News Wrap: Crews make progress fighting against Southern California wildfire

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• Amna Nawaz:

  In Southern California, firefighters are making progress and extinguishing a wildfire that's destroyed some 130 structures, mostly homes.

  For nearly three days, the Mountain Fire has blown through more than 30 square miles in Ventura County outside Los Angeles. Wind gusts are finally starting to ease, allowing some residents to return to the charred remains of their homes, while others assess what they have lost.

• Kathleen Bowcock, California Resident:

  The fire was there. There was black, heavy smoke with debris just flowing at us. And I didn't know if our neighbors got out and my phone didn't work, so I couldn't — I didn't know if anybody was stuck.

• Dawn Deleon, California Resident:

  First, it skipped us and it started burning our neighbor's house, passed us. We thought we were OK, evacuated anyway, and today came back and the house was gone.

• Amna Nawaz:

  Meantime, on the other side of the country, fires are burning in parts of New Jersey. At least four blazes have broken out across the state, which is dealing with high winds and dry conditions after a month without any significant rain.

  The FBI, the Federal Communications Commission, and other agencies are investigating a wave of racist text messages that are being sent anonymously to Black Americans. They have been reported in several states, including New York, Alabama, California, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee.

  The exact wording varies, but the messages, like this one, often tells recipients they — quote — "have been selected to pick cotton at the nearest plantation," instructing them to be ready with their belongings. Some also include instructions to appear at specific locations. Middle schoolers and high school students are among the recipients.

  A federal judge struck down the Biden administration's effort to provide citizenship to some undocumented spouses of U.S. citizens. A district judge in Texas said the administration stretched its interpretation of immigration law — quote — "past its breaking point."

  President Biden announced the policy in June. It would have allowed undocumented migrants who are married to citizens and stepchildren of citizens to apply for a green card without having to leave the country first. It would have benefited nearly 500,000 immigrants, but had already been put on hold and would have faced an uncertain future under the new Trump presidency.

  The United Nations Human Rights Office says close to 70 percent of fatalities from Israel's war in Gaza have been women and children. In a report published today, the U.N. says it's verified the details of more than 8,100 people killed in Gaza between last October and early September of this year.

  Of those, more than 2,000 were women and more than 3,500 were children. The report also says that most of the fatalities came in attacks that killed five or more people and about 80 percent were in residential buildings. U.N. officials blame Israel's use of weapons in densely populated areas for the destruction.

• Ajith Sunghay, U.N. Human Rights Office:

  Given the pattern of strikes throughout Gaza and the fact that they have not only killed and injured so many people, but also destroyed fundamental social structures and support networks of Palestinians in Gaza, there is serious concerns that Israeli forces have intentionally attacked the very basic fabric of Palestinian society.

• Amna Nawaz:

  Israel says it's been targeting Hamas militants in Gaza after Hamas' October 7 attack last year, in which 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 taken hostage.

  The Justice Department unsealed criminal charges today in a murder-for-hire plot to assassinate president-elect Donald Trump. The complaint alleges that Farhad Shakeri was tasked by an Iranian official with formulating a plan to surveil and then kill Trump in the weeks before the election.

  Shakeri has spent time in American prisons for robbery. He remains at large and is believed to be in Iran.

  Separately, a Ukrainian official tells "PBS News Hour" that Elon Musk joined a phone call this week involving the president-elect and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The official said that Zelenskyy thanked Musk for his Starlink satellite service, which provides Internet access in Ukraine.

  On Wall Street today, stocks closed out a blockbuster week with modest gains. The Dow Jones industrial average added more than 250 points to close just shy of 44000. The Nasdaq added about 17 points. The S&P 500 tacked on 22 points, capping its biggest weekly gain since last November.

  And the 2025 Grammy nominations are in. Beyonce leads this year with 11 nods, making her the most nominated artist of all time. "Texas Hold 'Em" raked in three nominations for record song and country song of the year. It's from her album "Cowboy Carter," which itself is up for both album and country album of the year.

  Today's nominations bring Beyonce to a total of 99 Grammy nominations over her career. Post Malone follows this year with seven nominations, as do Billie Eilish and Kendrick Lamar. Taylor Swift collected six nominations, along with first-time nominees Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan.

  And we want to bring you the story we have all been talking about in the newsroom today. A police chief in South Carolina says there is — quote — "almost no danger to the public" after 43 monkeys escaped from a medical research compound. The problematic primates broke loose from the Alpha Genesis facility in Yemassee, South Carolina.

  Police say a new employee didn't fully shut an enclosure, allowing the rhesus macaque to escape. Police are advising residents to close their windows and doors and call 911 if they see one.

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