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creates a trust to keep the craft alive. a raymond james financial advisor gets to know you, your passions and the way you enrich your community. life well planned. announcer: 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" íy in washington and this is "bbcíy world news america." as president biden tries to rally a divided democratic party around his election bid, one of his top senate allies speaks to the bbc. >> i would never allow somebody to throw away a great president after a 50 year career serving our nation. caitriona: kyiv's main

children's hospital is struck by an airstrike. and france faces political deadlock as left and centrist parties relegate the far right rally to third place in the parliamentary elections. ♪ caitriona: hello and welcome to world news america. i'm caitríona perry. another member of biden's own party has called on the president to end his run for the white house. congressman adam smith said in a statement biden was no longer able to articulate his case for a second term. his statement reads in part, the american people made it clear they do not see him as a credible candidate to serve four more years as president. since the debate the president has not seriously addressed these concerns. this is unacceptable.

the stakes are too high. donald trump and maga extremism pose an existential threat to our nation and we need to be in the strongest position to win this election. congressman smith went on to say he would still back president biden if he remains the nominee. earlier monday joe biden urged the democratic party to unite behind his candidacy saying he was their best chance at defeating trump in november. item wrote a letter to democratic lawmakers saying he was running the race to the end. in response to further calls over the weekend by fellow democrats for the president to end his reelection run. mr. biden addressed their concerns directly saying he was not blind to them. he also mentioned how he had won the primaries fairly, questioning if those calling him to end his campaign did not respect the results. do we say the process does not

matter, the voters do not have a say? biden appeared on an msnbc show, asked about his poor debate performance and how voters could be reassured a night like that would not happen again. pres. biden: look at my career. i have not had many of those nights. it was a terrible night. i regret it happened, but the fact of the matter is, how can you [indiscernible] on the way to work tomorrow? age, the idea i am too old, created jobs, relieved student debts for 5 million people, first black woman on the court. i think i have had a significant run. caitriona: president biden spent the weekend making campaign appearances in the battleground state of pennsylvania, joined by his ally senator fetterman, one

of the most high-profile democrats to reject calls for the president to end his 2024 campaign. i spoke to him about that. you were with the president yesterday. how did he seem to you? sen. fetterman: he seemed perfect, normal. that is just joe. regular joe, our presidents. that is the only guy that has ever beaten trump in 2020 and he will do that again. he had a great day in pennsylvania. i want to let everybody understand, he powered through all of it. there were large crowds and people were eager to have their picture taken, just genuine enthusiasm. it was a nice day for the president. caitriona: do you have areas of concern over his capabilities?

sen. fetterman: no, not at all. caitriona: do you understand why some of your colleagues do have areas of concern? sen. fetterman: everyone is entitled to their opinions. i don't think it is helpful to leak or put these kinds of things out into the media. if this is a family issue, it should be handled internally. it is also strange there are so of the outlets of the media that seem outraged or annoyed. he is still here. how can that be possible? i don't know why that is shocking that the president and winner of the primary, a great president and the only person to have beaten trump in an election. they are saying, we will take this through to november. i don't know why that is controversial, especially after a debate, 9 minutes, we all

agree it was rough, but i would never allow somebody to throw away a great president after a 50 year career serving our nation. caitriona: he acknowledged as much in the letter he sent to you and congressional colleagues today. he said repeatedly he had a bad night on the night of the debate. but if you are the preside of the u.s., can you be afforded to have a bad night like that? what if it is not a bad night at the debate? what if it is a bad night when you have to make a life or death call? sen. fetterman: that is needlessly -- a little dramatic. just because you may not be dropping funny lines or anything like that, that is not real life. that is not how the job is or what it is about. i am proud to stand with joe biden. i don't understand why other democrats might not agree.

they may have their concerns, but the way some have chosen to handle this by leaking and making this public, i think it is destructive and not what joe biden deserves. caitriona: your own state of pennsylvania is a critical battleground state. trump won there in 2016, and biden won in 2020. current polling has biden find trump, depending on the poll. are your constituents bringing up concerns about biden and his age and faculties with you? sen. fetterman: you cannot take any poll as gospel on this. in 2020, people were thinking biden would have a cake walk through pennsylvania. he had a five-point margin. i was telling people that is not what it will be. it will be really close. like i said in 2016, nothing has

changed in the last eight years. pennsylvania will pick the president just like it did in both terms. it will be like this one and it will be very close. trump is very popular here in pennsylvania. joe biden is, too. i do believe he will carry it, but it will not be a blow out one way or the other. caitriona: are your constituents bringing up these concerns to you about biden? sen. fetterman: not where i go. if anything, i was just out shopping with my family and constituents were stopping me nonstop saying, thank you for standing up for joe biden. caitriona: what we have heard from the white house about the president preferring not to have meetings or be in active communication after 8:00 p.m., does that raise questions for you about how the country is run? sen. fetterman: i could care

