wow, you get to watch all your favorite stuff. it's to die for. now you won't miss a thing. this is the way. xfinity internet. made for streaming. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ announcer: funding for presentation of this program

is provided by... woman: a successful business owner sells his company and restores his father's historic jazz club with his son. a raymond james financial advisor get to know you, your passions, and the way you bring people together. life well planned. man: cunard is a proud supporter of public television. on a voyage with cunard, the world awaits. a world of flavor. diverse destinations. and immersive experiences. a world of leisure... and british style. all with cunard's "white-star" service. announcer: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation, pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs.

announcer: and now, "b news" >>e context on bbc news. >>e >> they are not asking us to do their job, they are asking us to do our job. to protect freedom in our time, to defend democracy, to stand up to aggression abroad and at home. to be part of something bigger than ourselves. >> during world war ii, the united states to save human lives, and we cannot when you are continuing support, staying with us. >> the motion to emerge that there will be french or british troops alongside ukraine. the world war ii parallel leads to that.

it is quite a shocking thought, but it is beginning to become present. >> president joe biden, as he invoked the u.s. army rangers, stormed a nazi stronghold on d-day, he said they would have wanted america to stand up to vladimir putin's aggression. it comes as joe biden apologized to ukraine for the delay in approving additional military aid. rishi sunak has said sorry after he was criticized for leaving the d-day commemorations early to get back to the u.k. for a tv interview. and away from politicians, another world leader. this time when it comes to music. taylor swift u.k. tour kicks off with opening night in edinburgh. in a week, where world leaders

have remembered the sacrifices of those who fought in the second world war, a warning from president biden to heed the lessons of the past. in an emotional speech at normandy in northern france, he delivered a passionate defense of democracy. mr. biden spoke at the legendary point the hawk, or u.s. army rangers scaled a 100 foot cliff to storm a stronghold during the american assaults on d-day. the same place where republican president ronald reagan delivered an address in 1984. his words capturing the nation's attention, helping carry him to a second term. in a tacit did get his presidential rival, donald trump, mr. biden flatly rejected isolationism. he said the rangers who fought 80 years ago would no doubt want america to stand up to vladimir putin's aggression in europe. >> i'm here to tell you with them gone, the wind we hear

coming off of the ocean will not fade. it will grow louder as we gather here today. not just to honor those who showed such remarkable bravery on that day, june 6, 1944. to listen to the echoes of their voices. to hear them because they are summoning us now. they ask us what will we do? they are not asking us to scale these cliffs, but to stay true to what america stands for. they are not asking us to give or risk our lives. but they are asking us to care for others and our country more than ourselves. they are not asking us to do their job. they are asking us to do our job to protect freedom in our time, to defend democracy, to stand up aggression abroad and at home. to be part of sething bigger

than ourselves. >> mr. biden was speaking soon after meeting ukraine's president to assure him that america would never walk away from ukraine. it was the first time they had met since december. president biden apologized to president zelenskyy for his country's long delay when it came to approving a new military aid package. on top of that, mr. biden said he's approved a further $200 million in aid to reconstruct ukraine's electricity grid, which is the target of constant russian bombardment. mr. vladimir zelenskyy earlier warned of the threat russia's aggression posed to europe. in a speech at the french national assembly. to discuss all of that, i'm joined by -- who served as u.s. ambassador to nato in the george w. bush administration, as well as the special rabbit debt -- representative for ukraine under donald trump before he quit. welcome to the context. give me your reaction to that

impassioned speech from joe biden in normandy. >> i think it was a good speech. he captured the spirit of what d-day and the normandy invasion was all about. he put it into a larger context of values and purpose, civilization. what concerns me as we are not applying those words to our deeds and whate are actually doing. as we saw, even in the shots with a zielinski, ukraine is fighting that fight right now. here we are telling them don't fire back into russian territory. maybe you can if it is around kharkiv, but nowhere else. imagine if we said to britain or ourselves that you can shoot down german bombers, but cannot attack anything inside of germany. have to adopt the same spirit of making sure that we win in this war. that freedom wins, democracy wins. it means everything to ukraine that they need.

we have to have a similar result. >> the challenge has been adding additional funding, which as we saw then, president biden apologizing today to prident zelenskyy for the delay. that all comes down to the u.s. congress and reticence among particularly republican politicians without approving further aid. that mischaracterizes it a little bit. a majority of republicans and democrats are in support of aid. they want to do other things to make sure their own border is secure. that is something we still have not managed to do. you have a small minority of republicans holding the speaker of the house hostage. former president trump gave potical cover to the speaker of the house. so it is a much more complicated picture. what most republicans in congress are demanding, three of the republican committee chairs

have put out on their own aeal strategy for victory. it is not just about providing money, what it will do to achieve the result, and we are still both republicans and democrats, congress and administration, still not coming up with that strategy for victory. >> why? >> too much fear about escalation, about consequences. whether it is vladimir putin expanding the war, direct involvement of nato. we are being governed by our fears rather than purpose. this is a case now where it is bad enough. not like anything we have had since world war ii. we have to be sure his forces are defeated before -- >> president biden said in that speech he does not believe a day in american greatness are numbers -- numbered. is he right looking at the rise of china and other powers? >> he's absolutely right.

