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your purpose, and the way you give back. life well planned. 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" >> i'm caitríona perry in washington and this is bbc world news america. hundreds are dead, thousands injured in the latest israeli strikes on has blood targets in lebanon. hezbollah militants launch markets -- launch rockets at northern israel has fears of a wider war mount. u.s. prosecutors say the man suspected of attempting to shoot donald trump on a florida golf course had written a note saying he intended to kill the former president.

hello and welcome to world news america. i'm caitríona perry. the death toll in lebanon continues to mount amid a fresh wave of israeli airstrikes. lebanon's health ministry says 492 people were killed monday, including 35 children. more than 1600 people have been injured. the israel defense forces say they struck about 1300 hezbollah targets in southern lebanon. the idf says it also carried on a strike on a senior hezbollah commander in beirut. thhezbollah says he is fine and has moved to a safe place. hezbollah continued to fire rockets at israeli military posts with rockets reaching into cities and villages across northern israel although there were no reports of casualties.

these strikes are drawing concern from world leaders meeting in new york city for this week's united nations general assembly. the spokesperson for the u.n. secretary general says mr. gutierrez is concerned i the large number of civilian casualties in lebanon. >> he expresses great concern for the safety of civilians in southern lebanon and northern israel as well as u.n. staff in those areas. the secretary general notes the ongoing efforts by the u.n. special coordinator for lebanon and the u.n. peacekeeping force in the benign to reduce tensions, and reiterates the urgent need for de-escalation and that all efforts should be devoted to a diplomatic solution. caitríona: our senior international correspondent has the latest from beirut. reporter: southern lebanon awoke to this. it looks like all out war.

the israeli army said it hit 800 sites linked to hezbollah. it issued gaza style warnings urging residents to go, but they had little time to act. >> we ask residents of lebanese villages to pay attention to the message and warning published by the idf and he them -- heed them. this is an advance warning for your own safety and the safety of your family. orla: but where to find safety in the middle of this? on the roads from the south, a mass exodus. >automatic says everyone fled hs village because of airstrikes and destruction. there is no one left, he says. we took our belongings and went. so many new homeless now in this

expanding war. in beirut, fear on the streets and a rush to get home. are you feeling afraid? >> [speaking another language] orla: sure, mohammed tells me. i'm afraid for myself, my wife, mi5 children -- and my five children. i don't know what we will do, how long we will be living through this. we can't keep going. parents were summoned to schools to pick up their children early. there were threats by phone, he says, that they will hit beirut. some in the capital have been getting recorded messages telling them to leave. that includes lebanon's information ministry. for months there have been fears of a wider war. now the waiting is over.

it's here. israel's escalation is a huge risk and not just for lebanon but for the whole middle east. orla guerin, bbc news, beirut. caitríona: joining me from jerusalem is our correspondent daniel who has been joining me -- been bringing me the latest updates from the ground in israel. what has the idf been saying is this plan? what's the strategy as they have described it? daniel: the idf and the israeli leadership have set a goal rather than a strategy. the goal being to return home 60,000 israelis who have been displaced in the north of israel due to incoming rocket file from hezbollah over the past year. they have not achieved that goal because hezbollah is still firing rockets into israel. the strategy is what we are seeing playing out before us. last week we saw extensive

attacks on hezbollah, including the walkie-talkie and pager explosions. today we have seen the most extensive airstrikes carried out by israel so far in this year-long conflict, with hundreds killed. they have -- they are saying they have destroyed thousands of hezbollah rockets, hit 1300 targets. there is a big question about whether they can achieve their goal through airstrikes alone, given that has left is still firing and saying it is going to keep firing. has left has said they will only stop if there is a cease-fire in gaza, at which there appears to be no prospect at present. caitríona: what has the response been like from people in israel? fear, a sense of further escalation? what are they saying? daniel: i think public opinion

