hello. i'm sumi somaskanda. it is great to have you with us. it's been a fiery day in new york where donald trump testified in court. he repeatedly clashed with the judge over the value of his properties, and his role in their appraisals. the former president is facing a civilfraud trial that threatens to upend his real estate empire. he's denied all wrongdoing. during the testimony, mr trump, now running for office again in 2024, drew multiple warnings for veering off topic. he waived his right to a jury, so the judge has the power to decide mr trump's fate. at one point, the judge asked the former president's lawyers to control their client. speaking outside the courtroom, mr trump called the trial unfair. everything we did was absolutely right. to think we're being sued and spending all this time and money and you have people being killed all over the world that this country could stop.

with inflation and all the other problems that this country has, i think it is a disgrace. the $250 million lawsuit was brought against mr trump and his family by the new york attorney general�*s office. the judge already ruled that mr trump is liable forfraud — the trial is now exploring what he'll have to pay in damages. after court, new york attorney general letitia james defended her case, and said mr trump engaged in distractions while on the stand. he rambled. he hurled insults. but we expected that. at the end of the day, the documentary evidence — evidence demonstrated that he, in fact, falsely inflated his assets to basically enrich himself and his family. he persistently engaged in fraud. for more on mr trump's day in court, i spoke with our north america correspondent gary o'donoghue who's been covering the trial in new york. this really wasn't about the law. if you had any kind of

legal strategy in a case where the judges the guy that gets to decide, going out of the judge makes no sense whatsoever. this was a piece of political theatre, a piece of campaigning, something very much in the mould of what we have seen from trump outside the court taken inside the court. of course, what we saw at the various times when he came out afterwards at the end of his evidence was this message that this was all about election interference, this was a political strategy, this was about getting him, stopping him becoming president again, and really a rallying call to his core supporters. notjust to keep backing him but also to hand over their dollars. and that was, i think, what was at the core of this for donald trump today. he knows he really is already ——he has lost this case, because the summary judgement is there already that there was persistent and repeated fraud.- there was persistent and

repeated fraud. there was persistent and reeated fraud. ~ . ., repeated fraud. what about the defence? did _ repeated fraud. what about the defence? did the _ repeated fraud. what about the defence? did the judge - repeated fraud. what about the j defence? did the judge seemed convinced by what he heard? i don't thinkjudge engoron is convinced by anything he has heard, frankly, from the trump organization or the trump family. in fact, the antagonism is on show and clear and in fact there was a point today when the judge suggested to donald trump's lawyers that they should keep him in control. and he said "if you don't, i well." and bear in mind he will make these other decisions about what they called the disgorgement, effectively the names for a fine. the attorney general is looking for $250 million. but notjust looking for $250 million. but not just that, looking for $250 million. but notjust that, it is about revocation of business licenses here in new york, it's about dismantling those companies they control things like trump tower on fifth and a0 wall st, just around the corner from where i am here. those are

iconic places for donald trump. that is what he has built its reputation on, quite literally. while he may have transformed himself into a politician with the presidency etc, one of his core sort of self views is as an incredibly successful businessman, the art of the deal, and all of that. if he is unable to do business in his home state, that will eat away at him and i think that is why we saw that anger from him. this civil case isn't the only thing facing mr trump. he has multiple trials getting underway as the 202a election gears up. but new polling suggests the trials are not necessarily hurting mr trump's chances at reclaiming the white house. the latest cbs news and yougov poll shows that among likely voters, mr trump is up by three points in a head—to—head against incumbent president biden. that number is slightly higher than it was even just last month. for more on the political

and legal ramifications of the trial, i spoke with sophia cai, axios national political reporter, and joseph moreno, a former federal prosecutor. let's talk about all of this now with sophia cai, axios national political reporter, in florida, where she will be covering the republican debate on wednesday. and joseph moreno, a formerfederal prosecutor. i will start with you, joe. do you think this is bad for the former president, that he is attacking a judge who will be deciding the case? normally i would say yes, in any other case, it's bad to antagonise the judge, especially when it's at a bench trial, and there is nojury so thejudge decides so the judge decides everything — both guilt and damages. that's in a normal case. but donald trump, he feels he has nothing to lose, and that is the judge's fault with thejudge ruling upfront that he has lost. it doesn't give him much incentive to behave.

