JUDY WOODRUFF: North Korea's
top diplomat arrived in New
York this afternoon for talks

on reviving a summit between
President Trump and Kim Jong-un.

The official, Kim Yong-chol,
was spotted overnight in
Beijing, before boarding
an Air China flight

to New York.

He arrived there this
afternoon at JFK International
Airport, and was to meet
tonight with Secretary

of State Mike Pompeo.

The White House says
that President Trump is
still concerned about
whether the FBI planted

a spy in his 2016 campaign.

That's after a top Republican
congressman said today that
there's no evidence for the

claim.

Representative Trey Gowdy
of South Carolina chairs the
House Oversight Committee, and

he was briefed by
the FBI last week.

REP.

TREY GOWDY (R), South Carolina:
Based on what I have seen, I
don't know what the FBI could

have done or should have done
other than run out a lead
that someone loosely connected

with the campaign was making
assertions about Russia.

I would think you would want
the FBI to find out whether
or not there was any validity

to what those
people were saying.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Gowdy also said
he understands the president's
frustration with Attorney

General Jeff Sessions
for recusing himself in
the Russia investigation.

The New York Times reports that
Mr. Trump asked Sessions to
reverse his recusal in March

of last year, which
Sessions declined to do.

Today, the president said on
Twitter that - - quote -- "I
wish I did" pick someone else

as attorney general.

China warned today the
U.S. will regret its latest
threat to impose tariffs.

The two nations agreed
this month to put
new tariffs on hold.

But the White House
said yesterday that
it's moving forward with
levies on $50 billion

worth of Chinese products.

In Beijing today, a Chinese
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman
argued the U.S. is only hurting

itself.

HUA CHUNYING, Spokeswoman,
Chinese Ministry of Foreign
Affairs (through translator): A

country harms and squanders
its own national credibility
every time it suddenly breaks

its words and
contradicts itself.

If the United States insists
on being capricious, China will
resolutely take strong and solid

measures to safeguard its
own legitimate interests.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Meanwhile, U.S.
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross
and Trade Representative Robert

Lighthizer met with top
European officials in Paris.

Friday is the deadline for
a U.S. decision on imposing
tariffs on imported steel and

aluminum from Europe.

There's a break in the
barrage of fire across
the Israel-Gaza border.

The militant group Hamas
says that it has accepted a
cease-fire brokered by Egypt.

The Israelis say they
expect a return of calm.

Militants fired rockets into
Southern Israel on Tuesday,
and Israeli warplanes blasted

dozens of sites across Gaza.

India and Pakistan have agreed
to stop trading artillery fire
in the contested Kashmir region.

Relative calm prevailed today
after months of flare-ups
that killed dozens of soldiers

and civilians.

Kashmir has ignited two
wars between India and
Pakistan since 1947.

In Afghanistan, the U.S.
military says that an
artillery attack killed
more than 50 Taliban

leaders last week.

It happened in Helmand
Province in the south.

The overall U.S. commander,
Army General John Nicholson,
says it struck at the Taliban's

illegal drug revenues.

GEN.

JOHN NICHOLSON, Commander
U.S. Forces, Afghanistan:
This group in Helmand
in particular are very

involved in criminal activity.

They seek to continue
instability, so they can
profit from the drug trade.

Because of the money they
derive from drugs, this has been
one of the more well-equipped

and well-paid Taliban networks.

But by killing leaders, we
will achieve a disruptive
effect in Helmand.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Separately,
Afghan security forces beat
back an attack on the Interior

Ministry in Kabul today.

The ministry says that
all 10 attackers died,
along with one policeman.

A bizarre tale of espionage and
faked murder in Ukraine today.

Police reported Tuesday that
dissident Russian journalist
Arkady Babchenko had been shot

and killed in Kiev.

But this morning, he showed up
alive and well, and said it was
all a sting to expose a Russian

plot to assassinate him.

ARKADY BABCHENKO, Journalist
(through translator): All these
months we were in touch, and we

worked on the details.

As a result of this operation,
one man is arrested.

I would like to ask that you
excuse me for all that happened
in the past, because I have

attended funerals for colleagues
and friends many times and
I know this feeling when you

have to bury colleagues.

I am sorry for this.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Ukrainian
authorities said that they have
arrested the alleged organizer

of the plot.

Russia dismissed the operation
as -- quote - - "obviously
calculated propaganda."

Back in this country,
the Republican governor
of Texas, Greg Abbott,
rolled out a 40-point

plan on school shootings.

It calls for armed marshals
in schools, more mental health
screening for students and a

handful of gun safety measures.

An attack this month in
Santa Fe, Texas, left 10
students and teachers dead.

President Trump will meet
with the victims' families
tomorrow in Houston.

The Federal Reserve voted today
to relax the Volcker rule that
bars banks from risky financial

trades.

It's the latest move by
the Trump administration
to deregulate the industry.

The change still needs the
approval of four other agencies.

And on Wall Street, stocks
recovered as a political crisis
in Italy appeared to ease.

There'd been fears that
the turmoil could undermine
the euro currency.

The Dow Jones industrial
average gained 306
points to close at 24667.

The Nasdaq rose nearly
66 points, and the
S&P 500 added 34.

Still to come on the "NewsHour":
fact-checking the president's
claims at a Tennessee campaign

rally; broken justice,
two innocent brothers
and the consequence
of a plea bargain; and

much more.