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♪ >> i am caitríona perry in washington, and this is "bbc world news america." president biden donald trump agree to facebook on a series of presidential debates starting next month. as fighting rages in the north and south of gaza, the biden administration plans to press ahead with a fresh shipment of weapons to israel. slovakia's prime minister is in critical condition after being shot multiple times officials say was an assassination attempt. caitríona: hello, and welcome to "world news america." i'm caitríona perry. joe biden and donald trump will officially go head-to-head on the debate stage. current u.s. president biden former u.s. president trump have agreed to two televised debates in the coming months.

cnn will host the first debate on the 27th of june in the battleground state of georgia. cnn says there will be no audience in attendance at that june debate. debate number two is set for the 10th of september hosted by u.s. broadcaster bbc news, with the location -- u.s. broadcaster abc news, with the location yet to be determined. wednesday's announcements by cnn and abc came after mr. biden broke tradition by laying out his terms for debating mr. trump in a social-media post. pres. biden: donald trump lost 2 debates to me in 2020 and now he's acting like he wants to debate me again. make my day, pal. i will even do it twice. that's pick the dates, donald. i hear you are free on wednesdays. caitríona: former president trump poked back at president biden, criticizing him for his debate skills and policies.

he finished his message with "just tell me when, i'll be there. let's get ready to rumble." joining us is the cochair of the commission on presidential debates. thanks for joining us on bbc news. >> pleasure. caitríona: you cofounder the commission in 1986 when you were chair of the rnc with then-chair of the dnc paul kirk. with cnn, abc, and the trump and biden campaigns making these deals, have you effectively been frozen out of the process? >> this is not the first time in 33 years or however long it has been that the commission has existed and put on all the debate in 1988 when candidates wanted to change things or do with their own way or make suggestions that they weren't going to debate with the commission, they would debate with somebody else. lo and behold, they came back and did our debates. i don't know, this was a shocker today for everybody. there was no news anywhere that this was going to happen.

we normally don't have contact with the candidates until after the conventions, when they become officially nominees of the parties that are on the ballots in every state. this was an interesting, particularly because at the time the first debate is scheduled i think is june 27, only about seven states will have completed their ballot questions of who will appear on their ballots. we'll have to see what happens. we are all volunteers on the commission. we are not paid. our job is to be the neutral group in between and make sure debates what happened, and we have been successful all those years. at times other things have happened, but they have always come back to us. if they are able to do it and get it on, the american people get a chance to review the two candidates and where they are on the issues, god bless them. we will go away. but we are going to hang, we will be there, we will see what happens. if it happens, it happens.

if it doesn't happen, the commission will go forward with our debates, which will -- we use the white house press, and that is where the feed comes from, it goes all over the world, it is on every platform. social media, i don't know what it is going to be for cnn is saying that other networks are not going to be able to have what they do in the first debate. abc has said they would share what the debate -- we will have to wait and see what happens. it's a long wait till the start of things. the commission will hopefully still be there. caitríona: ok, just to go back and expand on a couple of things you have said. just to clarify, neither the rnc nor the dnc nor the campaigns informed you about all they made this plan to debate themselves, is that correct? frank: that is correct, we had nothing to do with rnc -- i used to be chair of rnc under president reagan.

but they have nothing to do with the commission, never have. we only deal with the individuals who have been nominated by their convention, by the republican and democratic party. and that is normally when we first have contact with them and discuss what is going to happen with debates and so forth. it was not surprising that we hadn't heard from them as of this morning when these announcements were made. we would normally hear until the conventions. the democrats vote in the third week of august and the republicans go in the third week of july. it is not unusual. i would like the call to say heads up, but it didn't happen. caitríona: would you have been open to making changes if they had made contact with you? joe biden's campaign in their statement about all of this said they were concerned about how late the first debate is set to be under your commission, it doesn't happen until labor day, beginning of september. joe biden and his campaign saying that many americans have had the opportunity to cast

