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i think that's the most rewarding thing. people who know, know bdo. narrator: 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 am in washington and this is bbc world news america. in a new report, the u.s. department of justice finds that president biden will fully retain declassified files but no criminal charges are warranted. high-stakes in washington as the supreme court hears an unprecedented case on whether states can kick donald trump off the 2024 presidential ballot. plus we visit a new low carbon energy project in scotland as climate scientists warned about dangerously high temperatures.

welcome to world news america. joe biden will not face charges in an investigation into declassified documents he kept from his time as vice president. the report found he did willfully retain them and disclose them but that no criminal charges will printed. investigators found documents at a private office mr. biden had at a think tank, in his home office, and in his garage in delaware but the special counsel tasked with investigating decided not to charge mr. biden because he did not believe there was enough evidence. he wrote "a reasonable juror could conclude this is not where a person intentionally stores what he supposedly considers to be important classified documents critical to his legacy rather, -- rather, it looks like a place a person stores

classified documents he has forgotten about or is unaware of." he said the president would be able to successfully present himself as a sympathetic, well-meaning old man with a poor memory. president biden addressed concerns raised about his memory, saying he did five hours of in-person interviews over two days last year just one day after israel was attacked and he was in the middle of handling that crisis. pres. biden: bottom line is the special counsel in my case decided against moving forward with any charges. this matter is now closed. i will >> donald trump has already been indicted by another special counsel after a similar inquiry. he's charged with holding onto top-secret nuclear and defense

information after leaving the white house including documents like these which were found at his mar-a-lago residence in florida. this comes a made a big day at the supreme court. it has heard arguments in a landmark case that could determine the outcome of the 2024 election. the nine justices are being asked to overturn a decision by colorado's top court that blocked mr. trump from being on that state's presidential ballot. the 14th amendment bars candidates who "engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the united states," something colorado says mr. trump. by allegedly encouraging the right at the u.s. capitol on january 6, 2021. appealing, mr. trump's lawyer argued to the power to disqualify rests only with congress, not individual states, that the office of president is not covered and his client was anyway not an insurrectionist. he and the opposing lawyer faced probing questions from the court's justices. listen to this. >> it needs to be a concerted

effort to overthrow the government of the united states through violence. >> a chaotic effort to overthrow the government is not in insurrection? -- an insurrection? >> this was a riot. >> the fact that there are potential frivolous applications of a constitutional provision is not a reason. >> hold on. you might think you are frivolous but probably the people bringing them may not think they are frivolous. >> our north america correspondent is with us and he has been looking at both of these top stories recovered taking place in washington today. i want to take a step back and look first of all at the report that came out from the special counsel on president biden willfully retaining classified documents. tell us more about what this report lays out. >> what it really says is that the president did keep these documents willfully but that it would not meet the sort of standard of beyond reasonable doubt to bring it to court.

there was never a question of him being criminally charged while he was president because that is the understanding and the department of justice that you don't do that. but the reasons for not suggesting that it would have gone to court are pretty dam ning for the president. this question of him assuming like a well meaning elderly man with a poor memory just plays into terrible objects and politics of the current moment for the 81-year-old president. as you can imagine, his opponents have seized upon that. indeed, the white house knows how bad this is because they tried to have those parts of the report suppressed. it is clear from a letter from one of joe biden special councils that is appended to this report that they wanted those stripped out but they have been left in. >> we heard the president speaking on this earlier, saying this is now a closed matter but that does not seem like it is going to be the case, is it? >> no chance. this is now political currency,

something that will become part of the campaign. it is a tricky one for donald trump although he's already described joe biden as too senile to stand trial. he's also 77 years old, don't forget. but that will not stop him making the most of this and it does play into a really difficult narrative for joe biden which is that he is slowing up, forgetting things. bear in mind this report suggested he could not remember when he was vice president, a more personally horrible for him -- he could not remember when his son died. >> a remarkable report. i want to come to the supreme court oral arguments were following today on colorado's attempt to kick donald trump off the ballot because of the 14th amendment. they say his involvement in january 6 is the reason for that. tell us more about what you heard in the argument today and if you have a sense of where the court is leaning. >> we got a clear sense of where the court is going on this.

