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president biden strikes a . defiant tone since thursday's faltering debate performance. >> the choice in this election is simple, donald trump will destroy democracy and i will defend it. anchor: and donald trump takes a victory lap in virginia. >> we had a big victory against a man who is really looking to destroy our country. anchor: plus, a supreme court ruling casts doubt on charges against hundreds of january 6 rioters. ♪ anchor: welcome to world news america. and carl less than. jpresident joe biden delivered a spirited address since thursday's faltering debate performance, showing that left many in the democratic

party questioning his fitness for the presidential nomination. on friday, the president looked like a different candidate, speaking energetically to a chairing cloud in north carolina -- cheering crowd in north carolina. he called his opponent donald trump, and he said that even though he is not a young man, he is still capable of doing the job. >> i know i'm not a young man -- i'll state the obvious. i don't walk as easily as i used to do, i used to, but i know what i do know -- i do not debate as well as i used to, but i know what i do know, i know how to tell the truth. when you get knocked down, you get back up. anchor: our correspondent was at the rally and centers -- and sent as this report. >> we have another debate in

september, and when you stick to what reporters were saying, they do not try to sugarcoat last night. they say it was not great. one woman said i was very upset about the reviews and wanted to come and support him. they believe that we are in june, the election is november, we have time to go, people will forget. i don't think -- we will have to see. it might quell the fears we see in the democratic party. there will be another debate in september, which he said he will do and donald trump said he will do. that i think certainly mr. biden and supporters here in the key swing state will be hoping that his performance today will have quelled some fears that he is not fit for the job, and president biden made it very clear tonight that he is still

the man to take on donald trump. anchor: joe biden's performance in the debate prompted discussion within the democratic party over whether it should nominate a different candidate altogether. that path would be unprecedented and logistically challenging, unless the president himself or to withdraw. but former president obama defended biden, saying, "bad debate nights happen. trust me, i know. but this election is still a choice between someone who has four ordinary folks his entire life, and someone who only cares about himself." other democratic lawmakers stood by biden, including former speaker pelosi and robert garcia, california representative. >> howdy think you did? -- how do you think heate did? >> compared to a person who lied the whole time? lisa honesty on one side. >> there is one person in this

country who has defeated donald trump and his name is joe biden, so the one person who can beat him again is a person who already beat him. anchor: speaking to the bbc after the debate, the democratic national committee chair came to bidens defense despite calls for him to step aside. >> start rolling up your sleeves and do the work. that is what we have to do. my grandfather taught me early on, he said, nothing in his world comes easy, and this election is going to be tough. we always knew. so we have to roll up our sleeves, do the work, we know we have a good and honest man and a decent man and joe biden, who has done a masterful job over these last few years and will continue to do so. anchor: former president trump is also holding a postdebate rally, headlining an event in virginia, showcasing his confidence about his chances in a state that president biden won

by more than 10 points in 2020. the former president rocked up last night's showdown, while addressing his supporters. >> we had a big victory against a man who is really looking to destroy our country. he is the worst, the most corrupt, the most incompetent president in the history of our country. he got the debate rules he wanted, he got the date he wanted, he got the network he wanted with the moderates he wanted, no amount of rigging or rest could help him defend his atrocious record. anchor: as former president trump looks for a postdebate boost, i spoke with one of his former chiefs of staff about where the race stands. it is a pleasure to have you with us on bbc news. what was your reaction to what you saw in that debate, and do you think that this will be a potential turning point in the election?

guest: a couple of different reactions. my immediate reaction last night was depression. it was hard to watch. i'm not the only person in this country who has someone with women at capacity -- with limited capacity, and to see what joe biden was going through last night was very difficult. from a political standpoint, is a huge win for the republicans. a question, crushing loss. i was reading some of the commentary and some of the democrat websites, and i think i saw that someone said it was a titanic level disaster. it is historic, it really is. i spoke with folks right after the debate and they said, i've been in the business for 50 years, and we have never seen anything like this, and we are unlikely -- it was earthquake.

