♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ announcer: funding for presentation of this program is provided by...

woman: a law partner rediscovers her grandmother's artistry and creates a trust to keep the craft alive. a raymond james financial advisor gets to know you, your passions and the way you enrich your community. life well planned. man: cunard is a proud supporter of public television. on a voyage with cunard, the world awaits. a world of flavor. diverse destinations. and immersive experiences. a world of leisure... and british style. all with cunard's "white-star" service. 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"

♪ >> this is bbc world news ♪ america. israeli troops press on with their rafah operation, u.s. weapons used in sunday's deadly airstrike. south african elections could see nelson mandela's majority lose for the first time in 30 years. in jury deliberations in donald trump's hush money trial continues. ♪ welcome to world news america. the u.s. is under pressure to address media reports that u.s. manufactured bombs were used in sunday's deadly israeli strike in rafah. 45 people were killed when an airstrike sparked a massive fire

in a densely populated displacement camp. debris is consistent with remnants from a type of bomb called gdu39, similar to what's on your screen right now. manufactured by boeing, it is supposed of greatest precision. in order to reduce the risk of civilian casualties, the white house made clear it would limit weapons to israel if they entered rafah's population centers or a major ground operation. they believe israel has not crossed that line. speaking from moldova earlier today, america's top diplomat filter questions but did not confirm the report. sec. blinken: were very clear in this instance as well as other

instances, to immediately investigate and determine exactly what happened, and if accountability is necessary to make sure that there is accountability. i can tell you what is likely used or how they were used, all americans, a product that is deliberate, also investigation, and the result. >> for more, we have our state department correspondent tom bateman with us in studio. we know the u.s. supplied israel with weapons, but there is real concern and criticism that u.s. munitions might have been used in the deadly strike in densely populated areas. what more is the u.s. saying about this? tom: this probably wasn't american made munition.

these are very distinctive, glide munitions, precision guided. i've seen the aftermath, the effect of these bombs in gaza on buildings and homes in the past, and certainly they can be extremely devastating, but the wind is, it is targeted strikes, that is the argument of the israelis. they say they were going after two hamas commanders that were killed in this strike. in terms of the weapon itself, certainly there is the view of, several weapons analysts have looked at the images here, probably the munition that was being used. it would be significant if it is american supplied. that said, the majority of weapons israel uses are american-made and supplies. of course it adds to the significance of this particular case because of that very crucial u.s.-israel relationship. >> the administration keeps

getting asked, what is it that would cross the redline that president biden has set, the ground operation in rafa. how are they dealing with these questions? tom: remember, president biden defined that so-called redline, as you put it, if there is a full is really assault on rafah, and there are 1.4 million already displaced palestinians, most of them living in tents in rafah, that would not come with his support, and he said he would not supply the weapons to do it. although israel already had enough to do it, but it would not come with a u.s. seal of approval. the administration has been asked repeatedly, did would happen on sunday, these appalling events, the images of people, you know, being pulled, charred bodies from the encampment, did that cross president biden's redline, would it change policy? the answer has been a consistent

know, it would not change policy, and therefore it does not cross the redline. we heard something from antony blinken, who we heard from earlier, he said israel has the way up, what he described as incremental gains, the commanders come up against what he called terrible, horrific, unintended consequences in terms of the mass killing of civilians here. that felt like a warning shot, the bottom line remains the u.s. continues to support israel in rafah a continue to arm its operations there. >> all right, tom, as always, great to have you on. thank you so much. meanwhile, the israeli prime minister's national security advisor says he expects fighting in gaza to continue through at least the end of the year. the israel defense forces say three of the soldiers were killed when a booby-trap exploded inside a building. the idf that they have now taken

operational control of the nearby buffer zone between gaza and egypt known as the philadelphi corridor. that hamas allegedly uses to smuggle weapons into gaza. with the operations around rafa intensify, palestinians are once again on the move. the un's as more than one million people have fled the city. for more on the humanitarian situation, i spoke to rachel cummings, the team leader for save the children in rafah. just a note, due to the fluid situation on the ground, or internet connection was unstable, but here is our conversation. rachel, can you describe to us the situation for children on the ground right now in rafah? rachael: certainly. delivered immediately to rafah, thousands of children have been displaced outside of rafah,

including the middle area of gaza, and an area that is already overcrowded, delivering enough food, clean water, medical services to children, and they are terrified, they are scared, and this is a conflict. , of course, -- sumi: rachael, your organization has been raising the alarm over the aide. what impact hasn't had on children? rachael: there are thousands of trucks sitting on the border with egypt. it was the main artery of humanitarian supplies, including food, water, hygiene kits, and also psychological support, for

supporting children, education materials. everything coming into gaza, so the impact on children, like food and water and medicines, but also some social support, to be able to get to the children. sumi: the u.s. says that it does not believe a major ground operation is underway right now in rafah. from where you are, what is the situation? are you witnessing red alert, airstrikes? what if using on the ground? rachael: well, we've relocated from rafah on the seventh of may, following the population who moved to the middle area, but there is a lot happening in

