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we report on the buildup of elite forces putting pressure on vladimir putin. the infectious disease mpox is an emergency in africa. welcome to world news america. we start with breaking news from the middle east. the new york times reports hamas says it will not take part in a new round of cease-fire talks scheduled for thursday. they are citing hamas' representative in lebanon. the meeting was set to take place thursday with qatar, egypt and the u.s. mediating. it is understood sticking points include unresolved differences over last-minute demands presented by netanyahu and a looming military escalation that comes as hamas says it fired two rockets at the israeli city of tel aviv. explosions were heard but there

were no casualties reported. it has been three months since hamas targeted tel aviv, deep inside israel. hamas released footage of what it says shows the firing of the rockets towards the city. antony blinken postponed his visit to the middle east. he was expected to be in the region ahead of cease-fire talks thursday between israel and hamas. the u.s. has been pushing for both parties to return to the negotiating table. world leaders scrambled to de-escalate tensions. iran and hezbollah are vowing to avenge last months killings of a leader and a top commander. let's talk about this with this -- the former special envoy for middle east issues. thank you for joining us. from the new york times, citing a hamas official saying the group is refusing to take part

in a new round of negotiations because israel is not negotiating in good faith. what are your thoughts? >> we will judge things by what happens on thursday rather than statements and reports but it is critical that a cease-fire takes place quickly. it is critical for the sake of palestinians in gaza, for the sake of regional stability and it will be perhaps the key step if it can be achieved, and avoiding an escalation on israel's northern border with respect to hezbollah and iran. i will make a broad point, a regional conflict is not inevitable. but miscalculation that comes through escalation is always a significant risk. the cease-fire we believe, our partners in the region believes strongly, is the way to go about achieving all of the goals that are important here, ending the

suffering, stopping the fighting and avoiding that risk of escalation. that should be on hezbollah and hamas' minds right now as well as iran. >> we have seen the urgency. the u.s., egypt and qatar pushing for talks. antony blinken canceled a trip to the middle east. what do you think of the messaging we have seen from the u.s. and allies on putting pressure on both sides? what is this about publicly putting both sides on record to try to get them back to the table? >> what you have been watching is an extraordinary exercise in preventive or preemptive diplomacy. it is rallying regional, international parties together on a single line, a single position that a cease-fire is critical now to avoid any number of potential negative outcomes for the palestinians, for the

region, for the international community. it is not just the message. it is the other steps. these extraordinary deployments of u.s. military assets to the region. two carrier groups to be present in the region, additional fighter aircraft, nuclear submarine, guided missile frigates and destroyers, this is all part of the fundamental preemptive, preventative step to try to avoid an escalation, whether intended or not, that could produce a negative outcome. >> can you help us understand where things stand in negotiations? hamas has said it wants to go back to the state of negotiations a month and a half ago. israel said it would send negotiators to thursday's talks. what is in the way at the moment? >> the parties made clear, there have always been outstanding issues on how implementing mechanisms are to work. how you go from phase one of a

cease-fire agreement with the release of certain but not all hostages, the release of some palestinian prisoners, certain israeli defense force redeployments, to the next phase and beyond that, to the third phase, which would really be in a way, a day after phase for reconstruction and stabilization . how do you make this work between the phases? what are the assurances you need from all parties to make this happen? that has always been outstanding. the differences, the issues that remain to be resolved, are all of them address-able but only in the course of direct negotiations, which is why the message you have been hearing is as clear as it has been. hamas needs to show up on thursday. no palestinian interest is served if this fighting goes on,

or if there is a general regional escalation. >> how is iran looking at this? we saw a rare phone call, the ui -- the u.k. prime minister calling the new iranian president, urging him to stand down. the prime minister -- the president said it was their right to retaliate. one of the possibility of negotiations going forward? >> iran is reflecting extremely carefully on where it's strategic interests lie. the risks, intended or not, of an escalation that harms iran is not in the interest of the new president and administration or the supreme leader the same for hezbollah and their leader. what happens if their actions create a cycle of responses that creates damage to the critically

affected lebanese national economy society? who is to blame for that? hezbollah and iran will be held to blame. both parties, hezbollah and iran, have to reflect, and i think are reflecting carefully, on what they do and how, if at all, they do it. i will come back to the cease-fire. those decisions we talked about, all of them can be, we hope, put aside if a cease-fire can be achieved promptly. >> good to get your perspective, ambassador. thank you for joining us tonight. as the middle east remains on alert, there is widespread condemnation of a visit by israel's national security minister to the compound around a mosque in jerusalem. he was accompanied by supporters