i also think he is getting political traction here. it seems that the polls are cooperating with him. clearly donald trump sees this as politics. this is political theatre for him. and in his mind, he may have lost, legally, but he may think he is winning politically. we will get to the political side of it, butjoe, i wanted to follow—up with one more question. we have seen donald trump's legal team say "we're not getting a fair trial, this is a case that has been decided, we might put in a motion for a mistrial." do they have a case to make? i don't think they'll get — no, they won't get approval of a mistrial motion at the trialjudge level. he'll say no, i have covered this trial just fine and thereforejudge engoron will refuse that motion.

they will have to raise it on appeal. that is clearly where donald trump and his legal team feel that their avenue now for any kind of legal relief is. this is a lost cause at the trialjudge level. that is why i think you can posture all he wants because he feels like his day in court is not so much what is happening now but in the months and years to come when those issues are raised on appeal. good point. sophia, coming to you in florida, what is at stake for mrtrump and his family, for that matter? a lot is at stake. the attorney general is asking for $250 million, which is a lot notjust for him but for anyone. i think he takes this personally. in court today, he is in an environment he doesn't control, he is told to stand, sworn to tell the truth, he's in a smaller room than he is used to and not with the same sort of crowd. that is uncomfortable for him, and he took every opportunity to give what seemed like a mini speech. this reminds me of how trump like to turn the helicopter

gaggles into mini—press conferences. at one point he lashed out, calling the attorney general, saying the fraud is her. for him it was political as much as it was legal in court. and how does this fit into the larger picture of mr trump's legal battles, sophia? this is one of four indictments he is facing. i think politically every single one of them is an opportunity for him to you know, in his mind, kind of up his numbers in the polls. earlier this week he was speaking to florida republicans saying every "indictment for me i wear as a badge of honour and i am doing it for you." you can see how his team is thinking about this strategically. this fits into a week of campaign activities. earlier today — earlier this week, he was speaking at the freedom summit, along with most other republican presidential candidates.

later tonight, after a full day in court, he will be holding tele—rallies for republican candidates for governor in kentucky and missisippi. then he will do a counter programming rally. to him, you can see that this fits into the bigger picture of the political campaign. joe, how do you see this? we've seen this in previous indictments in cases as well. how do you see this fitting into the larger picture? well, putting aside how you feel about donald trump, this actually seems like a solid case in new york. this is a very aggressive law. i don't see a lot of loopholes. so i think donald trump has real exposure here. it may not be the full quarter of $1 billion, but it could be pretty substantial and it could end his business after 50 years, right? i kind of get uncomfortable when the attorney general comes before the cameras.

i mean, if the case really is that strong, why does she feel the need to do that? an officer of the court really should not be tweeting and going before the cameras and talking about the defendant before the trial is even over. i kind of wish she'd off. so that kind of puzzles me because it seems to feed donald trump's role as the victim. so i don't know if they are purposely doing that, but i kind of wish, as a lawyer, is a former new yorker, that does make me a little uncomfortable, how the attorney general is conducting herself. that is really interesting, joe. sophia, coming back to you and looking at the political indications, we mentioned the cbs poll. a lot of attention has been paid to this new new york times—siena poll, and we have a map and it has revealed that in a head—to—head matchup donald trump leading the current presidentjoe biden in five key swing states. if you look at that, sophia, how worried

is the biden administration about these numbers? i think publicly they are shrugging it off, saying "we're still a year out." but i think it raises a lot concerns for democrats who, obviously, wantjoe biden to be doing well. but the poll shows a couple of things. one of them which is key is all of these five battleground states are states thatjoe biden one in 2020. so firstly, that should be a concern. number two, it also shows joe biden doing worse than he did previously with black voters and latino voters. these are constituencies that he needs to turn out. the reality is they still are primarily voting democratic. but, you know, trump has made some inroads. and the poll actually shows trump taking 22% of black voters. that is quite a bit. as well as doing better with latino voters. and so those two issues combined should be of concern to democrats. including biden�*s inner circle.

