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woman: two retiring executives turn their focus to greyhounds, giving these former race dogs a real chance to win. a raymond james financial advisor gets to know you, your purpose, and the way you give back. fe 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" >> this is bbc world news america. >> we're not giving up onhat. >> u.s. president joe biden says he'll press russia to release another american jailed in russia after an historic prisoner swap. venezuela claims the u.s. is behind a coup attempt after the

biden administration say the opposition won a disputed presidential election. a top long islander of hamas is buried in qatar after he was killed in a blast in teheran. it comes over concerns over retaliation. >> they know that potentially they're standing on the brink of a much wilder regional conflict. ♪ >> welcome to world news america. after the largest prisoner exchange between russia and the west since cold war, u.s. president joe biden told reporters that the white house will continue to pressure russia to release another american left out of that deal. american mark foegele was detained by russia in 20 1 accused of snuggling christophe demargerie into the country. he was sentenced to 14 years in prison. he was an english teacher.

his family urged the biden administration to prioritize the release of the 63-year-old. we're learning more about how this complex 24-person exchange that secured the release of three americans unfolded. the three arrived in the u.s. state of maryland late on thursday. >> president biden ininvited the families of the released americans to the oval office. >> i'm not as good as your families are feeling. they're all standing around the oval office desk here. >> they were counting the minutes to their return. >> when they landed just outside washington, evan gerschkovich appeared when haven't harris was distracted. he's behind you. this was a good day for president biden. he hasn't had many lately and an even better one for the

families. the "wall street journal" reporter hadn't forgotten the prisoners he'd left behind in russia. >> i just spent a month in prison and basically everybody i sat with was a political prisoner. >> he was jailed for spying, which he done ad during a two-week visit to russia in 2018. >> i feel great. i'm glad to be bam. >> a russian american journalist was arrested in june of last year. her husband said because she'd written a book about americans opposed to the w in ukraine. >> they were asked to do things against their immediate self-interests and very difficult for them to do. particularly jeremy and slo slovenia. >> slovenia released a couple

who had spied. they'd am been told they were russians on the plane. germany freed is a deep krasikov in the jogging suit. putin has set a precedent arresting foreign citizens as a way to exert pressure on an enemy. >> two of the most high protile russian disdent freed in art in of that deal said they refused officials' plea to praise vad vladimir putin for releasing them. let's hear from one vladimir kara-murza.

>> this is just a drop in the ocean, those freed yesterday. so many are being health in terror tour conditions only for the crime of speaking the truth, for the only crime of opposing a war, of opposing a dictator. >> joining me now is hailey stevens from her district in michigan where one of those freed is one of her con stitch went. what's been your reaction for the freeing finally after so many years of paul wheelen. have been spoken to him? >> i have not spoken to paul but i am elated, overjoyed. the community is rejoicing respecting that paul is probably inundating and just acclimating. you heard him yesterday say i

just want a steak dinner. i am hoping that paul got his steak dinner after 2,048 days in detention in russia. just a remarkable perseverance. we never lost faith and hope. almost three years ago to the day i had a press conference with some colleagues in front of the capital calling on colleagues to release paul. i can't wait to see him with his family and we are going to be be here wer with him as he continues to rebuild his life. >> how difficult of a process was this for paul and his

family? >> i have so much respect for fall whelan. he has a remarkable career in the michigan manufacturing automotive space. he was in a global sign cybersecurity role. there are people who i know who remember working with him in various jobs and he had the foresight through some of the hardest days of all this to see the big picture, to communicate appropriately and where he could. there are reports coming out now that he was a little bit of a trouble maker in the right ways in terms of just sticking to his guns but also navigating that circumstance and we can't forget the psychological pressure put on him by the russians. giving him a rater, depreviewing him of reading material. only speaking to him in russian

when he wasn't fluent and then on our end it was knowing what levers to know and when. in detainment has gone through two beneficial administrations, a global pandemic. rush i-'s illegal warp in ukraine. i believe that paul whelan was the canary to putin's lawlessness. i've been battling pausen since my first day in office which began just shortly after paul was unjustly detained and he has chand the world and he has changed the face of this country. we've passed laws to recognize designate wrongful detention day and recognize those hostages. resources for families like his who've spent so much time and money navigating throughout the

