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america. israel faces growing condemnation over an airstrike in rafah after dozens of palestinians are killed in a camp for displaced people. officials say more than 2000 people were buried in friday's landslide in papua new guinea as rescue efforts are hampered by unstable terrain. and former president donald trump's criminal trial nears its close. ♪ welcome to world news america. israel is facing growing international condemnation after dozens were killed in rafah following an airstrike. israeli prime minister bennett jim a netanyahu called it a tragic mishap as video showed a massive fire ripping through the gazan city. at least 45 people were killed including women and children at a camp for displaced people according to the hamas run health ministry.

the airstrike killed two senior members of hamas. mr. netanyahu promised an investigation. >> in rafah, we already evacuated about a one million uninvolved residents, and despite our best efforts not to harm the uninvolved, a tragic incident unfortunately happened yesterday. we are investigating the case and will draw the conclusions. >> here in washington, that national security council called the images from rafah heartbreaking, saying israel has a right to go after hamas and we understand that the strike killed two senior terrorists, but as we have been clear, israel must take every precaution possible to protect civilians. while the u.n. secretary general antonio guterres said "i condemn israel's actions which killed scores of innocent civilians who were only seeking shelter from this deadly conflict. there is no safe place in gaza. this horror must stop." sundays airstrike happened about

2 km northwest of the center of rafah. lucy williamson has more on the attack and a warning, her report contains some upsetting images. reporter: morning did not end the nightmare, but it brought the children, picking through the debris of the dead. the burned remains of shelters. among thousands of displaced families fleeing the fighting in rafah to the south. >> we were preparing our children's beds for the night and we heard a very loud noise, and fire erupted all around us. all the children started screaming. . the shelter was shaking and our room was full of shrapnel. reporter: the airstrike hit an area seen as outside israel's current military assault. israel says that used precise

munitions, intelligence and aerial surveillance to reduce the risk to civilians. but that the strike ignited fires across the camp. local reports suggest there was a fueling station nearby. gaza's hamas run government says dozens were killed and injured. many of them children. hospitals, starved of supplies, now flooded with patients. the barely alive, the emotionally dead. israel's army says it has launched an investigation. >> last night, the idf targeted two hamas commanders in rafah whose hands were drenched in israeli blood. civilian casualties are desperately sad, but this is the

war that hamas wanted and started. reporter: yesterday, hamas rockets were fired from rafah towards tel aviv, surrounding -- and surrounding israeli towns. those headed for suburban areas were intercepted. gaza's civilians cannot rely on their government's defenses. a family card, today a makeshift hearse. israel and hamas talk of victory while families count their losses. after all is left are the people. until more oregon. >> for more on the ground, we spoke to a senior emergency aid coordinator for unicef. he spoke to us from rafah about the strike and humanitarian needs. >> we understand that you saw, you witnessed the strike

from afar, can you tell us what you saw? >> i did not see a lot. it was late at night. about 9:30 p.m. here. the explosions went up on the roof. i looked in the direction that they came from. i could see the planes and the smoke coming through the night. about 2.5 km from where we are now. >> can you tell us about the situation there now for those who survived and are in the area? >> the situation for everyone in rafah now is dire. those who survived went to a number of the field hospitals around here. the field hospitals are run by great ngo's, but they are overcapacity, overflowing, they don't have enough supplies or fuel to run their generators. there was enormous trouble -- trouble for patients. there will be more injuries, and that will stretch the

hospitals even more. something i had not thought of, while i was checking the hospitals out today, they have reported, people will not leave. even when they are ready to go, they have nowhere to go. they will not leave the hospital. so this is another added dimension of human suffering we are seeing in rafah and all over the gaza strip. >> israel's prime minister, netanyahu, called this a tragic mistake, there is a military investigation underway, the forces say they were able kill two hamas -- two hamas commanders in the strike, have you seen any examples of hamas embedding themselves among civilians? >> we do not see hamas where we are.