the fact china is becoming more powerful does not take anything away from the greatness of america moving past a democracy and experimenting how humans organize themselves. also as a force for good, political power, military force in the world. it does not take anything away from the u.s. we just have to realize we have to put purpose behind our means so we can achieve the things we want to achieve. saying the right words is great. it is also important to get the great measures to actually defeat -- >> thank you very much for sharing your insights on president biden's speech. that on the wider picture when it comes to ukraine. >> thank you. >> we had an update saying i ukrainian strike on a russian held village has killed 19 people. we don't have any more details. if we do, we will bring them to

you. as we have said, president biden being in france as part of the 80th anniversary of the d-day landings. you can see him in this lineup from thursday. from right to left, you can see president biden, germany's chancellor, france's president, and the uk foreign secretary david cameron. what is notable is who is not in the picture. karen was there, but was standing in for britain's prime minister, rishi sunak, who left commemorations early to return to the u.k. for a television interview. today, rishi sunak apologized for heading back before the ceremonies that all ended. you can see him at the commemorations earlier in the day on thursday. he then flew home to do an interview with itv news. so he missed one of the main ceremonies. his early departure has been criticized by many, including

high-profile war veterans and members of his own conservative party. he said it was disrespectful. the prime minister said he was sorry. >> participated in portsmouth and france, and having fully participated in the british events with veterans, turned home before the international leaders event. that was a mistake and i apologize for that. >> rishi sunak there. the labour party secure starmer was there throughout. he had this reaction to what mr. rishi sunak did. >> i thought it was important for him -- for me to be there, to pay my respects to them, and those that did not return. and to say thank you. rishi sunak will have to answer his own actions. >> other parties in the u.k. did not hold back in their criticism.

>> i think it is a truly breathtakingly terrible decision. >> he has disgraced his office. i think peoe will be aghast. >> he has proven he's not -- of the conservative party. >> to discuss that in more detail, we can speak to our political correspondent rob watson. there is a debate going on between the parties. we will talk about that in a second. let's focus on this apology from rishi sunak. it is not everyday that you hear a politician saying sorry for something. but this was seen as a real gaffe. >> it was. and i'm keeping an eye on the debate out of the corner of my right eye. it is an utterly inextricable goal, even within the ranks of the governing conservative party. people are struggling to think why it is most important of days

for the extraordinary moments of one of them. and an opportunity to be photographed, what was the harm in that with other world leaders that he went home -- you are right, it is hard to remember a politician apologizing in this way, or what appears to be a totally unforced, unfathomable error. >> and he's now conceded it was the wrong thing to do. but what damage do you think it has done to his campaign given he's already way behind in the opinion polls? >> that is a very good question. on one hand and on the other answer. on one hand it seems terrible. unlike some gaffeshich need a bit of explaining, can be kind of complicated involving figures, numbers, or policy, this is really straightforward. everyone in britain knows he left the commemorations earlier than the other world leaders.

it is damaging. it is so obvious in that sense. on the other hand, you can make the argument july the fourth is a long way off, over three weeks until polling day. will this issue be front and center when people go through those and a few weeks time? probably not. but damaging right now. >> stay with us. a debate is underway right now between the seven main political parties in great brita. you can see the live pictures as it is going on as we speak. the leader of the house of commons is representing the conservatives. you can see on the screen. deputy lear angela rayner, wrapping of the liberal democrat party. westminster leader stephen flynn will make the case for the scottish national party. the green party, their leader -- and nigel is there for reform

u.k. after he recently became the party leader. discussing that in more detail, rob olson is with us. this debate has only just become -- begun. what are the main highlights? it has been remarkably -- >> it has been remarkably civilized. what do i make of it? all -- follows around the predictable path that they are given this public form on bbc television. the smaller parties have essentially been trying to make the case none of the above when it comes to labor and conservative. which you would expect. if you want things to change, don't vote for the two main parties as they say. you would have never have expected penny morton representing the conservative party. a mighty hammering over the way

in which public services in this country have really been stretched over the last few years. nigel farage recently returned to center stage of politics with reform. he has been saying it should be an election all about immigration. interestingly, not at all scientific that the big cheer in the audience came when one of the smaller parties, britton said should welcome more migrants. >> it is interesting, a reminder seeing the parties on the stage and of the different nations that make up the u.k. and the different politics that play out. >> yes, absolutely. that is significant in scotland, where the scottish national party favors independence has been utterly dominant for the last 14, 15, 16, 17 years. and why scotland matters is if dominance was in some wayty's weakened at the next generation,

that would help the main opposition labour party trying to replace the conservatives. but this is a reminder britton is a country of nions and a reminder with the presence of these smaller parties. this is really interesting. the polls suggest something like a third of british people think -- people think none of the above when it comes to the labour party those parties dominated everything when i was young. >> you still are. rob olson, thank you very much for that update. around the world and across the u.k., this is bbc news.

