1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:04,720 JUDY WOODRUFF: The U.S. surgeon general, Dr. Vivek Murthy, is appealing to the nation to 2 00:00:04,720 --> 00:00:08,990 fight misinformation about COVID-19 and vaccines. 3 00:00:08,990 --> 00:00:13,990 At the White House today, he charged that bogus online claims are feeding vaccine resistance, 4 00:00:15,139 --> 00:00:18,100 and he said social media companies must do more. 5 00:00:18,100 --> 00:00:20,770 DR. VIVEK MURTHY, U.S. Surgeon General: We are asking them to step up. We know they have 6 00:00:20,770 --> 00:00:25,070 taken some steps to address misinformation, but much, much more has to be done. And we 7 00:00:25,070 --> 00:00:29,560 can't wait longer for them to take aggressive action, because it's costing people their 8 00:00:29,560 --> 00:00:30,560 lives. 9 00:00:30,560 --> 00:00:35,469 JUDY WOODRUFF: Also today, Los Angeles County, California, ordered everyone, even the vaccinated, 10 00:00:35,469 --> 00:00:39,899 to resume wearing masks indoors, as infections spike. 11 00:00:39,899 --> 00:00:44,899 And the head of the World Health Organization pressed China to stop withholding raw data 12 00:00:45,690 --> 00:00:50,690 on the origins of COVID-19. He also said it may have been premature to rule out that the 13 00:00:50,941 --> 00:00:54,579 virus escaped from a Chinese government lab. 14 00:00:54,579 --> 00:00:59,579 A major effort to address child poverty in America has begun. Millions of parents today 15 00:01:00,659 --> 00:01:05,659 received initial monthly payments averaging $420. It's a one-year expansion of the child 16 00:01:07,870 --> 00:01:11,620 tax credit, under President Biden's pandemic relief plan. 17 00:01:11,620 --> 00:01:16,620 We will talk with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen about this and more after the news 18 00:01:17,080 --> 00:01:18,080 summary. 19 00:01:18,080 --> 00:01:22,740 The United States will not be sending large numbers of troops to Haiti. Haitian officials 20 00:01:22,740 --> 00:01:27,740 had requested a U.S. force, after the country's president was assassinated, but President 21 00:01:28,410 --> 00:01:30,190 Biden rejected it today. 22 00:01:30,190 --> 00:01:34,560 He spoke at a joint news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the White House. 23 00:01:34,560 --> 00:01:39,560 JOE BIDEN, President of the United States: We're only sending American Marines to our 24 00:01:39,670 --> 00:01:44,670 embassy to make sure that they're secure and nothing is out of whack at all. The idea of 25 00:01:47,661 --> 00:01:52,661 sending American forces into Haiti is not on the agenda at this moment. 26 00:01:52,990 --> 00:01:57,990 JUDY WOODRUFF: As Chancellor Merkel was in Washington, her country faced a flood disaster. 27 00:01:58,150 --> 00:02:03,150 More than 60 people have died after record rainfall sent rivers pouring across Western 28 00:02:03,850 --> 00:02:05,570 Germany and Belgium. 29 00:02:05,570 --> 00:02:10,570 Torrents swept through towns, leaving whole neighborhoods in ruins. People had to be airlifted 30 00:02:10,899 --> 00:02:15,899 from rooftops, and more than 200,000 people - - or, rather, homes lost power. 31 00:02:17,040 --> 00:02:22,040 In the Western U.S., firefighters spent another day battling dozens of wildfires. One, in 32 00:02:23,160 --> 00:02:28,160 Southern Oregon, covers an area larger than New York City. It has burned 21 homes and 33 00:02:29,209 --> 00:02:34,209 threatens nearly 2,000 more. And in Eastern Washington state, forecasters issued a day-long 34 00:02:36,019 --> 00:02:41,019 warning for extreme winds that could whip flames into firestorms. 35 00:02:41,019 --> 00:02:46,019 Cuba's president has partially acknowledged that government failings fueled protests over 36 00:02:46,999 --> 00:02:51,999 food shortages, power cuts and communist rule. Miguel Diaz-Canel spoke in a televised address 37 00:02:53,719 --> 00:02:58,719 last night. He called for careful analysis of Cuba's problems, but warned against any 38 00:02:59,779 --> 00:03:01,450 violence. 39 00:03:01,450 --> 00:03:06,269 Back in this country, President Biden's nominee to run Immigration and Customs Enforcement 40 00:03:06,269 --> 00:03:11,269 promised a new way of doing business. Sheriff Ed Gonzalez of Harris County, Texas, has criticized 41 00:03:12,609 --> 00:03:17,609 ICE policies under President Trump. He told a Senate hearing today that he'd uphold the 42 00:03:17,810 --> 00:03:21,790 rule of law, and insist on humane treatment of migrants. 43 00:03:21,790 --> 00:03:23,920 ED GONZALEZ, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Nominee: It's important 44 00:03:23,920 --> 00:03:28,920 that ICE does not work in a manner that in any way intentionally just seeks to terrorize 45 00:03:31,310 --> 00:03:35,500 communities or anything of the sort. I think it's important for us to be a professional 46 00:03:35,500 --> 00:03:38,200 agency that can take care it's done effectively. 47 00:03:38,200 --> 00:03:43,200 JUDY WOODRUFF: In the past, Gonzalez opposed a voluntary program of local cooperation with 48 00:03:44,430 --> 00:03:49,430 federal deportation efforts. Today, he said he would not seek to end that program. 49 00:03:50,469 --> 00:03:55,469 A jury in Annapolis, Maryland, has found that a gunman who killed five people at a newspaper 50 00:03:55,700 --> 00:04:00,700 office was criminally responsible. Jarrod Ramos pleaded guilty to the 2018 attack at 51 00:04:02,610 --> 00:04:07,610 The Capital Gazette, but contended that he was not sane. Today's verdict means that he 52 00:04:07,769 --> 00:04:11,670 will go to prison, and not a mental health facility. 53 00:04:11,670 --> 00:04:16,670 The Biden administration announced rewards of up to $10 million today to fight ransomware 54 00:04:17,100 --> 00:04:22,100 attacks on critical U.S. infrastructure. The effort seeks to identify hackers linked to 55 00:04:23,080 --> 00:04:28,080 foreign governments. President Biden has already warned Russia over harboring ransomware gangs. 56 00:04:29,310 --> 00:04:34,310 And on Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average gained 53 points to close at 34987. 57 00:04:37,760 --> 00:04:42,169 The Nasdaq fell 101 points. The S&P 500 slipped 14. 58 00:04:42,169 --> 00:04:47,169 Still to come on the "NewsHour": why a top leader in the military feared that former 59 00:04:47,930 --> 00:04:52,930 President Trump was laying the groundwork for a coup; the pandemic's disparate impacts 60 00:04:54,430 --> 00:04:59,430 on the cost of living nationwide; how child care for military families could be a model 61 00:05:01,129 --> 00:05:06,129 for the rest of the country; and much more.