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is provided by... woman: two retiring executives turn their focus to greyhounds, giving these former race dogs a real chance to win. a raymond james financial advisor gets to know you, your purpose, and the way you give back. life well planned. announcer: 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'm caitríona perry in washington. this is bbc world news america. support for ukraine tops the agenda as the british prime minister that is -- visits the white house. immigration takes center stage on the campaign trail. donald trump says he will carry out mass deportations if elected

and president biden warns against hateful rhetoric and an update from the astronauts stranded on the international space station hundreds of miles above earth. hello and welcome to world news america. president joe biden welcome to u.k. prime minister keir starmer to the white house to discuss the next steps in support for ukraine including the question of whether the west will allow the use of its long-range missiles by ukraine against targets in russia. russian president vladimir putin rned against such a move thursday saying it would represent nato's direct participation in the ukraine war. ahead of friday's meeting the white house said there would be no policy change on u.s.-made weapons but president biden

reiterated backing for you crying saying president putin will not win the war. shipping this.hank you for the united states will stand with you as it defends against russia's onslaught and aggression. putin won't prevail in the war. the people of ukraine well. >> russia's ambassador to the united nations echoed putin's warnings friday in an address to the united nations security council. >> if the decision to lift restrictions is really taken, from that moment nato countries are conducting direct war with russia. in this case, we will have to take the relevant decisionsith all of the consequences for this that the western aggressors would face. >> for some, they are empty threats. speaking to the bbc's ukraine cast podcast former cia director and army general david petraeus

said he believes the russian president is both -- bluffing. >> he has established numerous red lines before. the ukrainians and numerous western countries have crossed just about all of them. he has rattled the nuclear sabr. so much that his own biggest ally and partner, china, president xi said don't even think about that, as did prime minister modi, an important customer in india for russian crude oil and so forth. i don't think there is anything more conventionally he can actually do that he is not already doing. he is carrying out a barbaric, horrific campaign. >> if you would like to hear more of that interview scan the qr code on your screen to find the latest episode of ukraine cast on bbc sounds. now joining us is our state department correspondent tom

bateman. he's at the white house. tom, what do we know about what was discussed? any decisions taken during this meeting? >> certainly, in the run-up to this, there was a lot of speculation about whether or not it could precipitate some kind of immediate decision, some kind of urgent announcement that would allow the ukrainians to fire those long-range missiles into russian territory. what we know is, there has been significant pressure from president zelenskyy, particularly, on the europeans, but also urging the americans to give them the authority to fire the weapons including the storm a shadow weapons, the european developed misses, deep into russian territory. the issue has been, while the europeans have been a lot more sympathetic to the pleas of the ukrainians, the president of the united states has been far more

cautious about all this. he was asked a few days ago whether or not there would be a change on this. his response was, it was being worked on. today it's clear the white house isn't going to make any announcement about this. that comment to me, signals the one person that has the power to make the decision, president joe biden, still hasn't made his mind up. i think that what is happening in the building behind us is the second part of the meeting involving prime minister starmer and president biden plus their senior officials that takes place in the blue room now of the white house. it is perhaps a further bit of pressure from the british side to try to bring the americans along with this. could that mean a split decision ? that the europeans give authority for the ukrainians to fire weapons into ukraine, but the americans do not? that's possible. but i do not think you will get a situation where the europeans effectively go it alone and give

authority to ukraine without the permission of the united states, or at least, the blessing of the united states for european weapons to be used in that way. i asked the state about this today. and they say they like all their decisions to be coordinated and made together. >> tom, thank you for bringing us up-to-date at the white house. ukrainian troops are losing ground in russia's kursk region where they launched a surprise incursion last month. at least 11 civilians were killed the last 24 hours from russian rikes including in sumi and kharkiv, donetsk, and kherson. james waterhouse has the latest from kyiv. >> up until this point ukraine has only used these weapons on targets close to the border. what ukraine desperately wants to do is strike deep into russia

