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handling of the war in a new interview. president zelenskyy says ukrainian troops took russian forces by surprise in a major cross-border offensive. >> hello and welcome to world news america. i'm caitriona perry. first presidential debate between kamala harris and donald trump is officially set for the 10th of september. that is according to bbc news, the network that will televise it. it came after the republican nominee, former president trump, said he would agree to three possible debate dates in september. he was speaking during a rare news conference at his florida home. trumps democratic rival, kamala harris, continued her tour through swing states, seeking to build on momentum in the race after president biden dropped out.

new polling shows she had gained ground against mr. trump in a nationwide survey of likely voters, taking a 6% lead. the poll by marquette released on thursday found the vice president leads the former president 53% to 47%. that is among people who expressed strong interest in voting. the marginf error is 4.7 point. a similar poll conducted in may showed a tighter matchup between mr. trump and the then presumptive democratic nominee, president joe biden. the pair at the time were tied at 50% each. however, donald trump claims his campaign's internal polling showed him leading in key battleground states. he's also cited his continued support among white males and certain black and hispanic voters. he believes the momentum is actually with the republican party. >> the honeymoon period will end. she has a little period, a

little convention coming up. it is about policy. it is not about her. i think she's incompetent. because i've watched her. she destroyed california, she destroyed san francisco -- everything she has touched has turned to bad things. i'm not going to use foul language. she is incompetent. >> meanwhile, vice president harris and her running mate, minnesota governor tim walz, wrapped up their visit to michigan on thursday. the pair voiced support for organized labor at a union hall in detroit, speaking to members of the united auto workers group. the uaw originally backed president biden's reelection campaign, but when he ended his bid last month, the union then endorsed ms. harris. she drew similarities between unions and her campaign, saying both supported working-class americans. >> you know what you stand for, you know what to fight for. we know what we stand for.

we stand for the people. >> we stand for the dignity of work. and we stand for freedom. we stand for justice. we stand for equality. and so we will fight for all of you. >> vice president harris and governor walz are taking their campaign to arizona next. new analysis shows the state, which originally leaned republican, is considered to be a tossup. the cook political report released a report on thursday shifting its ratings for arizona, georgia, and nevada. all three states were considered republican leaning in early july. while president biden was still in the race. the report now suggests ms. harris is closing the gap with the former president in those three that around states. in arizona, mr. trump's lead over ms. harris has narrowed from five points last month to nearly two points in early august. joining me from arizona is the

mayor of phoenix. thank you for joining us. many commentators would say arizona is a swing state, it was leaning republican. now it is back to a tossup. you know how elections go, how close do you think it will be this year? >> arizona was the closest state in the last presidential eltion. we know it will be close. in the last few hours, another poll came out. it showed vice president harris in the lead. >> the momentum is infectious here. tomorrow i will go to the largest rally i have been at in my days of service in arizona. it is incredible. it is so oversubscribed, people are signing up in masses. i was doorknocking this weekend and met several people who had never gotten involved in doorknocking but wanted to be part of history. >> you are a democrat, but i republican mayor in another part of arizona is also endorsing

kamala harris. will many republicans crossover to vote for her? >> recently announced republicans for harris. it was a large and prestigious group. mayor john giles represents one of the most conservative cities in our entire country. but he feels the harris administration has delivered for american cities, giving us key investments in infrastructure, public safety, and more. so he wants to be part of continuing that great record. >> arizona has a border with mexico that spans over 370 miles. the trump campaign is criticizing the harris-biden administration for its handling of the immigration crisis. will that he should be a deciding factor for arizona voters question mark >> our border is very important to us. it is essential to our economy. we want order at the border. so does vice president harris.

we all recognize we could have passed a very conservative bipartisan bill. but donald trump told republicans in congress he did not want to see a vote read he wanted it as a political issue instead of getting solutions. we will see more of what donald trump has produced in the past when he was president. he put out a variety of initiatives he knew were illegal, such as his so-called muslim man, just for politics. vice president harris wants order and she can deliver order at the border. >> as you mentioned the race in 2020 was so close, you did have so-called fake elector schemes, individuals are before the courts charged in relation to conspiracy to corrupt the election results. do voters have trust in the electoral systemn arizona, or are you concerned what might happen this year? >> we are working hard to make sure that elections are as

transparent and effectively run as possible. in our county, republicans have the majority in operating elections. so it will be a bipartisan effort. we have made credible strides in making sure everything including testing is public and transparent, and they are working very hard to show we should have great confidence in our elections. it is irresponsible for candidates such as donald trump to be sewing that doubt. i would really encourage him to lead with facts and not fear. >> weill all be watching closely in arizona and all of the other battleground states as well. mayor of phoenix, kate illegal, thank you for joining us. >> russia's defense minister says its forces are fighting to repel ukrainian troops leading a cross-border offensive in russian territory. russian president vladimir putin has met the regional governor of

