JUDY WOODRUFF:
The final result of the elections is likely to be decided on Thursday.
Forest fires that broke out over the weekend in Portugal killed at least 35 people, including a one-month-old baby. Today, more than 5,300 firefighters with some 1,600 vehicles were fighting the blazes, some of which authorities say were started by arsonists. Forest fires have also left at least four dead in neighboring Spain.
Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl pleaded guilty today to desertion and misconduct before the enemy. He was captured by the Taliban in 2009 after leaving his post in Afghanistan. He sparked an intense search and a prisoner exchange. Bergdahl appeared today before a military judge at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. The 31-year-old could be sentenced to life in prison. He said that his actions were very inexcusable and added not to, quote, “to think that there would be any reason to carry out a crucial mission to search for a man.”
The truck driver in a deadly immigrant smuggling race pleaded guilty in court. San Antonio police found at least 39 immigrants, 10 of whom died, stuffed into a sweltering semi-trailer last year and died. The driver, James Matthew Bradley Jr., pleaded guilty to conspiracy and transporting immigrants, resulting in death. He now faces life in prison.
A New Jersey man was convicted of planting two pressure cooker bombs on the streets of New York City last year. Ahmed Khan Rahimi faces a maximum sentence of life in prison on charges including use of a weapon of mass destruction. One of the bombs exploded in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, injuring 30 people. The second did not detonate. The officials said that Rahimi was inspired by ISIS and al-Qaeda.
JOHN MILLER, NYPD Deputy Commissioner, Intelligence and Counterterrorism: Ahmed Khan Rahimi learned a lesson that we keep reminding people of. This is the wrong place to try to carry out an act of terrorism. Witnesses will come forward, evidence will be developed, arrests will be made, prosecutions will be launched and they will be successful.