most politicians just fight each other. while katie porter fights for you. for senate - democrat katie porter. i'm katie porter and i approve this message. two leading candidates for senate. two very different visions for california. steve garvey, the leading republican, is too conservative for california. he voted for trump twice and supported republicans for years, including far right conservatives. adam schiff, the leading democrat, defended democracy against trump and the insurrectionists. he helped build affordable housing, lower drug costs, and bring good jobs back home. the choice is clear. i'm adam schiff, and i approve this message.

live from cnn world headquarters, welcome. i'm ken. president biden hits back, the special council decides against charging him for a crime that paints apholate flattering picture of the 81-year-old. the u.s. supreme court weighs whether former president trump is eligible to run for reelection. and an agreement to free an american journalist can be reached but what will it require? >> live from atlanta, this is cnn newsroom.

>> we are following three big stories this hour that all have implications for the u.s. presidential election. first, donald trump has won the nevada caucuses and picked up another 26 delegates in his march to reclaim the republican nomination. meanwhile, the u.s. supreme court took up the issue of whether states can disqualify trump from their ballots. the justices seem likely to rule in his favor. he called it a beautiful process. he was handed a political gift when an independent special counsel reported concerns about the current president's age and mental fitness after concluding that president biden had willfully mishandled classified documents but he will not face charges. >> their task was to make a decision about whether to move forward with charges in this case. that's their decision to make. the council's decision to make. that's his job. and they decided not to move

forward for any extraneous commentary they don't know what they are talking a. it has no place in this report. bottom line is the matter is now closed. i will continue what i have always focused on. as president of the united states of america. >> more now on the special council's decision and president biden's reaction from senior white house reporter kevin. >> reporter: president biden making one of the angriest public appearances to date as president, forcefully rebutting some of the claims contained in special council robert herr's report. specifically related to his memory. the allegations suggesting that the president was having trouble remembering certain dates and details. president biden saying those were extraneous that the special council and his team didn't know what they were talking about. and angrily rebutting some of the allegations specifically when it comes to one particular

session herr makes that president biden had forgotten the date of his son beau's death. listen to a little bit of what he said. >> in addition, i know there is some attention paid to some language in the report about my recollection of events. there is even reference that i don't remember when my son died. how in the hell dare he raise that? frankly when i was asked the question, i thought it wasn't any of their damm business. let me tell you something. i wear since the day he died the rosary he got from our lady of. every memorial day we hold a service day for him. i don't need anyone. i don't need anyone to remind me when he passed away. >> reporter: so you hear there, president biden forcefully rebutting the claims about his memory. now we should say the special

council robert herr declined to bring criminal charges and made a favorable comparison between biden and former president trump's own handling of classified documents. but certainly the political ramifications of this report will reverberate for days to come. and particularly when it comes to this question of president biden's memory. and his mental acuity and it is of course occurring against the backdrop of an election in which the president's age is a central issue. majority of voters and polls suggesting that could be a deterrent for them as they head to the ballot in november. and president biden in this press conference tonight certainly flashing a lot of anger but not necessarily doing a whole lot to dispel concerns voters had. in the press conference talking about the conflict in the middle east, when he meant to refer to egypt, he referred to mexico instead. now one of the defenses that the president and his aides have made when it comes to

these questions about his mental recall during his interview with the special counsel was it occurred in the days immediately after israel's terror attack that occurred by hamas on october 7th and one of the things they said was the president was holy preoccupied by events at the time. and he was focused on talking with his national security team. and that is something he mentioned in his remarks tonight. certainly this report i think will only buttress some of those concerns that voters have about the president's memory and mental acuity and something the president will still are to work to rebut going into the election year. the u.s. supreme court appears to rule in favor of donald trump as he fights to keep the state of colorado from disqualifying him. one of the key issues is his

role in the january 6th election. that didn't get much attention from the justices. jessica schneider has this report. >> reporter: stiff resistance from conservative and liberal justices on the supreme court pushing back against arguments for taking donald trump off the 2024 ballot. >> it will come down to just a handful of states that are going to decide the presidential election. that is a pretty daunting consequence. >> reporter: chief justice john roberts led the sharp questioning asking whether individual states should be able to decide for themselves which candidates are ineligible for office based on the constitution's insurrection clause. the 14th amendment says certain elected officials including an officer of the united states are prohibited from holding office if they have engaged i insurrection against the united states. >> there were will be conflicts and decisions among the states. the different states will disqualify different candidates.

