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tv   BBC News America  PBS  May 11, 2023 2:30pm-3:01pm PDT

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one giant leap for mankind. ♪ ♪ narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... woman: architect. bee keeper. mentor. a raymond james financial advisor tailors advice to help you live your life. life well planned. george: actually, you don't need vision to do most things in life. it's exciting to be part of a team driving the technology forward. i think that's the most rewarding thing. people who know, know bdo.
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narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. and by contributions to this pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. announcer: and now, "bbc news". ♪ >> this is bbc america. migration policy set to end in the u.s. braces for what is to come. we have in-depth coverage of the final hours of title 42. ukraine's president says his country needs more time for counteroffensive and lots of weapons. and introducing eurovision two
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confused americans. we explained the allure of the world's most popular music competition. ♪ welcome to world news america on pbs and around the globe. tens of thousands of people have gathered on the border between mexico and the u.s. they have been there for weeks and many are expected to try to cross into the u.s. from the mexican side in the coming days. that is because of the law introduced during the pandemic that makes it easier -- is expiring tonight. we start tonight at the border with sophie long in texas. president biden said this week the border situation will be
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chaotic for a while. what is it like on the ground where you are? sophie: at the moment where i am in downtown el paso, close to a crossing, it is quiet. for many months there have been hundreds of people who made it across the border, sleeping on the streets of el paso. as you can see, it is quiet. that is a result of the efforts to clear the streets and prepare the 10th of migrants expected to -- and prepare for the influx of migrants expected to cross. >> trying to escape from poverty and prosecution. it will take a lot more than razor wire to repel those desperate to reach america. these people have almost made it
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but what they found is a wasteland on the mexican side of the border. this woman struggles to care for her four children. after a dangerous journey from venezuela, they are sleeping here in the dirt. >> as a mom, it is too much. you cannot sleep. lord, what do i do? we are worried they will close the border and tell us everything is over after all this sacrifice. reporter: occasionally, the gates open to let through a handful of people. but they have to throw away everything they brought with them, except documents and phones. even shoelaces are left. >> my nine-year-old girl is diabetic. that is why i decided to migrate. reporter: there is confusion about what this will mean.
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is today the law -- the last chance to get in or will it be easier tomorrow? rosario searches through rubbish bins to find food for her grandchildren. >> we just got to the border. it is difficult. we have been traveling since last october. it is very hard. reporter: what will you do if american authorities do not let you in? >> honestly, we don't know what we would do. because going back to our country is not an option. i do not know what we will do if the u.s. does not give us a hand. reporter: the situation is getting worse and causing hardship for these people. for decades it has proved impossible to reach any political agreement on meaningful immigration reform and the worse this guts, the less likely it seems any solution is -- the worse this
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gets, the less likely it seems any solution is insight. >> the border is not secure. we are doing our best in texas to make sure it is but other states are not having as much success. reporter: this problem strches along the 2000 mile u.s. border. the government will insist migrants apply for asylum long before they reach here and will swiftly expel and exclude anyone who tries to get in without following the new procedures. it is certainly chaotic with a surge of illegal crossings. once detained, migrants can ask for asylum but those refused will face much tougher penalties. >> so that it is the view on this side of the border. let's speak with our correspondent from over the
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border in mexico city. there seems to be confusion about what the end of title 42 means. what is the feeling where you are and what will happen at midnight? reporter: we heard president biden refer to it as potentially chaotic and i think the sense in mexico is that this has been chaotic before title 42, while it was in effect, and now. most migrants simply do not know what title 42 means. they are told they will not be allowed in unless they apply through an app but it does not necessarily work all the time. repeated attempts, they can't get online. they can't apply before they get here. the shelters in the country are huge over demand so that is a stress. and part of the new post title
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42 plan involves strict clamp down on anyone crossing without the right paperwork. that will mean a lot of people in mexico are not able to cross. a lot of pressure on the authorities and the towns along the border and the cities and the stress in that regard is rising. people don't know what it means and they agree it will end up being chaotic. >> we have been hearing about how the u.s. is preparing for the end of the immigration law. how is mexico repairing -- preparing? >> one of the things the mexican president has tried to do is show he is working in tandem with the biden administration. sending more troops to the southern border, mexico's border with guatemala. there are 25,000 militar personnel there and there will be thousands more.
