. >> we've never contracted directly to usaid.tarted a company called farmerline in 2013. it provides a range of services to a wide spectrum of small farmers. on this day, conducting a seminar for a women's group on how to improve soil conditions. farmerline links client farmers to merchants it has vetted to insure good quality seeds and other inputs. and it purchases their harvests, selling them to larger agribusinesses. you midwife for the farmers, link them up with buyers. >> exactly. fred: in its 10 years, the group has grown to have 2.2 million client farmers in 50 countries, scale that he says would be much greater with access to u.s. aid funds. >> we're just not trusted with the resources. fred: what he sees as a lack of trust is reflected in the strict guidelines of federal government grant applications, intended to ensure accountability and protect against corruption. >> corruption is everywhere. you know, corruption is not just for locally led organizations or like developing countries. it is everywhere. fred: the large

fred: brian atwood was usaid administrator during the clinton administration.ome of the agency's current problems back to his tenure at the end of the cold war. >> people said they wanted a peace dividend. the peace dividend didn't come out of the defense department, it came out of usaid. and so, i lost 10% of our employees. fred: at the same time, the agency added all of europe's former eastern bloc nations to its workload, which continued to grow, he says. >> when i was aid administrator, the overall budget was around $12 billion. it's now more like $38 billion. and we haven't seen an equal increase in the amount of staffing, what they call operations expenses. and so, the consequence was they had to push everything out the door to larger organizations. fred: that outsourcing has become the norm today, atwood says, and it's easier to manage fewer, and therefore, larger grants with companies familiar with the process. all this has had the effect of shutting out a lot of innovation that could improve people's lives, says unlock aids walter kerr. >> you can look

how significant have usaid actions been in other countries? you think it is significant because your true dog do uh, going back. she cutting traps. uh it resulted from this change of government which ended up with this terrible come freight costing me hundreds of thousands of large or something maybe alpha adverse consequences. but some of the, a number of people in eastern european countries to set that up that's fine, wouldn't have had problems if i haven't beat them out or can i interference with all this funding? and because there's more, more efforts to, to buy some shots ships um, i think, but they certainly feel very wisdom to have these problems if it hasn't been for this american intervention. i. so i've, it's funny about types of, that's the largest size full stop doing here. because it actually doesn't catered, but i, i couldn't, they, me, it should be like just sites and in the walls. and i think what else have to draw. so if you use the divide and if the distribution is the united states as lots of lots of respects in the world an

reporter: brian atwood is a former usaid administrator.le are looking over the agency for every cent of the 30+ billion dollars it disburses each year. >> and it is taxpayers' money that you're using. so you have to be very careful. >> this is fear of corruption? >> fear of corruption, no question. reporter: he says a chronically under staffed agency is forced to outsource to contractors familiar with the complex process. but mpharma's rockson sees corruption in a status quo, where large private contractors work mostly within inefficient government systems in countries targeted for help. >> so the american taxpayer, you've said, is abetting a lot of corruption. >> exactly. you have people that move from usaid with the inside knowledge to join these big development contractors with the inside knowledge on how you win these bids. reporter: usaid administrator samantha power declined our invitation to appear in this report. in 2021, when she took office she pledged to increase the number of dollars that would go to locally led efforts to 20 5

inside knowledge on how you win these bets. >> usaid administrator samantha power declined to comment on the report. when she took office, she pledged to increase the number of dollars that would go to locally led efforts. 25% by 2025 and 50% by 2030. nearly 30 years on, that percentage has barely reached double digits. >> the agency has moved to simplify the application process and build capacity in local groups so they can apply for grants. that has -- they have so far made discernible progress in latin america. >> something like 1800 direct assistance grants have been offered to local organizations, and as a direct consequence of that investment, the migration coming from those countries has gone down considerably. that investment has paid off. >> if such initiatives can continue in the new trump administration is unknown at this point, but significantly, he says the efforts have the support of senator marco rubio, nominated to be the next secretary of state. geoff: fred's reporting is a partnership with the under told stories project at the university of st. thomas in minnesota. a

