♪ ♪

narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... woman: architect. bee keeper. mentor. a raymond james financial advisor tailors advice to help you live your life. life well planned. narrator: 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, "bbc news". >> in washington, thc world news america. prison sentences as long as 18 years handed down to members of

the far-right groups the proud boys for their roles in the january 6 u.s. capitol riot. following the deadliest building fire in the history of south africa, the effort to identify victims continues while johannesburg grieves. e scooters taken off of paris streets overnight as a new ban comes into effect. ♪ >> welcome to world news america. we begin with new developments in washington, d.c. two members of the proud boys have been sentenced to prison for their role in the storming of the u.s. capitol building. the latest is ethan nor dean, who led the march. he received 18 years for seditious conspiracy, matching the longest sentence related to the capitol insurrection. also, given 10 years for

assaulting police and obstructing an official proceeding. let's go to our correspondent who has been following the story. tell us more about what we heard in court about these men and their roles. >> very serious charges and long sentences handed down to both men. the leader of the philadelphia chapter four proud boys, they saw themselves as cheerleaders for donald trump. believing they were acting on his orders when they marched on the capitol on january 6. he was one of the orchestrator's, the main guys involved. he was filmed with a loudspeaker orchestrating the big group as they marched towards the capitol and forcing their way in, trying to stop what they believe was a solon election. he was given 18 years imprisonment. dominic has a lot, perhaps a lesser member of the proud boys in terms of the organization.

sedition, but described as one of the most violent activists on january 6. he stole a police riot shield, smashed a window, and filmed himself inside of congress smoking a celebratory cigar. he was handed down a sentence of 10 years. during his sentencing he was full of contrition, saying he regretted what he had done and he would not get involved in politics again. as he left court, he raised his fist and shouted out "trump won." >> some critics have said these are particularly harsh sentences, tell us more about that. >> they are particularly long sentences. not as long as the prosecutors have asked for. earlier this week, two senior members of the proud boys were given sentences of 17 and 15 years. next week, the proud boys leader is due to be sentenced. he can expect a long sentence.

not as much as the prosecution has asked, but they were in no doubt, these were serious crimes, they tried to stop the natural progression of one president to another and an example must be set. that is why they received these long sentences. >> our correspondent and therefore us. another leader of the proud boys was sentenced to 17 years for his role in the january 6 insurrection. the u.s. military veteran was convicted of seditious conspiracy and is considered by prosecutors to be an instigator of the riots. yet another proud boys member was sentenced to 15 years in prison. also on a charge of seditious conspiracy. he's leader of the philadelphia branch of the proud boys, seen on video spraying chemicals at officers on january 6. the former head of the proud boys is expected to be sentenced next week. >> crews continue to sift

through the rubble as 76 people are confirmed dead from a fire that engulfed a building in johannesburg, south africa. authorities are working to identify the victims. 12 are confirmed children. the cause of the worst building fire in south africa's history is unknown. it used to be a home for abused women and children. south africa's president says it was hijacked. it means the building might have fallen under the control of gang members who collect rent from squatters. it opened of the debate about hijacked buildings with one lawmaker saying cities "must urgently find solutions to the hijacked building prices." our correspondent is in johannesburg, where the grieving process and recovery process are still in the early stages. >> a day after the fire broke out, emergency services are still at the scene conducting one final sweep in search of remains. and the families are also still here in search of answers.

some of that trauma is visible on their faces. some of them bearing the physical scars of the events of yesterday. broken bones, head injuries. over 70 people now confirmed to have died. the grim task of identifying them is underway. many relatives say that their relatives are still missing and they don't know whether they made it out alive. the south african government pledged to assist survivors, but it is a difficult situation because they are undocumented migrants. it is unclear whether they will come forward to get that assistance. in the second day after the fire, a lot of people here are unsure about what happens next. >> the colorful and controversial businessman has died at the age of 94. the former harris owner courted the establishment, befriended the loyal family, and longed for

citizenship. his son was killed alongside prince diana in paris in 1997. >> mohammed al fayed, once proud owner of harris, the world's most famous apartment store, who yearned to be part of the british establishment. born in egypt, he married the sister of adnan khashoggi. build a business empire. he bought the ritz hotel in paris and defeated the lawnmower group in the battle to buy harris. the chief executive tiny roland demanded an inquiry which found mohammed off ayad had exaggerated his wealth and background. successive governments refused him british citizenship. >> you think this is fair from the home secretary, to behave the way with someone like me, to have given employment to thousands of people, having four british kids --

just shows what type of people infiltrate in the political life and give us. >> revenge was swift. two conservative ministers left the government, accused of taking cash to ask questions in the comments. another resigned after mohammed al fayed refused theirs revealed he stayed free of charge at the ritz in paris, at the same time as saudi arms dealers. he went to buy fillon football club and courted the royal family. when his son began a relationship with diana, princess of wales, it seemed moammed al fayed had finally won a place at the highest levels of british society. but when he and diana were killed, he insisted they had been murdered by mi6. the claims were investigated by the police and coroner, and found to be without substance. outside the court, he clubbed

