JIM LEHRER: Congress headed toward a veto showdown with President Bush today on the Iraq war. The House neared approval of a funding bill that orders combat troops to begin leaving October 1st.
Before the debate, anti-war protesters shouted at lawmakers as they arrived to meet with Gen. David Petraeus. The U.S. commander in Iraq warned against setting timetables. We'll have more on this story right after the news summary.
In Iraq today, another suicide bomber struck in Diyala province, killing four Iraqi policemen. The attack, northeast of Baghdad, came two days after bombings that killed nine U.S. paratroopers there.
Also today, the U.N. reported civilian casualties remained high from January through March, especially in Baghdad. The security crackdown began in February. The Iraqi government called today's report "unbalanced," but it refused to release death numbers.
Osama bin Laden planned a bombing in Afghanistan last February during a visit by Vice President Cheney; a top Taliban commander made that claim today on Al-Jazeera television. He said bin Laden is supervising attacks in Iraq and Afghanistan. The bombing in February killed 23 people outside a U.S. military base.
U.S. congressional committees pressed for testimony today in two investigations. On the U.S. attorney firings, the House Judiciary Committee granted immunity to Monica Goodling, a former top aide to Attorney General Gonzales. She had cited her right against self-incrimination.
Another House panel voted to subpoena Secretary of State Rice. Democrats demanded more on pre-war claims that Iraq tried to buy uranium. Republicans said there's no point.
REP. HENRY WAXMAN (D), California: The CIA knew this was all nonsense, and she was informed about it, as best I can tell. And how she, as the chief person in charge of intelligence for the president of the United States, couldn't recall? If that's her answer, then let her say it.
REP. CHRISTOPHER SHAYS (R), Connecticut: What you will succeed in getting her here is either to have her say the same thing or say, "You know what? I made a mistake. Maybe I misled." Then what? Then are you going to ask to impeach her? Is that going to help us win the war in Iraq or help us get our troops home? What will be accomplished by this, other than some real satisfaction?
JIM LEHRER: That same committee also voted subpoenas for the Republican National Committee. The subpoenas seek information about missing White House e- mails sent on RNC accounts.
The stock market shot ahead today, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average topped 13,000 for the first time. It gained nearly 136 points to close just under 13,090. The Nasdaq rose 23 points to close above 2,547. The market rallied on reports of strong corporate earnings and orders for big-ticket durable goods.
Severe weather rolled across the nation's midsection today, setting off new tornado alerts. Last night, a tornado hit Eagle Pass, Texas, killing at least seven people there and three more on the Mexico side of the border. NewsHour correspondent Kwame Holman narrates our report.
KWAME HOLMAN: Residents of this Texas border town of 26,000 awoke to a scene of widespread destruction: Two schools were flattened; trucks lay on their sides; and more than 20 homes sustained heavy damage.
TEXAS RESIDENT: I went to the front door, and I looked through to the front. It was the trailer, disappeared.
KWAME HOLMAN: Many Eagle Pass residents were able to make it into a Red Cross shelter, and today, a search continued.
JUDGE JOSE ARANDA, Maverick County: We're still on a search-and-rescue mission. We have completed two areas that have been squared off for early this morning, and we still lack the biggest area. Up to this point, we have not found any more bodies.
KWAME HOLMAN: The weather system's high winds and heavy rains forced cancellation of 200 flights in Dallas and sparked flash flooding, trapping drivers just north of the city.
Funnel clouds weren't isolated to Texas; the National Weather Service reported 20 more formed across the central plains. The back end of the same weather system piled snow two feet deep in the Rockies this week.
JIM LEHRER: Later today, the storm system was blamed for another death in Louisiana.
Police filled in key details today on the Virginia Tech massacre, but a motive remained elusive. Investigators said they now know Seung-Hui Cho fired 170 rounds over nine minutes in the main assault at a classroom building. But State Police Superintendent Steven Flaherty also said, "We certainly don't have any one motive that we are pursuing." Cho killed 32 people before taking his own life.
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments today on limiting political ads by interest groups. The McCain-Feingold campaign finance law bars the ads close to elections. That's if they mention a candidate's name and if they're funded by corporations. Interest groups claimed the curbs violate their free speech rights. We'll have more on the story later in the program tonight.
Republican Senator John McCain formally announced today he'll run for president again. He made it official in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, which holds the first primary next year. At age 70, he said he's the most experienced candidate.
McCain has staked his campaign on winning the Iraq war. He lost his first bid for the Republican nomination in the year 2000.
Former Russian President Boris Yeltsin was laid to rest today. The funeral in Moscow drew thousands of mourners and foreign leaders, past and present. We have a report narrated by Nick Paton Walsh of Independent Television News.
NICK PATON WALSH, ITV News Correspondent: The hushed tones of farewell, Moscow overcast. A people practiced in grief and its many rituals, filing past the man who both set them free and let an empire unravel.
More notable, the Western dignitaries. To them, he was the bear that melted away the last remnants of the Cold War. Iconoclastic towards Mikhail Gorbachev's Soviet order, through whose ranks he rose, leaving some Russians with a sour taste of democracy. Vladimir Putin's likely anointed successor, Sergei Ivanov, nodding on the left here. The fabulously wealthy elite that his era helped create also paying homage.
And from here he was taken to be buried in Novodevichy Cemetery. The full pomp of state ceremony afforded him by his successor, President Putin said of his polar opposite, "He talked directly and openly. He never went behind someone's back."
Russia's mixed feelings about their first president, forgotten in the longing of his widow's last goodbye.
JIM LEHRER: Yeltsin died of heart failure on Monday. He was 76 years old.
A heated debate took shape in Mexico City today, after city lawmakers voted to legalize abortion there. The landmark decision covers the first three months of pregnancy. Supporters said it could lead to easing strict limits on abortion across Latin America; conservatives and Roman Catholic leaders condemned the move. They vowed a legal challenge.