there was a lot of questioning to both sets of counsel, an hour or two each, effectively. while people probed donald trump's counsel significantly on the position, they were much more hostile to colorado's council and even some of those more liberal justices on the court who you might think might be more sympathetic were very, very unsure, questioning whether or not -- you know, where the president was not mentioned specifically in the 14th amendment as one of those people covered it, for example. that was something jackson brought up, questioning whether or not, you know, how were they to judge whether there had been an insurrection or whether donald trump was an insurrectionist? and really looking, i think, for ways of suggesting that colorado had kind of jumped the gun here, that it tried to dictate to the rest of the country who should be on the presidential ballot. i think they are looking for what is termed in these

circumstances, a clear offramp. they may have that in terms of hunting it to congress -- punting it to congress. >> thank you so much for your reporting. today's case, we just heard, centers around colorado's attempt to bar mr. trump from the ballot for several other states have tried to do the same thing. in december, michigan's supreme court blocked an effort to keep him off the ballot and earlier, i spoke to michigan secretary of state, a democrat. sec., michigan supreme court had rejected an appeal that would have kept donald trump off the ballot. we spoke in december and you were clear back then when you spoke to us that you did not think secretaries of state should be ruling on this -- on the eligibility of a candidate on this specific question. i'm sure you are watching the hearing closely today. i want to get your take on what you thought of what you saw or heard. >> thanks for having me. i was in the courtroom today, listening to the justices and i was gratified to hear and see a

lot of recognition from all of the justices of the importance of unanimity and conformity and clarity on a federal issue such as this. justice roberts in particular talked about the perils of allowing different states to make different determinations based on different factual records which really reinforces the fact that in ambiguous questions like this one that have never yet been really been applied in this way, you need the supreme court to deliver a decision with some sort of comprehensive finality that gives all of us clarity so we can move forward and administer this year is really important elections. >> we saw the justices quiz the colorado solicitor on whether or not ruling in colorado's favor could set off this political avalanche of states decided to kick candidates off the ballot and that could then have an effect across the country. is that something that you worry

we could see happen? >> very much. i always recognize that a lot of defending and protecting democracy means making things simple, clear, and giving voters confidence in our elections, and a lot of this issue has provided a lot of confusion for folks that is only going to be amplified if you have in a very noisy election year different estates making different decisions based on different sets of facts as to whether or not donald trump is qualified to be on a primary or general election ballot. a lot of this question comes down to the question of who. who has the authority to define this candidates eligibility in this scenario? different than things such as age or citizenship, the court really leaned into the recognition that this is the very fact intensive, complex, and ambiguous question that really has to be decided on the federal level and it was also important that they emphasize that their expertise is really doing that when it comes to

interpreting the constitution. state officials -- our expertise is in running elections. for us to get involved in a political thicket like this one with an biggest question of qualifications really goes beyond what should be the traditional purview of the secretary of state. >> secretary, you are a democrat. he were elected to your position. you have written about the former president as a threat to democracy and he did speak to reporters in florida earlier and he said "in watching the supreme court today, i thought it was a very beautiful process. i hope the democracy of this country will continue because right now, have a tough situation with all of the radical left ideas, with the weaponization of politics." the allegation, as you know, is that this is part of the weaponization of politics. do you think that this process of the supreme court can be seen in that light? >> if we see a lot of consensus in the decision, perhaps 7-2 or even unanimous, that will demonstrate that this, in my

view, really is not about partisanship. it is about the rule of law and with the recognition not just of how it should apply in this case but what precedent are we creating moving forward? justice roberts in particular talked about the potential that states, if left to define what an insurrection is on their own could broadly or narrowly defined it to serve a political agenda and that is quite worrying. so certainly in this noisy time, i think there's lots of consensus around donald trump and what happened on january 6 is really being a front to -- an affront to democracy. his own lawyer's seems to acknowledge that. who should define insurrection in a way that leads to a candidates ineligibility is central to this case and the court was i think really clear in a bipartisan way that that question should be answered at the federal level. >> sec., thank you so much for joining us on bbc news. >> thanks for having me. >> the united states is one israel that staging a military offensive into rafa without

