>> this is "bbc world news america." >> funding of this presentation is made possible b the freeman foundation, kovler foundation, pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs, and purepoint financial. >> how do we shape our tomorrow? it starts with a vision. we see its ideal form in our nd, and then we begin to ytisel. we strip away everng that stands in the way to reveal new possibilities. at purepoint financial, we have designedur modern approach to banking around you --

your plans, your goals, your dreams. your tomorrow is now. purepoint financial. >> and now, "bbc world news." jane: this is "bbc world news erica." reporting from washington, i am jane o'brien. the u.k. accuses two men from russia's intelligence services for carrying out the nerve agent attack on a former spy and his daughter. fapbook and twitter's executives defend themselves in congress over online interference in politics. and it is fiction, says imesident trump, dismissing disturbing new clas of a white house in chaos in a book by veteran journalist bob woodward.

jane: welcome to our viewers on public television in the u.s. and arnd the globe. british authorities have named two russians as suspects in the attempted murder of former russian spy sergei skripal and his daughter yulia.s what' more, the british prime minister said that the pair work for russia's military intelligensk service. mrpal and his daughter were poisoned with nerve agent novichok in march. moscow has denied any involvement. our security correorondent gordona has the details. gordon: these two russians stand accused of the salisbury nerve agenattack. it is claimed that in march they deployed the novichok nerve deployed the novichok nerve agent which poisonli sergei and skripal and months later accidentally contaminated charlie rowley and killed dawn sturgess. police say they came to the country as alexander petrov and ruslan boshirov, thought to be

false names used by undercover operatives. prime min. may: the governmentde has concthat the two individus named by the police are officers from russia's military intelligence services , also known as the gru. the gru is a highly disciplined organization with a well-established chain of coand. this is not a rogue operation. it was almost certainly also improved outside the gru at a senior lev of the russian state. gordon: the two men carried out icatedrkably sophi attack. they flew in from moscow and are seen in yazidsalisbury. shortly after, that they smeared a nerve agent on sergei skripal's front door. this is what is believed to beat their weapon, the perfume bottle used to carry the novichok prevention.

el today's announcement is a most significant dment in the investigation. we have sufficient evidence to bring charges in relation to the attack on sergei and yulia skripal in salisbury, and arrest warrants have been issued forsu the twects, and we are seeking to circulate notices. gordonprosecutors say they have enough evidence to charge the two with conspiracy to attemptedi skripal, murder of sergei skripal, his ulia, and a police officer who went to their house. use and possession of novichok, contrary to the chemical weapons act. and causing grievous bodily harm with intent. what is the gru? rmsed in this building, it is the intelligencef the russian military, with a long track record of undercover operations around the world. under vladimir putin, here visiting its headquarters, e observers say it has becre aggressive, accused of hacking america's 2016 presidential election, operations in ukraine,

and now using a nerve agent in britain. its prime target in salisbury was sergei skripal, himself a former officer in e gru. sergei skripal is thought to have been targeted by former colleagues in the gru becaus they viewed him as a traitor for working with the british secret service, mi6. today was about more than just naming two individuals, but also on the government side, exposinr the role of th the prime minister made clear that as well as the public accusation, british intelligence would be asked to do more to vicounter the gru's aces out of sight. today, russia's deputy ambassador was summoned into the foreign offi. moscow has said it does not recognize the names of the two men accused. the british government acknowledges there is no real chancehewill be extradited. but it will be hoping that today increases the pressure on moscow.

gordon corera, bbc news. jane: top executives from facebook and twitter acknowledged their companies havesl been to to act against meddling in u.s. elections. appearing before a senate panel, facebook's sheryl sandberg told the senate they were working tob fix the m. twitter's chief said the social-media firm was ill-equipped to cope with fake news and the number of campaigns using the site to manipulate public opinion. unprepared and ill-equipped for the immensity of the problems we have acknowledged. abs,e, harassment, troll arm propagan through bots and human coordination, misinformation campaigns, and divisive filter bubbles -- that is not a healthy public square. worse, a relatively small number of bad-faith actors were able to

