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startups have this energy that energizes me. i'm thriving by helping others everyday. 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". host: this is bbc wos america. a prisoner in alabama is due to become the first person in the u.s. to be executed using nitrogen gas. the u.n. says israel ordered thousands of civilians sheltering in khan younis facility to evacuate. former president donald trump takes the stand and his defamation case brought by a

writer e. jean carol. welcome to world news america. a death row prisoner in alabama is expected to be executed in the coming hours after the u.s. supreme court declined to hold the case. kenneth smith is due to become the first person in the u.s. to be executed using nitrogen gas. it is a method which the united nations has called cruel and inhumane. it will be the state's second attempt to execute smith. he was convicted of murdering a preacher's wife and i hired killing. alabama's governor gave the bbc this statement. in it, she says nitrogen hypoxia is the method requested i the inmate as an alternative to lethal injection. she added this method has been thoroughly vetted in both the

alabama department of corrections and the attorney general's office indicated it is ready to go. in the last few hours mckenna smith and his -- the last few hours, tennis smith released this statement. they said the eyes of the world are on this moral apocalypse. our prayer is that people will not turn their heads. alabama is one of 27 u.s. states where the death penalty is still legal. that is more than half the country, shown here in the lighter yellow, including states like texas, florida and kentucky. there are however executive orders in six of those states shown in orange that have placed a hold on executions. that includes california and oregon. all of this data is coming to us from the nonprofit death penalty information center. with me in studio is our correspondent tom bateman, who has been an obama -- been in

alabama covering this story. why is this the first time nitrogen gas has been used in an execution? tom: overwhelmingly these days the method of execution used by states that have the death penalty is by lethal injection. that has been the case for many years now. what has happened are a few things around both the politics of the death penalty and also the way in which it is done. so on the first part, there has been increasingly in recent years a growing distrust among the public, the american public in the legal system as a whole. so people have looked into the nuts and bolts behind the system of what is going on. that has raised levels of distrust about issues around miscarriage of justice. that created more distrust in the system. in terms of the method, there has been a growing campaign to shame companies, pharmaceutical companies that supply the chemicals for lethal injection. at the same time, the european

union has banned the export of chemicals used in lethal injection to the united states. so it has been much harder for prison wardens and people who carry out executions to procure the drugs to do this. states that still settle the death penalty have authorized new things like nitrogen gas execution, in some cases they brought back old methods like using the firing squad. they have been looking at these as a way to continue the death penalty. it was authorized in alabama. there had already been one failed attempt to kill kenneth smith around a year and a half ago by lethal injection. the executioners could not raise a vein, he survived that attempt, so now they are trying again with this brand-new method. host: is there any chance at this late stage that the execution might not go ahead? tom: it seems in likely -- seems

unlikely. one legal route was a direct petition to the supreme court that was turned down earlier this week. there has been another method. they have gone through state courts and federal appeals court. and that has been to challenge the method, to say this is unconstitutional because it is cruel and unusual, it could go wrong very easily, they say. if oxygen leaks into the mask or other problems, his defense attorneys say he could be left in a persistent vegetative state and not killed. so far the courts have systematically rejected that. there has been a final appeal on that to the supreme court, but up until a few moments ago, no response from the supreme court. as it stands in two hours time, the execution is due to go out. host: thank you very much for that. joining us now is the president

of the american college of correctional physicians. he joins me now from idaho. thanks indeed for joining us. as we have been hearing, this is an untested method of execution. can you talk us through insofar as we know about what is expected to happen? dr. keller: as you said my this is an experiment. one of the principles of medical ethics that i believe in is we don't do experiments with incarcerated people. this is a medical experiment being done with an incarcerated person. substantively, there is no difference between what is going to happen here and put in a plastic bag over someone's head and suffocating them that way. in this case it will be a mask, and instead of filling the mask with carbon dioxide, as would be the case with a plastic bag, they will fill it with nitrogen, take out the oxygen, and since

