>> this is "bbc world news america." >> funding of this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation, kovler foundation,ursuing solutions for america's neglected needs, and purepoint financial. >> how do wehape 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 y to reveal new possibilities. at purepoint finan designed our modern approach to

banking around you -- your plans, your goals, your dreams. your tomorrow is now. purepoint financial.nd >> aow, "bbc world news." "bbc world news." jane: this is "bbc world news america." reporting from washington, i am jane o'brien. hurricane florence is being felt along the carolina coast. it is just the start of what could be days of damaging weather. laura: the wind and the rate is lashing us here in wilmington, north carolina.ge the leading f hurricane has arrived, but the worst is yet to come. jane: as this storm bears down, the president disputes the death toll from last year's hurricane maria in puerto rico, claiming the number was inflated by democrats.du and they ged just as the financial crisis hit, so what happened to the class of 2008?

tonight catch up with them a decade on. ne: welcome to our viewers public television in america and around the globe. all week, the east coast of the u.s. has been bracing r hurricane florence, and the storm is beginning to make itself felt. along the carolina coast, th winds have picked up and the rain has started to fall. although the storm has weakened to a category 2, the impactul still be catastrophic. the bbc's laura trevelyan is in wilmington, north carolina, and we can cross to her now. the conditions do seem to be worsening. what is it like there? they absolutely are, jane. we have the rain bands that are pounding the coastline. this is just the veur beginning

ofcane florence. we are beginning to see the winds pick up. t all this, and we don'en expect the hurricane to make landfall until friday morning. this is gog to be a massive rain event. we just had the governor of north carolina saying to people that the rain is what they need to worry about. mbre, rivers keep on rising. we are expecting this hurricane to linger off the coast andra dp on us maybe four days, the govei or just said. ll it chris bucklerve has all the ry latest. -- my colleague chris buckler has all the riry latest. ch on the edge of the wind caroline edge of the, the wind is strengthening, the water is rising. this is just a taste of what florence threatens. the hurricane has been making its slow approach fr the atlantic, and if what has been forecast comesrue, days of flooding lies ahead. >> there is talk of storm surges of nine feet, and we could be

going to two high tides. so, no, i'm not sure. i'm nervous. i would be lying if i said different. ri the hurricane has been downgraded to a category two storm, but the authorities are doing everything they can toph ize how dangerous it remains. >> don't get complacent. stay on guard. this is a powerful storm that can kill. today, the threat becomes a reality. chris: home after home lies boarded up here. families who live in the path of florence have been listening to those warnings. this storm is likely to threaten both property and lives. in the middle of the afternoon, downtown wilmington was deserted. shops abandoned, with sandbags placeti optimlly at the doors, and a few people making last-minute efforts. >> didn't feel like panic until

maybe yesterday for some people. you could see the look on their faces when you werpicking up batteries or last-minute water. chris: emergency teams have gathered in towns along the coastline. no one can be sure who will feel the full force of florenc but they feel they will be needed as the storm push onto land. chris buckler, bbc news, wilmington. jane: laura, the fact that this has been downgraded to category two, are young getany sense that people are getting complacent where you are? laura: no, not really. just a few stalwarts are riding out the storm, but pretty much everyone else -- we are in a mandato evacuation area. don't be complacent about the twot that it is a categor

hurrican it is still a category five threat. wide as thee, as carolina coast line, and the fact that it will linger here ump rain for days and rivers in land, as i saw and hurricane harvey last year in houston. that is the really big concern here, jane. jane: thank you very much indeed for joining us. trumpning president created another storm with aee flurry of rejecting the revised deathanoll from hurrmaria, which flooded puerto rico last year. he claimed democrats were inflating 3000 deathake him look bad. i was joined by ron christie, former advisor to george w. bush. thanks for joining me. why would you questn the death toll of one natural disaster when you are trying to deal with the impact of another? ron: i tnk it is a question of timing. what is the president doing this right now? he should be coordinating with the state and local officials to

