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and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation, pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. announcer: and now, "bbc news" d america. d house republicans unveiled a long-awaited foreign aid package, splitting up bills on funding for ukraine, israel, and more. western allies push israel for a restrained response to uranian attacks -- iranian attacks. the need for better air defenses in ukraine. ♪ welcome to world news america.

the speaker of the republican led house of representatives has released the final details -- long-awaited details of a foreign aid bill. he had delayed bringing this to the house for months. his new proposed package splits funding for israel, taiwan, and ukraine into three separate bills. $26 billion in support for israel and a billion dollars for taiwan and other u.s. allies in the indo pacific region. we will get the republican perspective in a while. but first let's speak with a democratic congressman. president biden already indicating that he would sign this as soon as he gets to his desk. do you support these bills? >> i absolutely support them. i was in ukraine a couple of weeks ago. they are freaking out. there are people there who are

desperate. so anxious. because they are running out of ammunition. we just saw terrible attacks that killed people yesterday. we saw the distraction of more energy plants. the japanese prime minister's said the u.s. is the indispensable nation. almost everyone in congress supports this. just some far right radicals are holding us up. >> you have been very vocal about your need to push support to ukraine quickly. do you get the sense that this bill can get enough support to pass? >> i absolutely do. there will be a lot of outfall from this, with some members of the republican caucus saying they are trying to oust mike johnson. i had called on democratic colleagues to say let's not help them do that.

i disagree with him on so many issues but we cannot let them hold the world hostage to the radical agenda. >> these hard-line republicans that you call it chaos caucus has warned that they will trigger a motion to remove the speaker of the house. you said you will support him. do you get a sense that enough of your fellow democrats will do so as well to keep him as speaker? >> i am confident that if johnson does the right thing, which appears he will do, and puts these on the floor, more democrats will come to his aid to stop marjorie taylor greene and matt gaetz and others from taking him out. >> you have looked at this bill as it was released today. doesn't include what you think ukraine needs to fend off a possible russian offensive? >> yes, i think all of these

cynics who say, how can ukraine when, are the same people who said they would not win the beginning of the war. that great britain would get wiped out by the germans in 1939. that the americans would lose to britain in 1776. we cannot be skeptics. we have to accept the fact that the ukrainian people are totally motivated and they have what it takes. with our help, we can beat back putin and the russians. >> these are bills that would support israel and the indo pacific as well. what do you think of this tactic to split this legislation up into separate bills? >> i will not second-guess what he did. many people wanted to vote on the senate bill that was already approved on a bipartisan basis.

but i think they get this through the rules committee, which will require a majority of votes as opposed to a super majority, he needed to do this. i will support whatever effort he makes so we can get this done. >> are you confident that there is broad support among americans and voters for the u.s. providing such significant aid to allies abroad? >> i do believe there is. we just need to do a better job to keep educating people. we cannot let the disinformation coming out from our adversaries like russia and china and others who are trying to spread misinformation in the u.s. and throughout europe, especially eastern europe. we cannot let that disinformation campaign in fact what we know is the right thing to do. >> great to have you with us today. thank you for joining us. >> thank you. >> we heard what the congressman

had to say about supporting mike johnson. it is still unclear whether democrats will give him the support he needs. he has a razor thin republican majority in the house. he is facing a potential showdown with the right wing of his party. republicans have already threatened to oust him. but he said he will not resign. the package tax on a fourth bill that proposes forcing the chinese company bytedance to sell tiktok and also seizing russian accents -- assets. a fifth bill would consider measures for the u.s. border. earlier i spoke with a republican representative from arkansas. i want to get your take on the bills that we saw the house released today. >> thank you for having me. i think this is an important step that many of us have waited

on for about six months. that we fund adequately our allies in ukraine, the indo specific, taiwan, especially our strong ally in the middle east, israel. speaker johnson has put for the bill that i think makes sense. and also has an innovation that i have contributed. these russian sovereign assets that are currently frozen in central banks around the world, to use those as a way to rebuild ukraine. >> i will come back to those. but just looking at the bill, 61 billion dollars, you think this has the support to pass in the house? >> i do. the speaker has attempted to structure this package where members can vote their conscience in each of these areas of influence.

