Rowan Bridge
Appearances
Global News Podcast
EU retaliates as Trump tariffs expand globally
The 59-year-old captain of the Salon, this Russian national, is in police custody. He remains in police custody for questioning at the moment. Humberside police say they're working to establish the full circumstances of what happened in this crash. They are leading the criminal investigation into this.
Global News Podcast
EU retaliates as Trump tariffs expand globally
There is also an investigation being carried out by the Marine Accident Investigation Branch, also looking into the circumstances of what happened. I think the other thing that we've seen this morning is we've seen new aerial footage of the Salong, which is still on fire.
Global News Podcast
EU retaliates as Trump tariffs expand globally
And I think one of the big concerns now will be trying to put out those flames on board the ship before they can begin any proper salvage operation. The big concern there has been is around pollution and the threat, particularly from the oil tanker. It was carrying 220,000 barrels of jet fuel on board when it was struck. And some of that has leaked into the sea.
Global News Podcast
EU retaliates as Trump tariffs expand globally
Now, the initial estimates we've had is that the impact may, in fact, be more limited than was first feared. And that is because when the collision happened, it caused a series of explosions and then fire, some of which, as you said, is still burning. And that seems to have burnt off some of that jet fuel and some of it has also evaporated.
Global News Podcast
EU retaliates as Trump tariffs expand globally
But I think the focus now is on making sure that the fires are out on both vessels and then a recovery effort and a salvage effort for those two vessels.
Global News Podcast
New Orleans attack: death toll rises to 15
I think there were some key things that came out of that news conference that bear repeating. It's clear that the authorities now do not think that this was a single person behind this attack. And they are trying to track down all the known associates of Shamsuddin Jabbar and anybody who's had contact with him over the last 72 hours.
Global News Podcast
New Orleans attack: death toll rises to 15
Also worth noting that they said that there are still victims of this attack on the street in Bourbon Street in the French Quarter, which means that I think it's certainly possible that that death toll of 10 that have been confirmed so far may go up. We also know that some of those still in hospital are still in a critical condition.
Global News Podcast
New Orleans attack: death toll rises to 15
Also, as well, you know, there's been talk about whether there were security measures in place in New Orleans in case of such a sort of terrorist attack. The police were keen to point out that they did have measures in place to protect the area. They had officers in the area. There were patrol cars there.
Global News Podcast
New Orleans attack: death toll rises to 15
But this was a determined attack that the person actually drove up onto the pavement to get around those barriers in order to drive into people. And then finally, as you say, I think people need to understand that the Sugar Bowl, this American football game between two university sites, is a massive event for New Orleans and indeed for the United States.
Global News Podcast
New Orleans attack: death toll rises to 15
You know, American football, university football is a massive sport in this country. And so for that event to be postponed, that is a significant event to be postponed in that way. But the NFL has said that it will take place. It's going to be 24 hours later.
Global News Podcast
Mike Johnson survives razor-thin vote to remain US House Speaker
I think if there was confusion around it, it was because there had been a vote, but the vote hadn't officially been announced. And so what you had is people were totting up the numbers as the voting was going through and going, ah, Mike Johnson, I can't win here.
Global News Podcast
Mike Johnson survives razor-thin vote to remain US House Speaker
But then before the vote was officially announced, there was clearly some arm-twisting and back-scratching going on on the floor of Congress. And that was enough to win over two holdouts. And those two holdouts then voted in favour of Mike Johnson. And that... Then when the vote came to be announced, he had enough votes to carry the gavel and to hold on to the speakership.
Global News Podcast
Mike Johnson survives razor-thin vote to remain US House Speaker
Yeah, I mean, we've heard from one of them and they said that they were given commitments around spending, which is a big thing for some of those conservative Republicans who are concerned about the levels of public spending in the United States and also about making sure that they can pass Trump's sort of America first agenda.
Global News Podcast
Mike Johnson survives razor-thin vote to remain US House Speaker
But also worth noting, like in the drama of that vote at the beginning, there were some Johnson critics who effectively sat on their hands. They didn't vote at all. And then as it came towards the end of the vote, they did end up voting for him. But I think that was them telegraphing, hey, listen, don't take us for granted going forward. You're going to need us for some of these votes.
Global News Podcast
Mike Johnson survives razor-thin vote to remain US House Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I think Mike Johnson is going to be key for Donald Trump going forward, because the reason that speakership role is so significant is that it controls the passage of legislation through the House of Representatives. And for Donald Trump, having an ally in that position will be significant. And Donald Trump... went out publicly sort of supporting Mike Johnson.
