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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: and now, "bbc news" n washington. n "world news america." u.s. funding for ukraine could pass the senate as early as tonight after being stalled for months. we will spark -- we will talk to tim kaine on capitol hill. five people died trying to cross the english channel. the bbc witnessed people scrambling onto the boat. donald trump was back in court over allegedly violating a gag order. the jury heard more from the trial's first witness.

welcome to "world news america." long-awaited aid to ukraine could clear its final hurdle today or wednesday as the u.s. senate takes up the $95 billion foreign aid package that would send funds to israel and taiwan. the senate is widely expected to pass the funding after a few procedural steps. president biden said he will sign the legislation once it gets to his desk. that will unlock aid that has been delayed for months amid public in opposition. the legislation ties together four bills the house voted on separately. provided $61 billion in aid to ukraine, over 26 billion for israel, and more than $8 billion for the indo-pacific, similar to the bill already passed in the senate earlier this year. we have anthony zurcher, are north american correspondent who has been following the action. this is expected to pass. take us through the next steps. anthony: the senate is moving relatively quickly on this,

which as you know, the senate doesn't always do that. they cleared a couple procedural hurdles already today, including one to trigger a vote that will happen either tonight or tomorrow. looking more like tonight. for that vote, the procedural vote, 70 voted for it. 29 against it. that indicates there will be a comfortable majority when it comes to a straight up-and-down vote on this package of legislation when it comes to the floor. sumi: what did you see in some of those procedural votes about where the senate is divided on this foreign aid package? anthony: like we saw in the house on saturday, it looks like the divisions are largely among conservatives, among republicans. a majority of the republicans in the house of representatives on saturday voted against the package to ukraine. and on the procedural vote, all but one independent senator, bernie sanders of vermont, who voted against it were republicans.

more republicans moved into the yes camp they ended in february with the vote you mentioned. still, the division is within republicans and it tends to be between the old republicans like mitch mcconnell who has been in favor of foreign aid, and younger publicans, more newly elected republicans, who are more along the trump idea of america first, and a very racist -- and are suspicious of ongoing foreign aid. sumi: degree have a sense of how quickly aid could get to ukraine after the bill were to be passed? anthony: we are expecting joe biden to sign this into law tomorrow. the pentagon has said usaid can start reaching ukraine in a matter of days. they are pre-staged and making it plans ahead of the vote to get it out the door. some of the more sophisticated hardware will take longer to get there. but things like artillery shells and service to air munitions, those could start arriving in

ukraine by the end of this week. the biden administration has warned the situation is dire, that they need this supply -- these supplies yesterday, not today. sumi: just very quick last question, this has gotten broad support across the senate. do you think there are any hurdles possible along the way? anthony: it doesn't look like theat -- like that. there's only so much they can do to delay it and the clock is ticking. sumi: thank you so much. let's go right to capitol hill. we can speak to senator tim kaine, democrat from virginia. good to see if you think you for joining us. it looks like this bill has plenty of support in the senate. how quickly do you anticipate it will pass and get to the president's desk? sen. kaine: the senate acted on this in february, it was a 70-29 vote. i think you will see a vote similar tonight. it could be as early as 7:00 or 8:00. it could be closer to midnight.

30 hours of debate is allowed before the final vote. it does not all have to be taken. but i think we passed the cloture motion at 3:00 this afternoon. i suspect a number of republicans who are opposing it will take the floor for a few hours but we will get this done before the sun comes up tomorrow morning, and this aid is very needed right now. it has taken too long to get there. but we are doing something really important with this vote. . i'm anxious to get it to the president. sumi: want to ask about the ukraine aid. politico has reported the biden administration is preparing a larger than normal package for ukraine as the bill passes. can you tell us about what that will involve, and what impact you think it will have? sen. kaine: i think the impact will be significant. we started to talk about this in september. the idea was to try to provide ukraine enough aid from the united states to get through early 2025.

