News Wrap: 900,000 kids ages 5 to 11 got COVID shot in first week, White House says

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• Judy Woodruff:

  In the day's other news: Ten states have filed suit to block a federal COVID vaccination requirement for health care workers. Mostly Republican state officials had already sued over similar requirements for large employers.

  Meanwhile, the White House reported 900,000 young children have gotten shots in their first week of eligibility.

  Kyle Rittenhouse took the stand today in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and denied doing anything wrong when he shot two men to death and wounded a third. It happened during racial justice protests last year. Rittenhouse insisted he was defending himself in the confrontations.

  We will take a closer look after the news summary.

  At the U.N. climate summit, governments today considered phasing out the use of coal, but with no timeline. That's in a draft final document. It also calls again for cutting carbon emissions nearly in half by 2030 from 2010 levels.

  The president of the so-called COP 26 gathering says the summit needs a strong finish.

  Alok Sharma, President, 26th Conference of Parties: I still have the intention for us to be able to close COP 26 at the end of Friday. Everyone must come armed with the currency of compromise. We all know what is at stake in these negotiations, and indeed the urgency of our task.

• Judy Woodruff:

  Meanwhile, the U.S. and China pledged to increase their cooperation on climate action. They are the largest carbon emitters in the world.

  We will look at the climate issue later in the program.

  There is word that up to 300,000 Afghans have fled to Iran since the Taliban takeover last August. The Norwegian Refugee Council gave that estimate today, and it warned that hundreds of thousands more will follow. But the Taliban urged former Afghan military pilots to stay without fear of reprisal. About 140 Afghan fliers were evacuated from neighboring Tajikistan on Tuesday to the United Arab Emirates.

  Back in this country, a federal judge approved a settlement of $626 million for people exposed to lead-tainted water in Flint, Michigan. It means every child who was exposed, plus many adults, businesses and others, will receive payment. The money is coming mainly from the state, which allegedly ignored the problem for years.

  The U.S. Treasury said today that the federal budget deficit fell sharply in October. It was $165 billion, down 42 percent from the same month last year. The Treasury credits economic recovery for boosting tax revenues.

  And on Wall Street, the inflation report did a number on stocks. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 240 points, to close at 36079. The Nasdaq fell 263, nearly 1.7 percent. The S&P 500 slipped 38.