joe, i would quickly like your take on that as well? look, i think democrats are relying on the fact that after the civil trial there are as many as four criminal trials that could be sandwiched in betweenjanuary and november of next year. so i think there's going to be a torrent of conduct about his misdeeds. and as sophia points out, a year is a long time in politics. my guess is they are not overly worried. butjoe biden has some vulnerabilities and you cannot rely on trump's prosecutions to carry you over the finish line. i have to think that publicly they are putting on a brave face but i have to think they are a little worried behind the scenes. a really interesting discussion, joe and sophia. thank you. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. a man with advanced parkinson's is now able to walk much more easily with the use

of a special implant. the technology stimulates the nerves in his spine. for years, marc gauthier of bordeaux, france, would fall several times a day due to the severity of his illness. but now his walking is almost back to normal, as he himself explains. translation: getting - into an elevator sounds simple. for me, before, it was impossible. it allows me to walk better. it allows me to do five kilometres without stopping. the stimulator sits on the lumbar region of the spinal cord, which sends messages to the leg muscles. marc is still in control — his brain gives the instructions. but the epidural implant adds electrical signals for a smoother end result. the team treating marc described the advances in his treatment in the journal nature medicine. they will now try the device in six more parkinson's patients, using funding from the michaelj fox foundation, which is based here in the us. you're live with bbc news. now to the situation in israel

and gaza, and in an interview with abc news here in the us, israel's prime minister said there will be no ceasefire until all hostages taken by hamas are released. benjamin netanyahu also said he anticipates that israel will have "the overall security responsibility" in gaza after the conflict ends. meanwhile, israel's bombardment of gaza continues. the hamas—run palestinian health ministry says more than 10,000 people have now died in gaza after almost a month of israeli air strikes. israel's army insists it's operating within international law, even as it expanded its ground operations in gaza city. our international editor jeremy bowen has more. and a warning that some images in his report may be distressing. israel promised mighty vengeance. it thundered across beach camp in gaza city. israel's justification is defending the living, as well as avenging its dead. palestinians call

this genocide. this girl from jabalia camp is asked what happened to her. she says, "a missile came down on us. "bricks fell on us. "i asked, where's my dad and where's my mum?" she is asked, "where were you?" "i was here, in the house. "we were at home, and the roof came down on us." we looked in on the war this afternoon from sderot, the closest israeli border town. israel has refused an american request to pause military operations to allow time for humanitarian convoys, or talks to free the hostages. israel might be able to break hamas as a military force, but what happens then? history shows israel's army cannot suppress palestinian

nationalism and anger. the israelis seem to be making steady progress in terms of territory inside the gaza strip, at the cost of a large number of civilian lives. israel has set itself a very ambitious objective, to make sure that hamas can never again threaten the lives of its citizens. there's a big question — do prime minister netanyahu and the rest of his war cabinet believe that can be achieved by purely military means? or, longer term, are israelis prepared to try to get a political deal with the palestinians, to try to end the conflict once and for all? this was beach refugee camp this morning in gaza city, where israeli strikes killed dozens during the night. four weeks of bloodshed has destroyed the illusion that the conflict could be managed. other terrible wars produced peace treaties. optimists hope this might, too.

