News Wrap: House passes $1.7 trillion spending bill avoiding government shutdown

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• Judy Woodruff:

  It is a storm of epic proportions, and one of the most treacherous holiday travel seasons that the United States has seen in decades. So far, there have been seven weather-related deaths. More than 5,000 flights were also canceled across the U.S. today.

  Nicole Ellis has our report.

• Nicole Ellis:

  As winter weather slams much of the United States, the safety of homeless people, an already vulnerable group, is a growing concern.

• Taylor Bailey, Portland Resident:

  When I was biking home yesterday, saw somebody just on like a doorstep in just sweatpants. And I was thinking, like, I hope they get inside, because this is — this is the kind of weather that you would die in. It's absolutely freezing.

• Nicole Ellis:

  In much of the Pacific Northwest, temperatures have plunged to zero or below. That coupled with blistering winds is a life-threatening scenario.

  Some in Portland, Oregon, are sleeping outside.

• Steven Venus, Portland Resident:

  I was out in the cold and freezing my toes off.

• Nicole Ellis:

  Meanwhile, down in Southeast Texas, authorities are doing what they can to help, passing out blankets and filling cups with hot liquid.

  It's just one of many problems spiraling from an intensifying storm that the National Weather Service is now classifying as a bomb cyclone. That's due to the rapid drop in pressure over the last day. Winter weather advisories are affecting most of the Lower 48 states and more than 200 million people.

  Power outages are piling up, creating a precarious situation as temperatures dip. More than 1.4 million homes and businesses across the country were in the dark this morning.

• Paula Poitras, Andover, Massachusetts, Resident:

  We're still without power. Went out about 5:00 this morning. I got up early, around 4:30. I'm said, I'm making my coffee. I think we're going to lose power.

• Nicole Ellis:

  Meanwhile, thousands are still trying to make it to their final destinations before the fast-approaching holiday weekend.

  Drivers are also being warned to take heed. This social media video shows extreme winds and icy roads in Central Iowa, where windchill temperatures are plunging as low as negative-40. In the Northeast, coastal flooding consumed streets in parts of New York and Maine.

• Speaker:

  They're not testing it. These big guys, they just turned around. They're going the other way.

• Nicole Ellis:

  Rescuers in New York went looking for stranded passengers whose cars were submerged. Governor Kathy Hochul today calling the storm an epic hazard.

• Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY):

  It is throwing everything at us but the kitchen sink. We have had ice, flooding, snow, freezing temperatures, and everything that Mother Nature could wallop at us this weekend.

• Nicole Ellis:

  A country blanketed in a historic number of winter weather advisories is leaving many Americans with canceled holiday plans and cold homes.

  For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Nicole Ellis.

• Judy Woodruff:

  The U.S. House of Representatives today passed the $1.7 trillion federal spending bill, sending it to President Biden to sign into law. It passed mostly along party lines ahead of the midnight government shutdown deadline, with just nine Republicans joining the Democrats.

  The massive bill will fund federal agencies through next September and also includes aid to Ukraine and disaster relief.

  Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is back home in Kyiv now. His trip to Washington for a joint meeting of Congress on Wednesday helped secure a new $1.8 billion military aid package for his country. Zelenskyy said that he's back at work and optimistic that assistance will help Ukrainian forces.

• Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukrainian President (through translator):

  Good morning, all. As you can hear, phones are working here. I am in my office. We are working toward victory. We will defeat them all.

• Judy Woodruff:

  Russian missile strikes overnight hit the eastern and southern regions of Ukraine. Officials reported at least six civilians died.

  North Korea fired two ballistic missiles toward its eastern waters, the latest show of force amid rising tensions. It comes just days after the U.S. and South Korea's warplanes conducted joint drills. Japan lodged a diplomatic protest and strongly condemned the North's provocation.

• Toshiro Ino, Japanese Vice Defense Minister (through translator):

  North Korea's series of rapidly escalating provocations threatens the peace and security of Japan, the region and the international community and must not be tolerated. It violates the United Nations' relevant Security Council resolutions. And Japan has launched a strong protest.

• Judy Woodruff:

  North Korea has conducted an unprecedented number of missile tests this year. The South has called the latest launches a — quote — "grave provocation."

  Health officials in China are warning that COVID-19 infections will likely peak their next week. That comes as the country's hospitals are already flooded with patients. One Shanghai hospital estimate that half of that city's 25 million people will be infected by the end of next week.

  People also lined up to receive anti-epidemic drugs like ibuprofen to treat their symptoms and to lessen the burden on hospitals.

  Back in this country, the FDA now clearly states that morning-after pills like Plan B do not cause abortions. Anti-abortion advocates have erroneously claimed that they qualify as abortion pills. Now product packaging will include new language explaining that they work before fertilization and don't prevent a fertilized egg from implanting in the womb.

  And stocks closed higher on Wall Street on this day before Christmas Eve. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 176 points to close at 33204. The Nasdaq rose 22 points, and the S&P 500 also added 22.

  Still to come on the "NewsHour": migrants camp at the U.S. Southern border amid freezing temperatures; the country of Jordan battles an influx of illegal drugs from neighboring Syria; David Brooks and Jonathan Capehart analyze this week's top stories; and much more.

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