ensure that thoswho are in taken care of.e tion that he will talk about the disaster that took place in puerto rico last year when we have something hittingea th coast is terrible optics. this should not be a time for politics. s thuld be a time to make sure people are evacuated safely. jane: what is the impact when he makes himself the story in this way?hi ron: i a lot of americans and people around the world are wondering why the focus is always on him. t why isn't people you were elected to serve? why isn't it about making sure you are coordinating with officials to make sure they are safe. this is not the donald trump showr this is a matural disaster that is at our shores in the southeastern part of the united states. let's focus onhat instead. jane: president bush had his katrina moment that you will remember -- you were his advisor. is this trump's? ron: i think puerto rico was ump's katrina moment. what i fear is that things are getting worse. we saw earlierpr today the

ident put out a tweet saying that the democrats are out to get him. the american people see this for what it is. it looks petty, it looks insolent, it does not look like a commander-in-chief ready to mobilize the forces to protect people. that is what they wanted back in katrina, that is what they want from the president now. jane: to be clear, what is the dstake here, politicizing this or questioning tth toll in puerto rico? ron: it is the politicization of it. he can talk about the numbers later. why on earth would you talk about democrats out to get him when one is out to get the united states is a natural hurricane? that is what is headed our way, and it shouldn't beolics heading his way or democrats he doesn't agree with. jane: very briefly, fema has launched a rumor control r ge rricane florence. what do you make of that? ron: not much at all. this is the federal agency that is supposed to manage disaster. thatat the acronym stands for. this is not the fake news division of emergency response. they should be talking about

where people can go for shelterc where peop go to get food, coordinate with the red cross. the notion that our agency is talking about ending fake news and rumors i think is tisgraceful. jane: ron christienks for joining me. ron: as always. a look at some the day's other news. turkey central-bank has raised interest rates t24 percent in the latest move to stop the devaluation of the country's currency, the lira. it comes hours after president erdogan voiced his opposition to higher interest rates and banned the use of foreign currencies for selling and renting property. world leaders and royalty have paid respects to one of afric's most famous diplomats, kofi annan.l the funervice of the former u.n. secretary general was held in his homea.ountry of gh thousands of people filed past his coffin, which had been lying in state. ertoday there has been ano

bizarre twist in the salisburyat nerve agenck. the two men named as suspects appeared on russian state television and denied being involved. they dismissed british claims that they were intelligence officers, insisting instead inat they workehe fitness industry, and that they had taken a short break in the u.k. to visit the cathedral. gordon corera reports. britainlast week presented them as a pair of russian military intelligence officers, assassins, sent with agentkill. today we saw a different side. they were, said a kremlin-funded news channel, tourists who had come to salisbury to see the sights. >> what were you doing there? >> suggesting for a long time that we visit his wonderful time. >> salisbury a wonderful town? >> yes.

a urist town. >> there is the famous salisbury cathedral, famous not only in e europe, but ole world. it is famous for its 123-meter spire, famous for its clock, the one of the first ever created in the world that is still working. gordon: salisbury's cathedral certainly is a tourist attraction, drawing visitors from all over the world. lebut just how plauss the story of these two russians set out against the evidence laid out by the police last week? there is the question of the motive for their trip, flyinto moscow on friday, march 2, all to see salisbury. and their movements -- the two russians gave up sightseeing in salisbury saturday, because, they say, there was too much slush. they returned on sunday.

cctv captures them arriving at the station at 11: 48. rather than heading to the tourist sites they said they wanted to see, they were spotted close to survey sipal's -- sergei skripal's house. the images captured on thise. cv pict police believe it was around this time that novichok was smeared on the door handle, poisoning sergeerand his daugulia. the interviewer asked theroen if they ahed the house. >> maybe we passed it or maybe we did it. i had never heard of them before this nightmare started. i never heard his name before. i didn't know anything about them. gordon: they are seen heading back to the station from the city center. an hour and 10 minutes is not long to see the sites you have come from moscow for. it is allegeddi thearded this perfume bottle, which had been carrying the novichok. it was found months later and

poisoned charlie rally and killed dawn sturgess. the russians deny bringing it into the country. customs,ou go through they check all your belongings. if we had anything suspicious, officers would ask questions. why would a man have women's perfume in his luggage? gordon: the interviewhr never askea trace of novichok was said to be found in the lond hotel they stayed in. the interview raised another question -- who are theai the british government sayn they are russtelligence officers using fake names. in thenterview, they seemed unwilling to go into details of their back story, such as their , as they said sports nutritionists, and they declined to pvide identity documents. >> i don't think any of the interview is plausible. i watched it a couple times now. as a defense lawr, might as

