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people value me for me, they care about what i want, my needs, my career path, i matter here. ♪ ♪ narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation, the judy and peter blum kovler foundation, upholding freedom by strengthening democracies at home and abroad. announcer: and now, bbc news. >> i am caitriona perry and this is bbc world news america. donald trump says his french and british counterparts have done nothing to in the ukraine more ahead of their visits to washington. nded over the body of the hostage shiri babas to the red cross. luigi mangione, the 26-year-old

accused of killing brian thompson, appears in court in new york city. ♪ caitriona: president donald trump says the french president macron and prime minister starmer has not done anything to end the war in ukraine. he was making those remarks ahead of visits from both leaders at the white house next week. the u.s. president also said the ukrainian president zelenskyy had no part of the peace negotiations, adding he's been at meetings at three years and nothing got done so i don't think he's very important to be at meetings. the white house is insisting ukraine will soon sign an agreement granting the u.s. access to its mineral deposits. the deal had been rejected by president zelenskyy over its

lack of american security guarantees. president trump's national security advisor said the bottom line was mr. zelenskyy is going to sign that deal in the very short-term and that is good for ukraine. earlier, america's envoy to ukraine had a more conciliatory tone towards president zelenskyy, calling him an embattled and courageous leader of a nation at war. general keith kellogg said their talks had been extensive and positive. our international editor has more from kyiv. >> calling president zelenskyy a courageous leader as keith kellogg did after their talks was par for the course when joe biden and his diplomats came here. but it is very different to the harsh and mocking language used by president trump. in the government offices in kyiv, i asked one of zelenskyy's top advisers about trump's demolition of the certainties the u.s. used to offer. president trump said that

ukraine started the war the other day. what did you think when you heard that? >> well, i can say it is obvious who started the war and it is raging for three years. everyone understands that. one country cannot attack another country. >> so why do you think president trump would say such a thing? >> well, i don't think that was something he really meant in terms of -- ukraine attacking russia? >> he said that ukraine started the war. he did actually say that. >> no, i think this was maybe his understanding of the situation, but we have to be based on the facts. >> president zelenskyy said that trump is living, to paraphrase, the u.s. is in a disinformation bubble created by the kremlin.

>> it may seem like that, especially in terms of the direct contact with russia now in saudi arabia. this will help the other side, russia, who actually started the war to break the deadlock of diplomacy and to emerge from the diplomatic isolation from the international world. that is what they are seeking and they are winning. >> the russians are winning in this world words? >> yes. >> barely seeing daylight between trump's talking points and prudent's talking points -- putin's talking points. that must be alarming for you. >> it is alarming. the information that he receives. >> do you think if zelenskyy speaks to trump, he might be able to persuade him to change his mind? >> i am sure about that. that is what will happen once they meet again to talk about how to end this war.

there is no one in the world who wants the end to this war more than ukrainians do. >> britain, and i know you already of your job is to deal with the united kingdom, has expressed a great deal of support for ukraine and support for president zelenskyy in the face of the accusations that president trump made. however, britain's military weakness is well known at the moment. the lack of investment, i suppose you must recognize there are limits to what the u.k. is able to do, is that correct? >> those countries understand the imminent threat more than anyone else or nordic countries and baltic countries. why? because it has happened to them before so they know the threat and increased their budgets, same will happen to britain. >> do you think in western europe, despite the things people have said, we

basically have to close their eyes to this? >> half closed? >> fully closed may be the threat. >> yes. there was a sort of comfort because everybody used to live a comfortable life. europe comes to understand the our next -- they are next. europe is defended now by ukraine. there's no need to say this many times. but, it is obvious. it is obvious for poland, with a weighty of -- lithuania, latvia and so on. it depends on how far you are from russia. caitriona: the issue of ukraine and russia has arisen at the conservative political action conference which is taking place down the road from us in washington, d.c. in maryland. we can go live now to speak to florida congressman byron donalds. thank you for joining us. just to pick up on some things