russia's -- region that came under attack from an estimated 1000 ukrainian troops supported by tanks and armored vehicles. the ukrainians began the incursion on tuesday and are said to have reached more than five miles into russian territory occupying border villages. the region is now under a state of emergency. russian media reports 3000 civilians have been evacuated. president putin called the attack a major provocation and accused ukraine of firing indiscriminately at civilian buildings and residences. this russian military video purportedly shows the destruction of ukrainian armored vehicles. meanwhile, a spokesperson for the european commission said ukraine was fighting a legitimate defensive war against illegal aggression. our ukraine correspondent has more. >> we are hearing claims from russian officials this attack has been stopped, the fact that fighting is going into its third day suggests otherwise. vladimir putin hd a meeting

today with the governor, where he announced any residents forced from their homes will be awarded 10,000 rubles. that equates to about $115. politically in ukraine, there is a little bit of smugness going on. president zelenskyy tonight not directly referenced the assault, but praised his troops for using surprise to achieve results. i think what we are seeing with ukrainian forces reportedly 10 kilometers across the board, where according to one mp, they are in charge of a major gas hub, we are seeing the attack turn into something more. and we are seeing ukraine drawing russian forces where they are being pulled from part of the frontline inside of ukraine. this amounts to the most audacious ukrainian counteroffensive we've seen since the full-scale invasion.

the white house interestingly is seeking more information on the attack. we don't think any agreements have been broken between ukraine and the u.s. in terms of striking targets inside russia. you will not hear washington speak out in support of this attack. but for now, the consensus among western allies is ukraine is acting within the confines of defending itself. >> the former ukrainian defense minister and current distinguished fellow. i spoke to him earlier and asked him for significance on that. >> ukrainian troops, all of the troops there from the ukrainian border move more in one day than the russians did over the last couple of months. it is a substantial vement. even if we are just looking at the map, calculating kilometers. it is substantial development in

thcourse of the war. >> i know you don't speak officially for the ukrainian government anymore, but giving your own past experience, i'm interested to know what you think this strategy is behind this specific location at this specific time? >> the location should be a surprise. in the war, the element of surprise plays a huge role. the russians did not expect that, obviously. but there was intelligence they hadbout the upcoming something, and they had seen movement of the troops. but they miscalculated it completely and removed some of the troops recently. nevertheless, they did not expect a major operation. as we found out, the presence and capality of russian troops and the quality of troops was very insignificant. -- was very low. that is why ukraine could move regiments straightaway. also most likely -- there is no

official explanations of what is happening. what we are talking about is gained from russian sources and official sources. particularly, the troops are well prepared and the troops are making a substantial effort. russian troops just cannot do anything about this. why? and what does it mean to ukraine -- objectives are unannounced, strategies are unannounced. president zelenskyy today announced russia must feel the war which it started, but it did not go exactly on this operation. we could calculate that most likely which strategy might have been behind that, that is to divert the pressure troops from the other regions of ukraine. because russia right now is in shock. gathering the troops to move them back to this area.

of course, that ruins their plans in ukraine. we clearly see russia is basically concentrating whater it has on a couple of directions right now. and they are making substantial pressure on these directions, particularly the east of ukraine . but at the same time, they have very little presence anywhere else. and the quality of the troops is quite insignificant. we also need them to see ukraine can still regain initiative. that is hugely important. they have been projecting success, despite the fact they have lost a tremendous amount of people. they still gained some kilometers in a few villages. announcing it is a big gain and a big progress and so on. but now they need to see ukraine can do much better. we can intercept the initiative. most likely that was one of the reasons.

it was hugely important during the war. >> talk about russian troops being diverted from other parts. if we talk about ukrainian troops, how sustainable is this push? are there enough soldiers to keep it going? >> it is unclear what amount of soldiers are there. at the moment i cannot comment on that. whatever the effort is, it has been calculated. they are very calculated and well prepared. >> we saw in recent weeks and months, new deliveries of weapons from allies, nato members, european countries, and from the u.s. what difference to those weapons in the f-16s may have had for this incursion? >> f-16s are not yet in play. they just arrid. i don't think they are playing any role there.

f-16s would be mainly focused on the critical areas in the east. but at the same time, we understand ukraine had become stronger in defending its positions in the east much stronger than it could in the springtime. so for sure it made a huge change. >> what is your sense of where this goes next? are we still a long way off to the end of the war? >> russia was certain it was doing well. particularly the leadership. this was not the case. they are focused on reaching the goals. now, they will understand in their system and their military system. so these events may make russia consider their plans. because they were absolutely sir -- sure they were on the verge

of some success. both on the land and in the field, we saw massive difficulties that russia had. a huge loss of equipment that forced people. leadership, perhaps seeing some rosy picture. they were certain things were under control and progressing. right w they see that their planning was not right. the distribution of the force was not right. so that must have pushed them to some reconsideration which may lead us to the situation they will reconsider their strategy. in this case, we may see the end much sooner. >> israel launched airstrikes on two schools in gaza city that operate as shelters. the civil defense reports 15 people have been killed. the israeli army confirmed the bombings, saying it targeted hamas command centers, but