anchor: we did hear from the president today, his voice sounded stronger, he appeared much more confident than he did during the debate. is there a chance, you think, that the trump cam could be a bit overconfident here and this could be a blip on the radar? there is still plenty of time to go until the november election. guest: there is plenty of time, last night was -- i have not seen the final ratings yet, but it was a huge number of eyeballs on that television screen last night. what does that mean? it means people who do not usually follow politics were watching last night. and it does not make any difference what joe biden did today. they know what they saw last night. we all know what they saw last night. is it possible to crawl out of that hole? yes. if last night really was a one-off. but if last night was simply the next in a series of situations where joe biden has been obviously not up to the job,

that is hard to imagine and how it does turn things around after last night. undecided voters are undecided for a reason, they don't pay attention. they probably paid attention last night, based on the ratings on an early basis. they probably will not tune in again until the next debate, if there is another one. if i'm donald trump, i'm not debating again. anchor: let's talk about donald trump specifically, you are someone who knows him very well. how concerned are you that when it came to the actual debate about policy, mr. trump, or into fact checkers -- according to fact checkers and others, so there were scores of factually incorrect statements, claiming president biden receives money from china, saying that blue states allow abortions in the eighth or ninth month, saying that mr. biden encouraged russia to attack ukraine. how concerned are you about those falsehoods? this is something we have seen in the past. guest: last night was not about policy. we know where they stand on

policy. this was only the second time in history that two presidents have run against each other. we all know what the policies are. last night was about personality. current donald trump look somewhat presidential -- could donald trump look somewhat presidential against joe biden? previously, it cost him the election. he succeeded. anchor: let's follow-up because one of those policies seems to be a very key issue here in the election that has to do with january 6. that seemed to be a question that multiple times mr. trump avoided answering. guest: is that policy or is tax, abortion and immigration a policy? anchor: certainly cove voters, and mr. trump and president biden talked about it repeatedly. guest: i'm not seeking to dismiss january 6, but my guess is most voters who have made up their mind have already made up their mind on the sixth, either

it is important and determinative or it isn't. nothing about last night would change january 6. it was about how to trump and biden look? how did trump make people feel and how did biden make people feel? and you cannot but admit that people turned off that tv last night and really, really worried about joe biden. not diminishing any of the other aspects of it, but last night was not about policy. last night was about emotion, appearance, and feeling, and joe biden failed miserably. anchor: where do you think this leaves the race now and how do you think donald trump will treat the next few months of this campaign? guest: the same as you would have otherwise. i think you will move forward with the great ordeal of confidence. donald trump has plenty of confidence to begin with, but how could you not feel good about your performance vis-a-vis joe biden last night? i think you might hear trump start having more open debate

about whether or not -- not only is joe biden capable of running in 2024, is he capable of doing the job now? if donald trump had had that type of performance in 2019, your publication, most publications, would be clamoring for the 25th amendment. that was an embarrassment last night. clearly, someone with limited mental capacity, at least temporarily, perhaps. but i expect to see donald trump count on that issue because it is their winning issue. add it to this, it used to be about immigration, inflation, and israel. it used to be the three i's, now it is about the four i's, immigration, inflation, israel, and incapacity, and you expect donald trump to talk about all four. anchor: foreign policy played a big role last night, the outcome of november selection election will have implications on ongoing complex in ukraine and gaza. correspondence in moscow, kyiv

and jerusalem have monitored reactions around the world. let's hear from our russia editor first. reporter: when it was 4:00 in the morning here in moscow in the u.s. presidential debate got underway, was vladimir putin watching? later his spokesperson told me, you would not expect the russian president has set his alarm clock and get up early to watch a u.s. debate. which was not technically a no. i'm sure someone in the kremlin was glued to this because moscow understands the u.s. election could have a direct impact on russia's war in ukraine. certainly, if vladimir putin was watching, he would have enjoyed the spectacle because of joe biden's shaky performance. there was no love lost between the two leaders. the kremlin will have noted and appreciated donald trump's criticism of the scale of u.s. military assistance to kyi as well as the fact that at timesv it sounded as though mr. trump blamed mr. biden more than mr. putin for the war in ukraine.

