>> this is "bbc world news america." >> funding of this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation, newman's own foundation, giving all profits from newman's own to charity and pursuing the common good, kovler foundation -- pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs, and the aruba tourism authority. >> planning a vacation escape that is relaxing, inviting, and exciting is a lot easier than you think. you can find it here, in aruba. families, couples, and friends can all find their escape on the island with warm sunny

days, cooling tradewinds, and the crystal blue caribbean sea. nonstop flights are available from most major airports. more information for your vacation planning is available at aruba.com. >> and now, "bbc world news america." >> this is "bbc world news america." reporting from washington, i'm laura trevalan. and one -- video from istanbul. 42 are dead and hundreds injured. >> into the corner. in the main terminal and just to see people screaming, running, tripping. police have gun drauns. laura: for the first time in decades, european leaders go to the table without the u.k. and taking a trip back to ancient greece.

features artifacting which gave rise to civilization as we know it. >> welcome to our viewers on public television in america and also around the globe. today, more details are emerging about the terror attack at istanbul's international airport which killed at least 42 people and left hundreds wounded. it's reported there were through suicide bombers, one blew himself up outside the terminal while the other two were inside the building. authorities say they believe so-called islamic state carried out the assault. from istanbul, mark reports. a warning, there are distressing authorities say ima mark: panic. passengers rush through istanbul's international terminal. three gunmen are on the loose. suddenly, one blows himself up.

here an attacker is caught by cctv floored by shots from a turkish policeman. wounded, he drops his rifle and it slides across the floor. the policemen approaches him and then spots his suicide belt and runs just before the gunman detonates the device. dozens were killed. many more wounded. taken to nearby hospitals. a coordinated attack on one of he world's busiest hubs with devastating impacts. >> we saw the full extent of it. >> lawrence cameron landed on a flight from latvia as the attack was unfolding. as he walked through the arrivals area, the horror became clear. >> i walked into the main terminal and just a sea of people screaming, running, tripping. police with guns drawn. i took pictures and the police started pushing us back in the

back of the terminal and it quickly became clear something nasty happened. this wasn't a drill. this wasn't a hoax or anything like that. >> they worked through the night to repair the area. windows shattered, windows destroyed by automatic gunfire. the few tile attempt to return to normality. the airport reopened quickly in an attempt to reassure passengers. this is a profoundly taken -- shaken country. with a wave of bombings across turkey showing no signs of abating, there will be big questions about how to increase security it the most vulnerable point. the three attackers were driven in by taxi, the car not checked as it entered the airport. there were worries it was a soft target. the government says all signs point the islamic state group, the latest in the attack by i.s. cells here.

emotional scenes, a desperate search of who was to blame. others waiting for news for loved ones caught up in a situation they can't comprehend. turks and foreigners, too, from saudi arabia, jordan, iran and elsewhere. and the first are now being laid to rest. passengers, police, airport staff, lives apart in a country that once felt safe. laura: a short time ago i spoke to mark in istanbul and asked why they were so convinced that the islamic state was to blame the attack. mark: they say this attack has all the hallmarks of an islamic attack and they were backed up from the c.i.a. director who say all the signs point to i.s. this is major, coordinated attack on an infrastructure point. one, it's the busiest -- 11th busiest airport in the world.

and in brussels and paris as well. there are questions growing about the government's perceived failure in the eye of critics to secure this country. critics saying intelligence lapses and policy failures led turkey to a dead end in security. the government denies that. and the president came up speaking to supporters saying turkey would one way or another eradicate terror. the problem though, laura, is fewer and fewer people in this nervous country really believe him. laura: mark, just tell us more about that nervousness. how are people responding to what's happened? mark: well, in the last year, there's been these wave attacks here, not just by -- blamed on so-called islamic state. they never officially claimed any of the attacks, but also, of course, other attacks by

kurdish militants in the armed conflict with the p.k.k. militant group resumed a year ago. almost exactly a year ago now. and within that year there have been attacks. civilians have been killed. turkish army and security personnel have been killed and tourists have also been targeted in the attacks. turkey is feeling extremely vulnerable. remember, it shares a 900 kilometer bored we are syria. a 500 kilometer long border with iraq. there have long been worries of the porous with the border of i.s. cells growing in turkey. it appear those cells are still very active here and striking with a very profound impact. laura: mark in istanbul. thank you. for more on this attack, i spoke a brief town ago with rances townsend, who served as an advisor under george w. bush. she joined us from new york. the c.i.a. director has said the istanbul attack has islamic

state signature all over it. is that your assessment too? frances: yes. i think that's right. this is an aviation hub. it's very similar to the brussels style attack that we saw. there are guns -- weapons used as they were in the paris attack. it was an attack against civilians. for a whole bunch of remembers -- let's remember, the islamic state has called for attacks in western europe during ramadan and so for a lot of reasons i think people are saying it points to the hallmarks of an isis attack. laura: but why are we seeing so many attacks on soft targets like airports? is it because they are making gains against islamic state in iraq and syria? frances: we hear a lot of that from american policymakers that that's the reason. look, this is an ideological movement and it's beyond sort of just the caliphate that's been claimed in iraq and syria. we see isis cells as far as away as indonesia.

e see them in libya and so i think, including western europe. this is a broader movement. you know, today marks the two-year anniversary of the claimed establishment of the caliphate and isis issued a graphic showing where they have sort of units. that included in turkey. so this is quite concerning. we shouldn't presume this is a sort of one off, if you will. this is a planned sustained effort. laura: indeed. what is the stop those attacks america's airports? frances: right. prior to the hard security perimeter, any soft target is very difficult to protect, and you can take measures to mitigate those risks as we have. but it's mere impossible to prevent them altogether. laura: and how does the f.b.i. track people in america who are

radicalizing themselves on the internet and potentially planning attacks like this? frances: well, we recently saw in the orlando case of omar mateen, they had had two contacts with him, looked at him quite closely. they were concerned about him but they didn't have enough. so i think american authorities are rightly concerned about making sure they have the legal authorities to conduct a thorough investigation, that they're able to follow up and they're able to share information between american agencies and with the foreign intelligence services around the world. laura: frances townsend, thank you for joining us. rances: thanks, laura. laura: and for the first time in more than 40 years, the u.k. was not at the table. after the meeting, the european council president said the remaining members are determined to remain united but britain can't have access to

the single market if it rejects the free movement of people. reporter: france, yes. germany, yes. the netherlands, yes. but no british prime minister stepped down from a shiny black car to attend this e.u. summit. the u.k. was locked out today for the first time in 40 years. a glaring absence matched here by a definite sense of defiance. >> i don't think it's about them -- him today. it's us. reporter: by him it's david cameron. how to deal with the brexit process, how to heal the e.u. with an intentional show of unity after the u.k. voted out and the fear other countries

could follow. when it came to talks of future trade deals with the u.k., e.u. eaders were clearly in sync. one by one they ruled out the possibility that britain could have good access to the single market and stop e.u. migration. >> there will be no single market. reporter: will the u.k. find an accord with the i. outside the e.u.? -- with the e.u. outside the e.u.? >> no negotiation without notification. reporter: no negotiation without notification. they want to have formal brexit talks with them as soon as possible. of course, when e.u. leaders say there will be no flexibility in the u.k. deal now that doesn't mean there won't be flexibility in the future. after all, brussels is known as the capital of compromise. the truth is, no one knows, not

the leaders, not these journalists. no country has ever left the e.u. before. plots, plans and rumors fly around but certain is only this. the u.k. has voted to leave. the e.u. is keen to turn the page. laura: for more on the global reaction to the u.k. vote, i spoke a brief time ago for state department advisor to hillary clinton's presidential campaign. confusion remains. how should america respond to its ally's apparent access? >> america is concerned. you've seen what president obama and john kerry said. you saw john kerry's trip to london. britain is our strongest ally in the world full stop and more importantly, britain's our most trusted partner. and so when i was a working diplomat -- and this hasn't changed at all in the obama administration -- we saw

britain as our key partner inside the e.u., britain translated the e.u. for us and translated america to the e.u. and there were times when there were major security issues that play in brussels and britain had a tough-mindedness, a pragmatic attitude that some of the other west europeans didn't have. think of the long relationship we've had. think of our relationship at nato. britain will stay in nato but we don't want it to fracture britain or britain without scotland in the future. laura: is it time for america to look for a new ally that will be in the european union? >> it's true germany has been rising in power inside the european -- europe for a long time. if britain leaves the e.u., if that actually ends up happening, then we'll have to have a partner. it won't be the quality of our relationship with london but a partner with which we can work more seriously and i think that has to be germany. i was in berlin during the

brexit vote. the germans are very reluctant to put themselves forward. they've never seen themselves as a global power, a military power the way britain still does. laura: the fact that germany isn't the military power. what would be lost if the u.s. transferred its diplomatic weight to germany as the e.u. power base? >> well, i think there's much to be gained from a stronger strategic partnership between berlin and washington. one of the interesting things to look for will be whether or not angela merkel, if she's able to return to power, continue in power after 2017 german elections, will she make a concerted attempt to raise germany's defense capacity to get to that magic 2% of gross domestic product level? she gave a talk last wednesday in berlin where she said she seriously wanted to do this. it's the first time i've seen the chancellor do that so that's very important. laura: john kerry said maybe the brexit won't even happen. wouldn't that confuse things even further? >> it would warm all our hearts

this side of the atlantic, however. i don't know a single person, responsible politician in the united states with the exception of donald trump who thinks that britain leaving the e.u. is in the american national interest. it's not. america sometimes forgets the european union is our largest trade partner, our largest investor and europe, of course, is our largest collection of american allies in the world. and the most important member is britain. the united kingdom to the united states. so i think what would unite republicans and democrats with the exception of donald trump is for britain to find a way to stay in the european union in the future as well as be our leading partner in nato. laura: we'll see what happens. thank you very much. in other news, investigationing damaging a flight recorder from the egypt plane that crashed last month have confirmed the presence of smoke onboard. the data indicated that smoke alarms in the laboratory and other equipment had gone off.

they added parts of the fuselage showed damage caused by high temperatures. you're watching "bbc world news america." still to come oned to tonight's program -- they call it the three ameegoast summit. they -- amigos summit. they work on issues that confront them all. the u.k.'s vote to leave the e.u. has led some britains to apply for passports from other european countries. they suggest a spike entering since last week's referendum. and they asked to stop rushing for irish passports. the consulate offices are overwhelmed. we met three families planning to sacrifice their british nationality and become dutch citizens instead. >> british citizen no more, huh? >> our british passport when you can't travel or work anywhere else is not worth as

much. we'd like our children the chance as well to work and have job opportunities they simply wouldn't have in the united kingdom and they won't get that with a british passport as well. we're going to apply for dutch citizenship. that means we have to renounce our british citizenship because the dutch don't give a chance for duo nationality. it's sad. they will have chances that british kids will have to jump over barriers. >> it doesn't mean it's more impossible. it's difficult. >> you have a stark choice. >> it's almost -- >> to me the passport is a piece of paper and the piece of paper that allows you to travel between countries. my identity is still british. in the worst case, the dutch passport would have the same value as the u.k. passport. so it's kind of hedging bets. >> so me in being pragmatic, a

dutch passport is a better tool. i am, yes, deeply worried about being seen as an outsider. i am european. i want to maintain that in legal status. >> i don't feel like i'm being lured from britain to become dutch. yeah, it's like the poor man of europe. laura: it's informally called the three amigos summit. they were out to stress their closer ties but current events regarding the u.s. presidential race and the u.k. referendum to leave the e.u. dominated the news conference. in addressing question about globalization, mr. obama stressed the need about more engagement, not less, and cautioned about drawing too many parallels from the situation in britain.

president obama: with respect to brexit, i think it's important to point out that those who argued about leaving the european union are the same folks who the very next day are insisting, don't worry, we're still going to have access to the single market. so apparently their argument was not against trade generally. they just didn't want any obligations to go with the access to the free market. it's important for us not to draw easy analogies between what happened in the u.k. and the e.u. versus what's happening between our three countries in terms of trade or what's happening in terms of us attempting to access asian markets through t.p.p. laura: and for more on today's summit we can cross now to the bbc's rajini who is there. as we heard there the brexit vote came out today in that news conference. so, too, did the u.s. presidential election.

tell us more. reporter: well, a common theme that many people say was responsible for the u.k.'s vote to leave the e.u. and indeed the rise of donald trump is a growing disaffection with the political curve. that was something that was addressed in this news conference. while they have concerns about globalization, focusing on trade deals was not the right medicine. he referred to donald trump not by name saying donald trump might cause himself a populist politician but he wasn't populist, mr. obama argued, mr. trump didn't care about the needs of ordinary working people. in fact, without name, mr. obama said mr. trump and people like him are xenophobic. laura: what did the three amigos want to talk in that press conference, rajini?

: u.s., canada and mexico haven't been a trio of harmonious nations. the summit was supposed to have last year but they had separate gripes on canada. now, justin trudeau was prime minister, he was the popular one of the trio. a lot of popular gush about him. this was about strengthening trade between this trading block and indeed working on climate change deals and also focusing indeed on lgbt rights which also came up during that press conference. of course, all of this dynamic of the trio could change because we will have a new president of the u.s. next year. laura: and president obama was teased about that, wasn't he? his last three amigos summit, rajini? >> there was a bit of a joke he was about to retire. a few chuckles at the beginning of that press conference. when he talked about some of the bigger themes i mentioned earlier about how he was a politician who came into office, being a community organizer, someone who cared

about the needs of ordinary working people in america, it almost felt in a way he was looking back on the entirity of his presidency. indeed, there were tributes paid to president obama by the mexican president, who he phrased on his -- praised on his presidency and how he's worked very closely to make the north american alliance very harmonious. laura: thanks very much indeed for joining us. last week the u.k. had the ultimate exercise in democracy, and in november it's america's turn which is like so many other things, including art, medicine and science. the roots of our voting system can be found in ancient greece. this summer the national geographic museum is taking visitors back to 5,000 years of history. ♪ reporter: 5,000 years from the dawn of human history to the birth of civilization. the greeks have dominated

estern culture and beyond. in a turbulent new century, these treasures can often reassurance that while things change the foundations remain. >> the basis of western civilization, of equality, democracy, freedom of speech, it's all here and it started 5,000 years ago. and i think will continue for the next 5,000 years. reporter: the greeks of course created democracy, but in britain and in the u.s. today, democracy can lead to the unexpected. so it's worth remembering that they also had safeguards for when things didn't quite work out as planned. not only did the greeks invent the idea of democracy, they also invented its tools like this machine used to randomly select jurors. and this is how they got rid of rulers they didn't like anymore. they would inscribe the happless leader's name on

pottery and that person would then be ostracized, a sort of greek version of impeachment. this exhibition aims to tell the story of ancient greece through the eyes of people who lived it and it became clear they struggle with many of the same issues we face today. gold masks for the afterlife were created for men and women, signaling an early attempt to gender equality. >> very few other cultures around the world had this and it's something i think we owe the greeks. as we look to our own situation with orlando, with other issues of race and identity here in the united states, look at greece. look at how strong this small country was throughout thousands of years. reporter: many of these artifacts have never been displayed outside greece. together, they offer a dazzling demonstration of the power of democracy and the dogged endurance of one of the world's

greatest civilizations. jane o'brien, bbc news, washington. laura: well, that brings today's broadcast to a close. from all of here at "world news america," thank you for watching and, please, tune in tomorrow. >> make sense of international news at bbc.com/news. >> funding of this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation, newman's own foundation, giving all profits from newman's own to charity and pursuing the common good, kovler foundation -- pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs, and aruba tourism authority. >> planning a vacation escape that is relaxing, inviting, and exciting is a lot easier than you think. you can find it here, in aruba. families, couples, and friends can all find their escape on

the island with warm sunny days, cooling tradewinds, and the crystal blue caribbean sea. nonstop flights are available from most major airports. more information for your vacation planning is available at aruba.com. >> "bbc world news" was presented by kcet, los angeles.

captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. gwen ifill is away. on the newshour tonight, a chilling attack at istanbul's busy airport. at least 41 are dead and hundreds wounded, the latest in a wave of violence to hit a country active in the anti-isis coalition. also ahead this wednesday, i sit down with c.i.a. director john brennan to talk repercussions of the istanbul bombing, the spread of isis, and more. plus, hope behind bars. how convicted juveniles in massachusetts are planning for a brighter future, by earning their degree while serving time. >> i have two younger brothers, so they look up to me. i have people that see a lot in me, and i don't want to really let them down, or myself down, for that matter. >>