there is no oxygen, mr. smith wi ll die. first, cells, the most sensitive cells will be the brain. they begin to die about four minutes after the cessation of oxygen. but eventually all of his cells will die without oxygen. host: supporters of this method have said that it is fast and painless, but the u.n. humans rights office said it could torture and could be in violation of human rights treaties, treaties the u.s. has signed to. what is your view? dr. keller: my view is it is an experiment. alabama can say it is painless, but they don't know because it has not been done before. i think it is particularly apparent that it is not going to be painless. if someone told me they would put a bag over my head and kill me, i would feel a lot of

anxiety and fear. i would have the release of a lot of stress hormones. that would get worse and worse until the moment i became unconscious. and from the moment that mask is placed on his face, until he becomes unconscious, i suspect that he will be feeling a lot of psychic pain, anxiety, and fear. host: is there a risk to others who may be nearby at the time of the execution? dr. keller: nobody knows, because it is an experiment. nobody has done it before. theoretically i am told that the mask could leak nitrogen and perhaps this could affect someone who is standing by, but also there is the psychological trauma of watching someone die. that would be no different in this case than any other method of execution like lethal injection.

some people have prolonged posttraumatic stress symptoms after witnessing an execution. and i suspect it will be the same here. host: given the hippocratic both that medical professionals -- oath that medical professionals sign up to, will there be any medical professionals involved in this? dr. keller: i hope not. it would be unethical for a medical professional to be involved. our job is to help people cure diseases, improve the quality of life, and this is the opposite, to participate in an execution is a serious breach of medical ethics. and so i hope that no medical professional would be involved in this. host: as you have been describing how untested this is, akin to an experiment on a human being, why the hurry do you think for alabama to proceed with this? you work in correctional facilities. is the system exploring

alternative methods where a delay could have been in place to wait for those? dr. keller: i suspect they are searching for alternative methods for political reasons. and this seemed like a good method. i would think that consideration of medical -- the medical aspect of this, and the fact that it is untested, should have weighed into their decision but evidently it does not. host: thanks for bringing us up-to-date with those details, president of the american college of correctional physicians. thanks indeed for joining us. staying in the u.s. now, because former president donald trump has spoken in court briefly to defend himself in a defamation case.and the testimony lasted four minutes. the president reiterated his stance that he never met his accuser. the case is a civil suit brought

by the writer e. jean carroll, who is seeking more than $10 million in damages for defamation against mr. trump for comments he made in 2019 after she accused him of raping her in the 1990's. a judge has already ruled mr. trump's statements were defamatory and the jury's job now is to decide how much donald trump must pay in damages. our correspondent in new york has more. correspondent: in court, outlining the ground rules for donald trump's testimony took longer than the testimony itself. the judge in conversation with his lawyers left no room for mr. trump to go beyond the agreed terms, so he could not launch into a monologue or campaign from the witness stands. he answered just a few questions in four minutes, saying that he stood by his deposition that e. jean carroll's claims that he raped her were a hoax, that he did not instruct anyone to hurt ms. carroll, and that he wanted

to defend himself and the presidency. the latter part the judge ordered stricken from the record. that did not stop the former president from uttering "this is not america" and "i never met her" from the defense table. donald trump is testing the limits of the courts and his legal cases, but it is keeping his supporters invested. more importantly, he is receiving considerable press conference -- press coverage as he campaigns for the republican presidential nomination. closing statements will be next, then this case will go to the jury to decide how much in damages donald trump should pay for defaming e. jean carroll. host: in another donald trump related development on thursday, the former president's trait advisor was sentenced to jail time for recruiting -- for refusing to comply with the subpoena relating to the capital attack on january 6. after the 2020 crystal jewel

election, peter navarro was convicted of two counts of criminal contempt last summer and now faces four months behind bars, together with a fine. his lawyers say he will appeal against the conviction. turning to gaza, where intense fighting continues to rage around the southern city of khan younis, sending hundreds fleeing for safety. israel ordered tons of thousands -- tens of thousands of palestinians sheltering there to leave within 24 hours. the order comes a day after at least a dozen were killed and more than 7500 when a training facility came under fire. the center in khan younis was sheltering palestinians forced from their homes. the israel defense force denied response ability for the strike, saying in a statement, after an examination of our operational systems, cidf currently ruled out this incident is a result of an aerial or artillery strike by the idf. the statement continues, a

