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your passions and the way you enrich your community. life well planned. nicole: at bdo i feel like a true individual, people value me for me, they care about what i want, my needs, my career path, i matter here. 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" caitríona: i am caitríona perry in washington and this is bbc "world news america." donald trump nominates robert f. kennedy, jr. to leave the country's department of health and human services. israel hits beirut as the u.n.

special committee says warfare in gaza is consistent with genocide. a new estimate of the people killed in sudan's civil war dwarfs the figures previously recorded. -- reported. ♪ caitríona: hello and welcome to "world news america." we start here in washington were in the last hour u.s. president elect donald trump announced he is nominating the former independent presidential candidate robert f. kennedy, jr. to lead the department of health and human services. donald trump said mr. kennedy will make america healthy again and he is thrilled to make the nomination. mr. kennedy supported mr. trump after suspending his own campaign. this comes out to the democratic senator dick durbin called on

the house ethics committee to preserve and share its investigative report on former congressman matt gaetz, who donald trump nominated as attorney general. after leading -- reading his letter of resignation. mr. gaetz once faced a sex trafficking investigation. the house ethics committee has its own investigation into mr. gaetz. he faces increased scrutiny on both sides of the aisle and mr. durbin said the american people should know what is in the report. >> i want to know what is in the ethics committee report. it is a bipartisan investigation with serious charges. that has to be public. let the american people then decide if he is competent and qualified. what is our constitutional

responsibility when it comes to these nominations? for the attorney general of the united states, it is one of the most important nominations. caitríona: for more let's go to our correspondent, jessica parker, who is in florida. from what we know, what will rfk junior bring to the department of health and human services? jessica: i think expectations have been building that rfk junior would get some kind of role around health in the donald trump future administration. this is a man who ran his own presidential campaign before dropping out and throwing his weight behind donald trump. donald trump has said rfk junior will help and the chronic disease dilemma in america.

he has taken interest in health and he is said to be put in charge of america's health agencies despite the fact he is one of the country's most prominent vaccine-sceptics. there was this recent admission that he admitted to dumping a dead bear carcass in central park. despite all this donald trump has decided to put him in one of the top jobs. rfk jr has been seen in west palm beach and has been over at mar-a-lago. he has become very close with donald trump in recent weeks. he is set for this extremely powerful job if he can secure it via senate confirmation. this will be a test caitríona: just parker in florida.

it sounds like the celebrations are still well underway. let's bring in republican congressman mark alford. thank you for joining us on bbc news. we have heard from your colleagues that they are surprised by some of the choices donald trump has made. the latest, robert f. kennedy, jr. what is your view of that nomination? >> i think it is a great move, the pick for rfk jr. his uncle was president when i was born during the 1960's and 1970's there was an health initiative. the presidential fitness award. every student in elementary school was a part of this to get us healthier. since then our obesity rate has ballooned. 40% of americans are diagnosed

as clinically obese in america. it is 75% of families with government food programs that are helping out some families. we call it supplemental nutritional assistance program. we have to get healthier. i believe rfk is the right person to do that. caitríona: he has some controversial views on vaccines, raw milk, removing fluoride from water. will these be the policy positions of the republican party? >> these need to be studied. i think he is right on track, especially with the covid vaccine. there was a lot of information going back and forth, the mrna vaccine, it did not have complete approval from the food and ruggedness and before being released in america -- food and drug administration before being released.

some of these drugs that have not have the proper supervision before being given out to americans. i think he will reign some of those programs in and truly make americans healthier again. through food programs, better nutrition, better exercise. caitríona: another one of the nominations is matt gaetz from florida to be attorney general. you have worked with him in the house. is he the best person for that job in your view? >> it is not my view that counts, it is president trump's view that counts. the american people gave donald j. trump a mandate to rebuild america. now he is the master builder. he gets to pick the instruments he wants. he is taking jackhammers, bulldozers, wrecking balls and chainsaws. caitríona: sorry for interrupting, congressman. when you are giving me that answer, does that mean you don't

think he is the best person for the job? >> i think matt gaetz will be a very effective attorney general. again, it is not my choice to make. it is the president's choice. we will stand behind it. matt gaetz will do a good job to help week out the deeds -- weed out the deep state. caitriona: former congressman gaetz has been investigated for sexual misconduct and drug use, obstructing efforts to investigate his conduct. that report has been completed. should it be made public at this time if he is about to be the attorney general? >> it cannot be made public, according to the house rules. this is a private committee, the ethics committee, and for a good reason. it investigates behind the scenes and in private. the investigation is kept

private because you are dealing with the reputations of the members of congress. there is a reason the department of justice dropped the charges against matt gaetz. matt gaetz has resigned the u.s. house of representatives. that report was to be released tomorrow and now it cannot be by our own rules in congress and by law because he is no longer a member of congress. caitriona: as you point out there were no criminal charges brought against him. if this house report shows he has no case and it exonerates them, is it not in his best interest for it to be in the public domain? >> look, once again, this is the way that u.s. house of representatives operates. i know some senators are calling for the release of the information. here in the united states of america, we have two houses.

