15/02/2018 BBC News at Ten

Tonight at Ten - after the mass

shooting at a school in Florida,

President Trump declares that

making America's schools

safer is his priority.

The latest images reveal

the terror that spread

through the school,

where 17 were killed

and dozens were injured.

He went up and down the hallway,

just banging and shooting

into the classrooms.

He shot through my door.

The gunman, a 19 year-old former

pupil, has appeared in court,

as the president focused not on gun

control, but mental health issues.

We are committed to working

with state and local leaders to help

secure our schools and

tackle the difficult

issue of mental health.

We'll have the latest

from Florida and from

Washington, and from Florida,

on the community's reaction.

Also tonight...

Barry Bennell, the former

youth football coach,

is convicted of a total of 43 sex

offences against young boys.

Some of his victims

were in court today.

My name is Mickey Fallon.

I was abused by Barry

Bennell as a child.

My name is Stephen Walters.

I was abused by Barry Bennell.

My name is Chris Unsworth.

I was abused by Barry

Bennell as a child.

A former Oxfam director responds

to allegations that he paid for sex

while working in Haiti

after the earthquake.

South Africa has a new president -

Cyril Ramaphosa has promised to take

a tough line on fraud

and corruption.

And Team GB could be

about to win its first medal

of the 2018 Winter Olympics.

And coming up on

Sportsday on BBC News,

Alex McLeish has agreed a return

to the Scotland manager's job.

He'll sign a deal until 2020,

to replace Gordon Strachan,

who left last October.

Good evening.

President Trump has promised action

to make America's schools safer,

after a teenager killed 17

people in a mass shooting

in Florida yesterday.

Nikolas Cruz was a former pupil

at the school in Parkland.

He appeared in court as short while

ago.

President Trump described him

as "mentally disturbed",

and said that tackling mental

health would be a priority

for his administration.

The FBI said it had been warned

a year ago about the potential

threat posed by Cruz,

but that there was no evidence

he was planning an attack.

Live to Parkland tonight, and our

correspondent, Aleem Maqbool.

Sadly, we have seen this kind of

seen so many times in the past in

America. A coming together after

another mass shooting. Just a month

and a half into 2018. This was

already the sixth shooting at a

school that has involved fatalities

are injuries. This was the

deadliest. And the more we hear

details of what these children had

to go through, the more respect --

horrific incident seems to been.

Four hours, children at a high

school found themselves in a combat

zone.

I have the gunshot victim.

There was mayhem and bloodshed as a

gunman stalked its corridors. Shots

can be heard close by as these

terrified pupils sheltered in a

classroom fearing for their own

lives.

He went up and down the

hallway just banging and shooting

into the classrooms. He shot through

my door and broke the window.

All of

a sudden we hear one of the student

government teachers say, run as fast

as you can, and we hear a gunshot.

This 17-year-old, originally from

Coventry, moved to Florida three

years ago and is a student at the

school. He was barricaded in a

storage cupboard for two hours.

We

heard the door to our room being

unlocked. We had some lycee, police.

There were two different people. We

didn't know how many shooters there

were. We didn't know if it was

police. I remember my teacher

turning to me and saying, what do we

do? That's terrifying. She opened

the door and the relief when you

realised it was these guys in

military getup holding pistols and

assault rifles. I have friends who

have been killed, friends who have

been shot. How can this be? I'm

watching video footage and it is my

friends.

Police did finally get to

every classroom. The fear palpable.

Police! Police!

Put your hands up.

Survivors were ushered through the

corridors with hands on their heads,

police marksman watching in case of

still a moment. The first of those

identified as having been killed was

a football's and security guard at

the school. In the coming days we

will learn details of the Young

victims as well. This is one of many

vigils being held for those who

died. Shocking here to see the faces

of so many young people who

yesterday were attending what they

thought was a regular day at school.

And today they are morning friends

who sat beside them in their

classrooms.

The killer escaped with fleeing

schoolchildren but was soon arrested

without a struggle. He is

19-year-old Nikolas Cruz. A young

man known for having a fascination

with guns, and who had even

threatened in a social media post to

become what he called a professional

school shooter.

The leader of a white nationalist

militia said Cruz had taken part in

Palin -- paramilitary training with

them.

You are charged with some very

serious crimes.

This Boy found the

girl who sat next to him in English

earlier in the day was one of those

who have died. He also knew the

gunman, a former student of the

school attacked.

He used racial

slurs. He was just awful to other

people. I'm sure he was bullied

himself by some but he was the type

of person who people were scared to

bully because they knew something

could happen. I just didn't think

this could happen. It makes me angry

because we all knew him, we'll knew

that there was a potential for

something to go wrong.

