JUDY WOODRUFF: Good evening.
I'm Judy Woodruff.
On the "NewsHour" tonight: A powerful cyclone makes landfall in Eastern India, as the government
evacuates over one million people from the coast.
Then: A new rule regulating testosterone levels in female athletes raises questions about
the relationship between gender and sports.
And it's Friday.
Mark Shields and David Brooks join us to talk about Attorney General William Barr's testimony
and lack of testimony, and President Trump's hour-long phone call with Vladimir Putin.
Plus: a legendary couple of American music, Gloria and Emilio Estefan, on their decades-long
artistic and romantic partnership.
GLORIA ESTEFAN, Musician: We're on the same page.
We rarely differ when it comes to business or music.
So, if you don't argue a lot, that really makes it for
a great, great life.
JUDY WOODRUFF: All that and more
on tonight's "PBS NewsHour."
(BREAK)
JUDY WOODRUFF: A monster grade 5 storm has slammed into India's
eastern coastline.
The cyclone made landfall in the state of Odisha.
Winds gusting up to 127 miles per hour ripped through trees and shattered glass doors.
We will take a closer look at all this, at the scope of the devastation, right after
the news summary.
Here in the U.S., record-breaking floods in the Midwest have now claimed the lives of
at least four people.
In Iowa, the Mississippi River swelled nearly 23 feet in Davenport, breaking the record
set during the Great Flood of 1993.
Floodwaters also inundated communities farther south in Burlington.
Meanwhile, in Dearborn Heights, Michigan, flash flooding submerged cars, as families
evacuated their homes.
In economic news, the U.S. job market shattered expectations in the month of April.
The Labor Department reported that U.S. employers added a net 263,000 jobs last month.
Meanwhile, the unemployment rate fell to a five-decade low of 3.6 percent.
That's down from 3.8 percent.
And wages rose 3.2 percent from over last year.
The president's top economic adviser, Larry Kudlow, welcomed the robust jobs report today
outside the White House.
LARRY KUDLOW, Director, National Economic Council: The strength in jobs and wages is
coming from the middle and the lower middle.
It's the blue-collars.
It's what I call Main Street.
And the increase in wages similarly, not the level, mind you, but the increase, is much
faster than white-collars.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Today's better-than-expected jobs report sent stocks soaring on Wall Street.
The Dow Jones industrial average gained 197 points to close at 26505.
The Nasdaq rose 127 points, and the S&P 500 added 28.
Also today, Vice President Pence joined President Trump in calling for the Federal Reserve to
lower interest rates on account of the strong economy.
President Trump spoke by phone with Russia's President Vladimir Putin today for more than
an hour.
He said they didn't discuss potential Russian meddling in the 2020 elections, despite intelligence
community warnings about it.
But Mr. Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that the two did speak about special counsel
Robert Mueller's report on Russian election interference.
DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States: We discussed it.
He actually sort of smiled when he said something to the effect that it started off as a mountain
and it ended up being a mouse.
But he knew that, because he knew there was no collusion whatsoever.
JUDY WOODRUFF: President Trump said much of their phone call focused on the political
crisis in Venezuela, and he stated that Putin wasn't looking to get involved.
But that contradicts comments that U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made Tuesday, when he
blamed Russia for convincing Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro to remain in Venezuela.
Moscow backs the Maduro regime, while the U.S. supports opposition leader Juan Guaido.
The chairman of the Judiciary Committee in the House of Representatives, Jerry Nadler,
has set a new Monday deadline for Attorney General William Barr to hand over special
counsel Robert Mueller's full, unredacted report.
In a letter, Nadler threatened to hold Barr in contempt if he doesn't comply with the
request.
The death toll from the Ebola outbreak in Eastern Congo has now surpassed 1,000 people.
The country's health minister said attacks on treatment centers have undermined containment
efforts; 85 health workers have been wounded or killed since January.
The outbreak began back in August, and is the second deadliest in history.
In Britain, there has been a Brexit backlash at the polls, with nearly all the votes tallied
from Thursday's local elections.
More than 1,300 of Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservatives lost their seats, along
with over 80 lawmakers from the opposition Labor Party.
Meanwhile the pro-European Union Liberal Democrats won more than 700 seats in the party's best
showing since 2004.
Its leader hailed the outcome.
VINCE CABLE, Leader, Liberal Democrats: Well, I'm just celebrating a really great result
here, Chelmsford, Essex.
But this is a story across the country.
You know, the Liberal Dems were written off at one point, but we're coming back very,
very strongly.
Every vote for the Liberal Democrats is a vote for stopping Brexit, absolutely clear,
unambiguous, honest.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Prime Minister May conceded that the election results have sent a message
to the Conservative and Labor parties to -- quote -- "just get on and deliver Brexit."
A federal court in Cincinnati has ruled that Ohio's congressional map is unconstitutional.
It determined the district boundaries were manipulated by Republican mapmakers to their
advantage, and ordered that the map be redrawn for the 2020 elections.
And a passing to note.
Peter Mayhew, the British-born actor made famous for his role as Chewbacca in the original
Star Wars films, has died.
The furry Wookiee warrior was the loyal companion to Harrison Ford's Han Solo.
Though Mayhew was always in costume, his guttural roars became iconic.
Peter Mayhew was 74 years old.
Still to come on the "NewsHour": a deadly cyclone makes landfall over coastal India;
new revelations about the FBI's counterintelligence investigation of the Trump campaign; the Trump
administration expands the rights of health care workers to deny treatment on religious
grounds; and much more.