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narrator: 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". ♪ >> i am in washington. this is bbc world news america. the american soldier who crushed -- crossed into north korea in july is back in u.s. custody. >> in california, republican presidential candidates set to come face-to-face in a critical second debate. >> welcome to world news

america. we will join katrina in california covering the republican debate tonight in just a few minutes. but first, the u.s. soldier who illegally cost -- crossed into north korea is back in u.s. custody. saweetie provided help. the u.s. state department spokesperson thanked both nations foreseeably safety returning mr. king and said his release is not marked improvement in u.s.-north korean diplomatic occasion -- relations trip >> we have tried to reach out and they have rejected our direct approaches. we talked to sweden. sweden talk to us and help negotiate the transfer, but i would not see this as a sign of a breakthrough. it is a one-off. >> and a spokesperson for mr.

kaine's family thanked the u.s. army for a job well done and has asked for privacy. the soldier will receive a medical and ecological evaluation. after that, he will face disciplinary proceedings. it has been weeks of negotiations leading up to his return. before crossing the border, the american soldier was released from detention in south korea on july 10 after serving two months in the country for assault charges. he was expected to return to the u.s. to face it disciplinary action but never boarded the plane. later that month, mr. kaine crossed into north korea. in early august, north korea issued its first public acknowledgment of his crossing, confirming that mr. king was in custody. then they confirmed that they were expelling the soldier for illegally entering the country.

i am joined by a former cia korea analyst. what do you think about the circumstances of private king's release? >> i am relieved. my explanation is that probably after some time at north korea and did not see much propaganda or intelligence value of keeping travis king. it is unclear why they released him, but i am relieved. i was initially worried he might go to a third country like russia, since kim jong-un just had a meeting with putin. but i am relieved he is back in the u.s. >> what would have gone into these negotiations. we saw the u.s. thinking sweden and china was involved. >> the u.s. has no communication with the kim regime. we rely on beijing sweden.

there were the get -- intense negotiations back and forth, but kim jong-un could have kept him. north korea is unpredictable, could have done whatever. it is interesting that they did decide ultimately to release him, but i would not make too much of this in terms of seeing this as a breakthrough with north korea on the denuclearization front having some sort of a conversation back with more real i would not necessarily make that linkage. >> that is what the state department said. north korea state media said private king admitted to illegally crossing into north korea due to inhumane treatment in the military and disillusionment with the unequal u.s. society. what do you make of that statement? >> that is not from travis king. the statement is from north korea. they forced him to say whatever.

that is propaganda for domestic purposes. north korea is always criticized for its human rights abuses. this is a propaganda thing. they forced him to read it. i would not read too much into that. >> private king will be going through evaluations. what will be important to find out from him? >> everything, exactly how they treated him. we have ongoing questions about previous american they need -- and detainees. every detail matters of how they treated him, where they held him, the questions they asked. i am sure he will be extensively debriefed. >> final question, what does this tell us? is not a diplomatic right through, but what does it tell us about where north korea-u.s. relations stand?

>> i do not think it was the needle in terms of the impasse dealing with north korea having any kind of diplomatic breakthrough on the nuclear program. they will continue to expand and diversify their program. we just saw kim jong-un's meeting with putin. i do not think any of that changes. we should be careful about inking about north korea expelling him and returning him to the united state. they are not lengths. maybe there is a reason north korea does not want to keep him. it is logistical, a troublesome issue. they have to feed him, take care of him, have somebody translate. i am sure they felt eventually that they do not need to do that. >>. going to leave it there. thank you for joining us. i also spoke to mike turner

about the return of private travis king. great to have you back. i want to start with your reaction to the news that travis king is in u.s. custody. >> we are glad he is back. it will be interesting to hear what the investigation now shows as we indulge in whatever he relates as to his reactions and interactions with the north koreans. we are interested to learn how that has progressed. >> can you tell us a bit about what led to this release now and why private king was expelled from north korea? >> we do not know. is investigation on-site continues, will get more information. >> the state department

spokesperson said this is not a breakthrough in terms of diplomacy. how do you see this? is there something you would like to see the administration do going forward? >> this is not a diplomatic issue. it relates back to the sum -- to the circumstances which will have to reveal themselves. >> moving on to the question of a possible partial shutdown government. we spoke to your calling on the intelligence committee last week about the consequences of a possible shutdown. >> this is exactly what xi jinping, vladimir putin, and our adversaries would relish -- chaos, dysfunction, the u.s. government not being able to take care of business. >> do you agree? >> certainly. he is a great number of the intelligence committee, works in an excellent bipartisan manner. what we are seeing is this

