way i felt very safe because i had god on my side. i felt that. so that was donald trump with his big and extremely lengthy speech that he has just finished delivering to delegates at the republican national convention. applause. the amazing thing is that prior to the shot, if i had not moved my head at that very last instant, the assassin�*s bullet would have perfectly hit its mark and i would not be here tonight, we would not be together. it is very late on thursday night. so late, it's friday morning. we are going to be running through what donald trump had to say, what it all means, what's been happening through the week. a lot of those thoughts will also be on our radio 4

episode this week. it has been the most extraordinary few days in american politics, so we will go through all of the highlights. welcome to americast. americast. americast from bbc news. hello, it'sjustin in the worldwide headquarters of americast in london, england. hello, it's sarah smith in milwaukee, at the republican national convention, right in the auditorium. and it's anthony, right next to sarah, at the auditorium| where donald trump hasjust. finished his acceptance speech. there is a timing issue right at the beginning of this because we are literally minutes away from the start of the today programme, the programme i present in london, and i know i am doing the headlines today, so i know if i go on for too long, i will miss the headlines and lose myjob, so there is a lot of tension in this room. so you will need to keep it brief, justin. i will need to keep it brief, which everyone will be relieved by. just to kick off a thought,

hats off to chris lacivita, the republican political operative. i first came across him many years ago. he was the media adviser to the swift boats campaign. i don't know if you remember this, sarah and anthony, the people who did for john kerry whenjohn kerry was running against george w bush the second time around. john kerry had been on the swift boats in vietnam. chris lacivita is a very able political operative and he has now come, it seems to me, to the very top of his career, because what he has done is keep donald trump disciplined and that, it seems to me, is the most extraordinary fact of the night and it does come down to his team, but particularly this guy chris lacivita, who i think we are going to hear an awful lot more about. well, to an extent. he started on the script, and it was a kind of measured, composed donald trump, that was reading the words that

had been written for him, and he is always completely different when he is on the teleprompter than when he is riffing at his rallies, and i was thinking, there is not enough energy in this, he is not giving the crowd what they want, and then he went off into meandering sections, five, ten minutes long, all the things we are used to hearing from him at his rallies, some of which aren't true, some of which are grossly exaggerated, some of which are much more rhetoric, whether he is talking about an immigrant invasion or boasting about calling up other world leaders and what he got them to do for him, how he can end wars with a telephone call. this was not entirely scripted, justin. yeah, i think americans may. have tuned out by about halfway through the speech. it started very powerfully, emotionally, but then, . as you mentioned, it meandered, but the tone didn't change. - he had no energy, he had that. same monotone, subdued voice that he started with. in the beginning, i can see that befitting the subject l matter, but when he is talking about policy, talking _ about politics, -

there was no energy. as a pollster said, - this was a rally trump, the acoustic version. hang on a second, both of you... because he was giving us his favourite stories from the rallies as well. but the favourite stories are all written down. i've got in front of me here, i'm rattling the papers, i've got the whole speech written out, including all the capitalised bits. "together we will restore..." and then capitalised, "..vision, strength, competence and common sense, "in the oval office, etc." so, yes, he did ramble, but the rambling is all in the speech. that isjust him. no, there was about 30 minutes�* worth of stuff that is not in the speech, justin. i was in the taxi on my way to work. he did not have in the speech that he wanted to have hannibal lecter for dinner, did he? no, true enough, true enough. but my central point is that those parts of the speech where he referred to america were an awful lot more inclusive than,

for instance, his inauguration speech, which george w bush so famously described, we can't use the word, i don't think, but so famously described as being weird something. that wasn't there. that kind of sense of dystopia i felt he had toned down. and i come back to the discipline of the political operatives, who it seems to me have said to him, you are going to win this if you just coast to november, and that seems to me to be, including the tone both of you have just mentioned, that seemed to be the order of the night. i think this speech didn't move the needle but, i then again, it didn't - have to move the needle. i don't think trump wants - the needle moved anywhere, so a boring speech, poorly delivered probably doesn't hurt him and it is better. for him, as you point out, justin, than something that is more red meat. even though i will say, - there were some things in this speech that were dystopian, that were dark, talking - about these latin americanj countries opening theirjails

and sending undocumented migrants here. _ he was posing as a latin. american dictator, thinking about what he would do in that circumstance, i that he would empty hisjails. that is unusual fare - for what is normally a slickly polished acceptance speech. i think you picked up on something, justin, which probably tells us a little bit about the tone and themes we are going to see in the months going forward. the inclusivity you mentioned was obvious in the speakers addressing the convention in the previous few days, some of the things they were talking about. it's a much more diverse republican party that we are seeing here, obviously trying to appeal to some blocks of voters they think they can win over. by the way, you know who is taking the jobs that are created? 107% of those jobs are taken by illegal aliens. and you know who is being hurt the most by millions of people pouring into our country? the black population and the hispanic population, because they are taking the jobs from our black population, our hispanic

