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washington. d this is "bbc world news america." haiti is under a state of emergency after a massive prison rake out as gang members desire for the prime minister to resign. a u.n. agency warns about diminishing capabilities without more funding as one of israel's or cabinet ministers visits washington. the u.s. supreme court rules trump can remain on primary ballots, handing a legal victory to the former president. ♪ caitriona: hello and welcome to "world news america." one of israel's war cabinet ministers and israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu's main rivals is in washington

amid concern over the humanitarian situation in gaza. we arrived monday for talks with the white house and the state dertment. he met u.s. president joe biden's national security advisor jake sullivan, and the vice president, kamala harris. he's got -- he is scheduled to meet antony blinken on tuesday. . a retired general who headed the israeli defense forces leads the centrist party opposed to mr. netanyahu's right-wing government. he took up a seat in mr. netanyahu's war cabinet after the attacks on october 7, which killed over 1200 israelis. israeli outlets report the prime minister was unaware of the visit. the vice president, a day after she made a passionate intervention about the death last week of more than 100 people seeking aid from a convoy. we saw hungry, desperate people approach aid trucks, simply trying to secure food for theiramilies after weeks of

nearly no aid reaching northern gaza. and they were met with gunfire and chaos. our hearts break for the victims of that horrific tragedy. and for all of the innocent people in gaza who are suffering from want is clearly -- from what is clearly a humanitarian catastrophe. caitriona: to talk to us about this, i'm joined by our state department correspondent, tom bateman. thank you for being with us. what is benny gantz hoping to achieve from this visit? tom: the priority in terms of the substance of these discussions will be the humanitarian catastrophe that is unfolding and has been unfolding on the ground in gaza. the fact is this is not the prime minister of israel, this is a longtime rival of his. it is ruffling feathers and what

is already a crisis ridden situation in israelieadership. we will get to that in a second. the first point is about what is going on on the ground. you heard kamala harris talking about the need for what they cease-fire, using that in thee context of this cease-fire negotiation. the pressure is ramping up from the biden administration for this deal to be hammered out, for the war to stop for the time being, so they can alleviate this desperate situation. but is also emerging is what the americans want the israelis to do, not just to allow d into gaza, but to get it distributed. one of the factors here is last month, israel bombed some of the police who secure the convoys. israel says part of hamas's network of control. americans say, they are remanence loyal to the palestinian authority. that has scared off the police. they can't secure aid convoys and gaza.

the americans say this is one of the most significant factors. at the state department, i asked the spokesman, matthew miller, about this and who was going to assure that aid could be secured. >> ultately, that is a question for the government of israel and the united nations to determine. what we have made clear is what is not an acceptable alternative is for people to starve. whatever the security situation is, that needs to be established to ensure those trucks can be devered, it needs to be done. it israel -- we will be happy to work with israel and the united nations to find the best alternative to ensure those trucks can safely deliver their food, their water, their medicine. an unacceptable answer is leaving those trucks sitting in warehouses and not getting aid distributed to people who desperately need it. tom: i goes to the fundamental issue that there is no security in gaza. this is not a day after problem, some sort of hypothetical

future. it is happening now, because there is no plan. matthew: i would not disagree with the assessment. that it is not a day after issue, it is an issue now. and it is one the government of israel needs to work with the u.n. to determine an answer to now, because there is an urgent need on the ground. caitriona: notwithstanding that urgent need on the ground that matt miller is talking about, there has been chatter about this visit by benny gantz. what can you tell us about that? tom: benny gantz is a longtime rival of netanyahu, he joined the war cabinet after october 7. what is happening in israel is he is surging ahead in terms of popular opinion, far stronger in those polls then mr. netanyahu himself. i think it is no secret the administration, the u.s. administration, feels he is more closely aligned to his longer-term policy about trying to get a two state solution to israelis and palestinians. he comes to the white house.

