News Wrap: Vance and Walz campaign in battleground states days before VP debate

In our news wrap Saturday, vice presidential candidates JD Vance and Tim Walz campaigned in the battleground states of Pennsylvania and Michigan, two separate Russian drone attacks in northeastern Ukraine killed nearly a dozen people, and SpaceX launched a mission to rescue the two NASA astronauts stuck on the International Space Station.

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John Yang :  In tonight’s other headlines, the vice presidential candidates were campaigning in battleground states today, days before they meet for a debate. Republican Senator J.D. Vance held two events in Pennsylvania. In Monroeville, Vance participated in a town hall hosted by Lance Wallnau, a controversial evangelical leader. He claims to be a prophet, and he defended the January 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol. They have hit on a familiar issue, immigration. J.D. Vance, Republican Vice Presidential Nominee :  American resources and American compassion have to go first to American citizens, and we have to build our country up to a strong place, and that’s what allows us to be helpful and compassionate towards other people. Right now, our country is disintegrating from the inside. John Yang :  Democratic vice presidential candidate Governor Tim Walz was in Michigan. He stopped at a voter registration event, then he attended the football game between the University of Minnesota and the University of Michigan. The vice presidential candidates debate is set for Tuesday. In Ukraine, two separate drone attacks in the northeastern part of the country killed nearly a dozen people. Russian forces hit a medical center in Sumy prompting the evacuation of residents of an assisted living center. That’s when the second drone attack hit. Nine people were killed and at least 21 others injured. Attacks in the region have ramped up since August when Ukrainian troops moved into Russia. Sumy is only 20 miles from the Russian border. SpaceX launched a mission to rescue the two astronauts stuck on the International Space Station to make room for them. There were only two astronauts on board, instead of the usual compliment of four. Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore were supposed to be in space for only eight days this summer, but concerns about the Boeing Starliner meant they won’t return to Earth aboard the SpaceX craft until late February, eight months later than if scheduled. Still to come on PBS News Weekend, the choices schools face when pandemic era funding runs out at the end of the month and new wearable technology takes us inside the minds of babies.