population, and they are also taking them from unions. you are right to draw the contrast with that american carnage speech he gave at his inauguration. this was more optimistic. he was talking about what he thinks is wrong with america, and he said he thinksjoe biden is worse than all ten of the worst president in history added together, orsomething, but he was painting a much more optimistic vision of what the future of america might be than what we heard from him, for instance, eight years ago. and i am going to concede to you both that there was a certain lack of detail. for instance, i'm just looking at a bit of the speech which i think he did get to, "with our victory in november, "the years of war, weakness and chaos will be over." not a lot of detail in how that happens. so i am bound to... done and done. i am bound to accept what you are saying. but i still think this was a restrained piece of work from donald trump. and what is interesting is the wider context, which is that this is not the only show in town when it

comes to huge news out of the united states, because we are also facing potentially, over the coming few days, the end of joe biden as the candidate running against him. ijust wonder how much that... have you picked up among republicans, do they not care? do they think they are coasting to victory whatever? are they worried about the idea that suddenly it is not biden and they have got someone tougher to deal with? because that is part of the story, isn't it? sarah, you talked about it the other day, they are i giddy, aren't they? they are absolutely jubilant. i have never seen people at a political convention or conference as happy as this. they seem very united, there are no fights going on behind the scenes, and they are just ecstatic. it's just good news after good news for them. another poll came out this afternoon showing that donald trump is five points ahead, according to the cbs poll nationally, three points ahead in the key swing states that really matter, and with one in four voters saying that the way he handled himself after the assassination

made them more likely to consider voting for him, so that is all going incredibly well. it's just icing on the cake to see the democratic party pulling itself apart. of course, there is the possibility that they will face a candidate who might be more of a challenge thanjoe biden, but right now the disunity, the infighting in the democratic party, isjust, they can't believe their luck. it's weird, and i hear the balloons popping all around you, that a political party in the modern era can focus on a person who has brought so little in terms of detailed policy. i mean, you know that in american political terms, parties do tend to make it up as they go along, but you have a broad sense, i suppose, of what trump wants to do, but the detail is fabulously lacking, isn't it? they have meticulously avoided talking about policy details - on the stage, particularly. the last hour of every night, when the american

public is tuning in. | at the convention, if you went for a little walk and you wentl to some of these side i events that were put on, there was more policy details discussed, but that was welll away from any of the network television cameras, _ because democrats have been looking at the policy— proposals, the project 2025' that the heritage foundation has put out and other groups, their proposals, and picking . them apart and beating the republicans over. the head with them. i don't think chris lacivita - and the republican operatives running the trump campaignl wanted to give the democrats any more ammunition at this convention. . you have got to remember, not every politician has the front of donald trump to stand up on stage and promise tax cuts and simultaneously say he is not going to cut spending on health care or pensions, and not explain how that can be done. a final thought about the front of donald trump. he mentioned god a lot and said that god was there when he was attacked, etc.

it is quite striking to see a man who is so ungodly in so much of his behaviour understanding viscerally that it is so important to so many members of his party, who genuinely believe, who are not cynical about it, actually, who think that god was there in pennsylvania and rescued donald trump for a purpose, who genuinely believe that, and he is tapping into that. i don't think anyone seriously thinks that he thinks it, but he got there at the beginning of the speech. if i may say so, god has a purpose for me, which is to read the headlines in the today programme. i can see they are already calling next door, so i have got to go. enjoy the rest of the podcast. it has been a real pleasure talking to you, if only briefly. i am going to talk to you on the today programme a little later. now we have got rid ofjustin, we can go into a little bit

more detail about what donald trump was actually saying. it was a different man, i thought, who described the moment that he was shot. he started off telling a fairy tale. it was a warm summer's day in pennsylvania when... and ran us through this story, which he said he was going to tell tonight and then never again. we will see if that happens. i have a feeling that probably is not going to be the case. l he likes talking about his election victory in 2016 l and spoke about it for years afterwards, and i think- he will at least make reference to that because it is something his supporters want to hear from him. l it was almost messianic - at times, speaking about how providence... it was providential that he survived. i let's listen to some of it. first off, he described the actual moment he was shot. i said to myself, wow, what was that? it can only be a bullet. and moved my right hand to my ear, brought it down, my hand was covered with blood.

just absolutely blood all over the place. i immediately knew it was very serious, that we were under attack, and in one movement proceeded to drop to the ground. bullets were continuing to fly as very brave secret service agents rushed to the stage, and they really did, they rushed to the stage. and he talked about the crowds at the rally as well, and why he raised his fist in the air. i stand before you in this arena only by the grace of almighty god. cheering. and watching the reports over the last few days, many people say it was a providential moment. probably was.

