i'm carl nasman in washington and this is bbc world news america. on his first domestic trip as president, donald trump visits two states hit hard by disasters — and says he might abolish the federal disaster relief agency. thousands of anti—abortion demonstrators march in washington — a day after president trump pardoned 23 abortion activists. and storm eowyn brings winds of over 100 miles per hour — one person has died and more than a million are without power in the uk and ireland. welcome to world news america. i'm carl nasman. on the fourth full day of his presidency, donald trump has visited hurricane—affected areas of north carolina and is flying

to wildfire—ravaged los angeles. the fires have killed 28 people and damaged at least 12,000 homes and businesses. but the president has suggested he might withold federal disaster assistance unless leaders there change the state's approach to its water management. he's also been visiting north carolina where hurricane helene killed more than 100 people in september. during that visit he again threatened to dismantle the us federal emergency agency, fema — saying it had turned out to be a disaster. i'll also be signing an executive order to begin the process of. fundamentally reforming and - overhauling fema or maybe getting rid of fema. i think frankly fema is not good. i think when you have a problem like this, i thank you want - ito go and, whether it's a democratl or republican governor, you want to use your state to fix . it and not waste time.

joining me is our north america correspondent gary 0'donoghue who is in california for us. let's start with what we are expecting from the president once he does land they in los angeles? irate does land they in los angeles? we know does land they in los angeles? - know he is going to be greeted by the governor, gavin newsom, and they are not the best of friends. they've called one another names, they have clashed at various points over the way the fires have been handled. the president blames him and other democrats for not putting the stuff fires out sooner and specifically blames them for, he says, not diverting water to the north of the state down to metropolitan areas like la and southern california here. now, they say there was plenty of water, there was not a problem with that. and there are of course repeating —— competing concerns over water in the state over farming come over environmentalism, over urban development. so he will get a tour of the palisades area just a little southeast of where i am in malibu.

he is going to have a roundtable with legislators including some democrats. but gavin newsom, the governor is not included in that. so once he's done that, he will head off to las vegas, which is the next stop of his tour.— stop of his tour. gary, we heard there while _ stop of his tour. gary, we heard there while the _ stop of his tour. gary, we heard there while the president - stop of his tour. gary, we heard there while the president was . stop of his tour. gary, we heard there while the president was a | there while the president was a north carolina earlier on this trip, donald trump discussing potentially attaching conditions on financial aid to california when it comes to the rebuilding effort there. what has been a reaction to that where you are? has been a reaction to that where ou are? ., ~' ., has been a reaction to that where ou are? ., ~ ., , ._ has been a reaction to that where ou are? ., 4' ., , ., you are? you know, the first day of his presidency _ you are? you know, the first day of his presidency come _ you are? you know, the first day of his presidency come he _ you are? you know, the first day of his presidency come he signed - you are? you know, the first day of his presidency come he signed an l his presidency come he signed an order saying putting people before fish, that was the title of it. and he is obsessed with this fish called the delta smelt, which is a small fish up in northern california which is dependent on freshwater and he says the authorities here have sort of the water for environmental reasons up in the north rather than pumping it to the south and suggesting that he might withhold federal money if they don't change

state policies. now, that is not something the governor is going to be able to do politically here, particularly in these second terms in these term limited and has national ambitions for the potential of the democratic nomination in 2028. so at the same time as all of that, carl, the governor is also asking for some money to be put aside by the state prosecutors here to go after the trump administration over other policies. so these two men are not going to see eye to eye, and in the meantime, you've got tens of thousands of angelenos and others who have lost their homes, lost their everything, wondering where their everything, wondering where the money is going to come from eventually so that they can rebuild. you talk about money in the way the states rebuild. we've also heard the president being very critical today of fema, the federal disaster agency, even suggested he would either reformat or get rid of it altogether. what more can you tell us about the president's thinking

there? he us about the president's thinking there? ., , ., ~ us about the president's thinking there? . , . ~' . us about the president's thinking there? . , . ~ ., ., ., there? he has taken aim at fema in there? he has taken aim at fema in the ast there? he has taken aim at fema in the past as— there? he has taken aim at fema in the past as well— there? he has taken aim at fema in the past as well it's _ there? he has taken aim at fema in the past as well it's something - there? he has taken aim at fema in the past as well it's something that | the past as well it's something that he believes should be handled by the states. he believes the money should be transferred straight to the states. that would require some significant legislation i think to dismantle that whole process, and fema does have quite a lot of experience in these various disasters on the country. i spoke to want to fish off the record here who is saying, look, we cannot blame people like fema or the la fd for these fires. these disasters happen. no one is blaming floridians for hurricanes, they said, so politics getting in the way of what is an enormous human story, a huge property cast is going to be very concerning to people in california potentially elsewhere. {iii concerning to people in california potentially elsewhere. of course, we can see some — potentially elsewhere. of course, we can see some of— potentially elsewhere. of course, we can see some of the _

