>> this is "bbc world news america." funding of this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation, and kovler foundation, pursuing solutions for america's neected needs.hi >> ts fall, it is a season of revelations, from the choice of america's favorite novel. >> it's 100 books we want peoplo to take a ok at. we are hoping to get people to w fall in loh novels again. >> to the fate of a hero's love. >> i'm still here. et and i. >> from the secrives of the most amazing cats toew discoveries about the t peoples of the americas.

o our history goes back te beginning of time. >> all this and more, this season. >> andow, "bbc world news." laura: this is "bbicworld news am" reporting from washington, i am laura trevelyan. u.s. lawmakers are briefed by the cia director and are blaming jamal khashoggi's murd on saudi arabia's crown prince. >> there's not a smoking gun, there is a smoking saw. laura: the french government changes course on a fuel tax hike after deadly protests across the country. plus, sexism in sport -- an award-winning soccer player is asked if she can twerk, sparking a fierce debate.

viewers onome to our public television here in the u.s. and around the globe. leading u.s. senators sathey are more certain than ever that the saudi crown prince was behind the murder of journalist jamal khashoggi. this comes after ty were briefed by cia director gina haspel. the white house says the is no direct evidence linking mohammad bin salman to the murder. today republican lawmakers tore that position apart. g seham: i went into the briefing believing it was viually impossible for an operation like this to be carried out without the crownkn prince'ledge. i left the briefing with high confidence that my initial assessment of the situation is correct. there is not a smoking gun, theris a smoking saw. you have to be willfully blind not to come to the conclusion that this was orchestrated and organized by people under the command of mbs.

sen. corker: i have zero question in my mind that the crown prince mbs ordered the g,kill monitored the killing knew exactly what was happening, planned it in advance. if he was in front of a jury, he would be convicted in 30 minutes. laura: joining us now is state depament correspondent barbara plett-usher who was on capitol hill today. you were in that melee. are we to believe that republican senators and the white house was seemed the same cia -- have received the same cia briefing and have come to different conclusions on the role of mohammad bin salman? barbara: they have different takes. what did the cia say? we don't know exactly because it "th classified report, but wall street journal" has an excerpt. high confidence that the

cap --nce order to the crown prince ordered the killing but they don't have the recording. and thee house secretaries have decided to go with the letter -- no direct reporting, no smoking gun. well,inhen thed, a sm saw, as we saw there. you would have to be blind not to see it and we question your judgment if you don't see it. laura: now that republican senators are saying that mohammad bin salman orchestrated this killing, what are they going to do to punish the saudis? rba: it is a good question. optioare different under consideration. one is to block arms sales to saudarabia. they could impose tougher sanctions against more people. they could pull u.s. military insupport for the wa yemen, which is being led by the saudis, and that is a resolution they have voted to advance and debate.

it wl be more difficult to get the vote to pass to withdraw tht military sup they have two problems. they are angry, but not unified about what to do. they are focusing on different things. the second is that if they pass anything it would not get through a republican-controlled house so they would have to start over again with the democratic-control house, which they may dur la many people are asking why is the white house so protective of mohammad bin salman to the point of taking different conclusions from republican lawmakers about his role in the killing? barbara: well, a number of things. the white house has invested very strongly in mohammad bin stsalman for their middle policy. they saw him as the man to bri saudi arabia to the 21st century ind reform it and leave a counter campaign a iran and even push israeli-palestiniapeace. president trump's son-in-law ared kushner has develope working relationship with the principles of their quite --

with the prince. they are quite loath to pull back and they do not want to ofange the balance in term saudi arabia and iran. pulling support for saudi arabia would give support t iran, that is how they see it. p and mr. tr that it is an economic thing about oil and arms sales. tthe senators st is rubbish, in a way, because the hesaudis would do whatdo with oil and iran, because it is in their own interest. there is criticism on that score. laura: barra plett-usher, thank you for joining us. the frenchovernment has put off plans to raise fuel taxes some of the most violent protests in decades. four people have died during the unrest, which peak over the past three weekends. the bbc's lucy williamson has more. lucy: support for france's vestw-best -- yellow

protesters goes far beyond those standing in the cold. the solidarity is sometimes deafening. three weekafter the movement -- initial stand against fuel wideneds, the aims have , but there is still widespreadt public sup last saturday in paris, hard-core groups and agitators joined in with tactics of their own. but the violence hasn't stopped support from mteerate protesrs. and today, a government climb-down. >> no tax is worth jeopardizing national unity. i am suspending these taxes for six months. we want to find effective ways wi apply them. if we don't, w bear the consequences. lucy: president macron is accused by many here obehaving too much like a king, unwilling to compromise on his listen to protests against it.

