News Wrap: At least two dead as storm blasts California

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• Amna Nawaz:

  In the day's other headlines: The latest in a series of extreme storms blasted California and claimed at least two lives. Howling winds and heavy rain struck the state after years of severe dry weather.

  Stephanie Sy reports.

• Stephanie Sy:

  Drought-stricken California has been drenched with torrential rains. Creeks like this one in Santa Barbara County are overflowing, sending gushing water into nearby areas.

  Gale-force winds have toppled trees and taken down power lines. This afternoon, about 150,000 customers across the state were still without electricity.

  Victoria James' apartment in Oakland was damaged by a fallen tree. She and her children escaped with nothing but the clothes on their backs.

• Victoria James, Oakland Resident:

  There's big holes in the ceiling, like in my bedroom, the living room. In the kitchen, for sure, I saw that tree trunks came into the apartment. So it is flooded in there right now. It's definitely flooded.

• Stephanie Sy:

  Its the third so-called atmospheric river storm the state has seen in the last week caused by vast amounts of water vapor moving quickly through the air.

  Winds in the northern part of the state gusted to 85 miles per hour, blowing over the canopy of this gas station. Many of those same areas were still reeling from a powerful New Year's weekend storm. With the ground already saturated, flooding risk goes up. Mandatory evacuation orders were issued for some low-lying communities.

  The Golden State's many fire-scarred hillsides are also more vulnerable to mudslides. Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency yesterday to help expedite relief and recovery efforts. The downpours across California are expected to taper off later today.

  For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Stephanie Sy.

• Amna Nawaz:

  There is strongly encouraging news tonight on pro football player Damar Hamlin. Doctors now say that all signs indicate his neurological state is intact. The Buffalo Bills safety's heart stopped during a Monday night game in Cincinnati, and he'd been kept under sedation at the University of Cincinnati medical center until last night.

  His doctors held a virtual news conference today.

  Dr. Timothy Pritts, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine: We are in the situation where we wanted to allow him to gradually wake up as the rest of his body was healing. And, last night, he was able to emerge and follow commands and even ask who had won the game.

• Amna Nawaz:

  Hamlin remains in critical condition on a ventilator, but is able to communicate through writing.

  Tragedy engulfed a small town in Southern Utah today, a murder-suicide that claimed eight lives. Investigators say a 42-year-old man shot and killed his wife, mother-in-law and five children, then killed himself. Police found the bodies late Wednesday in the town of Enoch. Court records showed the gunman's wife had filed for divorce last month.

  The man accused of fatally stabbing four University of Idaho students has made his first court appearance. Bryan Kohberger is facing murder and burglary charges. He entered no plea today and was ordered held without bail. Newly unsealed court documents indicate that police found his DNA on a knife sheath at the crime scene.

  In the war in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared a unilateral 36-hour cease-fire starting at midday tomorrow for the Orthodox Christmas holiday. A senior Ukrainian official quickly rejected it as a cynical trap, and Ukrainians in Kyiv agreed.

• Natalia Shkolka, Kyiv Resident (through translator):

  I think this is utter hypocrisy. On the 31st of December, there was no peace. We were under such bombing for New Year's Eve, just hypocrisy on Putin's side.

• Roman, Kyiv Resident (through translator):

  This is just a pretty candy wrapper which Russia uses to present itself as a country that wants to end the conflict without actually doing anything.

• Amna Nawaz:

  Meantime, the Biden announced it will send several dozen Bradley Fighting Vehicles to Ukraine. Germany and France will supply armored personnel carriers and light tanks.

  The late Pope Emeritus Benedict has been laid to rest beneath St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican. Pope Francis joined tens of thousands of the faithful today at a requiem mass in St. Peter's Square. It was a rare instance of a living pope presiding over the funeral of a predecessor.

  China insisted today it is fully sharing data on a rapidly spreading COVID outbreak. The Foreign Ministry rejected criticism from the World Health Organization, and it said the situation is under control. But, in Beijing, patients were sleeping on cots in hospital hallways with no beds available. It was the latest sign that infections have overwhelmed Chinese health care facilities.

  Back in this country, the South Carolina Supreme Court struck down a ban on abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy, when cardiac activity begins in the fetus. The 3-to-2 decision found the law violates the right to privacy under the state Constitution. South Carolina will still bar most abortions at 20 weeks under a previous law.

  Michigan Democratic Senator Debbie Stabenow says she will not run for a fifth term in 2024. Her surprise announcement today opens a Senate seat in a battleground state. Stabenow is 72. She said she wants to pass the torch to a new generation of leaders.

  And on Wall Street today, stock indices fell 1 to 1.5 percent after strong jobs data suggested it will take more interest rate hikes to cool the economy. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 339 points to close at 32930. The Nasdaq fell 153 points, and the S&P 500 slipped nearly 45.

  Still to come on the "NewsHour": the controversial legacy left behind by Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI; the Federal Trade Commission proposes a ban on noncompete clauses; Damar Hamlin's high school coach explains what makes the NFL player so well-loved; plus much more.