i think there could be separate votes on the house laura. each of the countries has strong supporters. an interest for the national security of the u.s.. >> some of your colleagues in congress are already out against this bill. saying true conservatives should reject this passage. what do you say to these colleagues? >> for decades, the u.s. has been the indispensable partner in promoting free markets and western values around the world. speaking up for people who are under authoritarian dictatorships. one of those strategies is to push back about expansionism of authoritarian communistic tater ships -- dictatorships.

i would much rather have training dollars for ukrainians who will be trained in germany to fight. it is in our national security interest, our business and economic interests around the world to support our allies. >> at the same time, some of the more hardline members have said they would possibly trigger a motion to remove the speaker of the house if these bills are brought to the floor for a vote. if this happens, do you think he can rally enough support to maintain his position? >> i certainly plan to support speaker johnson. he has been leading with a tough hand that he has been dealt after he became speaker. in america, independent voters, republican and democratic

voters, altogether reject vladimir putin. they do not need to see him. they think he is an enemy of the u.s.. they support america supporting our allies in the fight against communist expansionism. i believe that mike johnson is on the right side here and he can sustain an effort to remain speaker of the house. >> i want to come back to what you mentioned about frozen assets. one initiative is about rebuilding ukraine. this is something you have been working on since early fall. it would let the biden administration access some of those frozen assets and use them to support ukraine care what he want this to happen now? >> i think it is important for taxpayers to see that the perpetrator of this illegal crime, a permanent member of the security council of the united

nations, pay for the destruction they have created. those assets are held in brussels, luxembourg, near the u.s. they are frozen right now. i say it should be forfeited, put in a trust fund for how best it should be spent. that means it is less money from taxpayers. we use russian money to fund the budget gap in ukraine and have money for rebuilding ukraine. >> do you think this might help some of them orc skeptical colleagues in the house to get behind this support? >> when i first introduced the bill last spring, it had a lot of support across the conference.

it was marked up in the house. it passed overwhelmingly. it also had a very strong vote in the senate foreign relations committee. i do think we have the support. i think it would bring reluctant members to support it because it is using russian money. >> we will leave it there but >> thank you so >> much for joining us today. great to be with you. >> also on capitol hill today, the democratic majority in the senate voted to dismiss both impeachment articles against homeland security secretary mayorkas. he was impeached by the republican-controlled house of representatives. with the democratic party

holding a majority in the senate, a vote on wednesday along party lines struck down both articles. we mentioned how johnson introducing his foreign aid proposals as israeli allies rallied to their defense. but allies are urging israel to have restraint in its response. the british foreign secretary stressed this during a meeting on wednesday. >> this was an appalling attack. we have repeated our view that any response should be smart and designed in a way that is going to limit and try to de-this conflict. nobody wants to see this conflict grow and spread. >> we report on how this message was received. >> the prime minister of israel

sat back and listens to all of this counsel and then when the foreign ministers had left, he made it very clear what he thought about it. he said it was very nice to have all of their advice but we should make no mistake, israel's going to make its own decisions. and israel reserves the right to take whatever necessary action to defend itself. what is clear is that military action will be taken at some stage and in some capacity. we just don't know when or how. one thing is interesting, israel does seem keen to protect and maintain the diplomatic support it has had in the last few days as a result of the iranian attack on jerusalem meadows where. it is possible that could shape or limit how hard israel hits

back against iran. >> during his visit to israel, lord cameron spoke about the war in gaza. he blamed hamas forestalled cease fire negotiations and said israel is going the right direction when allowing aid. president biden urged israel to go further. he said that in the last 12 days , three thousand trucks with food and supplies moved into gaza. he also said it is still not enough. the u.n. says the same. on wednesday, the u.n. called for upping supplies to gaza. israel continues its military campaign disturbing accounts have emerged from rafah where minnen -- women and children were varied.

