News Wrap: FBI agents shoot and kill Utah man accused of making threats against Biden

Amna Nawaz:

FBI agents have shot and killed a Utah man accused of making threats against President Biden. It happened early today in Provo, Utah, hours before the president was due to arrive in the state. The FBI says agents were trying to serve a search warrant at the home of Craig Robertson. He had posted that he was dusting off his sniper rifle ahead of the Biden visit.

Hawaii is beset tonight by hellish scenes of wildfires, driven by a passing hurricane. So far, six people have been killed. Thousands of acres have burned across Maui, including parts of Lahaina town, dating to the 1700s. Overnight, flames rimmed the horizon as high winds grounded firefighting helicopters.

By day, amateur video showed plumes of smoke and homes and businesses destroyed in Lahaina. Some people ran into the sea to escape the flames. Others were flown out for treatment of burns.

Days of downpours in Northern Europe caused a partial dam burst in Norway today. Flooding had already put parts of the countryside underwater and prompted evacuations of more than 1,000 people. Elsewhere in Norway, overflowing rivers have swept away mobile homes and small buildings and landslides have ravaged homes.

Hans Olav Leite, Landslide Victim (through interpreter):

It was like a massive machine, like a bulldozer that was sweeping everything away with it.

When I looked out my window, I saw a pile of huge, muddy tree trunks that were laying right next to my house. There was a rescue team at my door right away. They had to find a big rock and break the glass of the door to get me out.

Amna Nawaz:

Meanwhile, in Southern Europe, some 1,000 firefighters are battling fires in Portugal fueled by triple-digit temperatures. It's the region's third severe heat wave this summer.

Leaders of eight South American countries urged industrialized nations today to do more to preserve the Amazon rain forest, the world's largest. They have been meeting in Brazil at a regional climate summit. Today, Brazil's president called for wealthy states to protect the Amazon before it reaches a point of no return.

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Brazilian President (through interpreter): It's not Brazil that needs money. It's not Colombia that needs money. It's not Venezuela. It's the nature that industrial development over 200 years has polluted that needs them to pay their share now for us to recompose part of what was damaged. It is nature that needs money and financing.

Amna Nawaz:

Some environmental groups say they have been disappointed with the summit, and that the leaders have offered little in the way of concrete action.

In Russia, authorities say a factory explosion killed one person and wounded 56 today, amid conflicting reports of a Ukrainian drone attack. It happened at an industrial site north of Moscow that makes optical and mechanical gear for the Russian military. Security camera footage showed the blast erupting at what officials said was a warehouse storing fireworks. Rescue teams searched through the day for survivors.

Back in this country, there's word the January 6 special counsel fought for months to view former President Trump's account records from Twitter, now known as X. Court documents out today show a federal judge ultimately fined the company $350,000 for failing to comply with a search warrant on time.

Voters in Ohio have set the stage for a showdown on abortion rights this fall. On Tuesday, they rejected a proposal making it harder to amend the state Constitution. It would have required 60 percent approval, instead of the current simple majority. Turnout was much higher than usual, as the two sides pointed toward November and a ballot question that would enshrine abortion rights in the Constitution.

Dr. Marcela Azevedo, President, Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights: Ohioans will have a say when November comes, and we will vote yes.

State Sen. Matt Huffman (R-OH):

If it passes in November, there's going to be another abortion amendment go on after that to repeal that.

Amna Nawaz:

Six states have had votes involving abortion since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade last year. Supporters of abortion rights have won all six.

An American nurse and her young daughter are free tonight in Haiti, after kidnappers released them. They'd been held nearly two weeks. Alix Dorsainvil was abducted, along with her daughter, as she worked at her husband's Christian aid clinic. It's located in a gang-controlled section of Port-au-Prince. U.S. officials welcomed their return, but gave no further details.

The cost of this year's severe weather across the U.S. is setting records. A leading reinsurance company, Swiss Re, reports thunderstorms alone racked up a record $34 billion in insured losses in the year's first six months.

And, on Wall Street, stocks dipped as investors wait for the July inflation report tomorrow. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 191 points to close at 35123. The Nasdaq fell 162 points, or 1 percent. And the S&P 500 dropped 31 points.

And Robbie Robertson, lead guitarist and songwriter for the legendary group The Band, has died in Los Angeles. He and The Band's four other members went from backing up Bob Dylan to their own stardom through the '60s and into the '70s. In the process, they reshaped popular music.

Here they are in 1969 performing one of Robertson's classic compositions, "Up On Cripple Creek."

(Music)

Amna Nawaz:

Robbie Robertson was 80 years old.

Still to come on the "NewsHour": Asian Americans weigh in on the Supreme Court decision to end affirmative action in college admissions; the relationship between presidential candidates and political action committees raises questions about campaign finance; police issue arrest warrants after a massive brawl on a Montgomery, Alabama, boat dock; plus much more.