but i'm not getting a whole lot of help from you. how this would not be unmanageable situation. >> reporter: even liberal justice cagan expressed concern. >> why should the single state have the ability to make this determination not only for their own citizens but the rest of the nation? >> reporter: the colorado supreme court ruled trump engaged in insurrection on january 6th and should be removed from the state's ballot but there was little discussion about trump's role on january 6th and his ultimate responsibility. his lawyer only arguing that it wasn't even insurrection. >> you say it did not involve an organized attempt to overthrow the government. >> for an insurrection, there need to be an organized concerted effort. >> is a chaotic effort to overthrow the effort is not an insurrection? >> reporter: justices debated over whether courts have a role to play in this decision. justice brett kavanaugh asked if congress should be enforcing

the ban instead of courts. it is one of the off ramps the supreme court could choose to take with a narrow ruling that avoids confronting weightier issues. >> these are difficult questions and you look right at section five of the 14th amendment. that tells you congress has the primary role here. >> reporter: the court doesn't even need to decide the court issues in this case. whether trump engaged in insurrection. if that would disqualify him from the ballot. they could decide on a more narrow issue. whether it is up to congress to enforce this ban rather than the courts. whether this ban applies to the presidency or if it only applies to office holders and not office seekers but all signs do point to a win for trump. and this court could decide fairly quickly, case in point, back in 2000, the supreme court decided bush v. gore where they halted the recount to florida, they decided that case one day

after they heard oral arguments. jessica schneider, cnn, washington. donald trump is another step closer to securing the president trump nomination for the presidency. cnn is projecting he will win the nevada caucuses taking all 26 delegates. nikki haley refused to take part. trump told supporters he expects the supreme court to rule in his favor in the colorado ballot case. here he is. >> our supreme court hopefully will be doing something in terms of preserving our democracy. we have to preserve our democracy. and i think they had a very interesting and beautiful day perhaps. i think it was really a beautiful sight to watch. and it is the way it is supposed to be. and, hopefully, the decision will be a very important decision. >> all right, joining me to

discuss this is thomas gift. thanks so much for being here with us. let's ignore the questions about biden's age and memory. we'll get to that. but just on the decision itself not to charge biden, how much of a win is that for biden and possibly as a motivating force for trump and the republicans crying double standard here? >> it is a great question. certainly biden can with relieved he wasn't charged in the classified documents probe. his whole argument has been a double standard. there are kind of two tiers of justice here. where trump is subjected to a legal system that is weaponnized by the department of justice. and biden continues to sort of trot along. despite accusations that are similar if not equivalent. if you really do look at the details of these cases, i think that they are very different and i think it is legitimate why the special councils came

out with different decisions. but politically, trump will be able to muddy the waters and say this is all writ. >> we will see whether the difference is lost on the voters. now to the age question. the pointed comments from the special council paints a pretty bleak picture. how damaging is that meeting leaders in 2021 who had been long dead and confusing egypt with mexico? >> exactly kim. i think the portrayal of biden as a senile old man is worse for him politically than the actual charges. and he compounded it with the press conference. it is hard to believe his staff thought this was a good idea. when you go on national tv to insist your memory is fine, you are already on the back foot. and this is really a problem for biden. make no mistake about it.