potentially elsewhere. of course, we can see some of the destruction - potentially elsewhere. of course, we can see some of the destruction that| can see some of the destruction that those fires in california have left behind. we should say there are still some blazes yet to be completely controlled there in los angeles as well. our north american correspondence, thank you as always. while the president was on the road, the annual anti—abortion "march for life rally" has been taking place here in washington. mr trump's vice president, jd vance, joined the rally, where he touted the administration's anti—abortion credentials. mr trump sent a video message to the gathering, vowing to end what he called "weaponisation of law enforcement against americans of faith". mr trump said he would instead order his justice department to investigate what he called "radical left attacks" on anti—abortion churches and what are known as crisis pregnancy centers. that follows his pardon thursday of 23 people convicted of various crimes related to protests outside clinic providing abortions. in his first term, mr trump swung the control of the supreme court, leading to the 2022s reversal of roe vs wade, which enabled states to ban abortion outright. but he has not yet

implemented any new measures on abortion since taking office again on monday. 0ur correspondent caroline hawley attended that march. the supreme court has played such a key role in it. there were tens of thousands of people who came to the rally, it happens every year but it's been given extra significance for the people here because of president trump being back in the white house, feelings are very, very strong, people have come from across the country, many from church groups, from faith schools, people with banners saying things like babies lives matter, stickers saying made in the womb. and among the cloud earlier, i met a man who was one of the 23 people who were pardoned, the anti—abortion protesters who were pardoned yesterday by president trump. he's

called coleman boyd, 53 years old, and he told me that he was recently released from house arrest he had been sentenced after preaching outside a health clinic, two of his children have been trying to block access to it. everyone we've spoken to wants to see a nationwide ban, and now looking to donald trump. he wants to be seen to be on their side, because most of them are from the evangelical right who supported him and who funded him but it doesn't seem to be a priority issue for him or to be on his agenda right now. the main thing for him our immigration and the economy, and the opinion polls show that about two thirds of the population don't want a nationwide ban, so he has made clear that he wants to leave it up to individual states to decide, so many of the people who are here today may be disappointed.

hamas has named fourfemale hostages due to be released on saturday as part of the israel—gaza ceasefire deal. naama levy, liri albag, daniela gilboa and karina ariev are all soldiers who were seized from their army base in southern israel during the october seventh attacks. in return, israel is expected to release about 180 palestinian detainees. it is the second such exchange under the ceasefire deal which came into effect last sunday. hamas is also expected to provide information about the remaining 26 israeli hostages due to be released over the next five weeks. 0ur correspondent nick beake is injerusalem and gave us the latest details. hamas have made this announcement, giving the names of the four hostages who will be released tomorrow. as we expected, they are four women and they are members of the idf, the israel defense force, and i can give you the names, the first soldier to be released according to hamas, karina ariev. the second is daniella gilboa. the third, naama levy. the fourth hostage according to hamas to be released tomorrow is liri albag.

they warned that there had been suspicious signs that there was possibly some sort of assault coming, and it does seem that those warnings were not acted upon. the four women's families it's not that they've obviously welcomed the news but they now have this anxious wait to see whether or not their loved ones will actually be released. the choreography will be that a few hours after the release, there will be a number of palestinian prisoners who have been held in israeli jails who have been held in israeli jails who will themselves be freed. the figure we are looking at is between about 180—200. this is all, of course, part of the cease—fire deal that's been in operation since last sunday. we know it is a very fragile truce, but for now, it seems to be holding. but i think this is going to be a pivotal weekend because also this weekend, hamas are set to give details of 26 other hostages who were due to be released in this the

first phase of the cease—fire deal. hamas will say whether those people are living or in fa ct fact dead. for more on the exchange, i am joined by michael 0ren, former israeli ambassador to the us. we are expecting another exchange of israeli hostages and palestinian prisoners on saturday. what does this mean to you? does this show that the cease—fire between israel and hamas is on track? �* , ., between israel and hamas is on track? �*, ., ., between israel and hamas is on track? ., ., track? it's on track at least for the first phase. _ track? it's on track at least for the first phase. there's - track? it's on track at least for the first phase. there's two i track? it's on track at least for - the first phase. there's two phases after this what you're going to be much, much more complicated. the second phase will call for a complete withdrawal from the gaza strip, the release of hundreds of palestinian terrorists from israeli jails, many of whom have killed israelis. i personally know to families whose loved ones were killed by those terrorists. they are slated to be released and those families are devastated. hamas will declare victory. so it's extremely difficult for an israeli society which has been battling hamas after the assaults of october seven for a year and a half now. very, very

difficult, but, yes, on track and we are delighted the four hostages will be coming home, one of the families i know personally, a wonderful family, descendents of holocaust survivors, peace activists, so it's very meaningful, but thatjoy is going to be always tempered by fear and for certain sets of the population, resentment. those are certainly this— population, resentment. those are certainly this means _ population, resentment. those are certainly this means that _ population, resentment. those are| certainly this means that everybody is hoping to see more of in the coming weeks. we heard the president speaking in the oval office during one of these impromptu media sessions, didn't really have a strong answer ses