to the site, which is known as the temple mount. non-muslims are allowed to visit, but there is a ban on carrying out religious activities there. no to ukraine where president zelenskyy says he is country controls 74 russian settlements after its incursion over the border. officials say ukraine doesn't want to occupy russian territory but it will continue its military action until moscow agrees to peace. over the last 24 hours ukraine's military says its troops have been advancing, with forces move -- moving 1-3 kilometers forward into russian territory. russian officials have open shelters across the country to accommodate the estimated 30,000 people evacuated from towns and cities along the border. 121,000 people have left their homes since the incursion began a week ago. troops have been entering russian territory from ukraine's sumy region. that is where we find our

correspondent. >> the central square, ukrainian armored vehicles drive through a russian town. it is a military inversion that has restored momentum and morale to the ukrainian war effort. instead of directing events in ukraine, moscow is reacting to surprises at home. more of its kursk region is falling in dramatic changes. we have been to this russian supermarket, and the selection isn't good, remarks this soldier. >> slava ukraini! >> russia is struggling to contain the offensive but it is trying. across the border in ukraine's sumy region, evidence ukraine is deploying its best troops for a goal that is unclear. military equipment is branded

with a triangle, the symbol of its operation. ukraine is committing to this gamble, but success might not come here with the capturing of territory across the border. it may come elsewhere, where russian forces might be forced to redeploy. if the gamble doesn't pay off, the consequences for ukraine's war effort could be catastrophic. for border villages habitually hit by russian bombs, there is no fear of moscow's response. >> i warned them to take it and do this. >> russia attacked first, not us. now our guys responded, showed what we are capable of. if we had permission to do this earlier, we would have captured russia a long time ago. >> in the city of sumy, evacuees give details to being re-housed.

across the border, tens of thousands have been moved after an increase in airstrikes. ukraine has benefited from secrecy but it's civilians, less so. at this judo class, people seek to use their opponents power against them. effectively, what ukraine's forces are doing 50 km away. quick thinking can work both ways. russia is still the bigger fighter and could grapple to regain its balance. james waterhouse, bbc news, sumy region. >> for more, i spoke to ambassador john sullivan, former ambassador to russia. ukraine isn't showing any signs of pulling out of course, but a spokesperson set unlike russia, kyiv doesn't need what belongs to someone else, indicating kyiv doesn't intend to stay. what do you think the incursion

into russian territory is about? >> i think it is a vigorous punch back from a country that has been devastated by a war that the russian federation unleashed on ukraine in 2024. they found a weakness in the russian line, the defense of the russian federation and have occupied a huge amount of russian territory. embarrassed president putin and the russian military. and it is a serious problem for russia. at a momentum -- minimum, russia would have to move troops and equipment that would cause destruction and kill people in ukraine, to address the problem that the ukrainians are presenting in the russian homeland. >> this might be an attempt to create a bargaining chip for ukraine. ukraine's foreign minister said it would -- continue the incursion until moscow agrees to peace. we spoke to nina, who thought the prospect of peace after the incursion is further away.

do you think this might have been a gamble by ukraine that was too big of a risk? >> i don't. i think we have heard president putin himself say this is an attempt by the ukraine to get a bargaining chip. my reaction, that is a russian euphemism. they called it a war, a special military operation. they told the world that there best ship had a fire on board that caused an explosion and it sank and everyone on board was saved. we know that isn't true. this is an invasion of the russian adoration by ukraine in a war started by russia. to characterize it as a bargaining chip -- >> you said this embarrassed president putin. how do you anticipate he will respond? >> this reminds me of a little over a year ago, you will recall

the promotion -- yevgeny prigozhin, my expectation is that putin will address the problem presented today by ukraine in russia, the same way he addressed the yevgeny prigozhin mutiny. he will move troops and equipment to crush as best he can the russian troops in rush -- the ukrainian troops in russia. if that requires slowing the pace of russian military operations in ukraine, in the special military operations, so be it. this has to be the ukrainian incursion into russia has to be his highest priority. just like when dealing with yevgeny prigozhin, that was. another example of weakness in the russian system causing embarrassment and security

problems for pollutant. >> you served as ambassador under president trump. many questions are asked about what a second trump administration might mean for the war in ukraine. the former president said he has a plan to end the war on day one. you have a -- do you have a sense of what the plan might be? could it succeed? >> the only indication i have seen in any detail that i take seriously as an op-ed published by the former secretary of state, my former boss mike pompeo in the wall street journal. it was probably a couple weeks ago. it detailed a serious proposal to establish first a cease-fire with no concession that the territory russia has conquered in this aggressive war can be assimilated, the united states or ukraine or the international

system will acknowledge russian sovereignty over that conquered territory. most importantly, combining that cease-fire with massive support to ukraine in a new lease program i think is the way secretary pompeo characterized it. and a path forward eventually for ukraine into nato. it is a path forward coming from the republican side. from an authoritative voice, secretary pompeo, who was of course president trump's second secretary of state. >> senior health officials in africa declared a public health emergency over mpox. cases of the disease, known as monkeypox previously, spread quickly this year. data released by the africa cdc show at least 887 new confirmed

