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restores his father's historic jazz club with his son. a raymond james financial advisor get to know you, your passions, and the way you bring people together. life well planned. announcer: funding was also provided by, the freeman undation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation, pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. announcer: and now, "bbc news" >> i am sumi somaskanda in washington. this is bbc world news america. as volodymyr zelenskyy fires of the ukrainian air force commander russian strikes on kharkiv kill at least six people. vladimir putin is set to head to mongolia and israel said it killed a senior hamas commander

in the west bank as itmilitary operation there continues. welcome to world news america. ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy dismissed the commander of the country's air force after an f-16 fighter jet sent by nato allies crashed while shooting down russian missiles in ukraine. the pilot of the jet was killed. the cause of the crash is unknown. moscow launched a fresh attack on the ukrainian city of kharkiv. schelling hit a residential area killing at least seven people and injuring dozens more. the governor of the area said it was mass terrorism against a civilian population. >> ukrainian first responders have arrived at the site. they are looking for any other

residents remaining in the building. they are worried the apartment block damaged during the attack could collapse at any moment. the city of kharkiv is located just 30 kilometersrom the russian border. moscow targets the city on a regular basis using bombs, drums, and guided bombs. for many people in kharkiv their lives is russian roulette. each day, they can only guess who s what moscow will target next. today, russian bombs killed people in an apartment block. they also killed a 14-year-old girl at a playground. the guided bombs moscow used today to attack the car keys aren't as precise as cruise missiles or ballistic rockets. their main aim is to cause devastation. that is what the kremlin wants to achieve, kyiv says. therefore, they are asking their

partners to provide them long range weapons. president zelenskyy already responded to this attack by once again calling on partners to allow them to use these weapons to hit targets deep in russia. currently ukraine can't use u.s. provided weapons to hit deep into russia. ukrainian partners to say if they allow them to do so it will only escalate the war. however, ukrainian authorities say the weapons will only be used to hit military targets like airfields from where russian bombers take off to attack ukrainian cities. >> moscow is withdrawing 100 paramilitary troops from burkina faso to fight against ukraine. the officers from a russian private military company will support russian defense of its kursk region. 200 russian set on troops will

remain in burkina faso to help its military junta. saturday at least 300 people were killed in one of the worst jihadist attacks in burkina faso in years and russian president vladimir putin is said to travel to mongolia, the first time he will go to a country that's a signatory to the international critical court since it issued a warrant for his arrest claiming he committed war crimes. icc nations are instructed to arrest mr. putin upon arrival but the kremlin says it is not worried. the icc says it will look into any noncooperation by advising -- by mongolia. angela, great to see you. there's a lot to discuss. i want to start with vladimir putin heading to mongolia next week. what should we make of this? that the kremlin isn't concerned out the icc arrest warrant? >> if they work out a deal with

the mongolians that he won't be arrested it is showing the rest of the world that he can travel to countries part of this statute. the visit is to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the joint defeat in the bottle of japan by soviet and mongolian forces. mongolia announced recently it's not interested in participating in the power of siberia gas pipeline russia wants to build to connect china and russia. the russians aren't happy about this. i wonder if it will be one of the subjects of discussion when putin gets to mongolia. what's interesting point, angela. we saw russia withdraw 100 paramilitary officers from burkina faso. it why has it been so hard for russia to repel the incursion into kursk? >> the russians have not been willing to withdraw forces from

the eastern part of ukraine, the donbas region where they are making gains. ukrainians hope that is what would happen when they had the incursion into kursk, but it has not happened yet because the russians want to focus on taking a key city in ukraine. that is why they are redeploying troops. they had a border that was very poorly guarded and manned by conscripts, against russian law. now they want to fortify the border and push back against the ukrainian incursion. >> the incursion has boosted morale in ukraine and at the same time you are seeing news that volodymyr zelenskyy fired his air force chief. what do you make of this? >> unfortunately the ukrainians waited a long time to get the delivery of these a very advanced f-16 american fighter jets. it takes a long time to train people. they had at one of their best pilots flying that plane. unfortunately, as your reporter said, we don't know what happened. but the plane went down with the