that your colleagues have been saying there, do you think president zelenskyy is a courageous leader as general keith kellogg describes tim moore as a dictator as the president does -- him as or as a dictator as president trump does? >> there's a deal on the table that apparently president zelenskyy was for and publicly was against. what's very clear is we want an end to the conflict. we want there to be a peaceful resolution, but the united states will have to be made whole. that is how this thing will work. i would not be too concerned about some of the words being thrown around right now. i would be far more focused on the fact the goals of president trump and this administration is to bring this conflict to a close so that millions of people who have been diane can stop dying. that is the key thing. caitriona: when president trump has changed his tone in this way in relation to president zelenskyy and seems to be warming more to president putin,

you think that is a tactic rather than a long-term shift in foreign policy? >> no, i don't believe it is a long-term shift. what it is is doing everything possible to stop the fighting. let's be very clear, the united states is into this conflict, we know, with more than $200 billion. we don't have money growing on trees over here either. there has to be a deal that comes together. neither side will get everything that they want. let's be very clear about that and be honest about that. everybody is not getting what they want, but there has to be an end to the war. the war has gone on too long. this war should never have started. if joe biden was paying attention when russia was amassing troops for six months, we would not be in this conflict in the first place but we are where we are. the president's goal is clear to bring this war to an end. that is what he committed to the american people and that is what he will follow through and get done. caitriona: the remarks the

president has made today about the french president macron, the british prime minister starmer, both of whom will be in the white house revisits next week, should allies be concerned about that change in tone, those insults? >> actually, i have not heard what the president said today, but if it's been any think that has been consistent with the last couple of weeks about wanting the europeans to step up their game in terms of funding for their national defense and funding for the defense of nato, the president has brought support in the u.s. for that. for the last 80 years plus, the united states has been the dominant factor in european security. we understand why. no need to relitigate history. we know the reasons why, but at this point going forward, of course, 80 years later, it is now more of the responsibility of the european nations to step up. any other rhetoric i have not heard so i cannot comment. caitriona: it was along those lines so you are on the money there.

when you are talking about world war ii and the events there, at cpac where you are, president trump's advisor steve bannon gave an address last night and ended the speech saying "fight, fight, fight" and pause before doing a gesture with his arm that is reminiscent of a nazi salute. what is your view of that? >> oh, stop. this whole thing everybody trying to watch how somebody arm's moves. let's be real and stop the fullest this. donald trump his team have been committed to the constitutional principles of the united states. what does that mean? free speech for the american people. that means free markets and open economies. does not the things that the nazis stood for in germany at that time or any other desperate nation has ever stood for. we believe in the freedoms of the american people brought forth by our constitution. so, to throw out that somebody's hand moved a certain way after their speech, all that is is media garbage, not based in any

reality happening here in the united states. the only thing we would ask is be focused on the actual details of what we are doing, not what anybody can perceive, because those perceptions are clouding the judgment and clouding the thought process of people around the globe. it is not fair, it is not accurate and it is not credible. caitriona: speaking of actions, president trump has endorsed you in the florida's governor's race even though you have not declared your candidacy. do you plan on running for governor? >> i'm not going to tell you anything about that right now. the goals still remain the same. we will get the president's agenda through on capitol hill. i am thankful to have president trump's support to run for the next governor of florida. really happy about that. honored to have it but we have a lot of decisions we need to make internally. at the end of the day, the mission over the next two years is getting the president's agenda done. caitriona: congressman donald, thank you for joining us.

let's go back to kyiv. we can speak to her international editor -- our international editor. it has been just over a week where president trump appears to change american foreign policy towards russia with insults undermining the ukrainian position. what happens now? jeremy: yeah, and telling lies as well about things that have happened. saying, for example, the ukrainians were people who started this war themselves. so, i think what's going to happen now is that the european delegations will be in washington next week, the french and the british, after the criticism leveled at them today by president trump. they will realize first of all that they have a much harder job than they ever thought they would to reassert the european role. and also that those big holes that president trump has put

into the transatlantic relationship might be even wider than they thought. caitriona: president trump said in the oval office in the last hour that president zelenskyy and president putin need to meet soon and get it all done. what is the likelihood of that happening? jeremy: zero right now, i would say. i don't think there's any chance of a meeting between the two leaders. at present, because i think if they did get together, the positions would be so far apart that the meeting would fail because putin has made his position very clear. some would say it is a starting gambits. others would say this is his deep-rooted position he will not give up and that is essentially ukraine does not deserve to exist as an independent and sovereign nation. that he wants more territory than is already taken. and that ukraine should effectively be demilitarized.

president zelenskyy has made his position equally clear, which is he wants to be part of nato and wants to get all the land that the russians have taken, 20% of ukraine's territory, back. they are way apart. they massively disagree. caitriona: when we were speaking this time last night, you were telling us about increased activity in the skies above kyiv. what is a situation like there today and tonight? jeremy: just as you say that, don't know if you can hear it -- quite a lot of air defense sounds coming. there has been, i think, an intensive amount of drone activity in the last few days. it is coming up to the third anniversary of the all-out invasion so you never know what might happen then. yeah, tracers and things are being pointed out to me. and loud explosions. you probably heard that.

caitriona: we can hear all of that. thank you very much for joining us from kyiv and do take care there. hamas officials tell the bbc that the group has now handed over to the red cross a body said to be that of is really hostage shiri babas. her body was due to be released on thursday as part of the cease-fire deal but after forensic tests, israeli authorities said it was the body of an unidentified gaza woman. the bodies of her two sons were released on thursday. the idf is accused the captives of murdering -- the captors of murdering them with their bare hands, then committing horrific acts to cover it up. our middle east correspondent sent this report. >> for the family, the emotional turmoil goes on. it is one day since israel's

forensic institute examined the body that hamas said was that of shiri bibas, but found it was not her and an unidentified gazan woman. hamas claimed there was some kind of mixup with the remains. now, hamas says they have identified, they found the body of bibas and handed that coffin over to the red cross. that coffin is now en route to israel to be identified in the forensics institute and to see whether it is her. a reminder that she and her husband and their two little boys, just four on october 7 and a nine-month-old, were seized in the attack. they become symbols of the brutality of that assault. there was fury from israel's government today, claiming that hamas violated the cease-fire by not handing over the body of shiri bibas. now, hamas says they have found her and that body is going to be identified.

it all comes a day before the next exchange of living hostages on saturday. we are expecting six is really hostages to be exchanged for more than 600 palestinian prisoners. caitriona: arab leaders met in riyadh to try to come up with a plan for the future of gaza. leaders from jordan, kuwait, egypt and qatar attended the meeting called by the saudi crown prince. arab states have rejected president trump's proposal that the u.s. take over the territory and relocate its more than 2 million inhabitants to redevelop what he calls the riviera of the middle east. joining me now is a retired u.s. diplomat and former u.s. ambassador to yemen. thank you for being with us on bbc news. this meeting between the gulf state leaders, egypt and jordan, strategizing ahead of a wider meeting next month. how will they combat that suggestion from president trump that the u.s. somehow controls gaza? >> a pleasure to be with you

tonight. it is a very good question because this issue of how to manage the devastation, the destruction of gaza, how to move forward in reconstruction, rehabilitation for the people and for the infrastructure is extremely complicated. it's really beyond the capacity, i would say, of the arab states themselves to take on all the responsibilities to clear unexploded ordinance, clear the rubble and do all these things. this is on the that requires the full effort of the international community working together. but clearly for the arab states, the one element of donald trump's proposal that is absolutely unacceptable, unacceptable on a very broad range of reasons, is this idea

of removing the population. that is a nonstarter for the arabs. it is a nonstarter really for the world. caitriona: that essentially ends the entire notion from president trump, this whole plan that he has? gerald: yeah. of course, at the same time the arab states are trying to work together to come up with a proposal to, of a way to move forward, we hear from washington these ideas. steven witkoff, the president's middle east special envoy, even jared kushner, that they are going to bring together a group of real estate developers who will come up with their own plan. so, there is a sense of pressure on the arab states the really try to forestall any of these other initiatives and move forward with a feasible, possible solution. caitriona: all of those conversations depend in the

first instance, the cease-fire holding and becoming into something more permanent. what's your assessment of where that is now, particularly given that the body of shiri bibas, which was purported to be her ultimately wasn't? gerald: unfortunately -- i can understand why for the family it was so draining, such a tragedy. on the other hand, in the grander scheme of things, it is a minor blip. the an important thing is will the two parties be able to come to an understanding of how to move forward? again, we have so many different issues. it is not only will the cease-fire hold? it is what happens on the day after in terms of governance, in terms of security. if the israelis insist that they won't accept anything that