proper planning would be an "disaster." it comes one day after benjamin netanyahu vowed to do that while rejecting hamas's latest counterproposal anna cease fire. more than half of gaza's displaced population is sheltering in rafa. a worsening humanitarian catastrophe. our state department correspondent is following this story for us. tom, very good to have you with us. what more is the u.s. saying about this issue? tom: rafa is the city on the border of egypt right in the south of gaza, where the only crossing point is into egypt. its population has at least tripled since the start of the war. up to 1.5 million people there. that is most of the population of gaza now crammed down into the south who have already fled the fighting. many displaced multiple times and these are people, many of whom are living out in the open or in tents. it is the middle of winter.

dire humanitarian conditions. the u.n. and others warning that some people are on the verge of famine. we had benjamin netanyahu saying last night when antony blinken was there that he had ordered his troops to start to plan an operation into rafa. he describes it as one of the last strongholds of hamas. it's very rare for the u.s. to talk and forecast ahead of any israeli military operations in gaza but here, we had today, very pointedly, both the state department and the white house and national security council warning against this in an unplanned way, saying it would be a disaster if there was no plan to evacuate civilians and to deal with the dire humanitarian situation so this is very strongly worded from the u.s. mr. netanyahu said there would be an evacuation of civilians. the question is how do you do that? that is a question i asked, too. you know, where would these

people go? he said this is an issue for the israelis and basically, they are saying if there is an operation without any thought, that it would be this absolute disaster. so a big warning. mr. blinken flying back to the west tonight after that trip. very slow going in terms of a cease-fire plan. >> very difficult negotiations indeed. thank you for your reporting. great to have it. at least 100 israeli hostages remain in gaza, taken by hamas on october 7, including a loved one of abby. her family has been deeply impacted by that date. she joined us earlier. you lost your cousin, carmella. your granddaughter, noya. and two other grandchildren were returned after being held hostage by hamas. i want to start with asking you how they doing, how they have been recovering since their release. >> they are doing as well as

they can be. physically, israel put in place a plan that was unprecedented to care for the amount of children we have seen return from captivity and so they immediately were in hospital. they checked their health. they were not getting enough food or water were able to use bathrooms when they needed to and i think that was the first priority. in the 50 plus days they have been home, they have been trying to reconnect with family and return to some sense of normalcy but it is almost impossible, knowing that their father is there. >> i cannot imagine how difficult that is. i should mention for our viewers what is written on your shirt, 125. that's the days that the hostages have been held in captivity including, as you say, your relative, their father. i want to ask you, first of all, if you know anything about how he is doing, where he is being held. has any information been provided? >> we know from some of the earlier releases that he was there, that people saw him, that

he had an injury. beyond that, we have not heard anything as most families have not heard anything since last releases. we don't know if he is being treated but we do know from the stores coming out, there is significant violence. they are not getting access to food or water or bathrooms and each day that passes puts them in more and more danger and that is why we continue to fight and share their story. >> we saw as well israeli military officers, according to the new york times, have said that about 1/5 of the hostages, about 30 people are believed already to have died which is just horrific. we have seen that the prime minister has rejected another agreement for a cease-fire. as we are seeing all of this, how are you looking at these negotiations in such a difficult time for you and your family? >> a look at them the same way i have since october 7, which is optimism. i am an american citizen living in israel and we have seen a significant response from right in and blinken.

we -- biden and blinken. we have seen other parties come to the table and i hope and believe that they are keeping hostages as their first priority. i know this is a complex negotiation and there are a lot of moving parts but as someone who lives in israel, i have to believe that bringing them home is the only way forward because it is the only way we as a country move forward. this was a social contract that we would be protected by our military and it was broken on the seventh and in order to begin repairing that, we need to see every single hostage come home. >> you are also in touch with other families who have loved ones being held hostage. 125 days in my how are you together keeping hope alive for the safe return of your loved ones? >> i think this is a world that none of us ever imagined we would be in and there is some solace knowing that in this unknown place, there was