rafa, to move to the west, and we are hearing horrific stories of the bombardments and the continued displacement of children and their families. you can hear the bombardments, you can see the jets overhead, heading south. sumi: thank you so much for sharing your perspective with us today, and we hope you and your staff say say -- stay safe. rachael: thank you very much. sumi: day one of jury deliberations and donald trump hush money trial wrapped up your the 12th jurors -- in donald trump's hush money trial wrapped up. the 12 jurors are expected to deliberate. they returned to the courtroom to request to reread testimony

from david packer, publisher of the tablet "the national enquirer." he testified about a catch and kill scheme to buy stories -- by and bury stories that might hurt trump's campaign. the judge told jurors they should set aside whatever bias they might have about mr. trump and only consider the evidence presented in court. during the six-week trial, the jury heard from several witnesses, including stormy daniels, and from michael cohen, donald trump's former attorney and fixer who paid miss daniels $130,000 to allegedly by her silence shortly before the 2016 presidential election. the defense argued it was built on lies told by mr. cohen. mr. trump: the whole thing is rigged, the whole country is a mess, between the borders and

fake elections, and a trial like this. it is a disgrace. we will see. sumi: joining us live now is nick ackerman, former watergate prosecutor and assistant district attorney in the southern district of new york. very good to have you on bbc world news america today. the jury asking for instructions. they have to go through 34 counts of falsifying business records. take us through how complex a task this is. mr. ackerman: it is not that complex except there is a lot of testimony to remember, and it is obvious they are asking now for certain testimony that the prosecutors pointed out yesterday, mainly the meeting at trump tower in august of 2015,

where this whole catch and kill scheme was set up, and on mr. trump's conversation with david pecker on june 6 of 2016. both of those are pretty important, and if i were the prosecutor, i would be fairly happy with this request, because it shows that the jury is going back they are refreshing the recollection on what people have said, and they are basically following the prosecutor's advice, to focus on that particular evidence in which mr. trump was a participant. sumi: the jurors solved 22 when is is over six weeks, including stormy daniels, michael cohen. who do you think made a more convincing argument, from what you saw that came out of work, the prosecution or the defense? mr. akerman: well, i actually sat through the entire summation yesterday, all seven plus hours, believe it or not. in the prosecution did a fairly good job in the beginning,

making arguments that were fairly plausible, trying to argue that the $420,000 that was paid to michae overl -- to michael cohen in 2017, as a legal retainer for a personal returning -- personal attorney for the president you're in however, when the prosecution got up to talk about that, they zeroed in on two documents that were exhibits, one that had the handwriting of allen weisselberg, who was the chief financial officer for the trump organization, and the other for this fellow, jeff mcconnaughhay, who is the controller for the organization, and both of those documents took that 400 $20,000 and showed exactly what it consisted of, which was the 100 $30,000 in hush-money payments to stormy daniels, plus $50,000 that was owed come with -- owed

to michael cohen, as well as $60,000 for his bonus. so it is kind of hard to believe that those payments were not for reimbursement for stormy daniels. sumi: for people who are wondering what could happen if donald trump is convicted, what would happen? mr. akerman: well, what would happen is there would be a date set down for sentencing, probably a couple months ahead, where the probation department would do a report for the judge. the judge would then hold a sentencing hearing. he would be sentenced. it could be anywhere from, you know, no prison time to, you know, 3, 4 years, plus probation, so there's really no way to know. the other thing that could happen at this sentencing hearing is he could be remanded

to prison immediately, if the judge believes that there are no real issues for a few, which there may not be here, because it really comes down to a jury question of whether or not he had the intent and whether he did what the prosecution claims he did. sumi: thank you so much, nick, for that. very good to have drawn the program today. mr. akerman: thank you. sumi: so what was it like in court today? we will go to new york, where we talk to our correspondent, nada. nada: i'm joined by my colleague, caleb stein, who has been following -- ca kayla epstein, who has been following this. jurors understand this is such

an historic situation here at how carefully did define they were listening to the judges instructions, and how did that help guide the jury, do you think? kayla: the mood in the courtroom was incredibly serious today, and releasing the jury taking notes, listening to the lawyers and witnesses, but today it felt like they were paying even closer attention. they walked into the closed room, past the defense table, took their seats, and then the judge began giving them very detailed instructions about how to apply the law, the facts in the case, when they had to consider, and we saw them take notes, we sell them paying very close attention. nada: it was interesting, they did not look at donald trump, did they? kayla: no, they often don't look at him, and they have to walk right by him as they pass the defense table, but i think they are focused on getting to the jury box and doing their job. nada: they ended with nearly five hours of deliberation, but before that, they had a number of notes they gave to the judge. any of us who have covered

trials know this is not unusual, but everyone wants to read into it as best they can come in to get a sense of what the jury is thinking. walk us through what a process that was in this trial in particular. kayla: we were sitting in the courtroom, and a few hours were passed since the jury was sent out, and this buzzer went off, and there was speculation as to what that could in. all the parties were brought back. the prosecution came back into the room. trump came back into the room. the judge can back to the room, and as expected, the jury had a question. they actually asked two questions today, one was about the particular testimony they heard before from testimony from david pecker and estimate from michael cohen, and they asked the judge if he could review some instructions for them. nada: it is interesting, because david pecker, in the prosecution's closing statements, his testimony was described as "devastating" for donald trump. donald trump today, he made a comment that not even mother