coalition within the republican conference that has not yet found what it's planned is or demands are. and they keep changing. normally when you have a shutdown, you have negotiations break down between the legislative and the executive ranch, there is nothing they are asking president biden for. it is just internal negotiations. we have issues that we have to have debated. we need to and spending, make certain our border is closed. those are all issues that we can address, but showing them the government is not the answer. >> how, concretely, which shutdown -- what a shutdown effect intelligence? >> even when there is a

shutdown, essential services are funded. however, it does affects the ability for the government to take new start or additional initiatives. we are stacked in a holding pattern, even for essential services, until this is resolved. >> one issue being debated for a stopgap funding bill is further funding for ukraine. do you expect that congress will sign off on a part or all of what the president's request was pointed for ukraine? >> there is certainly strong support for ukraine in congress. in the last couple of months, there was a vote on the house floor concerning ukraine a. 340 members voted in favor of continuing that aid. there is strong support in congress. a number of questions need to be

answered -- progress, the strategy implanted in ukraine itself but also the elements of the administration's aid package. only a portion of it is military. some of the things of the administration has been funding are concerning on capitol hill. there will be greater oversight and significant clue -- scrutiny. kevin mccartney -- mccarthy made clear he is not pleased that congress was left out in the formulation. they could have discussed it with us earlier. now it will be subject to scrutiny as we determine how we get to ukraine with absolutely need so they can continue to fight russian aggression? >> what do you think needs to be addressed in this package that would lose to congress signing off on it? >> this administration has been slowly getting critical weapons to ukraine. for going the administration has to been publicly say no re-times

before they capitulate -- three times before they capitulate. you have tanks just getting into ukraine, pilots being trained on f-16s. previously, the president was opposed to f-16s and migs. these delays have an impact on the battlefield itself. the president has all included in his description of what he is now willing to support his long-range missile systems that could help them reach crimea and attacked some systems the russians have in place that are killing ukrainians. >> ukraine has said that if this assistance package is rejected, it would in bold -- embolden putin and the two european allies dialing down assistance. will you say to your colleagues in congress who do not support more ukraine? >> he is correct, some in what

you just said is true. if america lessened its support, that would embolden putin and weaken european support. we have a real opportunity to make clear that we will support them through whatever systems they need. people need to look at putin's statements. he has made clear that this is about eastern europe, poland, romania, the baltic. all those countries are at risk if we do not quote russia -- hold russia accountable and make sure you plan's -- ukraine's territorial integrity is upheld. >> back to the shutdown -- some republicans say they cannot hope for a continuing resolution because there has to be more spending cuts. we spoke to one yesterday. this is what he told us. >> you cannot spend its own trillion dollars when you only take in $5 trillion.

that is conservativism. that is disclosed strong, morally upright. this administration is neither. the republicans need to stand up to it. >> do you think the republican caucus contemptuous some sort of agreement to avert a shutdown? -- come to some sort of agreement to embrace shutdown? >> with republicans controlling the house, we will rein in spending. a budget agreement had substantial concessions in spending. we will continue to look for ways we can cut spending so we start next year already with lowered spending, which has a lowered impact on inflation. however, shutting down the government is not the way to save money managing the government appropriately, per site -- providing oversight, and that we find savings where we

can, overwhelmingly in the house and senate, there is a sprit of trying to work on a bipartisan basis and get a bill to the president's desk. i hope we do so soon. >> great to speak with you today. the war in ukraine has been going on for more than a year and a half. there have been tens of thousands of deaths, and fatalities among ukraine's military personnel only tells part of the story. many soldiers have also been injured. the country has been investigating all possible means to help the wounded, including medical cannabis. but the current law is obstructing research into how effective the drug could be. >> soldiers meat, smoke, and forget for a moment the things they have seen. cannabis is not hard to find

here. but in a country where trauma is everywhere, efforts to put the drug to medicinal use are stacked. for ukraine's injured soldiers, treatment takes many forms. bodies and minds battered and broken by this and complex. -- endless conflict. they try a bit of everything, but staff here say they need more tools, including cannabis. >> yes, because as i am on saying, our soldiers on the front line need different weapons. he is the same as us. we need an arsenal as well. >> i was under the brick wall. >> he suffered terrible burns 18 months ago. he says cannabis has helped him

deal with the pain. doctors generally look the other way. >>'s help to when i was having treatment, helped better than some painkillers. i was sleeping better, less nervous. i started to have good appetite. >> around the world, research suggests cannabis may be useful in the treatment of ptsd and,. -- and trauma. in ukraine, experts say the law prevents them from searching for answers. >> there is lots of data about medications with cannabis helping people to sleep at her, feel better, decrease the symptoms of ptsd. we have to do clinical research to get more convincing evidence that it works and use that research to help our military and civilians, because we are the global epicenter of ptsd.

