News Wrap: Univ. of Virginia football coach honors three players shot and killed

Judy Woodruff:

In the day's other news: One week after Election Day, Republicans are on the verge of retaking control of the U.S. House of Representatives with a slim majority.

Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy cleared the first hurdle to becoming House speaker, winning his party's nomination. The full House will vote in January.

And, on the Senate side, the "PBS NewsHour" can confirm that Florida Republican Rick Scott will challenge Minority Leader Mitch McConnell for the Senate Republican leader post.

We will take a closer look at all of this after the news summary.

Police say that the four University of Idaho students found dead on Sunday were targeted and killed with a knife or a similar edged weapon. Authorities said that it was an isolated incident and that there's no imminent threat to the community. The search for a suspect is ongoing. Investigators have yet to find the weapon.

Last night, we mistakenly reported that the victims were shot. And we regret the error.

Meanwhile, in Charlottesville, Virginia, the arraignment for the man accused of killing three University of Virginia football players has been postponed until tomorrow morning. Christopher Darnell Jones Jr. is facing three counts of second-degree murder for Sunday night's shootings.

Today, the team's head coach remembered his players.

Tony Elliott, Head Football Coach, University of Virginia: You prepare for this job, there's no — there's no chapter on a situation like this. And so I'm just trying to figure out step by step how to be strong for these young men.

I think it's important that we all grieve. I mean, these are outstanding young men that we don't understand why they're gone so early.

Judy Woodruff:

Classes at the University of Virginia will resume tomorrow after being canceled for the first part of the week.

The man accused of attacking House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband, Paul, last month pleaded not guilty today to federal charges. David DePape is charged with trying to kidnap a federal official and assaulting their family member in a violent attack that left Paul Pelosi hospitalized. DePape faces separate state charges.

FBI Director Christopher Wray sounded a warning today that the Chinese-own video sharing app TikTok poses serious national security risks. Wray testified before the House Homeland Security Committee and said that he is — quote — "extremely concerned" about the popular app's operations in the U.S.

Christopher Wray, FBI Director:

The Chinese government could use it to control data collection on millions of users or control the recommendation algorithm, which could be used for influence operations if they so chose, or to control software on millions of devices.

Judy Woodruff:

At the same hearing, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas also reaffirmed his claim that the U.S. Southern border is secure, in spite of a record number of crossings, but he did not weigh in on the resignation of the country's top border official last week.

One of Egypt's most prominent political prisoners, Alaa Abdel-Fattah, has ended his seven-month-long hunger strike. The announcement came in a letter to his family.

Abdel-Fattah has been jailed for most of the last decade. This month, he cut out food and water entirely to coincide with Egypt's hosting of the COP 27 global climate summit.

The world's population mark hit the 8 billion dollar (sic) mark today, according to the United Nations. It estimates the global population will reach around 8.5 billion in 2030 and 9.7 billion by 2050. Much of the population growth is coming from developing nations in Africa.

A judge has overturned the state of Georgia's ban on abortion, a ban that effectively started around six weeks into a pregnancy. The ruling said that the ban violated the U.S. Constitution and U.S. Supreme Court precedent when it went into effect in July. The state's attorney general's office said it plans to appeal.

Walmart has agreed to pay more than $3 billion to settle opioid lawsuits nationwide for the company's role in fueling the crisis, but 43 states still need to approve the deal for it to take effect. Walgreens and CVS Health announced similar settlements earlier this month.

And stocks edged higher on Wall Street today. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 56 points to close at 33593. The Nasdaq rose 162 points, and the S&P 500 added 34.

Still to come on the "NewsHour": Republicans grapple with former President Trump's role in the party; the collapse of one of cryptocurrencies' biggest exchanges raises questions about the market's viability; a Minnesota monastery invests in an increasingly rare form of craftsmanship by expanding its handcrafted organ; plus much more.