News Wrap: EU leaders vow to wage ‘uncompromising’ fight against terror

JUDY WOODRUFF:

From President Obama today, a year-end promise to target terror in the year to come. He spoke at a White House news conference, and sought again to allay public fears of potential attacks. At home, he called for Americans to stay vigilant, and overseas, he promised to pound away at the Islamic State group.

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA:

ISIL's already lost about 40 percent of the populated areas it once controlled in Iraq, and it's losing territory in Syria. Now, squeezing ISIL's heart, its core in Syria and Iraq, will make it harder for them to pump their terror and propaganda to the rest of the world.

JUDY WOODRUFF:

We'll have an extended report on the president's remarks on terrorism and a number of other subjects after the news summary.

In the day's other news, Wall Street went down hard. The sell-off was driven by falling oil prices, the Chinese economy and foreign reaction to the Federal Reserve's interest rate hike. and, losses accelerated late as a variety of option contracts expired.

In the end, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost nearly 370 points, to close below 17,130, the NASDAQ fell almost 80 points, and the S&P 500 dropped 36. For the week, the Dow lost nearly 1 percent. The NASDAQ and the S&P lost a fraction of a percent.

Congress finished work today on sweeping tax cut and government funding bills, and headed home for the holidays. The Senate gave final approval to a package that includes more than a trillion dollars in new federal spending for 2016, plus $680 billion in tax cuts over the next decade.

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL, Majority Leader:

We're proving you can actually enact significant long-term reforms, achieve conservative policy goals, and get them signed into law. So, I'm proud of what the new Senate has accomplished. I'd like to thank the many friends across the aisle who joined us in passing so many bipartisan reforms for the American people.

SEN. HARRY REID, Minority Leader:

Months ago, Democrats called on Republicans to work with us to craft a budget agreement. We outlined three goals. We wanted to get rid of sequestration. We were able to do that. We wanted to make sure there was parity between defense and the middle class. We wanted to make sure we kept these poison pill riders off the legislation. All three goals we had, we accomplished.

JUDY WOODRUFF:

The budget deal already passed in the House in separate votes yesterday and today. And later, President Obama signed the legislation into law.

European Union leaders vowed today to wage an "uncompromising fight" against terror. Their summit in Brussels was the first time the 28 leaders have met since the November attacks in Paris, claimed by the Islamic State group. The group agreed to beef up immigration controls, to crack down on gun-running and to freeze financial assets of extremist groups.

More than 990,000 migrants have entered Europe this year from Africa or the Middle East, and there is still no end in sight. The International Organization for Migration put out the new estimate today, and said more than half are from Syria. In Geneva, a spokesman said people keep coming, despite temperatures getting colder and sea conditions growing more dangerous.

JOEL MILLMAN, Spokesman, International Organization for Migration: The flows are so strong, even now, this late in the year, that perhaps by Tuesday, or even before then, IOM estimates that the million person mark will pass. This is almost five times last year's level, which is extraordinary.

JUDY WOODRUFF:

The agency also reports at least 760 migrants have died so far this year, with more than half of those in just the last two months alone.

Prospects for peace in Yemen hit a new stumbling block today. Talks in Switzerland were halted after Shiite Houthi rebels suspended all meetings with Yemen's government. The Houthis blamed repeated violations of a cease-fire in Yemen. Both sides have ignored the truce, and troops loyal to the government captured a provincial capital today, after two days of fighting.

In Iraq, the U.S. military says Kurdish forces backed by heavy coalition air strikes beat back two major Islamic State attacks this week. In the north, 500 fighters tried to breach Kurdish positions, and at least 180 were killed. In the west, others attacked government lines outside Ramadi.

The briefer spoke on a video link from Baghdad:

COL. STEVEN WARREN, Spokesman, Combined Joint Task Force:

In each place, ISIL was able to muster an offensive effort, which tells us that they've still got some fight left in them. However, and much more importantly, in each fight Iraqi forces were able to rebuff ISIL's efforts.

JUDY WOODRUFF:

Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Ash Carter spent the day in Afghanistan, promising U.S. support in the face of a growing Islamic State presence there. Carter's one-day visit came after the U.S. commander in Afghanistan warned that ISIS militants from Syria and Iraq are gathering in the east. They're joining like-minded Afghans to gain a foothold there.

In the U.S. presidential race, the Bernie Sanders campaign accused the Democratic National Committee today of actively aiding frontrunner Hillary Clinton. The dispute began with an accidental breach of the DNC's database for voters. For half an hour, Sanders staffers then allegedly used it to access some of Clinton's voter data and the DNC has now cut off the Sanders access to all of its records.

JEFF WEAVER, Bernie Sanders’ Campaign Manager:

The leadership of the DNC is now actively attempting to undermine our campaign. This is unacceptable. Clearly in this case, it looks like they are trying to help the Clinton campaign.

JUDY WOODRUFF:

The Sanders campaign fired its data director for misusing the Clinton voter information. And later, it filed suit to regain access to the Democratic voter data. For its part, the DNC rejected the accusation that it's playing favorites.

The Chicago policeman who fatally shot a black teenager last year had his first court appearance today since being indicted. Jason Van Dyke is charged with first-degree murder and official misconduct. Police video released last month shows him shooting Laquan McDonald sixteen times. It triggered protests, it forced the police chief to quit, and prompted federal investigations.

And China's capital city is now under its second smog red alert this month. The wave of airborne pollution is forecast to hit Beijing from Saturday into Tuesday. Today, signs warned people of the risk and ordered half the city's cars off the road.

Officials said particle levels will be more than 20 times what is considered safe by the World Health Organization.