15/06/2017 Outside Source

The death toll in the London tower block fire is now 17,

Police have said they hope the number of victims will not reach

100 and have warned some victims may never be identified.

Theresa May visited the scene today and made this announcement.

What we need to do is to ensure is that this terrible tragedy

That's why I'm ordering a full public inquiry.

Residents who lost their homes and are searching for loved

At the moment we're grieving but there is a bubbling anger

underneath and we do want to see someone held accountable for this.

President Trump has hit back at reports he's under investigation

for obstruction of justice, while not denying it

He's called the Trump Russia investigation the biggest

Speaking of Russia, Vladimir Putin has been doing some

He's suggested Russia could offer asylum to former FBI

director James Comey, who Donald Trump sacked.

The scale of the tragedy at Grenfell Tower is

17 people are now confirmed dead, but the police believe the final

The first victim has been named by friends and family

as Mohammed Alhajali, a Syrian refugee who came

Theresa May has ordered a full public inquiry into the incident.

Here's our home editor Mark Easton's report.

Slowly, inch by painstaking inch, fire officers continue their grim

Amid the soot-blackened shell of what was once home to hundreds

Exactly how many, we do not know, but the emergency services

are warning the scale of this tragedy is yet to become clear.

The agony of a wounded neighbourhood is written on a wall,

the desperation of people searching for family and friends.

Prayers and solace from near and far.

For the past two days, Jason Garcia has been searching

for his 12-year-old cousin Jessica Urbano.

We are hoping that, by putting up posters,

sharing her image on social media, and talking to people

like yourself, that maybe someone with information will get in touch.

Syrian refugee Mohammed Alhajali, an engineering student seeking

a better life in Britain, was named by his family today

People crave answers, but complain of delays and evasion.

The love and generosity that has poured into North Kensington

in the last couple of days cannot make up for the numbing

The Prime Minister made a private visit to the scene today,

speaking to emergency workers before announcing there will be a full

Shock and grief are being joined by outrage and anger.

The questions are raining down, rather like the charred lumps

of cladding, which locals are holding up as possible evidence

that people were housed in a preventable death trap.

This tower block fire looks just like North Kensington.

They came in and said, "get out, get out, evacuate now."

But it was three years ago in Melbourne, Australia.

And the similarities do not stop there.

Those of us who have been around for 30 years or more have never seen

In my 29 years in the London Fire Brigade, I have never seen

a fire of this nature, and I have seen many

We never expected to see a high rise fire that would spread so quickly

from the eighth floor to the 21st floor.

In London, the fire raged from the ground to the 24th floor

Attention in Australia focused on the building's aluminium

cladding, an enquiry blaming cheaper plastic fibre backed cladding rather

The same distinction is being made about Grenfell Tower,

although the authorities insist building regulations were followed.

The concerns are not just about what went wrong

in North Kensington, they are also about what could go

wrong in thousands of tower blocks across Britain.

Duncan is live in west London. It has been confirmed, that the young

Syrian man, who came to the United Kingdom, has lost his life. Yes. His

name was more hammered. In just a few moments, we will be hearing from

his brother Omar. This is the scene of mass condolence. You can barely

see the walls, for writing. People have said things like you are in our

prayers, RIP, never give up. Many photographs of the people missing.

This is the place, people bringing gifts, nappies. A man I saw had

brand new shoes. People have been coming here, just to stand and

stare, take photos, write. And others have been trying to find

missing loved ones. This story about Muhammad is extraordinary. He

and his brother smelled the smoke. They realised how extraordinary this

was. Omar said we have got to get out of here. The thought that

Muhammad was behind him. We can listen to the extraordinary story.

I could not talk, look around, I could not say anything.

I thought I was going to die on the stairs.

I was breathing smoke, lots of smoke, from the 14th floor.

I was looking behind me, and I could not see my brother.

I said, my brother, brother, where was he?

I went outside, I called him, he said I am in the flat.

I thought that they had taken him outside.

I told them, 100 times, please, if you do not, I will go.

I was speaking to my brother, he said I am dying.

The was the brother of Muhammad, who died in the fire. And they have got

another brother, spending several minutes on the telephone, trying to

get him to leave the building, and after several minutes, the phone

went dead. Harrowing story. It has brought many people out this

evening. Why have you joined the people this evening? Just seeing the

tower from the A40. I thought I have got to come and take a look. What

are you thinking? I am a little bit confused. They said that the

strategy was lies Asian. From -- compartilisation. But from my days

in the military, who was responsible? It has clearly not

worked. Fire brigade? The council? What if we had had a fire in the

highest floor? What was the strategy? It had to be contained? We

know that the fire brigade did not have the assets, who paid for that?

