♪ ♪ narrator: funding for presentation of this program is provided by.. the freeman foundation. by judy and peter blum-kovler foundation. pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. and by contributions to this pbs station from viewers like you, thank you. woman: and now, "bbc world news".

new york and this is bbc world news america. no legal headaches. donald trump prepares to turn himself in to authorities following his indictment. he denies his wrongdoing. the reaction has been predictably mixed. >> you should be held responsible for somethinyou do wrong. >> it is a political sham and politically motivated. anchor: ukraine's president attends ceremonies one year after a town was recaptured from russia. and convenience or conspiracy? the idea of the 50 minute city is gaining traction but not everyone is a fan. ♪ anchor: welcome to world news america on pbs and around the globe. donald trump will be the first former u.s. president to face criminal charges after a grand

jury indicted him after money paid to stormy daniels. mr. trump is expected to appear in court in new york to face the charges next tuesday. he denies any wrongdoing saying the indictment is political persecution. we begin our coverage with this report from our north american correspondent in new york. reporter: this manhattancourthos ynot normall look like this but it is not every day if former president is charged with a crime. in fact it has never happened before. and this is a man who has brought the charges against donald trump. district attorney alvin bragg, a democrat and a prosecutor in america is highly politicized legal system. but if he was saying nothing the former president was not so reticent calling it political persecution. election interference. and his opponents radical left

monsters. >> no one is above the law not even a former president. reporter: the case centers on the financial accounting for $130,000 paid to this woman to purchase her silence before the 2016 general election. stephanie clifford a.k.a. stormy daniels, and out -- adult film star said she had sex with donald trump in 2006 thing he denies. >> today it is donald trump and tomorrow it will be a democrat and the next day it could be your son or your brother. we have to be concerned about the rule of law falling. this case would not of been brought against another individual. reporter: in the next few days donald trump will come to the courthouse. he will have his fingerprints and photograph taken. he will appear before a judge to enter a plea. until recently the most powerful man in the world will be

processed like any other defendant. >> it is good to see some justice happened. >> it is a political sham that is politically motivated. reporter: the case in new york is not the only legal problem facing donald trump. two other criminal investigations are looking into his role of the storming of the capitol on january 6 two years ago after he lost the election. and attempts to overturn the results. ♪ reporter: those inquiries could prove much more serious for the former president as he readies himself for another run at the white house. bbc news new york. anchor: to find out what trump supporters have made of today's developments we are in virginia. reporter: a way from the spectacle of the courthouse in manhattan, this quiet part of

virginia really loves donald trump. he owns the store and says the indictment is good for his pockets and donald trump's popularity. >> it has only been positive. it sends the sympathy to him. it plays into his hands. reporter: the case that has been brought against donald trump has been decided by your fellow countrymen and women in new york who are doing their civic duty. >> they are over-the-top liberals. they are out to smear him anyway they can. it will backfire on them. reporter: even the shop dog is gearing up for 2024. people have traveled from outside of virginia had to get trump merchandise. >> i am a donald trump supporter and even more today than yesterday. reporter: tell me why. >> because the stupid indictment

is politically motivated. >> i could not believe it but it will only make the case stronger for donald trump. reporter: this indictment has fired up donald trump's supporters, the ones he relies on. some have said it has awakened the sleeping giant will it get him the votes he needs to win back the white house. >> i don't really think the american public will go for an indicted person. >>two elections going on three. i wish it was this election. reporter: it is often asked is there a redline for his most ardent supporters. it would seem that even becoming the first former president indicted ever has made him more entrenched. anchor: news of the indictment made headlines around the world.

>> former u.s. president donald trump indicted. >> [speaking foreign language] >> [speaking foreign language] anchor: the historic nature of what is happening has left many of us with lots of questions and here to help us sort through them is our correspondent who has been outside the house in new york. the first question is, what is an indictment? >> a written formal accusation that someone is charged with a crime. it starts with a grand jury that is convened, a group of citizens. they hear testimony from citizens -- from witnesses and then they decide if there is enough to move forward with criminal charges. anchor: the next question -- is donald trump going to jail? >> when you talk to most legal experts they doubt that thinking he will be hit with fines from

this. the reason is for example misdemeanors or low-level crimes like falsifying business records generally you can get away with paying a fine rather than serving jail time though it does carry up to a jail -- up to a year in prison in certain circumstances. if mr. trump is charged with a felony that carries up to four years in. anchor: and this question comes up a lot -- can donald trump run for president after being indicted? reporter: i think many people will be surprised to hear that not only can he run for president after this indictment but if he is found guilty and convicted he can still run for president. we heard mr. trump say nothing will stop him from running and there is nothing in the constitution to stop that from going forward. anchor: that was our correspondent running us through some of the legal questions. to talk more about the legal

implications is a former federal prosecutor and a white house lawyer during the donald trump administration. we have talked about how this relates or how this indictment relates as far as we know to hush money paid to stormy daniels but can you explain to us the crimes we might learn about in terms of when this indictment is unsealed? what is the legal jeopardy in the case? >> to your point the indictment has not been unsealed so everything we are talking about is a lot of speculation. that being said based on what we think we know this relates to accounting entries reimbursing donald trump's lawyer, pre-presidential time, in exchange for a nondisclosure agreement with ms. daniels.

