News Wrap: Midwest and South brace for more storms days after tornadoes killed 32

Amna Nawaz:

In the day's other headlines: Parts of the Midwest and south braced for a new wave of severe weather days after tornadoes killed 32 people.

This morning, powerful thunderstorms swept the Quad Cities area in Iowa and Illinois with winds of 80 miles an hour and hail the size of baseballs. Meanwhile, a blizzard warning covered the Dakotas. And high winds kept fire conditions dangerous across the Southwest.

There's some encouraging news about Evan Gershkovich, The Wall Street Journal reporter being held in Russia. The newspaper says he met with his lawyers today for the first time and appeared to be in good health. The Journal has denied Gershkovich was spying, as Russia claims.

A Russian woman suspected in a fatal bombing will stay in jail for two months pending an investigation. Sunday's attack in St. Petersburg killed a military blogger who backed the war in Ukraine. At a hearing today, Daria Trepova was kept in a glass holding cell. She's reportedly said she did not know that a statuette she gave to the victim was really a bomb.

The Kremlin today denied abducting children from Ukraine. The International Criminal Court has accused the Russians of taking hundreds of children from orphanages and putting some up for adoption. That would be a war crime. But the Russian commissioner for children's rights called the allegations a farce.

Maria Lvova-Belova, Russian Commissioner For Children's Rights (through translator):

So, when an investigation is published that children are being taken away in huge numbers for reeducation in secret camps, which they managed to film only from a satellite, it seems to me that this is some kind of conspiracy. All children have phones, but I have not yet seen a single video showing that they were treated cruelly.

Amna Nawaz:

The Russians insists they have acted purely on humanitarian grounds and that, in any event, they do not recognize the international court's jurisdiction.

The United States is sending Ukraine another $2.6 billion in military aid. Today's announcement includes ammunition, radar, anti-tank rockets and fuel trucks for a possible spring offensive by Ukraine. U.S. military aid to Kyiv has topped $35 billion since Russia invaded.

The U.S. military also announced today that a drone strike has killed a senior member of the Islamic State in Syria. The statement said that Khalid Aydd Ahmad al-Jabouri was in charge of planning attacks in Europe. Reports from Syria say the attack came Monday outside a village in Idlib province in the northwestern part of the country.

Back in this country, Chicago held a run-off for a new mayor, one of two key elections today. Moderate Democrat Paul Vallas, backed by the Chicago police union, faced progressive Brandon Johnson, who's supported by the teachers union.

Meanwhile, Wisconsin voters were choosing a new state Supreme Court justice. The outcome could affect abortion access, voting rights and potential challenges to the 2024 election results.

And on Wall Street, stocks edged lower as weaker data on job openings and factory orders raise new recession worries. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 198 points to close at 33402. The Nasdaq fell 63 points and the S&P 500 slipped nearly 24 points.

And the University of Connecticut Huskies have returned home to a hero's welcome after winning the NCAA men's basketball championship. UConn beat San Diego State in Houston last night 76-59. It was the Huskies' fifth national title in the past 24 years.

And congratulations to them.

Still to come on the "NewsHour": Finland formally joined NATO in the latest blow to Russia's international standing; the debate over gun violence intensifies following a mass shooting at a Tennessee school; and Norway's Global Seed Vault becomes more important than ever in the face of climate change.