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narrator: pediatric surgeon. volunteer. topiary artist. a raymond james financial advisor tailors advice to help you live your life. life well planned. 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". ♪ >> this is bbc world news america. , releases to american hostages -- hamas releases to american hostages. gaza continues to await humanitarian aid as the situation grows more desperate. republicans vote to remove jim

jordan as their candidate speaker, leaving congress paralyzed after weeks of uncertainty. how tiktok is playing a major role in the presidential elections in argentina, as the country struggles with high inflation. ♪ hello and welcome to world news america. new developments. thomas has -- hamas has release to american hostages. they have been reunited with their families. the mother and daughter were kidnapped during this attack. originally from illinois, they were in israel visiting family.

there are still about 200 hostages held in gaza. many are believed to be americans. the statement said they will have the full support of the u.s. government as they recover and heal. and we should respect their privacy in this moment. he thanked israel for assisting in their release he said there is no higher priority than the safety of americans held around the world. the secretary of state welcomed their release and called for the release of the other unaccounted for americans. >> we share in the relief that their families are feeling. there are still 10 additional americans that remain accounted for.

we know that some of them are being held hostage. the entire u.s. government will work every minute of every day to secure their release. to bring their loved ones home. working as though these family members were our own. >> we are joined by our state department correspondent. what do we know about the conditions of the hostages and where they are when they are expected to arrive back in the u.s.? >> we know we were -- they were transported to the border by the red cross. they are to meet with her

family. secretary blinken said they would do whatever they needed for assistance. the details of when they will fly back have not been released yet. you saw that photograph there. they were both walking as they came across the border. the daughter, the younger one, looked very tired. her mother was smiling. that is about as close as we can get to what kind of condition they are in. they had been in israel to attend a birthday party. they had extended their stay. that is when the attack happened. >> what does this mean for the other hostages? >> qatar played a crucial role

because it has relations with hamas. there is a political office in doha. that is where a lot of the meetings took place. there had been days of continuous communications by all parties to get this far. they said they would continue talking to them. hamas said it was also in touch with egypt about releasing the other hostages. one report suggested that they had asked for airstrikes to stop. secretary blinken was asked if he saw this as an opportunity. e position of the u.s. is all the hostages should be released immediately. he would not take at face value

anything hamas said. >> thank you for that. we are joined now by one of the released hostages. it has been an extremely worrying time for you. >> we just got the news this morning of the release of judith and her daughter, members of our congregation. our hearts are filled with joy and gratitude for this incredible miracle that has happened. at the same time, our hearts are pained and we are deeply concerned for the well-being and with the knowledge that there are over 200 hostagesho are still in the hands of terrorists. we are talking about babies,

women, children. our prayers have been answered. we hope they are doing ok. we have to continue praying and continue asking everyone to do all that they can for the release of the rest of the hostages. >> you mentions the other hostages. among them are some embers of their extended family who the women had been in israel to visit. was there any update given at all on those family members? >> we have the same information thatveryone has. they were released. that is incredible. we are celebrating that. but there are other hostages still being held by terrorists to less than two weeks ago

murdered little babies and children and women in their homes and took these civilians as hostages to gaza. this is very painful. we are not going to give up until every hostage is released. we continue to pray and ask everyone to continue to pray. today is friday. we will usher in the jewish sabbath very shortly. in england it is already the sabbath. most of you and our part of the world, before sundown, please light the candles. it makes a difference. we are facing a very vicious and evil group. in order to overcome this people , this darkness, we need to bring light to the world. doing a good deed for our fellows really makes a difference. >> sorry to interrupt you. we do not have much time. we are anxious to hear from you.

i understand that president biden has been speaking to the family members. do you have any sense of how the conversation went at what he had to say? >> i am not in on those conversations. i am coming to you as a rabbi. she prays every week in our congregation. we miss her. she has been part of our congregation in such an important way. and as a family friend and someone who would come to our home every sabbath. she would bring over gifts for the children. our hearts are filled with gratitude to almighty god for this miracle. we continue to pray and ask everyone to pray for the release of the other hostages is in the hands of terrorists. >> what more can you tell us about judith and her daughter? what kind of women are they? what role do they have in the community? >> they are really special

people. judith is the mos kind person. she is always first to be there for other people in her time of need. she is a woman who would come over and bring gifts for the children. she is someone who loves life, loves humanity. her daughter is the same. these are people who have love for every human being. they are both artists, which means that they have a special touch of spirituality in their soul. something they are able to convey through the beauty of art . >> do you expect them to travel back to the u.s. shortly? >> we do not have that information. >> what has been -- you were speaking about how hopeful this moment has been. what has been the reaction in the community to this news? >> my phone has not stopped for

a second. people are calling and texting and messaging. they just want to congratulate. they are so happy. they want to celebrate ray people are feeling like this is a special moment. people also realize and we have to realize we do not know what is up their sleeve. there are over 200 hostages. that is a huge number. these terrorists murdered babies and little children. took babies out of their cribs as hostages. this is a moment that brings us more hope. terrorism will not hurt our hopes. we will continue to ray. and bring light and goodness to the world. light will overpower the darkness. goodness will prevail. >> thank you very much for joining us.

in gaza, an estimated one million misplaced people are waiting for aid. the u.n. secretary general said hundreds of trucks are waiting at the border. he says he is affects the first shipment of 20 trucks to cross over in the next day or so. the united nations says they will not be enough. the water is running out or the hospitals are overwhelmed. this as israel and hamas continue to exchange airstrikes. we have a correspondent in central gaza. he sent us this update. you may find some of these details distressing. >> this is a neighborhood in central gaza. overnight, it has been

completely destroyed. some buildings are now totally gone. >> they told us to evacuate at around 9:00 at night. we ran through the streets. then israel started bombing the area of nonstop. you can see all of this destruction. >> she lived in one of these flats. she tells me all of the families in her tower are now stranded in the streets of gaza. with nowhere to go. other residents say many people remain. >> we cannot bring people out from under the rubble. ambulances cannot get here. we cannot pull the bodies out. people are screaming but we cannot pull them out.