we focus entirely on the civilian population. we are working in the shelters, the camps, in the field hospitals, and we would not see hamas there. it's really difficult to comment on that type of thing. all we see is the tragic result of this horrific war. that is why we call strongly on both parties to end this. there has to be cease-fire. it cannot go on like this anymore. the people are suffering beyond description. the impact on children in particular is intolerable. >> we have seen that some 800,000 people have been evacuated from rafah. many of them have moved, have been displaced more than once of course. can you give us an idea of who is in rafah right now? are the families who were sheltering looking to go to

other places or are they saying where they are? >> the latest figures show that it is up over 900,000 people who have been forced out of rafah and forced to take shelter, where there is not enough water, food, or shelter, there is not enough hospitals. e people that are left in rafah are the most vulnerable of all, they are not able to leave and seek shelter anywhere else. they are probably people with disabled family members or those that do not have the resources to even hire donkey to get themselves out. the people that are left here are the most acutely vulnerable. they are at the highest risk in an already high risk situation. >> just one more question, the families you speak to, the children in particular there in rafah, what do they tell you? >> they tell us they want peace. first they tell us they want an end to the fighting.

kids will then talk about wanting to go back to school. there's a really strong desire among kids to go back to school. there are some really tragic conversations. . when you ask kids what they want, they might say, i want my mom back. and their mom has been killed. they might say i want my cousin, mohammed, to come back and play with me, but their cousin has been killed. so that is really heart wrenching, when you hear that. but overall, they want peace. >> thank you as always for joining us on bbc news. >> thank you. >> now, aid agencies in papua new guinea are struggling to reach people buried in friday's landslide as rocks are still falling and the ground is still moving. the unstable terrain is making work dangerous for the rescue teams, the government says. papua new guinea estimates the landslide buried more than 2000 people but the exact figure of those trapped under the rubble remains unclear, the government

has asked for international help to cope with the disaster that hit the remote village in the province. a warning, this report contains some distressing images. reporter: help is desperately needed here in papua new guinea, but while people wait for it to arrive, there is nothing else for it, they are digging through debris with any tool they can find. few bodies have been pulled from the rubble. this family is able to bury their loved one, but not many here are being afforded this moment. >> i have 18 of my family members buried under the debris and soil that i am standing on, ann's a lot more family members in the village i cannot count. i am the landowner here but i cannot retrieve the bodies, so i am standing here helplessly. reporter: it was 3 a.m. friday when the landslide struck, wiping out will over 100 houses

while residents were asleep. >> the problem is, it is so deep, it is very difficult to recover the bodies from underneath heavy debris. and the land is still sliding, rocks are continuing to fall. reporter: papua new guinea has called for international assistance, neighboring australia has already responded and humanitarian agencies are on the ground. but more help is needed in what is looking more like a recovery than a rescue mission. this is a community in morning. -- in mourning. people here are still waiting to say their goodbyes. >> monday marks memorial day here in the u.s., when americans remember the military personnel who died while serving in the armed forces. president biden participated in the annual wreath-laying ceremony at the arlington national cemetery and delivered these remarks. >> today, we bear witness to

the price they paid. every whitestone across these pills and -- hills and every cemetery in charge across america, a father, a mother, son, daughter, sister, spouse, neighbor, an american, to everyone who has lost or loved someone in the service of our country, to everyone whose loved one is still missing or unaccounted for, i know how hard it could be. >> we are less than six months away from the presidential election, when voters will cast their ballots between joe biden and donald trump in a 2020 for rematch. -- 2024 rematch. the crowd seemed hostile to mr. trump's presence at the

convention and what he had to say. >> it is an interesting question, presented? -- isn't it? but we are going to have a lot of fun. the libertarian party should nominate trump for president of the united states. whoa. that's nice. that's nice. [crowd jeering] >> only if you want to win, maybe you don't want to win. if you want to lose, don't do that. keep getting your 3% every four years. >> while the libertarian party ended up choosing a lesser-known candidate as their nominee, a reuters-ipsos paul this weekend chose joe biden and donald trump in a statistical tie among registered voters if the election were to be held today. recent polls in swing states have been more favorable to donald trump, for instance. a new york times survey from may 13 from mr. trump leading in five of six major swing states, nevada, arizona, michigan,

