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a raymond james financial advisor gets to know you, your purpose, and the way you give back. life well planned. erika: i love seeing interns succeed, i love seeing them come back and join the engagement teams and seeing where they go from there, i get to watch their personal growth, it makes my heart happy. (laughs) 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" . this is bbc news. anchor: hello and welcome to world news america. i'm caitriona perry, in washington. a car has driven into a crowd at

a christmas market in germany. authorities say it is an attack that killed at least two people. 11th hour talks continue on capitol hill to strike a funding deal and divert a looming government shutdown. american diplomats have had their first official meeting with the new rulers of syria. hello and welcome to bbc world news america. let's begin with some breaking news. an apparent attack at a german christmas market. at least two people are dead, and more than 60 injured, local authorities say, after a car drove into a crowd at a christmas market in the eastern german city of magdeburg. officials are calling it an attack. they say all local hospitals are preparing for a mass casualty event.

footage on social media which we are not showing because it is too graphic and has not been verified at this time appears to show the car hurtling at high speeds between christmas market stalls. the driver has been arrested, described as a 50-year-old man from saudi arabia who arrived in germany in 2006 and has been working there as a doctor. the german chancellor, olaf scholz, said in a social media post the incident leads us to fear the worst. it comes on most exactly eight years after a truck was delivered lee riven into a christmas market in berlin, killing 12 people and injuring more than 70 at that time. let's talk more about what we know at this time. we are joined by our security correspondent, frank gardner. we should say at this point we don't have any information regarding motive or intent of this individual who has been arrested. what are we seeing in terms of the response from the german authorities to what has happened?

frank: obviously, it has been a major incident for first responders. we were very quickly on the scene. if you look at the footage of his actual arrest, ensure you will have access to that. it has been playing on local television and on international. you will see there is a relatively undecided response by the german police. they approached the van. they order him to get on the ground. but they seem at one point to pull back because they are clearly afraid that he might have an explosive vest. there is talk of possibly explosives being in his car. they were not detonated, if there were. this is a very unusual situation. not because of what happened. it is not the first time somebody has rammed a car at high speed into a christmas market in germany. indeed, something -- something similar happened in lisle, in

nice in france. but it is unusual that he is 50 and a doctor. usually, when these things happen, and if terrorism is involved, it is normally a north african individual much younger in their 20's. at the most, in their 30's. simply do not know the motive. there could be mental health involved. he could have been fired at work. his partner could have left him. it could be all sorts of things. he could have been given some horrendous medical diagnosis. none of which excuses what he did, but it -- we are going to have to keep an open mind on what the motive is. inevitably, people will be looking at terrorism as a possibility because isis, the islamic state, its followers -- a calls on its followers, dwindling as they are, to do something like this. there have been attacks similar

to this in several european countries. it is always a risk. think the thing that is strange here is that given how popular these german christmas markets are in germany, that more precautions have not been taken. this guy was able to drive his dark bmw through the crash areas and career through hundreds of shoppers, injuring dozens and killing at least two before he was stopped and arrested. caitriona: frank, on that point, you mentioned there was an attack almost exactly eight years ago, eight years ago yesterday, on the christmas market in berlin. what is the security situation like in germany at the moment? frank: well, it is reasonably tense. it is not the highest it has been. there have been a number of plots that have been -- that have been intercepted. to be honest, most of the attention is on the ukraine war, as it is here in this country. mean in the u.k., the primary

work of mi5 that is broadly equivalent to the fbi is that the main caseload is still counterterrorism. it is al qaeda or isis inspired. in germany, they are that much closer to ukraine. there is a particular problem in germany with far right wing extremism. there is a party called afd, which stands for alternative for germany. there is a fear that went something like this happens, because of the origin of the suspect, saudi arabia, that there will be political capital made out of this, because the whole idea of too many migrants coming into germany -- if you remember back in 2015, angela merkel, the german chancellor, allowed in 4.5 million migrants from the middle east. that has been hugely controversial in germany and very unpopular in germany.

