News Wrap: Cameras at Pelosi home not monitored during attack because speaker wasn’t there

Judy Woodruff:

The Federal Reserve has fired another interest rate salvo in its fight with inflation.

Fed policymakers raised rates today by three-quarters-of-a-point for the fourth time in a row. And Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell warned that it is — quote — "very premature" to think of halting rate hikes. We will get details after the news summary.

Wall Street took a sharp turn south after that warning from the Fed chairman. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 500 points, 1.5 percent, to close at 32147. The Nasdaq fell 366 points, more than 3 percent. The S&P 500 dropped 2.5 percent.

The midterm elections are six days away, and President Biden is warning that democracy is under threat. He will speak tonight at a Democratic Party event near the U.S. Capitol. Aides say he will condemn Republicans who won't promise to accept the election results, calling them un-American. He will also raise the attack on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband, among other things.

Karine Jean-Pierre, White House Press Secretary:

The president believes this is a moment of reckoning. This is not a regular moment in our democracy. This is not a regular moment in time.

And this is — as the president has said many times, we are in an inflection point. And he's going to call it all out.

Judy Woodruff:

Also today, the U.S. Capitol Police acknowledged that they were not watching cameras monitoring the Pelosi home in San Francisco when the attacker broke in because the speaker herself was not there.

They have said that they have begun a security review.

In Israel, former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remains headed for a decisive win with nearly all votes counted in Tuesday's national elections. His nationalist ultra-religious bloc appears to have clinched a firm majority in Parliament. That would make him prime minister of Israel's most far-right government yet.

Ethiopia's warring parties agreed today to end two years of fighting after widespread atrocities and thousands of victims. It followed talks in South Africa between Ethiopia's government and Tigrayan forces in the country's north. Details of the agreement were not immediately available.

Tensions between the two Koreas are running even higher after the North launched a barrage of missiles today. The South responded in kind, and the two traded a new round of threats.

Geoff Bennett has our report.

Geoff Bennett:

An historic day of provocation overseas that started with North Korea firing at least 23 missiles, one of them landing shy of South Korea's Ulleung Island.

Kim Sung-Han, South Korean National Security Adviser (through translator):

These acts, for any reasons, are unacceptable and North Korea is who is responsible.

Geoff Bennett:

It's the most missiles fired by the North in a single day and the closest one has gotten to the South's waters since the countries divided in 1945, just 104 miles northwest of the island.

Kang Shin-Chul, Director of Operations, South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (through translator): Today's launch is the first time a North Korean missile landed near our territorial waters, and this is unprecedented and unacceptable.

Geoff Bennett:

South Korean residents were under an air raid alert, some ordered to move to underground shelters by the military. Hours later, that alert was lifted. South Korea's military retaliated quickly, launching its own missiles in the same area.

The launches follow warnings from Pyongyang on Monday for the U.S. and South Korea to stop their large-scale joint military operations, which started this week. North Korea says it views the drills as an invasion rehearsal, threatening the use of nuclear weapons hours before the launch.

The U.S. insists the drills are purely defensive and lack hostile intent.

National security spokesman John Kirby today:

John Kirby, NSC Coordinator For Strategic Communications:

We, of course, condemn these missile launches. And we are, of course, coordinating closely with our allies and partners.

Geoff Bennett:

And Japan:

Yasukazu Hamada, Japanese Minister of Defense (through translator): These actions by North Korea threaten the peace and stability of Japan, the region as well as the international community, and are utterly unacceptable.

Geoff Bennett:

Even from the North's closest ally, China.

Zhao Lijian, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman (through translator):

It is in the common interest of the region to maintain peace and stability on the peninsula and resolve each other's concerns.

Geoff Bennett:

Some air routes over the sea between North Korea and Japan will remain closed through Thursday.

For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Geoff Bennett.

Judy Woodruff:

South Korea's national police agency raided local police offices in Seoul today in the wake of a crowd crush that killed 156 people. National officials have said that officers did not respond quickly enough Saturday night. That's despite warnings that the crowd of Halloween revelers was growing out of control.

Russia now says that it is rejoining an agreement to let Ukrainian grain ships reach global food markets. Moscow had stopped participating after a weekend drone attack on its Black Sea fleet. Ukraine never claimed that attack, but Russia's President Vladimir Putin announced today that Kyiv has given new security guarantees.

Vladimir Putin, Russian President (through translator):

I have instructed the Defense Ministry to resume our participation in this work. However, Russia reserves the right to withdraw from these agreements if these guarantees are breached by Ukraine.

Judy Woodruff:

The U.N. mediated that grain agreement in July.

A government commission in Australia has begun reviewing decades of unsolved deaths in hate crimes against gays. The panel in New South Wales says that it is the first inquiry of its kind anywhere. Investigators will examine 86 deaths between 1976 and 2000. A previous inquiry found that police failed to fully investigate the killings.

Back in this country, a judge in Florida sentenced the Parkland school shooter, Nikolas Cruz, to life in prison without parole. He killed 17 people in 2018. Today, parents of victims spoke for a second day with framed photos of lost loved ones. Some condemned the jury for failing to impose the death penalty.

The two largest U.S. pharmacy chains, CVS and Walgreens, agreed today to settle opioid lawsuits nationwide. Each would pay $5 billion to state, local and tribal governments. Walmart reportedly will settle too for $3 billion. The companies allegedly filled prescriptions that they should have flagged. but they have admitted to no wrongdoing under the settlement.

And CBS and its former president Leslie Moonves will pay $30.5 million dollars to the network's shareholders and others. It's part of a deal with the New York attorney general's office to compensate for an insider trading investigation in concealing sexual assault allegations against Moonves.

Still to come on the "NewsHour": the impact young voters could have on the midterms; where the issue of abortion rights is on the ballot this election; U2 singer Bono discusses his global activism; plus much more.