JUDY WOODRUFF: In the day's other news: The death toll from the massive Beirut port explosion
reached 154, with more than 5,000 hurt. More bodies were found today, as French rescue
teams and others searched the area.
With that operation under way, the head of the powerful Hezbollah militia insisted that
his Iranian-backed group is not to blame.
SAYYED HASSAN NASRALLAH, Hezbollah Leader (through translator): I wholeheartedly deny
that there is anything that belongs to us in the port, no warehouse for weapons, rockets,
no guns, no bombs, no bullets, no nitrate, nothing, absolutely, not now and not in the
past, never.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Lebanon's President Michel Aoun vowed to investigate all possible causes.
An Air India Express passenger jet crashed and broke in two today trying to land in heavy
rain in Southern India. At least 16 people were killed, and more than 120 hurt. Doctors
and rescuers worked through bad weather to reach survivors. The 190-passenger flight
carried people who'd been stranded abroad by the pandemic.
Britain says that it will crack down on a wave of migrants crossing the English Channel
from France. Authorities yesterday picked up at least 235 people in small boats. That
is a one-day record. More migrants were found at sea today. British officials say organized
smuggling and good summer weather are behind the increase.
China has fired back after President Trump banned U.S. companies from doing business
with the Chinese owners of WeChat and TikTok. New executive orders could bar distribution
of the social media apps within the U.S. in 45 days. Mr. Trump charges that they share
data with the Chinese government.
But Beijing says that the accusation is baseless.
WANG WENBIN, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman (through translator): Under the pretext of
national security, the U.S. frequently abuses its state power and unjustifiably cracks down
on non-U.S. companies. This is a blatant act of bullying, and China is firmly opposed to
it.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Also today, the U.S. imposed economic sanctions on Carrie Lam. She's the
pro-Beijing leader of Hong Kong. She's accused of helping implement a tough new Chinese security
law in the city.
A federal appeals court in Washington says House Democrats may pursue a fight to subpoena
former White House counsel Don McGahn. They want to know whether President Trump tried
to obstruct the Russia probe. The White House argues that McGahn has legal immunity. Today's
ruling revives the Democrats' lawsuit, but there's little time to resolve the issue before
the current Congress ends in January.
Jerry Falwell Jr. is taking an indefinite leave of absence as president and chancellor
of Liberty University. The evangelical Christian school in Virginia issued a terse statement
this afternoon. In recent days, Falwell apologized over photos he posted online. One showed his
pants unzipped and his arm around a young woman.
Wall Street struggled make headway today, as investors pored over the July jobs report.
The Dow Jones industrial average gained 46 points to close at 27433. The Nasdaq fell
97 points, and the S&P 500 added two.
And Brent Scowcroft has died. He was the only person to serve as national security adviser
in two administrations. His first stint came under President Gerald Ford in 1975. He served
again under President George H.W. Bush, 14 years later.
Scowcroft helped fashion U.S. policy on the end of the Cold War, the first Gulf War and
other critical events. And he remained a close observer of the world.
In 2011, he talked with Jim Lehrer on the "NewsHour" about online organizing in the
Arab Spring protests.
BRENT SCOWCROFT, Former U.S. National Security Adviser: Now the world is politicized. For
most of our history, the average man didn't know what was going on in anything other than
his own village. And he didn't care much. Now everybody is within eyesight of a TV or
earshot of a radio. They hear what's going on.
JIM LEHRER: Or one of those little -- those little instruments.
BRENT SCOWCROFT: That's right. Whatever. And they're moved and they're activated by it.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Brent Scowcroft was 95 years old.
Still to come on the "NewsHour": Americans struggle financially, as unemployment claims
top one million for the 20th straight week; Ohio's Republican Governor Mike DeWine discusses
the ongoing response to the coronavirus; an unexpectedly contentious election in Belarus
could mean the end for a president known as Europe's last dictator; and much more.