>> you don't have to say drip coffee maker. that is a redundancy. >> any if he can do that. >> are you saying that i am any idiot. >> i will be there because this is my granddaughter. >> rated r, now playing in theaters. and now "bbc world news america." katty: this is "bbc world news america." reporting from washington i am katty kay. raising the interest rates for .he first time in a decade global markets wonder how the move will affect them. thousands of migrants are risking their lives to reach the greek islands. of come tof change cuba. a year after they restored relations with america, we talked to an architect of that historic shift. ♪ welcome to our viewers on public television in america and around the globe. the first time in almost 10 years interest rates in america are going up and not down. reserve federal announced the decision and a powerful endorsement in the health of the u.s. economy. the decision is being met with trepidation around the world, especially in emerging markets who feel they could depress their economies. jon sopel starts our coverage. jon: the last time the fed raised interest rates, there was no such thing as an iphone, and twitter is the sound that words make. that was when hundreds of thousands lost their homes. under,man brothers went causing the greatest financial crisis of our time. the economy has flattened the midwestern prairie. 2015, withof unemployment falling and inflation nudging up words, there is action. >> the economic recovery has come a long way, but is not yet complete. room for further improvement in the labor market remains, and the inflation runs below our longer running objective. performing well and expected to continue to do so, a modest increase in the target is no appropriate. jon: part of the judgment was based on this. a sound that has not been heard much in the u.s. for the last few years. holding houses. in richmond, virginia, the talk is no longer of foreclosure and repossession, but of sales and growth. this building supply firm had to close 10 branches during the downturn and layoff dozens of workers. for the first time, their turnover is back to precrash levels. .> our people took a pay cut officers took a bigger pay cut. i went without a salary for three years. we were determined to get through it. jon: what about the risks of raising the cost for borrowing. is it too soon? >> the risks are moving too fast are that you kill the economy just when it is doing well. we have seen a number of countries that have tried to raise rates in the past few years, realized it was a mistake, and had to go back. the fed waited longer, and hopefully waited long enough. jon: wraps more significant is what was said about the future direction of travel. the indication is that rates will continue to gradually rise. that is a vote of confidence in the u.s. economy. whether other countries struggling around the world will see it that way is a different matter. jon sopel, bbc news, washington. katty: i spoke with the former chairman of the council of economic advisers at the white house who is now at the university of chicago business school. if economists are the most brilliant people, why are they so divided on if this is a good idea or not? many things,s with there are multiple camps of economists. some are scarred by the time of the 1970's. they look at the environment we are in and say we are about to have inflation. i am in the camp that says they have been saying that for seven straight years and have an wrong . the u.s. economy has never been growing slower than it is now over and the fed starts tightening. you have dangers around the world in china, a merging markets, and europe. without obviously full employment and some sign that inflation is back to the 2% target, it strikes me as everyone is itching to get the rate set. .- the rates up i hope that it works, but i don't know. katty: what will the fallout be on places like india and brazil, who have seen their currency plummeted by something like 35% over the past year. having major problems already. most of the emerging markets are nervous for a pretty good reason. any time the fed for the last 30 years or 40 years has gone into haste rising environment it led to at least one emerging markets crisis. hopefully that won't happen for two reasons. one it seems the fed is not intent on going into rapid rate , and 2, theonments problems facing emerging markets usually have to do with debt has been nominated in dollars. when the dollar starts going up, you are in trouble. governments have not been taking out that kind of debt. it is the emerging markets' in dollars. that is you will a string of bankruptcies from companies. katty: you suggest we won't see any particular country fall into a recession that might have been avoided because of what the fed decided to do today? just run today. there are a number of countries that are in epic recessions already. there are some that will probably be going into them in the near future, but that is probably not coming from a 25 basis point hike from the fed today. katty: one thing that got us into the crisis has been the housing market. have the housing market has been doing well because the rates are so low. a lot of people are nervous about the impact it could have on that set her and -- that sector and the economy. >> you saw janet yellen say, and i'm not medical of janet yellen -- she is an old friend in a brilliant woman. -- i'm not critical of janet yellen -- she is an old friend and a brilliant woman. just as it is very difficult to fall to injury from the basement window, so too housing has been down for so long that even if it as not develop quite as much it could otherwise, i do not think that is too great of a risk for the overall economy. katty: austen goolsbee. a little nervous, it sounds like. has declaredryland a mistrial in the case of a baltimore police officer charged with involuntary manslaughter in the death of freddie gray. freddie gray died after suffering a broken neck while being transported in the back of a police