News Wrap: Nearly 7 million under winter weather alert in U.S.

Geoff Bennett:

The day's other headlines begin with the winter storm in the Northern states that's lasted all weekend and still won't let up.

Nearly seven million people are under winter weather alerts today, as lake-effect snow coming off of the Great Lakes continues to pound parts of the Upper Midwest and Northeast. Western Michigan could see another foot of snow today, while other parts of the state, as well as New York and Pennsylvania, are digging out from close to four feet of snow from this weekend.

Man:

This weather is Buffalo weather. It's amazing weather. It's great weather.

Geoff Bennett:

That didn't stop tailgaters ahead of the Buffalo Bills' Sunday night game. The team paid fans $20 an hour to help dig out the stadium before kickoff.

The snow wasn't enough to deter most air travelers either. The TSA says more than three million people took post-Thanksgiving flights yesterday, and that set a new record.

Turning now to the Middle East, where for the first time since the cease-fire took effect last week, Hezbollah has fired projectiles into a disputed border region in Southern Lebanon. The militant group says it was a warning shot for what it called repeated Israeli violations of the truce. No one was reported hurt. Israel responded with its own airstrikes in retaliation hours later.

A Lebanese official accused Israel today of breaching the cease-fire more than 50 times in recent days with strikes and other provocations. Despite that, a State Department spokesperson said the cease-fire is working and that claims of violations are being investigated.

Matthew Miller, State Department Spokesman:

Broadly speaking, it has been successful in stopping the fighting. Now, with respect to violations or potential violations of the cease-fire, we set a mechanism up to look into this very question, where the United States, along with France, will engage with the Israeli military, will engage with the Lebanese military to look at potential violations.

Geoff Bennett:

Meantime, Israel's military says an Israeli-American soldier previously thought to be alive in Hamas captivity is now presumed dead.

The body of Omer Neutra of New York was taken by Hamas in Southern Israel during the October 7 attacks. His parents had led a public campaign for his release, including an address to the Republican National Convention back in July. He was one of seven American citizens held in Gaza. Four, including Neutra, have been pronounced dead.

The Biden administration is preparing another $725 million in weapons assistance for Ukraine. That's on top of more than $680 million in weapons that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced today during a surprise visit to Kyiv. It was his first visit to the Ukrainian capital in more than two years.

The trip comes after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy recently criticized Scholz for speaking to Russian President Vladimir Putin back in November about opening negotiations to end the war. In Kyiv today, Scholz emphasized solidarity.

Olaf Scholz, German Chancellor (through interpreter):

My very clear message from Kyiv to Putin, we're in this for the long haul, and we will stand by Ukraine for as long as it takes.

Geoff Bennett:

Germany is Ukraine's second largest backer behind only the U.S. The Biden administration has surged aid to Ukraine and eased weapons restrictions during the last months of the president's term. The incoming Trump administration has signaled it will rethink U.S. aid to Ukraine.

More than 200 people have been detained in the country of Georgia amid demonstrations now going into their fifth night. Tens of thousands of people gathered in the capital of Tbilisi this evening in protest of the pro-Russian government's decision to suspend negotiations to join the European Union.

More than 100 police officers have been injured in clashes with demonstrators. It's all unfolding after October elections that were seen as a referendum on joining the E.U. Georgia's opposition says the vote was rigged by Moscow.

There is turnover in the top jobs at two major companies tonight. The world's fourth largest automaker, Stellantis, owner of brands like Jeep, Ram, Chrysler, and Dodge, is one of them. CEO Carlos Tavares is stepping down after nearly four years in the role after trying to steer the company back to profitability. But Stellantis has struggled with slumping sales and rising pressure from autoworkers at plants in the U.S. and abroad.

And the CEO of chipmaker Intel has retired in a surprise announcement. Pat Gelsinger started at Intel more than 40 years ago before becoming chief executive in 2021. The semiconductor manufacturer has struggled financially to keep up with rival Nvidia.

Both of those companies' stocks fell today as Wall Street saw mixed results. The Dow Jones industrial average dipped lower by nearly 130 points, while the Nasdaq jumped up by nearly 1 percent, and the S&P 500 climbed higher into new record territory.