a right wing fox news talking point. slowly radiated out into mainstream media. really something. biden's slogan is to finish the job. and i think all this does is raise questions in the minds of voters that even if biden does win reelection, obviously, there is a lot more speculation to a more fantastic choice like michelle obama. i think it will be biden versus trump. but all of this is really bad for him politically. >> yeah for sure. you talked to election experts and they will say that the best political attacks, they don't necessarily come up with something new. they focus on existing negative perceptions and then just amplify them. how effective will that be for republicans going forward and how worried should democrats be? there is almost literally nothing they can do to counter this other than saying, trump's

old dude. >> it is amplified by the fact it just reinforces sort of a preexisting narrative. it is almost able possible to shake. republicans will hammer this over and over and over. they want to do anything they can to distract voters from all the legal challenges that trump is facing. part of their argument is a vote for biden is a vote for kamala harris who has approval ratings who are lower than joe biden. so i think that this is really sort of the main ammunition republicans are going to use in the leadup to the 2024 election. >> we have to leave it there. thanks so much for joining us. appreciate it. >> thanks. still ahead, growing concern for people in rafah as israel looks to expand its

military offensive into the city where more than a million palestinians are seeking refuge from the war. stay with us.

there is growing concern for civilians in rafa. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu says the israeli military will expand operations there. more than a million people have fled there to escape fighting elsewhere in gaza. the refugee council warns if fighting escalates it could turn rafah into a zone of bloodshed and destruction. the u.s. says it wouldn't support an israeli military expansion into rafah without serious planning. israeli air strikes killed at least 14 people including five children in attacks on several

residential buildings in rafah according tonesses and a journalist who spoke with health officials. i want to go live now to london and elliot. we heard words from president biden, his harshest words yet for israel on this war. so take us through the importance of his criticism and the reaction. >> president biden's words show the frustration he is having with benjamin netanyahu. it illustrates the pressure that he is under in this crucial election year. elements within his own democratic party. among the electorate where he has been hemorrhaging support among arab americans and younger voters. in this news conference the president gave yesterday, these frustrations and pressure i suppose, he issued his

strongest rebuke yet of israel's conduct in the war in gaza against hamas. >> i'm with the view, as you know, conduct of the response in gaza, in the gaza strip has been over the top. >> now we get to see the reaction no doubt, it will be fiery from some members of prime minister benjamin netanyahu's right wing government. these words will not be welcomed in israel. it is not just concern about what is happening thus far with 20,000 palestinians killed thus far. figures don't distinguish between competence and civilians. israel has killed 10,000 hamas militants. not concern about what is going

on, but what might happen going forward now that israel has it is etc. sights on rafah where the population has ballooned four fold and there is disease and concern about additional civilian casualties. if and when israel launches a ground operation. now it may be that prime minister netanyahu and the defense minister and others are saying they are setting their sights on rafah to play a psychological game if you like with hamas to try to put more pressure on it to do a better deal to offer better conditions for a hostage swap. certainly we have seen israel already carrying out strikes on rafah from the air. and i suppose the other concern here is the diplomatic situation. particularly with egypt. egypt was not want to see thousands of palestinians streaming over the other side of the border into the sinai peninsula. there is a concern there that if the situation in rafah really does play out in the worst possible way, this is

something that could also impact and be detrimental to the current situation. and you know, relations and diplomatic relations in that particular region. i suppose those are coming to the fore. >> all right, elliot, thanks so much. well, australia says it is still waiting to see all the evidence from israel regarding its accusation that u.n. staff were involved in the attack. they are one of the dozens of countries that suspended aid to the u.n. the secretary general says it is not possible. without donor money, services would be impacted. israel has been calling for the agency to be shut down and replaced. it has accused 13 workers of taking part in the hamas attack ranging from kidnapping

hostages to supplying logistic support. all right, just ahead, the u.s. justice department decides against criminal charges for joe biden in the classified documents case. and the supreme court weighs donald trump's colorado ballot ban coming up. please stay with us.

