News Wrap: 2,000 feared dead following flooding in Libya

Amna Nawaz:

In the day's headlines, catastrophic flooding from a powerful storm has hit Eastern Libya. The Red Cross reports at least 150 people have been killed, and one of the country's rival prime ministers says up to 2,000 may be dead.

Images from the city of Derna today showed widespread devastation, with floods and mudslides sweeping away entire neighborhoods. Officials said 5,000 people may be missing. The same storm flooded parts of Greece, Turkey and Bulgaria last week.

Here at home, the nation marked 22 years since the attacks of September 11. For many Americans, it was a day for solemn ceremonies and sometimes tearful remembrances. Laura Barrón-López has our report.

Laura Barrón-López:

The horrors of that September day in 2001 remembered on this 22nd anniversary.

Man:

Petty officer 3rd Class Jamie L. Fallon.

Laura Barrón-López:

Nearly 3,000 people died when planes hijacked by al-Qaida terrorists crashed into New York's World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and a rural Pennsylvania field, making it the deadliest terror attack on U.S. soil.

Anita Jaggernauth, Daughter of September 11 Victim: I lost my dad here. It will never get easy. It's the same thing all over again. It hurts.

Laura Barrón-López:

Vice President Kamala Harris was among those who gathered to pay their respects at Ground Zero in Manhattan. Keeping with tradition, family members read the names of the dead aloud.

Brian MacLeod, Former NYPD Officer:

I needed to be here.

Laura Barrón-López:

Brian MacLeod, a former New York City police officer, returned to the site for the first time in more than two decades.

Brian MacLeod:

I haven't stepped foot on this grounds since October of 2001.

Laura Barrón-López:

In Arlington, Virginia, crews unfurled a giant American flag. A ceremony paid tribute to the 184 lives lost when one of the hijacked planes smashed into the Pentagon.

Chief Master Sgt. Amy Miller, U.S. Air Force:

President Joe Biden.

Laura Barrón-López:

En route back to Washington from Vietnam, President Biden stopped in Anchorage, Alaska, to mark the solemn anniversary with U.S. troops and their families.

Joe Biden:

The soul of America is the fortitude we found in the fear of that terrible September day, the purpose we found in our pain, the light we found in our darkest hour, an hour when terrorists believed they could bring us to our knees, bend our will, break our resolve.

But they were wrong. They were dead wrong.

Laura Barrón-López:

And in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, a memorial service where another hijacked jet crashed after passengers tried to storm the cockpit.

For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Laura Barrón-López.

Amna Nawaz:

Officials in New York recently identified two more victims from the attack at Ground Zero. But remains of 1,100 other victims at the site have never been identified.

Iran and the U.S. moved one step closer to a long-awaited prisoner swap. The Associated Press reports the Biden administration has approved letting international banks transfer $6 billion in frozen Iranian funds from South Korea to Qatar. The money is to pay for humanitarian goods. That could clear the way for Iran to release five American prisoners, while the U.S. frees five Iranians.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is headed to Russia tonight for talks with President Vladimir Putin. Both countries have confirmed the trip, and a train similar to Kim's was spotted today approaching North Korea's border with Russia. The meeting could come in Vladivostok, with Putin trying to obtain weapons for the war in Ukraine.

U.S. officials said it shows he is desperate.

Matthew Miller, State Department Spokesman:

I think there's no better evidence of that than now, a year-and-a-half later, not only has he failed to achieve his goals on the battlefield, but you see him traveling across his own country, hat in hand to beg Kim Jong-un for military assistance.

Amna Nawaz:

In return for weapons, pressure could supply North Korea with energy and food aid, plus advanced technology for its missiles, submarines and satellites.

Ukraine's military says it has recaptured several oil platforms in the Black Sea near Russian-occupied Crimea. Government video today showed troops approaching a rig and later hauling away military equipment. At one point, they also fired machine guns at a Russian jet overhead. Kyiv says the Russians had been using the platforms as military outposts.

Hurricane Lee is still churning in the open ocean tonight north of the Caribbean. The storm is slowly moving northwest, but it's not expected to make landfall anywhere soon, and whether it veers towards the U.S. and Canada is unclear.

In the meantime, Arizona may finally get a break from extreme heat. Phoenix has had 55 days this year of temperatures over 110 degrees, but readings are expected to drop slightly this week.

The Food and Drug Administration today approved new boosters for COVID-19 vaccines by Pfizer and Moderna. They're aimed at curbing the latest variants, and they're cleared for adults and children as young as 6 months. The CDC is expected to approve the shots tomorrow, and they could be available later this week.

Former President Donald Trump's lawyers are asking the federal judge presiding over his election subversion case in Washington, D.C., to recuse herself. A motion filed today says her past public statements about Mr. Trump and his connection to the January 6 Capitol right call into question whether she can be fair.

On Wall Street, big tech stocks led the broader market higher, partly over enthusiasm about artificial intelligence. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 87 points to close at 34663. The Nasdaq rose 156 points, or 1 percent. The S&P 500 added 30 points.

And the British scientist who pioneered cloning animals has died. Ian Wilmut passed away Sunday in Scotland after a long illness. His team gave the world Dolly the sheep in 1996, cloned from an adult sheep. Dolly lived for six years. Wilmut later focused on cloning human stem cells to help regenerate damaged tissue. Ian Wilmut was 79 years old.

Still to come on the "NewsHour": Google heads to court for the first major monopoly trial in the modern Internet age; Tamara Keith and Amy Walter break down the latest political headlines; a new sound innovation promises to change how people experience music and movies; plus much more.