thorough review of the operations of the forces in the vicinity is underway. the idf is also examining the possibility that the strike was a result of hamas fire. separately on thursday, the hamas run health ministry says 21 people have been killed and 150 injured after is really forces fired shells at palestinians queuing for food aid in gaza city in the north. here is our correspondent in jerusalem. correspondent: the u.n. palestinian agency confirmed that an israeli evacuation order has been issued for those sheltering in a training center in khan younis in southern gaza, thought to be around 30,000 people sheltering in that facility who are now being told to evacuate by friday at 5:00 p.m. to move south toward rafah, right on the southern tip of gaza on the border with egypt, which is a city that is now thought to be sheltering some 1.5 million people out of

gaza's population of 2.3 million. that facility was hit in fire on wednesday, which killed at least a dozen people and injured more than 70. israel says it was not behind that attack it has investigated, and suggested it could have been a hamas rocket. meanwhile there has been renewed fighting around hospitals in khan younis. one of the three remaining function in hospitals has now closed and said women who had given birth by c-section in the middle of the night were forced to evacuate, and that hospital has now closed. the world health organization says two thirds of the hospitals across gaza are no longer functioning at all. there is a diminishing number of medical facilities in the south. israel insists that hamas launches attacks from medical facilities. that is something that hamas and local medics deny. host: to discuss this more, i am

joined by the director of philanthropy at the united nations relief and works agency in the u.s. thanks for joining us. looking at that attack on your facility in khan younis yesterday, what is the current situation there today? guest: it is not a great situation. we know there are 43,000 folks sheltering in this facility. we have seen the casualties rise. there is 21 critically wounded folks on top of the 75, so it is an alarming situation we are monitoring. it is not a good place when the u.n. flag buildings are being bombed. this is not the first time it gets bumped, the same building. this is the third direct hit for the same infrastructure. it has been hit 22 times, but this is the third time they do serious damage. the building they bombed, the israeli idf bombed, there were 20 people sheltering there, and

they are told there is a safer place and they get bombed there. sadly there are no more places to go. host: on that, because israel is saying it was not responsible for this attack yesterday, but has told those thousands of people sheltering their to get out essentially within the next 24 hours. where are they supposed to go? guest: that is the question of the hour. there are literally checkpoints encircling the installation. this is a vocational training center where folks learn to hook up computers, how to be carpenters and all that. and unfortunately i have family and friends stuck in there. they have been surrounded for five days. a lot of people are scared for their lives. this is a u.n. facility. the biggest shelter in the south. where are they going to go? there is really no more room in rafah. there is 1.3 million people in the smallest town in the whole of gaza. where do you think the people are going to go? it will make it challenging for

unrwa to distribute aid. i have seen the footage that folks surrounding -- folks running around with like it's, -- around with blankets, that is your most prized possession. what is especially cruel is that the idf did not allow medical teams to rescue those with ambulances. after a few hours, when the teams were able to save lives, it was a bit of a horrifying scene for the group. unfortunately, unrwa, this is not the first installation that is attacked. it makes our job harder. i tried to help unrwa provide food, water and flour. somehow that is too much. this is the fifth time they move around, the sixth time. it makes it challenging for us to know how many internally displaced people, because people move around daily. host: on that point of aid, this

is marked as a u.n. building. there are international norms. why is it that those international norms or the international community has not been able to do more to help the people in gaza to get aid in there? guest: the lack of political will. unrwa, the best we can do at the agency is to document those violations and report them to those that think impact -- to those that can impact that. clearly the u.n. agency is saying that israel is falling short of their international humanitarian law expectations. we have been saying this unfortunately when the first u.n. building was hit. there was a freak out and everyone was speaking. now we are talking about building 142 that has been attacked by the idf, and folks are getting numb. it is not ok. it was not ok. it was not good to do this last year. it is still criminal to do this