suggests palestinian authority returning to gaza, that makes it extremely difficult for anybody else to really come forward with a workable solution. so, i think where we are right now, it is going to be a critical period to see whether these parties actually, one, are willing and able to reach an agreement, and secondly, whether if they do agree, whether they will be able to implement any agreement that they reach. caitriona: gerald, former u.s. ambassador to yemen and many other stations the your career, thank you for joining us. gerald: thank you. caitriona: the man accused of killing united health care chief executive brian thompson on a busy manhattan street appeared at a new york city courthouse on friday afternoon for a status hearing. the 26-year-old arrived shackled, wearing a bulletproof vest as secured guards

surrounded him. luigi mangione faces state murder and terrorism charges. if convicted, he could face life in prison without parole. his case has sparked a frenzy of criticism and support. public officials have condemned the killing that launched a five-day manhunt, while supporters organized a rally outside and inside the courtroom, championing his message. our correspondent has been keeping a close eye on all of this and joins us now from new york. talk to us about what happened in the court today. >> it was quite striking being inside of the courtroom and seeing the sheer number of supporters that gathered. and also, the sheer number of press to underscore the intense interest in this case still. this was a hearing to discuss really the motion scheduled by both parties. prosecutors started by going over the amount of evidence they had already handed over. everything from dna samples to

police bodycam footage and other forensics. but, we heard a lot from luigi mangione's lawyer. karen friedman made a few complaints during the proceedings. first that he was shackled, saying that even though he was in federal custody because he also faces federal charges, that he should not be shackled because he is in a state court. he said that was hurting his presumption of innocence. she also said he was also at risk of not getting a fair trial because the chief of detectives and the mayor of new york have both appeared on hbo documentary speaking about evidence that she had yet to receive. she said some of that evidence, she thinks, was not properly obtained by officials in pennsylvania where mangione was arrested. she said she's concerned his constitutional rights were violated when some of that evidence was seized. a few points raised there by his

lawyer, but officials have really expressed their dismay over how luigi mangione has been celebrated as something as a folk hero. caitriona: thank you very much for that. apple is removing its highest level of data security for customers in the u.k. the move is in response to a demand from the british government for access to users data. apple says it will no longer offer an encryption tool. that allows only account holders to view items such as photos or documents stored online. the tech giant previously warned hackers could take advantage of it if government insisted on access to data known as creating a backdoor, which instead of the highest level of security through into an encryption. the british government has not commented. one security expert called it an act of self-harm. let's have a look now at some other important news from around the world. the man who stabbed british indian author salman rushdie

was found guilty of attempted murder on friday. he attacked mr. rushdie as he was talking on stage in new york in 2022. mr. rushdie has been partially blind ever since. los angeles mayor karen bass dismissed the city's fire department chief on friday over her handling of january's palisades fires. it comes after weeks of tensions between the two officials. the chief criticized the mayor when the fires first began, saying she failed the city. dozens of people were killed and hundreds of homes were destroyed. a retired police chief deputy has been appointed as the interim fire chief. before we go, an update on the pope's health. one of the doctors treating him for pneumonia says he's feeling slightly better but is still not out of danger. he will likely stay in hospital all of next week. the professor said the

88-year-old pontiff's outlook was good and his heart was very strong. now, remember, you can keep up-to-date on the pope's status and plenty more on our website, bbc.com/news. you can see what we are working on at any time by checking us out on your favorite social media platform as well. that is it for world news america for today. i'm caitriona perry. thank you so much for watching narrator: funding for presentation of this program is provided by... bdo, accountants and advisors, funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation, the judy and peter blum kovler foundation, upholding freedom by strengthening democracies at home and abroad. ♪ ♪ usa today calls it "arguably the best bargain in streaming" that's because the free pbs app let's you watch the best of pbs anytime, anywhere.

♪ amna nawaz. geoff: and i'm geoff bennett. the potential impact of president trump's plan to take control of the u.s. postal service. amna: and the major impacts of the president's cuts to government services. >> all