News Wrap: Dow tumbles marking worst day since 2020

Read the Full Transcript

• Amna Nawaz:

  In the day's other news: Stocks took a nosedive on Wall Street over disappointing corporate earnings reports and the prospect of future interest rate hikes in the months ahead. Yesterday, the head of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell, signaled that the Fed will move more aggressively to tackle inflation with bigger interest rate increases as early as next month.

  Today, the Dow Jones industrial average plunged 981 points to close at 33811, notching its worst day since 2020. The Nasdaq tumbled 335 points. The S&P 500 fell 122.

  Firefighters across the Southwest are battling half-a-dozen wildfires amid intense winds up to 50 miles an hour. One of the biggest fires outside of Flagstaff, Arizona, has burned over 21,000 acres and is still only 3 percent contained. The ferocious winds, coupled with extremely dry conditions, have caused the blaze to explode in size.

• Preston Mercer, Fire Management Specialist:

  Well, this fire is 100 percent a wind-driven fire. And most of the fires we get in Northern Arizona are wind-driven fires.

  Typically, we catch the fires after the wind dies down, you know, once the wind event goes away. In the springtime, sometimes, we get five-, six-, seven-day wind events. And that's what we're seeing here.

• Amna Nawaz:

  Sheriff's deputies said that, so far, more than 100 properties have been affected by the fire.

  Guns were the leading cause of death among children and teens in 2020. That's according to researchers at the University of Michigan, whose findings were published in "The New England Journal of Medicine." They analyzed mortality data from the CDC and found there were 4,300 deaths from firearm-related injuries in 2020. That's a 29 percent increase from 2019.

  Guns killed more people between the ages of 1 and 19 than car accidents, drug overdoses, or cancer.

  President Biden celebrated this Earth Day by taking unilateral action to protect the environment. He signed an executive order designed to help restore national forests ravaged by wildfires, droughts, and plant diseases. He also made remarks, drawing contrast with his predecessor on the issue.

• President Joe Biden:

  We're in one of those moments in world history and in American history where we have reached the point that the crisis on the environment has become so obvious, with the notable exception of the former president, that we really have an opportunity to do things we couldn't have done two, five, 10 years ago.

• Amna Nawaz:

  Meanwhile, environmental activists around the world marked Earth Day by taking to the streets, from anti-fracking demonstrations in Colombia and protests against oil in London, to a student climate March in San Francisco.

  Philadelphia has lifted its indoor mask mandate, only four days after it became the first major city to reimpose it. Health officials initially believed indoor masking was necessary to avoid a new wave of COVID-19 infections. But they called it off after seeing what they said was an unexpected drop in the number of hospitalizations and cases since the mandate was reinstated.

  Cheryl Bettigole, Commissioner, Philadelphia Department of Public Health,: I think that most Philadelphians have understood that there was a mask mandate and why. And I think that's what were seeing in the data.

  If people hadn't understood that, I don't think we would see Philadelphia data moving in the direction that it's moving, given that that's different from the surrounding areas.

• Amna Nawaz:

  Meanwhile, beginning today, Los Angeles is requiring masks for everyone passing through its airports or riding public transit.

  At least 33 people died in Northern Afghanistan today after a bombing at a mosque and religious school. The explosion littered the floor with shattered glass and debris; 43 people were wounded. And officials said many of them were students. Today's attack comes on the heels of a string of deadly bombings in the country this week targeting Shiite Muslims. The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for many of them.

  And tensions remained high in Jerusalem today as violence broke out at the Al-Aqsa Mosque for the seventh time in eight days. Palestinian youths threw rocks and fireworks at the gate where Israeli police were stationed. The Israeli police then stormed the mosque and fired stun grenades to clear the compound. Medics said more than two dozen Palestinians were wounded. The violence ended hours later, allowing thousands of Muslims to attend midday prayers.