News Wrap: Rubio tries to assure Congress that talks with Iran are continuing

Geoff Bennett:

Secretary of State Marco Rubio told lawmakers today that talks indeed are continuing with Iran and that the regime has engaged as never before on the issue of its nuclear program.

Marco Rubio:

They have agreed to negotiate aspects of their nuclear program that just a month ago or just a year ago they were refusing to even mention, much less enter into discussions about.

Geoff Bennett:

Secretary Rubio was speaking during his first appearance before Congress since the Iran war started. His assurances came despite Iran's claims that it has stopped all dialogue with the U.S. through regional mediators.

Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee took aim at Iran's closure of the Strait of Hormuz, saying it gives Tehran the upper hand in talks.

Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ):

We have made our adversary in a stronger negotiating position. We are the strongest nation on the planet Earth and we're in a stalemate with Iran. And now we're begging to get back into a deal that you all trashed in the first place.

Marco Rubio:

We're not begging. There's no one begging. I don't know where you're getting this perception that Iran is stronger.

Geoff Bennett:

Rubio also said in his testimony that U.S. negotiators have seen signs that Iran's new supreme leader has been engaging with the talks, though only through intermediaries.

Meantime, Israeli drone strikes killed at least 11 people in Southern Lebanon today, just one day after President Trump said Israel and the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah had agreed to dial back the fighting.

This hospital complex in the southern port city of Tyre was damaged in the attacks. Some of its windows were blown out and equipment was scattered on the floor, but medical staff there are vowing to carry on.

Khadija Yousef, Nurse, Jabal Amel Hospital (through interpreter):

We were on duty working. I heard a very loud sound, a very big explosion. I screamed from the bottom of my heart and I immediately told my colleague to go check on the patient. We were more worried about the patients than ourselves.

Geoff Bennett:

The strikes come as Israel and Lebanon begin a new round of direct talks at the State Department in Washington, D.C. Hezbollah has not taken part in such talks.

A court in Kenya is extending for at least three weeks its block on a proposed quarantine facility for Americans exposed to Ebola. The planned facility sparked public anger with protests, starting on Monday and spilling over for a second day today. Organizers say at least two people have been killed in the unrest.

Last night, Kenya's president defended the facility in a briefing with journalists, saying it's part of a longstanding health partnership with the U.S.

William Ruto, Kenyan President:

I am very confident about what we are doing as a country. I can assure the people of Kenya Kenya that the agreement between the government of Kenya and the American government is for the good of our country.

Geoff Bennett:

Also today, the World Health Organization slashed the number of suspected cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to 116. That's down from more than 900 as of a few days ago, as authorities rule out hundreds of possible infections.

President Trump signed an executive order today that asks A.I. companies to give the government early access to their models in order to assess their national security risks. The long-awaited order allows the government up to a month to review new models before any public release.

It's the administration's biggest step yet towards regulating A.I., but it stops short of forcing companies to comply. Mr. Trump signed today's order behind closed doors less than two weeks after he scrapped a similar order, amid fears it would hurt the nation's competitive edge in artificial intelligence.

The White House Correspondents' Association says it has rescheduled its annual dinner for July 24 after a gunman attempted to storm the event during the original gathering back in April. President Trump said today he plans to attend. The previous dinner had just started when authorities say Cole Tomas Allen attempted to breach security and enter the ballroom.

Allen faces four felony charges in connection with the incident, including attempted assassination of the president.

On Wall Street today, stocks climbed higher amid ongoing optimism over artificial intelligence. The Dow Jones industrial average added nearly 230 points. The Nasdaq rose just seven points, so nearly flat. The S&P 500 also posted a modest gain.