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News Wrap: Redacted Mueller report coming Thursday, DOJ says

In our news wrap Monday, the Justice Department says a redacted version of the special counsel’s Russia report will be released Thursday morning. Democrats and some Republicans are still want the entire report to be made public. Also, a federal judge in Florida denied bail for a Chinese woman charged with illegally entering President Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort.

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  • Judy Woodruff:

    In the day's other news: A fierce weather front moved into the Northeast U.S. after raking the South. In its wake, it left at least eight dead and scores of families counting their losses.

    John Yang has our report.

  • John Yang:

    Across parts of East Texas, where homes once stood, there is only wreckage.

  • Woman:

    My house was just lifted, just scattered over the backyard.

  • John Yang:

    Tornadoes flattened several communities in the state, as violent weather ripped through the South over the weekend. The National Weather Service confirms at least 16 twisters touched down across Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama.

    One storm reached wind speeds of 136 miles an hour.

    Chris Davis is emergency manager for Cherokee County, Texas.

  • Chris Davis:

    Oh, it's just total devastation. It's twisted trees and power lines and many homes destroyed. We have had the storms, major storms, where we have had lots of destruction and lots of power lines and places damaged, but I have never seen them come this fast and tear up this much at one time.

  • John Yang:

    The victims included brothers Jace and Dilynn Cree in Pollok, Texas, ages 3 and 8.

    A tree crashed on their parents' car when the family was caught outside in the chaos. Neighbor Joe Spangler tried to help.

  • Joe Spangler:

    I heard someone knocking on my door. And it was the lady, the mom. And she was like: "Help me, help me."

    And that's where I noticed that the tree had fallen on their vehicle. When I got down there, I saw the size of the tree and how it was on the car, so I knew that it wasn't a good outcome.

  • John Yang:

    Elsewhere, the storm system brought driving rain and flash floods. Surging water left panicked people clinging to rescuers. In Starkville, Mississippi, tornado warning alarms blared as lightning lit up the sky over Mississippi State University.

    In West Monroe, Louisiana, lightning struck an unoccupied elementary school, setting it on fire. From there, the damage spread as the severe weather front moved north and east. It spun off a possible tornado in Ohio, tearing up power lines.

    Parts of Raleigh, North Carolina, woke early this morning to destruction, after heavy winds ripped through neighborhoods. And there may be more to come. Forecasters say more than 80 million Americans could be affected by new weather fronts moving across the country this week.

    For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm John Yang.

  • Judy Woodruff:

    Here in Washington, the Justice Department now says that a redacted version of the Russia report will be out Thursday morning. Democrats and some Republicans are still calling for the entire report to be made public. Attorney General William Barr says that he will omit anything involving grand jury material, sensitive intelligence or ongoing investigations, among other things.

    The president declared today that he will send detained migrants to so-called sanctuary cities. He had previously said he was still considering the idea. It was unclear whether any federal agencies are actually implementing the policy yet. Sanctuary cities limit their cooperation with federal immigration authorities.

    A federal judge in Florida has denied bail for a Chinese woman charged with illegally entering the president's Mar-a-Lago club in Florida. He stated that he believed she was — quote — "up to something nefarious."

    Yujing Zhang pled not guilty today in West Palm Beach. She was arrested last month at the club and found to be carrying multiple electronic devices.

    In Sudan, activists say that the military tried today to break up a sit-in outside its headquarters and then backed off. No one was hurt. The incident came four days after the military ousted Omar al-Bashir as president and set up its own transitional council. Protesters are demanding a civilian-led government.

    They kept up the pressure in Khartoum today, as soldiers looked on.

  • Amhed Mostafa (through translator):

    We are staying here in our sit-in and we are not going to leave until all our demands are met, and the Sudanese people, whether old or young, are aware. We will leave when our demands are met.

  • Judy Woodruff:

    Later, the African Union warned that it will suspend Sudan as a member unless the military hands over power to civilian authorities within 15 days.

    Back in this country, actress Lori Loughlin was arraigned today, and pled not guilty in a college admissions bribery scandal. Her husband, fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli, entered the same plea. They allegedly paid $500,000 in bribes to get their two daughters into the University of Southern California.

    The 2019 Pulitzer Prizes were awarded today. The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal each won for their reporting on President Trump. And The South Florida Sun-Sentinel was honored for its coverage of the shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.

    In the arts, Richard Powers novel "The Overstory" took the prize for fiction. And the late Aretha Franklin was awarded a special citation for her indelible contribution to American music and culture.

    On Wall Street today, the stocks — stocks struggled to make any headway. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 27 points to close at 26384. The Nasdaq fell eight, and the S&P 500 slipped one.

    And they ran the Boston Marathon today for the 123rd time, with strikingly different results. For the men, it was a sprint to the finish, as Kenya's Lawrence Cherono won by just a few steps. Among the women, Worknesh Degefa of Ethiopia broke away early, and she ran alone for the last 20 miles of the race.

    Congratulations to both.

    Still to come on the "NewsHour": the response to President Trump's attacks on Congresswoman Ilhan Omar; we speak with Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang; Amy Walter and Lisa Lerer join us to discuss the race for 2020; and much more.

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