enbut this mov led by social media with widespread supportok has bren that pattern and with it the notion of macron's p absoluer. protesters said the government's offer wasn't enough.s the movementw not just m out taxes, but the cost of living, the minimuge, and broader questions of inequality. >> we need a total rethink of people's income. it is not just about the fuel tax. that is what sparked the movement. but behind that is several decades of social suffering. lucy: this movement brought together a range of people ithout asocial media recognized leader or political group. some in the moveme were attacked for trying to negotiate with the government or appearing to speak for the movemt at all. benjamin says he received hundreds of death threats from fellow protesters after being described as a spokesman. >> yes, my life is in danger and i'm frightened.

not oy for my children, but i ront to continue this strike. lucy: with freshsts planned for saturday in paris, the government is trying to isolate the movement's hardcore. in the face of growing violence, a setority problem is similar deal with than a political one . lucy williamson, b news, paris. president passing of george h.w. bush has led to a inumption of civility washington, d.c. president trump visited the bush family in air house. the 43rdsi pnt, george w. bush, was there to greet him. mr. trump famously clashed with his brother jeb bush during the 2016 campaign. earlier in the day, former senator bob dole made a dramat gesture to on his friend byo -- honor his friend by standing up from his wheelchair to offer a proper salute. hundreds have been paying their respects at the capitol rotunday

where the f the 41st president has been lain in state. for more, i spoke a brief time ago with karen tumulty, political correspondent at "the washington post. how struck are you by the iforts that president tru making to reach out to the bush family despite past animosity? karen: think that president trump deserves some credit here for essentially paying tribute to not only president bush as a man and his record, but also with the institution of the presidency itself. again, this is something that -- you know, president trump is ch for rituals and sort of traditions.sr he is a tor. it is really interesting to see him essentially trying to maintain the dignity of the office. laura: tomorrow is ttate funeral of the 41st president.

this will be a very carefully choreographed affair. what kind of tone and message are you expecting? karen: it's interesting, there will be no former presidents, including president bush's own son george w. bush, speaking. instead they are going to have friends and president bush's biographer. that is an interting choice. i just got off the phone with alan simpson, a formerenator who has been askedne to give of the eulogies. he said the bush family, the only thing they asked him to do to hold it to 10 minutes. aughter] laura: we are seeing the bush family lead the mourning. did george h.w. bush view family as part of his legy? karen: he did, and certainly he was proud in some ways seeing his son elected president was a vindication after a very bitter loss for reelection.

it's interesting, because when prident bush was asked, al the things he had done, this storied reer -- he served the country in so many ways -- which they -- which thing he was proudest of, his answer was "i am proudest of the fact that my children still come home." laura: you dcribed the 41st president in the obituary you wrote of him as the consummate public servant and statesman. is it those qualities which are drawing the american public to the u.s. capitol these past twoa to pay their respects? karen: yes, and i think not only his accomplishments, and thed things he r the country, but in retrospect what he represented, which was a sort of different tone in politics. you mentioned senator dole standing up feebly from his wheehair to give a salute. he had actually been a great rival of psident rush. they had run two presidential campaigns against each other

that were very bitter campaigns. but the fact is theyerworld war ii veterans who respected the service each other had given the country. laura: karen tumulty, thank u so much for joining us. karen: thank you. laura: tomorrow we will have full coverage here on bbc world news of the state funeral of esident george h.w. bush do join us. in other news, wall street tumbled 3% today with the dow jones falling almost 800 points, the biggest decline june 2016. the drop came amidst worries that the u.s. and china are not making enough progress on trade differences. the u.s. bond marketent unsettling signs about economic with. the government of british prime minister theresa may has become the first in history to be held in contempt of parliament, as the use ofommons voted to make the governmentcl de the full legal advice given about