part it was killed. it's not a good omen. i think the ukrainians will only get about 10 f-16s in the current supply of them. i think this is trying to reassure the ukrainian people he wants a more effective air force using these f-16 planes. >> we are seeing a ukrainian delegation including president zelenskyy's chief of staff and defense minister in washington holding talks. president zelenskyy said he would present president biden a victory plan when they meet next month. it do we know anything about what the plan might be? >> he has not given the specifics. clearly, as again, you reported, he would really like the united states and other european countries to allow ukraine to use long-range weapons to hit inside deeper into russia. because, he understands that by attacking russian air defenses and things like that, really that's the only way tt ukraine will continue to be able to push

back russian advances. so i think part of that plan it has to do with a more robust defense against russia. but otherwise he has not given other details. >> he says he wants to present the plan to president biden. the election is looming in november. how much do you think that will affect president zelenskyy and ukraine's strategy? >> they understand that vice president harris, as she said yesterday in her interview, supports president biden's policy. she supports ukraine. that's important. they also have to understand they have to reach out to people in the donald trump camp, in the donald trump campaign, in case he does win the presidency. as we know, he had his people have said they would pursue a rather different policy towards the russia/ukraine war and wouldn't support ukraine anymore. >> angela stent, thank you for joining us.

with the u.s. presidential election less than 10 weeks away, republican nominee donald trump is campaigning in the battleground state of pennsylvania. later, on friday, the former president will head to washington dc to speak at the annual gathering of moms for liberty a woman led conservative advocacy group. at a campaign event in michigan yesterday mr. trump said he supports having either insurance companies or the government cover in vitro fertilization treatments for women who need it. in february alabama supreme court ruled embryos created by ivf should be considered people. in a cnn interview friday jd vance defended mr. trump's pledge. >> is a ridiculous hypothetical. alabama, may be the most conservative state in the entire union, has protected access to fertility treatments. there is no state in the union, right-wing or left-wing, trying

to ban access to fertility treatments. if alabama is protecting this stuff it is safe to say the whole country is. >> senator vance is donald trump's running mate. in her interview with cnn thursday vice president harris focused on issues like securing the u.s. border, fracking, and inflation. it was at democratic nominees of first interview since president biden withdrew from the race. sitting beside her minnesota governor tim walz said he was excited about her plans and addressed controversial comments made in the past. the gap is narrowing between the political rivals as the 2020 for presidential race picks up momentum. ms. harris is neck and neck with mr. trump at 49 percent due to increased support in some swing states. we will talk about it with my panel, angela greco a progressive democrat strategist and a republican strategist at our solutions.

i want to start with the focus on ivf we saw from donald trump. what do you make of donald trump's statements that he wants either the government or insurance companies to provide coverage for ivf? would this possibly put him at odds with the more conservative wing and evangelicals in his party? >> it certainly would. what it is all about -- and we are seeing this from trump and harris -- of the race to the middle. trump knows he needs suburban women, independents to come his way. rit now harris is leading in the polls narrowly. it will be a neck and neck race. by talking about the issue in this way he is signaling he's willing to moderate his position. now, where will the antiabortion folks cope? they will likely vote for harris because she's pro-choice so either they stay home or vote for donald trump. she is taking that risk.

