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>> i am sumi somaskanda in washington. this is world news america. ukraine fires u.k. supplied shadow missiles into russia for the first time. the u.s. readers a united nations security council resolution on a gaza cease-fire drawn criticism from other member nations. after two hours of deliberations the u.s. house ethics committee fails to reach an agreement on releasing its report into former congressman matt gaetz. welcome to world news america. the by then administrate -- biden administration was in antipersonnel landmines to ukraine to stop russian progress on the battlefield, the latest shift on a policy on supplying
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weapons to ukraine since the u.s. election earlier this month with president biden looking to tip the scales in the war during the final days of his presidency. here is what we know. a u.s. official tells the bbc the landmines are nonpersistent and become an art after a preset period of time up to two weeks and run on battery power that can run out. they will significantly support the defense of russian advances in ukraine, particularly in the east. the u.s. sought commitments to limit risk to civilians and expects ukraine not to use them on highly populated areas. the decision is drawing criticism from human rights organizations and anti-mine agencies that says that the use of landmines are inhumane and an escalation to the contract. ukraine is a signatory to an anti-mine treaty with more than 160 countries, but it doesn't include russia. minds have been deployed by ukraine in russia since the eucharist -- invasion in 2014. lloyd austin spoke about the
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decision to supply them while traveling in laos. >> we talked about how they would potentially deploy the weapons that make sure they are doing things responsibly, recording where they are putting their mines and make sure they take advantage of the self detonating quality of these weapons. we have provided and take -- antitank minres from the very beginning. the way the fight has evolved, this is just another stage for the way we are trying to meet their needs. they asked for these and i think it is a good idea to provide them. >> ukraine reported launched british long-range storm shadow missiles for the first time in russia one day after debuting u.s. long-range missiles on russian soil. the ukrainian defense minister said ukraine is using "all the
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means to defend itself." british defense secretary john healey said ukraine's actions on the battlefield speak for themselves. the statement did not specify exactly when the attack took place or the type of weapon used. russia's defense ministry said today it intercepted 44 drones launched by ukrainian armed forces oveight. ukraine's intelligence agency accused russia of carrying out what it described as a psychological aack after several embassies, including the u.s. temporarily shut down in kyiv wednesday due to false air raid alerts. the u.s. embassy in kyiv resumed services following a temporary shelter in place suspension earlier today in response to this. a ukrainian member of parliament told us about the mood in key event on the battlefield. >> we have seen the embassies closed temporarily. what are things like in kyiv? are you bracing for a significant strike on the capital? >> the truth is, sunday, early morning, around 6:00 i woke up from the sound of the hypersonic
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missiles being blown up in kyiv. it is a sound i still cannot forget. it was extremely loud and extremely terrifying. i had to rush to the bathroom with my son. we stayed there for a couple more hours with 120 missiles hitting the country sunday morning. that is our daily reality. unfortunately, when we heard about a new attack today, we were not very surprised. unfortunately, it has become such a daily reality to us, that, yes, we have heard the news that embassies are closing but most people were more careful when the air raid alerts were signaling there is danger. i have seen many people in the metro station, more than typically. still, i think this became such a big part of our daily reality that people are not as terrified by that as they were three years ago. >> at the same time we have seen
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a significant shift in u.s. policy to allow starts with u.s. weapons into rusan territory and also antipersonnel mines. what is your sense as a member of parliament? will this make a significant difference? >> it will make a difference. it would have made a bigger difference if that type of weapon or those permissions were provided one year ago or a half year ago. it is every month, every hour, taking those decisions, it only costs us human lives we are using because we don't have weapons to defend ourselves and protect the lives of our soldiers and civilians. we have been relieved when we heard the news. at the same time, there was lots of -- i would not say anger. but a lack of understanding as to why it took so long from the biden administration to make those decisions. they could have indeed saved lives here in kyiv. >> can i ask how ukrainians are feeling about the war at this
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moment? a gallup poll released this week showed 52% of ukrainians would like to see their country negotiate an end to the war soon as possible. is this something you and your fellow members of parliament are discussing and perhaps pushing for? >> we are definitely not pushing for that because we understand, realistically, there is no clear solution to the problem. the only way to end the war right now is to give in to vladimir putin's demands, to agree to what he is asking. he is asking to take over four regions of ukraine, including those he does not fully control including zaporizhzhia and kherson, which he held it for a couple months, longer than that. he does not control them now but he says they belong to russia and we have to give them back to them. that is unacceptable. the other thing he is asking is complete neutrality, no nato
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perspectives for ukraine. frankly that is not something people are willing to give up. we see nato as the only guarantee there will be no war in the future. we would like e war to end. trust me, we never wanted to live through this war. but the question is, under which conditions the decision will be made. >> i trust you further about the conditions. we spoke to the former economy minister yesterday and he said he thinks ukraine might be willing to accept ceding some territory that has been lost to russia if it were considered occupied and not recognized as part of russia. you agree with that assessment? >> i think that as a solution, during a certain period of time, in order to stop the hot war taking place right now, this step commit this is a decision that can potentially be negotiated. will it be accepted by all ukrainians? definitely not.