i think he's having a midlife crisis i'm not. you got us t-mobile home internet lite. after a week of streaming they knocked us down... ...to dial up speeds. like from the 90s. great times. all i can do say is that my life is pre-- i like watching the puddles gather rain. -hey, your mom and i procreated to that song. oh, ew! i think you've said enough. why don't we just switch to xfinity like everyone else? then you would know what year it was. i know what year it is.

welcome back to all of you watching us here in the united states, canada, and around the world. this is cnn news room. the u.s. justice department's special council says joe biden won't face any criminal charges for his mishandling of classify documents but the report includes concerns about his age and mental sharpness that

didn't go over well with the u.s. president. he said his memory is fine and such extraneous commentary didn't belong in the report. president biden added i did not break the law period. and the matter is now closed. joining me now from new york, is criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor bernard. thanks for being with us. so let's start with the documents probe. the special council side biden willfully retained and disclosed national security information. so why wasn't president biden charged but donald trump was? >> good morning, thank you for having me, so in terms of why president biden is not going to be charged you have to think as a former prosecutor, you have to think whether you can prove your case beyond a reasonable doubt to a jury. technically, if you were prosecutor and you are not able to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt, then you

shouldn't be bringing charges against anyone. and that pretty much was the determination by the prosecutor. is that they said that if we were to take him into custody and bring charges against him, they don't have faith that they can prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt which is different from donald trump which a prosecutor believers can prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt. and circumstances are different. remember, the facts are different. in terms of donald trump, he was asked to return the documents on several occasions and he did not. >> yeah, so one of the reasons the special prosecutor said, you know, he wouldn't be able to prove these charges was because of biden's memory. he would come across as an old man with a bad memory. those are the, the comments were pretty brutal. now we have several republicans in congress calling on the cabinet to invoke the 25th amendment to remove him for his lack of mental acuity. politically, it is fairly safe to say that won't go anywhere. but legally, i mean, how

difficult would that be? >> it can be difficult. the comments that were made in that report had to deal with whether they can prove their case or bring charges in a criminal court. not whether he is competent to run again as president. i don't think those comments should have been included in the report but it was done already. >> it is fairly unusual to have comments like that. do you think that was because it is a republican, this was a partisan thing here? >> oh definitely. they were able to put some jabs there in president biden to help out the republican nominee whether it is donald trump or anyone else. it will be donald trump. but it was one that was not necessary. but of course, they knew that this report was going to be publicized. you have to think that this report and this news is what carried out the news throughout the day despite the supreme court hearing today. >> let's talk about that. then, donald trump, the

question whether he is eligible for the 2024 ballot. your sense of where things are headed, we heard that report there. based on what we heard there in the oral arguments so far. >> what we heard today in the supreme court is quite clear from listening to the questions that the supreme court justices that donald trump is going to remain on the ballot. it is clear from the supreme court justices they do not want to let a state make the determination of who will be the next president. they want that will be left up to congress to make that determination. and not to one individual state to make that determination. >> yeah. is that just it? it comes down to that question why a single state should decide who get to be president of the united states? >> that seems to be the consensus from the nine justices. i will say eight justices because i don't think justice sotomeyer is going to rule with the rest of the justices but i will say this.

i mean, i was hoping that maybe they would address the question of insurrection. of whether donald trump engaged in insurrection. but all we got was a two minute question from justice brown. that's all we heard from the insurrection itself. but we understood that is one of a fact based and the supreme court doesn't engage in fact finding missions. they make decisions based on legal questions. >> another legal question that the supreme court might hear to reject absolute presidential immunity for his efforts to overturn the election. will the supreme court take it do you think? >> well, the supreme court, i think is supreme court is going to take it. they will tell donald trump as president, you do not have absolute immunity. common sense tells you, you don't have absolute immunity. you can't go out there and commit any type of crime you want and say hey, because i'm president, i get a free pass.

