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tv   BBC News America  PBS  January 18, 2024 5:30pm-6:01pm PST

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♪ ♪ narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by...
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woman: architect. bee keeper. mentor. a raymond james financial advisor tailors advice to help you live your life. life well planned. george: actually, you don't need vision to do most things in life. it's exciting to be part of a team driving the technology forward. i think that's the most rewarding thing. people who know, know bdo. 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". >> i'm helena humphrn washington and this is bbc world. u.s. strikes who feed targets in
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yemen. in exchange of missiles stokes fears of wider escalations. the police response to the uvalde massacre in texas has been deemed a failure. ♪ welcome to world news america. good to have you with us. in the middle east, tensions continue to escalate against the backdrop of the israel gaza war. iran and pop -- proxy groups are involved in exchange of air strikes across multiple countrie houthi positions targeted for
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the fifth time in a week. two antiship missiles were destroyed that were headed to the southern red sea. this comes one day after the u.s. redesignated them as a terrorist group, citing the ongoing attack of ships in the red sea and in the last two days iran has hit sites in pakistan, iraq and syria. iran is a regional backer for hamas and hezbollah, both of which are fighting against israeli defense forces. in syria, iran claims thursday's strike was a response to a bombing earlier this month that killed 84 iranians. in iraq, a defense system shot down a drone where u.s. and international air forces are stationed. a barrage of ballistic missiles had hit earlier this week. thursday pakistan carried out strikes and what they described
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as terrorist hideouts across the border and iran and these came two days after similar attacks on pakistani soil or -- soil. pakistan correspondent caroline davis has more. reporter: rubble and dust, the aftermath after today's strike in iran. nine killed. pakistan says this was about national security. >> pakistan did precise military strikes against terrorist hideouts in a province of iran. this action is a manifestation of pakistan's relve to protect and defend national security against all threats. reporter: most see the attack as a response to this, the iran
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missile strike inside pakistan two days ago on what it claims was a terrorist base. pakistan says two children died. ron's justification is similar to pakistan's. >> we will not allow them to play games with our national security. when it comes to the security of our country, we will not stand to have so many terrorists in pakistan. reporter: iran has struck syria and iraq. now it has seen a strike on its own soil and there are feel -- fears things could escalate. despite this, pakistan says it does not want to fight and you can see the background. the economy is weak, there is political instability, and election in less than a month and difficult relations with india and afghanistan. iran has plenty occupying it. but there is real concern abo how they might react.
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>> the hope is that they will use one of the many foreign channels open to them to reach out and try to de-escalate the situation and there are some indications that might be the case but considering the first strike was unprecedented, what iran doesn't ask -- iran does next is anyone's guess. reporter: iran has condemned pakistan's attack. the question is if that will be all they do. helena: let's talk about the attacks we are seeing between pakistan and iran. there have been tensions for decades. talk about why this is spilling over. >> let's hope it does not
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escalate further. iran and pakistan share a border and there is an ethnic population that straddles both sides. it has engaged in arms insurgencies and separatist activities. they have been an excuse to crack down on any independent activity because of this minority that has been protesting. there is a u.s. designated terrorist group that iran claimed [indiscernible] the regime used to target in central asia this is historic because it is the first time iran turned the ballistic missiles from the west to the east and the strike on pakistan is the 15th time since 1988, the conflict that birth to the
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regime's interest in missiles that it has turned away from the west destroyed east. helena: this comes during high tensions in the middle east with iran involved in backing hamas and hezbollah. what do you think they are looking to achieve in that? is it aware that it could spill into something greater on that front? is it seeking to assert itself or maintain the status quo? >> for a regime like this with iran working through yemen and hezbollah and gaza to strike on adversaries like america or israel, why would iran go into the over public posture and we have seen iran willing to embrace the spotlight and they do this when targets are undefended. they are firing at locations
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that do not have advanced air defense and it means to me that they want to be seen for a foreign audience to get a dividend boom and think the regime is calculating that it could withstand the military push back that seems to be at play. helena: iran is also backing houthis in the red sea. president biden has acknowledged the strikes from the u.s. he is nostopping them yet. how do you see the u.s. getting to the position of de-escalation it is looking for? couldn't get worse before it gets better? >> i think they are looking to degrade the military capability the houthis have.
