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a prominent u.s. democratic senator convicted of multiple counts of corruption. ♪ sumi: hello and a warm welcome to "bbc world news america" broadcasting from the republican national convention in milwaukee, wisconsin. i'm sumi somaskanda. great to have you with us. day two of the convention following a dramatic opening session where donald trump received a hero's welcome and tapped ohio senator j.d. vance as his running mate. today is -- today's main convention program is getting underway. we are expecting speeches from several of trump's former rivals including former south carolina governor and former u.s. ambassador to the united nations, nikki haley, the last of trump's rivals to drop out of the 2024 race. we will also here from florida governor ron desantis and

senator marco rubio who had been floated as a possible vice presidential pick, as well as entrepreneur vivek ramaswamy. that will be interesting. our north america correspondent is on the convention floor for us today. very good to see you. what are you expecting to see from these former rivals of trump speaking on stage tonight? reporter: i think we expect to see a full endorsement of the man that both of them once tried to challenge. if you remember seeing me in the heat of the republican primary, nikki haley, the former u.n. governor, had described donald trump as unhinged. she said that america cannot afford four more years of "chaos, vendetta, and drama." she came really close to taking on donald trump in a way that perhaps many other republicans didn't. there was a moment when she did concede that it wasn't quite

clear if she would endorse him, but recently she has released all her delegates to mr. trump and urged them to back him. as for florida governor ron desantis, there was once upon a time where he was seen as the heir to donald trump's throne at the time when it looked like republicans may turn their back on mr. trump, but that has changed. he will be taking to the stage where he will, as we fully expect him to, endorsed donald trump. sumi: donald trump appeared yesterday in the arena and got a hero's welcome. you've been on the floor talking to delegates. tell us what the atmosphere has been like. reporter: people have felt really emotional. i was here when the threshold was crossed when donald trump officially got the numbers he

needed to become the official nominee for the candidacy. his family were here, there were huge cheers, people were telling me following the assassination attempt, they felt more determined to get him back into the white house. we saw him arrive with that bandage on his right ear, he appeared subdued. he did not speak. we are expecting him to give a speech thursday where he will accept the nomination. we understand he will focus more on unity. one of the senior advisers of his campaign has said mr. trump plans to talk about the assassination attempt but in a way where there -- whether shooting is not too much of a focus. but there's no doubt when he does speak to the party faithful , it will be a huge moment and the first time we hear him speak since the attempt on his life. sumi: it will be another

eventful evening. thank you. today's theme at the convention is make america safe once again, republicans trying to highlight what they call failures by the biden administration on crime and immigration. illegal crossings at the u.s. border with mexico did spike after president biden took office before declining over the past few months. mr. biden says he's deployed record amounts of resources to the southern border and strengthened legal pathways for migration. he tried to secure further funding from the border but was blocked by republicans in congress. mr. trump says if reelected, he will double down on hard-line immigration policies that were a harel mark -- hallmark including reinstituting a ban on certain migrants and what he calls the largest rotation operation in american history. let's speak about the convention

and what to expect with north dakota senator kevin cramer. i want to start with the theme of today which is make america safe once again. we mentioned immigration policies. a gallup poll shows 55% of americans want immigration levels reduced. we've seen from donald trump he's promising to deport millions of immigrants. do you agree with that plan? >> i support getting rid of millions of people who have come here illegally. i'm from a northern border state but even in north dakota, we see the crime that comes with illegal migration particularly in the form of fentanyl and the people that bring it. we need to stem the inflow of illegal immigrants and then at a parallel level do a deportation in a realistic way. sumi: you said realistic.

what would it actually look like to round up millions of people, some of whom have been living here for years, and deport them? >> it is certainly not going to be done quickly and not overnight. there needs to be a priority process. how they logistically end up doing it, i don't know, that will have to be up to the officials. perhaps we could turn some of those 87,000 new irs agents into deportation agents. the first thing we have to do is stop the draw, the attraction of coming into the united states illegally by making it much more difficult. then we can start the process of what to do with people who are already here. sumi: i also want to ask about foreign policy. we spoke about aid for ukraine. you are supportive of continuing . the vice presidential pick j.d.vance, not the governor from your state, but j.d.vance says