the conspiracy theories. >> the evidence doesn't back you up. >> what evidence? i'm not talking to you because you are a bloody idiot, part of the establishment -- you work for mi6. >> combative and increasingly embittered, he spent so many of his later years determined to destroy an establishment he had once been so keen to join. >> mohammed off ayad, the egyptian billionaire dead at the age of 94 years old. india is ramping up security as it prepares to host world leaders at the g 20 summit in new delhi. india is rolling out anti-drone systems and putting 130 thousand security officers in place. leaders from the u.s., u.k., france, and germany will attend. there are reports from beijing and delhi that the chinese

president will not attend and will send his premier in instead, drawing criticism from indian media. he and prime minister modi held talks in person last week. tensions are high between these countries. tuesday, india launched a strong protest after beijing published an official map showing the northeastern state and disputed plateau as china's territory. beijing responded by saying neighbors should stay calm and not over interpret the issue. the philippines and malaysia objected to china's claim of ownership over most of the south china sea. earlier, i spoke about the dispute with who -- great to have you back on the show. is india over interpreting this matter as china has said? >> no. i think this state has been part of the indian union for a long

time. to see it show up as chinese territory within a map constructed by the ccp is obviously going to be very offensive. but it is not surprising. the ccp has also devised a map that includes something called the nine dash line that includes almost the entirety of the south china sea, which is an incredibly ludicrous claim, and that is another problem with their mapmaking in china. >> this comes at a time of tensions in china. we have seen these reports, unconfirmed president xi might not attend the summit in person. we know that there are tensions with india and the u.s. at the moment. what do you think implications are if president xi is not there. >> it will be too bad if he's not there. obviously good opportunities to continue to mend fences and have

the types of dialogue that are really essential for avoiding conflict. according to published reports, president xi does not want to give india a showcase for its economic success on the heels of his recent lunar landings, successful lunar landing, i think those are really petty concerns. it is too bad. >> i want to ask about the commerce secretary, who was the fourth cabinet secretary in three months from the biden administration to visit china, all of these visits were aimed at according -- putting guard on this relationship and establishing lines of communication. at the same time, we did not see any breakthroughs. what do you think was achieved? >> this helps to heighten the level of communication between the two countries.

after a deep freeze last year. i think that is good, actions speak louder than words. we want to see actions on part of the ccp curving part of their aggression. military aggression is at the heart of the tensions between the ccp and the united states. the ccp and many neighbors, and as long as it's aggression continues, i respectfully submit it is not only going to aggravate tensions with others, it is going to be counterproductive as the ccp tries to reverse its economic slide within china. >> i want to put to you what china says. the u.s. exercising economic pressure by putting controls on key minerals needed for china's economy to grow. what is your response? >> i respectfully disagree. when japan, the netherlands, and

the u.s. came together with regard to the october export controls, which basically prevents china from being able to use high end semiconductor chips to fuel artificial intelligence and other programs fueling their hypersonic missile program or nuclear weapons program, or the uighur genocide, that is a strong signal that not only the u.s., but many countries have concerns about chinese behavior. the same can be said with regard to them throwing elbows in the south china sea militarily, and against taiwan or india in the himalayas. >> what would it get to get china to change its behavior? >> i think the chinese chairman, xi jinping, has to slowly avoid the provocative economic measures. recently, they hacked into gina raimondo's email account, with

antony blinken's account. the ccp affiliated actors are routinely committing cyber theft. these actions are strong irritants, according to my constituents and most americans. >> what do you think that means for any efforts to create better relations with china diplomatically? >> i still have hope. over time, if we are strong with regard to protecting values and interests and we work multilaterally with -- whether it is the u.k., our friends, neighbors, partners, and allies in the indo pacific region. i think we can eventually win this competition with the ccp and get them to observe international rules of the road, so to speak, economically and militarily. >> thank you for joining us, great to have you on bbc news. the month of september means it

is back-to-school season for millions of u.s. students. the first season since the u.s. supreme court limited the use of affirmative action programs and college admissions in june. i spoke to the u.s. education secretary about affirmative action and issue on the education front as kids head back to the classroom. thank you for joining us. i want to start with affirmative action. the supreme court's ruling effectively ended race conscious admissions in colleges and universities. if you look at the state of california, the uc system has not been able to meet its racial diversity goals despite having ended race based admissions more than two decades ago. how do you make sure schools and universities are diverse at the same time as adhering to the law? >> i'm glad you brought up california. we can see what happened in california happens across the country. we are taking steps backward. i believe the supreme court got it wrong.

we are committed to working with leaders from all over the country to make sure we are increasing the diversity on our campuses to reflect the diversity of this country. we know we have a talent there. our admissions data does not reflect what we have in our country. we are committed to working with our presidents, chancellors, to find ways to make sure all students feel accepted and welcome. that also means getting specific with -- getting strategic around k-12 schools and higher education institutions. we need to recruit better, make sure we are taking into account the adversity students have experienced. we can't do it -- we have to be lawful. they took away a tool to get diversity on campus, but not our resolve. >> a report about students who are continuing to struggle post-pandemic was put out.

