Good evening. I'm William Brangham. Jeff Bennett and Omna Nawaz are away. On the news hour tonight, the January 6th and classified documents cases against President-elect Trump are dropped as he transitions back into the White House and as he builds up a team to carry out his agenda.

Then, we examine what was and was not accomplished at the latest global climate conference

as world temperatures continue to rise.

And Venezuela's opposition leader speaks out about President Nicolas Maduro's crackdown

ahead of his inauguration to a third term.

We will never, never surrender.

All of the Muslims won't give up.

Minnesota will be a free country, a prosperous country.

The Welcome to the news hour.

The two federal felony criminal cases against President-elect Donald Trump are being dropped.

Special counsel Jack Smith filed motions today to end the case

charging Trump with illegally holding classified documents and the other for his efforts to unlawfully

overturn the 2020 presidential election. Smith defended the evidence in both cases and the

decision to prosecute, but said today's expected move hinged on a long-standing

Justice Department policy that a sitting president cannot face criminal prosecution. Smith left open

the possibility the cases could be reopened when Trump leaves office. Trump lauded today's move,

writing, the cases were, quote, empty and lawless.

Meanwhile, the president-elect continues to round out his cabinet, including some key economic

appointments. He's chosen billionaire hedge fund manager Scott Besant for Treasury Secretary,

and for Commerce, he's chosen Howard Lutnik, the CEO of financial services

firm Cantor Fitzgerald, and a big backer of tariffs. For more on what these choices mean for

Trump's agenda, we are joined again by David Wessel. He's the director of the Hutchins Center

...