we don't want to do this every few months. but september was a long time ago. and there is a necessity. everything we are hearing from ukraine is this particular aid package will be very valuable, and obviously we are working closely with them to make sure it is put to its best use. we have been training ukrainian military since 2014, and have very tight relationships. it is going to be very important. how you break it down between different weapon systems, i don't micromanage that so much. i really leave that to our own dod and the ukrainian military to decide what is most needed. sumi: senate minority leader mitch mcconnell, a big supporter of the bill, says it is a test of america's resolve. i want to play a clip of what he said earlier. sen. mcconnell: providing the weapons to defend itself, but strained the prospects of defeating russian aggression. sumi: you heard at their, he is saying that the delay has allowed russia to make gains.

russia is expected to launch an offensive. are you confident this aid can reverse that trend? sen. kaine: i am. because we saw what the aid did not early stages of this war. russia rolled up a lot of territory in the early stages after february of 2022. ukraine took the overwhelming percentage of it back vastly degrading russian conventional military might. with the u.s. and the assemblage of allies we have helped cobble together, ukrainian courage and resolve has done wonders. u.s. being fully in with its aid package, together with what other nations are doing, we expect to see ukraine succeed. we are not investing in a stalemate. we are investing in the ukrainian's ability to win. sumi: i want to talk more about that. there are some republicans who are skeptical about that assessment. just ticking you through the objections, senator schmitt has objected to this bill not including domestic priorities,

like securing the border. he said "this is what ukraine a america last looks like." senator vance says them ashley -- the math does not add up, because ukraine needs more soldiers and hardware than the u.s. can provide. if this aid is exhausted, let's say in the coming months, what happens then? with their the another $60 billion aid package to ukraine? sen. kaine: again, this was designed to get through early 2025. we expect progress, but we will have to revisit it. the world looks to see, is america a fair weather friend, an ally for a while and then he flake out? this is an invasion by a dictator who is trying to invade a democracy. if he is successful, no democracy, particularly those in europe, are safe. america needs to be a partner that is call it -- is counted on. a lot of this defense aid is done in the united states. the indo-pacific portion of it

is ships and subs built in virginia and connecticut with supply chains all over the u.s. the munitions replacement being done because of the munitions we have used in ukraine not only help the u.s. have the stockpile we need, but it is made right here. some of it is made in virginia, some at the rock island arsenal in the midwest. the notion that this is just about far across the ocean is wrong. america needs to stand with allies. when we do, we are all better off. sumi: i want to ask about the israel portion of this bill. you know senator sanders wanted amendments. he wanted to cut military funding to israel due to the humanitarian situation in gaza. he said "in poll after poll, americans have shown their increasing disgust for prime minister not -- prime minister netanyahu's war machine. enough is enough. we cannot continue to fund this horrific war." do you agree with that sentiment? sen. kaine: that was bernie's position in february when he voted against the bill.

i share senator sanders concerns about the slow pace of humanitarian aid into gaza. and israel needs to do more and president biden is pushing them to do more. we watched iran launched hundreds of drones at -- of missiles at israel. had we not done that, you would have seen a dramatic escalation in the middle east. we are trying to do two things that are hard to do. enable israel to defend itself against those who would wipe it off the face of the earth. and also provide more humanitarian aid to gazans and try to reach this point where we can get a hostage release. hamas needs to release the hostages and we need to get a cease-fire. that is what the push will be, as soon as we have this vote. i think the push is cease-fire and hostage release in israel and gaza. sumi: will have to leave the conversation there. thank you for joining us on bbc news today.