optimism, though, is hard to find in khan younis, where some of gaza's more than one million displaced people are living in their cars, hopes of finding a safe place all gone. translation: our home, - where we used to feel comfort and security, was destroyed by rockets in an instant. we came here in hope to find safety and security. but that doesn't exist. we survived death to find death again. from flakjackets in baghdad to handshakes in turkey, antony blinken, the us secretary of state, is back in the region. look, we know the deep concern here for the terrible toll that gaza is taking on, palestinians on, men, women and children in gaza, innocent civilians, a concern that we share and that we are working on every single day. we have engaged the israelis on steps that they can take

to minimise civilian casualties. the only way out of this for the us, uk and others is an independent palestine alongside israel, an old idea that two decades of talks could not deliver. the horrors of the last months and those to come will make it even harder to achieve. jeremy bowen, bbc news, in southern israel. in gaza, the humanitarian situation is worsening, with facilities overwhelmed by the growing number of refugees and casualties. there have also been developments on the diplomatic front. the french ambassador to the un called for a "humanitarian truce" in gaza after a closed door meeting of the security council on monday. south africa has recalled all diplomats from israel, following israel's intense air strikes on gaza on sunday night. presidentjoe biden spoke with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu on monday and raised the possibility of a "tactical pause" in the fighting. and the un secretary general is continuing to call

for a ceasefire, saying the case for one is becoming more urgent as fatalities rise. for more on the situation in gaza, here's the latest from our correspondent there, rushdi abualouf. for the second night israel has been intensifying its airstrikes on gaza city targeting areas north—west and southwest of gaza, i've seen footage of real destruction in buildings, flames of fire rising out of a huge building in central gaza is the ground operation has been expanding, israel seems to be pushing hard by airstrikes to the area around the gaza city, tightening the blockade around gaza city. but in the south area at the aerial israel asks 1.2 million people to flee, also airstrikes intensified, we heard about in airstrikes and

graphic, one in khan younis, and also 70 or 80 people were killed in khan younis and rapid day after day but also gaza, 250 people, the death toll according to health ministry is over 10,000 people, tonight they say 2000 700 people are missing, they said most of them were buried under the rubble of their building and the medical crew and the rescue team could not find them, they could not dig because there is a lack of equipment. the humanitarian situation is getting worse in gaza, here in the south, but also in the north, where amount of the 500 trucks come from egypt to reach the area in the northern people are struggling to find clean some people are saying they are drinking unclean water and digging to find food and bread for their

children. the un secretary general has warned that gaza is becoming a "graveyard for children". antonio guterres also says he's worried about what he's calling "clearviolations of international humanitarian law" by both sides in the war. so what are the rules of war? here's our diplomatic correspondent, james landale. the aftermath today of yet another air strike in gaza. more palestinian civilians dying in a conflict that began with israeli civilians dying, a conflict in which both sides are accused of breaking the laws of war. i am deeply concerned about the clear violations of international humanitarian law that we are witnessing. let me be clear, no party to an armed conflict is above international humanitarian law. the laws of war are based largely on the geneva conventions, agreed in 19a9, and subsequent protocols, and the central idea is that civilians must be protected.

"the civilian population shall not be the object of attack." so let's look at hamas. well, on october 7th, it slaughtered more than 1,000 israeli civilians. it also kidnapped more than 200 people. the law says, "the taking of hostages is prohibited". hamas also fires rockets on civilian areas. the law says, "indiscriminate attacks are prohibited". so that is hamas. what of israel's response? israel's attacks may well be against the laws of armed conflict. they may be targeting civilians. there may be indiscriminate attacks that don't distinguish between civilian and military targets, or they may be disproportionate. israel is accused of targeting hospitals it claims are used by hamas. the law says, "medical units shall be respected and protected at all times, unless they are being used for acts harmful to the enemy."

israel is accused of imposing collective punishment on gaza by restricting food and fuel, something it denies. the law says, "collective penalties are prohibited". and what of the thousands of civilians killed in israeli air strikes and what it says are military targets? well, the law bans loss of civilian life which would be excessive in relation to the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated. in other words, attacks must be proportionate. many arab countries say they are not. but israel's prime minister, meeting his bulgarian counterpart today, said his army operated in accordance with the highest standards of international law. and while israel is doing everything in its power to get the civilians out of harm's way, hamas is doing everything on its part to keep them in harm's way. one thing is clear. israel's allies still feel the need to say it must follow international law and do more to protect civilians. james landale, bbc news.