the problem with that is the way allegedly it was accounted for, it was not accurate. and further, the theory could go that it was done in that way because it was kept from wanting to be disclosed days before the 2016 presidential campaign and therefore it was effectively a campaign contribution. anchor: falsification of documents and campaign finance laws at stake and the second is the more serious. >> that is where this gets dicey because campaign finance laws are federal laws. this is a state-level case. based on what we think we know that the prosecution theory has to effectively tie the accounting problem with the campaigninance problem. that is what potentially would make it a felony and that is we think be the prosecution's theory. anchor: if i could bring you in

here, were you surprised the indictment was brought first given donald trump faces other potential legal wars on the horizon? >> not really. i think it was unfortunate it was brought first but the district attorney in new york has a serious statute of limitations problem in the case that will have to be litigated. i understand they have arguments that may be persuasive as to why this is within the statute of limitations. all of the underlying misdemeanors athe heart of the keys are outside the statute of limitations and the issue will be whether the felonies admitted in 2017 and 2018 to the extent there were payments, the issue will be are those within the five-year statute of limitations? i think the answer to that is anybody's guess. that may not be fully resolved

until appeal but i do think and i'm not surprised that this case was brought first. i think it is unfortunate that the case was brought at all not only first. [indiscernible] -- the district attorney. i think there are polls in the united states that show over 60% of the people in the country believe it was politically motivated including a third of democrats. i think it is discouraging particularly because it is so inconsequential. people never go to jail and the fines he faces are minimal. anchor: you say the fact that it was wise of him not to testify before the grand jury given where we are today. >> certainly based on the last 24 hours of comments from him i

do think it was a good idea. i don't think anyone would've let him walk into that perjury trap if they could have avoided it and sadly his lawyers have the challenge of trying to keep him from talking about a case which is standard procedure though he is running for president and i think that is unfortunate just like cohen. he is still making news and going on tv with his lawyer who also wants the exposure. i think those are mistakes also. anchor: it is fascinating. this is a case where we are hearing from all of the central players including stormy daniels, donald trump and michael cohen. i'm curious of your thoughts, joe. does that make it more difficult for the legal teams? >> it makes it very political. normally the most basic rule is no talking about the case whether you e the defendant,

witnesses, attorneys involved. that makes it already very strange. the whole grand jury process that we heard about these last few weeks is supposed to be a secret process. we should not know basically any of this information. we should not know there was an indictment until it is unsealed. there is a lot of logistical difficulties from all sides. i think there is fall to go around from the das office which is clearly leaking to the new york times and other venues. president trump will not be on his heels and will seize the opportunity and we have heard from witnesses so it is a big mess. >> everyone is behaving badly. there is no reason for the house republican chair to pressure, that is bad form. the republicanandidates have lined up in support of donald trump and kissed the ring

quickly. i don't think that is good for the country either. and i think the rule of law is being used in a way that exposes so many frailties and america from the republicans to the democrats who are out there saying, the law should apply equally to every person when as joe's said and you played it, the reality is the only person that should be charged with this crime is donald trump. anchor: i'm sorry to interrupt but thank you to both of you making the point that you cannot separate the legal from the political in this particular case. to bring it all together we take it to the bbc's gary o'donoghue who was in new york outside the courthouse. gary, hello. quickly, if you could sum up

what we can expect in the days ahead especially tuesday? reporter: the choreography is still being worked out right here in new york and not just by the new york police department and the secret service will have to accompany donald trump into the courthouse when he goes to plead in front of the judge but of course the whole few days in the run-up to next tuesday. donald trump will come here on monday probably to trump tower and make his way on tuesday. and it will be a theatrical event. he is if no one -- if nothing else someone that things in television terms and he will want to maximize that to his benefit but he is coming to be arrested and that for him is a huge problem for his dignity. it has made him angry. we know that. he will try to turn it to his

advantage. you can see a path to that advantage through his supporters becoming more riled up and critically of course he republicans, senior republicans, potential rival republicans for the nomination to fall in behind donald trump taking him still the leading candidate for the white house next year. anchor: fascinating stuff to watch. gary, thank you. in a somewhat related note a delaware judge has ruled a lawsuit involving dominion voting system brought against fox news will go to a jury trial. fox had hoped to avoid a jury trial. dominion is seeking damages saying fox d famed the company. dominion became a popular punching bag from donald trump supporters. turning to ukraine where

president zelenskyy has been leading ceremonies in -- on the first anniversary of a city's liberation from russian forces. a suburb of p.r. of was a focus of fierce fighting and has come to symbolize alleged were crimes carried out by russian forces. reporter: president zelenskyy came here to mark this day one year since the ukrainian forces recaptured the town occupied i russian forces. it has become the symbol of the atrocities committed by russian forces here in this cotry. we came to this street where dozens of bodies were found. i think images of those bodies lying on the ground shocked all of us. they have become a symbol of the brutality of the occupation here. and not only the execution of these people. many civilians were trying to visit relatives and then flee the city when they were killed.

