News Wrap: Baton Rouge holds vigil for 3 slain cops

In our news wrap Thursday, Vice President Joe Biden and U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch attend a vigil in Baton Rouge for the three cops fatally shot last month in an ambush. Also, the Syrian government and its Russian allies offered to open humanitarian corridors leading out of the Syrian city of Aleppo, where an estimated 300,000 people are trapped in the eastern section held by rebels.

Read the Full Transcript

Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors.

  • HARI SREENIVASAN:

    In the day's other news: Baton Rouge, Louisiana, held a vigil to honor three police officers who were killed earlier this month. They were ambushed by a gunman, who was later killed by a SWAT team member. Today, hundreds of people paid tribute to the officers, including Vice President Joe Biden and U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch.

  • LORETTA LYNCH, U.S. Attorney General:

    In the face of division, people who sought to come into a beautiful town and tear it apart, in the face of that desire to sow hatred, we come together in love. Baton Rouge has chosen that. The state has seen it. The country has seen it. You are the example for cities who are facing these problems.

  • HARI SREENIVASAN:

    The attack on the officers came during tensions over the death of a black man in a struggle with white police.

    In Syria, the government and its Russian allies offered to open humanitarian corridors out of the embattled city of Aleppo. Some 300,000 people are trapped in the eastern part of the city that is held by rebels. Government troops have encircled the area, after intense fighting, and the army dropped leaflets about the — quote — "safe exit plan."

    A special U.N. envoy says conditions there are desperate.

    STAFFAN DE MISTURA, UN Special Envoy for Syria: There is probably, we heard, two to three weeks of supply, and in view of the bombing of the warehouses, medical facilities, bakeries, the humanitarian situation is getting more and more concerning.

  • HARI SREENIVASAN:

    Also today, Syria's President, Bashar al-Assad, offered general amnesty for rebels who give up their weapons and surrender over the next three months.

    Back in this country, Wall Street turned in another so-so day. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 15 points to close at 18456. The Nasdaq rose 15 points, and the S&P 500 added three.

    And a light show over parts of the Western U.S. last night turned out to be a Chinese rocket burning up in the atmosphere. Social media users captured an object flaring up, and leaving streaks of flames behind it. Sightings were reported from California to Utah. It's unclear if the rocket posed any danger to those on the ground.

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today asked blood centers in two in Florida counties to suspend blood donations until each unit can be screened for the Zika virus.

    This comes as state health officials investigate four non-travel-related cases of Zika, which may mean the first cases of local Zika virus transmission by mosquitoes in the United States.

Listen to this Segment