the sense that there was more heat than light when it came to the comments about ukraine in the debate, each of the candidates tried to blame the other for the invasion of ukraine, president trump, former president trump saying that it was because of joe biden's week policy on afghanistan and president biden saying it was because of donald trump's relationship with vladimir putin , it felt like giving him the green light. the moderators tried to press donald trump on the idea of a deal, which he has proposed that he could get somehow with pressure to end the war, and whether ukraine would have to accept russia's terms, which effectively means giving up a large chunk of its territory. he said, no, but he did not really give any more details behind that. he did, though, say that ukraine was getting a lot of money from the united states. he talked about $200 billion and president zelenskyy being an

effective salesman when he went to washington. so the implication, i think, of that would be that perhaps he will use that as leverage on ukraine to try to force her to the negotiating table. anchor: i don't think the expectations were very high ahead of this debate and really either had a new roadmap to try to help the region extricate itself from this difficult situation, and on the war against israel, gaza and hamas. i don't think the die was really moved in terms of policy. bit essentially means that traditionally, they showed very strong support for israel. they both did that. there was one moment when president biden defended his record on gaza against criticism from donald trump when he said he saved israel. i don't think that will necessarily help the fractious relationship between him and the israeli prime minister netanyahu.

it might look askance on that. as far as palestinians are concerned, they would feel one of the big things missing here was essentially any recognition of what the palestinians have been going through and gaza and beyond. anchor: at the rally in virginia, donald trump said people arrested over the january 6,, 2021 attack should be freed immediately. it comes as the supreme court handed down a major decision on friday, rolling in favor of one of the rioters. it will make it more difficult to charge defendants with obstruction. the 6-3 ruling narrows the interpretation of a law that outlines criminal penalties for anyone charged with obstructing an official proceeding. justice is in the majority say that they must include proof that defendants tried to tamper with or destroy official documents. the ruling has applications for more than 350 people who are facing obstruction charges in relation to the insurrection and two of the four charges former president trump faces are

based on that statute. our correspondent explains. correspondent: the attorney general merrick garland in a statement said he was appointed in the decision. he said at limited and important federal statute that the department had sought to use to ensure that those most responsible for the attack on the capitol pace appropriate consequences, but he said the vast majority of the more than 1400 defendants will not be affected by the decision, and that, crucially, there are no cases for the only charge is obstruction. but it does have the potential to impact a small number of cases. there are 249 open cases where a defendant faces the obstruction charge, either they have not been convicted or sentenced yet, and then there are 52 cases where individuals were convicted and sentenced on the obstruction charge.

so, special counsel jack snyder had previously said the charges faced by donald trump would it be affected, presumably because he is confident that the narrower reading of the statute would still apply to trump's case. anchor: that's get more on the ruling with a senior investigative council for the january 6 committee and a former federal prosecutor. great to have you. first, what do you make of the way that the supreme court ruled in the case? guest: it is not quite that surprising. the court did narrow down the scope of this criminal statute, but it did not get rid of it here. i think the key here is justice barrett worked with the two more progressive justices, and she really called out the majority here. her dissenter basically says the law says what it says. it is written abroad, which is what the department of justice

argued for the supreme court read in her argument to her calling is that for the court to narrow down the scope just because they do not like how far the lower reaches is very outside the purview of the supreme court. the majority disagreed here, and the statute has been narrowed. we will have to see how it applies to the former president's case next. anchor: before that, several hundreds had been charged in terms of their relation to january 6 under this statute. how do you think this will affect the efforts to prosecute those people who were involved in the insurrection in 2021? guest: i actually do not think it will create much of a change here except for some logistical issues for the department of justice. as attorney general garland said today, there are defendants who were not charged solely with a crime, so you will not have individuals who have no criminal culpability now, but for those already convicted on multiple bases, they will have to reconsider whether they should be resentenced in light of the