It just sucks that we stop him.

These thoughts are the type with

which no children should have to

burden themselves. But in a country

where there have been more than 200

school shootings in less than five

years, more and more are being

taught by such horrors. Aleem

Maqbool, Florida.

Yesterday's attack is thought to be

the 18th school shooting

in the US this year,

and one of the deadliest

in US history.

As with other similar attacks,

it's brought calls

for stricter gun control.

But there was no mention of this

when President Trump spoke

at the White House,

as our North America editor,

Jon Sopel, reports.

And Egon 's new?

It is the size of

an out-of-town DIY centre. But the

only things on sale here our

weapons. In the US there are as many

guns in circulation as there are

people. And they are represented

formidably by the National Rifle

Association, the most powerful

lobbying organisation in the United

States. They have successfully

resisted every move to tighten gun

controls, and gave $21 million

towards the Trump campaign. He was

the star turn at their conference

last year. And he is their man.

You

have a true friend and champion in

the White House. No longer will

federal agencies be coming after

law-abiding gun owners.

And true to his word, Donald Trump

today made no mention of guns and

gun control.

The problem was mental illness. No

child, no teacher should ever be in

danger in an American school. We are

committed to working with state and

local leaders to help secure our

schools and tackle the difficult

issue of mental health.

The NRA publicly grade lawmakers. If

you're a capital A plus, you have

made a vigorous effort to promote

and defend the second Amendment. And

if you are an F, you are a true

enemy of going ons writes. After

mass shooting incidents, the NRA are

famously reticent to talk publicly.

So we drove to their headquarters to

speak about policy. We didn't get

very far.

NRA security. How are you

doing?

I'm fine.

Can you take your

car across -- of the property. Thank

you, sir.

Have a good day. We just

want to get some shots of the

building. But the NRA is very happy

to funnel money to supporters in

Congress. Marco Rubio, the local

senator, who treated his horror

about the shooting, has received

more than $3 million from them over

the years. Another senator, offer it

-- also offering condolences last

night, has received $3 million. John

McCain, 7 million over the course of

his career. And the NRA will run

attack ads like this against

candidates they don't like.

Hillary will lie about anything to

get elected. No more lies.

Defeat Hillary.

After the Sandy Hook

school shooting in Connecticut, 120

children aged six and seven lost

their lives, a clear majority of the

American people favoured tighter gun

control. It couldn't get through

Congress. Senator Chris Murphy from

Connecticut told the BBC why.

The

NRA remains powerful enough in this

place to block any progress. This is

an issue of the difficult power.

That's my political power. They have

been organising for 20, 30 years.

The opposition movement dates from

Sandy Hook.

Flags have been lowered

as a mark of respect for those who

died yesterday, the NRA.

Plans are being finalised Donald

Trump to visit the school in

Parkland. The focus will be on

school security and bringing airline

style security to schools, and also

on mental health. The question of

guns? That will have to wait. And

the absurdity that Nikolas Cruz,

aged 18, was old enough to buy a

semiautomatic rifle. But if he

wanted to buy a beer, you would have

to wait until he was 21.

Jon Sopel with the latest.

Victims of the former youth football

coach, Barry Bennell,

have been speaking about

the sexual abuse they suffered

between the 1970s and 1990s.

They were speaking at the end of his

trial at Liverpool Crown Court,

where he was found guilty of a total

of 43 offences against young boys.

Some of the boys who were abused

said the reputation of a coach,

club or a sport had been put

above the protection of children,

as Danny Savage reports

from Liverpool.

My name is Mickey Fallon.

I was abused by Barry

Bennell as a child.

My name is Stephen Walters.

I was abused by Barry Bennell.

My name is Chris Unsworth.

I was abused by Barry

Bennell as a child.

Three of the 12

victims in this case.

Boys, now men,

damaged by controlling

paedophile Barry Bennell.

Now defiant and waiving

their anonymity to shed

light on their shocking

childhood experiences.

For decades we held our silence,

just like our abuser told us to.

For decades we have lived in fear,

because we may be grown men

stood in front of you now,

but we were once a little child.

We are no longer afraid

you, Barry Bennell.

For years, hundreds of us

were groomed in plain view.

The shame, the nightmares...

No child should suffer

the way we did.

How can it be that no one realised

something was wrong?

How is it that no one

protected us then?

Their remorseless abuser, now aged

64, shook his head and laughed

as the jury returned their last

guilty verdicts today.

One of football's

leading youth coaches,

Barry Bennell, worked

with Manchester City and Crewe.

For him it was cover

to get close to young

boys and abused them.