and suspected cases have been reported in the past week, bringing the total for the year to 15,132. 16 african countries reported cases, including the democratic republic of congo which has more than 90% of the recorded infections. 400 61 people in africa have died from mpox this year. our west africa correspondent has more. >> the rapid spread and high fatality rate of the disease over the last few months are two reasons why the africa centers for disease control has declared this a public health emergency. it is to prompt african governments to mobilize resources and coordinate their response. this would include ensuring adequate medical aid and medical supplies are available in affected areas, increasing surveillance at airports, and increasing public awareness, perhaps through public health campaigns. the director general of the

africa cdc says lessons have been learned from covid and this time, they won't wait for the rest of the world to help, but will be proactive. the african union has already approved a 10 million u.s. dollar package to supplement the efforts. the who has convened an emergency committee to discuss whether the outbreak is of international concern. this strain of mpox is highly infectious. there have been 14,000 cases this year so far and 400 50 deaths. it causes skin lesions, rashes and flulike symptoms. these can be resolved within 2-4 weeks but the disease can be fatal, with four out of 100 cases leading to death. the africa cdc have said at least 10 million doses of the mpox vaccine are needed on the

continent, but only 200,000 are available. they have said they are discussing with international partners on solutions for the continent. >> the head of the fire service in greece says there are not any more widespread fires in athens but firefighters are on alert. milder winds and efforts by emergency services helped get the blaze under control. the fire started sunday northeast of the capital and burned an estimated 10,000 hectares of land. at least two people were killed. the eu said it is mobilizing support for greece. our correspondent sent us this report. >> the skies around athens are no longer smoke-filled as firefighters battle the remaining hotspots. in the skies tonight we have been able to see just in the last few minutes, water bomber planes which scoop up water and drop it over the affected areas.

a helicopter as well. soon they will have to land for the night. they are not allowed to fly during the nighttime hours for safety reasons. this is of course a blaze that began on sunday, to the northeast of athens. the cause of the fire, still not known. investigations are underway. compensation measures have been announced for the many households and businesses affected. there has been criticism of the response, including from people i have spoken to who say wildfires are hitting greece year after year. they feel there is an adequate resources in terms of underfunding, they say, of the fire service to deal with that. the government has been defending its response, saying it was rapid after the fire broke out but they were also dealing with very difficult conditions, including drought, pine forest all around, highly flammable and high winds and

heat. one expert i spoke to said this was one of the biggest wildfires to hit the greater athens area in a decade. >> here in the u.s., the united auto workers union is filing a role labor charges against donald trump and elon musk over what the union calls attempts to threaten and intimidate workers. during a discussion on x, with mr. musk monday, trump said striking workers shouldn't be tolerated and should possibly face termination, against federal labor laws. it was one of many topics they touched on in a conversation where the presidential nominee made a number of -- unsubstantiated claims. elon musk endorsed trump. we have been checking those statements. verifies -- jake, good to see you. let's start with the economy. what donald trump said. >> it was a colossal interview and a range of topics were

discussed. one that trump came back to was the economy, in particular inflation. during the interview he said inflation in the u.s. was the worst it had been in 100 years. inflation is an issue in the u.s. and it has been rising under president biden, but it is not the worst in 100 years. it hit a peak of just over 9% back in december of 2022. but it has been higher than that in the last 40 years. it was last that high in 1981, so trump is exaggerating what he says -- when he says it is the worst and 100 years. that highlighted -- he highlighted particular groups hit badly by inflation. he highlighted bacon which, the price had risen four or five times over in a few years. the price of bacon has risen. it is up 17% since trump left office. that is nowhere near four or

five times like trump said. a fair amount of overestimation and exaggeration in both his points around the economy and inflation. >> what about immigration? >> this is a familiar theme, a campaign theme he comes back to. in the interview he said he thought 20 million people had crossed over the border illegally into the u.s. while biden has been in office, since the start of 2021. immigration numbers are high under biden. they have hit record levels, although they have come down recently. we don't know exactly how many people have entered the u.s. illegally, but we do know official statistics are way off the 20 million number trump put out when he was speaking to elon musk. according to border officials, the amount of migrants crossing illegally into the u.s., which

have been counted over the last three and a half years since biden came into office, is just over 10 million, with the vast majority, about 8 million, coming across the southern border. trump said he thought millions were crossing every month. there have been high numbers, although they have come down recently, but according to official data, it has never reached a million per month. >> jake, great to have you on world news america tonight. that is our program. do stay with bbc 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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geoff: good evening. i'm geoff bennett. amna: and i'm amna nawaz. on the "newshour" tonight, democratic vice presidential nominee tim walz hits the