, on military air bases, notably, to hit the fighter-bombers when they are either on the ground, or taking off. because, at the moment, ukraine has its hand behind its back. fighter jets take off and dropped blighted bombs, for example. 100 kilometers or so, from the border with ukraine. ukraine can do very little to stop them. should there be any kind of lifting of restrictions, it would not be a silver bullet. you would not see a sudden significant change in of the tide in fighting, but it would help ukraine better defend itself, i think. let's be frank. ukraine is facing a mounting pile of difficulties at the moment. it's troops are going backwards in eastern ukraine. the city of per crossed is under very perilous threat, you have it struggling to keep hold of russian territory it seized last month and it is struggling to mobilize enough men to sustain its fight. >> joining me discuss this is

seth jones is the director of the international security program at the center for strategic and international studies. thanks for joining us on bbc news. today we heard from president zelenskyy setting out how key it is that ukraine is permitted to use weapons given to it and i the way it sees fit and how frustrating he says it is to keep hearing "we are working on it." explained to us in a basic way what using the weapons would do for the ukrainian counter offensive at this specific moment? >> i have talked to senior ukrainian officials about this recently and have heard their explanations. what they have said repeatedly is that the use of these longer-range weapons like storm shadow would be helpful in degrading russia's military capabilities that are further from some of the weapons systems they are using now like guided multiple launch rocket systems, which they have been firing on

russian territory, or some of the drones. it gives them more access to russian bases for fighter aircraft, depots, fuel stations. and in general to degrade russia's ability to wage war against ukraine. it's not a silver bullet. but it's helpful. >> is this war, potentially, at a tipping point at this moment given ukraine's recent successes pushing into the kursk region? would the u.s. and u.k. consider a very limited lifting of restrictions for a specific time period for example? >> i'm not sure it's a tipping point. i think that where we are at now is that this war of attrition continues. the russians are making slow advances in the east in areas like donetsk. but, they are suffering extreme casualties now. i think neither side is able to make a breakthrough in any meaningful way.

i think in that sense there is a possibility we will see, possibly after u.s. elections, an increase in talks. but i do not think we are really needed -- near a tipping point at this point. >> the biden administration has constantly mentioned the fear of retaliation as a reason f not lifting restrictions, the potential of triggering nuclear response from the russians. given what we heard from the russian ambassador to the united nations today saying they would consider it an act of direct war, essentially, if the weapons are used, how serious of a threat do you think that is? >> let's first talk about the reality. the russians have been using chinese, iranian, and north korean weapons in ukraine for quite a while including recent iranian ballistic missiles. there are multiple countries weapons systems already involved in this war. second of all, the u.s. has already allowed some of its weapons systems like it's

divided did -- guided multiple launch rocket systems to be shot into russian territory. and as we have seen at every stage of the war, i think that the russians are buzzing. we have seen that repeatedly. every concern from the west about what the russians might do has been proven false. i think it is just yet another example of the need to call vladimir putin's bluff. >> that's an extreme calculation to take, though, isn't it? to try to call his bluff? he might just act on it at some point. >> i don't really think he has any options. i think the reality is at every stage of the war whether it is att javelins, stingers, increases in weapons, f-15s, vladimir putin has said he will escalate. he has not. that's because he doesn't have any other options other than potentially nuclear weapons that would probably lead to the end of his regime.

i think he -- i think there is plenty of reason, as david petraeus recently mentioned on your program, that he is bluffing. >> looking at the issue of the british storm shadow missiles, british missiles with components made in the u.s., that is what we think a lot of the discussion today is around, getting joe permission. -- joe biden's permission. if he does not want to give that is there any scenario when the u.k. can permit them to be used? >> it is certainly possible the u.s. would allow the systems themselves to be used and for the ukrainians to shoot them into russian territory and, particularly the systems that can be shot in the 170-180 miles into russian territory. that's an option. the u.s. it doesn't approve but