Described in court as

a child molester on an

industrial scale, he told police how

he worked out which boys to target.

Andy Woodward was also

abused by Bennell.

When he went public,

other victims broke their silence.

Andy, if there are any other victims

out there who have not yet come

forward, what would be

your message to them?

If there is any other victims,

which I believe there is,

it's to each and every one of them

whether they feel they are strong

enough to come forward.

But I hope this has

given them some more

courage, that justice

has been served today.

It is understood more than 80 other

men have come forward

to say Bennell abused them.

This prolific paedophile

will be sentenced next week.

Danai Savage, BBC News, Liverpool.

Barry Bennell, who worked

with Manchester City

and Crewe Alexandra's

youth teams, abused boys

on an "industrial scale",

according to prosecutors.

The extent of his abuse has raised

questions about football's

handling of the case,

and about the many missed

opportunities to protect young

players, as our sports editor,

Dan Roan, reports.

He was one of football's

top talent spotters.

We do a lot of talking to them,

as well as showing them skills

and explaining the game.

There is more to it than just coming

here for an hour a week.

We give them homework.

But Bennell was also

a serial paedophile.

Gary Cliffe was one victim,

abused by his former coach

when playing for junior teams linked

to Manchester City.

Every school holiday,

Christmas time, and this is over

a four to five-year period.

He's ruined a lot of lives,

hundreds of boys' lives.

I know because I was there.

Manchester City say

they are investigating, but Cliffe

insists some people at the club

in the '80s would have known

about Bennell's behaviour.

They knew what he was,

but they allowed it to continue

because he was producing results.

Bennell's precise relationship with

Manchester City remains unclear,

but we've obtained what is believed

to be a business card

the coach handed to young

players and their parents,

describing himself as

a club representative.

If this is what it appears to be,

it may show how Bennell used City's

name to lure some of his victims.

Simon Cussons was a board director

at Manchester City when Bennell had

an association with the club.

Could more have been done,

do you think, to pay more attention

to the young players and how

they were being looked

after and treated?

With hindsight, the

answer is yes, but...

Did anybody raise it

at the time or know about it?

No.

Simon Cussons died last year,

before Manchester City spoke to him

as part of their enquiry.

The club has now identified another

alleged paedophile, now deceased,

with whom they had potential

connections and face

the threat of legal action.

Bennell was most closely linked

with Crewe Alexandra,

where he was youth team coach

in the late '80s.

Hamilton Smith was the managing

director at the time and he says

that, after being made aware

of concerns and rumours

about Bennell's behaviour,

he raised the issue in a board

meeting, but the coach was allowed

to stay for three more years.

The meeting that we had, the special

board meeting that we had,

and they are still saying

they didn't know

something was going on?

I went to the FA to talk

to them about my concerns.

And ended up getting

a Dear John letter, which said

they had investigated,

and found nothing to be answered.

Everybody involved could have done,

and should have done a lot more.

The then manager, Dario Gradi,

was one of those who Smith says

was aware of general concerns

about Bennell's behaviour.

Now the club's director of football,

he denies having had any knowledge

of Bennell's crimes,

but he was suspended

by the FA in 2016.

Crewe say they were unaware

of Bennell's behaviour

before his first of three previous

convictions in 1994,

but just over a year ago the full

extent of the football abuse

scandal was exposed.

It is massive, it is huge.

And the ripple effect

through football, I hope

people are listening.

Former England international

Paul Stewart revealed the extent

of the abuse he had been subject

to by a different paedophile.

Horrific.

How long did it go on for?

Four years.

Almost every day.

And as more players spoke out

the chairman of the FA launched

a review into the crisis.

We are making sure we do what we can

to step up to the mark.

With police forces investigating

a fund was set up for the victims,

285 potential victims identified

and 331 clubs involved.

Youth football is now more regulated

than when Barry Bennell was coaching

and abusing but the game's most

notorious paedophile

continues to wan haunt the sport.

And tomorrow from 9am

on the BBC News Channel,

there will be a special edition

of the Victoria Derbyshire programme

devoted to the Barry Bennell case,

and the football abuse story.

The leader of the African National

Congress, Cyril Ramaphosa, has

been sworn in as the new

president of South Africa,

following the resignation

of Jacob Zuma last night.

Mr Zuma had faced persistent

allegations of corruption,

and the new president said today

that fighting corruption

would be his main priority.

Our Africa editor Fergal Keane

reports from Cape Town.

In the place they call the mother

city of the Republic, exaltation,

at what they felt was nothing

less than a deliverance.

And inside, the words that signalled

the arrival of a new

and very different order.