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apparently they are instructed not to use force. the president of mexico said they are there to protect the migrants but there can be flashpoints where people who have come all this way to make it to mexico are turned away, particularly if they feel desperate because of the situations they are fleeing. >> mexico has agreed to accept 30,000 deportees per month from the u.s. what conditions might they face when they arrive in mexico, quickly? reporter: because of the shelters being under resourced and so many trying to get in, conditions will be tough and it wasn't long ago that we talked about the horrific fire in a detention center where this is going on. conditions are difficult and if people can't find space in the shelters, they are left in the
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streets, huddling with their children under bridges. >> the white house took pains today to make the case they are on top of the situation at the border. critics disagree and have been for months, saying the u.s. is opening their borders to migrants. alejandro mayorkas tried to put that criticism to rest. >> our borders are not open. people who cross unlawfully will be promptly processed and removed. >> hours before the expiration of title 42, the u.s. house of representatives passed a new bill, the secure the border act of 2023. it is unlikely to clear the senate but it would mandate hiring more border patrol agents and resume construction of a border wall. my colleagues spoke with two
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lawmakers about the situation at the border, one democrat, one republican. first, the democrat from washington state. reporter: congresswoman, thank you for joining us on bbc news. he visited the border in march to assess the situation. are you against lifting title 42 tonight? >> no. i think it has been unhelpful over the last several years. it was never meant to be used as immigration policy. it is a public health policy and has been used in rare circumstances. it was not appropriately put into place and created more chaos at the border because instead of processing people through legitimately, it made it so we just removed people, but they would come back over the border again. so most of the immigrants apprehended at the border with those who had tried coming in
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multiple times so i believe title 42 should be lifted and we need to put in place orderly legal pathways, ways for people to continue coming into the country. reporter: are you ok with the chaos we see at the border now? >> i think what is happening at the border is a symptom of the larger problem of an immigration system that has been broken for 30 years in a republican party that refuses to fix it over and over. so what people are calling the chaos is people seeking relief from terrible situations, persecution, war, economic devastation. if we provide legal pathways for them as the biden administration did, people use them. family reunification and establishing refugee processing centers. reporter: i want to ask you about the new program unveiled
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that would deploy 1500 militar personnel, titan asylum rules -- titan -- tighten asylum rules. what do you think. >> i have been critical of rules that block of the ability for someone to just come to the border and seek asylum. this does have exemption so a lot will depend on how the exemptions are used but i have been critical of the portions of policy that stripped the rht to asylum, which is codified in our laws, away from people. i believe we need to keep it in place. reporter: mayorkas said today the measures the binding administration put in place will not work overnight but down the road they will be able to assess whether they have been successful. what would that look like to you? >> fewer people coming to the
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border claiming asylum who do not qualify and more people utilizing legal pathways, whether it is in country refugee processing, family reunification, that is the way we will ultimately address the situation, along with investments in countries that we give people options to stay in their own countries. >> now we turn to the republican viewpoint from aaron bean of florida. reporter: congressman, thank you for joining us. it title 42 expires in hours and president biden has said it will be a chaotic situation. you went to the border yourself. ? what did you witness? >> chaos. it will be ultra chaos once title 42 ends. i think president biden has
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admitted it was already chaos before title 42 and i cannot imagine which is why we have to act immediately today i will be voting on the most massive border security bill i think ever before congress. reporter: the bill house republicans introduced would require the biden administration to resume construction of a border wall and boost personnel and tech at the border. senate democrats are unlikely to take it up. is it time to start negotiating on a solution both sides agree to? >> well we need to work together. a country without borders is not a country at all and so the house republicans are taking action. basically the biden administration is just ignoring the laws that are already there so i am only a 20 week congressman but i have been on the campaign trail for a long time and people in america are fed up with an open border and
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to the biden administration can say the border is under control. it is not. i spent two days i guess a couple of months ago walking with border patrol in texas. they are overwhelmed. it's swamped. numbers are coming in are so high. i can't imagine what will happen once title to 40, 42 ends. we have to bring them relief. and we will let the american people i have to say we will pass this bill today and i still can't imagine anyone not voting for this bill. it's the essence of our country. it is a dire emergency. i met with people in texas. we did a little town hall. people in texas are set up and now every state is a border state so now is the time for action. reporter: house democrats today
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said the republican bill is cruel, extreme because it bars children from seeking asylum and mandates family detention. what is your response to democrats who say this will separate families? >> so if you are ever on an airplane they say put your own mask on first before you put on anybody else because you have to be strong to help others. we can't help ourselves right now so america is not the strong country it used to be because we cannot contain these numbers. >> pakistan supreme court has ruled the arrest of the former prime minister tuesday on corruption charges was illegal. his release has been ordered. he is in a police guesthouse for his own safety. ateast 10 people have died protesting about his detention.