>> he told me it has been a relatively calm night in gaza. >> are you bombing us in ruining our lives? >> as we were filming here, the israeli army came in saying people to evacuate. the reality is there is nowhere safe to go. >> i spoke to a west bank policy leader who is originally from gaza. thank you very much for joining us. if we could start by looking at the situation today at the crossing. what is the situation there as far as you know it?

>> of course the crossings have remained closed. we have no indication of when this might happen. it is very unlikely to happen this late at night. fuel was not part of the deal. i don't know how the distribution will happen without fuel. raw sewage is being poured into the sea at the moment. i don't know how they will operate without you'll. i don't know how hospitals will operate their generators. they need to be able to access food.

when the aid is allowed to come in. we are dealing with an extremely difficult situation. >> sorry for interrupting you, but on that point, are you in contact. how long more can people carry on in the situation they are in? >> they cannot carry-on anymore. we have 33 colleagues in the gaza strip. they want to die with dignity. that is how hopeless the situation is. some people say the conditions are so terrible that they have gone back to their homes risking their lives and their children's lives. some of our colleagues have chosen to go back home. evacuation orders again today. they're trying to desperately

look for somewhere to shelter. it is harrowing. i am not sure if i can read this. the situation is dire. can i read this? >> please do. >> he said the situation is getting worse day after day. it will only last for half a day. i saw people coming from gaza sleeping in their car because they were not able to find shelter. i saw people sleeping in the street. it is a terrible situation. they are suffering. i found two children alone crying. their parents went to get food and did not come back. i took the children to a shop owner who knows the area and can

maybe help them. we are buying fuel at double the cost. we were able to buy waterford double the price. the can only cover the need for one day. we have a little food. but very limited choices. every day i hear my children saying we want to return t gaza. i want my uniform. i want to go and play football. the situation is difficult. my children are deeply affected by what happens the day before yesterday. they are scared. they do not know how to make sense of it. it is difficult to see why people are targeted like this. they are afraid they will be targeted in a similar way. >> that text message from your

colleague inside gaza, he is lking about hope for the future. what do you see the future holding when we see the head of the u.n. pleading for the aide to be let in? >> i used to work for another international organization a few years ago. we mentioned a report in gaza. four out of five children in gaza felt hopeless about the world. they did not know how to dream about their future. those were the scientific findings of this report. this was three years ago after the 2021 or -- war. i cannot imagine what those numbers look like today. >> unfortunately we will have to leave it there for the moment. thank you so much for talking to us. we do appreciate it. >> thank you. >> protests have erupted in

response to the deterioration humanitarian situation in gaza. this was seen earlier in the occupied west bank. smoke from burning tires filled the streets as protesters hurled rocks at security personnel. the ejection government organized 27 locations for protesters together. in southeast asia, hundreds took to the streets. here in washington, demonstrators gathered at the national mall, calling for a cease-fire. we will continue our coverage of the war and its impact. we have more news and analysis from our teams on the ground. in other news, argentina goes to the polls this weekend. the front runner is an economist

. he touts himself as an outsider and is often compared to donald trump. in a country struggling with inflation, he has offered some radical solutions to shakeup the economy and it has been a campaign that has played out mainly on tiktok. our south american correspondent reports. >> this is the man attempting to take a chainsaw to the status quo in argentina. he likes to offer up drastic solutions to the country's problems, like demolishing the central bank. with argentina teetering on the edge of economic collapse, it is a message that resonates with millions. he is doing it with an army of influencers, spreading his word on tiktok. >> it is changing the way people

inform themselves. to go to the villages and towns. >> he paints himself as an app -- outsider. he wants to slash spending and loosen gun laws and restrict aboron. he is not afraid of controversy. up against him are these political big hitters. it is interesting because when you walk the streets, there are posters of all the other candidates. he is totally absent. because his campaign has gone on here. speaking to his millions of

followers. he says he is one of them. his critics think his narrative is dangerous. young voters are hugely important in these elections. they are going online to debunk fake news. >> for us, it is really important to bring the political history to the front. the social history, economic history, to realize what he is proposing is not anything new. it has already happened. it did not work. >> if the polls are right, they don't care. this is the man of the moment. a new kind of politics, no matter how uncertain. >> republican lawmakers in the u.s. voted to remove jim jordan as their nominee for speaker of

the house. a hard-line conservative from ohio, he failed to get support in three consecutive rounds of voting. all of the democrats denied his bid for speaker. house republicans will hold a candidates forum on monday and pick a new nominee by tuesday. it has been more than two weeks since kevin mccarthy was removed as speaker, leaving congress paralyzed. mr. jordan said he would keep fighting for finding a leader for the house. >> i think the american people are thirsty for change. i think they are hungry for leadership. frankly they know that the white house cannot provide it. they know the senate will not lead. they are looking for house republicans to step up on these important issues. we have important work to do. need to help israel. we need to get the appropriations process moving to the key elements of our

government are funded. we need to get back to our committee work. we need to continue the oversight work that i think is so important. we need to get to work for the american people. >> as always, you can find out more about that story and all of today's news at our website. and see what we are working on at any time. thank you for watching. take care. 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. ♪ ♪

>> good evening. i'm geoff bennett. on the newshour tonight, hamas releases two american hostages. a glimmer of hope at a time when many others remain captive. wh