for all the latest news from the israel—gaza war, check out our website. that's bbcnews.com. we have updates and analysis from our teams on the ground. or you can find us on our app. we have a major update from the business world. wework has filed for bankruptcy protection. the filing gives the co—working company legal protection from its creditors. demand for wework�*s offices was hit after a disastrous public listings in 2019. that was followed by the covid pandemic, when many people worked from home. in the first half of this year, wework lost more than $1 billion. and before we go — a bit of history has been unsealed. wartime letters written to french sailors in the 18th century and confiscated by britain's royal navy have been opened for the first time. the red wax stamped letters were written in 1757 and 58, and were intended for the crew of a french warship. they were sent by wives, fiances, parents and siblings,

but never reached their intended recipients. the ship was captured by the british and the correspondence ended up in storage in england. a cambridge university academic, professor renaud morieux, was the first to read the personal messages, saying they were quote "very emotional." that's all from the team here in washington. thank you for watching. stay with us. hello there. after a day of sunshine and showers to start the week, it's not been quite so colourful overnight, there hasn't been as much solar activity. we have seen the northern lights earlier in the night though, across northernmost parts of scotland and with clear skies by the morning in the north—east of scotland, temperatures will be close to freezing. it will be a chilly start in the clearer skies in southeastern parts of england as well. tuesday, though, is going to be a day where we see some sunny spells. we see a scattering of mostly light showers. in scotland, most of

the showers in the far west. once again, there may be fewer showers than monday in northern ireland. and those showers will get blown eastwards across england and wales, very few are reaching east anglia and the southeast of england on that westerly breeze and temperatures very similar to monday, so 11—13 celsius — and that's near normal for the time of year. so leave the showers aside, though. i want to take you back into the atlantic. this was a satellite picture from earlier. this massive cloud really looming large there. and that's a band of cloud and rain and that's going to whistle its way eastwards overnight in time for wednesday morning. we're all getting the rain overnight and it may well have cleared away from northern ireland by wednesday morning. windy first thing through the irish sea. the heaviest rain is going to be over the hills of wales and western scotland, but the rain soon moves away from here in the morning following that band of rain. as it chases away eastwards, we'll see plenty of sunshine but then the showers come rattling in on that westerly wind, and temperatures may be a bit lower actually in scotland, 8—9 degrees. now, there may not be too much rain in the south—east of england,

but the rain could linger into the afternoon. and we have seen quite a number of flood warnings across southern parts of england, but river levels have been dropping. the number of flood warnings has been reducing as well. and after that spell of rain on wednesday, we'll get back into sunshine and showers really through the rest of the week. as the weather front is out of the way and the rain band out of the way, we see the low pressure areas that are driving it, drifting down from the north west, bringing the showers. probably bringing some stronger winds as well on thursday. as you can see, the bulk of the showers in the west, but also driving through the english channel and some of those showers will move into eastern areas during the day. the showers could be heavy and there may well be some hail and thunder in there as well. and those temperatures as we head into thursday, back to 8—12 celsius.

voiceover: this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight after this programme. welcome to hardtalk. i'm stephen sackur. day after day, israel's military assault on gaza degrades hamas's military capacity and kills more palestinian civilians.

the operation won't end, says prime minister netanyahu, until hamas is eliminated. but as the humanitarian catastrophe deepens in gaza, so too does pressure on israel to pause, if not halt, the offensive. my guest is mustafa barghouti, a palestinian doctor and co—founder of the palestinian national initiative. when this terrible round of violence does eventually end, what then for the palestinian people? mustafa barghouti in ramallah, welcome to hardtalk.

thank you.