but there are allegations of torture and rape. but now here there is a massive effort to collect evidence of those potential war crimes. international investigators acting as volunteers are here collecting evidence and there is a massive effort to rebuild what has been destroyed. houses are being rebuilt and the roads and shops. one thinthat perhaps cannot be rebuilt is the psychological impact of the atrocities were committed here and the trauma of the violence that was committed by the occupying forces in this town. anchor: that was our correspoent. the former paralympic athlete oscar pistorius' bid for parole collsed. he had been seeking early release after serving half of his sentence. he was convicted of the murder of his girlfriend in 2013. ahead of the hearing a lawyer for her parents spoke to

reporters outside the camp. >> he is the killer of their daughter. for them it is a life sentence. he is eligible for parole but they don't think you should be released. they think he has broken the rules. if he had been he would have come clean and told the true story of what happened that night. the supreme court of appeal felt he has not told everything that happened that night. anchor: our africa correspondent andrew harding has more from pretoria. reporter: i'm afraid it is a farcical situation. th south african justice system looking like it is made a big mess. today's parole board hearing should never have gone ahead in the first place. that is because the prison authorities received a letter three days ago on tuesday of this week explaining to them that oscar pistorius has not

actually served according to their calculations half of his time in prison. in fact that time will come next august of 2024. i spoke to the uncle of oscar pistorius who was mystified saying it was clear to him that he had served half of his sentence and said he would be getting legal advice on how this confusn could have arisen. what seems to have happened is because he was initially sentenced once and that was appealednd he was sentenced again and spent some time in prison and sometime unde house arrest and then a longer period which is what he is still doing in prison. there is confusion about exactly when his sentence should be considered to have started and it seems the supreme court of appeal and the chief justice has decided it only began on the last time he began his prison sentence. they are taking the strictest interpretation of the law. anchor: andrew harding on a

controversial social media influence andrew tate and his mother kristin have been released from jail and placed under house arrest. the brothers along with two romanian suspects have been in custody as prosecutors investigate them for suspected human trficking and rape and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women. the idea sounds simple enough, 15 minute cities. a way of living near where everything you need is nearby. the concept is growing in popularity but it has its critics. reporter: the 15 minutes said he. >> 15 minute cities have become a magnet for protests around the world from canada to the u.k. with conspiracy groups claiming without evidence they are designed to imprison us in our neighborhoods and limit our freedoms.

the idea seems pragmatic. to have everything we need from doctors and supermarkets work in schools within easy reach by foot or bicycle. this interpretation has roots in the u.k. where two separate plans to cut carbon emissions involving low traffic neighborhoods and another based on the 15 minute city were blended together. >> what i have seen is that this is part of a larger trend where someing that would seem positive like sustainable development goals, environmental concerns, that get twisted into something negative. reporter: we sat down to get some insight from the architect of the 15 minute city. >> it is a concept for improving the quality of life in a city and to develop local economies

and ecological activities and more shopping and to walk without a daily -- and to work without a daily long commute. reporter: many wonder what it would be like. here and then another lens pretty much the entire country -- here in the netheands, pretty much the entire cntry is covered with them so i thought it would be good to take you out on a spin with my bicycle. within 15 minutes i can reach the school of my daughter, the supermarket and the doctor and the other essentials for my daily life and despite the people objecting to this idea saying in order to get this going we will be knocked -- locked down in our neighborhoods, there is no evidence of boundaries or restrictions. anchor: not sure how far 15

minutes get you here -- gets you here in new york city. and an aquatic city of retirement and release. a florida aquarium is set to release lolita into the waters of the pacific northwest. finally able to retire from performances last year amid pressure from animal-rights groups. a 5000 pound killer whale was four years old when she was first captured in the 1970's. setting her free is no easy task. she will have to learn how to fish again as well as gaining more muscle. the process could take two years. there you have it. remember, you can always find more news on our website. for now, thank you for watching. narrator: funding for presentation of this program is provided by.. the freeman foundation. by judy and peter blum-kovler foundation.

pursuing sutions for america's neglected needs. and by contributions to this pbs station from viewers like you, thank you. ♪ ♪ narrator: you're watching pbs. ♪♪ announcer: usa today calls it, "arguably the best bargain in streaming." that's because the free pbs video app lets you watch the best of pbs anytime, anywhere. simply download the pbs video app on your mobile or streaming device.

♪ amna: good evening. i'm amna nawaz. geoff bennett is on assignment. on the "newshour" tonight. republicans rally around former president donald trump after his indictment over hush money payments during the 2016 campaign. the head of the international atomic energy agency visits a nuclear power plant on the front lines of russia's war in ukraine. >> my goal is to protect the plant and prevent a nuclear accident with catastrophic consequences which at this moment is entirely possible. amna: and david brooks and karen tumulty weigh in on trump's legal battles and how they could affect political divides in the united states. ♪