News Wrap: 1 dead in Colorado's Stone Canyon wildfire

In our news wrap Wednesday, one person has been killed in a wildfire in Colorado, more storms are in the forecast as Vermont residents clean up the mess left by debilitating rain and flooding, Venezuelan President Maduro asked his country’s Supreme Court to audit the contested presidential election and the Biden administration announced proposals aimed at stopping the flow of fentanyl from Mexico.

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Geoff Bennett: Guilty pleas stemming from the September 11 terrorist attacks lead our other headlines.

Defense Department officials say Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two of his accomplices have agreed to plead guilty to charges related to the deaths of nearly 3,000 people. The men have been in U.S. custody in Guantanamo Bay for more than two decades. They are expected to enter their pleas as soon as next week.

In Colorado, authorities say one person has been killed in a wildfire north of the town of Lyons. The Stone Canyon Fire erupted yesterday afternoon. Earlier today, it was listed as zero percent contained as 150 firefighters battled the blaze. To the north, the larger Alexander Mountain Fire is also spreading. They’re among the nearly 100 large fires burning across the Western U.S.

Meantime, in California, some people return to their scorched communities after the massive Park Fire barrelled through. That includes the town of Cohasset, which is now unrecognizable.

Dan Collins, California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection: This community is going to need a lot of support and a lot of aid. There are people that live up here with little to no means and they just lost kind of everything that they own or everything that they ever had.

Geoff Bennett: In the Northeast, it’s a very different picture. More storms are in the forecast in Northern Vermont as residents clean up the mess left by debilitating rain and flooding. The state’s governor said today that crews are still rebuilding after severe flooding hit earlier this month.

Gov. Phil Scott (R-VT): Seeing all the progress they have made since the flooding three weeks ago being washed away again, it probably feels much worse than a punch or a kick. It’s simply demoralizing.

Geoff Bennett: And, in Georgia, one man is dead after a tree fell in his car during a round of severe thunderstorms last night. They also caused damage in South Carolina and left hundreds of thousands without electricity, though power has since been restored.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has asked his country’s Supreme Court to audit the results of Sunday’s contested presidential election. But international observers condemn the audit, saying the top court wouldn’t be impartial. Meantime, even Maduro’s allies are calling for more transparency.

President Gustavo Petro of neighboring Colombia called on the in battle leader to prove his reelection victory by releasing detailed vote counts. And Brazilian President Lula da Silva has called for the same. U.S. officials today echoed that view with increasing frustration.

John Kirby, NSC Coordinator For Strategic Communications: Our patience and that of the international community is running out. It’s running out on waiting for the Venezuelan electoral authorities to come clean, release the full detailed data on this election, so that everyone can see the results.

Geoff Bennett: Meantime, federal officials have arrested a former us Green Beret over a failed plot back in 2020 to remove president Nicolas Maduro.

An indictment unsealed this week in Tampa, Florida, accuses Jordan Goudreau of 14 counts related to violating arms control laws, smuggling and conspiracy. Goudreau said at the time that he and others were acting to protect Venezuela’s democracy.

The Biden administration announced a series of proposals today aimed at pushing Congress to do more to stop the flow of illicit fentanyl from Mexico. They include legislation to create a national pill press registry. That’s to track machines that could make the pills. Classifying fentanyl as a Schedule I drug, which would increase penalties for traffickers, and tightening rules on small packages coming into the U.S.

That would close a loophole often used to import the substances used to make illicit fentanyl. Fentanyl overdoses are a leading cause of death for Americans age 18 to 45.

In South Carolina, death by firing squad is now a legal method of execution after the state Supreme Court ruled it’s not considered cruel and unusual punishment. The ruling allows inmates to choose between that and the electric chair as alternatives to lethal injection. South Carolina has executed 43 inmates since 1976, when the death penalty was legalized under federal law.

But the state hasn’t carried out an execution since 2011 and the state’s supplies of drugs for lethal injection have expired; 32 inmates are currently on South Carolina’s death row.

The Federal Reserve held steady on interest rates today, as expected, but noted that there has been further progress on tackling inflation. The Central Bank added that, if prices continue to cool, an interest rate cut — quote — “could be on the table at its September meeting.”

But Chair Jerome Powell noted that nothing is guaranteed.

Jerome Powell, Federal Reserve Chairman: Certainty is not a word that we have in our business. So we get a lot of data between now and September, and it isn’t going to be one data read or even two. It’s going to be the totality of the data, all of the data, and not just the — and then how is that affecting the outlook and how is it affecting the balance of risks? That’s going to be the assessment that we do.

Geoff Bennett: Powell also said that maintaining a solid labor market will be part of the Fed’s considerations when it comes to any action interest rates. The next U.S. jobs report is due out on Friday.

Wall Street, meantime, welcomed those signals that a rate cut could be coming soon. The Dow Jones industrial average added nearly 100 points, inching closer to that 41000-point level. The Nasdaq jumped more than 450 points, as big technology stocks surged. And the S&P 500 enjoyed its best day in five months.