>> the president is urging change, pushing parliament to legalize an additional cannabis, allow -- medicinal cannabis, allow research, and production. but ministers are divided over what is needed. the legislation blocked. for one opposition mp, the new law -- proposed new law does nothing to address the immediate problem and invites corruption. >> the law is not about helping people today. it is about growing marijuana in ukraine and making that a business. today during the war, such risky for society businesses should be controlled. for the government to be in charge of that. >> he soldiers in the apartment did not want to be identified. one is being treated for ptsd.

cannabis, he says, helps. until the law pages, he will carry on medicating himself -- changes, he will carry on medicating himself >> back to caitriona perry -- she is in california. >> welcome to california. it is debate day in the u.s., where seven republican candidates will battle it out at the second presidential debate in california. front runner for the nomination, donald trump, will not be here. we are the one reagan presidential library, the debate may be critical for republican hopefuls trying to break through with less than four months to go before voting in the iowa caucuses begins. we will hear from ron desantis, mikey -- nikki haley, mike

pence, tim scott, chris christie , and denver. but donald -- doug burgum. but donald trump still leading in the polls by a margin of worthen 40 points. he will spend his evening in michigan where he looks to win over blue-collar workers as an auto strike continues there. but the former president one not visit the picket line and instead will speak at a nonunion plant. i am joined at the debate venue by our north american correspondent. what can we expect to hear from the candidates who are here tonight? >> i will be looking at ron desantis. he had a strategy in the first debate of staying above the right, not mixing it up with the other rivals and presenting himself as the clear alternative to donald trump. that did not work. will he turn fire on his fellow

competitors? or will he still try to stay away? vivek ramaswamy and nikki haley had good debates last time. they capitalized on their momentum and kept it going. and i will be looking for sources of friction like abortion and ukraine. note the government shutdown be something they debate? while most seem to be in favor of it, nikki haley said she thought it was a big mistake. >> nikki haley did get a bit of a bump after the last debate, but otherwise, very little movement the field. we are approaching a big fundraising deadline. >> that is why desperation will set in. there is a big fundraising deadline, october 1 is the end of the third quarter. those numbers will come out next month and we will see if any of these candidates have been able to keep raising money, have any stumble? some may be made a big splash

early on but what about sustaining that? call numbers are the big indication of whether a campaign is successful. you can sag in the polls, but if you run in the -- run out of money, you cannot keep campaigning. >> at the last debate, candidates spoke around donald honked. he was not mentioned. we expect to see that again tonight? >> they have to decide what they want. do they really want to try to win this? or are they positioning for book contracts, speaking fees, a presidential bid a few years down the line or a vice presidential bid? if they want to win this, they will have to go after donald trump. nothing they have done up until now has made a difference. they have not been able to dance

him, have not taken dead aim at him except for asa hutchinson, not on stage today, and chris christie who was there but has not had any effect in his attack. the rest joined chris christie in his attack and take donald trump down a notch while he is in michigan? >> the republican party under ronald reagan was different to what it is now, particularly around foreign policy. we are seeing this debate in the republican party about whether to continue funding the ukraine. what will we hear from candidates tonight? >> we heard last time a sharp division on ukraine. that is different from the republican party of old, from ronald reagan to george w. bush and the invasion of iraq are talking about promoting democracy all over the world. that was a different republican party than the one donald trump is now leading. he moved in the republican party

away from interventionist foreign policy. not everyone has moved with him. you start nikki haley and mike pence last time talking about ukraine, critical of people calling for us to cut off funding. vivek ramaswamy and some of the other candidates have been talking about cutting off funding entirely. those points have been echoed in congress. there are republicans in congress who have been outspoken in not giving money anymore. it could carry the day. that is an open question. >> briefly, who do you think might be the strongest performer tonight? >> nikki haley was good last time around. she is getting a lot of attention from donors and fundraisers. maybe she will be able to keep that up. we will see. >> faxed returning as greg that is it -- that is it from your for the moment. back to you. >> thank you for watching world

news america. do not forget we will have coverage just after the debate right here on bbc news. stay with us. ♪ narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... narrator: financial services firm, raymond james. narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. ♪ ♪

amna: good ev. geoff: i government shutdown and all its economic consequences draw closer as republicans remain divided on various funding bills. amna: amazon faces a monopoly lawsuit resulting from its practices that allegedly hurt consumers and small businesses. geoff: cassidy hutchinson speaks out about the chaotic end of the trump presidency and the january 6 insurrection.