News Wrap: South Korean president asks U.S. to take tougher stance against North Korea

Geoff Bennett:

In the day's other headlines: The U.S. economy slowed sharply in the first quarter of the year, as higher interest rates took a toll.

Overall growth ran at an annual rate of 1.1 percent from January through March, based on Commerce Department data. That's down from 2.6 percent in the final quarter of last year, and 3.2 percent in the third quarter.

Former Vice President Mike Pence spent today testifying before a federal grand jury in the January 6 investigation. It's widely reported that his appearance came after a federal appeals court upheld a grand jury subpoena last night. The court rejected an effort by former President Donald Trump to block the testimony.

The woman who's suing former President Donald Trump for rape faced cross-examination today in New York City. Columnist E. Jean Carroll alleges it happened in 1996. In federal court, Mr. Trump's lawyer suggested that Carroll made the accusation decades later to sell a book. The writer said she was galvanized by the MeToo movement.

The president of South Korea went before the U.S. Congress today, urging an even tougher stance against North Korea. Yoon Suk-yeol was greeted with a bipartisan standing ovation as he arrived to address the House and Senate.

Yoon Suk-yeol, South Korean President:

My government will respond firmly to provocations, while, at the same time, we will keep the door open for dialogue and North Korea's denuclearization. I once again urge North Korea to cease its provocations and take the right path.

Geoff Bennett:

Yoon called for greater security cooperation with the U.S. and Japan.

In Sudan, the military and paramilitary rebels said they have agreed to an extended cease-fire. But intense fighting escalated in the Western Darfur region. Cell phone video from the city of Geneva showed a sky blackened with smoke. Residents told of fighters rampaging through neighborhoods and looting stores and homes.

The U.S. has announced new sanctions on Russia and Iran for jailing Americans without cause. Today's action is largely symbolic, because Russia's federal security service and Iran's Revolutionary Guard are already under heavy sanctions.

Meantime, in Phoenix, pro basketball star Brittney Griner held her first news conference since being held 10 months in Russia.

Brittney Griner, WNBA Player:

You're going to be faced with adversities throughout your life. This was a pretty big one. But I just kind of relied on my hard work getting through it.

I know this sounds so small, but dying in practice and just hard workouts, you find a way to just grind it out.

Geoff Bennett:

The Russians refused today to let U.S. Embassy staffers visit Evan Gershkovich. The Wall Street Journal reporter was arrested last month and accused of espionage. The U.S. has rejected the charge.

Reports of sexual assault in the U.S. military are up again, but at a much slower rate. The Pentagon says they were up 1 percent and 2022, far less than the 13 percent gain of the previous year. It was largely because reported assaults in the U.S. Army saw a big decline, by 9 percent. The other three services reported increases.

The white woman at the center of the Emmett Till lynching case has died in Louisiana. The 14-year-old Till was kidnapped and brutally murdered in Mississippi back in 1955. Carolyn Bryant Donham had accused the teenager of whistling at her. She never acknowledged any role in the lynching, but her husband at the time later confessed to the crime.

The Biden administration now plans to open asylum processing centers in Colombia and Guatemala. The homeland security secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas, made the announcement today. He said it's aimed at slowing a surge of migrants at the U.S. Southern border when COVID restrictions end next month.

Alejandro Mayorkas, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security: We do expect that encounters that are Southern border will increase as smugglers are seeking to take advantage of this change and already are hard at work spreading disinformation that the border will be open after that.

Geoff Bennett:

Officials say more processing centers will be announced in other countries in the coming weeks.

The smoking rate among American adults has hit a new low. CDC findings show that, in 2022, about 11 percent of the U.S. adult population identified as smokers. The rate had been 42 percent in the mid-1960s, but has fallen gradually for decades. The study also finds electronic cigarette use has risen to about 6 percent of adults.

On Wall Street, stocks had their best day since January, as big tech firms posted strong profits. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 524 points, 1.5 percent, to close at 33,826. The Nasdaq rose nearly 2.4 percent. The S&P 500 was up 2 percent.

And daytime television's one-time ringmaster of the outrageous, Jerry Springer, has died. He was a former news anchor and mayor of Cincinnati before starting a talk show in 1991. It was a carnival of brawling, cursing guests, and it ran for 27 years. Jerry Springer was 79 years old.

Still to come on the "NewsHour": what the latest GDP numbers say about the strength of the U.S. economy; how changes to Twitter's blue check marks could pose a risk to public safety; a Boston restaurant encourages diners to think more deeply about immigrant culture and food; and author Judy Blume discusses the film adaptation of her classic novel.