News Wrap: U.S. officials charged for 2009 Pakistan drone attack

In our news wrap Tuesday, a judge in Pakistan ordered criminal charges be filed against the CIA’s former station chief in Pakistan and its one-time general counsel over an American drone strike in 2009 that killed two people. Also, jurors in the Boston Marathon bombing trial spent their first day deliberating without reaching a verdict.

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  • GWEN IFILL:

    Jurors in the Boston Marathon bombing trial spent their first day deliberating today without reaching a verdict.

    Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is accused in the 2013 attack that killed three people and wounded 264. He's also charged with killing a policeman. The defense admits his guilt, and has focused, instead, on trying to save him from the death penalty.

    There's word the government tracked calls from the United States to nations linked to drug trafficking for more than 20 years. USA Today reports the effort was ultimately discontinued, but it served as a model for even more extensive surveillance after 9/11. The account says drug enforcement officials recorded call numbers and patterns, but not the content of the calls.

    Republican Senator Rand Paul has formally launched his 2016 presidential campaign. Paul announced in his home state of Kentucky, with a libertarian message that blasted Washington and government surveillance. He told supporters in Louisville that he wants a return to liberty.

    SEN. RAND PAUL, (R) Kentucky: I have been fortunate. I have been able to enjoy the American dream. I worry, though, that the opportunity and hope are slipping away for our sons and daughters.

    As I watch our once great economy collapse under mounting spending and debt, I think, what kind of America will our grandchildren see? It seems to me that both parties and the entire political system are to blame.

  • GWEN IFILL:

    The first-term senator's father, Ron Paul, has run for president several times, without success.

    The CIA's former station chief in Pakistan and its one-time general counsel will face criminal charges over a U.S. drone attack. A Pakistani judge ordered the charges filed today. They're related to a strike that killed two people in the North Waziristan tribal region in 2009.

    In Iraq, forensic teams have begun exhuming bodies from mass graves found in Tikrit. The remains are believed to be soldiers massacred by Islamic State fighters last June. The city was recaptured last week. Relatives of the victims, along with Shiite militiamen, paid respects at one of the grave sites today. They offered prayers and lit candles for the dead.

    The Iran nuclear agreement gained a key endorsement today from the country's powerful Revolutionary Guard. The Guard's commanding general said negotiators — quote — "succeeded in defending the rights of the Iranian nation, and the Iranian nation and the Guard appreciate their honest political efforts."

    Separately, President Obama told NPR news that Iran would remain a year away from building a bomb for at least a decade.

  • PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA:

    What is a more relevant fear would be that, in year 13, 14, 15, they have advanced centrifuges that can enrich uranium fairly rapidly, and, at that point, the breakout times would have shrunk almost down to zero.

    Keep in mind, though, currently, the breakout times are only about two to three months, by our intelligence estimates.

  • GWEN IFILL:

    House Speaker John Boehner shot back, saying the president has now confirmed what critics of the deal have been saying.

    This was Election Day in Chicago, with the mayor's office on the line. Incumbent Rahm Emanuel was heavily favored to win a second term in a runoff against Jesus "Chuy" Garcia, a Cook County commissioner.

    And three city council seats were at stake in Ferguson, Missouri, in the city's first election since last year's shooting of a black teenager by a white policeman. The council could go from five whites and one black member to a 50-50 split.

    The National Transportation Safety Board is calling for urgent safety improvements for trains hauling crude oil. The agency issued four recommendations today after a series of derailments and fires. They include installing ceramic thermal blankets and other systems on oil cars to withstand fire, and sharply reducing the speed of oil trains.

    Wall Street had a quiet day, with all of the major indexes drifting slightly lower. The Dow Jones industrial average lost five points to close at 17875. The Nasdaq fell seven points, and the S&P 500 slipped four.

    And Duke celebrated today after its return to the pinnacle of men's college basketball. The Blue Devils topped Wisconsin last night, in a 68-63 comeback victory. It's the fifth title for Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski. The women's championship game is tonight between Connecticut and Notre Dame.

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