benjamin netanyahu has not had an invite to the white house since this new coalition began 15 months ago. mr. netanyahu clearly is unhappy about this via aids briefing the israeli press that said this was an unauthorized visit, happened without his permission, and in his words, there is only one prime minister of israel and it is him. caitriona: tom bateman, thank you for bringing us up-to-date on that. a new york, the head of the u.n.'s embattled agency for palestinian relief said dismantling the organization would mean sacrificing the future of a generation of children. israel says more than 450 of its staff are what it calls terrorists, and it is calling for the agency to be shuttered. head of united nations relief and work agency in the near east, which is what it was called preferred for the u.n. -- claims his agent -- his agency is infiltrated by supporters of have. they announced it had fired

members of staff after discovering they had allegedly participated in those october 7 attacks led by hamas. that revolution led the u.s. and many of its allies to suspend funding for the body. the cease-fire negotiate -- as cease-fire negotiations continue, one of the conditions is the list of the hostages held by gaza. hamas claims it is impossible to know which of the hostages is still alive. the bbc is unable to report from inside gaza, but our correspondent sent this update from jerusalem. just a warning, his report does contain distressing images. reporter: a grief so calamitous, it is deaf to the rumors of peace. this is the 150th day of war. each day, the images of the grieving and of the dead are beamed to the wod.

he was sheltering with 45 family members when a rocket struck. seven were killed, including two children. >> [speaking another language] reporter: a cease-fire might save the living, it won't bring back the dead. this person has lived and worked among the dead since the war began. he is a schroeder. he clings and wraps the dead for burial, hundreds of them. >> [speaking another language] reporter: after shrouding the bodies from the latest airstrikes, rock to be buried -- they are brought to be buried. the is one of a small group of

workers who try to ensure a decent burial for all. >> i once buried a back with the body parts of six members of the same family, he says. i can't sleep at all because of what i have seen. reporter: 30,000 deaths in gaza have created many widows and orphans. in rafah, they stay together here in a camp of the widows, within a larger camp. this person has four children. one of them is disabled. another suffered severe burns. her husband was killed when he went to find food for the family a month ago. so he died in the hospital. >> [speaking another language]

reporter: the children are her life now. the living world she holds in her arms. bbc news, jerusalem. caitriona: washington and the united nations say they are monitoring what they described as haiti's rapidly deteriorating security situation. duringhat it has press briefing, national security spokesman john kirby said with our haitian partner, we remain committed to the transition of power from the current prime minister to a prime minister the people select by those free and fair elections. the prime minister has said the same, and we will hold them to that. we urge all actors to put the people of haiti first to stop the violence and make necessary

concessions to allow for inclusive governance, free and fair elections, in the restoration of democracy. a 72 hours state of emergency was declared in the capital after two mass jailbreaks on sunday. night curfews are enforced until wednesday after armed gangs stormed the prisons, freeing nearly 4000 inmates from the main jail, where at least a dozen people died. while there are conflicting reports of prime minister -- of the prime ministers where about, gang leaders say they want to force him to resign. under a political deal, he was due to step down february 7, but planned electis were not held and he remains in host. we know the gangs control 80% of the capital. cidents similar to what we saw over the weekend are becoming more common. gang violence has plagued haiti worse following the president'st assassination at his home in 2021 the most recent presidential election was in 2016. joining me now is our central

american and caribbean correspondent. can you talk us through briefly the background that led us to what we are seeing in haiti today? will: that is long and involves decades of history. it is a complex situation in haiti. the recent history you mentioned there, the assassination of the president in july 2021, in the vacuum left behind from that assassination, step the prime minister. and the gangs are fundamentally opposed to his leadership. they do not want to see him in power. they want to force him out. the fact that he is outside of haiti at the moment has given them this extra impetus in recent days to try to force that point home through violence. caitriona: a state of emergency has been declared. what will that mean for people living there, and is there any expectation that authorities

might be able to improve the situation somewhat? will: i think in the short-term, it means a nice -- a nighttime curfew. it will mean roadblocks being set up by the police. but also barricades have been erected by the gangs themselves, particularly around their strongholds in the big shantytowns in the haitian capital. i have been speaking to journalists in the puerto prince who say the sense on the streets is one of staying low, schools are closed, there is sporadic looting taking place. it is hard to know what the state of emergency can achieve, given the gangs themselves appear to be in control, of somewhe in the region of 80% of the capital. it is a very bleak situation, for ordinary citizens on the streets. caitriona: the white house talking about free and fair elections to be held. what is the realistic likelihood