game twitter to hapa an outsize . jane: jack dorsey ofer twi there. earlier i spoke to our technology correspondent dave lee. google wasn't there, conspicuous by thewh absence. not? dave: google was requested to send eher their chief executive or chief of alphabet, google's parent company. google did not want to send either of those people and suggested one of the company's ncp lawyers. the senate intelli committee said that was not enough. -- the senate intellisance committe he was not senior enough. instead of google attending this hearing, a very important hearing on this topic, they were represented with an empty chair, quite a striking visua topic like this. one of the people that was particularly annoyed by this was th committees vice-chairman senator mark warner. he told me he was incredibly disappointed by what google had

done. athere is e said to me. sen. warner: i worked with their company for a long time and i'm familiar with the senior management.ep i was disappointed they chose not to be part of the conversation about solutions. g this was notcha hearing. this was not internet 101. this was a group of individuals engaging meaningfully on an issue that is not going to go tuay. jane: dave, this not the first time these executives have been summoned. how much progress are they making? dave: that will make this the fourth hearing we haveadn this in less than a year. ma say that this is a chan for political theater, a for congressmen and women to have the soundbites be writing these tech companies. i think there has been some progress between the first hearing and where we are today. today's hearing was much more focused on where regulations come into it. regulationthat would perhaps force these companies to be slightly more transparent about their black boxes, particularly

companies like google come wherh seesults appear towards knthe top and nobody realls why, apart frointhe people wihe company. regulations may force them to be i think that is the progress we have seen from the first hearing almost a year ago to where we are today. jane: dave lee, thanks for joining me. n congressddy carter was on the committee that questioned the executives today, and was in the room. i spoke to him earlier. thanks very much for joining me. after hearing from facebook and twitter, are you reassured that they can not only prevent meddling in the midterm elections but also deal with all the other threats online? rep. carter: well, i wish i could tell you i am confidentth they understand and get what we are trying -- the message we are trying to give them in congress, but i'm not sure they are. i don't want to intervene in this and i don't want the federal government to have to

intervene in this. thinternet is one of the greatest successes we have seen in our lifetime. the big reason for that is because the government was not involved in it. we pretty much stayed out of it. i hate to see the government have to get involved in it. have the ceo'gotten the message that if you don't get this straight, we will have to for you? i don't know the answer to that. i wish i cou say yes, but quite honestly i question whether they have or not.: ja it really the top of -- thens job of corporato monitor what happens online? rep. carter: well, that is a good question and certainly a legitimate question. i do know this -- i know it ison the rebility of congress to make sure we have oversight of these types of things' if they cat have that responsibility, we are going to have to it. i just hate to see us get involved in at, but at the same time, we can't allow some of the things going on to continue.

when you look at the sale of opioids for some of these -- tough some of these platforms, that has to be dealt with. these companies cannot deal th it, then we will have to deal with it in congress by passing regulations that they don't really want us to pass, i can tell you that. it is just unfortunate. you look at some of the piracy of intellectual property, that s ething that has been going on for a very long time, and they have not been able to get their arms around it yet and get it under control. we need some results. ne: what more can they actually do? rep. carter: question, and that -- well, that is a good question, and that is why we have got tell me what you are going to do. those are the types of questions that we are closing to them now. posingt we are to them ouw. they talk these algorithms -- the question is, ok, tell me about your algorithms and how you come up with these, are you reviewing them, are you updating them.

these are the types of things wd elp with in congress and need to understand. i want to help them and get this under control without having toe ene and stifle innovation, tscause i do believe that the more government nvolved, the more we will stifle innovation. jane: congressman carter, thank you for joining me. rep. carter: thank you. jane: also in washington today, president trump and his allies have been pushing back against hie depiction of a chaotic house in a new book, "fear," by veteran journast bob woodward. he speaks of top aides speaking negatively about the president's intellect and command of international affairs. in one such instance, the president reportedly asked defense officials to arrange the assassination of syrian president bashar al-assad. that was in 2017. speaking at the white house tody, the president dismiss the claims and the book itself. pres. trump: the book is a work of fiction.

i heard somewhere were the president ordered the bassassination -- nevn discussed. the book is total fiction. just like he wrote in the past. you look at what he said about president bush, president obama, big scandalous things. it lasts for about a day. no, that was never even contemplated, nor would it be contemplated, and it should iner have been written abo the book the book is total fiction. jane: on the heels of the woodward revelatrkns, "the new imes" has published an op-ed piece written anonymously by someone who claims to be part of the resistance inside the white house. this personlas that many of the senior officials in his own administration are working diligently from within to frustrate rts of his agenda and his worst inclinations. president trump addressed that article, calling it a disgrace come and his press secretary called for the autho of the article to resign.