Your thoughts tonight? Devastated. Angry. This could have been

prevented. Thank you. Just one of the people who have come down this

evening, the overwhelming emotion is of contemplation, silence, just

looking at these words, the wall of condolence as people have been

calling this. The aftermath of this tragic fire. Thank you, and thank

you to you guests. Inevitably, the political dimension as those

affected look for answers and somebody to hold responsible.

Theresa May and the Leader of the Opposition, the leader of the Labour

Party, Jeremy Corbyn, visited the scene. In Parliament, Nick Hurd was

questioned, and we can continue with this report. In an emergency, who is

in charge? The Prime Minister met

firefighters who have given everything at Grenfell,

but none of the families that have She met volunteers on the ground,

but returning to Number 10, the focus today, getting

help to those that need it. The Government stands ready

to provide every assistance necessary to the emergency services

and to the local authority. I know we've all heard

absolutely heartbreaking, as I did this morning,

heartbreaking stories of the people that were caught up in this

terrible, terrible tragedy. The Labour leader was on hand

in a local church, hearing fears... Somebody has to be held accountable,

somebody has to be held responsible. We do not want this kicked

into the long grass. We do not want the Government

to hide this with some hollow platitudes

that lessons will be learned. They knew.

They knew that Grenfell was unsafe. We cannot allow people to live

in a dangerous state, and that is a worry,

but the resources have to be found and we will demand and make sure

those resources are found. With worries for people

who live in similar blocks and so much still unknown,

MPs demanded a meeting When we talk about this

as a tragedy, we're talking about it The truth is, it wasn't

some natural disaster. We look to you both, as ministers,

to leave no stone unturned in getting justice and getting

to the bottom of this. It's really important

that there is utter clarity today about whether people should stay

in their flats in the event of another horrific fire,

which could happen this afternoon, as we speak here, or

whether they should leave. The Government did promise

all the survivors would get We have to act and think

as if it was our friends, We have to have that emotional

connection with what is going on, because there is no room for cool,

detached, plodding bureaucracy. Yet only those that lost their beds,

their homes and their loved ones Laura Kuenssberg,

BBC News, Westminster. Bear in mind that we still don't

know how Mrs May intends to govern - And we do not have details of that

deal with the DUP. But we did find out

two things today. One is that the Brexit negotiations

will begin next Monday, as planned. The second is that

the Queen's Speech - when the government sets

out its legislative agenda for the year -

will take place next Wednesday. That had been delayed

because negotiations between the Conservatives

and Northern Ireland's Democratic Some thought the announcement of the

date meant a deal had been reached. But this is what the deputy leader

of the DUP said when he was asked It does not mean anything of the

sort. We are not saying that, they are not. It is proper that the date

for the Queen's speech should be set. Tom... Earlier in the week, I

was at Downing Street and we had the impression that the deal was close.

What has been the hold up? Exactly why we have got this hold up is not

clear. These discussions are taking place in private, many things that

simply we will not lay on the specific aspects of until it has

been done. But this is a very volatile time in Westminster, not

only have we had an election that delivered the result that very few

people expected, the minority and the government needing to shore

up... But we have also got what has been described as a national

disaster, the tragedy that we have been hearing about. The government

is also having to deal with this. It has the political dimensional. The

Prime Minister orders the public enquiry, layers of accountability

have got to go through, legislation from governments past and previous,

could have done more to prevent this kind of thing from happening. Very

volatile times for Westminster. Not only has the Queen's speech had to

be delayed, but also questions about Brexit discussions starting on time.

We understand they will. But some delay to the State Opening of

Parliament. We do not know if this deal is going to go with it. Many

questions for the government to answer, when Theresa May is being

judged in many ways after that election result on the way that she

is responding to this national tragedy at the moment. Over the

coming days we are going to get more of a sense a that deal but many more

questions to answer. Thank you. We're going to be talking to

Anthony, live from Washington after President Trump responded to crimes

he is being investigated for possible obstruction of justice.

