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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 at ritika gupta in washington and this is bbc world news america. israel prepares to release 600 palestinian prisoners in exchange for the bodies of four israel hostages. donald trump says he will meet with president zelenskyy to sign a very big agreement on mineral resources. president trump called his first cabinet meeting with advisor elon musk in attendance and once more -- warns more cuts are coming.

welcome to world news america. i am ritika gupta. -- says it will return the bodies of four hostages on wednesday night in the final hostage and prisoner swap of the gaza cease-fire deals with phase. israel is expected to free within 600 palestinian prisoners. on saturday, israel said it was haunting the release of those palestinian prisoners after accusing hamas of using hostages for propaganda purposes. hamas accused israel of deliberately disrupting the cease-fire deal. the handover of the four hostages tonight would go ahead without hamas sebastian, the standup prisoner release, well, that seems to be a step forward. what is the mood like in

jerusalem? it was the funeral with israelis lining the streets to pay their respects. >> removed in israel is one of grief again because the four hostages that are being released by hamas are again dead as we saw last week for the first time last thursday with the family -- in his 80's who his body was also handed over. those were the first four dead bodies of hostages that we have seen in these handovers and there was a mood of utter sorrow and utter grief over that all day. an outpouring i don't think had been seen since october 7 two that degree. it was then made worse by the fact that one of the bodies of the month -- the children were

not hers. it turned that grief into anger. i think that was probably the motivating factor behind israel's decision to suspend the release of the around 600 palestinian prisoners on saturday who are due to be released after six moving israeli hostages were freed. also, the demand by israel that these handovers should no longer be done in public. it should no longer be a propaganda exercise by hamas, a show of force, something which israel has found rule, inhumane -- cruel, inhumane, degrading, and humiliating. that is not happening with this last handover of the first phase. those four bodies are being handed over to the red cross without any public show. they will be given to the israeli army. a rabbi will say prayers over their bodies. a forensic investigation, a preliminary one will be done,

and then a full one later. once that is done, the identities will be formally given to the public and through that process which could take hours, the palestinian prisoners who were due to be released, that will begin. we don't know exactly how long that will take but what we have heard from israeli officials is that they may not release the last palestinian presenter due to be released until they have the full identity of the four israeli hostages established. >> do you get the sense that the israelis are still eager to move to phase two? with this going on? >> is difficult. i think benjamin netanyahu, there are indications that his overriding desire, aim, is still the eradication of hamas and the

way that phase two works would be for the return of all the remaining israeli hostages dead or alive. it would essentially be an end to israel's were against hamas in gaza and israeli troops would with -- withdraw and hamas would probably in some form or other continue to exist in gaza. that has been unacceptable to the israeli government until now. the talks on phase two have not got started. those would be the real intractable issues that negotiators will have to deal with, that hamas still expects to have some role in gaza if and when the war ends and mr. netanyahu expects for israel still to have the freedom, the possibility to carry out strikes in gaza when it feels necessary. >> will have to leave it there. thank you so much for our correspondent. the u.n. human rights chief urged member states to reject any plans to annex the occupied palestinian territories were forcibly transport their population. it comes as donald trump

continues to promote a u.s. takeover of gaza. mr. trump posted an ai generated video that shows gaza as a beach resort without its palestinian inhabitants. the video features a large golden statue of trump, belly dancers, and mr. trump and israeli prime minister relaxing at a hotel. he suggested he would relocate palestinians to neighboring egypt and jordan, a plan rejected by both countries. on wednesday, egypt dismissed a leaders proposal that it should take over the administration of gaza. egypt called the suggestion unacceptable and contrary to the long-standing egyptian and arab position on the palestinian cause. joining me now is a former deputy assistant secretary of defense for middle east policy. welcome. the standup seems to be resolved. how fragile is that looking? >> well, i think the cease-fire

is incredibly fragile. i think that the games that have been played up until now with the hostages, the fake bodies, the wrong bodies being sent over, the murder of babies really has taken -- it really changed the mood in israel as i think your correspondent noted and i am not sure -- and it is also -- it has dramatically affected the mood in the united states with the trump administration so i think, you know, it is important to note that and i am not confident there's going to be a phase two. >> interesting. so when we talk about the negotiations for phase two, where do you think they now stand? >> it is difficult to say. i do think the return of -- the return of the dead, murdered bodies of the hostages tonight