my advice to them would be to keep quiet and wait for trial where your alibi will be tested by evidence. gordon: the war of words over what really happened in salisbury wdal go on, but 's awkward account may have done the russian case more harm than good. gordon corera, bbc news. jane: as russia remainsefiant regarding the salisbury attack, rethe country's troopsaking part in the biggest military exercise since the cold war. in eastern siberia, soldiers are parading at a weeklong eve with thousands of tanks and armored vehicles taking part. steve rosenberg is there, ands he has tport. a warning, there is flash photography. steve: from over the hills, the russians are coming. they are the largest russian maneuvers since the cold war. a third of the entire russian armed forces is taking part, says moscow. and joining them here, troops from chi. under pressure from the west,

russia tilting east. the army invited us to watch the show. the aim of the exercises across the russian far east, to test combat readiness. the drills, moscow insists, purely defensive. some experts suspect the russians have inflated troop numbers. but the show of strength was indisputable. we weren't the only ones watching. vladimir putin followed the t drills an pledged to make russia's armed forces even isronger. pres. putin: russi peaceloving country. we don't have any aggressive plans. but we have a duty to the motherland, to be ready to defend russian sovereignty, security, d a national interests. steve: the message russia wants to send with all this is pretty clear, that it has a powerful

army, powerful allies in the east, and that moscow has no intention of giving in to pressure from the west. and that is where china comes in. p presidentsutin and xi have been cooking up a strategicne pahip as a counterweight to the west. moscow sees closer ties with beijing as a recipe for anrviving western sanc >> russia alwaysd to be integrated into the west. now this era is over, and russia needs a very strong external partner which can pride technology, new markets, and investments. that is china. russia is slowly drifting into embrace,firm definitely ignoring the bigger picture. i think it is dangerous and shortsighted. jane: in courting -- eve: in courting china, will

russia end up the junior partner? it is determined nottio. moscow cones to see itself as a military superpower. steve rosenberg, bbc news, siberia. jane: you are watching "bbc world news america." still to come on tonight's program, 20 years after can start thathe investigation to bill clinton, he has a book on that to most was time. -- on that total to us time. thu.s. isn't the only place dealing with dangerous storms. -mangkhutth iatening to reach havoc in the philippines. it is packing winds of up to 250 kilometers an hour. reporter: heavy rocks tying down houses in the north in the hope that it might save their vulnerable homes when thoon mangkhut arrives.

the philippines is hit by about 20 typhoons and storms a year.ki the destructioing hundreds and leaving millions in a cycle of poverty. but this super typhoon has been yescribed as the stronges of 2018. enhools and offices have ordered shut, thousands are evacuating. at about 900 kilometers in diamets, the storm expected to pack powerful wind speeds with heavy rains tggering landslides and flash floods. storm surges, too, are aig set -- big threat, with highways likely to inundate the coastline. but the biggest fear is for the estimated 10 million people in the path of the storm. it worries authorities and rescue services will bere hed thin. >> the important thing is for the government to make sure the that aton happens, evacuation centers, there is no

panic, and you can provide food, the government is ready with food. 'reporter: officials dont want to see a repeat of the super typhoon which killed thousands in 2013, affecting millions of peop, many forced from their homes. this time, as people prepare and stock up on supplies, some even say they plan stay in the hope they can protect their property. as super typhoon mangkhut draws ever closer. jane: this week marks the 20th anniversary of the report that led to the impidchment of prt clinton. the man behind that report, ken starr, was the man who led the investigation into bill and hillary clinton's land dealings in arkansas. he is out with a memoir of his special couns k, and he

jointy kay and christian fraser for their program "beyond 100 days." yearsian: 20 why 20 years to get it out? ken: [laughter] i wasn't writing it all that i must say. i was occupied and frankly, not eager to write about an unhappy experience for thena entire on, certainly for all of us swept up in it. at the time hadha come. hillar lost the election. we were coming up on 20 years. my memory was in danger of fading, an a memoir, personal account of what happened to our nation now 20 years ago. christian: you say that you felt besieged while you were the special prosecutor, and i'm sure bob mueller, current special prosecutor, feels that as well. did you feel that bill clinton was coming after you in the same