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the bigger question is should this something ukraine should be pushed to accept? the reality is if that decision is made it will not just be a blow to ukraine's interests. it will undermine the basic principles of international law, the principal of the sanctity of borders. if ukraine is forced to give up, at least temporarily, part of its territory, what is there to stop vladimir putin or any other dictator from taking land from another country? >> before we let you go do you have a sense of what morale is like for soldiers on the front line now? >> unfortunately, i do have a good sense of the morale there. my partner has been on the front line from day one of the war. i know the situation there. not from somebody telling me but for very personal sources to me. people there are tired and exhausted. they are disappointed. they fl they are fighting against the greatest people in
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the world and they don't feel enough to support from the world in their fight. they feel like they are stopping a terrible dictator from moving into europe and europe is pretending it is not their fight, that it is not so much the fight for democracy. so i think that feeling of disappointment, that there is not enough support for them is very strong there. at the same time, they are continuing their fight. they are not giving up. people are tired and exhausted. >> the u.s. vetoed a united nations security council resolution demanding unconditional and immediate cease-fire in gaza as israel's bombardment of the territory continues. in a 14-1 vote the u.s. rejected the measure because it says it was not contingent on the release of hostages still being held in gaza. the united nations humanitarian affairs coordination office is virtually no aid has reached northern gaza in 40 days. palestinians are facing diminishing conditions for survival in the territory and its attempts to support the hundreds of thousands of people
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in northern gaza have been thwarted forcing bakeries and kitchens to shut down as the fighting intensifies in the middle east with the syrian state media reporting at least 36 people were killed in israeli airstrikes in central syria in residential buildings and an industrial area in the town of palmeiro. israel and hezbollah are continuing peace talks and the u.s. hopes the two sides can't reach a peace -- cease-fire agreement soon. u.s. special envoy a most talk seen plans to travel to israel to bring the war to a close. he was in lebanon tuesday trying to convince the lebanese government and hezbollah officials that a truce of up to 60 days is in their best interests and now he is focused on getting israel on board. >> a miss -- amos hochstein is a leading the effort to reach a cease-fire between israel and hezbollah.