of that happening? will: i think very, very slim. at least for now. the truth of the matter is that the gangs that are pushing this forward will not accept ariel henry or any of his allies. he does not want to be seen to be folding into the gang's demands. the gangs in haiti are extremely powerful. not only do they hold the capital city at the moment, they also hold swathes of the interior. it is not surprising the white house is talking this good talk of free and fair elections. the truth of the matter is we will see more bloodshed before that is on the table. caitriona: ok, thank you very much for that. let's hear more about what that state of emergency means for people in haiti. we can speak to gina harrod he, she is in can scuff, the director of special needs programs in haiti. thank you for joining us on bbc news. can you describe the situation as you are seeing it in haiti at

the moment? gina: hi. thanks for giving me the opportunity to say a few words. it is very bleak. like you just mentioned. there is a general sense of fear everywhere because people don' know what is going to happen next. around the city, where people are living, there is a lot of despair and trauma because of all of that has happened on the last few days and weeks and the last two years. everybody is wondering what will happen next. basically, everybody is locked inside their houses. in haiti, people live from day to day. it is not as if people have stepped -- have all kinds of food in their houses. caitriona: a little break up the line there. we will try to keep going. because i know that is one of the issues as well. you have had issues with internet, with the phone, with

cable being cut, efforts to try to get food and find out how everyone is is problematic. gena: yeah, it is very difficult right now. because everything is so up in the air. and everybody is petrified, basically. with all of the prisoners out now and the gangs having so much power and everything, nobody knows what is going to happen next. people are staying in areas that are surrounded by heavy, heavy gunfire. that in itself is dramatic. we don't know what is going to happen next. i think everybody is in suspense. it is unrealistic to think there will be elections. for the number -- for a number of years that the prime minister was in power, there were no elections. this current climate is not conducive to any elections. and the gangs, they have their own agenda. they say they will do whatever they are going to do, and they do it they have their targets. before i came on the air, they were saying, -- there were

reports about the airport being targeted. they don't want area to get back in either. whether he has arrived or not, i'm not sure. caitriona: you were speaking also a few moments ago about heavy gunfire. how are the haitian police handling this, the authorities there, do they have any level of control at all? gena: absolutely none. the gangs, they have more weaponry, more sophisticated -- they have drones. when they took over the prison, gangs were monitoring where the police were, and they were telling their soldiers, go here, go there, there is no police here, you can do this. so many police stations have been burned in the last days and even in the last weeks, up to now. it's like study and progressive takeover by the gangs. they will go into a police station. last weekend alone, a few days ago, five police people were killed.

police are outnumbered, outmanned. we don't have much home. -- much hope. they are trying to be fair, some of them are trying very hard appear there have been smany police that have died this year. it is not an easy job at the moment. caitriona: you work with special needs children there. how are they at the moment? and they come to your service? can you provide care to them? gena: that is one of our frustrations because where i am right now is in our home. these are children, young people that have been abandoned and this is their home. they are fine. but we set up services for the children living with their families, and for people that have strokes, they can come for physical therapy. and we had to close. we had to close because first of all, they can't get there. these people come through the barricades and the shooting,

they come on motorbikes. we have our school buses to pick up the schoolkids. it is too dangerous for the parents to send their kids. while they are in our center, they are fine. but then you are listening to gunfire and they are worrying how they will get them home. we are in close communication with them. my worry for them, a lot of them, will be those that are on seizure medication. how will they get it? how will they go out and get what they need so their children don't have seizures? that is always a big concern. for the people who can't come to the hospitals, the hospitals, the general hospital, patients are dying because the doctors and nurses can't get there. it's really difficult. it's so heartbreaking, because my god, how much more do people have to suffer? i was just listening to your report on gaza. there is so much suffering everywhere. it really is heartbreaking. caitriona: --