arden berg, where this took place, is eastern germany. caitriona: we have seen statements already coming from president macron, from georgia maloney, expressing shock at this. would this cause other european capitals to look at their own domestic situation in these days before christmas? frank: i think it is a reminder, unpleasant, unwanted, and uncomfortable, that although we tend to be very concerned about the war in ukraine and the war in gaza and lebanon and syria, that terrorism, the specter of terrorism, has not gone away. both far-right and islamist inspired. and we still don't know if this is terrorism. it could be something completely different. that is what the investigators have been working on right now. they have caught the suspect alive. he will want to know why on earth he has done this. caitriona: frank gardner there,

our security correspondent. thanks for talking to us as this news is just developing. we will return to it a little later in the program with our correspondent in germany. we will move on to what is happening here in the united states. republican politicians in washington are scrambling at this point to get a spending bill approved by a vote in the u.s. house of representatives to avoid a government shutdown at midnight eastern time. there had been a bipartisan agreement which was derailed by criticism from president-elect trump and his close adviser, elon musk, who has suggested a new deal. but dozens of republicans joined democrats to reject that trump-backed idea, which included a plan to increase the debt limit. a government shutdown which shutdown federal services and pay for government workers, just days before christmas. white house confirmed some agencies have already begun morning employees of the

potential. speaker johnson led a meeting with house republicans a short while ago, some of whom seemed optimistic about the next vote. >> i think we came together. i think speaker johnson did a great job, come the end of the day. i think there is very good communication happening in the white house. which is crucial to our leadership and to executing the america first agenda. i think we will see a vote coming up. hopefully, it is a successful vote that we finish up. we passed the cr. republicans avoid a shutdown. and we have agreements with the white house on handling things such as the important debt limit with a good faith pledge and plan we will execute in line with the white house's wishes. >> i think we will be able to get out of here pretty quickly.

we will have a continuing cr with the disaster relief and the farm relief. caitriona: joining me now is democratic congresswoman from virginia, jennifer mcclellan. ask for being with us. we have been hearing short clips from some of your counterparts. we are told a vote will be called shortly. what is your view of the text that has now been put forward? rep. mcclellan: honestly, i have not had a chance to look at it, because once again they are pushing a bill on the floor, not giving us very much time to look through it. right now, i can only go based on speculation of what i hear is in it or not in it. it sounds like it is just a repeat of last night's bill without the debt ceiling. i want to take a close look. but that means that there is a lot of the family and child services provided in the deal we have reached earlier this week are gone, that the ability to

help people that have had their snap benefits stolen are gone, as we see an increase in that debt. i'm still not sure this is something i can vote for. but i am hopeful that we will enjoy -- will avoid a government shutdown and the democrats will come back to negotiate a deal. caitriona: as for what you know so far, you are not being picked as a party to go for or against it. do you think we are looking at the likelihood of a shutdown at this point? rep. mcclellan: we literally just got word about this bill and this vote as i was about to come on your broadcast. the caucus is meeting as we speak. i'm not sure yet how we are being whipped. but based on where we were earlier in may, we had a deal. republicans reneged on that deal, showing that their word is not to be trusted, and that at the end of the day, they will do

the bidding of elon musk over dealing with the needs of the american people. i am hopeful that we will be able to come together before midnight tonight with a bipartisan agreement that we can all vote for, and avoid a government shutdown. in the past -- this is the fifth time we have come to the brink like this, an impasse with this congress. we have avoided the cliff when we reach a bipartisan deal. this deal has to get through a democratic senate and still has to go through president biden. we need to make sure we are passing a bill that democrats and republicans can agree on, that puts people over politics. caitriona: can all that happened by midnight, do you think? it happens if it does not? rep. mcclellan: it will be difficult. it is possible. the shutdown won't be immediate, since tomorrow is saturday. we have had times where we have gone into a little bit after