when i rose surrounded by secret service, the crowd was confused because they thought i was dead, and there was great, great sorrow. i could see that on their faces as i looked out. they didn't know i was looking out, they thought it was over. but i could see it. i wanted to do something to let them know i was ok. i raised my right arm, looked at the thousands and thousands of people that were breathlessly waiting, and started shouting, "fight, fight, fight." crowd: fight! fight! - fight! crowd: fight! fight! - thank you. once my clenched fist went up, and it was high into the air, you've all seen that, the crowd realised i was ok and roared with pride for our country like no crowd

i have ever heard before. applause. never heard anything like it. over the course of this week, i there were three major themes that the republicans said they wanted to highlight, one each night — the economy, crime and immigration, - and foreign policy, global safety, and you saw thatl in donald trump's speech. he started talking about. the economy and inflation, moved on to immigration and crime, and finished i with foreign policy. it was not necessarily- delivered in a coherent way and it was full of ad libs, - but those were the tent poles i think you are going to see this campaign built around i for the next three months. donald trump does have a record. - he was president for four- years, so i think people might rightly point and say, - why didn't you do any of this when you were president? we talked about how happy everyone is here and what donald trump had to say, what do you think, at the end of it, it all adds up to?

outside of the convention centre, people watching in, is it a bump for the republicans, has anyone been paying any attention, does it make any difference? i think the week itself - will help the republicans. i think it was a very slickly produced convention, - and as you mention, - putting diversity on stage, trying to reach out to suburban women, to black voters, - to hispanic voters, - and with jd vance, to white, working—class voters, - to get them more engaged. i think that is a good strategy for them. . donald trump is riding momentum and at the moment he is ahead. i i tell you how i know he must be on the up. melania turned up. she did! we see so little of her. she was there when he launched his campaign 18 months ago, she has done one fundraiser, and i checked all of this because i wrote a piece for bbc online about melania, and she came in at the last minute, she waved to everybody, she appeared on the stage and was off again, but... and there was a very- awkward kiss, ithought,

between the two of them. i kind of half caught it as it was happening, i but donald trump leaned i in and it looked like melania tried to make it a cheek kiss. so the dynamics between the two of them were on display, - i think, and this may bel the last time we see her for the entirety. of the campaign. she is fascinating, isn't she? she is so mysterious and she uses her appearances so cleverly, i think. by doing it so infrequently, it makes it so special and so newsworthy when she turns up that she gets maximum effect out of it, and then can disappear again for months. the moment she came in, - the lights dimmed, they said, "the future first ladyl of the united states — melania trump", the spotlights were around, and then - beethoven's 9th symphony, i a horn solo from that started playing, and she just floated l in in this red dress and walked up the stairs. cheering.

it was a unique entrance, i but she sat by donald trump for all of maybe 30 minutes . and then she stood next to him on the stage after the balloon drop, or as the balloons - were dropping, and that was the entirety of her time - at the convention. so, sarah, what a week it has been. _ four days of convention, - it started with donald trump making a triumphant entry into this arena behind us, i as you can hear all- these balloons popping. we got news that donald trump's case in florida l on the documents was . being dropped, dismissed by the judge. something donald trump mentioned in his speech. we had jd vance, donald trump's running mate, being announced. i he gave his speech last night. and then donald trump's l acceptance speech tonight. all the while, joe biden - and the democrats have been engaged in a circular firing squad. - joe biden had a high—profile i interview on monday night that

maybe wasn't all that effective in staunching the bleeding. - and then he pulled off. the campaign trail during the stop in nevada because he tested positive with covid, - and all these democrats, the calls for him to standj aside, have only been - escalating more and more. it is the most astonishing split screen effect, because you have got donald trump proudly sporting that white bandage on his ear, bestriding the stage, looking like some kind of returning hero, and the pictures ofjoe biden after he had contracted covid and suddenly flew on air force one from las vegas, where he was meant to be doing a campaign event, back to delaware so he could isolate at home, he looked really bad when he was going up the steps on to the plane to fly home. and then somehow he managed to look even worse when he disembarked in delaware. he looked frail, he looked unwell, and hejust looked unbelievably old, whilst donald trump is being celebrated here for his survival. he is an 81—year—old man with covid, you are going|

to look old and - rundown and tired. i had covid injanuary and i felt miserable i and i'm a 50—something. so it is not surprising, but it is not the look. you want to have when you are being contrasted - with donald trump, whojust survived bullets being fired i at him and was triumphant in his return _ to the stage here. so an astonishing week of events that i don't think is going to be rounded off with us knowing whatjoe biden�*s fate is going to be. there have been some very high—profile interventions this week. it has been reported that nancy pelosi has suggested he should go, that barack obama is worried about the viability of his candidacy, but we haven't heard from the biden camp themselves, except to say that he has not made a decision to step down. a few days before we do? not only hasn't made i a decision to step down, but that all the reports - are wrong and that he is still busily planning his next steps in his campaign. i