I declare the Honourable

Cyril Ramaphosa

duly elected President

of the Republic of South Africa.

He knew this moment

was coming, but he had

seemed abashed.

In his first words as

President the tone was

consciously humble.

When one is elected

in this type of position,

you basically become a servant

of the people of South Africa.

And I will seek to

execute that task with

humility, faithfulness,

and with dignity as well.

This is the story of the political

triumph long deferred.

Cyril Ramaphosa was Mandela's

chosen heir after leading

the ANC in the successful

negotiations to end apartheid.

But Cyril Ramaphosa lost out to

party politics.

The bleak years of Jacob Zuma

were the eventual result.

Now that he's finally become

President a unique insight into

Cyril Ramaphosa from the white

negotiator who faced

him across the table in the last

days of apartheid.

He reminds many people

of a Mandela in a

different way.

Of course Mandela had the aura,

the iconic status which

nobody else will ever have.

But it's the moment

where you have a person

who can lead the country

with aspiration and inspiration.

For now his party

enemies are defeated and

the country is broadly behind him.

But Ramaphosa has stern

critics, those who accuse

the wealthy businessman of being out

of touch with the poor.

This incident in 2012 when 34

striking miners were shot by police

haunts Cyril Ramaphosa who was

a director of the company that owned

the mine.

For me I blame Mr Ramaphosa, says

a miner's widow because he was part

of the problem, instead of

helping the people.

But tonight as he was being sworn

in before ministers and family...

So help me God.

There was a genuine

sense of optimism.

There you have it.

The final step in bringing Cyril

Ramaphosa to the presidency

of South Africa.

You can hear them now beginning

to sing one of the songs

of the liberation struggle.

It is Cyril Ramaphosa's

hope to bring the

movement back to the idealism

of those founding fathers.

After years of corruption

and misrule,

South Africans are daring to hope.

Tomorrow, Cyril Ramophosa will

address practical plans, to tackle

unemployment and endemic corruption.

More than two thirds of under 25s

are without work here, and that is

the greatest threat of this

country's long-term stability. South

Africans tell you what they wanted a

leader who is honest, efficient and

get things done. The time of the

legends is over.

Many thanks for the latest in Cape

Town, Fergal Keane, Africa editor.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu has become

the latest prominent supporter

of Oxfam to cut his

ties with the charity,

following allegations

of sexual misconduct

involving some of its staff abroad.

The former Oxfam country director

in Haiti, had today responded

to allegations that he paid

a woman for sex.

He said it was a malicious rumour

but he was ashamed of some of his

behaviour.

Our correspondent Will Grant

reports from Haiti.

This apartment complex could cost

Oxfam millions in public donations.

Behind the armed guard, high fences

and barbed wire live Haiti's elite

foreign aid workers. It is believed

Oxfam workers held alleged sex

parties in 2010. The man who led

Oxfam's Haiti operation at the time

has denied using prostitutes. Roland

van Hauwermeiren, who resigned from

Oxfam, has finally spoken to a

Belgian broadcaster and denied the

main allegations against him.

TRANSLATION: Some unprofessional

journalists are claiming Oxfam

organises sex orgies using money

from donations, which is absolutely

untrue.

He said he was solely in

Haiti to lead Oxfam's operations at

a difficult time for the

organisation and the country. He

condemned sex parties with

prostitutes as reprehensible. He

admits having a relationship with a

local woman but insists she was not

a prostitute. Anything else, he

says, is malicious rumour.

TRANSLATION: That was just as

respectable as if I met a woman

here. We fell in love. There is

nothing wrong with

that. I admit I should have known

better at the time that gossip can

spread and causes vision and be

wrongly interpreted.

Doubtless, the

majority of Oxfam employees came to

Haiti with the intention of doing

good, to help with the restoration

after the devastating earthquake in

2010. But the charity is holding on

by its fingertips, in danger of

being thrown out of the country

altogether after allegations of what

went on in these staff villas. Haiti

has asked the Oxfam leaders to

explain themselves. Incredibly, they

did not turn up. If they are allowed

to stay in Haiti, they will be

expected to change the way they

operate.

I think they are to free

operating Haiti now and that is why

those things are happening. You see

those people on the beach with young

people, with underage young girls

and boys, being abused. It is very

common.

Within the expat community

in Haiti, the poor behaviour of some

individuals was well-known. A day

agency cars could be seen picking up

prostitutes.

Post-earthquake when

there was an explosion in the number

of empty the macro NGO vehicles here

it is fair to say it did happen

quite frequently.

