JUDY WOODRUFF: The U.S. surgeon
general, Dr. Vivek Murthy,
is appealing to the nation to

fight misinformation about
COVID-19 and vaccines.

At the White House today, he
charged that bogus online claims
are feeding vaccine resistance,

and he said social media companies must do
more.

DR. VIVEK MURTHY, U.S. Surgeon
General: We are asking them
to step up. We know they have

taken some steps to address
misinformation, but much, much
more has to be done. And we

can't wait longer for them to
take aggressive action, because
it's costing people their

lives.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Also today, Los
Angeles County, California, ordered
everyone, even the vaccinated,

to resume wearing masks
indoors, as infections spike.

And the head of the World Health
Organization pressed China
to stop withholding raw data

on the origins of COVID-19.
He also said it may have been
premature to rule out that the

virus escaped from a
Chinese government lab.

A major effort to address child
poverty in America has begun.
Millions of parents today

received initial monthly
payments averaging $420. It's a
one-year expansion of the child

tax credit, under President
Biden's pandemic relief plan.

We will talk with Treasury Secretary Janet
Yellen about this and more after the news

summary.

The United States will not be
sending large numbers of troops
to Haiti. Haitian officials

had requested a U.S. force,
after the country's president
was assassinated, but President

Biden rejected it today.

He spoke at a joint news conference
with German Chancellor Angela
Merkel at the White House.

JOE BIDEN, President of the United States:
We're only sending American Marines to our

embassy to make sure that
they're secure and nothing is
out of whack at all. The idea of

sending American forces into Haiti is not
on the agenda at this moment.

JUDY WOODRUFF: As Chancellor
Merkel was in Washington, her
country faced a flood disaster.

More than 60 people have died
after record rainfall sent
rivers pouring across Western

Germany and Belgium.

Torrents swept through towns,
leaving whole neighborhoods in
ruins. People had to be airlifted

from rooftops, and more than 200,000
people - - or, rather, homes lost power.

In the Western U.S., firefighters
spent another day battling
dozens of wildfires. One, in

Southern Oregon, covers an
area larger than New York City.
It has burned 21 homes and

threatens nearly 2,000 more.
And in Eastern Washington state,
forecasters issued a day-long

warning for extreme winds that could whip
flames into firestorms.

Cuba's president has partially
acknowledged that government
failings fueled protests over

food shortages, power cuts and
communist rule. Miguel Diaz-Canel
spoke in a televised address

last night. He called for careful analysis
of Cuba's problems, but warned against any

violence.

Back in this country, President
Biden's nominee to run Immigration
and Customs Enforcement

promised a new way of doing
business. Sheriff Ed Gonzalez of
Harris County, Texas, has criticized

ICE policies under President
Trump. He told a Senate hearing
today that he'd uphold the

rule of law, and insist on
humane treatment of migrants.

ED GONZALEZ, U.S. Immigration
and Customs Enforcement
Director Nominee: It's important

that ICE does not work in a manner
that in any way intentionally
just seeks to terrorize

communities or anything of the
sort. I think it's important
for us to be a professional

agency that can take care
it's done effectively.

JUDY WOODRUFF: In the past,
Gonzalez opposed a voluntary
program of local cooperation with

federal deportation efforts.
Today, he said he would not
seek to end that program.

A jury in Annapolis, Maryland,
has found that a gunman who
killed five people at a newspaper

office was criminally responsible. Jarrod
Ramos pleaded guilty to the 2018 attack at

The Capital Gazette, but
contended that he was not sane.
Today's verdict means that he

will go to prison, and not a mental health
facility.

The Biden administration
announced rewards of up to $10
million today to fight ransomware

attacks on critical U.S.
infrastructure. The effort seeks
to identify hackers linked to

foreign governments. President
Biden has already warned Russia
over harboring ransomware gangs.

And on Wall Street, the Dow
Jones industrial average gained
53 points to close at 34987.

The Nasdaq fell 101 points.
The S&P 500 slipped 14.

Still to come on the "NewsHour": why a top
leader in the military feared that former

President Trump was laying
the groundwork for a coup; the
pandemic's disparate impacts

on the cost of living nationwide;
how child care for military
families could be a model

for the rest
of the country; and much more.