their business is their business and our business is our business. we do not have access to theirs. there is a reason for that. . a separation of powers. a division in the houses, the u.s. house of representatives and the senate. caitriona: i know you take special interest in the armed forces. pete is the nominee for secretary of defense. often a role that goes to a high ranking lee terry official. he has spoken more so about firing generals. what is your view of him and his nomination? >> i love pete hegseth. i have watched him for years on thoughts. i am a former news anchor. two so you cannot go from the news into politics is not correct. i am here and doing an effective job. i questioned the current

secretary of defense lloyd austin numerous times before the armed services committee. i think people far supersede his role, the role lloyd austin has done as secretary of defense. we have to dismantle and dislodge a lot of the things that are hampering our u.s. military right now from being effective. we are stripping out the diversity, equity and inclusion projects, we are stripping out crt. stop acting like politicians and start recruiting the best men and women who will cite and possibly die for what we hold dear in the u.s. caitriona: former u.s. anchor turned two-term congressman from missouri. thank you for joining us. >> thank you. caitriona: former republican congressman charlie dent told the bbc that matt gaetz would face severe consequences if the

report was released to the public. >> this is a really interesting situation. ordinarily what would happen is when a an investigation is completed they would vote on the report and then release it to the public. if a member resigns from congress, as is the case with matt gaetz, the ethics committee loses all jurisdiction. that said it appears this investigation was complete and the report was ready to be issued. the ethics committee has a choice to make. will the issue the report after the resignation of matt gaetz? i think there is some precedent that it can be done. the senate might want to review this report prior to voting on his nomination for attorney general. it is expected this report is quite damming and they would be

a sanction against matt gaetz. the ethics committee could reprimand him, they could censure him or recommend an expulsion. caitriona: moving on to the middle east. israel's military is continuing to hit densely populated areas in southern beirut. there were several raids on thursday morning. israel's military said it was targeting military bases used by hezbollah. it is the third day in a row israel has attacked the lebanese capital. israel also hit syria's capital on thursday and killed at least 15 people in air raids at two residential buildings in damascus. it was said to be aiming at command centers. our correspondent sends this report from beirut. >> one of the locations hit was. in a neighborhood in damascus. this is an upscale neighborhood in the city were security

headquarters, embassies, u.n. offices are located. the other building that was hit is to the west of damascus. the israeli military said it had struck military targets and infrastructure being used by islamic jihad. we have seen in the last year since the hamas attacks israel has intensified its attacks against iranian linked targets in syria including palestinian factions and the lebanese group hezbollah. in lebanon it was another day of h -- israeli airstrikes. it was the third consecutive day of intense attacks in beirut. it could be a part of an israeli strategy to put more pressure on hezbollah. there have been intense international efforts to try to reach a cease-fire in the conflict. hezbollah has indicated it could

accept the deal based on the u.n. resolution 1701 that ended the conflict between hezbollah and israel in 2006. it requires has blood remove fighters and weapons from areas near the border -- it requires hezbollah to remove fighters and weapons from areas near the border. a demand that has been seen as unacceptable and a violation of the country's sovereignty. caitriona: a u.n. committee found israel's practices in gaza are consistent with the characteristics of genocide. . a special committee said on thursday that israel was using starvation as a weapon of war. half of gaza's two .2 million population is facing imminent famine. israel rejects allegations that it is punishing palestinians and sent military raids aim to eliminate hamas.

the reports come after a u.s. imposed deadline for israel to allow more aid to civilians in gaza. the deadline passed with no u.s. action taken against israel. a senior emergency officer for the palestinian emergency agency. she is based in the gaza field office. she told me about the humanitarian situation on the ground. can you tell us from what you have seen, what is the situation like now compared to early october, when the u.s. put israel on notice to improve humanitarian conditions? >> it has been consistent through the last 13 months of the war. every day, every week the situation is getting worse. not only do we have winter around the corner, we have seen the least amount of eight enter the gaza strip -- the least amount of aid enter the gaza strip. the situation on the ground is

getting unbearable. they are fighting over bags of flour, surviving on tinned cans of food. it is hopeless and desperate at the same time. it is frustrating for humanitarians on the ground because we are here and everyone working here is risking their lives, trying to do as much as they can for the community. the frustration we have is never having enough supplies over the last 13 months of the war. caitriona: when the u.s. state department says although israel has not made a significant enough difference, it is happy it is seeing some steps that would allow conditions to improve. are you seeing those steps? are ? >>, not at all. we categorically reject this. there is no one here that would tell you differently.