the reports have been all over the map at this point. - it is very difficult to tell, - but you have got to understand, joe biden is back in delaware, he is surrounded by his- tightest circle of family i and advisers, and nothing is going to leak out of that, i so i think what you are hearing now are people trying to put pressure onjoe biden, - they are not getting anything back from that pressure, - so they are slowly, steadily, upping the amperage goingl into this, trying to get some sort of reactioni from the campaign, trying. to get the result they want, which isjoe biden stepping aside some time soon. - it has been really interesting to read the denials and the non—denial denials, as they're called in politics. for instance, it had been reported thatjoe biden�*s speech writer was working on remarks for him to deliver to say he was leaving the race. so he came out and said absolutely not, this is completely, ioo%, totally untrue. that is a straightforward denial. it was reported that nancy pelosi had said to him she didn't think he could win.

the denial that came from her office was not a straightforward denial like that at all. it was all about, we respect the confidentiality of the discussions and not everything that is being reported is 100% accurate. that isn't exactly a denial. not 100% accurate? ok, we can guess which ones are. l clearly, nancy pelosi is moving behind—the—scenes and trying i to evaluate and get her. hands around how to deal with this situation. clearly, barack obama| is also very concerned. we saw public statements from hillary clinton - and the clintons saying - that they support joe biden and reports that they were pressuring their donors . not to back away from him. you have a bunch of players in this and they are - all moving around. it is enough to be some sort of a political drama movie, i with all the pieces that - could land in different places by the time this is all over. well, it's been a crazy night, a very long night for all of us. -

sarah has already popped off to do all of her. other obligations. i you can still hear the balloonsl popping behind me as they start to clean up - the convention site. but it has been a wild ride over the past four days. . we are going to continue reporting on this story i in the days ahead and you know the way to get in touch - with us... discord, you can find a link to that in the description . of this podcast. and you can hear americast first and in full as a podcast on bbc sounds. see you all later.

hello there. well, saturday saw some more sunshine towards eastern england in particular. it was warm and humid still here, with some of our temperatures rising again into the high 20s in celsius, whereas further west, it was a wetter story. plenty of thick clouds, fresher—feeling conditions developing here. we're all coming into that cooler—feeling air as we head through sunday. there'll still be some sunshine around for most of us at times, but also some wet weather in the form of showers. and overnight tonight, we've been seeing some rain move northwards and eastwards, showers following on behind. most of the rain by dawn on sunday will be across the northern isles. still that hang—back of cloud towards eastern england, and still that warm, muggy—feeling air, temperatures

16—18 celsius to start off the morning. now, many of us will get off to a sunny start to the day, but cloud will thicken as we head through the late morning into the afternoon, mostly from the west. and there'll be a scattering of showers for western stretches of the uk as well, with heavier rain moving into northern ireland later on through the afternoon, eventually to south—west scotland. temperatures will be more or less the seasonal average, 16—23 degrees celsius, so quite a drop for eastern areas of england in particular. staying in that cooler air on monday, a whole host of weather fronts bringing some more wet and some windy weather at times too. most of the rain will tend to be out towards the north and west. a few sharp, thundery showers across scotland. down through north—west england, a scattering of showers, but also some sunny spells for northern ireland. and it's blustery in the south, with a brisk westerly wind, a few isolated showers, but also, some sunshine. the sunshine will help to boost the temperature. perhaps for south—east england, we could see 2a or 25 degrees in the best of that. and then on tuesday, high pressure starts to build

in, so the sunshine will be making a return across pretty much the whole of the uk. a few showers to start off the day and a few isolated showers developing as we head through the middle part of the day as well. more of a north—westerly wind, so it's quite a cool wind direction. but temperatures will be boosted by the sunshine, so rising a little higher again as we head through the day on tuesday. the high pressure, too, lasting into wednesday. so if we take a look at our outlook for the capital cities as we head through the rest of the week, it's warm and it's mostly dry again on wednesday. temperatures rising a little further, but more showers on thursday and friday. bye— bye.

live from washington, this is bbc news. donald trump speaks at his first campaign rally since surviving an attempt on his life a week ago.

us presidentjoe biden says he is looking forward to getting back on the campaign trail next week, despite growing pressure to step aside. israeli fighter jets strike houthi military targets in yemen in response to attacks on israel in recent months. microsoft admits friday's tech outage affected more than eight million devices, and there are warnings criminals might try to exploit the chaos. hello, i'm sophie long. former us president donald trump has given his first campaign speech since surviving an attempt on his life a week ago. he spoke for more than 100 minutes, telling a crowd in grand rapids, michigan, in an address that included attacks on his democratic party rivals. he spoke about the assassination attempt

as something he survived "by the grace of god",