News Wrap: Inflation eases in January compared to last year

Amna Nawaz:

In the day's other headlines: Inflation at the consumer level eased again in January from a year earlier. The Labor Department reports consumer prices rose 6.4 percent from the previous January. That was the slowest pace since year-over-year inflation peaked above 9 percent last June. But on a month-to-month basis, prices rose half-a-percent in January, up sharply from the December increase.

President Biden is naming two new economic policy advisers. Today's announcement said Federal Reserve Vice Chair Lael Brainard will become director of the National Economic Council. The president also named longtime adviser Jared Bernstein to chair the White House Council of Economic Advisers.

U.S. senators got a classified briefing today on the series of unidentified objects being shot down in American airspace. But they emerged with essential questions still unanswered, including where the objects came from and what they were doing. They also voiced mixed feelings on how much the Biden administration should tell the public.

Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK):

They can say what they know, what they don't know, and don't reveal sources and methods. That's what the American people want. When you don't provide information and there's a dearth of information, it can lead to wild speculation. It can lead to unfounded fears.

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY):

I think the Biden administration is being very careful and very thoughtful. A lot of this information, people say make it public, but a lot of it is classified or on the edge of classified and it's difficult.

Amna Nawaz:

Also today, General Mark Milley, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, confirmed that a U.S. fighter jet missed the first time it fired at an object over Lake Huron on Sunday. A second missile hit the target.

Former Vice President Mike Pence has reportedly decided to fight a special counsel's subpoena in the January 6 investigation. Politico, the Associated Press, and others say Mr. Pence argues he was serving as president of the Senate on January 6, 2021, to certify the election results. The reports say he will contend that, in that role, he is shielded from the subpoena.

Federal authorities in Florida say they have arrested four more people in the killing of Haitian President Jovenel Moise in 2021. They include a financier and the owner of a security firm in Miami. A total of 11 suspects are now in U.S. custody, with dozens more in Haiti. But the Haitian probe has all but halted amid widespread chaos there.

In New Zealand, a national emergency was in effect today for only the third time ever, after a powerful tropical cyclone barreled through. By early Wednesday, local time, the storm was southeast of Auckland, moving roughly parallel to the coast. Its passage triggered widespread flooding and landslides in the northern part of the country. Some 225,000 people lost electricity.

The prime minister said the scale of destruction is immense.

Chris Hipkins, Prime Minister of New Zealand: Cyclone Gabrielle is the most significant weather event New Zealand has seen this century. The severity and the breadth of the damage that we are seeing has not been experienced in a generation.

Amna Nawaz:

All this comes just two weeks after an earlier storm battered Auckland, killing four people.

Back in this country, Senator Dianne Feinstein announced she will not seek reelection in 2024 after more than 30 years in office. The California Democrat turns 90 in June and is the oldest member of Congress. Her groundbreaking career includes becoming the first woman to be mayor of San Francisco and the first woman elected as a U.S. senator from California.

And on Wall Street, the inflation news left investors uncertain which way to jump. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 156 points to close at 34089. The Nasdaq rose 68 points. The S&P 500 was virtually unchanged.

And the White House sent a special valentine to the nation today. Three large hearts bearing the handprints of military children were set up on the North Lawn. They were joined by cutouts of the first family's dog, Commander, and their cat, Willow.

Happy Valentine's Day to all.

Still to come on the "NewsHour": NATO defense ministers meet to consider supplying Ukraine with aircraft as the war grinds on; Republican Representative Nancy Mace discusses the spy balloon situation and the future of her party; social media companies face legal scrutiny over teens' deteriorating mental health; plus much more.