not happening. so donald trump, he could take his win today, but he will lose under the absolute immunity question. >> we will see if that comes to pass. appreciable having you on. thanks for joining us. >> thank you. just ahead, tucker carlson goes one on one with russia's vladimir putin. a look at what they discussed in a moment. plus, ukraine's president fires his military chief in the biggest shakeup since the start of russia's invasion. we will talk to a government adviser in kyiv about why the popular general was given the boot. that's coming up. stay with us.

the interview of russian president vladimir putin conducted by right wing media personality tucker carlson is out. during the one on one, they discussed russia's detainment of american journalist evan gerskavic. he was arrested almost a year ago and charged with espionage. a russian court continues to extend his pretrial detention but putin says a deal could be made for the reporter's release. melissa bell joins us live from paris. so melissa, he didn't challenge putin on much but asked him if he would be willing to release him. what more could you tell us about this? >> that's right. it was a two hour interview that saw tucker carlson not do much to ask many questions one would expect. anything from challenging him on the war crimes that have been committed in ukraine. the deportation of ukrainian children.

the repression of opponents, political opponents and political journalistsed in. none of that. tucker carlson's first question led to a rambling reply about the often repeated grievances that vladimir putin used as justification out for the invasion of ukraine. but it was on the question of evan, the wall street journal reporter who was arrested march of last year, perhaps the most interesting answer came. you know that american officials have of course been trying to get some progress on his release ever since last mar. >> this is how the exchange went. >> there are certain terms being discussed via special services channels. i believe an agreement can be reached. >> at what, e with understand, the russian position is now is

that there is a russian national office imprisoned in berlin when he killed a fighter in broad daylight in berlin. and he appears to be at the heart of russia's demands. he had been during the brittney griner negotiations. and paul whelan remains a prisoner. griner was released in exchange for victor boot. this appears to be again, the request that it has been made in return. for evan's release. whether or not that happens remains to be seen. but from the point of view of the russian president with just over a month to go before elections, this is a good propaganda coupe. if you had any questions about who this served, look at the

amplification of it made the last 12 hours. by russian propaganda media outlets. >> thanks so much. melissa bell in paris. ukraine's top general is out of a job after president zelenskyy officially fired him on thursday. the general has clashed with volodymyr zelenskyy over mobilization plans. he drew anger describing the wars a a stalemate last year. but the general is more popular than the president. for more, we are joined by an adviser to ukraine's ministry of strategic industries speaking with us from kyiv. thanks for being here with us. from your perspective, why do you think he has been replaced?

>> good morning. the president of ukraine is the supreme commander-in-chief. under our constitution, he is responsible for determining the strategy of how you crane defends itself. and how ukraine goes forward in the present situation. this war, very soon, we will be marking the second anniversary of this aggression. and going into the third year, it is clear that a lot has been achieved and this has been stressed by president zelenskyy yesterday when he made the announcement. he is grateful. all the ukrainians are grateful to the general because he has been at the top of the military command since the beginning of this large scale invasion. at the same time, we realize this is a changed war and it requires new vision. it requires new strategies. it requires certain aspect to be improved. so from our perspective, what

has happened in terms of the replacement of the military leadership team in the army is an upgrade of ukrainian army that will allow us to achieve our goals faster and more efficiently. >> how much of this was because of perceived failures of the counteroffensive? >> well neither our successes nor our failures or shortcomings can be blamed on one individual. one general, one president. we are in this together as a team. so the way this change of leadership has taken place demonstrates that when it comes to serious decisions, ukraine acts as a team. this is why president zelenskyy inspited the general to stay on team ukraine. it is not about blaming game. it is about finding better

solutions which are more suitable at this stage of the war. for the real front needs. we have issues that have to be improved like mobilization. rotation. supply of front line troops with western weapons. all of them require a fresh approach. this is what the newly appointed general, now our sheaf, will bring into the table. >> we had soldiers talking to cnn criticizing the decision for example, saying that quote, you do not dismiss the sheaf in the commander-in-chief. how big of a boost might this be for russia? >> one thing we can say with certainty is russian propaganda