>> where do you think this leaves kamala harris and tim walz on this issue? they have tried to nail down jd vance and donald trump as being anti-ivf, damaging to a woman's right to choose autonomy over her own body. could that throw a wrench in that messaging? >> i agree about it being a race to the middle appealing to the wider public. on this particular issue we have a history and the democrats are trying to draw a contrast with donald trump. frankly, the history, the facts, the voting record speaks for itself. when you have candidates like kamala harris and tim walz talking about reproductive freedom, where the states currently are and the rollback of reproductive rights i think there is no comparison, no daylight between the two of them. one side tries to restore roe and maintain a reproductive freedom while the others are speaking from both sides of

their mouth because they know they are in trouble. the polling shows it and they are moving towards the middle because they know they have to. frankly i do not know if the voters will buy it because of the history of what they have fought for and proposed actually showing different results. >> the polls show the two neck and neck now. after the interview kamala harris and tim walz did what do you think she would need to do to move the needle with battleground states being such a focus? >> she needs to start talking about specifics regarding the economy, regarding the border, regarding issues americans really care about. i believe those are the top two issues right now. in the cnn interview she was really light on specifics. asked what she would do day one she talked about an opportunity economy. not a specific bill or a specific executive order. i think we will see a lot come

out during the debate. i think americans are wanting to see kamala harris for who she is , not just a scripted person. to me, getting the cnn interview was much more of a softball interview. she does have a voting record. by a colleague just talked about donald trump and jd vance having to answer for theirs. she has one too. i thought they were rather light on the follow-up questions regarding her positions. >> angelo and i want to ask you about battleground states. we see donald trump in pennsylvania while kamala harris and tim walz have been in georgia. what do you think about the state as they are focusing right after -- what do you think about the states they are focusing on right after the convention? >> in those battleground staff, there is staffing, not only

pouring in money in advertising those places, but ramping up on the ground operations. i think it makes sense. i think it will be a close race. arizona, georgia, pennsylvania, specifically. we saw for the first time since the 1990's a presidential candidate swing through savannah. they are making a play and making sure they are in every part of those states. >> ron, what do you think? they are certainly making a play for georgia. it seems like republicans, especially jd vance, are focusing on the rust belt and pennsylvania in particular. >> she is try to focus on different paths to victory. georgia will be more difficult. that is why she is there. she knows cities will come out for her, like atlanta. she trying to appeal to more rural constituencies, trying to shore that up. right now, the real states in play are pnsylvania, wisconsin , for example.

just those two states in particular, you never know where it will head. it could all boil down to pennsylvania. it will be very tight. we are talking about slivers of independents, tens of thousands of voters, not millions, that will make this decision. we saw this in 2020 and 2016. this is why they are focused on rust belt states. >> angelo, how high are the stakes for the debate september 10? >> very high. i want to go back to what my colleague said about kamala harris being light on the issues. if you listen to the interview, i disagree. she immediately talked about a new path forward, putting the donald trump era behind us and of the opportunity economy. which, if you do listen a little more, i would advise my colleague to understand, that is talking about price gouging. making sure inflation is tackled. really putting in an effort to the middle -- for the middle class to be expanded.

>> ron, angelo. we will have to continue the conversation at another time. thank you so much for both joining us. moving onto other news. four palestinians were killed in an israeli airstrike that hit a vehicle driving at the front of an aid convoy in the gaza strip. in a statement to the u.s.-based aid charity says the rented vehicle was driven by locals to help secure the aid convoy. the israeli military said the car had been seized by gunmen and alleged the four were militants. it follows a similar incident in which i world food program truck was struck just days ago. our state department correspondent tom bateman is what's us to discuss this. what happened? it is a very established u.s.-based a charity that has worked with palestinian refugees for many years. they were in charge of a convoy moving from the care of shalom crossing from israel taking food

to the iraqi red crescent hospital in rafa yesterday. that charity says the transport contractor they used on the ground was operating the convoy when some locals, four men they say had previously helped in securing such convoys, offered to take over the lead position, they said, because of the risk of looting. the charity says the people were invented. it was not part of coordination with israelis. after that, there was an israeli military strike firing of the vehicle could and four palestinians inside. israeli military says something different. they say gunmen seized a vehicle at the front of the convoy and had taken it over and therefore they targeted that vehicle and killed the people inside. so there was a discrepancy in the account. as for what the charity says, the head of the charity on a washington, d.c. said in the end it is a case of partners on the ground endeavoring to deliver aid successfully. he said it should end, the cost