their vote by that time. frank: well, it's very clear they didn't do their homework. we did our homework. we established with every single state when it is the first person in that state can vote. the earliest state is september 6. that is just one week before our debate. it's only one state where you can cast an absentee ballot on the sixth. what happened was early on with the coronavirus problem we had four years ago, many states changed their laws for early voting. those states came back and corrected. the white house is wrong when it says millions of people would have voted. that is not true. one state where you can vote. every other one is not complete until after our first debate. caitríona: do you think, then come if they got that part of that wrong, and that is not what they say in their statement, but is this an effort from the two campaigns to essentially control the environments to their own

advantage? another point a point from the timing they have changed is a move to have no audience there. think back to the debates in earlier years, there was no audience. but it has become the tradition now. frank: our audiences are different. people get mixed up with primary debates which we have nothing to do with, our commission doesn't. the general election debates are different. we don't have people clapping in booing and doing other things and interrupting. your ticket says if you do, you will be removed by secret service from the debate. that is not a good argument. i think what happened is you said it correctly, they are both trying to get leverage against each other. they may be successful, they may not. when they have to sit down on the table, i wish i could be a fly in the ointment to see how they are discussing who is going to sit where, what there is going to be with regard to questions, how long each one will be able to answer the questions, and so forth.

those are things that the reason the commission was created back in 1987 was to have neutral people making the decisions. that is the commission. so we will see if they are able to do it. it is going to be a long shot, in my view. caitríona: ok, i'm at the qualification rules from they appear the same as had been released by cnn and abc, one difference being for the cnn and abc polls, candidates have to receive at least 15% in four separate national polls. it is five separate polls for yourselves. the other point about a candidate's name having to appear on a sufficient number of state dollars to reach the 270 electoral vote threshold is the same as you have. as you are making the point about when you can register for states, do you think this earlier date disadvantages -- frank: it's not going to work. by the time of their first debate, only seven states will have actually determined how many -- who is going to be on the ballot in the fall. only 7 states.

i think the total of those seven states, 101 electoral votes. how can they say the testing will have a reasonable chance to get -- to be on enough ballots to get 270 when only seven states will have completed what the requirements are? pretty hard to do. caitríona: why do you think it has been done that way, that? yours was set up in a neutral way to protect the democratic process in the country. frank: that's right. i think you said it right, they are both trying to get leverage against each other. we will see what happens. former president trump i think the last month or so has said let's debate, i will go anywhere, let's debate at the white house. there hadn't been any answer from president biden until he appeared on a television show last week and said i will debate, don't know where, don't know when, and then they came up with this idea. now trump i understand said all right, but i want one in june and i want one in july i don't think the deal is done

yet. caitríona: we do know about this june and september one. just very briefly, frank, there hasn't been an announcement regarding a vice presidential debate. is your vice presidential debate still going at? -- ahead? frank: it is like all four of hours, raise cash rights presidential, one being a town hall meeting. i did understand that in the letter written by the white house to the trump campaign, they said that they would then get together perhaps in july or august and do a vice presidential debate, but i don't think that has been agreed to. caitríona: and you are not concerned here? frank: listen, as i said before, over the 30-some years, many times the moves to blow us out of the water, to put it in an old axiom, but we are still here. hopefully we will be able to serve the public and make sure the american people before they go to the polls can have legitimate, honest debates where they can listen to and observe

that man or woman who want to be president or vice president of the united states. that is the important thing. caitríona: ok, we will leave it there. thank for speaking to us, frank fahrenkopf, cochair of the commission on presidential debates. frank: thank you. caitríona: president biden reportedly plans to press ahead with the billion-dollar tranche of military aid to israel just a week after suspending a shipment of bombs over concerns about israel's offensive in rafah. the u.n. says half a million people have fled the southern gazan city in the past 10 days, most of whom are already displaced. israeli tanks are reportedly pushing deeper into the city as the idf says it is targeting four hamas battalions. tens of thousands have fled fresh fighting in northern gaza, where the idf says hamas regrouped. all of this is the death toll in gaza continues to rise. the hamas-run health ministry says the number of palestinians killed since october 7 at least

