News Wrap: Memphis commissioners vote to return Justin Pearson to Tennessee House

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• GEOFF BENNETT:

  In the day's other headlines: County commissioners in Memphis, Tennessee voted to return a second Black Democrat to the state legislature. The Republican-led House had expelled Justin Pearson and colleague Justin Jones for joining gun control protests on the chamber floor. Today, hundreds of supporters marched with Pearson to the commission chambers.

  The panel voted unanimously to reinstate him, sending him back to his seat as early as this week ahead of a special election later this year.

  Former President Donald Trump is suing his former attorney Michael Cohen for more than $500 million. Cohen had testified before a grand jury in New York that indicted Mr. Trump in a hush money case. The federal lawsuit contends he violated attorney-client privilege and fabricated conversations. Michael Cohen's attorney, in response, accused Mr. Trump of again using the court system as a form of harassment and intimidation against his client.

  Up to 2,000 people in Eastern Indiana were under evacuation orders today as a fire burned piles of plastics. The blaze erupted Tuesday, sending dark smoke billowing over a recycling site in Richmond, Indiana. This morning crews were still dousing the flames and health officials warned the smoke could be harmful.

• CHRISTINE STINSON, Executive Director, Wayne County, Indiana, Health Department:

  These are very fine particles and, if they're breathed in, can cause all kinds of respiratory problems, burning of the eyes, tightening of the chest. It's for your safety that the evacuation zone is there.

  And if you can see the smoke, you're in the smoke, get out of the smoke.

• GEOFF BENNETT:

  The EPA says, so far, air samples show no signs of toxic compounds. The mayor said the old the recycling site had long been cited as a fire hazard.

  Mexico's top immigration official will face charges and a fire that killed 40 migrants last month. Officials say he should have addressed problems at the facility in Ciudad Juarez across the border from El Paso, Texas. Security cameras video showed detainees trapped as smoke and flames engulfed the cells. Most of the dead were from Central American nations.

  In Ukraine, the government in Kyiv is vowing to investigate a gruesome video that apparently shows the Russians beheading a Ukrainian soldier with a knife. The video has been circulating online. Its authenticity cannot be confirmed, but Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says the act will not go unpunished.

• VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, Ukrainian President (through translator):

  There is something that no one in the world can ignore, how easily these beasts kill. This video, the world must see. Everyone must react, every leader. Do not expect that it will be forgotten, that time will pass. We are not going to forget anything and forgive these murderers.

• GEOFF BENNETT:

  Moscow today called the video horrible, but said it needs to be verified.

  Supporters of Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny report he's being poisoned in prison again. His foundation says Navalny has lost 18 pounds in two weeks and suffered acute stomach pains. It says allies believe jailers are giving him low-dose poison. Navalny was poisoned in 2020 with a nerve agent.

  Back in this country, a top banking regulator says tougher banking rules would not have saved Silicon Valley Bank in California. The bank's collapsed last month sent shockwaves through the industry. Today, Travis Hill, vice chair of the FDIC, blamed management failures for what happened. He called for adjusting existing rules, instead of imposing broad new regulations.

  On Wall Street, stocks slipped on news that Federal Reserve economists expect a mild recession. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 38 points to close it 33646. The Nasdaq fell 102 points, nearly 1 percent. The S&P 500 was down 17 points.

  And Buckingham Palace announced Britain's Prince Harry will attend the coronation of his father, King Charles, in May. His wife, Meghan, will stay home in California with the couple's children. Their participation had been the subject of speculation amid an ongoing public rift among members of the royal family.

  And still to come on the "NewsHour": the White House response in the legal battle over an abortion pill; how local public health efforts have been politicized in the wake of the pandemic; and the hit songs and video game tune being inducted into the National Recording Registry.