of people's lives. >> what does this tell us about the precarious situations aid organizations on the ground face? >> it brings it back to the issue security around eight convoys, humanitarian convoys in gaza, and increasingly desperate situation. earlier in the conflict of the israeli started killing people that were securing convoys, saying these were effectively hamas operatives because they are the local police in gaza and of course because it is controlled by hamas. that angered the americans. they asked them to stop doing this because it was basically making the ability to deliver aid almost impossible. we had very serious fatal incidents around that. that is the first thing and that issue still has not been resolved. it brings it back to the chaos, the vacuum in gaza that makes it very difficult for aid groups to secure convoys. the other point is about the number of aid workers now killed, more than 280 in gaza since october.

that makes it, in recent years, at least, the deadliest conflict for humanitarian workers we have seen in recent years. >> thank you for that update. israel's military confirmed friday it killed a senior hamas commander on what is the third day of its operation in the occupied west bank. james lindell has more on israel's raid of the city of jenin in the west bank. >> most western governments make these comments that the israelis tend to ignore. unless the americans get involved. americans have stayed silent. that is because of the israelis are making it clear, hence their aprent success today talking up the killing of this hamas commander. there is a reason they are doing the raids. it is not without purpose. but i think that is a western european governments on criticizing the aims, but the means at the moment that they are concerned about.

the potential consequences. >> the supreme court of e u.s. state of maryland reinstated the murder conviction of avalon -- adnan syed after 20 years in prison fighting charges he killed his ex-girlfriend. it the prosecutors said he was wrongfully convicted of killing his girlfriend in 1989. the maryland supreme court's ruling means the case will now return to a lower court. mr. syed remains free in the meantime. tributes are pouring in for american hockey star johnny gaudreau after he had his brother matthew were killed when hit by a car. johnny gaudreau played for the columbus blue jackets and he and his brother were hit while driving on a rural road in new jersey.

in a statement following his the incident was "anckets said unimaginable tragedy" adding johnny gaudreau throat fans in -- thrilled fans in the way only johnny hockey could do. the afd built a strong base in the east and anger with his olaf scholz government is the surgeon especially after a night -- knife attack last weekend when three people were killed with the main suspect a syrian asylum seeker that had been facing deportation. >> boos and a shouts aimed at chancellor olaf scholz, among them, traitor, and warmonger. chancellor scholz hasn't been very visible during the campaign in the east. he is not exactly seen as an electoral assets. the reception for him here is mixed.

an argument in the ground. the man on the left supports the far-right alternative for deutschland. the man on the right does not. does germany feel divided to you? yes, they say, that is the one thing they can't agree on. some upbeat music. but, don't be fooled. there is tensionn germany, especially aroun immigration. it is feeding the afd's popularity. a party that is classed of by domestic intelligence as of right wing extremist. > people in germany aren't critical of the afd. they say they arscared of the afd. >> nobody wants to be called right-wing extremists or nazis. we make conservative policies but it's far from right-wing extremism. that is what people are told every day and they fall for it. >> life looks good here but

something is bubbling in the former communist east. what is driving the discontent? angst on issues ranging from immigration to germany sending weapons to ukraine, a deep frustration with the parties that have governed the country sent to reunification, and, a dissatisfaction amongst people in east germany about what reunification has or has not delivered. >> you can constantly see where the east begins and where the west begins. better infrastructure, better industry. that's more concentrated in the west. we are getting forgotten. >> konstantin who says he will support the afd pops on his german-made -- easter german-made f-16 moped. for years pride in the east has

been dented. many would dispute if the far-right is how to get it back but for here, that is where e momentum lies. >> that's our program. find more of the days news on our website bbc.com/news. to see what we are working on at any time check us out on your favorite social media sites. am sumi somaskanda in washington. i thank you for watching. stay with bbc news. 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. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ 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: and i'm amna nawaz. on the news tonight, kamala harris defends her policy shift as the democratic nominee. and reproductive rights once again become a focal point in the neck