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on the table is a proposal put forward by american officials for a deal, both lebanese officials and hezbollah accepted the proposal with some comments. we don't have official details of the proposal. we don't have details about the changes which have apparently been made during these discussions. but right after a m -- we heard from the head of hezbollah saying that hezbollah is letting these discussions happen to see if they can get to any result. he said there were two main demands for the complete end of hostilities and also the preservation of lebanon's sovereignty. these are very difficult negotiations. it is continue to demand the right to act inside lebanon if any deal is violated. the efforts will continue in
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israel. and we will see if the decisions made here will be accepted there. >> the u.s. house exits -- ethics committee chair said no agreement was reached on whether to release a report investigating sexual conduct -- misconduct allegations against matt gaetz. he says he reported against the release since of the committee has no more jurisdiction over the issue since mr. gaetz resigned from congress. asked about mike johnson's previous comments. the committee wrapped a meeting discussing mr. gaetz's file after nearly two hours of debate. president-elect donald trump tapped mr. gaetz to serve as the country's attorney general but lawmakers on both sides of the aisle questioned his nomination. dick durbin and senate democrats called on the fbi to provide the senate judiciary committee with
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the complete evidentiary file on mr. gaetz's investigation saying i's the committee's duty to completely review his background. not everybody is against the nomination. earlier today vice president elect jd vance met with republican senators on capitol hill to shore up support for donald trump's pick and brought mr. gaetz along for the visit. the president-elect refused to reconsider his nomination and took to social media to rail against what he considers a leftist agenda saying he nominated great american patriots that are "only trying to fix the mess democrats have made dot" our senior north american correspondent gary donahue was on capitol hill following all of the twists and turns today. take us through what happened. >> it is a hot mess, to be honest. in the ethics committee in particular. shortly after their committee broke up, the senior democrat there, from pennsylvania, came out and said, we had a deal not to talk about this and the chairman broke the deal and he is wrong to suggest the committee decided not to publish.
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they split down party lines, five-five republicans and democrats. she said this is not over and we will meet again in december to discuss this. this normally bipartisan committee that works quietly in a sort of conciliatory way behind closed doors are now at each other's throats. >> remind us why that nomination is so controversial. >> he is the most controversial of a controversial bunch of nominees, tt gaetz. he stands accused of a number of sexual and financial improprieties. he has been investigated by the department of justice. no charges have been brought and he has always denied wrongdoing. the essex community -- ethics committee took up this investigation after the doj decided not to prosecute. they thought there was enough to question his propriety as a congressman. they have been taking evidence for your son has become public. some women have claimed he paid them for sex for a period of time.
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a woman claimed she saw him having sex with an underage girl, all denied by matt gaetz. but if you are up for nomination, senators particularly, particularly on the democratic side, in this case want to see all of the evidence against you, all of the details about your background and what your life is like and that is the battle here for this nomination and why matt gaetz was on the hill today meeting members of the judiciary committee, republican members of the senate judiciary committee who, of course, will be crucial when it comes to the hearings in january. >> there will be pressure for the ethics committee to release its report. people will expect it in some way or another.
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this detail is likely to get out there soon. >> part of the health ethics committee. >> congressman, can you tell us what happened in the committee meeting today? >> i really can't tell you about the internal deliberations. but coming out of the meeting the chairman, the ranking member made some statements. we did not reach an agreement today about what would happen with respect to releasing documents and we have another meeting december 5 that i hope we can resolve something at that meeting. but that remains to be seen. >> your democrat you are referencing here, in her statement she said that there was not unanimous agreement to keep the report under wraps. she indicated in her statement that the vote went down along party lines. is that something you can confirm? >> i will leave that to her statement. but i think it is a scenario
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where we have five republicans and five democrats and that is intentional. it makes sure you have at least some bipartisan support in order to reach agreement to do something. hope is we reach some kind of a bipartisan support coming up to december 5 or on december 5. we can turn information over, at a minimum, to the senate. they will need the information. they have a constitutional obligation to do advice and consent investigations with respect to a nominee like u.s. attorney general. i think it is critical information for them to have and i hope they get it. >> the chairman indicated eaier today the report is actually not done. he has concerns because it is in the final review stages. will it be completed december 5 when you meet again? >> i don't want to get too much into the stage that is at. but i think if there is a vote to produce information, at least what i am referencing, that should go to the senate, is all
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of the file. everything we have collected in the process of our investigation, whether it is interviews with witnesses or the like. i am in favor of turning all of that over to the senate. >> are you frustrated? this was a meeting of over two hours, as i understand, and there was no unanimous consent. >> you know, congress is a place where, sometimes, it takes a while to get things done. especially when you need bipartisan work, bipartisan agreement to move forward. but, we still have time to do that and i hope we can get it done in the future. >> in your consideration do you think matt gaetz is qualified to be attorney general? >> i am not referencing anything in our investigation, but i would just say that the department of justice is the lead institution for the united states of america, the top lawyers are there. he would be the chief law
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enforcement officer for the country. it is a big job. typilly we have people that are very experienced attorneys, frequently with department of justice experience. that is at the office that deals with prosecuting spies. they deal with prosecuting international drug cartels. they deal with key civil matters including matters before the supreme court. i don't know that mr. gaetz has the background to do any of those things and i do think there could have been better nominees for them to have chosen. but, the president has the right to pick who he wants. the senate also has the right to eject to that person if they don't think he is up to the task. we will see what they do. i want to make sure they get all of the information they need to make an informed decision. that is, i think i'm a critical for them for filling their constitutional obligation, not only to the american people but also to themselves. >> i spoke to republican congressman mark alford.