midnight and we have still been able to reach a deal. so i am an internal optimist. at the end of the day, we need to avoid a government shutdown heading into the holidays. caitriona: and is the sense from yourself and your colleagues that you are going to stay in town, stay there, even though it is heading into the holidays, as long as it takes on both sides of the aisle, to try to get something here? rep. mcclellan: i can't speak for the republicans, but i can tell you that for me and my colleagues in the local democratic caucus, we intend to do the job the american people sent us to do, and that is to fund the government. that is to meet their needs and do so in a way that does not harm the american economy. i am prepared, and the democratic caucus is prepared, to stay here as long as it takes. but we are hopeful that we will be able to avoid a shutdown and then go home. caitriona: was it shocking to you that 38 republicans voted

against what was essentially a republican bill? rep. mcclellan: no, because the republicans have shown from the beginning of the 118th congress they don't know how to govern, and they fight each other. and to have a bill that includes an increase in the debt ceiling solely because donald trump demanded it at the 11th hour -- remember, that is why speaker mccarthy was thrown out of office, was because he agreed to extend the debt ceiling. so the same republicans that voted him out of office for doing that were not about to turn around and then extend the debt ceiling at the 11th hour in a continuing resolution. so i am not surprised at all. caitriona: we see you possibly have a very long night ahead of you, so we will let you go. thanks for joining us on bbc news. rep. mcclellan: thank you. caitriona: to discuss all of what is going on, i'm joined by our north america correspondent,

anthony zurcher. listening to the congresswoman and clips from her republican counterparts before that, it is not clear whether this deal is going to be done or not. anthony: it is not clear yet. a lot of resentment and anger still among congressmen mcclellan and other democrats i am in contact with about how the republicans broke the deal they had agreed upon. it would have been a smooth way to fund the government. on wednesday, elon musk and then donald trump came out against it. if you saw on the floor, the house -- the senior democrat on the appropriations committee was speaking out against the bill from the floor. clearly, democrats may not be entirely ready to support this bill. because of the way it is being introduced in congress right now, it will take a two thirds majority. it is going to require democratic help in this next vote coming up within the hour, if it wants to pass. otherwise, republicans will have to go back to the drawing board and this will almost definitely

guarantee a shutdown, at least a short one. caitriona: what is extraordinary is at least when he four hours ago, this looked like a done deal, that everyone would be going home for their holiday. we had 38 republicans going against president elect trump, who himself was going against his own stated policy. anthony: that was a surprise after donald trump came out and said this is a bill republicans should support. we want to increase the debt limit. we want to give this aid to farmers and keep the government open and all of this. he said anyone who opposes this might get voted out of office in two years. then 38 republicans heard donald trump say that and said, we are ok. we will vote against it. there is no fear even at the height of donald trump's political power, before he comes back into the white house, of the consequences of challenging donald trump. that is noteworthy because we have not seen that kind of behavior in the past.

it will be interesting to see how donald trump responds. this new bill will have taken the debt limit out of it. it is not giving him what he wants. is he still going to be able to play this up as a win? is he going to face some consequences? caitriona: notwithstanding the optimism and the hope from various congresspeople that they can do the deal and save the holidays, what if the government is shut down? what is that going to mean? people will be closely watching things like national parks, tsa agents in airports. anthony: for the millions of federal employees, it is when to be a hardship. they will be furloughed or will have to work, and in neither case are they going to get paid. that includes memories of the u.s. military who would not get a paycheck if the shutdown goes into the next year. for average everyday americans, the government will move slower for them. tsa people will show up and continue to screen. air-traffic controllers will continue to make sure planes fly

and everything moves smoothly. it may be more difficult for those people to show up and work. there may be less of them. if we stretch down like we did in the 2019 shutdown, you saw some of the key employees start to call in sick, and that really ground thanks to a halt. that is what finally ended the january shutdown in 2019. caitriona: we will see what lies ahead for everyone. thank you for talking to us. american diplomats have had their first official meeting with the new islamist rulers of syria in damascus. the u.s. assistant secretary of state met members of the group which overthrew president assad two weeks ago, and discussed u.s. support for an inclusive syrian-led process that would lead to a representative government. she said they spoke about the future of serious political transition with the leader, and announced that the u.s. would scrap a $10 million reward out

for his arrest. washington still designates hts as a terrorist group and has set conditions before it will consider delisting the group. this follows a wave of delegations in recent days, including from the u.n., france, and the u.k. we are joined by the former special representative for syrian engagement and former ambassador to iraq and turkey and many other places. thank you as always for joining us on bbc news. on this issue of the american diplomats speaking to the hts leader, the first diplomats in syria for 12 years or so -- put into context the significance of that happening. >> it is important because while we are a bit late compared to most american -- to most european states and the u.n., we are on the ground. we are a very important player in syria. we have troops there. we are the main effort against

the islamic state inside the country, and we have crushing sanctions is still on syria. so we have a lot to talk about. we have a lot of asks of the new interim government. in the short term, getting back austin tice and other held americans, continuing the fight against the islamic state, we want to see an inclusive, if possible democratic, constitutional syria that does not create the mayhem inside the country and in the region that we saw in the last 12 years. it is a very important visit. it is a very important issue for united states policy in the region. caitriona: with hts designated a terrorist organization by the u.s., should the u.s. be looking again at those designations? does that help rebuild syria? >> sooner or later, if the hts

movement does not return to terror -- it has been a long time since they have done what we would call international terror attacks, like was reported earlier from germany -- at least eight years since they were announced that kind of thing. technically, they probably earned it, but there is a temptation to hold out further conditions that may not be tied to terrorism, such as good governance and inclusiveness, before we left that very important category. caitriona: how concerned are you about how minorities will potentially be treated, and women as well? >> it is the middle east. that is an issue in every country of the many i have dealt with. the are in there talking with them. but perhaps even more important -- we have seen this in multiple situations. the united states has to work with key other countries inside syria right now, turkey and

israel. the arab states. the um has a formal mandate to try to move this political process forward. and the europeans are important for many reasons in the middle east. to ensure that we speak with one voice to whoever winds up in charge of this country -- that is the only way forward to ensure that the international community can get what we need, which is peace, prosperity, and the return of syria to something like normalcy. caitriona: and what about those american citizens who are missing or detained in syria, or were detained under the assad regime and have not been located? we spoke with one family on the program who say they know their son is alive. what happens with the search for austin tice and other individuals? >> i former green beret is the

best guy the united states could put on the ground to look for these people. he has had success after success. if anyone can do it, roger can. what it is going to be very difficult. they have discovered there are up to 40 secret prisons. the assad regime, its own people and anybody who came into their crosshairs -- it was absolutely horrific. it will take a long time to unravel all of this for the syrian people. hundreds of thousands of victims. many were caught up in their net. caitriona: james jeffrey, former u.s. special representative for syria engagement. tanks for joining us on bbc news. let's return now to our top story, the attack at a german christmas market. at least two people are dead, and more than 60 injured after a car drove into a crowd at a christmas market in an eastern

german city in what officials are calling an attack. we have this report. >> confusion. chaos. there are passersby tending to those on the ground. what sounds like children crying, and adults. people are looking around, but willed at what has just happened. i witnesses say a car drove at speed, straight into dozens of people. just a few hours ago, this market was bustling with people shopping and socializing in the days before christmas. ambulances and emergency services scramble to help those they can, taking people to hospital and treating at the scene. hospitals in the area told to deal with a mass casualty event. >> this is a terrible tragedy. it is a catastrophe for germany in general. for this to happen at a christmas market is hard.

>> attacks on citizens in germany are nothing new. eight years ago, and articulated lori killed 12 people in berlin, and injured many more. tonight, german police have arrested a doctor from saudi arabia who has been in germany since 2006. they believe an explosive device was in the car. investigators are now on site. but now, they worked to save the lives and what has become another scene of horror. bbc. caitriona: 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. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ announcer: get the free pbs app now and stream the best of pbs.

♪ >> good evening. on the news hour tonight, after much wrangling, congress moves to avoid a shutdown with a new funding bill. top u.s. diplomats meet the new leaders of syria who are now