News Wrap: Nashville council votes to reappoint ousted state lawmaker Justin Jones

Geoff Bennett:

In the day's other headlines: A grand jury in Newport News, Virginia, indicted the mother of a first grader who shot his teacher.

Deja Taylor is charged with felony child neglect and a misdemeanor firearms count. The teacher, Abigail Zwerner, was shot in her classroom last January.

Nashville, Tennessee's governing Metro Council reappointed Justin Jones to the Statehouse today on an interim basis. The vote was unanimous. Majority Republicans had expelled Jones and fellow Democrat Justin Pearson last week after they joined a gun control protest on the House floor. Pearson may be reappointed to his seat in Memphis on Wednesday. Both men would still face a special election later this year.

Thousands of Israelis, including at least seven Cabinet members, marched today to an evacuated settlement in the occupied West Bank. The crowd was led by ultranationalist Jewish settlers. They support speeding up settlement building at a time when support for Israel's hard-line government is falling.

China's military says its forces are ready to fight after finishing large-scale combat exercises around Taiwan. State-provided video today showed Chinese warplanes practicing airstrikes and ships simulating a blockade at sea. Beijing said it shows that China will never give up its claim to Taiwan.

Wang Wenbin, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman (through translator):

We hope the international community will fully understand the essence of the issue, firmly abide by the one China principle, and firmly oppose all forms of Taiwan separatist activities. Taiwan independence is incompatible with peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.

Geoff Bennett:

The exercises are retaliation for Taiwan's president meeting with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy last week in California.

In Eastern Ukraine, there's word that Russian forces have turned to scorched-earth tactics in the grinding battle for Bakhmut. Ukraine's ground commander says buildings there are being systematically leveled by airstrikes and artillery to rob his forces of any cover. New Russian videos show whole blocks reduced to ruin. A top pro-Russian official in the region says Moscow's forces now control 75 percent of Bakhmut.

Also today, the State Department formally designated American Evan Gershkovich as wrongfully detained in Russia. The Wall Street Journal reporter is charged with espionage.

Back in this country, thousands of professors, lecturers, and graduate student workers have gone on strike at Rutgers University in New Jersey. Some classes went ahead today, even as the strikers began to picket. They're demanding more money and guaranteed funding for graduate students.

President Biden has indicated again that he will run for reelection. He told NBC's "Today Show" that he plans on running, but that he's not ready yet for a formal announcement. Later, the president and first lady hosted the White House Easter egg roll, a tradition for kids and families dating back to 1878.

And, on Wall Street, investors mostly marked time, amid uncertainty over interest rate policy. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 101 points to close at 33586. The Nasdaq fell three points. The S&P 500 added four points.

Still to come on the "NewsHour": conflicting rulings by federal judges leaves the state of a commonly used abortion pill in limbo; Amy Walter and Tamara Keith return with analysis on the latest political news; and the Masters golf tournament shows off the strength of a new Saudi-backed league.