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they are the newest actor in iran's constellation of terrorist proxies. they have ballistic missiles. they are the first ones to fire land attack cruise missiles. the biden administration has tried to strike them to send a political message board times and it seems the houthis remain undetermined -- undeterred. if the houthis heed t message it is a different matter. helena: good to have you with us, thank you. is really a forces continue the assault in southern gaza and netanyahu says he has told the
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u.s. he opposes an existing palestinian state in any postwar scenario and washington has maintained the pathway is the only way to achieve the lasting peace. mark bowen sent this update from jerusalem. reporter: the south of gaza has reported the heaviest fighting so far this year with intense airstrikes with israeli defense forces saying dozens have been killed as they say terrorist and hamas run health ministry saying 93 were killed overnight in strikes and that they there is real concern for those sheltering around the hospital, the largest still functioning in the south of gaza. israel says they are targeting terrorist cells in the vicinity of the hospital but more than half the hospitals in gaza are
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out of operation and only 15 of 36 are partially functioning and this hospital is a safe haven for those sheltering. the number sheltering in the south of gaza are enormous. rafa had -- has over one million people in it now and there is a huge concern about israeli airstrikes in that area. medicine qatar and france struck a deal on has come into gaza. this medicine is needed for 40 hostages being held by hamas. and medical aid for palestinians in gaza. the medicine and medical aid came in from qatar into egypt and is now in gaza and it will
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be a huge logistical operation to try to get them to the hostages that need them most. we are over 100 days into the war. the hamas run health ministries says the death toll in gaza is close to 25 1000 and israel signaling they will soon wrap up the most intense ground operations in the south and move more towards small-scale operations but we are not seeing evidence of that yet, there are huge israeli airstrikes and operations in the south as israel continues with their aim to try to destroy hamas. helena: a scathing report looking into the uvalde school shooting. merrick garland has called the police response a failure that should not have happened. he spokefter the release of the highly critical report that
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said officers demonstrated no sense of urgency or coordination in the response when the gunman burst into robb elementary school on may 24, 2022. hundreds of police officers rushed to the scene but it took them more than one hour to confront the shooter. that delay sparked outrage among those in the u.s. and prompted the justice department to investigate. the report found cascading failures of leadership, decision-making, tactics, policy, and training. some loved ones of victims gave their reaction. >> i hope the failures today in local officials do not do what
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they -- do now what they did not do then, criminal prosecutions and terminations. and that our state and federal government will enact sensible gun laws because robb elementary began the day an 18-year-old was allowed to purchasend ar-15. helena: a long-awaited report deeming this response a failure. it is hundreds of pages long. what are some main takeaways? reporter: reading through the report builds the picture of chaos and confusion. many miscommunications which contributed to the situation. one big failing is when officers arrived on scene, one early stake made was they believed the situation to be someone who had barricaded themselves in a classroom and did not correctly
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identify this as there being an active gunman on the scene. so instead of trying to gain entry and confront the shooter, instead they retreated from the classroom and did not follow well-established procedures and spent a lot of time trying to find the keys to classrooms and all the while lives were being lost. that is one of the main feelings highlighted. another thing that compounded the horror and grief felt by the families was the miscommunication given to them. some families were told their loved one slight -- survived when they didn't and there was delayed -- there were delays in reuniting. [indiscernible] helena: for those families, nothing can bring back their loved ones but how have they been reacting to the report?
