news,english
Judy Woodruff:
President Biden's announcement comes on the heels of yet another mass shooting. This time, a man in South Carolina killed five people before taking his own life.
Authorities confirmed the shooter was 33-year-old Phillip Adams, a former professional football player with a history of concussions. The victims in yesterday's attack in Rock Hill were a prominent local doctor, his wife, two of their grandchildren, and a worker at the house. Police are still searching for a motive.
Kevin Tolson:
We don't have anything right now. This — there's nothing about this right now that makes sense to any of us, and that's why we're working so hard to try to get more information.
Judy Woodruff:
A sixth person was hospitalized in critical condition with gunshot wounds.
The number of children arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border hit an all-time high last month. U.S. authorities apprehended nearly 19,000 minors in March. That's five times the number recorded last March. And it is well above the previous high of more than 11,000 in May 2019.
Separately, Texas officials are investigating three reports of abuse and neglect at a San Antonio facility housing more than 1,600 migrant teenagers.
U.S. employers are still cutting jobs, even as more Americans get vaccinated. The Labor Department reported that unemployment claims rose unexpectedly to 744,000 last week. But that is down sharply from the start of the pandemic. Still, the U.S. economy is strengthening, with 916,000 jobs added in March. That's the most since August.
Today's testimony at the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin centered on the perspective of medical experts. They spoke of how George Floyd died from a lack of oxygen as Chauvin knelt on his neck and his back, and not from drugs or health issues.
Special correspondent Fred de Sam Lazaro has our report.
Fred de Sam Lazaro:
Prosecutors began the ninth day of the Derek Chauvin trial with testimony from pulmonologist Dr. Martin Tobin. A Chicago-based critical care physician and lung specialist, Tobin testified today that shallow breathing led to George Floyd's death.
Jerry Blackwell:
Would you please tell the jury what that opinion or opinions are?
Dr. Martin Tobin:
Yes, Mr. Floyd died from a low level of oxygen. And this caused damage to his brain that we see, and it also caused a PEA arrhythmia that caused his heart to stop.
Fred de Sam Lazaro:
Tobin said several main forces led to Floyd's shallow breathing, his prone position, being handcuffed and pressure from Chauvin's knees placed on Floyd's neck back.
After showing prepared illustrations and photos of the event, Tobin concluded that Chauvin's knee on Floyd's neck caused narrowing of the hypopharynx, a critical area for getting oxygen into the lungs.
Jerry Blackwell:
I want to go to the period of time when Mr. Chauvin was on the back and neck of Mr. Floyd.
Martin Tobin:
Yes.
Jerry Blackwell:
Did you see him get off of the back of Mr. Floyd by the nanosecond, by the millisecond, by any seconds, in the nine minutes and 29 seconds that you saw him on him?
Martin Tobin:
No, I did not.
Fred de Sam Lazaro:
Tobin testified that Chauvin's knee remained on Floyd's neck another three minutes and two seconds after Floyd took his last breath.
Martin Tobin:
You can see his eyes. He's conscious. And then you can see he isn't. That's the moment the life goes out of his body.
Fred de Sam Lazaro:
The defense has argued Floyd died due to poor health and drugs in his system. But prosecutors tried to undercut that argument today.
Dr. Daniel Isenschmid, a forensic toxicologist with a private company that analyzed Floyd's autopsy, testified that the levels of methamphetamine and fentanyl in Floyd's system were not a factor in his death.
That finding was supported by both Tobin earlier and the day's final witness, Kentucky police surgeon Dr. Bill Smock.
For the "PBS NewsHour," this is Fred de Sam Lazaro.
Judy Woodruff:
West Virginia's Democratic Senator Joe Manchin has insisted that under no circumstance would he vote to kill or weaken the rule known as the filibuster. He did so in an article for The Washington Post, and also voiced opposition to a process called reconciliation.
That, or an end to the filibuster, would allow Democrats to advance legislation without Republican support. Manchin's vote is key in the evenly divided Senate.
In Sudan, the death toll from days of tribal violence in Darfur has reached 132. Looting continued today in the provincial capital of West Darfur, where a shooting on Saturday triggered the conflict. Tensions between Arab and non-Arab tribes have posed a challenge for the country's transitional government to bring lasting peace to the region.
Myanmar's military rulers are now limiting Internet access and confiscating TV satellites in an effort to crack down on anti-coup protests. Meanwhile, demonstrations continued in Dawei, even after security forces killed 11 protesters overnight. Over 600 people, including 40 children, have died since the military's takeover in February.
Violence is escalating in Northern Ireland over post-Brexit trade rules. At least 55 police officers have been injured this week. New trade barriers and political party tensions have led to growing frustrations between Protestant and Catholic communities in Belfast.
Last night, a bus was hijacked and set on fire. Crowds of mainly young adults from both sides attacked each other and police with gasoline bombs and bricks.
And back in this country, gains in the technology sector pushed stocks higher on Wall Street today. The Dow Jones industrial average climbed 57 points to close at 33503. The Nasdaq rose 140 points, and the S&P 500 added 17 to close at a new all-time high.
from:pbs