News Wrap: Russian missile strike kills at least 17 in eastern Ukraine

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• Geoff Bennett:

  In the day's other headlines: A growing challenge to keep former President Trump off Republican primary ballots next year took a step forward.

  Six Republican and unaffiliated voters in Colorado filed suit to bar him from that states primary ballot, citing the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment. The post-Civil War provision says — quote — "No person shall hold any office, civil or military, under the United States who shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion."

  The suit cites Mr. Trump's attempts to overturn the 2020 election results and his support for January 6 rioters.

  A federal judge in New York ruled today that Mr. Trump defamed the writer E. Jean Carroll a second time. Carroll already won $5 million after a jury found the former president sexually abused her and falsely claimed that she lied about it. Now the judge says other Trump remarks were also defamatory. So, a second trial will focus on additional damages.

  A federal judge in Texas has ordered the state to move a migrant barrier in the Rio Grande back to the riverbank. In July, the state placed large buoys along the stretch of the river where migrants frequently crossed. The Biden administration challenged the move. The state says it will appeal today's order.

  Russia has carried out one of the deadliest attacks in months in Eastern Ukraine. A missile strike today killed at least 17 people. It happened in the Donetsk region and came as Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Kyiv.

  Ali Rogin has our report.

• Ali Rogin:

  In broad daylight, this quiet shopping street became the latest scene of Russian carnage.

  The blast left a trail of horror, damaging about 30 market stalls, including shops and a pharmacy.

  Diana Khodak is an employee who survived.

• Diana Khodak (Survivor):

  I only saw a flash and then shouted to my colleagues, "Lie on the floor." Then everything was covered in smoke and the fire started.

• Ali Rogin:

  The fire's victims, ordinary civilians carried from the market in body bags. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the attack terrorism.

• Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukrainian President (through interpreter):

  Those who know the city and its layout can clearly say that it was civilian infrastructure.

• Ali Rogin:

  Far from the front lines, Russia also targets port cities along the Danube River, Ukraine's main route for exporting grain since Russia pulled out of a deal allowing use of the Black Sea.

  The most recent drone attack appeared to detonate on NATO territory in the Romanian town of Piaru (ph) across the Danube.

  Klaus Iohannis, President of Romania: Such a situation would be the serious violation of the territorial integrity of Romania and NATO.

• Ali Rogin:

  Back in Kyiv today, a surprise visit from Secretary of State Antony Blinken on a two-day trip to meet with top Ukrainian officials.

  Antony Blinken, U.S. Secretary of State: We need President Putin to understand that he cannot outlast Ukraine, he cannot outlast Ukraine's supporters, that Ukraine is actually going to grow stronger.

• Ali Rogin:

  Blinken announced more than $1 billion in additional military and economic aid. And for the first time, the U.S. will also send depleted uranium munitions. The U.S. says they present no radiological threat and are effective armor piercers against Russian tanks, as Ukrainian troops continue their grinding counteroffensive.

  Since June, Ukraine has liberated more than a dozen villages on the march to the strategic city of Melitopol, close to Russian-occupied Crimea. But, in the meantime, back in Kyiv, a different type of victory.

• Antony Blinken:

  Our friends at McDonald's were very eager to be back in Ukraine.

• Ali Rogin:

  A celebration of a uniquely Western icon.

  For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Ali Rogin.

• Geoff Bennett:

  The U.S. aid announced today is part of a package already approved by Congress.

  The United Nations now estimates that months of fighting in Sudan have uprooted more than five million people. Clashes between the army and a rival paramilitary force in Khartoum erupted in April and show no signs of abating. The U.N. says most of those displaced remain inside Sudan.

  In Nigeria, an appeals court today rejected three challenges to President Bola Tinubu's election win last February. Opposition parties argued he was ineligible to run because, among other things, he's actually a citizen of Guinea. Tinubu denied the allegations. Nigerians anxiously awaited their results at a time when high prices and hunger have left many people desperate for stability and relief.

• Gbemisola Ogunbiyi, Nigerian Food Seller (through interpreter):

  We cannot say the government is not trying, but things are tight. We beg them to attend to the needs of the country, so that everything will be fine for us, because, since they assumed office, everything has been difficult.

  They should please have mercy on the poor ones. Have mercy on the country by fixing it.

• Geoff Bennett:

  The court's decisions can still be appealed to Nigeria's Supreme Court.

  Abortion will no longer be a criminal offense anywhere in Mexico. The country's Supreme Court imposed that standard today in a sweeping decision. Twelve of Mexico's 32 states had already decriminalized abortion. It's part of a broader trend across Latin America.

  Spanish soccer player Jenni Hermoso is accusing the now-suspended president of the Spanish Soccer Federation of sexual assault. Luis Rubiales kissed her on the lips after last month's Women's World Cup final. Rubiales maintains the kiss was consensual, a claim that Hermoso has denied.

  Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell says he has no plans to step aside. McConnell froze up in public twice in recent weeks. But, on Tuesday, the Capitol physician said he does not have a seizure disorder and has not suffered a stroke.

  Today, the Kentucky Republican dismissed any talk of calling it quits.

• Question:

  Do you have any plans to retire anytime soon?

  (LAUGHTER)

• Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY):

  I have no announcements to make on that subject.

• Question:

  What do you say to those who…

  (CROSSTALK)

• Sen. Mitch McConnell:

  I'm going to finish my term as leader, and I'm going to finish my Senate term.

• Geoff Bennett:

  McConnell is 81 years old. Aides say he's had bout of lightheadedness since a fall in March left him with a concussion.

  And, on Wall Street, big tech stocks led the broader market lower. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 198 points to close at 34443. The Nasdaq fell 148 points. The S&P 500 slipped 31 points.

  And there's a new hole in the Great Wall of China, thanks to two construction workers who wanted a shortcut. Police say the pair used an excavator to carve a dirt road through a broken-down section of the wall. They say the damage is beyond repair. It happened hundreds of miles from restored sections of the Great Wall near Beijing. The two workers have been arrested.