for more on all of this, i spoke earlier with kevin sullivan of "the washington post." kevin, thanks for coming on to the program. the whit with similar criticism before. is this any different? kevin: it is, because it is bob woodward. bob woward has written 18 books and has been chronicling the presidency since watergate. he h record, he is respected, he is dogged, he is responsible. he is a sage bvoice in washington, and it is different from some of the other books and criticisms of this administration, because it is bob. when you look at someone like ari fleischer, spokesman for ge w. bush, he tweeted yesterday "i've been on the receiving end of woodward's book and i didn't like at some of the quotesbut i never thought he made it up or it wasn't true."ig bob is a heavyt journalist and he has a lot of respect and the president is not correct when he says bob has had problems in the past and no one believes him. people do believe him. jane: what do you make of the

"new york times" op-ed saying that there are people within the white house working to contain the president? that seems to feed into what the presidt is saying that there are forces working against him. kevin: it is remarkable that it comes a day ter the woodward revelations. what that senior official was saying ply mirrors what is detailed in woodward's book, that there are people inside the administration who are not thest rece, they are not some left-wingers who want the administration to fail. these are people wmi support the stration and want president trump to do well but are trying to protect him fras what they seis worst instincts. people that are in woodward's telling actually taking papers off of his desk so he doesn't sign something in a moment of pique. a senior official is describing almo exactly the same thing. it is remarkable. we have never seen anything like this before. jane: how damaging is it?

kevin: you know, it remains to be seen, it depends on who you are talking to. if you talk to people inclined to be suspicio of president trump and not support him, they are going to see this is absolutely devastati, damning evidence that the president isn't fit. for president trump's supporters, they are going to as they have done over and over again be able to slough this offs more criticism from what they consider his enemies, the toep state, whatever you wan call i will this be different? we don't know yet. jane: some administration officials including general mattis say they didn't say the things bob woodward reports. isn't it going to come down to the same thing we see in washington these days, he said, he said, she said, she said? kevin: sure, it is, but the difference in this case is that we have bob woodward saying it. every time bob has written a book about the ainistration, officials say it is not true,

and over the course of history we see that far more often than bob was right, bob w very -- far more often than not, bob was right, bob was very close to what is'ing on. he'a very good reporter. jane: kevin sullivan, thank you for joining me. you are watching "bbc world news america."om still to ce, homecoming after the horror.ya zidi family reunited for -- four years after the atrocities in iraq. recovery efforts have begun in tore after typhoon jebi through the country. thousands of stranded travelers are being transported from kansai international airport, islandn anif aial linked to osaka. reporter: they came to get on the plane. day later, they were waiting to be rescued by buses.

at kansai internationa airport, thousands of passengers cute, the luggage by their -- queued, the luggage by their side. andbut submerged in water cut off from the mainland after a the power of the wfud shown in ll view once the air andwahip was torny. this was the airport at the height of the storm. the runway just visib but suitable more for boats than place. 24 hours later, the water had receded, but it could be more than a week before one of japan's major airports is open again. jebi was the songest typhoon to hit japan in 25 years. urinfrastructe in the south, where it made landfall, was worst hit. the cost of clearing all this up, removing, repairing, and replacing come will be extensivll more than a n people were warned to leave their homes.

just under 20,000 sought emergency shelter. it marks the end of a dramatic summer here for -- traumatic summer here. japan is seen record high temperatures and floods which claimed the lives of hundreds of people. the power network shows how well prepared japan is for an extreme weather event. what jebi struck at the industrial heartland of a majoa economy, lefjor airport crippled, and there are concerns about howuickly that part of the country can recover. bbc news, tokyo. look at thet's day's other news. president trump's nominee for the u.s. supreme court, brett kavanaugh, has stressed hisli be in impartiality at a chaotic confirmation hearing before a senate committee.s opponelieve he will make the supreme court substantially