van. thecer william porter was first to be tried. mistrial's happened, what is the significance? the jury was unable to agree on all four charges that william porter faced. the judge announced that that was the case. the jury had actually gone back a fee times and requested that they get transcripts of various witness testimonies. the judge declined those requests. we were already getting an indication. yesterday, they said they could not make up their minds. we had an indication that although they went back for more deliberation -- what happens next? there are six officers in total that have been charged over the death of freddie gray. what the prosecutors wanted to do with officer porter's testimony is use him as a witness in the other trials. he could face a trial after those trials. the next trials will begin in january, meaning he could not be a material witness. it sounds complicated, but it means it could be a setback for the prosecution. katty: talk to me about baltimore. is it tense? what are they anticipating tonight? rajini: at the moment it is relatively calm. throughout the trial there only been a handful of protesters. i think i counted 4 or 5 today, and there aren't any behind me as far as i can see right now. we had reports of some demonstrations a little further from where i am standing, but nothing on this scale that we saw in april when there were violent protests and riots. we heard from the mayor who is called for calm. she has asked people to respect the decision of the jury. the jury representing the family of freddie gray says that this is a temporary bump in the road on the way to justice. that the gray family was not angry. and that if the family is not angry, no one should be angry. it is hard to predict what will happen this evening, but at the moment, things are very calm. baltimore was the scene of a lot of tension and violence in the summer. we will see how the trials unfold. the head of the fbi says there is no evidence that the husband and wife that killed 14 people in san bernardino were part of an organized jihadist cell. post jihad on not open social media. instead they expressed martyred directng private messages. officials in iraq believe that ari nationals have been seized from hunting camp by unknown gunmen, that includes members of the royal family. the kidnapping was carried out before dawn in the desert, 20 five kilometers from the iraqi capital with saudi arabia. capturedave been suspected of having links to the attacks in paris. they were arrested in a refugee camp. they traveled from the middle east and were retained on suspicion of belonging to a terrorist organization. migrants are continuing to arrive for by the boatload on the greek island of less posts, despite worsening conditions on the mediterranean. every day laste month. the greek authorities and volunteer groups have been carrying out rescue operations. today at least 2 migrants drowned when their boat sank. david: it is the latest refugee tragedy. it happened where we could see greekhin the site of the shores. plug from the freezing see are dozens of iraqis. the rescuers are team of spanish lifeguards who are working unpaid. without them, many of these people would have drowned for certain. soon, the survivors were being brought to shore. within 18 of them. >> can you help me? david: entire families, women and children among them. she held onto one infant in the ways, and is now searching for her 4-year-old-year-old son. he was not here. therefugees have been in sea for just 10 minutes, but it is wintertime. the water in the aegean sea is now freezing cold. among some, hypothermia was sitting in. it does not take long. the boat from turkey had been dangerously overloaded. >> did it turnover? >> yes. james: the european border agency was helping too. even before the shipwreck, these people suffered much. they are all from an iraqi isis.ty fleeing a new source of refugees. she is looking for her son, too. the survivors have been taken to several locations. do not know if their friends and family survived. this morning, they are plucking people out of sinking boats. this is another callout. this is a dinghy. every wave swamping it. people pleading for help. >> stay calm. david: babies are rescued first. he was promised billions to stop the boat. the arrivals have slowed. almost 2000 people are crossing into greece every day. five small children here. this is the third note we have seen in the past hour and it is only nine: 30 a.m. the rescue teams have seen 10 already. that is not even the most overloaded. when people are this desperate to reach the european shores, nothing will stop them. most of the people working here are volunteers. but the european cross guard -- the european crossing guard is unlikely to deter people. >> they want to come, they will come. david: this is what is happening . those struggling to stay afloat, and still coming while europe talks about securing its borders. off the waters of lesbos. katty: how desperate those families must be to make the crossing in those terrible conditions. you are watching "bbc world news america." come, the exhibition for the photographs on same-sex marriage. it allows american same-sex couples to tell their own story. thousands of protesters have taken to the streets in south africa, demanding the resignation of president jacob zuma. damaged thet he has governing party and put his own interest ahead of the country. correspondent sent us this report. we are seeing similar scenes in south africa. and johann is bird. they have a message that they no in thehave confidence president jacob zuma. they want him to stand down. >> this is the resistance for anti-minority role. what do you think -- the people -- did not ima south african through and through. it is unquestionable to sit back and watch. i have children, they have children, and must stop here or we are finished. >> i feel like my voice has been heard. my presence and voice is felt. the government will know there are people in the country. we have seent week the three