of course is something that is expected. we will see if they indeed -- if hamas does indeed decide not to have this parade of dead bodies as they did before but i do believe that the mood is growing just to finish this war, defeat hamas. i think there is a growing understanding that the hostages that are left, many of them -- most of them are already deceased and hamas, as long as they are holding these people, really has a negotiating position that is truly grotesque . both israel and the united states have said pretty clearly, especially president trump, that this is unacceptable. so to continue negotiating with the other party committing these inhumane acts i think is

increasingly intolerable and that is why i do question if a second phase will go forward. >> like you said, you are not sure whether a second phase would be feasible at this point. a big question around that is the u.s. pressure on israel. we sought israel putting -- the u.s. putting a lot of pressure on netanyahu to get to phase one but now, we are hearing trump saying he does not mind what israel does, whether they go to phase two or they resume the war, and he reiterated that in his cabinet meeting. what do you make of that? >> yes, i think it is quite clear. i know a lot of people are trying to read into trump's statements, some deep meaning. i think he means what he says and what he said was israel can get after it and the united states is not going to stop them so that to me is quite significant. certainly a major policy change from the last administration and

we will see what netanyahu and his government decide to do with that. >> and for the side of the arab leaders, we saw trump posting that video, the aia generated video of gaza as a beach resort. he said he wants to make the review area -- riviera of the middle east. how is that being viewed by arab leaders against the displacement of 2 million palestinians? >> have not seen the video you are referring to but i think there is a lot of sort of public facing remarks that might not always be aligned with what is being discussed behind closed doors. for example, the initial negotiating position of the trump administration coming out and saying we want to relocate everybody in gaza, you know, even potentially long-term, i think that was an invitation for other nations, especially in the

gulf, but also potentially egypt to give alternative -- to give alternatives. that is what has happened. those discussions are continuing and i think something productive will come of it. on its face, gaza is not habitable right now. it is totally destroyed so these people will need somewhere to go and i think that is really where the discussion is centered and also what happens after this? how do the people of gaza, the palestinians, get a future that is more positive than what they are facing now and unfortunately what they have face under hamas? >> thank you so much to simone. president trump says his ukrainian counterpart, volodymyr zelenskyy, will visit washington on friday to sign an agreement on sharing cues resources with

the united states. the full details of that deal are still unclear. a press conference on wednesday, mr. zelenskyy insisted the deal is preliminary and he will not sign anything without the u.s. guaranteeing his country's security in the event of a cease-fire with russia. mr. trump says the u.s. would not make those guarantees as part of the deal. >> president zelenskyy will be coming on friday. that is now confirmed. we will be signing an agreement which will be a very big agreement. the previous administration put us in a very bad position but we have been able to make a deal where we are going to get our money back and we are going to get a lot of money in the future and i think that is appropriate because we have taxpayers that should not be footing the bill. we will be able to make a deal and again, president zelenskyy is coming to sign the deal. it is a great thing. it is a great deal for ukraine because they get us over there. we are going to be on the land and that way, you know, it is sort of automatic security because nobody is going to be messing around with our people when we are there.

>> joined me now is james waterhouse. sir james, we heard trump say that zelenskyy is going to be coming to the white house on friday to sign the deal but the key sticking point of security guarantees, that remains -- trump is still saying it is the e.u.'s responsibility so how is that going down over there? >> well, we are wondering what is in it fair president zelenskyy, why he is making this trip. we heard from government sources that an agreement had been reached on this mineral deal and regathered to the presidential office to find out what the terms of that agreement would be. president zelenskyy has long called for security guarantees to prevent russia from breaking a cease-fire in the future. and then when we got there, the president said we are just hoping this will lead to future agreements. this is just a framework and i think what ukraine is hoping is that there will be a domino effect that will make the u.s.