here is mixed. there are people who hate has a lot. most people hate hezbollah, but hezbollah is also feared because of the weapons capabilities. although many people would be pleased to see hezbollah struck, they are also worried about what comes next, given israel has set this goal and it's not clear that's achievable through airstrikes alone. there's a prospect for ground incursion. that would raise the prospect of further incoming fire from has a lot using its full cape abilities. the other issue is there's a lot of people who want to see a hostage deal to get the hostages back from gaza. they see that is their priority. they want to see a cease-fire in gaza, and to get those hostages home, they feel further escalation in the north make that less likely. public opinion is mixed but there is a sense of trepidation over what's coming. caitríona: thanks for bringing

us up-to-date. the u.s. says it will send additional troops to the middle east in response to rising tensions, for what it claims as security reasons. the pentagon didn't specify how many troops or what their responsibilities would be. however, the country currently has about 40,000 soldiers in the region. our state department correspondent tom bateman has the latest on what sending additional u.s. troops actually means for the conflict. tom: i think there will be a concern in the pentagon about all this and the potential risks for their own personnel. i think that's why we are seeing this announcement about the deployment. asked more directly about the wider region, patrick ryder said this was a dangerous moment. he said their concern has always been about a wider regional escalation. he said he didn't think we were there yet, but this is a

significant moment. that leads to what leverage the americans have to try to resolve this crisis. they always tried to link the potential for a gaza cease-fire deal with the fact they believe that would stop the cross-border fire on the israeli lebanese border. that link i think it is now a problem for them because we have seen no progress on a cease-fire agreement that is stalled between israel and hamas, and at the same time now there is significant escalation between israel and hezbollah. i think the americans at the moment are watching, not really able to make much diplomatic progress, but at the same time both preparing to shield their israeli ally and also making what they say is a small troop deployment to try to prevent attacks against their own troops in the wider region. caitríona: joining me to discuss this is retired and will frank

mckenzie, former commander of u.s. central command and current executive director of the global and national security institute at the university of south florida. we should say when you were in charge of central command, this was the region. for those who are not familiar, that fell under your bailiwick, so you are an expert. we have seen the worst day of violence since october 7. what is the israeli strategy? is this the beginning of an all-out war? >> i think the israelis have expended a lot of resources to go after lebanese hezbollah. they had a technologically advanced attack on their communications network and the strikes going on now. i think the israeli plan is to push hezbollah so far north they can no longer fire short range rockets into israel, or get them to stop. i don't think there is any linkage between events in gaza and lebanese hezbollah actions.

hezbollah is dated -- dedicated to the destruction of israel and will be there after gaza ends, however gaza ends. i think israel will continue these strikes and i would not rule out ground action should they believe it to be necessary. they have gone as far north as beirut before and have the ability to do that. that would be a bloody, messy, particularly by war, probably greater in scale and scope than anything in gaza to date. caitríona: we have seen a heavy death toll today, almost 500 people. you oversaw the u.s. missions 20 -- to kill the isis leader in october 2019 and his successor. if israel is carrying out targeted strikes on hezbollah leaders in lebanon, why are so many others being killed? gen. mckenzie: lebanese hezbollah, like hamas, tenant to hide their weapons in population centers, mosques, schools, hospitals.

it's clever and that's why you are seeing the israelis have the dilemma, if they want to strike a high-value target, they have to look at the potential for collateral damage. it is a tactic we have seen time and again in gaza and are certainly going to see it in southern lebanon. caitríona: those tactics, the exploding devices we saw last week, killed and injured far more than the limited number of hezbollah commanders. do you expect we will see more tactics like this? you said it would lead to quite a bloody situation. gen. mckenzie: i think the israelis have a vast reservoir of advanced technological cape abilities and have exposed a fraction of it to date. they are good at this and they will work endlessly. they do have a goal, lebanese hezbollah stops firing rockets into lebanon. they can take actions to cause this war to stop that, lebanese hezbollah have not chosen to do that.

