News Wrap: 218,000 migrants reached Europe by sea last month, says UN

JUDY WOODRUFF:

New numbers today put the enormity of Europe's migrant surge in stark relief. The United Nations Refugee Agency said more than 218,000 people reached the continent by sea last month. That's roughly equal to the total for all of 2014.

Streams of adults and children kept trekking across Southern European borders today, and U.N. officials warned there's no letup in sight.

ADRIAN EDWARDS, UNHCR Spokesman:

We have to expect this level of arrival to continue, and that's because the factors that are causing people to move aren't going away.

We are in a period of record numbers of forced displacement globally, almost 60 million people fleeing conflict, fleeing areas of instability. It is the new reality that we all have to deal with, that this is a phenomenon that isn't going away quickly.

JUDY WOODRUFF:

The U.N. anticipates some 744,000 migrants will arrive in Europe for all of this year. More than half are from Syria. At least another 3,400 people have died or disappeared trying to make the journey.

GWEN IFILL:

Communities in Colorado and North Carolina are looking for answers, after weekend shootings that left five people dead. In Colorado Springs, on Saturday, a gunman killed three people in a neighborhood street, before police killed him. A local newspaper reports he'd complained online of mind control.

And early yesterday at Winston-Salem State University, one student was shot dead and another was wounded. The suspect is a former student.

JUDY WOODRUFF:

A two-year bipartisan federal budget deal has officially become law. President Obama signed it today in a brief ceremony in the Oval Office. That prevented the government from defaulting on its debts tomorrow. The package also includes $80 billion in new spending for defense and domestic programs.

GWEN IFILL:

The president also stepped up his push for criminal justice reforms today, highlighting efforts to help former inmates reenter society.

In Newark, New Jersey, he announced he's ordering federal agencies to ban the box on criminal history that appears on employment forms.

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA:

On many job applications, there is a box that asks if you have criminal record. If you answer yes, then a lot of times you're not getting a call back. We're going to do our part in changing this. The federal government, I believe, shouldn't use criminal history to screen out applicants, before we even look at their qualifications.

GWEN IFILL:

The president said roughly 70 million Americans have some kind of criminal record.

JUDY WOODRUFF:

Two people who served on a papal reform commission have been arrested on suspicion they leaked confidential documents. Vatican authorities say a Spanish priest and Italian laywoman allegedly passed the information to journalists.

Pope Francis formed the now-defunct commission in 2013 in an effort to address the Vatican's secretive and complex financial holdings.

GREG BURKE, Senior Media Adviser, Vatican:

Once again, people are trying to profit from stolen documents, and people with the trust of Pope Francis have betrayed it, people that the pope trusted in. That's hardly the way to help his mission.

JUDY WOODRUFF:

Francis' predecessor, Pope Benedict, faced a similar document leak in 2012 that led to the arrest of his butler and a Vatican computer technician.

GWEN IFILL:

For the first time, an African-American cleric will lead the U.S. Episcopal Church. Presiding Bishop Michael Curry was installed Sunday. In the face of dwindling membership, he urged the nation's two million Episcopalians to reach out to those of different racial and economic backgrounds. Curry succeeds Katharine Jefferts Schori, the first woman to serve in the position.

JUDY WOODRUFF:

Wall Street got the week off to a strong start, thanks to a rally in health care and energy stocks. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 165 points to close near 17830, putting it back in positive territory for the year. The Nasdaq rose more than 70 points, and the S&P 500 added 24.

GWEN IFILL:

And Kansas City is celebrating today, after the Royals won their first World Series championship in 30 years. The Royals rallied last night to beat the New York Mets, 7-to-2, in 12 innings. And that gave them the title four games to one.

JUDY WOODRUFF:

A lot of celebrating in Kansas City.

GWEN IFILL:

Yes.