machine is really involved deeply in trying to solve discontent and divisions in the ukrainian society. the way russian propaganda works. divide and make your opponent weaker. we are aware of this. but at the same time, we are confident that the people of ukraine will stand behind and continue to stand behind president of ukraine. the military and political leadership of the country has already expressed their support. so we are still united and russian propaganda will not succeed. >> all right, so you mentioned him a couple of times. tell us about the man who will replace him. by some accounts, loyal, but divisive so tell us about him and crucially what different approaches he might bring. >> the general brings with him

indissensible experience. he was involved in the defense of kyiv. he was involved in master minding the spectacular liberation of kharkiv. a little more than a year ago. the general has been the commander of ground forces of ukraine for a very long time. the front line needs and how this war should be fought. and, it is also important to note that he will bring with him a new team of young generals and colonels who have battlefield experience. it will be espoused. and looking with optimism as a result of this change into the future. >> all right, finally, we heard earlier about vladimir putin's interview with tucker carlson and the claims the war could be

over in a few weeks. if the u.s. stops supplying weapons to ukraine. one imagines one of putin's motives of doing the interview would be to further influence and kill support in the u.s. congress for military aid to ukraine. so what did you make of putin's interview and what he was hoping to get out of it? >> well, that was an interview i and millions of ukrainians have seen before tucker carlson has decided to doubt because nothing new was said. it was again the same set of falsities and propaganda messages that the kremlin has used since the beginning of the large scale invasion. we know for certain that if ukraine stops fighting, it will be the end of ukraine. but if russia stops fighting, withdraws it troops, it will be the end of the war. that is our goal.

and we also understand that ukraine's victory is in the national interest of the united states of america. so, we are hopeful that despite all the political difficulties that could be in the united states, in the end, there will also be and always be a bipartisan support for the support of ukraine. standing with ukraine, continuing to provide us with vital support is in the national interest of the united states of america and we are confident the leadership of the united states understands this. >> we'll have to leave it there. thank you so much for speaking with us. really appreciate your time. >> thank you. >> and we'll be right back. please do stay with us.

the national weather service says there were at least three tornadoes reported in illinois and wisconsin thursday night. and that includes the one captured in this video in evansville, wisconsin. now this is the first tornado ever reported in february in the state. no injuries reported but power was knocked out in the area. survey teams from the national weather service will be out to assess the number, strength, and path of the tornadoes. organizers of the soccer match in hong kong that didn't feature lionel messi will feature a partial refund. they said they would refund half the cost of the tickets after fans were outraged that he didn't play with his team

enter miami in the friendly last sunday. the organizer had said injuries could keep messi from carping, would only confirm he didn't play ten minutes before the game ended. messi did play in a friendly match in tokyo a few days later. an emotional yet bittersweet moment in los angeles on thursday. where the la lakers unveiled the first three statues dedicated to basketball legend kobe bryant. her husband picked the pose for the statue. the date of the unveiling, 2/8/2024 con sided with the two jersey numbers bryant wore during his playing career. 8 and 24. while the number 2 represents thier see number his daughter wore. they were among nine people who died in a helicopter crash four years ago. all right, we are getting a first look at the medals that

athletes will compete for at the summer olympic games in paris. and they literally contain a bit of history in them. the medals were inspired by the iconic eiffel tower and include a piece of the 19th century landmark in each one. iron work pulled from the tower during its recent renovation were cleaned to be part of the sought after prize. well, that wraps this hour of our coverage. cnn news room continues after the break.

is it possible to count on my internet like my customers count on me? it is with comcast business. keeping you up and running with 99.9% network reliability. and security that helps outsmart threats to your data. moaire dida twoo? your data, too. there's even round-the- clock customer support. so you can be there for your customers. hey billy, how you doin?

with comcast business, reliability isn't just possible. thanks. it's happening. get started for $49.99 a month. plus, ask how to get up to a $1000 prepaid card with a qualifying internet package. don't wait, call and switch today!