finance ministers, which some people see as a gamble that president zuma has taken with the economy. many people feel that enough is enough. --is no longer put the putting the interest of the country first. instead he is protecting himself and the people within the party. they want them all to go. ♪ tomorrow marks one year since the united dates and cuba of coldto put decades war hostility behind them and relations. closer our crisp on the in havana, will grant, has reported on the changes. he has spoken to one of the key players in the negotiation. will: a year ago, cuba finally came in from the cold. today, the united states of america is changing its relationship with the people of cuba. the 17th of december, 2014, president obama and raul castro made a simultaneous announcement they were putting the cold rolled behind them. it caught everyone off guard. only a few knew what was happening, among them was jeffrey dilaurentis. annexed ordinary day. i could feel a palatable sense of excitement. you could feel the change. will: this followed months of negotiations as both sides try to put their mutual distrust aside. among issues was cuba's inclusion on the list of state sponsors of terror, quintana mowbray, and the u.s. embargo. whereeached a place diplomatic ties could be reestablished and the embassy reopened. how did it feel leading the ceremony on that morning? >> it is hard to talk about or describe. we had the first visit from the 1945.ary of state since we had the three marines who will lower the flag. we were reestablishing diplomatic relations. when i went to the podium and said -- it is my great honor to welcome everyone to the embassy of the united states in havana, and the audience broke out into a thunderous applause -- at that point i realized this was extraordinary. what we were talking about is reconciliation. that is pretty dramatic in my business. relationshipateral has come a long way over the last 12 months. it is a new hope that has brought fearful ordinary cubans. fled worrying that special laws that grant them automatic citizenship in the united states will disappear. will: that is a message the even people need to absorb. 2015 was the most significant year in cuba since the fall of the berlin wall. if a newion now is president in the white house will undo the diplomatic work done so far. will grant, bbc news, havana. katty: news that took us by surprise a year ago. this year the u.s. supreme court made a landmark decision to legalize same-sex marriage. history when made it became the first state in america to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. that was a decade previously. are now being shown in a photography exhibition. about the visual representation of lgbt people, we don't have a lot of historic issues or know the sexuality of the person in the image. aboutted this project same-sex marriage and looking at same-sex marriage in cambridge, massachusetts. it was first in the u.s. to legalize same-sex marriage. the people who are married remember a time when there was no same-sex marriage. i was thinking of these images as a future archive. a way of looking at the transitional moment, historically. one of the ways that i worked with people in this project was to have them choose the location of their photographs. they could be with anyone they wanted. whoever they wanted to define family. that was important to me, that they have agency in the creation of their own image of love and connect to this -- and connectedness. many still have their tickets from when they waited in line at city hall. many subjects were there in the wee hours of the morning waiting to apply for their marriage licenses. it is an amazing opportunity to look at how same-sex marriage is in bold the and empoweringng people. in proving their lives. this is a couple that was married after the supreme court decision in 2015. aey met working in cooperative grocery store in san francisco, in the produce department. we have a giant bowl of fruit to represent that moment. they will be part of the generation that benefits from having rights as same-sex marriage people. people are not entirely protected under the laws in a ways.y of it is important that we see same-sex marriage as strengthening the fabric of the community, but that we still have issues to work on together. simms.jeannie i remember being outside that courthouse when the decision was made, and i didn't think that attitudes would change as much as they have. the newest addition to the national zoo in washington made his national debut. bei bei means national treasure in chinese. he joined his older sister, bao bao. the public will finally be able to see him in january. he is only on loan. he will go back to china when he is four years old. that is all for us. bbc america.y for thank you for watching. tune back 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, metlife premier client group, and sony pictures classics, now presenting "grandma" i made a wind chime out of my credit cards. >> all coffee drips. you do not have to say trip coffee maker. that i can do. >> any idiot can see that you deserve to be supervised, right? >> are you saying that i am any idiot? i will be there, that is my granddaughter. >> "grandma" now playing in theaters. captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> ifill: good evening. i'm gwen ifill. judy woodruff is on assignment. on the newshour tonight, a judge in baltimore declares a hung jury for the first officer charged in the death of freddie gray. also ahead, "near zero" no more: the federal reserve bank raises interest rates for the first time in nearly a decade. fact-checking the republican candidates at yesterday's security-focused debate; and, how the musical duo "black violin" is breaking stereotypes by blending classical and hip hop. >> i look like i should be a linebacker, but to be a violinist-- when i realized that, i was just, like, i love it, i'm drawn to it. it's the thing, it's why i wake up in the morning, is to take the violin and kind of change people's