-- he criticizes aid to ukraine and says ukraine cannot win the war and they would have to cede territory. are you worried about what i trump and vance administration might mean for ukraine? >> i'm not. i'm not at all concerned about donald trump. donald trump has always projected strength. the projection of strength becomes a deterrent to bad guys -- sumi: but you are concerned about j.d.vance? >> well i don't think he will have a lot of influence. sumi: what makes you think that? >> j.d. van is only the vice presidential nominee for now not the president. president trump wants to appear weak. right now america appears very weak and ukraine, europe, in asia. the thing about donald trump's once he projects the strength, he already projects it as a candidate, vladimir putin has to reconsider what he's done and leverage comes with strength.

with regard to seating territory, i hope that's not the case because i don't think vladimir putin is entitled to anything he's taken from ukraine. remember, it was the obama and biden administration that let him take crimea and now the biden administration allowing him to take what he's taken so far. where the negotiations begin and where they end, i don't know but i'm certain they will begin in earnest most immediately. sumi: one of the reasons donald trump pick j.d.vance is they do share similar views on policy and it happens to be a more isolationist foreign policy. what do you think the rest of the world could expect if they were to win in november? >> you can expect donald trump to be the same president he was previously. he's america first, not america only. he's america strong, not america week. i think you can expect a much more consistent tenor of that sort. he's not always going to yield

to other countries, that's not what he is, he will insist nato countries do their fair share. that led to 23 nations meeting their 2% minimum goal. i would expect that kind of pressure to continue, to bring that free countries into the alliance in a bigger way. we have to start with our neighbor to the north, canada. sumi: one more question for you. there have been turbulent days since the assassination attempt on donald trump at that rally. how do you think this has changed donald trump, the party and perhaps the entire campaign? >> it's a great question. it was very sobering and last night was very emotional to see him. it's interesting when you are a personality as big and famous as donald trump and go through something like that and then show up at a convention like this, it's like we are all just seeing our family member for the first time after a near-death experience and there is a desire to embrace all of that.

but i think it's done a lot to unify the party and generate more enthusiasm for the party and quite honestly i think it's done a lot to show what i've been talking about, a president who projects strength versus one who projects weekends -- weakness. sumi: always great to see you. thank you and enjoy the convention. three days after the attempt on donald trump's life, we are hearing about another possible plot against the former. cbs news reporting u.s. intelligence the tech did iranian chatter about assassinating mr. trump, leading the u.s. to step up security. there is no known connection between the threat from iran and saturday's attempted assassination. iran denies planning any kind of violence against mr. trump. meanwhile, president biden is back on the campaign trail after pausing events in the immediate aftermath of saturday shooting in pennsylvania. he's campaigning in nevada. these are live pictures, he's

addressing a major gathering of black voters. he will be heading to the naacp national convention. tom bateman is traveling with the president and sent us this report from las vegas. >> the speech to the naacp and some of the other events mr. biden is doing here all in an attempt to reach constituency for his campaign in the context of trying to get this campaign up and running again. one of those meetings, with congressman steven horsford who was one of those who greeted him on the tarmac as we landed here in las vegas. he is someone who has been pretty openly critical about the way he thinks the biden campaign has failed in some respects to reach out to black voters. he chairs the congressional black caucus in washington. i think president biden is showing he wants to be receptive to that and they have invested a

lot more in advertising and local media, targeting black and hispanic voters. what the polls are suggesting is although overwhelmingly black americans support joe biden over donald trump, he has slipped in the numbers among those groups since 2020. they are concerned about that and i think this trip to vegas is part of an attempt to really repair that and get the numbers back up again. sumi: that was tom bateman reporting. new jersey senator bob menendez was found guilty on all counts and his federal corruption trial tuesday. a new york jury found mr. menand is guilty on all 16 charges including bribery, a public official acting as its foreign agent and obstruction of justice. he was accused of multiple bribery schemes in which he and his wife accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars, gold bars and mortgage payments from businessmen. the jury deliberated for more