teresa could beat the charges of this case. what has his demeanor been like in your opinion? kayla: in the courtroom, his demeanor is much as it has always been. there's times when he's turning to his lawyers and asking questions and looking quite engaged, and then there's point where he is staring straight ahead or his head is tilted to one side, so he does not talk in court unless he is conferring with his jurors, and it is a very subdued version of trunk compared to what we see on social media. -- trump compared to what we see on social media. nada: all right, kayla. jurors taking their job extremely seriously. tomorrow they will resume those deliberations, trying to reach a unanimous verdict. sumi: nada, kayla, great to have your reporting, as always. thank you so much. donald trump's rival, president joe biden, is campaigning in philadelphia in the battleground state of pennsylvania to court black voters. joined by his running mate, vice

president kamala harris. it comes as mr. biden continues to lose support among this critical voting bloc. as "new york times"/philadelphia inquirer and siena college survey shows, biden support is a 69%, which is 10% decrease from where he stood in 2020. the biden campaign is not concerned about whether black supporters will support trunk but that too many may out out of going to the polls come november. at the rally, biden talked about campaign promises he made good on, like police may conduct. pres. biden: obstacles every step of the way we face. for example, senate republicans blocked the george floyd justice in policing act. it did not stop me from signing an exec of order requiring key elements of the bill for federal enforcement, banning chokehold, restricting no-knock warrants, creating databases of police misconduct, and so much more. sumi: to another top story

today, voting is underway in south africa's most federal general election in 20 years -- 30 years. the governing africa national congress risks losing the majority since ending apartheid in 1994. support for the anc has dwindled against the backdrop of corruption, rising crime rates, and shortages of power and water. we can go to pretoria and speak to our correspondent, barbara plett-usher. what are voters telling you? barbara: well, in their own ways, they have been telling me it is a significant election, and we are beginning to see the votes being counted. the results are going to come into here to this center over the next couple of days. and we have seen that the turnout has been higher than expected. it looked like it was higher than the last election in 2019, so that is quite significant.

we still have these long queues outside voting stations as the days were ending. so it seems to be quite important for voters, not because they were waiting to cast, you know, to exercise their right to vote, like 30 years ago, in great excitement, because they were unhappy with how they have been governed for the past 30 years by the governing african national congress, the agency. as you -- the anc. as you mentioned, corruption scandals, power cut, and so on. i have found that generally the odor folders -- older voters tended to be more loyal to the anc. one man told me i am voting for mandela's party because it has given me dignity. also because they were wary of the other party, the new party, thinking they might make things worse. the younger voters, on the other hand, many of whom have not experienced apartheid, were much more credible.

i spoke to a number who work -- were much more critical. i spoke to a number who were skeptical about how much had changed him about whether anything would change. it definitely is the most hotly contested and uncertain election since the end of apartheid. sumi: how do you sense the political landscape of south africa could be changing? barbara: well, until now, the anc has always had an absolute majority, and it really does not look like that is going to happen this time, and therefore it would be forced to share power. how much depends on the number, if it comes close to 50% come a could make easier deals with smaller parties. if it is quite a bit less than 50%, it would have to make tougher deals with its larger rivals. there are questions about how that might work. that uncharted territory could lead to instability and

governance, but at the same time, a coalition government might make south africans feel like they can hold their leaders to a better account than if it is a single dominant party. sumi: barbara plett-usher reporting from pretoria, always great to speak with you. let's get a quick look at other headlines from around the world now. india is entering a severe heat wave with temperatures in the capital 52 degrees celsius or 120 six degrees fahrenheit, the highest it has ever seen. the national weather service warns of the danger of heat related illnesses. casualties have been reported and children have fainted in school. sweltering temperatures are being felt across south asia, a trend worsened by climate change, scientists say. neighboring pakistan has experienced a weeklong heatwave. papua new guinea experiencing changing weather patterns, rainfall caused a mountainside to collapse, killing an unknown amount of people.

the government originally estimated 2000 people were buried in the landslide that happened on may 24, but local officials now believe the death toll is much lower. only six bodies have been recovered so far as rescue workers they unstable terrain have hampered efforts to find more bodies and get aid to the region. a volcano has erupted again in the southwestern region of iceland. it is the fifth time since september that in a russian has taken place in the peninsula, a fissure opened up just north of the village, which has already been permanently evacuated due to the heightened volcanic activity. remember that you can always find more on the days news on the website, bbc.com/news. to see what we are working on anytime, check us out on your favorite social media sites. you can always download our bbc news app. you will find all the latest headlines and updates plus analysis from correspondence reporting from around the world.

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. i'm amna nawaz. geoff: and i'm geoff bennett. on the "newshour" tonight, jury deliberation get underway in manhattan in the criminal hush money trial of former president trump. amna: a razor-thin primary win for a texas incumbent highlights the growing rift within the republican party.