the brexit deal. want greater say of what shsort of brexit therld be if lawmakers reject the deal next week. italian police have arrested the suspected new head of the sicilian mafia as well as 45 other alleged mobsters in ao major blow tganized crime. investigators believe the sicilian mafia was trying to reorganize itself after the previous head died in prison last year. it seems a day does not go by without president trump tweeting about what he calls the witchhunt robert mueller. katty kay colleagues and christian fraser spoke to corey lewandowski, author of the new book "trump's emies." they asked if the president is nervous given his former aides are cooperating with mr. mueller.y: co i think you have to look at yourself and ask yourself

what are the crimes paul manafort has been guilty of an same with michael cohen. none of t with russia collusion. paul manafort was guilty of tax prasion and bank fraud and same as michael cohenlems with taxi cap -- taxi medallions in isw york city and lying on banking statements. what does that have to do with russia or any potential inalractions in the presiden election? christian: from this side i have always wondered, when we talk about the investigation -- the president is adamant on twitter there is no collusion, but i wonder if part of the problem is that he -- the people he talks to with an night from the white house -- one of those is roger stone, someone you fired from the t campaign in 2015, u were not able to control the phone calls. i wonder if you think the phone hells led the president to trouble he is in. corey: look, i don't know thest last time rogee has spoken to president trump, and i don't think roger stone hatted he has spoken to donald trump since he has been the president.

so these stori that donald trump is having these late-night conversations with roger stone are comptely unfounded and have not been validated by the president or mr. stone so i am not sure where that information is coming from. but i did haveoncerns and expressed concerns about people like paul manafort, who is now in jail, and michael cohen who is going to jail, surrounding the trump campaign. i guess myce cs were proven right. e both of thople are going to spend a lot of time in jail. toistian: you were called testify twice for the house intelligence committee looking into russian interfe did the president everyo ask for loyalty or in any way pressure you on the evidence you gave? corey: never, and i was also called to testify in front of the senate intelligence committee, which i voluntarily did. i have never been subpoenaed. i volunteered to testify in front of -- t house committee ice, senate committee once. i never had communication with the white house on my testimony.

it is simple -- when you were asked to testify in front of a congressional hearing,his is information jim comey should learn, you should tell the truth. come it iancalled perjuryou should be held accountable. i don't have concerns about testimony i have given. i don't think jim comey can say the same thing. katt you have written a book about trump's enemies, and you are concerned that there are peoplen the white house who are there purely to undermine the president's agenda. who are the people? corey: we name aunch of them. we talk about gary cohn and rob porter and rex tillerson -- katty: those people are not there anymore. are there still people the today? corey: look, of course there are still people there today. look at the individual who wrote the anonymous letter to "the net yoes." we don't know who that person is, but a senior government official who thinks their job io toct the american people from the president. that person is a coward and should be called out and have their day in front of the publie

to air their cs. there are people we know because the first lady has said it and te president has said it that cannot be trusted white house. we want those people removed from the building immediately, because we know this -- there are people who listen to the president's convertions and then leak that information, which is detrimental to the president and our country. laura: corey lewandowski there. you are watching "bbc world news america." still to come on tonight's program, alleged abuse in burui. how our team uncovered chilling details of torture and abuse in a secret locion. mexico's new president has set up a commission tasked with uncovering the truth over the disappearance of 43 students in 2014. it is the first time the role of the government and the army

be heavily scrutinize. will grant has more on the story for us now. will: the disappearance of 33 student teachers is one of the darkest moments in recent mexican mery that shocked the nation to its core. now the new president is trying to show that things have changed . he promised them on the campaign trail he would set up a truth commission it. they held him to us -- e with >> with the signing of this decree, we begin the process of searching for the youngsters. that is what we committed to do, and we are keeping our word. the 43he families of have suffered more than most in mexico. four years after the children were abducted, they don't know their whereabouts. but they are hopeful about this presidential decree. >> we don't want thiso unpunished. we don't on it to be like other cases where solution.

obradoresident lopez has wasted little ti implementing his agenda. sworn in over the weekend and great ceremony, he wants to break with the politics of the past. for example, has halted the building of a multibillion-dpalar airport ion in mexico city. one thing he won't need the airport for, though, is his presidential plane. s planning to sell that travel o reduce presidential luxuries. some see such moves as populist and lacking real bit but few mexicans would dispu an effort to get justice for the families of the 43 was long overdue. laura: in burundi, the security

servicesun secret torture sites to silence critics of the president, aording to former intelligence agents who spoke to the bbc. the government has denied any wrongdoing. this report does contain disturbing images. reporter: just a few months ago this man w still an intelligence officer for burundi's government. he escaped after receiving a tip off -- someone wanted him dead. i can't tell you exactly where we are, because weave told the person we are about to meet that we would not reveal anything that could allow people to identify him or this locatio he says that although burundipe may to be peaceful, security forces are still torturing and killing people in great numbers. >> at the moment the country is silent, but people continud to die and there will be no one left.cr reporter: he des a secret operating mode he was part of

which involves hidden torture sis. investigated one house burundi's capital, which appear in a video on social media in 26. decembersome said it was being used as a secret prison. the police quickly denied it. we found the owners of the house, and using their ptos, research agency forensic architecture built this model. then we tracked down an intelligence agent who said he knew the place. he claims the house became a torture site run by this man, the agent says that nd the time of the video, he witnessed a beheading. >> during the timef that blood

, they had brought three men and put themn that room over there. the next night, an intelligence agent came and took them out of the detention room to the living room. that was him. he ordered the gang to behead them. porter: we put these allegations to the burundian government but received no response. another man said he was detained in the same house during the time of the alleged killing. >> we could heareople shouting dogs.ying, "get up, emdon't let scape, or you will suffer the consequences." when they finally caught them, i could hear them screaming in a way that suggested they wereed being kir being inflicted excruciating pain. reporter: many of those targeted are accused of opposing president pierre nkurunziza's bid for a third term. frday the protests are gon the streets of the capital, but

e spoke to say it is as dangerous as ever. >> some people think it is safe now. i want to tellou this -- this small respite is for them to carry out the killgs without anyone noticing. reporter: burundi's ssidents call this secretive formf killing a saying which means "one by one." now, it was meant to be a triumphant moment -- a femaleer solayer from norway becomes the first woman to win a top soccer award. but things became awkward when she was asked about twerking. reporter: this was supposed to ben historic moment for women's football. ada hegerberg accepting the first-ever women's ballon d'or . but instead it will be remembered for this. the award cohost asked the striker she knew how to twerk. her response needed no translation. offstage, though, she played

down the incident. >> i did not consider sexual ment or anything else. i was just happy to celebrate winning. reporter: today he publicly apologized, blaming his lack of understanding ofh- engleaking culture. award organizers called it ancl unfortunatsiness. >> it was a joke, probably a bad ffe, and i want to apologize to the one i may haveded. sorry about that. repoer: female footballers have been waiting for over 60 years to be recognized by ballon d'or. last night should have been a step forward in ending the argument of sexism in sport. instead it has reignited it. the comments were met by a shower of criticism, wme of the world's top athletes and -- clearly unimpressed with the double standards. amongst them, andy murray, who took to social mediaare his thoughts. hegerberg hopes it is her footwork on the pitch that she

will be remembered for.c ws, paris. laura: i'm laura trevelyan. thanks for watching "bbc world news america." >> with the bbc news app, our vertical videos are gned to work and your lifestyle, so you can swipe your way through the news of the day and st up-to-date with the latest headlines you can trust. ppwnload now from selected stores. >> funding of this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation, and kovler foundion, pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. >> a new chapter begins. >> now you can access more of your favorite pbs shows than ever before, with pbs passport, a member benefit that lets you binge manl of test shows and catch up on your favorites. >> we really are living in theld modern wor.

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captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening, i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight, the american people pay eir respects to the 41st president as he lies in state in the u.s. capitol. then, after a briefing from the c.i.a. director, leading u.s. senators from both parties agree saudi arabia's crown prince was behind the murder of a journalist. f plus, the futurerk-- how education can help some hispanicalifornia keep a job when robots are increasingly dominating the workforce. >> i think automation is wonderful ani'm a user of automation. but if it's only going to be that some regions are going to win and others are going to lose. i do believe that it does become a moral issue, it becomes an ethical issue. >> woodruff: all that and more