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In the day's other headlines, the Justice Department charged a man identified as Kenya Chapman,
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who they believe sold the weapon used in yesterday's shooting at Old Dominion University.
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The alleged gunman, Mohamed Baylor Jalo, was barred from owning a firearm after pleading
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guilty back in 2016 to attempting to aid the Islamic State group.
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He had been released from prison early after completing a drug treatment program.
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He said the gun's serial number was partially obliterated, making it hard to trace.
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The FBI says Jalo shot and killed Lieutenant Colonel Brandon Shaw and wounded two others.
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The gunman was subdued and killed by ROTC students who are being hailed as heroes.
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Now, a federal judge in Washington, D.C. blocked a set of Justice Department subpoenas today
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related to its investigation of Fed Chair Jerome Powell.
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In his decision, Judge James Bozberg wrote that prosecutors presented essentially zero evidence
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of a crime, adding that a mountain of evidence suggests that the government served these subpoenas
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on the board to pressure its chair into voting for lower interest rates or resigning.
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Last year, the U.S. Attorney's Office issued subpoenas believed to be related to Powell's
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testimony to Congress about the Fed's renovation of its headquarters.
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He has denied any wrongdoing.
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Speaking at a news conference today, U.S. Attorney Janine Piro said she would appeal the ruling.
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A range of weather extremes is hitting areas clear across the country, starting in the west,
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where it's looking like summer in places like Los Angeles, even with one week technically left in winter.
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Angelinos have been flocking to the beaches and to Santa Monica Pier with temperatures climbing to 90 degrees there.
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Next week, we could see records in the triple digits from Southern California to Phoenix.
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Even those more accustomed to the heat say this is not normal.
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Especially in LA, this is not typical. I'm from Texas originally, so I'm always appreciative of the heat,
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but this is definitely different from LA. So even for me, this is like, oh, this is kind of hot, right?
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Like, we're sweating. Why are we sweating in early March? This is weird.
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Meantime, from Washington State to the Great Lakes, more than 24 million Americans are under winter storm alerts,
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and a polar vortex will bring another wallop of winter for much of the eastern half of the country,
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including areas like Washington, D.C. that just saw record heat a few days ago.
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Cuba's president confirmed today that his government has held talks with the Trump
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administration as a U.S. oil blockade further cripples the island nation's economy.
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At a political meeting today, President Miguel Diaz Canal said the talks were,
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as he put it, aimed at finding solutions through dialogue.
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His comments confirmed prior U.S. media reports that such discussions were taking place.
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Last week, Cuba was plunged into darkness as a blackout left millions of people without power.
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At a press conference broadcast on state TV, the Cuban President blamed that on the
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ongoing U.S. blockade. We are generating electricity during daytime hours,
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with domestic crude and our thermoelectric plants.
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The fault is not the governments. The fault lies with the energy blockade that has been
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Diaz Canal also said a decision to release more than 50 prisoners in the coming days was not,
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as he said, imposed by another country, even though yesterday's announcement was seen by some
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outsiders as an effort to win favor with the Trump administration. There was new evidence today
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that the U.S. economy is showing signs of strain even before the start of the war with Iran.
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For one, the GDP grew at a slower pace at the end of last year than initially thought,
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growing just 0.7 percent in the fourth quarter. Separately, the latest reading on core inflation
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came in at 3.1 percent, that's well above the Fed's 2 percent target. But there was a bit of good
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news from the labor market with job openings rising more than expected in January.
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That mixed economic picture only added to the downbeat mood on Wall Street.
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The Dow Jones industrial average fell nearly 120 points to end the week. The Nasdaq dropped more
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than 200 points. The S&P 500 also ended in negative territory.
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And John Burns, an award-winning foreign correspondent for The New York Times, has died.
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Over a 40-year career, he reported on far-flung corners of the globe, from South Africa to the
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Soviet Union, China and the Middle East. Burns won the first of his two Pulitzer prizes for his
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coverage of the Bosnian conflict in the 1990s. He was also a frequent guest here on the
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news hour, including this appearance in 2003 to discuss the Iraq War.
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Life under Saddam is a life lived constantly in terror, in fear.
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And in consequence of which, for correspondents like myself,
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finding true voices in Iraq itself is not easy. It's not impossible. But they have a tremendous
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yearning to tell that truth. And the truth is a terrible truth.
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John Burns died of pneumonia while under care in his native England. He was 81 years old.
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Still to come on the news hour, the wider war engulfs the border between Lebanon and Israel,
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and the people living there. And David Brooks and Jonathan Capehart weigh in on the week's news.
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This is the PBS News Hour from the David M. Rubenstein Studio at WETA in Washington,
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headquarters of PBS News.