this year. unfortunately we are not catching a break. 152 unrwa colleagues were killed in gaza. what happened last time we spoke we had eight functioning health clinics, now we have a smaller shrinking arm to provide services and healing for those folks. host: we are seeing reports that the head of the cia in the u.s. is on the way to the region to be engaged in some kind of talks about a temporary cease-fire. are you hopeful that something like that can be agreed in the absence of a more permanent cease-fire? guest: unwra has been calling for a humanitarian cease-fire. we cannot do our mandate without being safe. when the bombs are falling on our colleagues or buildings, that makes it challenge. at unwra usa at my personal capacity, i continue to engage with the u.s. and ministrations to give people a break -- the

u.s. administration to give people a break. i hope those visits will bring in eventually a cease-fire for folks, because it is needed. i continue to ask people to support unwra's work because they are doing vital work in very difficult circumstances. host: indeed. we leave it there for the moment. thank you very much for joining us from the u.s. arm of that. just next door, the u.s. and u.k. hit houthi targets in yemen in a series of airstrikes. the iran backed group is targeting ships they claim are linked israel and the west in protest against the situation in gaza. bbc persian's middle east correspondent got rare access to u.s. navy warships that were on patrol in the red sea, and she sent us this report from the eastern mediterranean. correspondent: surveying the seas and ready to strike. backing the relative calm of the

mediterranean, these u.s. marines are primed for action in the middle east. they have just returned from the red sea, when they were the first responders to houthi attacks on commercial shipping. the crew of this worship were on their way home -- war ship were on their way home when hamas attacked israel on october 7 and in the war began in gaza. they were rapidly diverted toward israel, a show of power and a message to iran and its proxies. >> i think there is always a risk of miscalculation, but our presence matters, and we serve as a deterrent, prepared to respond in support of our national security interests or the interests of our allies and partners. correspondent: but the houthis say they will continue to target ships they claim are linked to

israel and the west for as long as civilians are being killed and gaza. and so far, the group remains undeterred by u.s. led strikes on some of their military bases in yemen. this captain expected nothing like this when he left last july. >> being stationed in the red sea, there was a lot of traffic flying near, over, and towards us from the houthis in those one-way attack drones. it was definitely a new experience. did not think i would be doing that when we launched on deployment. correspondent: destroyers like this are being used to shield other boats by shooting down any threats. we are taken down into its command center for a simulation. command rooms like this are now an image of the u.s. involvement in the middle east. they are the eyes and ears

tracking vessels, identifying incoming threats, and initiating rapid response against the attack. for many in the middle east, including forces aligned with iran, an american presence is always provocative. the u.s. says it does not want any further escalation, but while the war in gaza goes on, this crew wonders when they will be heading home. bbc news in the eastern mediterranean. host: before we go, it seems perhaps even the most successful actors can suffer from imposter syndrome. for british actor tom hollander, that can go so far as being mistaken for a completely different and far richer star. speaking to late-night host seth meyers, the actor on the left said he was once accidentally sent a box office bonus meant for the 27-year-old star tom holland.

he said the pair briefly had the same agent in the seven-figure sum was sent to him by mistake by the accounts department. what a mixup. now remember, you can find more about all the days news on our website, bbc.com/news. check us out on your favorite social media platforms as well. that is it for now. thank you so much for watching world news america. do take care. narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... narrator: financial services firm, raymond james. man: bdo. accountants and advisors. narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

amna: good evening. i'm amna nawaz. geoff bennett is away. on the “newshour” tonight, negotiations over funding for ukraine and the southern border are derailed by republican infighting, threatening a crucial, emerging deal. former president donald trump takes the stand in the federal defamation case brought by writer e. jean carroll. and the governor of texas defies a supreme court ruling to remove razor wire at the border. the state's standoff with the federal government, and how mexico's foreign minister views the ongoing immigration crisis.