News Wrap: Gov. Janet Mills drops out of U.S. Senate race in Maine

[0:00] In the day's other headlines, Maine Governor Janet Mills dropped her Senate bid in a race [0:04] seen as a litmus test for which candidates can best help the Democrats in this year's [0:08] midterms. The two-term governor said that while she was eager to carry on the campaign, [0:13] she simply does not have the financial resources to do so. That leaves oyster farmer and political [0:19] newcomer Graham Plattner with a clear path to the Democratic nomination. He's vowed to work [0:24] with Mills in unseating the Republican incumbent. We need to beat Susan Collins. That's what this [0:31] project has been about since the beginning. That is exactly what the governor got in it to do as [0:35] well. And I think we all at this moment need to come together and recognize that building power [0:40] for working people across the state, that's how we're going to do it. The 41-year-old military [0:45] veteran held a strong lead over Mills in the lead-up to the June primary. That's despite [0:50] controversy over past online comments about women and a tattoo he has since covered widely seen as [0:56] a Nazi symbol, though Plattner says he was unaware until recently that the image had been associated [1:02] with Nazi police. Maine is a key state for the Democrats should they hope to retake control of [1:07] the Senate this fall. In Texas, officials at Camp Mystic are dropping plans to reopen this summer amid [1:14] outrage by family members who lost loved ones in last year's flooding. In a statement, camp leaders say [1:20] they want to give families more time to grieve. The decision comes just weeks before it was set to [1:25] welcome hundreds of campers. And it follows days of tense hearings in which state lawmakers grilled [1:30] camp officials over their handling of the disaster. 25 campers and two teenage counselors were killed [1:37] when a flood swept through the camp last July. The camp's owner also died. The head of the U.S. [1:43] Secret Service provided new details today about last weekend's shooting at the White House [1:48] Correspondents' Dinner. Director Sean Curran told Fox News that the officer who was injured in the [1:53] attack was not hit by friendly fire, but rather was shot at point-blank range by the suspect. [1:59] Curran also said that same officer was the one who fired five rounds toward the suspect, though he did not [2:05] hit him. That officer, while being shot, was in the process of falling down and was returning [2:11] gunfire. To be shot at is not a pleasant thing. And to be able to actually return fire at that rate of speed [2:19] is just remarkable. Meantime, the suspect appeared in a Washington, D.C. court today where his lawyers [2:25] said he would not contest the government's effort to keep him in federal custody ahead of trial. [2:30] President Trump says he's easing some tariffs on scotch whiskey. The decision was, as he put it, [2:36] in honor of the king and queen of the United Kingdom, who wrapped up their state visit to [2:40] the U.S. today. [2:41] The great king. [2:44] What would you rate his visit? [2:45] The greatest king. [2:47] On their fourth and final day, the royals returned to the White House to bid farewell to [2:53] President Trump, who has hinted that the visit could help ease recent U.S.-U.K. tensions. [3:02] Then the king and queen laid a wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldier in Arlington, Virginia, [3:07] and attended events in the fittingly named town of Front Royal. The visit was meant to mark [3:13] 250 years since America's independence from Great Britain. This week, King Charles instead [3:18] highlighted what he called the unbreakable bond between the two nations. [3:22] The U.S. economy grew 2 percent in the first quarter of the year when compared to 2025. [3:28] Economists say business investment and government spending helped drive growth, [3:33] though the impact of the war with Iran is likely to weigh on the economy moving forward. [3:37] Also today, a closely watched reading on inflation hit its highest level in almost three years last [3:43] month as gas prices soared. Meantime, when Wall Street stocks rallied today, despite the latest [3:48] spike in oil prices. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped nearly 800 points on the day. [3:53] The Nasdaq added more than 200 points. The S&P 500 closed out its best month in more than five years. [4:00] And J. Craig Venter, the maverick scientist who played a critical role in sequencing the human [4:05] genome has died. In 2000, his company, Solera, achieved the feat faster than the government-funded [4:11] Human Genome Project, and Solera did it using Venter's very own genome. The accomplishment was [4:17] a major advancement in the understanding of human diseases and their origins. In 2007, he told the [4:23] NewsHour about the benefits of his work at a time of public skepticism surrounding the study of genetics. [4:30] It takes us in a step of public accessibility of this information versus it only being in secret [4:35] databases. And it sends an important message to the public. You don't have to fear your genetic [4:40] information. [4:41] J. Craig Venter's Namesake Institute said he had recently been hospitalized for side effects [4:46] from cancer treatment. He was 79 years old. And singer-songwriter David Allen Coe has died. [4:53] In the mid-1970s, Coe solidified his outlaw country image with songs like You Never Even [5:08] Called Me By My Name and Long-Haired Redneck. His music was inspired by his own checkered past, [5:14] which included a stint in prison. And some of his most well-known songs were actually recorded [5:19] by other artists. Johnny Paycheck turned Coe's Take This Job and Shove It into a blue-collar anthem [5:31] in the late 1970s. Coe himself appeared in a film of the same name and had minor roles in a handful [5:37] of others. His representative said Coe died yesterday but gave few other details. David Allen Coe was 86 [5:44] years old. Still to come on the NewsHour, airlines under pressure amid rising fuel costs and a budget [5:51] carrier bankruptcy. Germany builds up its military to prepare for a potential future without U.S. [5:56] support. And we report from Texas on how changes to SNAP benefits are affecting residents there. [6:02] This is the PBS NewsHour from the David M. Rubenstein Studio at WETA in Washington, [6:11] headquarters of PBS News. Support journalism you trust. Support PBS News. Donate now, [6:22] or even better, start a monthly contribution today.