something that we share. i think we share resources and pain and we share an experience that no one would ever want but i think mainly, it is strength in knowing that we are all fighting together. i am thinking of his parents. i'm thinking of every -- as someone living in israel, every single phase, every single name -- there are three hostages from my neighborhood. it feels imminent and critical that they come home. >> thank you so much for sharing your story here with us on bbc news. >> thank you so much. >> ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy sacked the commander-in-chief of his country's armed forces. a rift had grown between the

president and his leading general. in his own statement, the general said "a decision was made about the need to change approaches and strategy." mr. zelenskyy thanked him for defending ukraine but said the time for such an update is now. he appointed a colonel general as the new military leader. it is the biggest change to ukraine's military leadership since the russian invasion in february 2022. the planet reached a dreaded milestone for global warming. global temperatures have exceeded 1.5 degrees celsius or 2.7 degrees fahrenheit above preindustrial levels across an entire year. the european union's climate service release new evidence measuring temperatures between february 2023 and january 2024 to get to the highest 12 month global temperature average on record. this does not break the 2015 paris agreement to limit long-term temperature rise to 1.5 degrees celsius but it does bring the world closer to doing

so and scientists say urgent action is needed right now to reduce carbon emissions. a key solution would be a -- to adopting renewable energy. our climate editor, justin, tells us what this means. justin: this is where the electricity company sse plans a 2 billion pound water battery. the hydroelectric plant, the biggest engineering project since the 1940's, will store excess renewable power. so here is the plan. they are going to build a dam 92 meters high and 600 meters long across the ends to create a huge reservoir. but here is the really clever bit. the whole project is designed to exploit the key weakness of renewable energy sources like wind and solar. they are great when the sun is shining or the wind is blowing and then they often generate so

much electricity that the price goes to zero. there are windfarms here in scotland that are sometimes paid not to supply electricity to the grid. at times like that, turbines will pump water up to the new reservoir. when it is dark or the wind is not blowing and electricity is scarce, the water can be released, spinning the turbines to generate enough electricity to power 3 million u.k. homes for 24 hours. >> the benefits are that the u.k. consumers are going to save money. we are going to use less oil and gas, which is good for everyone and helps us achieve our climate goals. justin: sse has already spent 100 million pounds digging this tunnel, but heavy engineering like this does not come cheap and the breakthrough has been finding a way to give investors confidence in the finances of a

project that could still be running in 100 years time. now, the government does not want to put in any public cash so the plan is to create a floor, a guarantee of minimum revenues, but in return, it will also impose a cap on prices to make sure the project does not make too much profit. and more projects like this will be needed as the switch to renewable power continues. sse says once the funding mechanism is finalized, it will press ahead with britain's biggest battery. justin, bbc news, the scottish islands. >> let's get a quick look at some other headlines now. police in brazil launched an investigation into former ministers and military officers associated with gyre bolsonaro. a police statement said they were served with search and arrest warrants after being suspected of participating in an attempted coup. police documents allege you're

bolsonaro reviewed and amended plan to overturn in the election results. mr. bolsonaro denies any wrongdoing. at least 10 people were killed and more than 90 are missing following a landslide in the philippines. that is nearly double yesterday's number. it was triggered by heavy rain in the gold-mining village on the island. stewards are digging through thick mud in search of survivors. a volcano in southwest iceland erupted for the second time this year, fountains of molten rock shooting out of the ground. it's not clear if today's outbreak will affect the fishing town. icelandic officials began construction on diked to channel scorching larva flows away from homes and key infrastructure in november. one more item for you. metals awarded at this year's paris olympics and paralympics will contain reclaimed metal from the eiffel tower, unveiling examples of the metals,

organizers said they wanted to link the games with an absolute symbol of france. designed by the luxury jeweler, each of the more than 5000 metals will include a six sided centerpiece of 18 grams of original iron from the eiffel tower, which was opened back in 1889. thank you so much for watching world news america. narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... man: bdo. accountants and advisors. narrator: 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.

amna: good evening. i'm amna nawaz. geoff: and i'm geoff bennett. on the “newshour” tonight, the u.s. supreme court sounds skeptical as it hears arguments about whether colorado can bar former president donald trump from the state's primary ballot. amna: the justice department says president biden willfully withheld classified documents but will not seek charges. geoff: and a new report details the destruction of the ukrainian