sen. kaine: absolutely. glad to do it. sumi: tuesday marked the 200th day of the war in gaza, is israel continued carrying out airstrikes in the northern central and southern portions of the gaza strip. israel began their military offensive on october 7 after a deadly attack by hamas fighters that left 1200 people dead. the hamas run health ministry says 34,000 palestinians have been killed since this conflict started. an idf spokesperson said israel ordered new evacuation's for the north of the strip, despite withdrawing its troops from the area months ago. the united nations as it is working to corroborate reports from palestinian authorities that at least 310 people have been found buried outside of the hospital grounds. palestinian officials say some of those who were killed were elderly or women, and others were found with their hands tied. a u.n. spokesperson said a human rights office is horrified by their reports and called for an independent investigation. >> giving the prevailing climate

of impunity, this should include international investigators. hospitals are entitled to very special protection under international humanitarian law. let's be clear, the intentional killing of civilians, detainees, and others who are of the combat is a war crime. we feel the need to raise the alarm because clearly, there have been multiple bodies discovered. we don't know how many. there are reports that some of them had their hands tied, which indicates serious violations of international human rights law, and international humanitarian law. these need to be subjected to further investigation. sumi: the idf says it was forced to enter nassar hospital because hamas was operating there, something hamas denies. hamas has continued to demand a permanent cease-fire in the withdrawal of all troops from gaza. israel says it's goal is to eradicate hamas into a permanent cease-fire would allow the group to reorganize. a mass is classified as a

terrorist organization by major governments. as the war drags on, unrest is growing on college campuses in the u.s. the new york police department said 133 people were arrested overnight on new york university's campus. it is the latest crackdown on pro-palestinian demonstrations at elite universities, after almost 50 were arrested at yale and connecticut, in more than 100 arrested at columbia university. columbia says all classes will be hybrid until the end of the semester. protests have broken out on the west coast at california state polytechnic university, where students clash with police on monday. school officials announced campus will be closed wednesday after students occupied one of the main buildings. despite these incidents, protests have been mostly peaceful. some students have said they are worried about their safety, and the antisemitic town some of the champs have taken. -- chants have taken the u.k. parliament passed a policy that conservatives say will deter

migrants from traversing the english channel to britain. there -- the plan would send to some people seeking asylum in the u.k. to rwanda to have their claims processed. . the bill designates rwanda as a safe country. if successful, they could be credited your -- granted refugee status. no asylum seeker would be able to apply to return to the u.k. prime minister rishi sunak has been pushing the legislation for months but it has been criticized by opposition. hours after it passed, five people died while trying to cross the english channel in a small boat. are paris correspondent was on the french coast where the boat left, and a warning, you may find these scenes disturbing. reporter: case kermit shirley this morning on a french beach. -- a skirmish this morning on a french beach. the police are trying to stop a small boat from leaving the

shore. it turns violent. the police are failing. the boat is dangerously overloaded. it looks like the migrants who did get onto that boat are in trouble. but as we watch, we have no idea that people on board are dying, including a seven-year-old girl. to understand how this happened, we need to go back to yesterday afternoon. the crowds jostling the bus station. anxious to get to the beaches outside town. the smugglers muscling in. the forecast is for a clear call night in the channel, perfect conditions for a crossing. a young man from syria, sudan, none put off by news that they might end up being deported from britain to rwanda. are you worried you might be sent to rwanda by the british? >> know, if it is safe and i can study in rwanda, than that is fine too.

reporter: you don't want that? it is not stopping you today? >> now. reporter: nothing will stop you. >> no. reporter: waiting for the migrants along the french coast, a high-tech force funded by britain which is spending millions of pounds on drones and other gear to help the french police find and stop the small boats. and yet, compared with the same period last year, the number of crossings has risen. we need more equipment and more staff, she says, who coordinates the police effort here. our offices -- our officers are brave but the number of people getting on each boat is rising. official footage of police in the channel earlier this year, a difficult rescue operation in rough seas. as them number of attempted -- as the number of attempted crossings rises, so does the death toll among migrants. adding to the sense of crisis

here, a new development.

narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... woman: architect. bee keeper. mentor. a raymond james financial advisor tailors advice to help you live your life. life well planned. george: actually, you don't need vision to do most things in life. it's exciting to be part of a team driving the technology forward. i think that's the most rewarding thing. people who know, know bdo. narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs.