caitríona: the u.n. secretary general said he was alarmed by the situation and the u.n. peacekeeping force in lebanon's warning that failure to protect civilians is a breach of international law. from your assessment, do you think israel is taking all those precautions? gen. mckenzie: i think israel is doing the best they can, given the fact that hezbollah has burrowed into the civilian population to try to precisely because the type of reporting you are talking about about israeli activities. caitríona: the pentagon said it we will begin thinking about evacuating u.s. citizens from lebanon. we have done that before. it's ae. i would also think we are looking at boosting our air and missile defense capabilities in the region. without any particular knowledge about what they are doing, those are the types of things i think would be prudent. the final thing is i think our

force posture in the region deters iran from undertaking malign activities. iran looks carefully at the u.s. force posture and a lot of times iran has been emboldened by our ill message withdrawal of combat forces from central command. caitríona: that was my next question. do you think there is a point at which iran decides to get directly involved? gen. mckenzie: i think iran was badly embarrassed in the 13 april attack on israel, which had everything to do with the fact that for the last couple of years iran has been out fought by the israelis in that twilight proxy war they fight around the region, culminating in the one april strike in damascus. iran tried to reset that fight with a combination ballistic missile, drone, and land attack cruise missile strike on israel. that attack failed because the israelis are pretty good, because we helped them, and because their neighbors helped. iran is now recalculating.

they have to be worried about their material capability, because the real threat from iran -- the nuclear threat is months, maybe years in the future. the ballistic missile drone and land attack cruise missile threat is immediate. the iranians used their template and it failed so they got to do recalculation. i think that has muzzled the iranians on these large-scale attacks for the time being. caitríona: is there anything the u.s. should be doing further to be sending these extra troops to reduce the risk of escalation we have heard the biden administration and pentagon speak about wanting to prevent since october 7? gen. mckenzie: iran knows and understands the use of force. they understand the correlation of use of force. often the worst thing you can do is to say our highest priority is preventing escalation. if our highest priority is preventing escalation, we should leave the region.

you have to risk escalation to establish credibility, which puts in the mind of the opponent the fear that the action he contemplates is too painful for him to bear. in order to demonstrate that, you have got to be willing to put your cards on the table. all too often we have been afraid to do that. caitríona: do you think there should be more u.s. troops sent to the region? gen. mckenzie: the united states has global responsibilities. we have a significant event going on in eastern europe and of course the chinese are always someone we have to pay attention to. i know the department is balancing where our forces go, how they are deployed, trying to find innovative ways to achieve the things we need to do. the fact of the matter is our force structure is probably too small for the task we face right now. caitríona: plenty more to discuss on another occasion, but we leave it there right now.

retire general frank mckenzie, thanks for joining us. former president donald trump will return to butler, pennsylvania, the town where he faced an assassination attempt two months ago. he is expected to speak at the same location where he was shot in the year in july. the man accused of a second assassination attempt on the former president wrote a note months earlier stating he planned to kill donald trump. court documents filed on monday show the 58-year-old suspect dropped the letter off at the home of a witness months before the september 15 incident, where he was arrested near mr. trump's golf course in florida. the letter appears to allude to a failed assassination attempt. it began by saying, dear world, this was an assassination attempt on donald trump, but i'm sorry i failed you. a box containing the letter was dropped at the home of an unnamed witness. u.s. federal prosecutors say they will attempt to charge ryan routh with attempting to

assassinate a federal candidate. he is already facing gun charges and is remaining in jail ahead of a trial. on monday, former president trump hit the campaign trail in pennsylvania, highlighting his trade policies. mr. trump from: we had a deal with china where they were going to buy $50 million worth of farm product, and it's interesting how we got there. the negotiation was nasty and i said to the farmers, stick with me because we are going to do it. they are great negotiators, just stick with me, because you never had anyone negotiating for the farmers before me as president. caitríona: six weeks out from the election, a new poll from "new york times and siena college shows donald trump leading kamala harris in three key battleground states. former president trump leads by 5% in arizona, 4% georgia, 2% north carolina. that's within the margin of

error on apple. the three states are among seven critical battleground states that could decide the 2024 presidential election. with me to discuss is sabrina, national politics reporter for the wall street journal. looking at the latest polling, it's the first poll we have seen after the debate, but also after that second assassination attempt. the former president seems to have got a bit of a bounce. what we have expected to see that? sabrina: i think it's obviously a very close race, and you had this initial surge of enthusiasm for vice president harris when she took over from president biden at the top of the ticket. the big question was always going to be, should see -- could she sustain that momentum? there was always expectation that when we got over the initial wave of enthusiasm among democrats, the race would again come back to a handful of