than 12 hours before reaching a verdict and the trial lasted nine weeks. following the verdict, the senator maintained his innocence and says his team will appeal. >> i have never violated my public oath. i've never been anything but a patriot of my country and for my country. i have never ever been a foreign agent and the decision rendered by the jury today would put at risk every member of the united states senate in terms of what they think a foreign agent would be. sumi: our correspondent ione wells has been following the verdict and has the latest. reporter: bob menendez has been found guilty of 16 counts in this bribery case. the accusation that he's now been found guilty of is that he accepted gifts including gold bars worth $100,000 but also cash and a mercedes-benz in exchange for illegally aiding foreign governments, specifically he accepted the

gifts from businessmen acting on behalf of the egyptian government. he has continued to strongly deny the allegations even after the verdict was delivered, saying he's never ever acted as a foreign agent and he's deeply disappointed by the result, suggesting he's likely to appeal . his defense throughout the case centered on his argument that these were not bribes because the prosecution couldn't prove any direct actions had been taken as a result of the gifts he had received, but this is certainly a very damming verdict for mr. menendez who has been found guilty on all 16 counts. he's trying to stand as an independent candidate to regain his seat in november's election after many democrats distanced themselves from him and cut ties from him. he's hoping to win that seat as an independent, but today he's facing multiple calls from senior democrats to stand down and what is becoming the latest

headache for the democrat party. sumi: let's talk about that and much more with my guest, former democratic congressman stephanie murphy and former republican congressman rodney davis to my left. we have seen the senate minority leader chuck schumer calling on bob menendez to resign. bob menendez is maintaining his innocence. what do you think the impact is for democrats here? >> there's a positive and a negative as there is in a lot of situations. on the positive side, it debunks the republican accusation the department of justice is somehow politicized to just persecute republicans. in fact, they have convicted the current president's son, they just convicted a democratic senator, they are doing what they should be doing. for the american people, that should feel comforting in the sense that the department of justice is not politicized no

matter what anybody says. they are doing what they are supposed to do, carrying out the law and making sure nobody is above it. the negative is that it does reflect poorly on the party. it allows the republicans to say they are the law and order party and to point to wrongdoing by a senator so schumer is not wrong to ask foreman industry sign -- ask for menendez to resign. sumi: what do you think? at this be a boon for democrats to say nobody is above the law? >> i don't think it will be a boost for democrats at all. it plays into the republican message that you will hear this week that democrats are soft on crime. in the end, it also kind of lands a blow to any democratic attacks on president trump's tilt he verdict in the new york

case. sumi: but the democrats are showing that they've seen this process of bob menendez being convicted and they are saying he needs to leave the party. isn't that indeed the contrast to what you just said? >> i think the republicans would say the same thing if a republican senator was tried and convicted by a jury at the federal level. there's a big difference when you look at what happened to president trump in the new york court system, it was an fec case and the doj decided not to pursue, the new york state's attorney decided to move forward on. . sumi: let's talk about the topic here, immigration and crime. republicans see this as an issue that they can win on. do you think it is? >> i think it depends where you live in the country. i have sat in on some focus hoops -- groups where you are

not necessarily in border states, you have a different perspective on the linkage between immigration and crime. we didn't really see it when we hold swing voters in say virginia, but i bet if you went to the border states, you may see that show up a bit more in people's minds. so i think it depends on what state you live in and how much you actually interact with the issues. sumi: we just spoke to the senator from north to gorda -- north dakota and he says he's a northern state but it is important for them. what kind of reception do you think nikki haley will get? >> i think they will get a great reception. the republicans are more unified than i've seen in a long time possibly since the convention of 2004 with incumbent president bush. i think ron desantis will get a rousing ovation for the things he's done in his home state of