increasingly want to intervene in a postwar ukraine to keep it functioning and existing as an independent country. there are other reasons why he might want to go to washington. also look donald trump in the eye. he said he wants to be direct with him and asked him whether he wants to continue supporting ukraine or not. he also will want to get there before donald inevitably meets vladimir putin. and the fact is this. ukraine and europe still heavily rely on the u.s. for military support. and if president zelenskyy burns this bridge, it could have far-reaching implications. that said, if donald trump imposes a cease-fire deal, a mineral agreement, whatever form it comes in, on president zelenskyy that he doesn't accept, then he will not sign it and they ukraine will keep on fighting and it will pose seismic security questions for ukraine and europe. >> james, do you think tenancy

would be prepared to walk away from the deal if the u.s. does not agree to those security guarantees? is the deal still going to be good for ukraine without that? >> the same thing. if you have a mineral agreement -- if you have america coming over and investing in this untapped resource worth billions of dollars, there needs to be a cease-fire in place for that to happen, you would imagine. if there was going to be a cease-fire that would sufficiently put russia off from reigniting the conflict, then there needs to be some kind of military presence, be it supplied ammunition, weaponry, or air defense systems, and at the moment, ukraine is reliant on america for that so if there are not those security guarantees, then it all falls down. president zelenskyy, you got that huge press conference on sunday and he said, look, i am not going to sell my country or sign up to a deal that would involve the future generations

paying it off. and today, he even said, look at this could be something. or it could be nothing. he was frank about that. he really did detect that. i think he would not sign it and i think when you speak to people , of course, there is a yearning for peace but if there is a cease-fire, that isn't worth the paper it is written on. then they would rather still fight despite everything this country has gone through mostly. because this war is still existential. we still have russia trying to take as much of ukraine as possible with all of the daily costs that involves. quirks it will be interesting to see how the russians react to that deal. thank you so much to our ukraine correspondent, james waterhouse. u.s. president donald trump convened the first meeting of his cabinet on wednesday but the most prominent attendees besides the president himself was the senior advisor, elon musk, someone who is not a member of the cabinet and his exact title

and role remains unclear. he said the u.s. will go bankrupt is -- if he fails at his role at the department of government efficiency where he has been given unprecedented powers to cut federal programs. >> we simply cannot sustain as a country to trillion dollar deficit. the interest rates, just the interest on the national debt now exceeds that it -- the defense department spending. we spent a lot on the defense department. we are sending over $1 trillion on interest. if this continues, the country will become defective bankrupt. it is not an optional thing. it is an essential thing. >> they were asked about what is in store for more than one million federal workers who did not respond to an email sent saturday that ordered them to list five things they had accomplished at work in the last week. at the same time, he added on social media that failure to respond would be taken as resignation but several government departments told their workers not to send an

answer. mr. trump said he was not sure what would happen to those workers who did not write back. >> i want to say -- i would not say we are thrilled about it. they have not responded. maybe they don't exist. maybe we are paying people who don't exist. we just got here. this group just got here. but those people -- maybe a lot of things could have happened. >> our north america correspondent is at the white house. what else can you tell us about trump's first cabinet meeting in his second administration? notably attended by elon musk who is not a cabinet member but seems to have a big presence at that meeting. >> i think it is pretty remarkable that elon musk was not only in the cabinet meeting but dominated it.

remember, he is unelected and unconfirmed by the senate but he does have this outsized influence on the trump administration. if there was any tension between him and donald trump, it was not shown at all. both men seemed to get on incredibly well. if there's any tension between mr. musk and any of the cabinet secretaries, as there have been reports of being, then that was not shown either. elon musk defended the work he's doing to reduce the federal workforce and donald trump defended him as well. in fact, in the meeting, he said, to quote him, that america was bloated, fat, and disgusting. those were donald trump's comments. and you know, like i said, they both seem incredibly close. if there is any attempt to sort of have tension between them, you have some critics who like to refer to elon musk as president musk, thinking it might get under donald trump's skin. none of it showed. elon musk is still very much part of donald trump's administration mr. trump ask