announcer: and now, "bbc news". ♪ kim: a warm welcome, i'm kim chakanetsa. i've come to hollywood, to the women and film headquarters where i'm joined by keri putnam and stephanie allain, two women who are working to reshape the industry. they are both part of an initiative founded and led by women in film and the sundance institute, called reframe, whose aim is to advance gender equity. keri putnam is a film executive and producer and the founder of putnam pictures. she's served for 11 years as the ceo of the sundance institute, which runs the sundance film festival. prior to that, she worked as a senior executive at miramax and hbo. she's also the co-founder of reframe. keri, welcome. keri: thank you, it's great to be here.

kim: stephanie allain is a film producer and writer and the newly elected co-president of the producers guild of america, the first woman of color to hold that position. stephanie served nine years as vice president of women in film. she runs her own company, homegrown pictures, which focuses on creating content by and about women and people of color. keri and stephanie, welcome to you both. stephanie: yeah, happy to be here. keri: thank you. kim: now, keri, you were set on a career in theater, but there was a plot twist and hollywood came calling. tell us about what happened. keri: well, that was a very early plot twist in my career. i, um, i was coming out of college and i was gonna go work at a theater, um, and i had a friend who was working at hbo, which at that time was a very um, startup network. that's a long time ago. pretty startup network. and she said, "well, you're going to go work in the theater, but there's some guy coming who's going to be making plays for television on hbo, you could maybe be his assistant." and so i got that job as a secretary at the very bottom,

starting out um, a long time ago. stephanie: they don't say secretary anymore. keri: they did back, they did back then, i had to take a typing test, which i sure did. and, um, you know, uh, then i was, i was very lucky to be hitting a company like that at the time where my rate of growth and knowledge, um, really the company was growing at the same pace, so i was able to move up there and just learn so much about making film and telling stories, still working with a lot of playwrights and still working with a lot of still being close to the writers and the story, which is what i loved. so that's how i got my start, and, um, and then from there, i stayed a really long time at hbo, moved to miramax um, and then got to sundance, so. kim: now, stephanie, you grew up near a cinema, and i understand that you'd spend a lot of time outside the cinema trying to get in, tell me about that. stephanie: well, i also love a story. i loved reading. just i was an avid reader. and the thing that really triggered my interest was

two films, "the godfather" and "the exorcist." i'd read both books, and i was about 12 years old. i had to sneak into the theater. kim: i was about to ask, how did you see those? stephanie: i stood outside and asked an adult to buy me a ticket um, and i was just blown away by the connection between what was in this book and what was on the screen. and i thought i didn't even, i didn't have the tools to understand that there were movies and directors and producers. but i love stories. i went to school for story for english, um, and then i got pregnant after right after college and i had this baby and i was like, "what am i going to do?" and somebody told me there was a job called reading, and i was like, reading is a job. kim: get paid to read? stephanie: sign me up. um, so that's what i did. and, and that just created an opening into the world of cinema for me and then women. it was amy pascal and dawn steel, and um,

they recognized my affinity for writing and for analyzing material, and they promoted me. and, and the first thing i did was, was find somebody to replace me in the story department because i was the only person of color there. kim: keri, stephanie says two women were instrumental in helping her. keri: yeah. kim: what about you? what helped you succeed in your environment? keri: hmm, i would say, you know, i didn't have the, the luck to have a woman boss early on. but the big boss of original programming at hbo in the 80s was a woman. and she was an incredible force and very rare in that time, and, and she really set um, a kind of a clarity of, of what hbo stood for, what kind of... announcer: funding for presentation of this program is provided by... financial services firm, raymond james. bdo. accountants and advisors.

geoff: good evening. i'm geoff bennett. amna nawaz is away. on the newshour tonight. hundreds are arrested as more pro-palestinian protests spread across college campuses. a key witness takes the stand in