it's ok with storm shadow. >> we will see what comes up for that meeting. seth jones director of the international security program at the center for strategic and international studies thanks for joining us on bbc news. russia expelled six british diplomats from moscow friday accusing them of spying and sabotage for the u.k. government says the claims are baseless. the kremlin said london engaged in multiple and friendly a cts and that the actions of the british embassy in moscow aimed to harm the russian people. the british government believes the suspension came after it imposed restrictions against the russian embassy in london earlier in the year. the united nation agency for palestinian refugees said an employee was killed by a sniper in the northern west bank. the employee was a sanitation labor shot on the roof of his home thursday. the agency added that this marks

the first time and unrwa staff meer was killed in the west bank in 10 years. the u.s. confirmed his six workers in gaza were killed in an is -- israeli airstrike in a school in a refugee camp wednesday. it is just 52 days until election day in the u.s.. with the race so close, presidential candidates are traveling the country to try to attract voters. democratic nominee kamala harris is due to speak in pennsylvania the key battleground state while former president donald trump the republican nominee address to the media at his golf club in los angeles, california. the latest national polling averages show vice president harris polling 48% compared to donald trump at 46%. the 2% lead is within the margin of error. during friday's press conference at the trump national golf course mr. trump spoke about his immigration policy plans if elected. >> i can say this.

we will do large deportations. from springfield, ohio. a large deportations. we will get these people out. we will bring them back to venezuela. we told biden he isn't accepting anybody back. they moved other criminals -- not all of them, but the rest are moving in now. they emptied the jails in venezuela, emptied the nests of bad people. now they are in the u.s. taking over cities. it is like an invasion from within. we will have the largest deportation in the history of our country. we will start with springfield and aurora. >> the reference to springfield relates to springfield, ohio following comments donald trump made during tuesday's presidential debate when he repeated false claims about immigrants they're eating household pets. the town of springfield has drawn attention on the campaign trail for its growing immigrant community. authorities say over the past couple years around 15,000 migrants of haitian origin, many

fleeing violence in their home country, resettled legally in springfield, a town with a population of less than 60,000 people. after donald trump's comments about migrants this week president biden came to their defense. >> i wanted to take a moment to say something like so many americans lik kareem, a proud haitian-american. a community under attack in our country right now. it is simply wrong. there is no place in america. this has to stop what he is doing. it has to stop. >> let's talk about this and all of the latest in u.s. politics joined by molly walls senior political correspondent at the wall street journal. great to talk to you again, molly. voters across the country have been telling pollsters all year, and long before that, that immigration is an important issue. and of course we are seeing this play out in a very specific way now with the haitian community in springfield, ohio. without getting into the

debunked, false claims, tell us about the real issues immigration is bringing up for voters in places like springfield and other parts of the midwest. >> as you say, the specific, very strange trump raised at the debate is, it's important that we make this clear, not true. but it is the case that record numbers of migrants have caused the southern border from all over the world. many of them seeking asylum through a process is that politicians on all sides of th political spectrum acknowledge is overloaded and broken and that congress has repeatedly failed to address. and, that donald trump says he would fix as president. by closing and sealing the border and preventing and deporting millions of unauthorized immigrants that are currently in the country. so, this is the kind of thing he is seeking to draw attention to. this town, springfield, ohio, as

you say, is a small town. it welcomed it these immigrants, in part, as workers. there are factories in there that need labor. and at the influx has also created issues for the town. it has flooded the schools, which don't have the capacity for all these new children. same with the medical system and housing stock of the town. it has become a sort of metaphor for the way the immigration issue and at the migrants in various communities have strained local resources. >> given many of the immigrants are there legally is it clear what donald trump actually means by large-scale deportations? >> well, they are legal in the sense that they have been given temporary legal status by the biden administration through a refugee program, but they did enter as unauthorized immigrants. so, the status could be revoked. they could be deported. they didn't come in on visas

they applied for and waited for in advance. again, it's another symptom of the broken asylum process is that many critics say is being abused and that the president sought to address with a recent executive order. it seeks to limit the way people can claim asylum. and, a bill in congress at that donald trump has been blamed for killing, a bipartisan bill negotiated by democrats and republicans, including the biden administration, that also sought to address the asylum system that critics say is being abused. so, they aren't legal immigrants in the traditional sense of having applied for a visa before coming into the country. however, they are legal in the sense that they have at this temporary status. it gives them the ability to work. it gives them the ability to live in the u.s. via a refugee program the biden administration has sanctioned. >> we saw a lot of on