battleground states that could be decided by tens of thousands of votes. the important thing about these dates in question, president biden carried arizona by just over 10,000 votes and georgia by fewer than 12,000. north carolina is a statistical tie. trump won by just over 1% in 2020. it's going to be very close and perhaps very much decided along the margins. caitríona: there are 15% of people told these posters they are still undecided, which is quite extraordinary given how well-known these two individuals are. what do you think we will see from the campaigns to try to convert those people? sabrina: we have seen in polling across the board, including the wall street journal, that the economy and inflation are still top priorities for most americans going into the ballot box. i think vice president harris is in the position where because she is part of the

administration, she has to strike a balance between talking about the economic progress the biden administration has made while still acknowledging that people are paying prices for groceries, for gas that are higher than they expect. i think she will also lean into reproductive rights, another important issue in this election and one where democrats feel they hold an advantage over republicans. with trump, the more he can stay on message with the economy is better. he is leaning toward darker rhetoric on immigration, fear mongering, and conspiracy theories. immigration is a top issue for voters, it's how you talk about it. trump's approach animates his base. it's unclear if it would be persuasive to moderate or suburban voters he needs to win over. caitríona: this poll and others, including from the wall street journal, four out of five voters feel the u.s. is going the wrong direction. is that going to stay the deciding factor? sabrina: it could, and in some

ways it's helpful for democrats that vice president harris is at the top of the ticket because people are still more likely to blame president biden, even if there has been a pretty significant economic recovery under his watch. there is more willingness among voters to separate vice president harris from what they feel the direction of the country is. it reminds me of 2016, you saw a similar split screen wherewith democrats and hillary clinton it was about unity, positivity, and hope. with trump it was exactly what we are seeing now, this is a country in decline and darker rhetoric around immigration. democrats appeared in that election to be out of touch with the electorate. the question is, do we have a repeat here? especially in what could be a really tight election. is it that democrats in their efforts to project unity and optimism, that that's not reflective of the mood of the country?

at the same time, this is former president trump's third bid for the white house so he is not necessarily seen as a change agent like he was before. i do think there will be a significant difference in november compared to previous campaigns where he was the outsider, the insurgent. that's not true when you are running for the third time and have served as president before. caitríona: no doubt there is a roller coaster ahead regardless of what happens the next few weeks. i'm sure we will be speaking to you then. thanks for joining us. sri lanka's new president has been officially sworn in. a left wing, anticorruption candidate took his oath at the judicial capital on monday. it comes after saturday's closely contested race, which went to a second round for the first time in sri lanka's history. the election is the first since 2022 when discontent over the economy fueled mass protests and case the former president from power.

the new president said his victory belonged to all sri lankans and bowed to restore public faith in politics. >> [translated] i understand that we are inheriting a country facing many daunting challenges. our politics must be clean and the people are expecting a culture of integrity. we are ready to commit to that. people hold negative opinions about politicians and as such we will work to restore public respect and trust among those who serve in politics. we are prepared to do whatever it takes from our side. caitríona: harry, the duke of sussex, has kicked off a run of high-profile appearances in new york where he will address the global mental health crises facing young people. he joined forces with a charity set up in memory of his late mother princess diana, driven by princess diana's belief that young people have the power to change the world. it's mission is to empower them to lead that change. you can find out about that and plenty more, all the days news,

on our website bbc.com/news, and on our app as well. you can check us out at any point on your favorite social media platform. that's it for today. thank 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. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ announcer: "usa today" calls it, "arguably the best bargain in streaming." that's because the free pbs app lets you watch the best of pbs anytime, anywhere.

geoff: good evening. i'm geoff bennett. amna: and i'm amna nawaz. on the "newshour" tonight, israel and hezbollah move closer to an all-out war after israeli airstrikes kill hundreds in lebanon. geoff: kamala harris and donald trump ramp up efforts to win over voters in critical swing states as the election draws closer. amna: and, "late show" host stephen colbert and his wife, evie, on their new cookbook, the family stories behind the food, and how to be funny in tough political times. >> toxicity itself is worth making fun of. like, that's just f