less what time the president goes to bed. no one will ever know what time it is. it is none of my business. i am more concerned about the record trump had as a president. caitriona: one of your colleagues, mike warner of virginia, is reportedly contacting senators to discuss whether joe biden should proceed. has he been in touch with you? sen. fetterman: no. i can't say what he is going to do, but if it does involve replacing biden, i will not have any part of that. i plan to push back strongly on that if that happens tomorrow. he is entitled to his opinion, and is unaccomplished member of this chamber. i hold him in hi esteem, but on this issue if that is how he feels, i strongly disagree. caitriona: on your own intentions to push back, how can the democratic party get a

handle to close ranks on this and do with the president says, which is get behind him when he is running? sen. fetterman: joined together. or you are helping elect trump to his second term. that is a fact. joe biden wonhe primary. if anyone thought they would be that person, the iron throne, they could have tried. caitriona: do you have any doubt joe biden will be the democratic nominee? sen. fetterman: i am absolutely committed to that. i hope people realize this is the president, this is our gu our nominee. he is entitled to take this to november because he has been a great president and is the only person who has ever beaten trump and will do that again. for the last time, i want people

to understand, it will be close. some polls will be up, some will be down. but the real poll will be election day when people are confronted with the idea, do we want that kind of mess and depravity and program 2025 with trump, or do you want a great president and great economy, and nation we can be proud of? caitriona: the un security council is set to meet tuesday to discuss a russian air strike that hit kyiv's main children's hospital monday. it was part of a barrage of russian attacks that took place across ukraine, in total killing at least 36 people. in kyiv, it is estimated 60% to 70% of the hospital was destroyed. emergency services have been trying to clear the rubble by hand to find survivors. hospital officials td ukrainian television about 20 children were being treated.

kyiv's mayor described it as one of the worst attacks on the capital since the start of the war. ukrainian president zelenskyy calls to retaliate, while the kremlin denied targeting civilians. our correspondent has been following developments and joins us now from kyiv. what do we know about what happens in this attack? russia is blaming ukraine, ukraine is blaming russia. james: it is clear for the first time in a long time, we have seen a russian cruise missile, one that is fairly accurate, land in a building in central kyiv. we don't see it too often. this is the biggest children's hospital in ukraine, a place where organ transplants and cancer patients are treated.

we do not know. with these russian missile strikes there may be a military element, but what is clear at best is, the russians are satisfied with this level of collateral damage where civilians and children in this case lose their lives. some of these children were cancer patients, children fighting for their lives already. we have a searing attack. every once in a while you have a missile strike that stands out against the backdrop of this grueling invasion, which has a strange rhythm. ukrainians talk about a weight on their soldiers, sirens and explosions that follow. we can see sizable devastation in kyiv. residential buildings hit as well. a separate maternity ward was hit in an eastern city and mo than 40 missiles were launched overnight and this morning. in a week where the hungarian

prime minister orban traveled to moscow to try to take part in a peace mission. today shows where moscow is on that endeavor. ukraine has promised to retaliate. what does that mean? we do not yet know. but given ukraine is allowed to use missiles provided by the u.s. on targets like russia, it has reasons to be hawkish. caitriona: is there likely to be a response from the international community? we have heard some describe it as a war crime. james: yes, that is coming from the united nations. they are appalled. they talked about the shock of the hospital being targeted. the new u.k. government has also condemned what happened and called for those responsible to be held to account. what u cares about is the nato summit in washington, d.c. tomorrow. it is a summifor ukraine --

where military help will be discussed. russia has been described trying to intimidate the west ahead of the meeting. i think ukraine faintly hopes some nato members might look at what happened today and think, we need to speed up ukraine's access to the alliance. i think it is a distant prospect, not least because of russia's increased invasion and the kremlin knows that. caitriona: thank you. as you heard james mention, the attacks in ukraine come on the eve of a major international summit in washington. speaking at the pentagon, stoltenberg denied the recent bombardment. that ukraine will not become a member at this summit but they will take steps toward its membership. zelenskyy is expected to be in attendance. if ukraine joins, nations will

be obligated to assist ukraine in the event of an attack. nato leaders are expected to discuss a potential second trump presidency, amid questions over biden's leadership, as well as political uncertainty in europe following the french and european union elections. ahead of the summit, sumi has been speaking to some representatives. one is the chair of the house affairs committee. she asked chairman mccall what needed to be achieved at the nato summit. >> i would take restrictions off that i put in the supplemental. rocket fires are coming across the border from russia, primarily toward kyiv, yet jake sullivan will not allow ukraine to use everything it has to win

this fight. right now they have one hand tied behind their backs. i have asked them repeatedly to lift that restriction. i met with president zelenskyy in paris and singapore and he had a cry for help to change the rules. they change the policy about feinberg cross the border, but limited weapons that can achieve that goal. >> do you think this needs to be an imptant part of discussion with nato allies this week? >> i had a discussion with stoltenberg and he expressed. for ukraine getting the ability to use any weapons they receive to defend themselves and hit valid military targets in russia. they have to be able to take the fight to russia as russia is attacking them from russia.