federal government and we have so much more to do. >> you mentioned the word deter. you're the co-chair of the congressional hostage task force. there are some who believe that doing deals like this with a country like russia will only encourage countries like russia to take more people into hostage in hopes of getting more deals. what do you make of this argument? >> president biden and vice president harris pulled together the international delegation of stakeholders of leaders to secure this release. as you mentioned, 24, the largest prisoner swap in history and yes, it is unfair to see truly innocent people who have not gone through a fair and just system get swapped out for people who have really committed crimes. sax, as jake soul have been

reminded us yesterday. our fellow countrymen and women are holm. they were home and i believe in russia engaged in this wrongful detention for a number of reasons. it was l political ploys, to embarrass the u.s. to. showcase some of their positioning and sure, putin looks like a hero in his own country for getting these criminals back home but we had to do what it really took and i really trust biden and harris in what they did to secure these releases >> hailey stevens, thank you. venezuela's government says that washington is leading a coup attempt against the country's president nikola maduro by saying he lost last week's election. the opposition says it

independently collected results from polling stations which showed their candidate gonzalez far ahead with 57%. anthony blinken posted this on x -- the democratic opposition candidate eduardo gonzalez won the motives votes. zen of venn quailens have voted and their votes must count but mexico's path told reporters on thursday the nations should be caution in calli the election for one candidate or another. more than 1,000 anti-government protesters have been arrested since preliminary results were announced on monday. >> these people desperaly want answers. where are their families? what is happening to them? are they in here? this woman spots a relative

inside. all of them doctor relatives who were arrested in anti-government protests. the son of isabella was one of them. >> the national guard grabbed my son unjustly because he was not harming anyone. my son did not have stones, did not have weapons. he only protested. they beat him. they're accused him of being a terrorist for defending their country, for wanting a change. >> through tears she told me she just wanted a better future for their children and the country. >> i haven't been able to see him or pass him food. i can't even hand him his clothes. i don't know if he has been beaten on if he has bathed, if

he has eaten. there's so much misery. many people eating in the streets, many people dying in hospital. my daughter and son left university because there are no teachers. i have a granddaughter or died on december 6th last year because there was no oxygen, no medical supplies in the hospitals. >> people inside aren't allowed private lawyers. in a country where the judiciary and public lawyers are controlled by the government. >> the public defender is part of the state. it's the whole state. the tribunals, the prosecutor, the public defender. a -- an inbalance of justice. the one who accuses you is the one kuo defends you. >> fear gas and rubber bullets fired at protesters by armed

police and military. tires, cars and rushish set on fire. president maduro accused the opposition of starting a coup. >> this is all directed by those who to take responsibility. it's not just criminal because of the violence but because they look for criminals to attack their own people. >> mass arrests and detentions are nothing new in this cotry. there were hundreds of political prisoners in venezuela, even bere theelection. but now that looks it evidentable to increase. the fear of punishment expanding. "bbc news" in caracas. >> more with our latin america regional director at the information for electoral systems. u.s. secretary of state blinken

saying there was overwhelming evidence that the opposition won in election. what does your organization see there on the ground? do you agree with that assessment? >> thank you for the opportunity to be here. definitely. this has been, and i can say, this has been the biggest fraud or bigged election in latin america's democratic history. we saw this coming up. we saw how it was leading as an uneven and unfair playing field venezuela.position in you saw candidates that got disqualified. there were limitations for people to register, particularly those overseas and of course, no international observation at all. so we saw in leading up and then finally the result. we all knew that this was going to happen. if you go back to the 2018

elections, those were highly questioned, that was the first election to have president madieuo. in 2004, president chavez's first recall referendum, there were small inclinations that the numbers were inverted in favor of the president so we knew that this was a big possibility, not only the obstacles that were put in place but also the possible that they wod not respect the outcome. >> the u.s. has said gonzalez is the winner of that election but mexico criticizing the move saying that this risks regional stability. what do you make of that? should countries be recognizing gonzales as the winner? >> this is very important and has us in latin america completely split. we saw the country that is congratulated maduro's victory. cuba, honduras. no surprises there but then