florida. and nikki haley, coming here especially in the aftermath of the shooting to hopefully talk about how we are unifying the republican party. let's work together to unify america. sumi: does that picture of unity draw stark contrast to what we see with democrats right now where there are still calls for president biden to drop out of the race? >> certainly there have been moments where the democratic party has been more unified than this current moment, but i think it's important the party behave in democratic ways and allow for the discourse and conversation that is happening with people who have very real concerns about the direction of the party and what will happen in the election. if democrats believe there's a lot at stake in the election, they should have the courage to do what it takes to win. so i find it interesting that nikki haley will be speaking here because not too long ago there was a convention where the never trumpeters were pretty

present and i have not seen signs of them in this convention at all. sumi: the difference between 2016 and now is pretty stark. one last question, what are you expecting to see from donald trump tonight? i don't know if you were here if you could tell us what the moment is like and you think it will be like that all week. >> i think it is. everyone is excited to see him in the aftermath of the assassination attempt. i think he's done a tremendous job personally of taking a step back from the donald trump messaging and rhetoric, the social media posts. i think he's showing america that this is the way he wants the new campaign to operate saturday. >> susie who is a floridian and has run masterful campaigns in the state is running the campaign and has managed to implement an incredible amount of discipline on the campaign. even as somebody who is just an

observer, it is an impressive feat. sumi: stephanie, rodney, great to get your takes and thank you for joining us. turning now to the war in the middle east. gaza's health ministry says at least 17 people including children were killed and more than 26 wounded in an israeli airstrike tuesday in the designated humanitarian zone and southern gaza. at least 23 more deaths were reported in a separate strike on the un's school and refugee camp in the central part of the strip. israeli defense forces say they were targeting palestinian militants and were looking into reports of civilian casualties. the israeli military says half of the leadership of hamas has been eliminated and approximately 14,000 fighters killed or captured since the start of the conflict. our correspondent reports from jerusalem.

reporter: one of the deadly strikes was on a un's school in central gaza were displaced people were sheltering her that's the case in many of the schools. the israeli say they were targeting militants who were operating there. this is the sixth un's school the israelis have hit in 10 days. they say hamas uses the schools for military purposes, something hamas stone eyes -- denies and the u.n. strongly condemns. the other took place in southern gaza on a car in a street where there were many tents set up housing displaced people. at israelis have them -- designated this a humanitarian zone and told civilians to go there to escape fighting but confirmed they had carried out an airstrike in the area on militants and said they would look into reports of civilian casualties. the prime minister has vowed to increase the military pressure on hamas. he's always said one of the main aims of the war is to defeat the hamas military leadership and

capabilities and the israeli defense forces have now released figures saying since the war started on october 7, they have eliminated half of the hamas military leadership and captured and killed 14,000 militants they said using precision intelligence and targeted grades , but that has not been the palestinian experience. the palestinians have paid a very heavy price. the health ministry in gaza says more than 38,000 people have been killed. sumi: let's take a look at other headlines now from around the world. at least 21 people were killed after a bus crashed into a ravine in southern peru. another 20 were wounded. officials add that the bus was headed for the andean region from lima when it veered off a cliff of around 200 meters high tuesday morning. accidents are frequent on the mountainous roads due to speeding or road maintenance and

a lack of traffic signs. four soldiers were killed in the indian administered kashmir reason -- region. last week five soldiers were killed when their vehicle was ambushed in another part of the region. the region is claimed by both india and pakistan has seen decades of violence between armed insurgents and indian security forces. thank you for watching "bbc world news america." we will continue our coverage announcer: funding for presentation of this program is provided by... financial services firm, raymond james. announcer: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation, pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

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amna: good evening. i'm amna nawaz. geoff: and i'm geoff bennett. on the "newshour" tonight, here at the republican national convention, conservatives try to walk a fine line, firing up voters while calling for unity in the wake of the assassination attempt on former president donald trump. amna: judy woodruff takes a closer look at that assasination