almost 34,000 palestinians have been killed in the past six months. more than half have been women and children. protesters around the world have been pressuring the government to stop sending money to israel. a dramatic moment unfold in brussels on wednesday as european commissioner was confronted by a protesters soon after she stepped to the podium to give a speech on european defense. more than 100 people are still being held hostage inside gaza. an israeli woman who was captured by hamas told the bbc about the conditions that she endured. she was released in november but her husband remains captive. we have this report from jerusalem. some of the details are upsetting. >> when the gunman came on

october 7, they murdered and kidnapped. two of those taken were a husband and wife. she was freed, he is still a hostage. >> i am not speaking, i am screaming. i need help from the entire world. i was there for 50 one days. i know what it is like. >> can you tell me a bit about the conditions you are held in? >> we were moved 13 times. so there were different conditions. we met lots of terrorists. they acted brutally in every place that we went to. one of the times they took us down a tunnel and there was no oxygen and they just left us. i cannot explain what the feeling is of not being able to breathe.

you know that it might be your last hours. >> they were also held in houses with other hostages where they witnessed beatings and sexual assaults. >> they were so mean to us. they starved us for days. we were not allowed to talk. one of the days, one of the girls went to the toilet and when she came back, i could see on her face that something had happened. only after a couple of hours she came and told us. she said, he touched me. that was one of the most terrible moments because i felt that i could not even look after this little girl. she is just a child. >> you were aware that sexual assault was taking place on female hostages? >> yes. because i was there.

i saw the girls coming after those things happening and telling us what happened. >> after 51 days, in november, she was released, but without her husband. >> i said i'm not going without him. i begged him. it did not help. they did not even the mcgowen say goodbye to him. i could give him a hug. i told him to be strong for me and i will be strong for him. but i am starting to lose my hope. i am sure he is. >> it was not until her release that she discovered that her son had survived >> the attack. >>i saw him for the first time. i could not stop hugging him. i told him i thought he was dead. >> body think they're still

being held after all this time? >> i think hamas is getting the pleasure of them being there and seeing them suffered. i think the whole world needs to do more. gets them out. just get them out. >> now to the war in ukraine. a russian missile strike killed several people. our ukraine correspondent has more. >> passengers dived for cover after missiles hit nearby. what follows is the haunting sound of the third. airstrikes happened with little notice. russia tried and failed to take this city. but the skies are bringing a

constant threat. >> i was walking my dog. i heard a hit. the second and the third. i thought it was air defense. the explosions are followed by a familiar recovery routine. with the number of dead expected to rise. for ukrainians, there is no escaping. their leader keeps asking allies for more air defenses. >> with our partners, we will work to get more help to achieve true equality in the defense against terror. >> with western military aid continuing to deplete, ukraine is increasingly fighting this war on its own. >> a ddc investigation has identified the identities of thousands of soldiers killed in the war and has found that the death toll is much higher than authorities in moscow have amended too.

-- admitted to. more than 50,000 russian soldiers had been killed so far in this war. today, the kremlin responded to this report neither confirming or denying that 50,000 figure. it says it has laws on state secrets. >> in russia, the number of war graves is growing fast. volunteers have sent us this video. here is the same cemetery from above. in the last two years, it has grown twice inside us. a pattern seen in graveyards all over russia. we have been verifying photos of graves and news articles to

track down the number of russians killed. we have verified 50,000 names. russia has lost 23% more troops in the second year of the invasion than the first. at first, russia relied on professional soldiers. but since january of 2023, russia began sending thousands of inexperienced troops forward to weekend ukrainian positions. soldiers call it the meatgrinder. >> russia is now able to bring new firepower to ukrainian positions. as long as the ukrainians are unable to shift that balance of firepower, the meat grinder tactics will vary likely continue to be successful.

>> they have been crucial. they were promised freedom if they survived. we have tracked down more than 1000 russian inmates from the day they signed up to the day they died. more than half of prisoners were killed within weeks of arriving at the front line. data from cemeteries across russia suggest the true figure is likely to be twice as hayek. as russian forces continue to push on, pictures of new graves keep coming every day. >> just one lighter piece of news before we go, some wild pictures from montana, where an elephant stopped traffic. she escaped a traveling circus.

the local sheriff said she was spooked by a car and escaped briefly. thank you announcer: funding for presentation of this program is provided by... financial services firm, raymond james. bdo. accountants and advisors. 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. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

>> good evening. >> on the newshour tonight, house speaker johnson attempts to pass a critical foreign aid package as the senate votes to dismiss the impeachment charges against the homeland security secretary.