News Wrap: Biden holds White House meeting on gun control as U.S. sees spike in violence

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• Judy Woodruff:

  In the day's other news: President Biden issued fresh appeals to get gun violence under control.

  He called in Attorney General Merrick Garland, plus law enforcement and local officials today, amid a spike in shootings across the nation.

• President Joseph Biden:

  We recognize that we have to come together to fulfill the first responsibility of a democracy. That's to keep each other safe. And that's what the American people are looking for when it comes to reducing violent crime and gun violence.

• Judy Woodruff:

  Mayors and other leaders from New York, Chicago, Washington, and Memphis were among those attending the meeting.

  Drugmaker Pfizer met today with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to advocate COVID-19 booster shots. The company wants authorization for a third dose of its vaccine. Federal officials say it is not needed yet.

  Meanwhile, the World Health Organization appealed for shipping vaccines to poor nations before anyone adds booster shots.

  Firefighters across the Western U.S. have faced another day of searing heat. The largest wildfire of the year in California has already scorched about 140 square miles along the Nevada state line. A fire in Oregon damaged electrical transmission lines, forcing California's power grid operators to call for conservation.

  The death toll reached 94 today at a collapsed condominium building near Miami. Crews found four more bodies, leaving 22 people still missing.

  The mayor of Miami-Dade County acknowledged it's getting harder to identify decomposing remains.

• Daniella Levine Cava:

  At this step in the recovery process, we must rely heavily on the work of the medical examiner's office.

  They're undertaking technical and scientific processes to identify the human remains. The process is very methodical and careful, and it does take time.

• Judy Woodruff:

  Local officials also said they're tightening security at the site to reassure the victims' families.

  In Afghanistan, the top U.S. commander formally stepped down today, as the U.S. withdrawal winds down by August 31. Army General Scott Miller handed authority to Marine General Frank McKenzie. He will operate from U.S. Central Command in Tampa.

  Police in Britain have opened investigations into racist abuse of three Black professional soccer players. They missed penalty kicks on Sunday as England lost to Italy in the European championship. The loss triggered online attacks that Prime Minister Boris Johnson joined in denouncing today.

• Prime Minster Boris Johnson:

  To those who have been directing racist abuse at some of the players, I say, shame on you and I hope you will crawl back under the rock from which you emerged, because this entire team played like heroes.

• Judy Woodruff:

  Johnson himself was criticized last month for not condemning the booing of players who took a knee to protest racial injustice.

  Back in this country, dozens of Texas Democrats walked out of a special legislative session hoping to block new voting restrictions. They're trying to deny majority Republicans a quorum to do business, as they did last month. The Democratic lawmakers headed to Washington to demand federal action on protecting voting rights.

  On Wall Street, stocks turned modest gains into record closes on all three major indexes. The Dow Jones industrial average was up 126 points to close at 34996. The Nasdaq rose 31 points. The S&P 500 added 15.

  And Edwin Edwards, a flamboyant four-term governor of Louisiana, has died. The veteran Democrat was known for his sharp tongue, high living and populist style. But he ultimately served eight years in prison for racketeering and other crimes.

  Edwin Edwards was 93 years old.

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