JIM LEHRER: Some 200,000 people were ordered out of their
homes in Pennsylvania
today, to escape flooding. Authorities issued the order for Wilkes-Barre
and surrounding areas along the Susquehanna River.
Days of heavy rain sent the river near the tops of
floodwalls that rise 41 feet. Surging water also swamped parts of Reading to the southeast.
More than half of Pennsylvania's
counties were under a state of emergency.
Washington, D.C.,
and New York State also declared emergencies. The
flooding was blamed for at least 11 deaths.
The U.S. Supreme Court upheld most of a Texas congressional redistricting plan
today. The map was engineered by former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay in
2003. It helped Republicans add six seats in the U.S. House.
Today's decision approved the process and the end result. It
overturned the lines of only one district, on grounds Hispanics were denied
fair representation. We'll have more on this story, right after the news
summary.
Israeli forces launched new strikes across Gaza today in a
bid to free a captured soldier. There were air strikes near Gaza City and heavy
artillery bombardments near Rafah. Electricity and water service were cut off
for most of Gaza.
We have a report from Julian Manyon of Independent
Television News.
JULIAN MANYON, ITV News Correspondent: Massive explosions at
a power station signaled Israel's determination to get the kidnapped soldier
back. Nine Israeli missiles set the Gaza power plant ablaze, and soon
afterwards Israeli armor surged across the border into the southern Gaza Strip.
Israeli Air Force cameras recorded their destruction of two
bridges, cutting Gaza's main north-south roads. At first light, we drove past
one of the wrecked bridges and headed for the Israeli armored column. We found
it two miles inside Gaza on the edge of the Palestinian town of Rafah.
Bulldozers were digging positions for tanks and troop
carriers around a disused air field. Overhead, helicopter gun ships fired
bursts into open ground where Palestinian militants might be hiding.
This is Operation Summer Rains, launched to try to save
19-year old Corporal Gilad Shalit, held by Palestinian militants somewhere in
Gaza. The fighters who snatched him came from Rafah, and today small groups of
them were guarding areas where the Israelis might attack.
These men are from Hamas. Nearby in a refugee camp the
Israelis call the hornets' nest, another group, Islamic Jihad, paraded their
willingness to confront their vastly more powerful enemy.
The men of Islamic Jihad are putting on what they themselves
call a military show, to demonstrate that they are ready to fight to the death
if the Israelis come in. They say that they regard the young Israeli soldier as
a prisoner of war, and they say that he can only be given back as part of a
prisoner exchange.
Israel appears to believe that this operation will put
steadily-mounting pressure on ordinary Palestinians and their leadership to hand
back the captured soldier. But in battle-scarred southern Gaza, there's little
sign that the militants or their many supporters are ready to yield.
JIM LEHRER: The Israeli prime minister threatened
"extreme action." And Israeli planes buzzed the Syrian president's
summer home. Several exiled leaders of Hamas live in Syria.
In Washington, White House Press Secretary Tony Snow urged
Israel to show restraint.
TONY SNOW, White House Press Secretary: Israel has the right
to defend itself and the lives of its citizens, and any actions the government
of Israel may undertake the United States urges that it ensures that innocent
civilians are not harmed and also that it avoid the unnecessary destruction of
property and infrastructure. All parties ought to take every measure to restore
the security situation in Gaza.
JIM LEHRER: We'll have more on this story later in the
program.
Iraqi Prime Minister al-Maliki reported today numerous
contacts from insurgents over his reconciliation plan. It includes an amnesty. Maliki
also said it's unrealistic to set a timetable for a U.S. pullout until Iraqi
troops can go it alone.
But the Associated Press reported 11 Sunni groups have
offered to stop attacks if U.S. troops will leave within two years. Also today,
U.S. officials announced the deaths of two more Americans in combat.
Secretary of State Rice pledged continued U.S. support today
for Afghanistan's leader. She arrived in Kabul to bolster President Karzai. He's
come under criticism at home and abroad amid rising violence.
Later, Rice stood by Karzai's side and offered words of
encouragement.
CONDOLEEZZA RICE, U.S. Secretary of State: His optimism or
my optimism about what Afghanistan has achieved is not a matter of trying to
ignore the problems and the challenges, but simply to say that in a country
that five years ago was still under the rule of the Taliban, the progress has
been extraordinary.
JIM LEHRER: In southern Afghanistan today, two suicide
bombers blew up a car near a U.S. military convoy. They were killed, but the
soldiers escaped unhurt.
The U.S. Senate confirmed Henry Paulson as treasury
secretary today. He had been chairman and CEO of the Wall Street investment
firm Goldman Sachs since 1999. Paulson succeeds John Snow, who stepped down
after 3 1/2 years on the job.
The Bush administration issued new rules for welfare-to-work
programs today. Congress had ordered changes to tighten the definition of what
counts as "work."
Under the new rules, states have to prove education and
training directly relate to a job. They also have to mandate that work
activities be supervised. Counseling for substance abuse or psychological
problems still qualify as job readiness, but states that also counted bed rest
and motivational reading may have to change.
On Wall Street today, the Dow Jones Industrial Average
gained more than 48 points to close at 10,973. The Nasdaq rose 11 points to
close above 2,111.