immigration in this week's debate. we saw kamala harris raise the points about donald trump having blocked that bill. he repeatedly came back to her saying you have been in office for almost four years. why haven't you done anything about this? do we have any indication yet whether the debate has shifted the poles or support for either candidate? >> i think i would wait to see until the postdebate polls have had a few days to settle to see if anything has shifted in a major way. in general we have seen the immigration issue is a winning issue for nald trump. it is an issue he has talked about for his entire political career. it was the main point of his famous speech when he came down the golden escalator in 2015 to nounce his first presidential campaign. he of course says a lot of things that aren't true. he slanders migrants in various ways, accusing them of being criminals. when, in fact, the crime rates are relatively low among the

migrant population. but this is an issue that he can claim he has been consistently calling attention to. and as at the numbers has risen and as of the border has increasingly been flooded with unprecedented numbers of crossers, more and more americans to see this as one of the most pressing issues that the country needs to address. and, the majority of people concerned about this issue do tend to favor trump. they do see him as the candidate that would do more to address this issue. >> we wait to see what happens. molly ball senior political correspondent at the wall street journal. thank you so much for joining us. pope francis weighed in on the u.s. presidential election saying that americans must to choose the lesser evil, as he described it, between kamala harris and donald trump. he was speaking on a flight back to rome after a tour of southeast asia. he criticized ms. harris for her stance on abortion rights and

criticized mr. trump for his stance on immigration policy. translated to english from italian the pontiff said of the candidates "both are against life, whether the one chasing away migrants or the one that kills children. i cannot decide. i cannot say. i am not an american, and i won't be voting there. it's spelling migrants, not giving them the possibility of working, not welcoming migrants is a sin. it is grave." despite these comments he went on to stress the importance of voting. for more check out our new series path to the presidency every friday on youtube featuring what is going on in the race to the white house. check that out. now, thousands of boeing employees are on strike marking another setback for the aerospace giant amid major financial losses. more than 30,000 junior workers in seattle and portland went on strike friday after overwhelmingly rejecting a deal that included a 25% pay raise.

the union initially asked for a 40% pay raise and a number of improvements to worker benefits. john holden, president of the international association of mainists union spoke about the failed deal and what has caused a long-held discontent among boeing employees. >> while there were many important things in the offer it did not bridge the gap for 16 years from 2008 going through two extensions, the threats of job loss, stagnated wages. cost shift on health care. many other issues. especially relocation of thousands of jobs for other programs leaving the state. >> the wk outcomes one month before boeing appointed kelly burke as its new chief objective. mr. ortberg warned a strike to put the company in jeopardy.

could cost boeing billions of dollars. since the union rejected the latest deal boeing says it is ready to return to the negotiating table to reach a new agreement. the white house weighed in. a spokesperson said it is in touch with both sides and encouraged them to negotiate in good faith. before we go, stuck nasa astronauts sunita williams and butch wilmore have been stranded on the international space station since june after a boeing starliner mission was interrupted by technical problems. the starliner craft returned safely to earth a saturday but without sonny and butch on board. the pair's delayed return is now expected to happen in february. it means that astronauts won't be on earth for previously planned events including election day in the u.s.. sunny and butch said they planned to carry out their civic duties even from outer space. >> i sent down my request for a

ballot today. they should get it to us in a couple weeks. that's an important role we all play a citizens. to be included in elections. nasa makes it easy for us to do that. >> same here. it is an important duty we have as citizens. we are looking forward to being able to vote from space. that's pretty cool. >> making their voices heard no matter how far away they are. find out about 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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♪ geoff: good evening i'm geoff bennett. amna: and i'm amna nawaz. bomb threats forced evacuation in springfield, ohio, the town at the center of lies spread by donald truut