you claim, man, money for and politicians have accused usaid of funding groups involved in stirring up trouble in their country is a recent claim involved efforts to undermine the government of georgia. so what other examples do, do we know of? yeah, what would start with georgia? cuz that's obviously a very recent example. i was into pc just back in december and november when we saw the process that these are authorization process that the georgia and government had said were being funded would be focused rated by actors in the west. this is all over the web of the elections, and i'll tell you, but we'll legitimate to know what it is, despite the fact that the constitutional court in georgia said that they were legitimate. no, we've now heard from a former minister in georgia who's going to send the georgia employment saying a sense. and there was a to right length between the money that comes from us age. and what is happening in countries like georgia, whether it's being against, is simple to attempt to choose take place. we have repeatedly said that organizations such as us a id an

again to continue the conflict for the next 90 days, more could i just get your thoughts as well on usaid itself that a number of countries have cleaned the agency as metals in their internal 1st, how would use for my user activities abroad or? yeah, i, i think it our fax openly. i mean, i don't think there's a, there's a whole lot of, um, you know, um, affective propaganda saying other ways it acts as an arm of us political interference in other countries promoting politics in those countries which suit us, foreign policy interest, cities, the weapon ization of other countries, portions of other countries, civil society, it is an unfair advantage. when money comes from another government, it is not a legitimate representation of, of a country civil society. it is a representation of that foreign governments in mark griffith senior thank you for taking us through that as well today. international refers on security analysts. mark slip over to our presidential elections in belarus. get on the way on sunday, but as people are prepared to head to the polls, there are concerns over interferen

there is also central america service court, being funded by usaid. with these opportunities for young people, there is often a gap between secondary education and their ability to find a job. these opportunities for service are available through peace corps to americans are being made available to college-educated young people from the countries themselves and going out into the rural communities. and peace corps volunteers in malawi where he served as country director for five years help start up the corps africa program and are starting a side-by-side service model so our volunteers are going out into the community with their volunteers. lots of exciting things happening with international volunteers and organizations who are supporting volunteerism not just as a one day, let's go pick up trash kind of model, but as a real way to survey community over the long-term, develop real, transferable skills and provide an entrÉe into the job market. >> question over here, then we will come over here next. >> good morning. i work here at the csi. i'm curiou

the boat at the least washington uses usaid as a to, to push its interest in other countries. i think it, our attacks openly. i mean, i don't think there's, there's a whole lot of, um, you know, a affective propaganda saying other ways it acts as an arm of us political interference in other countries promoting politics in those countries which assume us foreign policy interest cities. the weapon is ation of other countries, portions of other countries, civil society. it is an unfair advantage when money comes from another government, it is not a legitimate representation of, of a country civil society. it is a representation of that foreign governments into the tensions continue to soar on the d r. c. real one didn't border. the un peacekeeping mission in the democratic republic of the congo has withdrawal knows some of its personal from goma in the east of the country. due to what's described as a rapidly worsening security situation. images from the area show a smoldering armor un vehicle as well. after being hit by m 23 insurgents, military spokesperson for the d. r. c said

of organizations is believed to be under way, including the agency for international development or usaid. while the measure, primarily suspends humanitarian um development assistance, military funding could be hosted to wherever flooding there's lensky and says, key of lisa, it is secure. yes, i see. i know that there are some restrictions. you have to look at it in detail. a 90 day limit on humanitarian the program was, i can only say what ukraine may not receive, and i am focused on military 8, and it is not stopped. well, as you had that provides lensky saying that this doesn't affect military ada tools to ukraine and not confirms what we've been hearing from other bodies in the last few days. this relates to the executive orders that donald trump signed just a few days ago when he became avenue presidency. i know the usa, where he said that he was stopping funding for a, for an agencies essentially. but that executive order was quite specific. this was to do with international assistance to develop them programs, an age ministry, a few crane doesn't come through those programs. wilso

it is said that during the vietnam war that usaid had more officers in the cords program that they had globally at the time of afghanistan. you talk a bit about the problem of corruption in contracting but can you just drill down briefly on the developmental costs that you see in handling our development portfolio through contractors vice through usaid directly. >> thanks for that question. i think you're hitting on a key point. i think sometimes the examples we look at are the most spectacular ones where we see this corruption happen. i would argue that there's actually even deeper structural flaws. just to give you an example, from something i've been thinking about recently, working at a college seeing an overhaul something like our registration process, there's two ways to do this. i can go to the office that does registration and ask them how they might do this and they'll say well this might be difficult. we do this, we do that. i can also find contractors who tell me i need to do this, they'll do it perfectly all for a price. so i think what one of the issues that we've heard co