pennsylvania, and georgia, and mr. bennet had a marginal lead inhe state of wisconsin because of how the electal college works, these keepsakes will have an outsized influence on november's election. polls have also shown that president biden's support has fallen particularly among young, black and hispanic voters. the biden campaign has tried to move the needle by focusing heavily on issues like abortion and student loan debt and gun control. mr. trump meanwhile is due back in a new york court tuesday with closing arguments expected to begin in his hush money criminal trial. let's talk about all of this now with the chief election and campaign correspondent for cbs news. bob, always great to have you here. a lot to go through here. let's start with closing arguments, expected, a verdict, possibly also this week. what can we anticipate to see? >> closing arguments will begin tomorrow in lower manhattan where the former president and presumptive republican nominee has been stuck for weeks. based on my conversation with sources close to the case, you

can expect the prosecution to look at the testimony. over 20 witnesses. to say at the end of the day even if you don't find michael cohen to be a perfect witness, look at the documentation. listen to the audio where trump was caught discussing these payments to some extent and make a decision based on the documentation and the breath of the evidence, not just about michael going's credibility. but trump's lawyers i am told will zero in on michael cohen and say the former fixer for donald trump can't be trusted, you can't just take his word, and use that as the real reason to convict the former president. >> what have your contacts in the trump camp and saying about how the former president is doing and looking towards this week? >> he is very much unhappy with this case. it has been a burden for him politically. it has been it up -- it has eaten up a ton of his time. he wants to be focused on president biden and the general election. whether he's convicted or not, you can expect former president trump to avenge his grievances throughout the rest of the

summer about this case. but at the same time i am told by sources close to president biden that they are going to use the culmination of this case, the end of it to finally start to talk a little bit more about trump's conduct and bring that into the light. they have been a bit hands off talking about this case because it is an ongoing criminal trial. >> it has taken up a lot of time for donald trump and he has been campaigning as well. he's been campaigning and some democrat strongholds like the bronx in new york city, new jersey, minnesota. what you make of the strategy? >> you see from both campaigns and attempt right now in late spring/early summer to target what they see as a demographic that is soft for their rival candidate, the term campaign believes that people of color could be persuaded to some extent to come to trump, they set an economic argument based on a change argument, that's why you suck trump in the south bronx in recent days -- saw trump in the south bronx in recent days. you have room in the trunk of election -- the trump coalition.

he's making a pitch to nikki haley voters that are not very much aligned with trump and have concerns about trump and his character and conduct. he is saying to them if you believe in american democracy, stick with me, don't go with trump. >> what about what the polls have shown particularly in swing states? how is president biden's campaign approaching that? >> you see president biden really focused on union voters. those who call themselves a member of a labor union. he is saying to them, michigan, wisconsin and pennsylvania, you better get out, you have to turn up, you may not be as enthusiastic as you were four years ago and you might feel that inflationary pain is a real issue in your household but i am going to be your warrior more than trump, it's the working voter more than anything in the swing states that is the real competition in this campaign. >> despite all of that, if you look at trump's appearances, he seems to be pretty confident at this stage, do you think that is the case? >> it is confidence, to a point.

anyone who has known trump for a while and i've covered him over 10 years, he's been a public figure since the 1970's, he has dealt with swings and arrows, lawsuits, scandals, erupting -- scandals erupting, decade after decade of different financial issues. for him a criminal trial is not some kind of body blow to his public standing. it is just something me to endure. what you do wonder if some swing voters eventually say enough is enough, especially if he is a convicted felon. that is the moment politically that we are not ready for in the press, the political ranks. what does it actually mean? we've never seen it -- to have a presumptive nominee be a convicted felon. it's a possibility after this week. >> very quickly, you are going to be in new york, what are you going to be looking for in the closing arguments? >> i'm reallyoing to wash the defense team, donald trump's lawyers feel confident -- do donald trump's lawyers feel confident or are they going to amount in excessive closing argument because they are nervous truck might be convicted? >> always great to get your