more conservative, but he saidr it should ne viewed as a partisan institution.es prrs shouting their opposition to his appointment were removed. civilians in the syrian city of city of idlib are preparing shelter and stockpiling food ahead of a possible government offensive. the u.n. has called on russia and turkey to t urgently. 3 million civilians live in the area. many of them have been displaced by fighting. an emirates airline plane traveling from dubai w quarantined at new york's jfk airport after reports of passengers feeling sick onboard. the airline said 10 passengers complained of illness from theal flightough there had been reports that up to 100 people had been feeling unwell. geitially the plane was surrounded by emy services, but it now seems most ssengers have been able disembark. japan has announced for the first time that aorker at the

stricken fukushima nuclear power plant died after suffering radiation exposure. n died from lung cancer, but was diagnosed in 2016. japan's government previously agreed that radiation caused illns in four workers. the s reactfered meltdowns after massive earthquake in march 2011 -- earthquake and tsunami in march 2011. thousands of yazidis are still missing in syria for years after so-called islamic state attacked them in their ancestral home in northern iraq. the u.n. has called the crimes against the minority group gecide. an international aid effort saved the majority of the population who sought safety on nearly mount sinjar. doucet has this report. lyse: sinjar mountain, sacrezi land of the s. these slopes still haunted by the terror of islamic state in this northern corner of iraq.

four years on, clothes still litter the mountainside, discarded in panic by peo the run, desperate to escape. now in the fooills, a chilling silence. a date seared in every yazidi's memory. i.s. fighters know longer ld -- i.s. fighters no longer hold this land, but still hold people hostage. thousands of men, women, and children are still missing. for this family, some relief. a daughter elaved by i.s. in syria is free after four long years. the family paid tens thousands of dollars to get her and her children back. the day after she returned, we visit her at home.

she feared she would never beo ablecape that living hell. c >> when i was tivity, isis lied to me. they said yazidi women would never be free, and that our families woutr kill us if we d to go home. i was scared to come back. i was scared my family would kill me. i was so surprised at the welcome i got. lyse: who can begin to imagine what these women have been through at the hands of so-called islamic state. daily beatings, brutalizatns, and there are said to be 3000 more yazidi women and children still missing, still captured by islamic state. from sinjar, we made the short

journey to the yazidi village i.s. tried to wipe off the map. now it is a monument massacre. more than a thousand people womend up, men and old shot dead, young women sold into slavery. the sense of loss is overwhelming. this man mourns his brother, buried alive in the back of the schoolyard. to the deademoria and the missing. grandsons the photos -- uncles, aunts, favorite cousins, all gone. upstairs, traces of horror. mattresses scattered across the floor, abandoned uniforms. the aching silence of a generation lost.

at the edge of the village, mass graves. just three soldiers standing ard. killing fields darken the yazidi hearand. bones exposed by the wind. people are desperate for these graves to be exhumed. >> this is where isis killed my people. these bones are evidence of a massacre. they bear witness to what happened here. we want these crimes to be investigated. lyse: the u.n. calls this a genocide, but four years on, little has been done. after so much loss, the yazidios people areg hope. lyse doucet, bbc news, sinjar. jane: very powerful report from

lyse ending our program tonight. you canind all the day's news on aeebsite can to see what w are working on, check out twitter. i'm jane o'brien. thanks forating "world news america." >> with the bbc news app, our vertical videos are designed to work around your lifestyle, so you can swipe your way through the news of the day and wtay up-to-dah the latest headlines you can trust.ad downlo now from selected app stores. >> funding of this presentatione is made possy pe freeman foundation, kovler foundatiosuing solutions for america's neglected needs, and purepoint financial. >> how do we shape our tomorrow? it starts with a vision. we see its ideal form in our mind, and then we begin to chisel. we strip away everything that stands in the way to reveal new possibilities.

haverepoint financial, designed our modern approach to banking around you -- your plans, your goals, your dreams. your tomorrow is now. purepoint financial. >> "bbc world news" was presented by kcet los angeles.

captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening.dy i'm oodruff. on the newshour tonight, senators press the supreme court nominee on abortion, gun rights and presidential powers. what you need to know from day two of the brett kavanaugh nfirmation hearing., thsistance inside-- an anonymous senior trump administration official writesw in the "rk times" that the president is detrimental ao our republ the root of the problem is his amora and, tech crunch: lawmakers question executives from facebook andwitter over russian meddling and censorship. plus, toxic tide- how an algae bloom is devastating marine life and changing the envnt on the florida coast. >> even if you don't care about the wildlife, yoou