i think this will be an important step. >> are you confident that would allow ukraine to win? >> they are fighng with restrictions. if you remove the restrictions, you will increase their ability to be successful. >> this comes at the same time we have seen viktor orban of hungary travel to russia to meet with putin and then china to meet with xi jinping. what do you think of a nato ally traveling to these countries and having these meetings? >> it is disturbing. i am all for heads of state having meetings, but these are top two adversaries. chairman xi and putin had an unholy alliance that led to the increased -- invasion of ukraine. and then the ayatollah. i am not sure what they talked about or if it was productive, but the appearance from a nato

ally. >> doesn't undermine the coat -- pro-ukraine coalition in nato? >> i do think leaders have to make the best decisions for them as to who they meet with and have discussions with. at the same time there has been a slow response from hungry -- hungary. this is a successful meeting of nato. sweden and finland will be fully seated. what an outcome that thwarts putin's efforts to contain nato, that nato has a long border as a result of his own work. i do think the alliance is working, nato is working. that is what is important. >> the one outcome in china is, china is calling on world powers including nato allies meeting in washington to help russia and ukraine sit at the table and negotiate.

viktor orban supporters say he is the only world leader trying to bring them to the table. what is your response? >> it may end up in a cease-fire, but now is not the time. right now ukraine does not have leverage at the negotiating table because of these restrictions. if they would permit the use, full use, the goal would be to push russians as far out as possible then call for a cease-fire and have a negotiation. former president trump talked about how he would negotiate this, but i think ukraine has to have the leverage. they need some victories if they want support from the american people. >> what plan do think nato allies need to have to ensure there is a path toward resolution to this conflict? >> the alliance has been unified both in its support and condemnation of russia. certainly in the provisions of weapons, having recently

approved the new supplementhat provides u.s. support for ukraine. at this point it is that the issue of, how will these weapons be used, how can ukraine defend itself, what intelligence do they need so they can be more successful. they have the will to fight and are doing an incredible job defending their country under amazing odds and difficulties. they should not be doing it under restrictions. caitriona: political uncertainty in france after this weekend's runoff elections resulted in a hung parliament. the french prime minister handed in his resignation monday but macron asked gabriel attal to stay in temporarily to ensure stability. sunday's results were seen as a victory for the left front which emerged in first place after a second round of voting, pushing the far-right rally into third. mr. macron's party came in

second place but it means no single party has an outright majority alone to govern in parliament, putting the country on the path of months of lyrical gridlock. our correspondent has more on fallout from the election and sent this report from paris. reporter: what comes the day after the party? the cleanup, literally here, which looks virtually spotless compared to what we saw last night when there were celebrations everywhere, people refusing to climb down from the statue, a symbol of liberty, equality and fraternity in france. but also figuratively. no single party swept up the majority of the votes. the new popular front, on alliance formed between different parties to keep the far-right at bay, keep them from taking over government, may have succeeded, but they now have to figure out what comes next and how they govern. who will they propose to become

prime minister? the greens, the socialist and communist party. and how will macron react? will they stay committed to the program they proposed when they formed this alliance? that idea of fraternity will be put to the test. caitriona: let's turn to other important news. india prime minister modi arrived in moscow monday for a two day visit where he will meet putin. it is mr. modi's first foreign trip since winning reelection last month and part of the annual summits between delhi and moscow that ben in 2000. it coincides with the nato summit in washington. the u.s. has raised concerns with india about its relationship with russia. hurricane beryl was downgraded to a tropical storm monday after making landfall in texas as a category one hurricane with

heavy winds and powerful rains. officials say at least two people were killedear houston. more than 2.6 million people are without power. beryl cost at least 10 deaths after leaving destruction through mexico and the caribbean. boeing will plead guilty to a criminal fraud conspiracy charge after the u.s. government determined the company violated an agreement that allowed it to avoid prosecution as it dealt with the fallout of two deadly crashes by its 737 planes that killed 436 passengers and crew. the deal will allow boeing to avoid a criminal trial. the settlement must now be approved by a judge. before we go, scientists discovered a planet 64,000 light-years away not only known for its deadly weather, but its smell of rotten eggs. data suggests its atmosphere

contains hydrogen sulfide. it offers scientists new clues about sulfur, a building block of planets, might influence element outside our solar system. find out about the days news at our website bbc.com/news. see what we are working on anytime by checking us out on social media. that is it for today. thank you for wat announcer: funding for presentation of this program is provided by... financial services firm, raymond james. announcer: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation, pursuing solutions f america's neglected needs. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ announcer: "usa today" calls it, "arguably the best bargain in streaming."

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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. xfinity internet. made for streaming. ♪ >> good evening. i'm geoff bennett. amna nawaz is away. president biden pushes back on congressional democrats calling for him to step aside telling them it's time for the speculation to end. france face potential political paralysis as no party