change. i think that is .1. -- that is point one. those charges would have to be dismissed and in the court could decide whether to expand the charges through other statutes or proceed on the remaining charges. i think it is more of a headache than it is an absolution or absolve meant of all of those who still have pending cases. anchor: let's talk about the former president trump, who said on social media that this was a big win. how could this really now affect his case in a d.c. court for conspiring to obstruct 2020 election? guest: there are two ways to think about this, the first is on the substance, and i don't think it impacts the case. with the court did today is say that the statute cannot be used more broadly for obstructing an official proceeding. instead, it has to be connected to either an all-terrain concealing or something to do

with documents, so that is point one, but with the former president's case, it is about documents. he is charged using these fake electoral certificates and getting them to congress in order to obstruct and delay the certification of the election. so there is strong legal footing that those charges remain intact. i think what we will have here is or delay, and that has always been trump's move with the case. the cases pending before the supreme court as to whether or not he has immunity. that decision might be coming down on monday. assuming that he is found not to have immunity and the cases is sent back, this ruling will provide another opportunity for further litigation and further delay and makes it all the more that we will see a trial on the january 6 trial before the november election. anchor: briefly, there were calls for justices alito and thomas to accuse themselves here after the activities of their wives raised questions about

their impartiality. do you think they should have sat this one out? guest: i think so. i mean, when we look to justice thomas, his wife was actively involved in trying to overturn the election. she was sending text messages with mark meadows, for example. so that is not just personal activity, that is someone really going against what i think is proper behavior of any citizen but much less the wife of a sitting justice. as far as justice alito, you know, personally, i think -- to have an american flag upside down, i think that is a bore into as an american citizen, whether -- a boren as an american citizen, and whether or not he should recuse himself, that is at least a concern. we should look at the letter that he committed to congress, reporting the fossils, that is really what he should look at, as well. anchor: temidayo aganga-williams , thank you. iranians are going to the polls to let their next -- to elect

our next president after the death of their president last month in a helicopter crash. the iran's supreme leader casted his boat, and it is unlikely that many will be going to the polls. there could be a boycott. there are four candidates, including one considered to be a moderate. our reporter is at the iranian embassy. reporter: you can hear them right now chanting slogans and a minute ago, a fight broke out here between protesters and a person who cast his ballot at the iranian consulate here in london, so they had gathered here from the early morning. they are shouting and chanting slogans against those iranians for going inside the building to cast their votes. you can see they are again chanting slogans right now, and it is as one person goes inside the building. there is huge police presence. they are trying to accompany those who leave the building to

leave the premises here, and the situation has been extreme lay-ins. some -- extremely intense. some arrests have been made, we saw one person who through some paint at the embassy -- threw some paint at the buildings, and they have a van going around here that nobody should vote . this shows how divided the iranian society is inside and outside the country. this is the first presidential election after the death of the former president who died in police custody. that sparked nationwide protests in iran for over a year. it happened two years ago. over 500 people were killed. this is what the protesters are referring to, so anybody going to vote, they are saying that you should be ashamed of yourself because so many protesters were killed. but i heard the people who were voting talking, some of them,

because some of the protesters and in some instances what they were saying was that we would like to bring a change, even though it be externally tiny and really small, -- extremely tiny and really small, but our parents and family members live in the country, so we would like to change the government into a different type of government. anchor: more on that election on a website, bbc.com/news. before we go, two giant pandas arrived safely at their homes in the san diego zoo. a three-year-old female and a four-year-old male began their journey from southwestern china on wednesday. they will be monitored by a wildlife expert to determine when the pair are ready for their public debut. they will be monitored by plenty of fans at the zoo, as well. in announcer: funding for presentation of this program is provided by... financial services firm, raymond james.

cunard is a proud supporter of public television. 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: get the free pbs app now and stream the best of pbs.

♪ amna: good evening. i'm amna nawaz. geoff: and i'm geoff bennett on the "newshour" tonight. the u.s. supreme court issues major decisions on obstruction charges against january 6 rioters, federal regulatory power, and homelessness. amna: analysis of key moments and fallout from last night's presidential debate. geoff: and david brooks and kimberly atkins stohr break down the latest political headlines.