analysis. thank you so much. one of the top issues for american voters in this presidential race along with the economy is immigration. . the number of undocumented migrants crossing the southern border into the u.s. hit record highs in december. the figures are now down significantly. rescue crews in the u.s. state of texas tell bbc they witnessed an unprecedented re of drownings over the last year and a half as more people try to make the deadly river crossing over the border from mexico. our correspondent tom bateman reports from the border town of eagle pass. a warning, this report contains difficult images. reporter: where the deadly waters of the rio grande's main razor wire of america's southern frontier -- meet the razor wire of america's southern frontier. this woman, finally reaching the safety of u.s. soil. she pleads to cross the fence. >> she has gone back into the water. oh my goodness. oh my goodness. >> an actavis film the scene as

the woman is met by u.s. guards and returns to the river which is notorious for the numbers killed trying to cross. her fate is now unknown. >> directly on the other side, you can see through. you can see the river right there. reporter: we joined a volunteer who saw the scene unfold here at the ground zero of america's bitter viewed over immigration -- feud over immigration. drownings have risen dramatically the last 18 months as a number of people trying to cross in the u.s. -- into the u.s. hits record highs. >> i felt very helpless there. i felt like there was nothing that i could do. and i remind myself that telling her story, telling what i witnessed, that words have power. this is one person, one story, but this is happening hundreds of times on our border. reporter: we are out with a rescue crew, geared up to fight fires.

these days they are the first responders to a global surge of movement, as people flee conflict or seek work in america and counter its hidden dangers. -- encounter its hidden dangers. >> as soon as they get in, they wi feel the power of the river. it is always the middle area. it is underestimated. reporter: a border patrol brings it's about in. but the rescue team's hopes quickly fade. they pulled the body of a man to the shore. no one knows where his journey started. only how it ends. a fate these teams see here every day. these man's pockets have been checked. at the moment, nobody knows who he is, where he's come from, which country he has come from. we have had so many political rows about this issue of immigration but at the end, this is the human cost. there are no recent official

figures on the numbers killed in the river. hundreds drowned last year. the republican governor of texas as troops and razor wire -- says troops and razor wire deter crossings. others say they have made it more dangerous. tragedy keeps flowing into this riverside town. immigration is now a decisive election issue at home but one that they know here along the border also needs global answers. in the town where they bury their dead with no names. tom bateman, bbc news, eagle pass, texas. >>a bipartisan group of u.s. lawmakers pledged support for taiwan and its new leader monday during a trip to the island days after china held military drills around taiwan. the representatives reaffirm the u.s. commitment to supporting taiwan militarily, diplomatically and economically while on the five-day visit. it's the first group of lawmakers to visit the lawmakers since president william l. took ofce.

china expressed strong opposition to the trip saying it undermined the relationship between beijing and washington. the u.s. does not have formal diplomatic ties with taiwan but it is bound by its own laws to provide the island with defensive weapons. support for taiwan has long been a flashpoint in u.s.-china relationss. let's take a look at other headlines from around the world -- severe weather has killed at least 22 people here in the u.s. prompting the governors of kentucky and arkansas to declare state of emergency. whether deaths were reported in kentucky, arkansas, texas, and oklahoma. sunday some more than 600 reports of storm damage across 20 states, making it the busiest severe weather date this year. more than 70 million people from the south to the northeast could experience severe storms monday. at least 16 people have been killed in bangladesh and india after a cyclone battered coastal areas. the cyclone hit southern bangladesh and eastern india with winds of up to 110 kilometers per hour, destroying

thousands of homes and leaving millions without power. they have moved further inland and weekends but india's weather department warned of continued heavy showers over the next two days. before we go, a long lost painting by caravaggio is going on display in madrid. it is described as one of the greatest discoveries in the history of art. the painting which shows jesus with the crown of thorns had previously been attributed to a little-known spanish artist. experts spotted it three years ago when it was about to be auctioned for a fraction of its true value, just over $1000. since then, it's been authenticated and restored. remember that you can always find more on our website, bbc.com/news or download our app for the latest news and analysis. thank you for watching world news america. 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.

♪ amna: good evening. geoff: a wave of deadly tornadoes leaves a path of destruction across much of the country as forecasters predict an above average number of hurricanes this season. amna: global outcry after 45 people are killed in an israeli strike on a tent camp in rafa. geoff: