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america. donald trump's election subversion case is dismissed after a judge grants u.s. special counsel jack smith's request. israel's cabinet meets to discuss whether to approve a cease-fire with hezbollah. 16 people are missing in egypt after a tourist boat sank in the red sea. hello and welcome to world news america. a judge has granted a request from special counsel jack smith to dismiss the federal election interference case against president-elect donald trump. this comes hours after mr. smith filed new documents saying the case should be closed following donald trump's election victory, because of the justice department policy that bans prosecution of a sitting president.

in the filing, jack smith wrote the government position on the merit of the defendant's prosecution has not changed but the circumstances have. the defendant will be certified as president-elect on january 6, 2025 and inaugurated on january 20, 2025. the commute occasion director for trump said in a statement, today's decision by the doj ends the unconstitutional federal cases against president trump and is a major victory for the american people and president trump. they want an immediate end to the political weaponization of the justice system and we look forward to uniting our country. here to explain what all this means, we are joined by an attorney and former federal prosecutor. thank you for being with us on bbc news. president-elect trump is

describing this as a major victory. it is for him, isn't it? >> it is. bothf the federal cases will undoubtedly be dismissed as a result of this action taken by jack smith stop it is interesting. he dismissed without prejudice, which does potentially leave the option open that after donald trump's time has expired, potentially they could bring the charges again although that would be extremely unlikely. >> what would happen in the meantime? we heard from jack smith that the department ojustice does intend to continue the case against two codefendants in relation to the so-called documents case wasn't -- which was the allegation that president trump had pacified documents in mar-a-lago -- classified documents in mar-a-lago. >> that will continue. undoubtedly the president will step in, he will be president in

january and he will have full control of the department of justice with his own appointment running it, and it is incredibly likely they will shut down those cases. the cases pending against the codefendants will also just to ended by the department of justice, if that is not done prior to h taking office. >> so when the judge dismissed this without prejudice, all of the files, all of the work, everything within the department of justice, you are expecting that will just be shredded or destroyed at some point? >> it may well be. that is likely what will happen. even though the judge asked for a dismissal without prejudice, the judge could still dismiss it without -- with prejudice because you don't want something like this hanging over the president over the next four years but in the back of his mind, he could be prosecuted again for these charges. there is a very good chance they will be dismissed with prejudice

anyway. >> what happens to the legal fees that president-elect donald trump would have racked up in defending these various cases, not to mention the cost of it to the american taxpayer as well? >> there has already been a huge cost for these cases, something like $50 million spent by the department of justice investigating these cases, bringing charges and witnesses. at least there will not be further expense involved because the cases will be shut down, so at least donald trump will save on his expenses for lawyers fees and the taxpayers will save as well on expenses for the special counsel and justice department prosecuting these charges. >> potentially could president-elect trump seek to have his costs reimbursed from the state given that the charges have been dismissed? >> know, that is not the way our

system works. it is unfortunate that any defendant who winds up -- even if they end up being acquitted and prove the charges are false, it is very rare -- the system is not set up to allow them to get their attorneys fees back. ey could potentially bring a case, some sort of civil case, for having brought a frivolous case, but i don't see president trump doing that. >> for all intents and purposes, this matter is closed for president-elect trump? >> that's right but he does still have state charges pending. the georgia case and the new york case, where sentencing has been indefinitely caused -- paused and the judge has accepted that the defense can bring a motion to dismiss the case. that likely is going away as well. in georgia, the appeal is still pending, and the appellate court

has ruled that it is not interested in hearing any sort of oral argument on the aeals so it looks like that may be dismissed as well. >> thanks as always for joining us on bbc news. there has been significant progress towards a cease-fire deal between hezbollah and israel. the israeli security cabinet is expected to meet on tuesday to discuss approval of a draft agreement. prime minister benjamin netanyahu is said to have agreed to the deal in principle. the u.s. has been a key mediator in the talks. the truce that is on the table would see a 60 day pause fighting during which time israeli troops would withdraw from southern lebanon and hezbollah would move further north into the country so civilians could return home in their respective areas. in their absence, the lebanese army would deploy in those areas

close to the border. the u.s. state department emphasized that the deal was close. >> this has been an incredibly frustrating process, both getting to cease-fire and diplomatic resolution and also the realms of negotiation to get a cease-fire in gaza. there are any number of stages where we hoped the parties would get to an agreement. remember, that is what it requires. there have been many times when we thought we were going to be getting to a yes. in both cases the parties did not get there. that said, we believe we are close but that is why you heard me come out and say nothing is final until everything is final. we don't have a deal until we have one that has been fully agreed to by both sides. >> our correspondent is in israel with more. >> there are quite a few optimistic voices coming out

about the chances of getting a cease-fire deal for lebanon, coming out of washington, beirut and jerusalem. but i think it's not there yet. the israeli security cabinet has to ratify it and there are voices within the government here in israel who are opposed to this deal. the national security minister in israel has taken to social media to say this is a bad deal, it is not too late to stop it. his view is that israel has hezbollah on the back foot, that they are weakened militarily and now is the time not to give them breathing space but to finish them off. there are those in the north of israel who are in rocket range of hezbollah's rockets who worry that hezbollah's arsenal is not yet depleted and they don't trust this deal and they think it is simply going to be a matter of time before they start

getting rocketed again. >> while cease-fire efforts appear to be progressing, israel and hezbollah continue to exchange fire over the border. more than 250 rockets were fired into israel by hezbollah on sunday in retaliation for an israel attack over the weekend which killed 20 people. israel's military is moving forward with its bombardment of southern lebanon. lebanon's health ministry says 12 people have been killed in israeli strikes in south lebanon. i spoke to a member of the parliament in beirut a short time ago and asked her to describe the situation tonight. >> in my apartment, hearing and seeing flashlights coming. it is very scary. it is collapsing.

they are just turned into rubble in less than one minute. the eyes cannot believe what u are seeing. it is mind blowing, the massive destruction and the killing and the bombg. it has been more than a week now. >> we have seen many reports tonight, of intense strikes. does it feel like tonight is more intense, worse than it's been in recent days? >> before we went, you saw the strike and it seemed closer than ever. i keep looking out the window. it is scary. after the bombs hit the ground

and the building collapsed and you see flames that linger for hours and hours. >> and as we are talking, if you need to leave, of course please do, but let's continue our conversation while it is safe to do so. do you think the lebanese government is close to agreeing to a cease-fire deal, hezbollah with israel as the officials are telling us? >> it seems on the news that a lot of talks have been surfacing about a deal that is close. as far as me as a citizen, i would like a cease-fire to be happening as soon as possible, but as a member of the parliament, we feel that we have been completely sidelined by those talks between the envoy of

the u.s. government and the speaker of the house without including members of the parliament. we don't know what the deal entails, and we hope for the best, as far as citizens and residents of this country are concerned. >> there is some reporting that the israeli government will discuss this vote tomorrow. if you are saying that you feel kept out of the deal, is there a mechanism where it will come before the lebanese partner -- lebanese parliament? >> it seems that it will come before the lebanese parliament to discuss. it is unfortunate that the discussions have gone on with

one person, the speaker of the house and the prime minister, but it was mainly with the speaker of the house and some parts or some leaders of hezbollah together. who agreed on the deal. if the deal is completely closed and the deal is done, so we will have to wait and see but the most important thing is that people who have fled their homes in the southern villages return home safely as much as the people in northern israel do return to their home as well. we do want our people, our lebanese people to have a safe return to their villages. >> hezbollah launched an attack against israel on october 8 in

solidarity with hamas, with the situation with gaza. you think hezbollah is at a place where it would separate those issues and be prepared to do a cease-fire deal with israel just regarding lebanon? >> it seems to us that hezbollah is now ready to do a peace deal, and separate that from gaza and from the statements we have seen from some leaders of hezbollah, they are really ready or they have negotiated a deal where they have accepted the implementation of the u.n. resolution with no conditions. for us, has below really went to war or pushed lebanon into a war

that we didn't want and we do hope that hezbollah not only agrees only cease-fire deal with israel, but at the same time, turns the arms over to the state and we do believe that the only armed forces the country needs to be the lebanese army forces who are ready to uphold the security of the country and take care of the sovereignty of the state. >> thousands in gaza are struggling to manage harsh conditions as winter approaches. rainstorms have flooded displacement camps, destrong what little resources they have and in northern gaza, the health care system is on. the verge of collapse. a hospital dector who runs one of two medical facilities still

working says he was seriously injured by shrapnel from an israeli drone strike along with his two daughters and several staff. israel does not allow foreign media organizations independent access to gaza so a freelance journalist working for the bbc has interviewed the doctor. >> for seven consecutive days, we have been directly bombed. sometimes the reception or emergency rooms were bombed. a number of our medical staff were injured and they've also targeted the hospital courtyard and the oxygen plant. water tanks and infrastructure. it is clear through this targeting that he wants to take us away from providing humanitarian services which is supposed to have international laws that protect the health system and protect the staff of this health system. we now have more than 20 injured. everyone in this room was

working inside the hospital. we are unfortunately being targeted on a daily basis. >> the conflicts in the middle east top of the agenda at the g7 summit in italy. u.s. secretary of state antony blinken is there, meeting foreign ministers from around the world. for the first time they were joined by counterparts from countries mediating the conflict including qatar, egypt, jordan, saudi arabia and the united arab emirates. while he was not in attendance, israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu was also at the center of the discussions after the international criminal court issued a warrant for his arrest last week for committing alleged war crimes in gaza. on tuesday, the leaders will shift their focus to the ongoing war in ukraine. dozens injured across theeft country on monday, including 25 in a strike.

ukraine said russia used a s-4000 missile system. in odessa, 11 were injured in a strike that damaged residential buildings, a school and a university. ukraine continues to hit back on russian territory including an overnight strike on an oil depot southeast of moscow. video shows dark plumes of smoke after a series of explosions. amid the exchange of fire, the european defense ministers met in berlin, agreeing to step up support for ukraine. this includes pollens defense chief who said the eu is doing too little and is running out of time. poland has long argued its ukrainian neighbors should have the right to fire western supped missiles into russia. however the country also hosts several u.s. military facilities, one of which russian officials have identified as a potential target if the conflict escalates. our eastern european correspondent sent us this report.

>> when vladimir putin threatens to escalate his war, his people in places like -- might worry. just beyond the wire in this tiny polish town is an american military base, one that russia has openly called a potential target. it was opened officially this month, part of a u.s. missile defense shield to protect the skies over europe. when russia fired a hypersonic weapon at ukraine, vladimir putin warned those who arm kyiv with missiles they could be next. some here are nervous. >> it is all the family talks about. she says they feel the threat from russia is growing.

this man says vladimir putin would never take on the u.s. because then he and russia would be wiped off the earth. >> you feel the history here in poland quite acutely. >> correct. we have suffered a lot from soviet imperialism. >> back in the capital, this mp tells me her country understands the threat from russia better than others further west and she believes standing up to putin is the only choice. >> what he is currently saying is not credible. if we were to accuse him in only strengthen the russianwould aggression. it is either ukraine we support, or we have russia behind our eastern borders. >> but poland believes moscow is already attacking here. when fire tore through this giant mall in warsaw, the prime minister said russia was likely to blame.

linked to this and other incidents, meant to destabilize as well as destroy. >> it is strange to think that this fire could have anything to do with russia but that is what authorities are investigating. and not just here but acts of arson and sabotage across poland that could be part of a hybrid war. >> when i ask people here about the risk of rocket strikes, this lady laughs. putin is not the only one who has missiles. but russia's murky hybrid attacks on poland have already escalated. >> a search operation is ongoing to try and find 16 people after a luxury tourist yacht sank in the red sea. 28 people have already been rescued. tourists on board are from

several countries including the u.k. and the u.s. the bo capsized off the coast of egypt. survivors say it hit a large wave. >> the latest we have is a statement issued by the governor of the red sea who said rescue operations are still underway to try and find 16 people who are missing, including four egyptians. he said there were no technical errors behind this incident and that the boat carrying the tourists -- bad weather may have been a factor. a tourist was quoted as saying the boat was hit by a huge wave overnight which caused it to capsize. we understand investigations have already started, to try and find out what exactly happened. there were four british people among the tourists on board. two are among those missing and

28 people have been sent to a hotel and a very important location for the egyptian tourist industry. it is a popular location for people who go diving. the questions are about the repercussions of might have on the tourism sector in egypt. >> a judge in california delayed a resentencing hearing until the end of january for two brothers currently serving life without parole for murdering their parents in 1989. the judge said he wouldn't be ready for the original date and also pushed the date back to a new incoming dtrict attorney. at the time of the trial, the brothers claimed self-defense, saying their father was abusing them. new evidence has emerged supporting those claims. their latest bid for freedom is supported by dozens of immediate family members. before we go, president joe

biden hardened the last turkeys of his presidency ahead of america's thanksgiving. peach and blossom are heading to a life of retirement on a minnesota farm after they were spared any white house tradition. their names are in a mosh tube biden -- are an homage to biden's home state of delaware. good luck to peach and blossom. remember you can find out more about all of today's news on our website, bbc.com/news. yocan see what we are working on any time by checking us out on your favorite social media platform. thanks for watching world news america. take care. 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: get the free pbs app now and stream the best of pbs.

william: good evening. i'm william brangham. geoff bennett and amna nawaz are away. on "the newshour" tonight, the january 6 and classified documents cases against