him. >> the meeting comes on the eve of keir starmer's visit to the white house so how is he going to make the case for ukraine, do you think? do you think the increased military spending pledges, he might try to use those as leverage over the many tariff threats donald trump has suggested? >> i don't think it is a coincidence that the u.k. prime minister is coming with essentially a gift for president trump. we know president trump is not a conventional leader. he is controversial. he is chaotic. he is transactional, ultimately, with his friends and foes. he wants to see something in return and he has long criticized nato countries for not pulling their weights financially so the fact that mr. starmer is coming with this increase in defense spending is something, whether or not mr. trump thinks it is enough, ambitious enough is another thing but of course, mr. starmer

will want to make ukraine very much a focus of detox like the french president, emmanuel macron, did earlier in the week. he wants to ensure not just security for ukraine but also security for the whole of europe. and you know, earlier this month when i was on air force one when we got off, i asked the president how he felt about sir keir starmer and he said he is a nice guy. i really like him so we will have to see exactly how the meeting goes when mr. starmer and him meet tomorrow. >> we look forward to getting your updates. thank you so much. north america correspondent. the vice president of the european commission and the e.u. 's -- is in washington to meet u.s. senators and congressmen during a two day visit that began on wednesday. she was set to meet her counterpart, marco rubio, but those talks fell through. my colleague spoke with the high

representative earlier. >> nor do to meet the u.s. secretary of state, marco rubio. he canceled that, we are told, because of scheduling errors. when you put that with the president's comments, does this administration -- does president trump respect the e.u.? how would you characterize relations right now? >> they are definitely complicated. the new administration has started and we are learning how to work with them. we have been long-standing allies and friends with the united states and we need this to be in the future as wife. we have a lot of common interests, a lot of common values and common worries as well where we have to cooperate, whether it is in ukraine, the middle east, or also regarding china, so i mean, we definitely need to find the new ways to operate with the new administration.

>> we heard the french president and the u.k. prime minister speaking about peacekeeping troops in ukraine. is there a role for other e.u. member states there as well? >> first, we need to have peace. right now, putin and russia does not want to have peace. i mean, they want to have a cease-fire in order to regroup and rearm and they have not changed their goals and that is why we need to really put the economic pressure but also we have to support ukraine so they are able to defend themselves. the stronger they are on the battlefield, the stronger they are behind the negotiation table. and then when it is clear, then we can talk about security guarantees. and when everybody brings to the table so that there will be no new wars. >> does president trump frustrate those efforts when he talks about russia keeping some of the land it is occupying in ukraine at the moment when he talks about nato membership being off the table for ukraine?

he made remarks about nato just today again. let's well, it is a lot of questions about this because it is all the russian narratives that we hear. also from the u.s. repeating. maybe it is some clever strategy and that is also something that we are trying to find out in our interactions with our transatlantic partners here in washington to understand what is the plan, really? if we hear that russia is offered all the things that they want on top of what they have already achieved via the aggression, then it is clear appeasement and that has never worked. >> so how does the e.u. deal with president trump, given all that you said there? >> well, i mean, it is clear that the russian narratives is having a stronger hold here.

that is why we are reaching out to our transatlantic partners to explain what is at stake and how we can work together in order to really achieve peace -- a peace that is lasting and sustainable. not any cease-fire which gives russia the possibility to rearm, regroup, and attack again. i think, you know, we have to be very firm and we have to be together on this because only this way, we are strong. >> an actress who rose to fame in the 1990's has died at the age of 39. police say her death was not being treated as suspicious and that they found her unconscious and unresponsive after responding to an emergency call on wednesday morning. the u.s. actress was best known for her roles in buffy the vampire slayer and gossip girl. she started acting at the age of three on a nickelodeon series, the adventures of pete and pete.

remember, you can find more on all of the days news at our website, bbc.com/news, plus to see what we are working on at any time, make sure to check us out on your favorite social media site. that is all we have time for. i am ritika gupta. 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.

♪ geoff: good evening. i'm geoff bennett. amna: and i'm amna nawaz. on the newshour tonight -- in his first cabinet meeting of this administration, president trump previews further slashes to the federal workforce. geoff: the house narrowly passes a major budget plan including large cuts to taxes and spending. we speak with the house budget committee chairman. amna: and the trump administration deports migrants to a latin america stopover,