Global News Podcast
Mike Johnson survives razor-thin vote to remain US House Speaker
And so he's also shown the level of influence that he can. And it also, I think, shows that Republicans are serious about governing, that this didn't descend into a sort of circus of 15 votes over four days to get a speaker, as we've had previously. At the same time, so those are all the sorts of positives, if you like.
Global News Podcast
Mike Johnson survives razor-thin vote to remain US House Speaker
On the other side, you know, Mike Johnson's got a very small majority to work with here. And there is a very conservative wing of the party who are not very happy with Mike Johnson, even if they voted for him. And they could cause trouble going forward, certainly.
Global News Podcast
Hundreds, possibly thousands, feared dead in Mayotte cyclone
So this is 42-year-old Robert Duffy and 32-year-old Jeremy Falkick, who were arrested by Boston police after Boston police detected what they called a device dangerously close to Boston airport. Effectively, they were then arrested on a nearby island. Boston's got a sort of bunch of islands that are just off its coast.
Global News Podcast
Hundreds, possibly thousands, feared dead in Mayotte cyclone
They were arrested on one of those and police found a drone in a backpack carried by Robert Duffy, one of those two men. They are due to appear in court on charges of trespassing, but police say they might face further charges because flying a drone in restricted airspace is an offence, and clearly that is extremely dangerous.
Global News Podcast
Hundreds, possibly thousands, feared dead in Mayotte cyclone
If it hits an aircraft, that can cause significant problems, or a helicopter, or equally just causing pilots to have to veer off course, that can cause problems in itself. So their activities, if they were indeed flying a drone near an airport, could be extremely serious. But I think it's unlikely that those are linked to the
Global News Podcast
Hundreds, possibly thousands, feared dead in Mayotte cyclone
The broader issue that we're talking about, about drones that have been spotted around the northeast of the United States.
Global News Podcast
Hundreds, possibly thousands, feared dead in Mayotte cyclone
Yeah, I mean, it's interesting. The FBI set up a tip line because there were so many calls coming into the emergency services about these things. You know, I was reading a briefing that was given by the FBI. They said they'd had 5,000 calls into their tip line, 5,000 leads that they received. Of those, less than 100, they said, have been actionable.
Global News Podcast
Hundreds, possibly thousands, feared dead in Mayotte cyclone
And someone said, you know, do you think panic has set in here? And the FBI person said, I think there's been a slight overreaction. You know, if you talk to the White House, they say they've no evidence that these drones pose any sort of national security or public safety threat. nor indeed their work of any sort of foreign malicious actor. Having said that, there is clearly something going on.
Global News Podcast
Hundreds, possibly thousands, feared dead in Mayotte cyclone
Nobody is suggesting that these drones aren't out there, and it's not clear who is behind them and what are they doing. But I think the fact that you've got those visuals also just makes it a compelling visual story, and that means television gets interested in it, and that means it has really risen to the top of the political and media agenda.
Global News Podcast
Hundreds, possibly thousands, feared dead in Mayotte cyclone
Yeah, I mean, if you go out there onto social media and onto TikTok or Facebook, you will see plenty of people who will be full of conspiracy theories about what's going on here, you know, probably watched too many episodes of The X-Files. Nobody I've seen seriously suggests that these are being run from outer space. But I think, you know, this story has developed a momentum of its own.
Global News Podcast
Hundreds, possibly thousands, feared dead in Mayotte cyclone
It develops a sort of energy of its own. And so you can sort of see that the authorities are trying to balance here a responsible approach of trying to find out what is behind these things. Two of them have been spotted, confirmed by the Department of Defence, near military installations.
Global News Podcast
Hundreds, possibly thousands, feared dead in Mayotte cyclone
Having said all of that, the authorities are worried about this thing almost developing a sort of level of panic beyond what it really deserves.
Global News Podcast
Hundreds, possibly thousands, feared dead in Mayotte cyclone
And at the one hand, they're trying to balance a genuine and understandable level of concern with a risk that this thing is sort of developing a momentum where people are almost reaching panic levels around it, the sort of frenzy that has developed around the story.
Global News Podcast
Millions hit by huge winter storm in US
Our correspondent in Washington is Rowan Bridge. You are talking about potentially some of the worst weather parts of the United States have seen in a decade. I think the fact that you've got five states that have declared a state of emergency is And more than half of states were under some sort of weather alert, gives you an idea of what we're talking about here.
Global News Podcast
Millions hit by huge winter storm in US
They were talking about 35 centimetres of snow falling in certain places in some of the worst affected parts of the country, Kansas, Missouri, sort of in the centre of the United States, really. There you have got snow and ice blanketing major roads, combined with strong winds creating blizzard conditions.