"in nearly all grades, achievement gains during 2022-2023 fell short of pre-pandemic trends, stalling progress toward recovery. the average student needs about four additional months in reading and math to catch up. what is the department doing to close the gap? >> as a parent and educator, that is my priority. imagine how far back our students would be if we did not have the american dollars to help with programming, making sure we had highly qualified teachers? it goes to show the pandemic and how students went back. i was in a school earlier today and i saw these efforts like tutoring, literacy instruction, mental health supports for students. at the department of education, have a strategy called raise the bar. literacy and numeracy recovery is critical.

health supports are critical, pathways to students are critical. making sure we have highly qualified teachers is part of our strategy. we have a game plan and we are bringing dollars to bear for this. the president is very clear he's making sure schools where students are underperforming and supports they need to not only recover, but thrive higher than before. >> there has been a lot of controversy over how black history is taught in florida. there is a standard requiring educators to teach students slaves develop skills they could benefit from. you don't want politicians interfering in education. what happens when it comes to these standards? >> students, educators, parents, we see what is happening. we support you. we recognize the attack public school is under in places like florida.

we recognize when politics enters a classroom, students lose. it is important we let educators make decisions for a curriculum, not politicians that want to lift their natural profile. the latest example trying to find benefits to slavery, it is really low. but it is a pattern of attacks on black curriculum, diversity in general. we have the office for civil rights that investigate any cases of hostile learning environments for students, and we are always available to receive investigation requests. >> have you received those requests? >> we have received requests from different states. some in florida. i could not tell you regarding the most recent one. but i will tell you we've heard from parents, educators, students in florida telling me

they are disgusted with what is happening at the state level. they want to get back to learning and making sure students are welcome. it goes back to making sure students who are lgbtq feel welcome. there is a direct attempt to disrupt public education. in my opinion, so they can sell voucher programs. that is not going to work. >> school safety is on the mind of parents. we just witnessed two shootings about three days apart from each other where universities were involved. can you tell parents that their kids heading back to campus are safe? >> as a father, the most important thing to me is the safety of my family. whether it is high school or college, their physical safety and emotional well-being are paramount to me. i want that for all kids across the country. we are doing everything we can with the bipartisan state of communities act to provide

dollars. we are communicating the importance of safety, technical assistance to districts and states. but we need congress to act with gun safety legislation that removes assault weapons from the hands of people that should not have them. we need our legislators to be more worried about the safety of children than the safety of ar-15's in our community. the president is pushing, i know many colleagues are pushing. we have some far right republicans who would rather protect guns than children. >> one more question about student loan forgiveness. this is something you have been working closely with the president on. his original plan was blocked by the supreme court. he's turned to a different forgiveness plan under the higher education act. that can take months or years to implement. you think the president can honor this campaign promise to forgive student loan debt? >> the president has been honoring it. we provided over $117 billion of debt relief, more than any other

administration combined. without question, with public service loan forgiveness, borrower defense, we have gone after the colleges who have taken advantage of students. we provided that forgiveness to public students. we have a robust plan for the rulemaking process to provide more targeted debt relief. to answer the question about are we committed to it? look at what we have done from day one. 117 million debt forgiveness, 106,000 public have gone debt relief. we will continue fighting. we know this is important, we no accountability to higher education is important. opening doors to higher education for many more americans is something we are committed to. not only for them, but the strength of our country. the president has not only talked about it, but shown the commitment through the action. we are committed to doing it. >> what is your message to students heading back to school? >> give it your best, commit to learning as much about yourself as you are about learning from

others and building a sense of community in your schools. we believe you are excited for this school year, and we will make sure to have a great education in k-12 and higher education. >> thank you for joining us. >> friday is the first day interest will accrue for many federal loan borrowers in the u.s. could in more than three years. loan payments and interest were stocked in march of 2020. interest will begin on friday. borrowers won't have to start repaying until october. 45 million americans have student loan debt, totaling $1.7 trillion. the binding administration is trying to help borrowers with it save plans. it will cut payments on undergraduate loans in half with payments reduced from 10% to 5% of their discretionary income, an estimated one million low income borrowers loan payments to zero dollars.

ensuring borrowers never see their balance grow with unpaid interest as long as they keep up with required payments, and provide early forgiveness for borrowers. one item before we go. new images show a 33 foot wide crater on the moon, about 10 meters, estimated to be created by russia's failed lunar mission a few weeks ago. russia's first in 47 years, it ended when the probe smashed onto the lunar surface. this fake arrow points to what the space agency described as a new crater close to the impact point of the probe. nasa concluded it is probably the cause and it came days before india's lunar lander made a historic touchdown near the south pole. narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... narrator: financial services firm, raymond james. narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation;

pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. ♪ ♪

john: good evening. i'm john yang. amna nawaz and geoff