News Wrap: FTX founder charged with fraud released on $250 million bond

Judy Woodruff:

In the day's other news: A massive winter storm is tightening its grip on a huge swathe of the country and threatening to upend holiday travel plans for many Americans.

FlightAware, an app which tracks the flight status of airlines, reported more than 2,200 flight cancellations in the U.S. today.

Roby Chavez has the latest.

Roby Chavez:

On one of the busiest travel days of the year, people across the country are finding themselves in the same position, trapped where they started.

Veronica Wyman, Traveler:

Tired, stressed, hungry, just hopeless, honestly.

Roby Chavez:

The National Weather Service reporting that 190 million Americans are under some type of winter weather advisory, spanning a vast part of the country, from the Plains and Midwest to the East Coast.

The blizzard-like conditions do not bode well for thousands trying to make it home for the holidays, creating even more chaos at overwhelmed airports, with thousands of cancellations.

Some travelers are deciding to take matters into their own hands and skip the airport where they can.

Brandon Mattis, Traveler:

We're trying to search on our phones, figure out other routes, maybe even taking a bus from here to Atlanta, which it'll take us about 21 hours, so that's really inconvenient, but anything we can do just to get there is what we're going to do.

Joey Larson, Traveler:

We have been monitoring the travel concerns for the past couple days since we heard the blizzard is going to Minneapolis, where we're heading, yes, and hoping we make it there on time and safely. And, once we get there, we're hoping we can drive safely to our destination.

It's just a little hectic right now. We're not exactly sure.

Roby Chavez:

But, in the Midwest in particular, road conditions are also posing a challenge. Roadways in Nebraska and Iowa are slick and blanketed in snow.

And, in South Dakota, this video from a local sheriff's office captured a bottleneck of over 100 cars on Interstate 90 late yesterday. Stranded motorists were rescued and taken to emergency shelters. With the worst of the heavy snow and powerful winds still to come, President Biden warns travelers to get out as early as they can, starting with his own staffers.

Joe Biden, President of the United States: If you all have travel plans, leave now. Not — not a joke. I'm tell — sending my staff — my staff, if they have plans to leave on — tomorrow — late tonight or tomorrow, I'm telling them to leave now. They can talk to me on the phone. It's not life and death.

But it will be if they don't — if they don't get out.

Roby Chavez:

Wintry conditions are expected through Saturday.

For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Roby Chavez.

Judy Woodruff:

The U.S. Senate passed a $1.7 trillion government spending bill 68-29 ahead of Friday's midnight deadline. The bill will fund the government through September. It also includes aid for Ukraine and helps communities recovering from natural disasters, among other things.

Members of both parties celebrated the bipartisan achievement.

Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL):

This bill, we know what it is. We know it's omnibus. We know it's not perfect. But it's got a lot of stuff in it, a lot of good stuff. But it's the right thing for the government, right thing for the nation, I believe.

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY):

The omnibus was a appropriate metaphor for the last two years, a lot of Sturm und Drang, a lot of ups and downs, but at the end, a great result that really helped the American people.

Judy Woodruff:

The bill now heads to the U.S. House of Representatives for final passage.

And we will have more on this after the news summary.

Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of cryptocurrency giant FTX, was released on $250 million bond today after his first court appearance in New York. The judge is allowing him to live at his parents' home in California, while he awaits trial on charges of fraud and money laundering. That comes a day after a U.S. prosecutor announced that two of his business partners secretly pleaded guilty to fraud charges.

The U.S. economy is showing more signs of strength, despite inflation and rising interest rates. The government revised its earlier estimate of third-quarter growth upward to 3.2 percent. Meanwhile, the Labor Department reported jobless claims rose slightly last week to 216,000. That's up 2,000, but still relatively low.

On Wall Street today, stocks tumbled, as investors remain concerned about higher interest rates. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 349 points to close at 33027. The Nasdaq fell 233 points, and the S&P 500 slipped 56.

Virginia State Senator Jennifer McClellan has won the Democratic nomination to succeed the late Democratic Congressman Donald McEachin, who passed away last month. She is the overwhelming favorite to win the February special election in her district, which stretches from Richmond to the North Carolina border. If she does, she would make history as the first Black woman to represent Virginia in Congress.

And President Biden delivered a Christmas address from the White House today. It was a message of unity and optimism, calling on Americans to move beyond the country's division to come together as one.

President Joe Biden:

Really look at each other, not as Democrats or Republicans, not as members of team red or team blue, but as who we really are, fellow Americans.

I sincerely hope this holiday season will drain the poison that has infected our politics and set us against one another. I hope this Christmas season marks a fresh start for our nation.

Judy Woodruff:

President Biden will be remaining in Washington over the Christmas holiday.

Still to come on the "NewsHour": Vladimir Putin pushes to improve Russia's military, as the invasion of Ukraine grinds on; skyrocketing methamphetamine use poses a new security threat in Iraq; the discovery of two-million-year-old DNA in Greenland furthers understanding of ancient life; plus much more.