>> now time to bring you up-to-date with the latest on the situation in the middle east. the u.s. state department announced the secretary of state will travel once again to the middle east next week to get

israel and hamas to agree to the latest cease-fire proposal laid out by president biden last week. a cease-fire currently seems a long way off as israeli tanks and planes bombard gaza. one was killed with a woman and children at a pumping station in central gaza. rescue workers also say three people sheltering in a school in gaza city were killed. you may remember on thursday more than 35 people died in a separate attack in central gaza on a u.n. school being used as a shelter. the white house has now called on israel to publicly release the names of the 20 to 30 hamas fighters it says it was targeting them. israel said it carried out a precision strike aimed at fighters operating from inside the school. the dead included women and children who had been sheltering there. israel frequently identifies militants it targets in air strikes.

but it is rare for the u.s. to urge it to do so. for more on this and the latest development, let's speak to aaron david miller, a former u.s. diplomat and senior fellow at the think tank the carnegie endowment. let's pick up on that point, the fact the u.s. is calling for the names of those fighters from israel, which is unusual move. >> it is unusual and reflects the reality of the administrations under pressure as it brings a continuation of the israel-hamas war, which shows no signs of abating. the basic problem will remain, sadly tragically for the innocents who were killed. the reality is that israelis will continue to operate. hamas is now researching in places where it has cleared. and without a cease-fire, this can go on for quite some time. the administration is pushing. and this is rather unusual.

i don't think the biden administration is anywhere close to imposing what normal humans would regard as significant pressure. continuing to believe rightly or wrongly the only way to de-escalate this activities the israeli-hamas agreement. you have to respond to the proposal of the early war cabinet, israel's proposal has accepted. the only urgency here frankly is on part of the administration. hamas is not in a hurry to accompany this deal. neither is israel. >> we have antony blinken paying another visit to the region in an attempt to try and broker a cease-fire. we have seen him go back and forth on a number of occasions. nothing has changed. what do you think could change next week? >> very little. in fact tomorrow, i believe

saturday, i don't know what he will say. the leader of the national unity party, and a number of the israeli war cabinet have pledged to leave the government by june 8 if certain demands proposed were not met. he's probably going to announce that he's leaving the -- that will remove a certain amount of human shields protecting the prime minister, who will be presiding over those extreme right-wing governments in the history of the state. i don't think him leaving bodes ll for this cease-fire deal. >> of course, this continues on while we're approaching more bombardments in gaza. including the babar -- bombardment of a refugee camp.

>> sorry, i will ask again. if all of this continues while the israeli military operation continues on, and we are reporting how israeli forces had bombarded refugee camp in gaza. the humanitarian needs continue to be great. >> yes, in fact, you cannot expect to search humanitarian assistance into a fr fire -- hamas things exposing hundreds of thousands of palestinians to israeli bombs and weapons. the israeli-palestinian conflict is not a conflict between one hand clapping. it is described as a tragedy. two competing justices. the palestinians seek self-determination, israel seeks security. until that probl is addressed and you have an israeli leader

prepared to stand up and make decisions and the palestinian leader who can create one gun, one authority, one negotiating position, it seems to be even if you brought the conflict to an end, it will continue. you need to declare it, and they are nowhere to be found. it is the tragedy. >> aaron david miller, thank you for sharing your insights. >> thank you for having me. >> there are concerts, and then there are concerts. people who got tickets to this tour are rather smug about it. for months, those who haven't have tried to hide their jealousy. taylor swift has arrived in the u.k.. her tour starts with her first stop in edinburgh, scotland. the first of three gigs at mori field. it is tipped to become the highest grossing run of concerts ever.

our correspondent describe what things were like there earlier. >> the vip queue has all filed into the stadium. we are going to chat more to someone who knows everything about taylor swift. mark savage, our music correspondent. how big of a deal is the tour? >> we have not seen what -- something like this since the big tours of michael jackson and madonna in the 1980's. a be the spice girls in the 1990's. taylor swift is at the peak of her power. a 192 date tour. every night she plays on stage for 3.5 hours. she will be seen by more than 20 billion people around the world, more than $2 billion at the box office. that is the sort of scale you do not see pop up very often. this is a real moment for the u.k. and scotland the opening night of the u.k. leg of the tour. >> she has broken almost every record there is. the $2 billion figure you mentioned is not only just

broken the previous record, it smashed it. what was the previous? >> elton john's farewell tour, which lasted something like five years, had taken $949 million at the box office. taylor swift surpassed that on the u.s. leg of the tour last year, taking $1 billion. it will double by the end of next -- this year. it is incredible the level. that is only ticket sales. there is merchandise, people spending 65 pounds on a houthi order 10 pounds for a bag. there is the film she sold the rights to that made $250 million the box office. disney bought the rights to that. this is a huge corporation traveling from city to city around the world. >> it is absolutely big business. you can see the excitement around the fans. big into the craft, making their own friendship bracelets. you cover music all the time. how does this crowd differ from the other concerts in your career? >> the thing that is different about taylor swift, you don't

see madonna or beyonce announcer: funding for presentation of this program is provided by... financial services firm, raymond james. cunard is a proud supporter of public television. announcer: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation, pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ announcer: get the free pbs app now and stream the best of pbs.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ announcer: funding for presentation of thro