35,233, and it's is 82 palestinians were killed on tuesday and the largest single-day total in weeks. gaza's hospitals have warned of catastrophic conditions due to dwindling supplies of fuel for power generators and ambulances. its hospitals are overwhelmed, and the rafah border crossing closed, injured palestinians desperate to get treatment abroad. >> we were wounded in war, and we asked of the red cross and international institutions to stand with us and help us travel abroad because we need treatment. we are civilians, we have nothing to do with what is happening, the war and all that. we ask them to stand with us, help us travel abroad so we can get treatment. caitríona: israel's operations in rafah are straining relations with allies in the u.s. and europe. the european union top diplomat has urged israel to stop its operation in rafah immediately.

he warned that should israel continue its military operation in rafah, it would inevitably put a heavy strain on the's relationship with israel -- on the eu's relationship with israel. prime minister netanyahu said yes, there are disagreements, but "we have to do what we have to do." in a separate address to the nation, he said dismantling hamas will allow a new government to form after the war, and dismissed the notion of a humanitarian crisis in rafah. prime imin. netanyahu: we are doing this even as the civilian population is being evacuated and while fulfilling obligation to its human jerry needs. our latest efforts are bearing fruit. as of now in rafah, almost half a million people have been evacuated from areas of fighting. the humanitarian catastrophe that is been spoken of has not been realized, nor will it.

eliminating hamas is an essential step to ensure that the day african there is no element in gaza that can threaten us -- the day after, there is no element in gaza daikon -- that can threaten us. caitríona: i spoke to congresswoman kathy manning, a democrat from north carolina. thanks for joining us. it has been reported that the biden administration is to press ahead with a plan to sell more than $1 billion worth of new weapons to israel. as far as you are aware, what does that plan involved? >> i think the plan is to live up to the agreements that have already been made to israel. we just had a briefing where we were assured that the biden administration will provide israel with everything that it needs to make sure that israel can defend itself. the other thing we heard from one of our top military advisers is that this is indeed the most difficult urban fighting that

our advisor has ever seen. it is a very complicated situation to fight it because hamas embeds itself among civilians, under hospitals, under mosques, and of course they have built 400 miles of underground tunnel through which they operate. it is a very difficult situation, but the u.s. is standing firmly with israel. caitríona: yourself and several other colleagues had written a letter just last week to the national security advisor jake sullivan criticizing the withholding of munitions to israel. from the briefing that you have had about this billion-dollar deal, does that satisfy those concerns you had? rep. manning: we were assured that israel is receiving all the weapons it needs to defend itself and prosecute this war against hamas. caitríona: so what, then come as you see it was the rationale for withholding those weapons last

week, which the biden administration said they had a fear or concern they would be used against civilians sheltering in rafah? rep. manning: actually, i don't think there is any credible evidence that the israelis would have used these 2000-pound bombs in rafah. we have information that the israelis believe that the hostages are being held in rafah, so the notion that the israelis would use 2000-pound bombs in an area where they believe hostages are being held is incredible. caitríona: is there some kind of mixed messaging coming from the u.s. when one week it is withholding weapons and then a few days later it is agreeing $1 billion worth in arms? what message does that tend to the region -- send to the region? rep. manning: i have been concerned about the messaging, i've been concerned about mixed signals being sent. that is the reason that i and so many of my colleagues requested

a classified briefing so we could understand what is behind messaging. caitríona: but you have a clear view now of what that messaging is, or do you still have concerns that there is a mixed message? rep. manning: i think those of us who have concerns expressed are those concerns quite clearly. caitríona: but you feel those concerns have been satisfied now, or you still have those concerns? rep. manning: i think our concerns have been heard. i do think that jake sullivan went on air over the weekend and laid out -- i think he gave 10 different points that very clearly set forth the biden administration's position. he did an excellent job, and that messaging is messaging that should be used because it really was quite clear. caitríona: upir republic -- your republican colleagues want to see a bill that would force shipment of sales. is that something you would be an agreement with? rep. manning: i am still in the

process of reading this bill very carefully. there are a lot of flaws in the bill that i introduced her to amendments to try to make the bill better --introduced two amendments to try to make the bill better. both of those amendments sadly were rejected. i disagree with the notion that we would withhold the salaries of people at the department of defense and the state department who are involved in any way with decisions that are made by president biden about weaponry. i also tried to insert an amendment to make sure that as much aid is getting through as possible for the humanitarian issues that the palestinians, interest in palestinian -- innocent palestinians are facing. sadly those amendments were rejected. it would've made it a much better bill. caitríona: representative kathy manning, democrat from north carolina, thanks for joining us on bbc news. rep. manning: thank you. caitríona: slovakia's prime