Global News Podcast
Millions hit by huge winter storm in US
The National Weather Service is warning that travel in some states is affected to a level where it's almost impossible to get around, which gives you an idea of the sort of sheer scale of what we're talking about in the worst affected areas.
Global News Podcast
Millions hit by huge winter storm in US
I think it depends on where you are. The weather is moving eastwards, if you like. So it started off in Kansas, Missouri, so the central part of the United States, and then it's sort of bearing east, and overnight will hit the east coast of the United States. So that is places like Baltimore, Washington, Philadelphia. The east coast big cities haven't yet seen the full force of it.
Global News Podcast
Millions hit by huge winter storm in US
They are going to get that sort of overnight. But even so, if you look at the scale of the disruption we've already seen... Six and a half thousand flights cancelled or delayed, significant disruption on the rail network. You know, these are significant levels of problems.
Global News Podcast
Millions hit by huge winter storm in US
I mean, the fact that, you know, as far away as Florida, they are talking about the weather being affected gives you an idea of what we're talking about.
Global News Podcast
Millions hit by huge winter storm in US
Yeah, I mean, you've seen warnings for people not to go out on the roads. And clearly, you know, a number of states are used to snowy conditions. So they will have snow tires for cars and snow plows have been out trying to clear roads. But the level of snow in some of these places is just at such a level that they can't clear all the roads.
Global News Podcast
Millions hit by huge winter storm in US
Here in Washington, D.C., they've declared a snow emergency. And basically that gives them some extra powers. So one of the things, for example, they're telling people to do is move their cars off the streets if they're on a snow route. Because if they don't, their cars will get towed away because they're going to try and keep those roads open as best they can.
Global News Podcast
Millions hit by huge winter storm in US
They're also making extra efforts around the most vulnerable people in this city, again, because of the freezing temperatures that are coming. So people are taking precautions. There are steps being taken to kind of deal with the snowfall that's coming or has come. But even so, when you're talking the worst weather in a decade, that can only go so far.
Global News Podcast
Murder suspect Luigi Mangione faces charges in New York court
This all dates back to a phone call that Donald Trump made to Brad Raffensperger after the 2020 election. Brad Raffensperger oversaw elections in the state of Georgia. And in that call, Mr. Trump could be heard cajoling and pressurizing Brad Raffensperger to recalculate, as he put it, the vote tally. And he asked him to find more than 11,000 votes.
Global News Podcast
Murder suspect Luigi Mangione faces charges in New York court
And the reason that number was significant was it was the number that were needed to overturn the result. Joe Biden winning the state of Georgia. Now that call was taped and the audio leaked to the media and that ultimately led to the charging of Trump and 18 other people over the call.
Global News Podcast
Murder suspect Luigi Mangione faces charges in New York court
What then happened was that Fanny Willis, the district attorney who was bringing the prosecution, emerged and had a romantic relationship with the special prosecutor she hired for the case. And that led to the case being taken to court by some of those charged by Fanny Willis, saying that she should be thrown off the case. And what's happened now is that the Georgia court has ruled that...
Global News Podcast
Murder suspect Luigi Mangione faces charges in New York court
that romantic relationship created a significant appearance of impropriety and the majority of the court ruled that in order for the confidence of the public to be restored in the proceedings, she had to be disqualified from handling the case. But it was a two-to-one ruling.
Global News Podcast
Murder suspect Luigi Mangione faces charges in New York court
There was a dissenting judge who said that actually you needed an actual conflict of interest or actual impropriety rather than just removing to one because of the appearance of it.
Global News Podcast
Murder suspect Luigi Mangione faces charges in New York court
I mean, it's not really clear. I mean, Fannie Willis could appeal this decision to the state Supreme Court. It's possible another prosecutor could take over the case. But if you talk to legal experts, they say any prosecution is unlikely to be brought until after Donald Trump leaves office. And this, interestingly, was the last outstanding sort of criminal case that Donald Trump faced.
Global News Podcast
Murder suspect Luigi Mangione faces charges in New York court
If you remember, he was convicted in New York. of hush money payments. But two other criminal charges that he was facing were stopped by the federal government over a legal precedent that you couldn't prosecute a sitting president. And obviously, Donald Trump takes office January 20th.
Global News Podcast
Murder suspect Luigi Mangione faces charges in New York court
His campaigner issued a statement saying people are calling for the end of what they called the political weaponization of the justice system. Donald Trump's been fairly outspoken about how he feels about the way these prosecutions have been handled.