nothing is improving. if anything, it is getting worse. 37 trucks on average enter the gaza strip per day in october. that is for 2.2 million people who have fed everything taken from them the last 13 months. this is shelter, this is their homes. any food, any access to water. the needs here are so basic and the fact people would be denied such needs is an absolute outrage to continue maintaining this for 13 months has led to catastrophic conditions. caitriona: when israel said it is allowing more trucks in, talk about the difficulties between getting something literally over the border from israel to gaza, and getting it to the people in need, particularly those in. the north of the country >> getting aid to the border is one

thing but we need the safety to get the food to the people in need. myself and colleagues have been on convoys delivering supplies that have come under fire directly. we have had food trucks hit by the navy. i have been in a convoy that has been shot at. there is no safety for anyone. how can humanitarians do their jobs when we are not guaranteed safety? since september, there has been a 100% increase in our mission denials. we cannot move. if we do not have approvals, we cannot go anywhere. over 100% increase in mission denials. since september. we need international journalists -- 10% of journalist s here have been killed during the war. there has been no international journalists permitted into the gaza strip.

the position of this war is being able to have this narrative and say this against the united nations and humanitarians on the ground. the same position also denying the access of journalism. caitriona: the bbc has made representations to israel to be granted access for some of our team into gaza and they have been denied so far, just on that point. you said you have been in convoys that have been shot at, is that fire coming from the idf? is some of that from hamas? israel has talked about hamas stopping convoys and looting the m. have you seen any evidence of that? >> taking it to people desperate of food. i have been in a convoys shot at

in an israeli controlled area. we are seeing looting but it is a direct result of there being no police, desperation. if you take everything away from a society -- i'm talking hospitals, schools, medical facilities, restaurants, cafés, homes -- everything has been destroyed. limited food, limited water, limited access to medical treatment. this is what the population is doing with. of course there will be a complete breakdown of society. we are trying to operate in while this conditions. safe passage is not being facilitated and that is the responsibility of the occupying forces. caitriona: the number of casualties in sudan civil war is far larger than previous estimates. the study found more than 61,000 people died in sudan alone since

the conflict began 18 months ago. that figure is three times the number of deaths estimated by the united nations for sudan as a whole. nearly half of the deaths were killed in direct violence. preventative disease was among the leading cause of death. official say they will keep the border crossing with chad open for the delivery of urgent aid. before the announcement, the crossing was due to. close on friday sudan's army has accused forces of using the route to smuggle weapons. red weather alerts were lifted in spain after 24 hours of heavy rain. the worst downpours and 35 years left roads submerged and forced schools to close. more than 200 people were killed

by flash flooding in the valencia region. our correspondent reports. >> the raw tide, about 40 minutes, and all-too-familiar seen. red warnings were issued but the destruction was unrelenting. >> right in the heart of the village as you can see behind me. emergency services, the locals, everyone has come together trying to clear some roads. everyone's houses, businesses, fully decimated. it is so sad. >> the brunt of the latest storm with thousands evacuated. schools and businesses closed. some locals struggled to get the safety. more flash flood warning's today. valencia is the worst hit region. over 200 were killed two weeks ago when a year's worth of rain

fell in one day. people here on high alert. >> they have told us to go home because of the storm. heavy rains are coming and we should stay home and in high areas. >> with more rain forecast, rescue efforts continue. emergency crews are bringing people to safety in difficult conditions. across the region the cleanup operation is an almost unending task. even small amounts of rain could add to the misery. experts say climate change is a huge factor. some flood warnings have been lifted today but the threat remains with more rain forecast. there has been loss of life, communities destroyed and it may not yet be over. caitriona: before we go, scientists have found the largest ever recorded coral reef in the pacific ocean, sitting

near solomon island. it stretches more than 30 meters , bigger than a blue whale. researchers believe it is more than 300 years old. one scientist called the good health of the reef a beacon of hope. more than half of the world's coral reefs are in danger as temperatures rise due to climate change. really lovely stuff. that is it for the moment. keep up to date on our website. that is it for "world news america." 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. on the “news hour” tonight, president-elect donald trump chooses anti-vaccine activist robert f. kennedy jr. to lead the nation's health agency. we delve into the former presidential candidate-turned trump supporter's record. geoff: republicans retain their majority in the house, giving the gop full control of the federal government. what they could do with their

newfound p