News Wrap: Funerals begin in Uvalde one week after school massacre

Judy Woodruff:

Funerals have begun in Uvalde, Texas, one week after a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers at an elementary school. Two 10-year-old victims were remembered today in the first of 11 services this week.

Meanwhile, state police said that a teacher had closed a door that the gunman ultimately used to get inside, but the door did not lock. We will return to this later in the program.

A special counsel's probe of the investigation into connections between Russia and the Trump campaign suffered a blow today in its first courtroom test. Attorney Michael Sussmann was acquitted of lying to the FBI. He had been accused of concealing ties to Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential bid when he reported possible links between the Trump business organization and a Russian bank.

After the verdict, while leaving the courthouse in Washington, Sussmann claimed vindication.

Michael Sussmann, Former Clinton Campaign Attorney:

I told the truth to the FBI.

And the jury clearly recognized that with their unanimous verdict today. I'm grateful to the members of the jury for their careful and thoughtful service. Despite being falsely accused, I believe that justice ultimately prevailed in my case.

Judy Woodruff:

We will consider this case and the verdict later in the program.

President Biden called in the head of the Federal Reserve today to talk about the worst inflation in 40 years. But he pledged to respect the Central Bank's independence. The president met with Jerome Powell, who recently won Senate confirmation to a second term as chair of the Fed.

President Joe Biden:

My job as president is not to nominate — not only nominate highly qualified individuals for that institution, but to give them the space they need to do their job.

I'm not going to interfere with their critically important work. The Fed has dual responsibilities, one, full employment, two, stable prices.

Judy Woodruff:

Meanwhile, inflation in the Eurozone hit a record 8.1 percent annual rate this month. It's largely due to a nearly 40 percent spike there in energy prices.

Russian forces kept up a relentless onslaught in Eastern Ukraine today. Ukrainian officials said that Russians now control most of the city of Severodonetsk. Thousands of civilians are trapped there with no power. Meanwhile, Moscow denounced the European Union agreement to embargo 90 percent of Russian oil imports.

We will look at all this later in the program.

In Southwest Iran, authorities have cut off Internet access to silence public anger after a deadly tower collapse. The tragedy killed 34 people, triggering anger over government corruption and negligence. On Sunday, state TV showed an official trying to calm the crowd near the wreckage site before being shouted down. Later, police moved in and violently shut down the protest.

And back in this country, Wall Street closed out a turbulent month with a down day. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 222 points to close at 32990. The Nasdaq fell 49 points. The S&P 500 slipped 26. For the month, the Dow and S&P managed fractional gains. The Nasdaq lost 2 percent.

Still to come on the "NewsHour": a former attorney for the Clinton campaign is found not guilty of lying to the FBI; European Union leaders meet to discuss another round of sanctions targeting Russian oil; architect Maya Lin helps a museum tell the larger story of Asian Americans; plus much more.