As is so often the

case, it is the poorest who have so

much to lose. Oxfam has carried out

billions of developing projects

around the world. A few members of

staff have caused the charity

immeasurable harm, but it may still

have further to fall.

The Government and financial

regulators have been accused

of failing to protect British

steelworkers from a "major

pensions mis-selling scandal".

A parliamentary committee

at Westminster said it had

received worrying evidence

about the financial advice

given to members

of the British Steel Pension Scheme,

with some encouraged to give

up their final salary benefits

in favour of more risky investments.

Our Wales correspondent

Sian Lloyd reports.

"Exploited....

For cynical personal gain.

Shamelessly bamboozled by dubious

financial advisers."

The words of a report today by MPs

about steelworkers who devoted years

to the industry but face changes

to their pension scheme.

Some had the option of transferring

their benefits to private schemes,

but what happened has been described

as a mis-selling scandal.

Yes, we've been let down

with the trustees, we've been let

down by Tata as a company.

We uncovered the case

of Richard Bevan who had

transferred his savings

into a private scheme.

He believes the financial advice

he was given was unsuitable

and resulted in him losing

out on £200,000.

He welcomes the scrutiny by MPs

but says it's too late for him.

Where that leaves people like myself

I really don't know.

It may highlight the fact for other

pension schemes in the future,

and this may not happen

on this scale again.

Hopefully it doesn't,

but that's little comfort to people

like myself, you know?

The report noted that the regulator,

the Financial Conduct Authority,

only acted two months

after we highlighted Richard's case.

It calls for the authorities

to be more proactive.

There are large numbers of people

who will do other people down

when it comes to money,

and therefore what we want is robust

regulators who don't wait to be

pushed into it but actually

are on the lookout,

on the front foot, thinking,

"these are our responsibilities".

The Financial Conduct Authority told

us that following what happened

to steelworkers at plants like this

one in Port Talbot,

it's reviewing its rules

on pension transfers.

But some experts say that

what happened here should be

a wake-up call to the industry.

This is not uncommon.

We have seen BHS and Carillion

are similar examples of this,

so the individual details will vary

but these situations will arise

again so it is important the lessons

are learned from this case.

Pension freedom reforms have led

to a boom in similar

transfers over recent years.

This report highlights that workers

like Richard need more protection.

Sian Lloyd, BBC News, Port Talbot.

Alex McLeish has agreed a deal

to become the new Scotland football

manager, for the second time.

He had 10 games in charge before

leaving for Birmingham City in 2008.

McLeish has been given a deal

until 2020 after discussions

with the Scottish FA over

the past few days.

He takes over from Gordon Strachan

who left in October.

Team GB could be about

to win its first medal

of the 2018 Winter Olympics,

after Dom Parsons put himself

in contention in the men's

skeleton competition.

He's in fourth place

at the halfway stage,

ahead of the final runs tomorrow.

There are flashing images in this

report from our sports correspondent

Andy Swiss in Pyeongchang.

Here he is for Great Britain.

Run two, Dom Parsons.

He arrived an outsider,

he is now a contender.

Dom Parsons is ranked just 12th

in the world but wearing Team GB's

much discussed new skin suit,

he was out to prove his case.

Dom Parsons is flying

around this track.

He looked so impressive

in his training runs here,

but can he back it up with a big

performance when it really matters?

The answer was encouraging.

Dom Parsons goes to the front!

He ended up fourth at the halfway

stage, just 300th off a second

off the medal places.

Tomorrow could be special.

The medal chase for

Britain is on here.

I hope I can sleep tonight!

The last four years have been

aiming for this moment.

So, going to make the most of it.

From the ice to the snow,

it was a day for speed.

Norway's Aksel Lund Svindal making

history in the men's downhill,

at 35, the oldest ever champion.

In the women's giant slalom

meanwhile, the photographers got

an unexpected close-up.

Both they and Switzerland's Lara Gut

thankfully unscathed.

By the end, they had a new focus,

America's Mikaela Shiffrin winning

the first of potentially

several golds here.

But for sheer thrills

and spills, today's medal

goes to snowboard cross.

In particular, France's Pierre

Vaultier who crashed

in his semifinal,

got up, scraped through

and then only went and won it.

Rarely has persistence paid

off quite so perfectly.

It is now early morning here in

Pyeongchang, and there could be

plenty more drama over the next few

hours. Can Dom Parsons win Team GB

their first medal of these games? We

will also see Lizzy Yarnold begin

the defence of her skeleton title.

Andrew Musgrave has a chance of

winning a medal at cross-country

skiing. Team GB are targeting their

best ever Winter Olympics. No medals

so far. This might be the day they

get off the mark.

Looking forward