joining me now, usaid, usaid administrator samantha power. of course, the former u.n.the united states. thank you so much for everything you've done. there's been a lot of news today with everything changing on capitol hill. but let's quickly get to the humanitarian aid for the palestinians in gaza. if and when this goes into effect. do you think that some of the barriers that, frankly, that israel has put up along the borders and the closures can be eliminated, we can get more truckloads in and move it quickly? thank you, andrea, and thanks for all the attention you have paid to the humanitarian situation in gaza from the beginning. >> the short answer is yes, we really hope to be able to surge humanitarian assistance. we have sent a team from washington to the region. they're working through the modalities of how many more checkpoints can be opened at one time, how the hours can be extended, where the trucks can be sourced from. we have had stockpiles in the region for a long time that we have been trying to push in. the end of conflict is going to make a profound di

the senior. >> leadership of usaid. >> the leading. >> u.s. aid agency, they were told. >> to go home. >> they were. >> being put on leave. these are. >> officials who. >> are not political. they were not put in place by joe biden, for example. >> these are career. >> officials who are nonpolitical and who are. dedicated to helping people around. >> the world. kate, we. >> saw the email from the acting administrator. >> to these. >> officials telling them to to go on leave. >> this is what jason gray wrote. to his senior workforce. we have identified. >> several actions within. >> usaid that appear. >> designed to circumvent the president's. >> executive orders. >> and the mandate. >> from the. >> american people. now, kate, one. >> of those executive orders was a 90 day. >> pause on. all foreign. aid around. >> the world. >> with some. >> exceptions. and much. >> of. >> that foreign aid, the white. >> house said, is not aligned with. >> american interests. we heard from the new state department spokesperson, who said that the u.s. is no longe

this is a partnership with usaid that brings together youth climate champions for training and community development projects. and in other parts of the world we are supporting service opportunities for local youth through partnerships with organizations like core africa. on a trip to the region this past august, i joined volunteers in tonga in planting mangrove as trees as part of our first climate resilience cohort and in fiji, i had the opportunity to hear firsthand about the work of the blue pacific youth initiative directly from our volunteer megan and her counterpart who had taken place in a training around project design and management. she brought that training back to her community, went through a process of identifying local needs, and soon thereafter, the women's group was busy creating evacuation shelter, the men's group was examining housing structures and looking at how weather events had impacted housing in their community so they can reinforce and develop resilience from climate related disasters, and the youth group had used locally available materials to create trash bi

and a lot of that is happening through a usaid program that i worked with the president on.ine more than a billion people now receive those treatments. and this is an extraordinary legacy of president, for the president. william: i want to play a clip from a 2010 story that my colleague, fred de sam lazaro, did. he went to south sudan with jimmy carter. this was on one of their guinea worm eradication missions there. and carter was describing how they wanted to use an insecticide in this pond to kill the guinea worm eggs and larva. but the locals there were resistant to it, because the pond was very, very precious to them. here's how carter solved that problem. pres. carter: in fact, the ponds of water were looked upon as sacred. if that particular rainfall pond hadn't been there, the village wouldn't have existed, they wouldn't be alive. and of course, we said that the pond was, in effect, sacred. but there was a curse on that pond. and if they would just help us remove those guinea worm eggs from their pond or from the drink of water that they took out of the pond, then th

caitriona: just briefly on another issue and the decision for president trump's to pull usaid aid foround the world for people who depend on that. what is your reaction? brett: i think we are seeing already the collateral consequences from it. there are prison guards in northern syria that are not showing up, defending, rather incarcerating members of isis, because they are not going to receive their aid. i was just on the phone earlier today with eight workers who are coming back from africa, working on the spread of diseases, working on the spread of security and programs, because trump has taken a unilateral and a macro decision simply to cut them off. caitriona: lots more to discuss some of which we will in just a moment. do stay with us here on the context on bbc news. ♪ announcer: funding for presentation of this program is provided by... 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: "usa today" calls it, "arguably the best bargain in streaming." that

. >> usaid employees who are put on this paid. >> leave. >> that there were there were concerns about any. >> attempts to go. >> against the basic policies outlined in executive orders and. the direction that this president wants to take. the use of foreign aid around the world. >> and so. >> being in line with what donald trump wants is a very big part of the kind of review that's happening across the federal government. we're talking. >> about usaid. >> it's also happening in other places where he is trying to root out those who are not in unison, in lockstep with his views. >> and so the. >> the implications are significant. and in all of these cases, we're learning more and more about what the potential cost of doing this is in this early phase with. these set of employees who have been put on administrative leave. >> andrea kelly o'donnell, thank you so much. there's so much i don't know how you guys at the white house are covering it all. and president trump shaking up foreign policy in the middle east, calling to clean out gaza of most of the palestinians who live there, urging

just tonight, you reported that more than 50 career civil servants and foreign service officers at usaidave been placed on administrative leave. we know about the late night firing of inspectors general. there's the pardons, there's the ice raids. i could go on, but i just wonder how house republicans seem to be digesting the avalanche of stuff trump is doing right now, given they've got to get this budget passed. and a lot of them, some a number of them have to run for reelection in tough races. >> right. let's be clear. there's just three house republicans that actually won their districts, and kamala harris won. so the number of, you know, members that are highly concerned about the political ramifications of going perhaps too far, right, is rather minimal. and when you're looking at the shock and awe element of this year, for most house republicans, this is exactly what they wanted. they told their house districts that donald trump was going to come in and address crime and address illegal immigration. he was going to deport people. and that is exactly the type of imagery that this a

or the firing of the inspectors general and independent advisors there or what we saw with usaid and leadership there and what we see is it is showing a defining phrase of trump's administration is not the golden age. it is a phrase he used in the campaign the enemy from within so he is in the oval office waging war against the american people thinking solely how he can attain and consolidate that power for himself and who is going to be the people that struggle and suffer will be the american people. i want to reads it e-mail i -- to read this e-mail i got. good morning we just heard that president trump issued a memo temporarily freezing federal grenades -- grants as 5:00 p.m. today. it is alarming to those who rely on federal funding to help those with disabilities. there is an organization who is trying to figure out how to help the americans who need the support the most. the idea that this will cut off funding putting jeopardy and throw into chaos people with disabilities and seniors with healthcare needs is cruel. but again, that is the point. they don't care about the collate

what happened at usaid with their lawyers or legal counsel's office that was trying to shift funding around when it was frozen, and dozens were removed, reportedly, everybody's seeing that. and i think it's certainly the case at doj as well, with careers where everyone there is seeing what's happening and are trying to figure out how they fit into this new kind of reality. >> and it's so it's the people, it's the cases that they froze, the civil rights cases. they said, we're not doing this anymore. and by the way, the attorney general hasn't even been confirmed yet. >> and it's on purpose, right? i think they're doing all of this before she gets there. so her hands are clean. >> yeah. well, but there are other people that i don't want to lose sight of. and they are others tapped to lead the department of justice. todd blanche, nominated to be deputy attorney general. he, of course, was donald trump's attorney. in all of these cases, on the defense side of the federal government, cases against trump emil bove same thing. principal associate attorney general, who, by the way, was runn

then of course you have the infamous usaid, which are also there. and they've been there since 2019 i working with an american foundation called the what is it? it's called the mary hugh foundation usa. and they are working with the institution . we mentioned in the very beginning, which is the, of course, the national institute for by a medical research laboratory center and they are in go, ma. and again, this is what they're doing. they're providing the d r. c with bites. so the centralized tests and capacity for the control and surveillance of infectious disease outbreaks with epidemic potential. and then we'll see something like this happened. and again, when it comes to the americans, they are not the ones say they knew the best, but we've seen time and time again that they've proven that they have lapses in judgment and that leads to problems. so they are not the was to say that they, you know, the best to go and train locals. and then once again, we have the situation there. and we had, of course, rush a warning before that. what they've noti

state marco group, you all did a review of organizations like the agency for international development usaid, you know, and that. so would suspend, for example, projects tied to assistance. can you prayed, not does possibly include minute treat funding. well, the white house is fresh. the appointed special ed boy for ukraine and russia has also been speaking on the conflict poll. keep telling cods, come out and subject cubes. casualties actually supports those of us and 2 of its most devastating was just to create a loan. they have lost more shoulders in 3 years and we lost in the entire vietnam war and create a more combined. so he not, he understands the carnage and the destruction and why, why should camera, when they were trump tower, was the only sky. he said it's time and each time it is time to end. and i think he can do it when he gets the dialogue going. as kids law says, continue to mount rushes, forces uh, uh, filtering ahead. most of the pool, it's that it's offensive in the done yet the public has full few presents troops to split into 2 separate groups. i'll choose people's don

then of course you have the infamous usaid, which are also there. and they've been there since 2019 working with an american foundation called the mary hugh foundations usa. and they all working with the institution we mentioned in the very beginning, which is the, of course, the national institutes for by a medical research laboratory center. and they are in goma, and again, this is what they're doing. they're providing the d r c with vice. so the centralized tests and capacity for the control and surveillance of infectious disease outbreaks with epidemic potential. and then we'll see something like this happened. and again, when it comes to the americans, they are not the ones say they knew the best, but we've seen time and time again that they've proven that they have lapses in judgment and that needs to problems. so they are not the ones to say that they, you know, the best to go and train locals. and then once again, we have the situation there. and we had of course, rush a warning before that. what they've noticed is a trend that the us picks

rubio, we'll just do a review of organizations like the agency for international development. notice usaid, the measure would suspend projects tied to assistance the ukraine, possibly including minute treat funding. well, we've also been hearing from the white house of special envoy, a full ukraine and russia. keith kellogg has come out and said that he of casualties supports those of the us in the career. and honestly it was combined just to create a loan. dave was more shoulders in 3 years and we lost in the entire vietnam war and create a more combined. so he not, he understands the carnage and the destruction. and why, why should camera, when they were trump tower, was the only sky. he said it's time and each time it is time to end and i think he can do it when he gets the dialogue going well as you claims. and also has continued to mount sebastian forces all for getting ahead. most of the reports that it's offensive in the done yet with public causes full spit, t of strips to split into 2 separate groups onto staples. donald springs are full on the strategy in play. essentially we hav

all over the place when it comes to a country like ukraine and many foreign politicians have accused usaid of funding groups involved in stirring up trouble in their countries. a recent claim involved efforts to undermine the government of georgia. so what other examples do, do we know of? yeah, well, we'll start with georgia cuz that's obviously a very recent example. i was into pc just back in december and november. let me see what the process is. an authorization process that the jordan government had said were being funded, would be focused rated by actors in the west. this is all over the web of the elections and don't tell you, but we'll adjust them or to know what it is. despite the fact that the top constitutional court in georgia said that they would legitimate. now, we have now heard from a former minister in georgia who's going even further than the georgian prime minister, saying essentially there is a direct link between the money that comes from u. s. age. and what is happening in countries like georgia, whether it's the again, they singled attempt to choose take place. we ha

state, marco room p o to a review of organization is like the agency for international development usaid. the less it would suspend, for example, projects tied to assistance for ukraine. and that does possibly include minute treat funding. well, the white house is freshly appointed, special, and for a for ukraine. and russia has also been speaking on the conflicts, coal sheets. kellogg has come out and said the key of casualties support those of us and both the brand and fit on was combined just to create a loan. dave was more shoulders in 3 years and we lost in the entire vietnam. ready or an inquiry and more combined. so he not, he understands the carnage and the destruction. and why, why should camera, when they were trump tower, was the only sky. he said it's time and each time it is time to end. and i think he can do it when he gets a dialogue going, was you quite ins, most has continued to mount. the russian forces all flushing ahead must go reports that it's offensive. and that done yet. square public has 50 kids troops to split into 2 separate groups. alternates equals donald bri

you might know that as usaid lesser would suspend, for example, projects start to assistance for you, prayed and not pulse of a 1000 period, minute treat funding. well, the white house is freshly appointed, special and for a for ukraine. and russia has also been speaking on the conflicts told she's killed cuz come out and said that kids casualties supports those of the us in both the korean and vietnam was combined just to create a loan. dave was more shoulders in 3 years and we lost in the entire vietnam war and create a more combined. so he not, he understands the carnage and the destruction. and why, why should camera, when they were trump tower, was only ski. he said it's time and each time it is time to end, and i think he can do it when he gets a dialogue going was you quite ins, most has continued to mount to russia, not full, says all forging ahead. most go reports that it's offensive, and the done yet for public has 50 key of strips to actually split into 2 separate groups. or these equals donald springfield small on the strategy and say, the essentially we have had to have s

we collaborate very close with h usaid which is also growing. it's drg and promotion on had correction assistance program. other bureaus in state department i should add that we have a collaborative strategy. in a distance to foreign assistance we are growing in the area of sanctions that are directly targeting the actors that are promoting democracy but we have the woman next to me which drl i'm actually 10 years ago when i was last in drl. the idea they were just limited to what had happened with this great human rights defender and opposition is to russia could be repeated and iterated on globally. appreciated the tool because it allows us to have a smart sanction that the drivers entrepreneurs shall we say and some of the systems promoting the authoritarianism correction. happy these services are held accountable sit look, they are doing terrible things to their people. if they are stealing money, if they are repressing dissident and civil society. to stop it from getting. it's a state department's purview to give at will. so we're using the

we do a lot of it ourselves through usaid but a lot through the un. in doing that the un has hired an organization i don't want anything to do with. i don't want any connection to tundra but here we are working with them. i think there's a lot of things we can do to start with that will ratchet down the number of people clogging new york streets up there with employees from other places and make it a mission that is our own. your thoughts? >> thank you. i wanted to point out and i'm glad you referenced the abraham accords which we can look to the success of our bilateral relationship and various multilateral partnerships and build on that in the un. we have the abraham accords caucus in congress. i think we should consider starting abraham accords caucus within the united nations to build on the success delivering that historic result, the greatest breakthrough for normalization in the middle east and 1/4 of a century. i do share your commitment to being good stewards of us taxpayer dollars and ensuring all of our investments to any foreign policy str

fans belting out usaid chants at the sugar bowl, but one didn't want to show it and jack brewer reactst. protect against rsv with arexvy. arexvy is a vaccine used to prevent lower respiratory disease from rsv in people 60 years and older. arexvy does not protect everyone and is not for those with severe allergic reactions to its ingredients. those with weakened immune systems may have a lower response to the vaccine. the most common side effects are injection site pain, fatigue, muscle pain, headache and joint pain. arexvy is number one in rsv vaccine shots. rsv? make it arexvy. let's say you're deep in a show or a game or the game. on a train, at home, at work. okay, maybe not at work. point is at xfinity. we're constantly engineering new ways to get the entertainment you love to you faster and easier than ever. that's what i do. is that love island? >> ashley: over 50,000 football fans filled the superdome for the sugar bowl in the first massive gathering in new orleans since deadly terrorist attacks. before the game, inspiring moment as patriotic fans made their voice is. watch. [ch

does that include usaid supports ukraine energy grid?as putin continues to hammer civilians through attacks on the energy grid, a.i.d. support for getting energy back online in the midst of winter for ukraine is pretty critical. does it include jordan, a sea of stability and a whole area of chaos? will development assistance be frozen for 90 days to ukraine, to our development partnerships in the philippines and the luzon quarter, to compete with china's influence in the region? to jordan? i hope we can work together to get some clarity, and i hope with obvious partnerships that do advance american interests to move forward quickly. rep. stefanik: thank you. chair risch: thank you. senator mccormick. sen. mccormick: congresswoman, it is good to see you again. my wife and i have known you for more than 20 years, so i'm thrilled the president nominated you to this important role. my voice was celebrating make america great again a little too much. [laughter] as we discussed when we met in my office, the virulent anti-semitism and anti-bias

and africa is the one i mentioned and there's also a central american service corps funded by usaid. and these opportunities for young people, there's often a gap between secondary education and their ability to find a job and these opportunities for service are available to go through peace corps to americans are now being made available to college educated young people from the countries themselves and going out into the real communities and peace corps volunteers in malawi, where i served for five years started up the program and now the service models, going out into the communities with volunteers from africa. lots of exciting things happening with volunteer organizations and local organizations who are supporting. volunteers are not just, you know, as one-day, you know, let's go up and pick up trash kind of model, but as a real way to serve the community over the long-term, develop real transferrable skills and provide an entree into the job market. >> a question over here and then we'll come over here next. >> good morning, i work here at csis. i'm curious about whether you've