way that donald trump is goingro after specialcutor mueller? ken:il yes, in fact, clinton was much more effective, i ththink, thacurrent president. bill clinton is a person of great gifts, charisma, but he also knows how to get nasty work dork primarily through the of others. but at critical times, he would in fact make statements that were extremelynjurious to the derly conduct of the investigation. nd thewas no twitter like. donald trump is just totally outspoken, and i think if anything, right downs to the president-- redounds to the president's detriment. spurs up the bass and so forth. i don't think it is wise on the president'sart or appropriate on the president's part. as i explain in the nartive with the echoes of the past coming back and being heard a loud and clear as the first tool

for criminal defense lawye,and his clie viciously attacked a prosecutor, try to take the prosecutor out. we have to ask you this question because you probably have more insight than anybody else in the country -- 20 years from having gone throu something that you call an unhappy experience for the whole nation, and the midterms in 1998 for that out -- americans were not interested in a long, drawn out impeachment proceeding -- do you think the country is on the verge of going through a similar experience again? ken: tnk there is a danger of that, and one of the messages of my reflections in the book is america, don't go there. i think there was chance in 1998 early a 1999, to ha resolution which everyone could have felt better about -- mainly to censure the president for his conduct -- i'm not talking about the morality of theat issue. s utterly irrelevant, it

is a strawman. ather, his conduct as a witness - obstructing justice, and you have the referral before you. it is part of history now. i take some pride in the fact professionally -- i take no personal pride -- in the fact that all of thosconclusions were never rebutted. they were essentially accepted. jane: ken starr speaking earlier. talking of anniversaries, it is 10 years ago that lehman brothers collapsed, triggering a glal financial crisis. the fallout has been wide-ranging, with economic impact around the world. what about those who had the bad luck to graduate in 2008?e c's kim gittleson looks at the ongoing consequences for her generation. kim:ha in 2008, more1.5 million students graduated from university here and stepped right into the worst financial crisis since the great depressith. i am one o, and like everyone else, i was caught off guard, since no one seemed to see it coming.

i have been traveling across the united states to ask my fellow 2008toraduates, what happened us? first stop, las vegas. talk to me a little bit about in the leadup to when you graduated in 2008, what was going through your mind? >> especially in las vegas, i was seeing a lot of people foreclosing on their homes, ople love being able to find that people not being able toei find jobs or bng let go from jobs. kim: grateful to find work in 2008, nora has been in the same job for st decade. that has had consequences. do you think y would have had ildren sooner had the economy been better, had you fllt more financsecure? >> i think so. in terms of i spent the last decade really concentrating on getting a stable career, saving enough money m: now nora and her husband are expecting their first baby. like nora, a lot of us decided

to wait to have kids. since the financial crisis, there have been 4.8 million fewer babies born than demographers were expecting. thth is not the only thing happened to us. qudomigraduated from howard university in 2008. >> i was told, y have a bachelors, you can take it and do anything with it, rig? kim: she found there were no jobs. >> to come back and not be able to land a job you feel like you deserve and feel like i workedmi hard acally to get this. gosh, it was hard. kim: it is not all bad news. eric thinks the financial crisis taught our generation an important lesson >> i think those of us who graduated in 2008 really learned the hard way they need to be patient, they need to stay humble, when you are thinking about your career. kim: for a generation once described as selfish and self absorbed, 10 years on from the financial crisis when we asked what the bigbest change has

, the answer might just be us. kim gittleson, bbc news, cambridge.ja : and i am jane o'brien. thank you very much for watching "bbc world news america." >> with the bbc news app, our vertical videos are designed tor work around yo lifestyle, so you can swipe your way through the news of the day and stay up-to-date with the latest headlines you can trust. download now from selected app pores. >> funding of thissentation is made possible by the freeman foundati kovler foundation, pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs, and purepoint financial. we shape our tomorrow? it starts with a vision. we see its ideal form in our mind, and then we begin to chisel.we trip away everything that stands in the way to reveal newl possibities.

at purepoint financial, we haver designed oodern 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 s.

ca inewshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening, i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight,hu icane florence slows as it bears down on the carolinas, bringing dangerous winds and potentially historic rainfall. then, we take a look at the ldrder crisis as the number of detained migrant cn reaches a record level. plus, i sit down with journalist bob woodward to discuss "fear," his new book on the inner turmoil of the trump white house. >> i've done reporting for 47rd years, never hnything like this where there was a battle between the president and all his key advisers. >> woodruff: plus, a new project explores why tropical forests have become a source orb