News Wrap: Indiana GOP lawmakers say they’ll clarify a new religious freedom bill

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• JUDY WOODRUFF:

  Wall Street came out of the gate today in a mood to run. Stocks surged ahead, in part based on upbeat economic reports. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 260 points to close near 18000. The Nasdaq rose 56, and the S&P 500 added 25.

  Republican legislative leaders in Indiana now say they will clarify a new religious freedom statute. It's sparked a storm of criticism from opponents who say it would permit businesses to refuse to serve gays and lesbians. Indiana Statehouse Speaker Brian Bosma said today the new modifying language will make clear that's not the case.

  BRIAN BOSMA (R), Indiana Speaker of the House: That should remove the question that has many Hoosiers and folks all over the country concerned, and that is, is a gay or lesbian individual going to be denied services when they go to a restaurant or when they take their dry cleaning in? That was never the intent. It's not the effect. But we're going to — we're willing to clarify that.

• JUDY WOODRUFF:

  But Democrats said there's no way to fix the law. Instead, State Senate Minority Leader Tim Lanane called for outright repeal. TIM LANANE, (D) Indiana Senator Minority Leader: The Republicans still think this is a good idea, that this is a good law. Unfortunately, Republican leadership has utterly failed in their handling of this situation. The governor and the Republican leaders won't say it, but we will: Discrimination is wrong and it should be illegal.

• JUDY WOODRUFF:

  Already, some businesses and organizations are protesting by canceling plans for expansion and for meetings in Indiana. There've even been calls for the NCAA to move the coming men's college basketball Final Four tournament out of Indianapolis.

  A coalition led by Saudi Arabia stepped up its military campaign in Yemen today with a naval blockade. The Saudis said it's aimed at preventing Shiite rebels from moving weapons and fighters in or out of the country. Meanwhile, humanitarian workers said a coalition airstrike killed at least 40 refugees. Yemen's foreign minister blamed rebel artillery.

  Iran's Revolutionary Guard is claiming a U.S. drone strike killed two of its advisers in Iraq last Monday. The Guard says they were aiding an Iraqi offensive to retake the city of Tikrit from Islamic State fighters. American-led airstrikes are now supporting that effort. U.S. officials dispute the Iranian claim. They say there were no coalition airstrikes around Tikrit on Monday.

  German authorities confirmed today that the co-pilot of that doomed Germanwings airliner had contemplated killing himself. It's believed that Andreas Lubitz deliberately crashed the plane in France last week, killing all 150 people on board.

  We have more from Rebecca Barry of Independent Television News.

• REBECCA BARRY:

  Today, we learned that the pilot had suffered from serious mental illness.

  The prosecutor in Dusseldorf says, several years ago, before he got his pilot's license, he had extended psychological therapy because he had suicidal tendencies. But, he says, at the time of the crash, there was no evidence that he was suicidal or aggressive.

  Investigators have already found torn-up sick notes here at his flat stating that he was unfit to work at the time of the crash. People from both his private and his professional life have been questioned, and, so far, prosecutors say there's no sign that he told anyone what he was planning or that he left a suicide note. And they say, there's no evidence of any specific event, either at home or work, that could have been a motive.

• JUDY WOODRUFF:

  Meanwhile, in the French Alps, they're building a road to help the recovery teams access the remote crash site. Germanwings' parent company, Lufthansa, said today that it had not known of Lubitz's medical history because those records were kept confidential under German law.

  Back in this country, the FBI says there's no apparent connection to terrorism in an incident today outside the National Security Agency at Fort Meade, Maryland. Officials say two men wearing dresses drove a stolen car toward the front gate and refused to stop. Instead, they sped up. Officers opened fire. And they smashed into a police car. One of the men was killed, and the other was hurt, along with an officer.

• PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA:

  Boston welcomed national leaders of both parties today to dedicate the Edward Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate. The center includes a full-scale replica of the Senate chamber. Kennedy died in 2009 after serving in that body for 47 years. Some 1,800 family, friends and others attended today, led by President Obama. What better testament to the life of Ted Kennedy than this place to be left to a new generation of Americans, a monument not to himself, but to what we, the people, have the power to do together? JUDY WOODRUFF: The new institute stands next to the presidential library of the senator's brother, John F. Kennedy.

  And Comedy Central has chosen the new host of The Daily Show; 31-year-old South African Trevor Noah will succeed Jon Stewart, who's hosted the satirical news show for 16 years. Stewart announced last month he's leaving. It's not yet clear when Noah will take over.