News Wrap: Trump and Fed Chair Powell meet at White House

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• Geoff Bennett:

  And we start the day's other headlines with an in-person meeting between President Trump and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

  It was their first sit-down of Mr. Trump's second term. In a statement, the Fed said the president initiated the meeting and that Powell did not discuss his expectations for monetary policy. But Powell did say that he and his colleagues will make decisions on interest rates based solely on careful, objective, and nonpolitical analysis.

  At the White House today, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that characterization of the meeting and added the president's perspective.

• Karoline Leavitt, White House Press Secretary:

  That statement is correct. However, the president did say that he believes the Fed chair is making a mistake by not lowering interest rates, which is putting us at an economic disadvantage to China and other countries. And the president's been very vocal about that both publicly and now I can reveal privately as well.

• Geoff Bennett:

  President Trump has argued there is no inflation and has called Powell a fool for not lowering rates. While inflation is down, it still remains above the Fed's 2 percent target.

  The U.S. Supreme Court today backed a multibillion-dollar oil railroad expansion in Utah. The justices reversed a lower court decision the 88-mile project that would connect oil and gas producers to a national rail network. The case centered on whether a federal agency had done enough to consider the environmental impact of the expansion as laid out by a 1970 law.

  In the court's ruling, Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote: "The goal of the law is to inform agency decision-making, not to paralyze it." Environmental groups expressed alarm at the decision, calling it disastrous. The project could still face legal and regulatory hurdles.

  Forecasters say the first named storm of the hurricane season is churning in the Pacific. Tropical Storm Alvin is located off the Western coast of Mexico with sustained winds of 40 miles an hour. It's expected to weaken as it approaches the Baja Peninsula this weekend.

  Meantime, the Western U.S. is bracing for a different kind of dangerous weather. That's heat. The first major heat wave of the season is due to hit California and other Western states starting tomorrow. More than 15 million Americans are already under heat warnings and advisories, with temperatures expected to top 100 degrees in some places.

  America's envoy to Syria says the U.S. plans to declare that country is no longer a state sponsor of terrorism. Tom Barrack made the comments on his first visit to Damascus in his new role, where he raised an American flag outside the U.S. ambassador's residence. The U.S. Embassy has been closed since 2012 after protests against then-President Bashar al-Assad led to years of civil war.

  Though the embassy itself remains closed, Barrack's visit and the raising of the flag are further signs of warming relations between the U.S. and Syria.

  Washington, D.C.'s Capital Jewish Museum reopened today more than a week after two Israeli Embassy employees were shot and killed as they left an event there.

• Chris Wolf, President, Capital Jewish Museum:

  I ask you now to take a moment of silence in their memory.

• Geoff Bennett:

  Officials honored the memories of Israeli citizen Yaron Lischinsky and American Sarah Milgrim. Their deaths are being investigated as a hate crime. The chair of the museum's board said the institution would not be deterred by such violence.

• Chris Wolf:

  Today's reopening is not simply a return to normal. It is an act of resilience. It is a declaration that we will not allow hate to silence our voices or diminish our commitment to building a better future.

• Geoff Bennett:

  A 31-year-old suspect faces two counts of first-degree murder, among other charges. According to court records, he told police at the scene — quote — "I did it for Palestine. I did it for Gaza."

  In the Swiss Alps, authorities suspended the search today for a 64-year-old man who went missing after a huge chunk of a glacier crushed a town. This image shows the village of Blatten both before the avalanche, seen on the left, and after. More than 300 people had already evacuated before a piece of the Birch Glacier broke off and caused a landslide, destroying about 90 percent of the town.

  Switzerland has the most glaciers of any European country, and scientists warn that global warming is contributing to a thaw in recent years.

  On Wall Street today, stocks ended a bit higher as investors digested the latest on tariffs. The Dow Jones industrial average added more than 100 points on the day. The Nasdaq rose about 75 points. The S&P 500 also closed in positive territory.