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e ethics committee did not reach a consensus on releasing the report on matt gaetz. do you think they should release it? >> i do not. it would set a bad precedent. matt gaetz is no longer officially under the u.s. house of representatives and the ethics committee is charged, rightfully so with doing their job for current, sitting members of congress. he's no longer in congress. what they had investigated should be kept private. >> some of your colleagues, both in the house of representatives and in the senate, who are republicans, say they do think the report should be released because of the role matt gaetz is up for, attorney general, the highest law enforcement officer in the country. what do you think of that? >> i understand their concerns. by the senate has the power to also do its own investigation and through the confirmation process, that will happen, they will be able to ask matt gaetz anything they want.
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he has pledged to give them truthful answers and for them to investigate asell. matt gaetz maintains his innocence. the department of justice dropped the case. there is a reason they dropped the case. i don't know what that is. but the department of justice is not highly favorable towards republicans. if they drop the case against this republican that has been a not a great friend of the department of justice over the years, tre has to be a reason. >> if there were to be financial or sexual impropriety, which as you rightly said, matt gaetz has denied any wrongdoing here. if there were proven cases of this impropriety would you want this in a to know that information before deciding whether to confirm him? >> sure. that is the job of the senate. to advise and consent on the nominees that the president makes.
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let's make one thing perfectly clear. on november 5 donald j. trump won a mandate in the united states of america and he has every right as at the future commander-in-chief, as the future chief executive, to make his appointments as he deems necessary. one thing is very clear also. if anyone was expecting president trump, future president, to make ordinary selections for his cabinet, they were sadly mistaken. he has been given the mandate to rebuild america, rebuild our economy, rebuild our security. he will select jackhammers, bulldozers, chainsaws to do that. these won't be ordinary people that will just go along. >> understood, congressman. i want to raise some of the allegations. sex with minors. paying for the transport for sex with young women. what do you think of these allegations? >> i don't have any first-hand
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knowledge of these. i n't sit on the ethics committee. i am sure that those that sit on the ethics committee are bound by their vows in congress and on that commiee to investigate thoroughly, but they are also bound by the rules of the committee to say that if a house member is no longer a house member they cannot release the information. again, it is up to the senate. they can do their job. let's go through the process. matt gaetz is willing to sit down. he is already making visits on the other set of congress visiting one on one with senators. the truth will come out. everyone will have to deal with the truth and let the chips fall where they may. >> you talked about donald trump's mandate november 5. are you worried that this is all ovshadowing his transition? >> not at all. look, we knew this was not going to be a normal transition. look at what happened eight years ago when president trump won. i do not think he thought at the
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time he would win. there weren't plans in place. certainly there was no transition. this transition team has worked very hard to get the people in place that the president wants on his team. he is the quarterback. he gets to choose people on his team. >> we will leave it there for today congressman. thank you for joining us on bbc news. >> thank you. >> one more item before we go. earlier today, family, friends, and members of one direction gathered to pay their respects to liam payne and it laid the singer to rest at a private funeral service in buckinghamshire, northwest of london for the 31-year-old musician died last month when he fell from a third-floor balcony of a buenos aires hotel per he is survived by his parents, two sisters, and his son, bear. thank you for watching world news america. announcer: funding for presentation of this program
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