News Wrap: New border restrictions in place for asylum seekers

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• Amna Nawaz:

  In the day's other headlines, the last jobs report for 2022 shows the U.S. economy cooled somewhat in December. The Labor Department says the economy added a net 223,000 jobs, still healthy, but the lowest in two years.

  The unemployment rate fell two 3.5 percent, the lowest in 53 years, and average hourly pay rose 4.6 percent from a year earlier, but that was the slowest pace in 16 months.

  Wall Street took heart from the latest jobs report. Major stock indices shot up 2 to 2.5 percent on hopes that, with inflation cooling, the Federal Reserve will throttle back on interest rates. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 700 points to close at 33630. The Nasdaq rose 264 points. The S&P 500 added 87.

  Buffalo Bills player Damar Hamlin is breathing on his own and able to talk after doctors removed his breathing tube. It marks the latest progress in Hamlin's recovery four days after his heart stopped during a game. At a virtual news conference, Bills coach Sean McDermott said teammates spoke to Hamlin today for the first time in a videoconference.

• Sean McDermott, Buffalo Bills Head Coach:

  He made the heart — the heart symbol prime more than anything. Then he gave them a thumbs-up, so — and then, somewhere in the midst of that — and it was a little bit hard to hear, but he — as you would imagine, he said — he said: "I love you, boys."

  And, of course, that got the guys.

• Amna Nawaz:

  Hamlin is still listed in critical condition at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center.

  Asylum seekers from Cuba, Nicaragua and Haiti ran into new restrictions today along the U.S. Southern border. The Biden administration's policy change sends them back to Mexico if they cross illegally. Some crossings in Arizona were quieter than usual overnight. Some people who arrived at the border said they were stunned to hear of the new rules.

  Mexican authorities are working to restore order in the northern city of Culiacan after drug cartel gunmen turned it into a war zone. The violence erupted Thursday when federal police captured the son of Joaquin Guzman, the imprisoned head of the Sinaloa cartel. Gunmen burned vehicles to set up roadblocks, battled government troops and fired on planes at the international airport. At least 29 people were killed.

  Northern California caught a break in the weather today as the second powerful storm this week subsided. Piers and oceanfront homes were hit by hurricane-force winds, heavy rain and monster waves on Wednesday and Thursday. Flooded roads left people in Santa Cruz wading in water and wondering about recovery.

• Sean Berry, Santa Cruz Resident:

  You know, don't have a huge lot of resources for something like that. It's going to take weeks easily, if not months, because there's a house down at the end of the private neighborhood that completely lifted of its foundation and is sitting in the middle of the street, blocking the rest of the neighborhood off.

• Amna Nawaz:

  The storm was blamed for at least two deaths and major power outages. To make matters worse, this week's third storm is expected to roll in tonight.

  In Ukraine, a Russian-declared truce for the Orthodox Christmas holiday took effect, despite air raid sirens and sporadic fighting. In Kyiv, people ventured into the streets to run errands for Christmas Eve celebrations, but officials and citizens alike voiced deep skepticism about the truce.

  Meanwhile, the United States unveiled a $3 billion package of military aid for Ukraine, the largest yet. It includes armored vehicles, self-propelled guns, and artillery rounds.

  The Supreme Court of Idaho has ruled that the state Constitution does not implicitly endorse the right to an abortion. The court rejected efforts by Planned Parenthood to block enforcement of a series of new laws. They include a statute that criminalizes most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy.

  And the Environmental Protection Agency is proposing tougher standards on soot from tailpipes, smokestacks and wildfires. The agency said today that lowering the allowed levels could prevent thousands of premature deaths each year. Some environmental groups said the proposal does not go far enough.

  Still to come on the "NewsHour": a journalist and critic of the Indian government faces spurious charges designed to silence her; where prosecutions of the Trump supporters who attacked the Capitol stand two years later; a new project spotlights the work of indigenous American artists; plus much more.