gena: we have to keep trying. caitriona: sorry, there is a little breakup on the line. just briefly, to wrap up, when you are talking about the heavy gunfire and shots, and access to food, what do you think is going to happen in the next few days? gena: i don't know. i'm a very hopeful person by nature, always looking for the bright side of things. but right now, i think we are all worriedbout what will happen next. we don't see much sign of hope at the moment. we all feel that things will get worse before they get better. looting in some areas now. i don't know. it is hard to see where it is going to go. it seems like the gangs want to take over, they are taking over, but will they take over the government? are they going to run the country? what are they going to do?

because we don't see any obvious leader. we see the gangs that have joined together, but we don't know what they will do next. nobody has said, ok, we are going to kick out ariel henry, but they have not said who will take over after him. it's up in the air. it does not look hopeful for now, that's for sure. caitriona: we will leave it there for the moment. gena heraty, director of special needs programs in haiti, thank you for joining us. and take care of yourself and those children. mind yourselves. the u.s. supreme court ruled unanimously individual states cannot bar donald trump from appearing on the 2024 presidential ballot. instead, the justices said only congress has the power to kick a candidate off the ticket. the decision is specific to colorado, but overwrites rulings in maine and illinois that would ruin -- that would remove the former president from the ballot. states moved to disqualify donald trump over his role in the attack on the capitol.

that comes ahead of super tuesday where 15 states will vote in republican and democratic primaries, including colorado and maine. she issued an updated ruling on monday, saying, i hereby withdraw my determination that mr. trump's primary petition is invalid. the former president celebrated the decision. mr. trump: they worked long, hard, and they worked very quickly on something that will be spoken about 100 years from now, 200 years from now. extremely important. essentially, you cannot take somebody out of a race because of an opponent would like to have it that way. caitriona: voters and advocacy groups across the u.s. had filed cases against mr. trump, claiming his actions on january 6 should disqualify him under a civil war era constitution. known as the insurrectionist clause. the provision bans anyone who

has engaged in insurrection or rebellion from office. colorado became the first state to disqualify trump, followed by maine and illinois. other states have tossed out lawsuits against the former president. after the ruling, colorado secretary of state said she was disappointed by the decision, saying, colorado should be able to bar oath breaking insurrections from our ballot. for more on the day's correspondent from outside the supreme court. reporter: this morning, it is not a huge the price. in the oral arguments last month, all nine justices across the ideological spectrum expressed skepticism at the way this post-civil war amendment could be applied in this way. the chief justice said the whole point of this amendment was to restrict the power of state. why would you allow one state in this case colorado, have the power to kick a presidential candidate off the ballot? if they had not held the ruling, many of the states would have followed suit.

there were others states looking to kick donald trump off about. there were conservative states that said they would try to kick president biden off the ballot. you would have seen this chaos in a run-up to the elections. this is a big victory for donald trump. it comes in inconsequential week for him as far as his criminal trials go. we will find out at some point if he has clout -- if his trial will go ahead in florida, and when it will go ahead. as far as his georgia election interference goes, we are due to find out if the district attorney in that case will be disqualified. this ruling has improved donald trump's legal problems, but his legal problems have not gone away. caitriona: you can find out all about the date's news at bbc.com/news, or check us out on your favorite social media platforms. i am caitriona perry. thank you for watching "world news america." do take care. announcer: funding for presentation of this pgram

is provided by... financial services firm, raymond james. bdo. accountants and advisors. cunard is a proud supporter of public television. announcer: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation, pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

wow, you get to watch all your favorite stuff. it's to die for. now you won't miss a thing. this is the way. the xfinity 10g network. made for streaming. geoff: good evening. i'm jeff bennett. amna: on "the newshour" tonight, the supreme court rules that states cannot remove former president donald trump from their presidential ballots. geoff: the vice president calls for an immediate cease-fire in gaza as negotiations to release israeli hostages held that's how buck moss continue. amna: and our new series on america's social safety net takes a look at how the system began, the political fights from the last 90 years and where it stands today.