reported a total number of 40 pounds -- 40,000 people have been killed across the strip on thursday alone. they israeli army ordered another evacuation on thursday. smoke was seen rising in the air after multiple explosions. israel says it was acting against militants firing rockets from the area. overcrowding and water contamination or causing a surge of skin diseases in gaza, particularly in the north. a doctor at one hospital said there are new diseases spreading among children every day. the israeli prime minister has defended his handling of the war in gaza in a new interview, speaking to time magazine. he also acknowledged israeli security failures that allowed the hamas attack of october 7 to happen. while afflicting personal responsibility until a personal -- full investigation is complete. it took place on august 4 in israel with the national political correspondent who joins us now.

thank you for being with us on bbc news. 10 months into the war, benjamin netanyahu, is he still bullish in his approach, airstrikes regardless of civilian casualties like we saw on the schools in gaza? he's bullish on continuing the state of the military mission, to destroy hamas' military and governing capabilities, to remove it from power. i think he believes the idf can still take out the last remaining battalions hamas has in the seven -- southern city of rafa. and the mastermind of the october 7 attack, the head of hamas after -- was assassinated, he was just promoted to being head of the political bureau. i think he's going full throttle ahead on the mission he has

outlined of removing hamas from the gaza strip. >> there is much opposition to his handling of the war in israel, particularly in relation to what is perceived as his failure to bring the israeli hostages home. does he take the criticism on board? >> he does, and dismisses it out of hand. there are a lot of accusations that he's prolonging the war or adding new conditions on the hostage negotiations as want senior official told me. to not have to reach a cease-fire that would result in the return of all hostages because it would end the war and potentially lead to snap elections, which can result in his ousting. the way the prime minister describes it to me, he does not want to have a deal that would not allow israel to continue its need to remove hamas in the gaza strip. he feels the price of october 7,

one 3000 hamas terrorists stormed israel's southern border and killed more than 1200 innocents, the price of the attack on israeli soil is hamas loses gaza. that is the way he believes israel to restore its deterrence in the region over to fend off future attacks for other hostile adversaries. >> many will lay the blame for the attacks at his feet that he presided over such a colossal intelligence failure. and you asked whether he would apologize. >> interestingly enough, the backdrop is 10 months into the war, benjamin netanyahu had not today apologized for october 7, you never expressed any remorse for what happened pre-the only apology he had issued was for a social media post blaming his security chief's for failing to foil the attack. so i asked why haven't you apologized to israelis -- his

first answer was ty are in the middle of the war, they cannot go through this. i said would you go through this now? -- he said i'm sorry deeply that something like this would happen. in a lot of ways, it was the first time he expressed any remorse for the fact this happened while he was presiding as prime minister, that there were intelligence failures and security failures. this is really a first since october 7. >> there are causing israel for elections, a change of leader. is it something he's considering? >> i don't think so. i think he doesn't want that. he doesn't want to disrupt the military operation in place in gaza. he's placed israel in an expanding war potentially, conflicts escalating on other fronts. saying i'm fighting a seven front war with lebanon, fighting iran, the who these in yemen,

hamas and gaza. he doesn't want to disrupt it. that is why many say as long as the war is ongoing, than there aren't elections, and that keeps him in power. i think the prime minister has a vision for how he can turn this calamity, the major failure happening during his premiership. and on his watch into a triumph which would be in his mind to remove hamas from the gaza strip, make it so that they are no longer able to have power and have any kind of governing capabilities or rule over that enclave while leading to a place where he can ink a normalization deal with the saudi's. i think that is his ultimate vision for how he can take israel from this precarious moment to a better place. >> we are told by the state department a cease-fire deal is almost agreed. does he share that view?

>> i don't know if he necessarily sees it is almost agreed. he did not say that to me. i think he said he felt hamas was the one holding up the deal. others have said it is israel. but his view is you need increased military pressure, you need to go forward with the operation, he wants to bring the hostages back. previous rounds of negottions brought hostages back in other rounds. like 105 israelis in a negotiation last november. but his main priority is this overarching theme of total victory, which he describes in two ways. first, getting rid of hamas, the second is returning the hostages. the third would be installing a new civilian governing entity in gaza that would not pose a threat to israel. he also insists it is not run by the palestinian authority. it is a very tall order that many people think is unlikely.

>> times national political correspondent, thank you so much for joining us on bbc news with that. and remember, keep up-to-date with all of the days news on our website. and you can check out whatever we are working on on your favorite social media platforms. i'm caitriona perry, thank you for watching world news america. that is it today. do take care. ♪ 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. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

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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. amna: good evening. geoff: tonight, donald trump reverses course and agrees to debate vice president harris, who is gaining in the polls.