mexico reeks ks maduro, brazil and colombo and it's surprising. they say they respect the self-determination of the people and they clearly aren't in mexico. brazil telling president ma dewaro saying he should respect the results no matter the outcome but now we're seeing a less critical position and siding with him and there's one country that suffers immediately the impact is colombia. so you should not see this this the dip raptic lens but rather than the human rights lens. there are others. argentina, worldwide, panama and

of course the devicer recognizing the opposition leaders as the winners of this opposition. >> you touched on this a bit something you said recently.ou you said that the alleged fraud in venezuela didn't happen overnight. that it's a systemic and prolonged process. explain what you meant by that. >> correct. frauds are not done on election day. well, in this case it was clearly diana because there was a clear alteration of the election results. but usually what you do is you take every provision to avoid losing your power, losing the government and to make it impossible for anybody else to win the election. one clear example is to capture the institutions of a country. as you know, the institutions, the course, the secondary -- supreme courts and secondary

courts in venezuela and in this case the national elections council bivenezuela has been courted by the regime since a long time ago. from was a small moment of hope with the previous board which was finally selected by the national assembly where two opposition members came in. but what happened less than six months ago? they dismantled that board and elected a new one completely full of political cronies close to the regime unfortunately. so what we're seeing is a complete lack of democratic principles and electoral principles on election day. >> thank you. a funeral ceremony has been he would in altar for the hamas

leader ismail afrikka hardy who was killed on monday. haniyeh's coffin was taken to a cemetery when he was buried in a simple ceremony. palestinian and -- have both called for revenge against israel. >> it's quiet here on the south of tel aviv. people are at home but are uneasy. they know that potentially they're standing on the brink of a much wider political contract. there have been a number of similar incidents. when it looked as those the war

could explode into a much wider conflict but this is, without doubt, a more variance and fant moment. talks are going on mostly behind the scenes to try and defuse the tension. many flights into israel and some others have been canceled or delayed. it's reported that israeli ministers have been sent home with satellite phones for the weekend for use in any kind of attack which takes out communication networks. it feels as though the world is watching right now and perhaps it's worthying about two groups of people whose voices have become somewhat lost in the politi of all of this. they are, of course, the people of gatsa, for whom any prospect of cease-fire seems as rehot as ever and the families of israeli

hostages still being kept by hamas who know the prospects of being united with their loved ones anytime soon seems remote. >> protests in nigeria protesting economic inflation and hunger. >> a couple hundred of people have turned out here on the second day of nationwide protests, despite the news that 13 people died and many others were injured on the first day of the protests. authorities in several states across the northern region of nigeria have imposed a curfew. protesters in one state tried to make that curfew but they were quickly dispersed by soldiers.

there's a heavy police presence in those states and here and we have observed military personnel on standby but it has been mostly demon confrontational. protesters here are sharing speeches. they are calling for the end of what they say is a bad governance in this country and the economic hardship they're say many nigerians are spacing. >> the acting u.s. secret service chief revealed fresh communication failures that allowed former president trump's would-be assassin to fire shots. the secret service failed that day and planned to enact changes. the acting director disclosed that local law enforcement had radioed out an armed threat on the roof but that message never rehed the secret service. >> we didn't have access to

certain information, not by anybody's fault. it just so happened that there was a sense of urgency that there mike radio traffic that we missed. we have to do a better job of that. there was somebody who radioed out that they had seen an individual with a weapon. that vital piece of information, and by no fault of anyone -- it was a very stressful situation. it did not make it over. >> let's look at other stories making headlines. u.s. vice president kamala harris earned enough support from democratic delegates during a virtual roll call on friday to earn her the presidential nomination. she will address her party in economic later this month. u.s. runner grant fisher kicked down the olympic track to take the bronze middal. he becomes just the fourth american in history to ever

medal in that event. a ugandan runner won the event, setting a new record in the process. bbc.com/news is where you can find all our news all the time. we leave you with pictures from paris and the olympics. that is the olympic cauldron prepare technology lift off into the paris night sky with the eiffel tower there in the background. thank you f 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 for america's neglected needs. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

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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 bennet. amna nawaz is away. on the "newshour," economic warning signs. slower job growth and rising unemployment put more pressure on the federal reserve to cut interest rates. american who is were detained