minister robert fico is still in surgery after he was shot multiple times. slovakia's defense minister say they are fighting to save his life, while the deputy minister says he believes the prime minister will survive and is no longer in life-threatening condition. caitríona: this is the moment that the attack on the prime minister happen. these pictures show the immediate aftermath of the assault, with the prime minister being dragged into a car. he was shot while greeting a crowd moments after a government meeting in a central town. mr. fico was airlifted by hospital to a nearby city, where he continues to be operated on. this different angle from the scene shows a man being arrested by police. local reports say a suspect shot the prime minister in the abdomen, arm, and leg. here you see a suspect detained.

the bbc understands he is a 71-year-old man from a village in central slovakia. while the motive for the attack is not yet known, officials believe it was politically motivated and are calling it an assassination attempt. an eyewitness told the bbc what she saw. >> i heard three shots. it was quick, one by one, like if you throw firecrackers on the ground. i saw a scratch on the prime minister's head, and he fell next to the barrier. it's a nightmare. caitríona: joining us is the bbc foreign correspondent bethany bell. can you tell us first of all what is the latest on the prime minister's condition? >> we understand he has been in hospital, he has been operated on. he is still understood to be in a very critical condition. people are hoping that he will recover. we heard from slovakia's

president. she said there had been an attack on mr. fico, which she said was an attack on him personally and an attack on democracy. she said the important thing was for him to recover as soon as possible. here in bratislava, where i am now in slovakia, people are asking themselves how such a thing could happen. one man said to me things like this just don't happen here. there is a great deal of soul-searching going on, and there is also concerned by a lot of people that this -- these shootings, which some politicians are saying were politically motivated, may create even more divisions in this country can which is politically polarized. caitríona: given the political polarization, the event that the prime minister was at, what do we know about that? was that perceived to be in a target of particular attention

or anything? bethany: it was a small town in central slovakia. the government was holding a meeting there. and shortly after the meeting we understand mr. fico went out to greet well-wishers, members of the public who were standing out there. as he did so, that with the moment when the shots were heard. you can see from those videos how mr. fico crumbled and fell to the ground. then of course his security officials managed to put another man down on the ground. that man is the person we understand who has now been arrested. caitríona: bethany bell in bratislava, thanks for bringing us up to date. now to the war in ukraine. fighting is raging in a border town as russian troops push further into the northeast region of kharkiv.

ukrainian soldiers were forced to retreat from several villages there, with russia claiming it at claimed two more on wednesday. but america's top diplomat has insisted that ukraine will prevail. speaking in kyiv, antony blinken said the u.s. would try to send more pictures missiles on air defense systems, promising the u.s. would continue to back ukraine until its security was guaranteed. sec. blinken: let me be very clear about one thing, which shouldn't require clarity, which is that the united states is committed to helping ensure ukraine winning this war. and i think we have shown that through the export mary support we are -- the extraordinary support we have provided and continue to provide. we have not encouraged or enabled strikes outside of ukraine. but ultimately, ukraine has to make decisions for itself about how it is going to conduct of this war, a war it is conducting in defense of its freedom. caitríona: russian president

vladimir putin has arrived in china for a two-day visit. he will meet with his counterpart xi jinping seeks greater support from beijing for its isolated economy. this is vladimir putin's first trip abroad since his reelection in march and second in six months. finally, i want to show you a stunning image that nasa has released. let's have a look at this. this is the sun shooting out its biggest solar flare in almost two decades. it comes just days after other similar solar storms that created those dazzling northern lights displays seen around the world. nasa says despite the size of the huge solar flare, it's not expected to have a geomagnetic impact on earth due to its location. that's it for the moment. you can stay up-to-date with us on bbc.com/news. announcer: funding for presentation of this program is provided by...

financial services firm, raymond james. cunard is a proud supporter of public television. 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.

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