Death toll expected to rise, and anger has been mounting over the

scale of the disaster. The deputy leader of Kensington and Chelsea

Borough was asked about the recent renovations to the tower. We're

going to have to have a public enquiry to look into this. This

council has been asked by the investigating authorities not to

speculate, talk about the specifics about fire safety issues because it

is part of a live, extremely thorough investigation. That is

going to have to be reviewed by that investigation. My understanding,

various and housing associations working on renovating 60 70 tower

blocks have used retrofitted sprinkler systems. This has got to

be looked at in greater detail. This is Outside Source live

from the BBC newsroom. Theresa May says there will be

a full public inquiry into the fire at the Grenfell Tower

block in London. 17 people are confirmed dead,

but officials warn that the final toll could be much higher and take

weeks to determine. Another major story

from Washington Post. This time with claims

President Trump is being investigated for possible

obstruction of justice. The president has not taken long,

responding to those crimes? I have just been sitting here, watching

Donald Trump's Twitter tirade. Not only lashing out at the people

perpetrating this witchhunt as he has called it, but also the

underlying investigation into Russian meddling. He said they have

been building this case on top of nothing. But then the last half an

hour he has been going after Hillary Clinton. Asking why she was not

investigated for Russian ties? Obstruction of justice? Considering

that he is the president and Hillary Clinton is now a private citizen, it

seems to be misdirection. But he has been actively responding to this

ongoing investigation, probably against the counsel of lawyers. Band

as he is doing it, we have got this bipartisan baseball game, the day

after the congressmen was shot? The mood on Capitol Hill has been very

sombre. Trying to put this partisanship, the negative rhetoric

behind us. The member of Congress was shot, still in critical

condition, and several law-enforcement officers shot. The

baseball game, it is a throwback to the old Washington, socialising

after hours, I have a feeling it is going to be a few good moment for

everybody to try to get past the tragedy of yesterday. Donald Trump

is not talking about that, but talking about crooked Hillary

Clinton. Thank you for that update. Those of you watching

in Europe are going to like this story -

'roaming charges' for using your mobile abroad are outlawed

by the European Union - You can you now use your

allowance of calls and data in any EU member state -

without any extra charge. Beneath my feet, the border between

Germany and Poland. It is impossible to say exactly where. Because this

is what modern European borders look like. But until recently, your

mobile phone operator could randomly switch between German and Polish

providers, costing you a lot of money. Thanks to Brussels that is no

longer going to be the case. Locals could not be more delighted. I go to

Germany every day and this is amazing. I can go with my friends to

another country and I can ring my mum if I want. Get is not just those

who lives in Europe the borders who are celebrating. Despite uncertainty

about how much data travels well received, the European Union is not

missing the chance to hail success. That arisen industry is similarly

jubilant. Particularly those catering to solo travellers. I can

just look up where I am, get in touch with anybody on Facebook. When

I am travelling alone that is pretty important. It could encourage other

people to travel alone. That is pretty cool. Many people have

already signed up to the mobile phone providers that do not charge

extra every single time they cross that bridge behind me. But some

concern that fees overall could rise as companies try to compensate for

the revenue they have lost from the abolition of roaming. But it has so

successfully confined physical borders here, the abolition of the

digital one is also more than welcome.

The US Justice Department, hoping to seize assets, all about the

corruption scandal. Michelle, going to have to pull together to reach

that? If you go through this list, they may not find it that difficult.

Some of their assets seized, include a yacht, two and a half million

shares, rights to Dumber and Dumber two, the Jim Carey film, jewellery,

and famous artwork. Paintings by Picasso, to be seized. Also, photos.

Some significant assets, and all of this apparently proceeds, dialogue

with ill gotten gains from Malaysia. Established, at least in the United

States, that this fund behaved inappropriately? To give you some

background, the fund was set up in Malaysia, trying to benefit the

Malaysian people. This suit alleges that some individuals were able to

get money out of that fund, using it not for investment purposes but to

benefit themselves with none other than the proceeds going back to the

fund. The acting assistant Attorney General said that basically this

money financed lavish lifestyles, and this was done at the expense and

detriment of the Malaysian people, and also talk about the fact that

the United States wants to crack down on people using America as a

safe haven. A quote... The Department of Justice officials said

that our commitment is to ensure that the United States is not a safe

haven, for those to hide ill gotten money. This goes back to 2009. It

has taken this long. It is not the first thing that the Department of

Justice has gone after them. They said that $4.5 billion misused.

Thank you. We are up at the end of the first half of Outside Source.

Eye will be back with you, for the latest on that fire in west London

and other stories.