they be granted a few moments of respite as their beloved father and brother and son is being remembered in a way that exemplified his faith in jesus christ. we are asking you to show us the way, the city and nation are becoming rightfully despondent with neighbors set against neighbor. help us to repent, not just seek to restore as a nation, and cities and universities and religious communities heal, make new and help rebuild the national family. and finally at this table of healing today, we are asking you to search our hearts as pastors, rabbis, priests, business leaders, politicians, and educators. help us reconcile our failed witness and lead us forward is caring neighbors. guide this generation to change the national narrative on race and power and change all of our hearts until they match your heart. we ask all of these things in the name above all names, jesus christ, amen. [applause] amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me i once was lost but now, i m found was blind, but now, i see was grace that taught my heart to fear and grace, my fears relieved how precious did that grace appear the hour i first believed. praise god praise god praise god praise god praise god praise god praise god praise god praise god oh, praise god praise god praise god praise god , and help me, praise god can you wave your hands praise god praise god worthy to be praised praise god praise god praise god is and he worthy praise god praise god praise god praise god praise god yes, praise god praise god praise god praise god praise god [cheers and applause] thank you. wonderful wonderful, wonderful. yes, yes. thank you, thank you. we are going to have the opportunity now to hear in just a moment from loved ones, friends, and family of george floyd. but before that, i would like to welcome to the podium attorney benjamin for his remarks. would you please welcome him? along with attorneys as my cocounsels out front seeking justice, seeking justice, seeking justice for the family of george floyd. along with the other great attorneys working in the background who i will mention briefly before we bring up the ones who knew george floyd all his life. i want to think devon jacobson, chris o neill, lee merritt, darrell parks, and carol because you may see it as a whole team of lawyers who are working because it is going to take a united effort in the courtroom and outside the courtroom to get justice for george floyd. i will tell you all that because of the coronavirus pandemic, we have to stay on a strict schedule, and we all have to do this social distancing, but i want to just put it on the record that it was not the coronavirus pandemic that killed george floyd. i to make it clear on the reco record, we will pack it in with that other pandemic that we are far too familiar with in america, that pandemic of racism and discrimination that killed george floyd. so before we make our plea to justice, we felt it was appropriate that you hear from the people who really knew george the boy, knew george the adolescent, new george the man, and from whence george came. so i would ask that his brother rodney, his cousin, his nephew brandon williams please come to the stage, and i would ask to come and stand with me behind them as united they tell the world why we should celebrate the life of george floyd. please come up, family. well. how are y all doing? brother of george floyd. we come up together, we didn t have much. her mom did what she could. we would sleep in the same beds, play video games together, go outside and play catch with the football, and i used to say to myself you can t throw. you can t throw it all. you know what i mean? because the ball never came to me. and years down the line, catching with one hand, two hands, he said i can throw, but i just wanted you to go get the ball. you need to go get the ball. but my brother, we did a lot of things together from talking with my mom, dancing with my mom, cooking with our mom, brothers and sisters. so much. we made banana mayonnaise sandwiches together. was a family thing. every day, we know when we come in the house, our mom was going to have a huge plate of food separate from each other, and we would sit there and argue over who is plate it was. i m talking about the plate with six pieces of chicken is mine and he s way bigger than me. he was huge. and from that, being in the house with my brother, it was inspiring to other people because my mom used to take in other kids, and most of them were george s friends, and they wanted to stay with her. they loved her. and my brother, he was okay with it. so then you had to me, they were grown then because they kicked me out of the room. three men 16, 17, grown sleeping in the same bed, waking up, going to the same school. and they wouldn t leave each other at all. they always wanted to be with each other all the time. i remember nights when the day before school, we didn t have a washing machine, so we were all going in and putting our socks and underwear in the bathroom sink and just start washing them, and we didn t have detergent, we would use soap. we were going to be clean. we were going to be clean. so right after that, we would take the socks and hang them over the hot water heater, and we would take the underwear and we would fight about it, me and his friends and everyone like you did it last night because they will be next day if you don t put it on the hot water heater. we learned a lot of stuff, but it s crazy because we didn t have a dryer. so the fastest way to dry your clothes was to put in the oven. so i love my brother. and we had so many memories together. i remember him waking me up, telling me can you iron my clothes? and i looked at him, but then look at his size and said you re right, big brother. you re right. it was amazing everywhere you go and see people, how they cling to him. they wanted to be around him. george, he was like the general. would be a line of people just like when we came in, wanted to greet him and wanted to have fun with him. the guys that were doing drugs, like smokers and homeless people, you couldn t tell because when you spoke to george, they felt like they were the president because that s how he made you feel. he was powerful. he had a way with words. he could always make you ready to jump and go all the time. everybody loved george. we didn t call him george. we called him perry. you called him perry, you knew him direct because georgia and big floyd. so many different names. but i m going to go ahead and let. it s crazy. all these people came to see my brother, and that s amazing to me that he touched so many people s hearts, he s been touching our hearts. you come to where we are from, people are crying right now and that s how much they love them. just standing strong as i can because i need to get that. everybody wants justice. we want justice for george. he s going to get it. he s going to get it. good afternoon, everyone. i m just going to echo some of the things that simone just talked about, and that is a large family members, our mothers were assemblin siblings. i could fast-forward a little bit, my aunt moved to he lived in houston, and she would always talk about being there and not having any siblings close to her. so my mother decided to move to the houston area. back early, 80. so we came to houston, and we were all excited. the only time we really would see each other was during holidays or when people were traveling to visit my grandmother. long story short, we didn t have a lot, but we always had each other, and we always were taught that they could always bring other people into the fold. no one should ever go home without having a meal for having food, so that s how my aunt was someone in the community, all the kids had to come over there and she ended up having 30 or 40 kids that would come over there because they always knew they could get something to eat if they came there and not only food, but they could be loved and they could feel part of a hole. so we were raised to always welcome people and embrace other people. and so you can see with all these people no matter who you talk to, they would all say the same thing and that george is somebody who was always welcoming, always made people feel like they were special, and nobody felt left out, and he would enter into the room, everybody would feel like they were special. he would embrace them. i think about the thing that i would miss about him most, is his hugs. he was this great big giant and when he would wrap his arms around you, you would feel like everything could just go away, any problems you had, any concerns you had would go away. so while we are all grieving, i just want to highlight his children. his 3-year-old granddaughter. we all need prayer, but if i am honest about it, we are more concerned about his children and his grandchildren, so i ask is you pray for us as we go along this marathon to make sure that justice is served on george s behalf or perry as we call him, ask that you pray for us and especially for the children. thank you. how are y all doing? i am the youngest brother of george floyd and my older brother pj was talking about childhood memories and how we grew up. and i would like to start where we left off. we didn t have much going up, but all that great stuff, that was just ingenuity. we worked with what we had, but we had a house full of love, and i appreciate the love of everyone in here in the state of minneapolis. you adopted my brother and showed him so much love and we feel that love in your city and thankfully, everybody especially around the world. it s a beautiful thing and great love we are receiving an george floyd is receiving because he would love it. when she was here in the flesh to see it, but all this great unity, but my brother, big floyd, as you all know. cooking wise, grew up in our house and they would say you make the best grilled cheese. can you please go make us one. if i tell you as a six or 7-year-old kid, i did that numerous times. you all are just using me. but you know, it happened to -