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reporter: some welcomed it. they say it validates many concerns and frustrations and qutions they had. they feel their questions are starting to be answered but a lot of families say they did not need the report to know there were many feelings but they see this as progress and they want to keep fighting for change and for officers to be held accountable and now they feel seeing it laid out they have that are grounds to do that. helena: our correspondent going through the report for us. in washington, u.s. congress has approved legislation to fund the government through early march as it scrambles to avoid a partial shutdown saturday. the measure passed the senate, clearing the 60 votes needed. it passed the house of
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representatives and is expected to be signed into law by president biden later but a bigger battle looms over the final judge it and stalled legislation about eating ukraine. -- about sending aid to ukraine. the republican-led house says they will not approve the aid until the president that cracks down on the border. republicans remain divided over support for ukraine and democrats are at odds about how much to concede on republica border demands. one democrat argues against concessions is a democratic senator from california. thank you for joining us on bbc news. i understand you voted today in favor of cr. why was that important to you? >> it was important to advance this resolution, an extension on a deadline to adopt the budget
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spending plan for the fiscal year to avert a government shutdown. when the government shuts down, it is not good for the nation's economy or for working filies in the u.s. so it is disappointing that we are months into the fiscal year without a new spending plan in place and while we continue to negotiate we continue the operations of the federal government at last year's budget levels. helena: let's talk about the immigration bill. i have heard you say previously you believe it gives too much away. what are your concerns? >> separate and apart from the budget negotiations are the negotiation as of the spending plan the president has requested a budget supplemental initial funding to meet extraordinary circumstances, additional support and aid for israel, for
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ukraine in their fight against putin's aggression, support and aid to taiwan, but also funding to strengthen security along the southern border of the u.s. and it all sounds great but as with anything come of the devil is in the details. i am concerned we have not seen any specific language, bill bill yet to consider but from what we hearing, items on the table, significant policy changes on the table, there is a lot to be worried about. republican colleagues seem determined to got the asylum system as we know it, and we know the u.s. prides itself on offering asylum with those qualified based on international obligation on federal law so we want to make sure we can
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strengthen border security in a thoughtful, humane way while maintaining international obligations. helena: there have been increasing numbers at the border in recent months and we know sanctuary cities have been sounding the alarm's themselves. how does this need to be dealt with? >> there are a lot of great ideas if we are truly interested in solving problems that will require additional resources. if republicans want increased security on the border, that costs an increased budget. but they want to c budgets. investment is required with local governments and ngos to provide supportive services but
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for my colleagues that are concerned about how many people are coming to the u.s. in search of asylum, we are not going to sustain and reduce those figures unless we entertain a conversation about what the root causes are. these people are fleeing dictatorships and authoritarian regimes, fleeing violence, fleeing for their lives so unless we were with partners in the hemisphere we will not be able to solve the solution and it is not bei discussed in negotiations so i at times question the sincerity with which republicans say they want to address the issue. helena: let's talk about aid to ukraine, to israel, key allies of the u.s. to which all of this is linked. what about moving this forward in order to stick to those
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promises for key allies at a time when they are in need of aid? >> that aid is important and necessary and has bipartisan support. the question about additional aid to israel, including significant humanitarian aid for the people of israel and innocent palestinians, that would pass overwhelmingly, and i believe aid to ukraine would receive bipartisan support so it does not make sense to a lot of us white republicans insist on only approving additional aid to ukraine in exchange for what sounds like draconian changes to immigration policy. there is a better way to have that debate in conversation but not when -- not one that puts our allies at additional risk.
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helena: if you look at what voters are saving is a key concern for them, it is immigration. it couldn't there be an argument that tackling it swiftly would be a win for biden in the election year? >> it certainly can be. americans of both political parties know we need to modernize the immigration system . but to do so thoughtfully and smartly is more than just making it harder to request asylum in the u.s. or building a big wall along the border. if you want to be thoughtful about it, we do consider root causes. we need to invest in more asylum hearing officers and immigration judges to be able to determine on a quicker basis and not have people waiting in limbo for years for their cases to be heard and of course we have to consider the many people come a
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long term residents of the u.s., who happened to be undocumented but nonetheless have been working in so many essential fields, contributing to the economy and security of our country, they deserve better than living in constant fear of deportation or legal limbo. helena: senator alex padilla, thank you for your time. in quarter, security forces have launched an operation in a huge prison complex. images published by the armed forces on social media show soldiers and police entering the facility. the president has described his government at being at war with gangs and organized crime. in a string of attacks across the country following a declaration of state of emergency, two people were arrested in connection with the murder of a leader [indiscernible]
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before we go, fall steve belonging -- false teeth belonging to winston churchill are going up for auction in the u.k. the teeth, constructed to preserve his natural lisp, were considered so important to the delivery of his victory speech that he carried a spare pair with him at all times. the things you learn here. you can always find more on bbc.com/news narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... narrator: financial services firm, raymond james. man: bdo. accountants and advisors.
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narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪
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geoff: good evening. i'm geoff bennett amna nawaz is away. on the “newshour” tonight, congress passes a temporary measure to keep the government funded and avoid a shutdown. the department of justice issues a scathing review of the police response to the 2022 uvalde,

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