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caroline is in islamabad. we saw the violence and protests . what is the reaction to the supreme court ruling now? caroline: when he appeared in court he was defiant about how he had been treated and he and his supporters feel validated by the decision in pakistan. they have set all along they feel the case was illegal and the arrest was illegal and now they feel this is the right decision. this is not something the government may feel the army and intelligence services, that they feel this was the right decision or not, in fact we already heard from the government here that the police were in fact ready to arrest him on different charges but the supreme court said he is
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under their protection so they did not do that in this case. this is not of course the end of the argument. he currently does not have the arrest charges against him but has to appear in court again. what happened in the supreme court today is they said because he had been arrested while inside the court complex where he was appearing on corruption charges, that the entire thing was invalidated and therefore illegal and instead they have to go back to the beginning and redo the charges so he will appear in the same court, the one he was arrested in, tomorrow. we have also heard from his party who put out a call on twitter calling for his supporters to come here to islamabad friday when the court case will happen in a show of solidarity. at the same time the authorities here have said it is illegal to
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hold protests and rallies and th they will come down hard on anyone who appears so a standoff is shaking up -- shaping up for friday. >> caroline davies, thank you. the u.k. has confirme it is sending long-range cruise missiles to ukraine as requested as the country prepares to mount a counteroffensive. the missile pictured here has long-range capabilities and can travel more than 150 miles and is typically launched from the air. our correspondent is in keith -- is in kyiv and has been speaking with president zelenskyy. reporter: ukraine has been preparing to attack. a major counteroffensive to push back russia. this man will decide when that happens.
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president zelenskyy. if he delays the post, it gives time to russia. if he rushes into it, his military could fail. are you ready for the counteroffensive? >> mentally, we are ready. in terms of how motivated the military is, we are ready. in terms of personnel, we are ready. in terms of equipment, not everything has arrived yet. we are expecting armored vehicles. they arrive in batches. if we advance with what we've got, we could be successful but we could lose a lot of people. it is unacceptable. we need a bit more time. reporter: fm britain today, more help. cruise missiles that could hit targets 150 miles away. this is the kind of weapon they need to destroy russian positions away from the front lines.
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they come with a promise that ukraine will only use them on their territory. >> this will give ukraine the best chance to defend themselves against russia's brutality. ukraine has a right to be able to defend itself. the use of these will allow ukraine to push back russian forces based within ukrainian sovereign territory. reporter: before the announcement, moscow vowed to respond to it with cities lying in ruins. ukraine wonds what else russia could do. the counteroffensive will likely be actually challenging and deadly for a country that has already lost so many of its soldiers. ukraine knows it needs to succeed to guarantee contain -- continued military support from the west. time is crucial but ukraine says
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it still does not have everything it needs. it has surprised allies in the past and hopes to do it again and redefine the war. >> here is a look at other stories making headlines. in turkiye, one of the four candidates in sunday's presidential elections dropped out. this could boost opposition chances of beating the incumbent , w faces his greatest challenge yet as turkiye grapples with a ct-of-living crisis and recovers from earthquakes in february. two people have died in a shooting at a mercedes-benz factory in germany. a man allegedly entered the production hall and opened fire. one victim died at the scene and the other died at the hospital. the shooter has been arrested. elon musk has found a new ceo
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for twitter. he said that she will start in six weeks. he says he will continue overseeing products as he transitions from his current role. the eurovision song contest is in full swing with fans descending on liverpool to cheer for their favorite acts. tens of millions are watching from home and if you are a fan, enjoy. if not, you are not alone. even after more than 60 years, many in america are confused so we have our bbc eurovision reporter explained it to our washington colleague. >> this is an annual competition that lots of european countries take part in. everyone watches at home and then they decide who should win. >> i don't know if the lady looks like cinderella or frozen.
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wow. that is cool. i'm little confused about how they did this. >> i'm always nervous she is going to drop the microphone. eurovision has expanded beyond europe and in 2015 we invited australia to compete because australians were watching. this year for the first year, americans watching eurovision from the u.s. are able to vote. the entire world can vote this year. that has not happened before. >> i know this song. [laughter] i had no idea this was from eurovision. >> she is now supporting ed sheeran on his north american tour. she did not win. eurovision is now a global platform. >> i'm excited now to watch. [laughter] >> i'm excited now, as well.
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in the last few minutes the second eurovision semifinal has ended. austria, lithuania, poland, slovenia, australia, and others are threw two the final. --through to narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... narrator: financial services firm, raymond james. man: bdo. accountants and advisors. narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. and by contributions to this pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. ♪ ♪
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narrator: you're watching pbs.
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introducing a technological achievement so advanced... it rivals the moon landing. wow! ok. rude.
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that's one small step for man. one giant leap for mankind. ♪ geoff: good evening. i'm geoff bennett. amna: and i'm amna nawaz on the "newshour" tonight. border officials prepare for a surge of migrants as the controversial title 42 immigration restrictions expire. we discuss the issue with secretary of state antony blinken. geoff: the epa proposes new rules that would force power plants to slash carbon emissions. amna: and ukraine awaits the arrival of american tanks that could be a game-changer in its fight against russia, but using the weaponry brings its own challenges. >> it's like owning a ducati. it's got a lot of expensive parts. it is a gas turbine engine and a lot of proprietary systems. ♪

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