CBS Evening News with Norah O'Donnell, 12/20/24
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Breaking news. Deadly attack on a busy Christmas market in Germany. A car drives into a crowd of people. Why officials say it appears deliberate. The new information. We will not have a government shutdown. Shutdown averted? The 11th hour House vote to keep the government open.

I usually travel on Fridays, and this is the worst it's been for me. With about a third of Americans expected to travel over the holidays, how bad weather is already impacting the rush. Are you guys serious? And we go on the road in this season of giving. Their joy, that's the gift to you. This was really a life changer for me. The CBS Evening News starts now. Oh, my God. ♪♪

Good evening. I'm Margaret Brennan, in for Nora tonight. We begin with an attack at a Christmas market in eastern Germany, an event that could impact security measures at holiday events around the world. The NYPD just announced that it will deploy additional resources in New York City out of an abundance of caution. In Germany, at least two people are dead and dozens injured after a suspect plowed a vehicle through a crowd.

Video from the scene shows first responders and police swarming to the area. The driver's in custody and we are learning new information about the suspect. It happened in Magdeburg, a city of about 240,000 people, roughly 100 miles southwest of Berlin. Today's attack came eight years and a day after a man drove a truck through a Christmas market in Berlin, killing 12 people.

and ISIS claimed responsibility. CBS's Elaine Cobb leads us off with the details on today's attack. A trail of death and destruction in Germany as a car plowed into a crowded Christmas market in the town of Magdeburg. At least two people are dead, one of them a small child.

Emergency services rushed to help the injured, at least 60 people, authorities say. Hospitals in Magdeburg and neighbouring cities have cleared beds for an influx of seriously wounded people. Police arrested the driver on the scene.

His motivation is still unconfirmed. "We have caught the perpetrator," said the premier of Saxony-Anhalt. He is a doctor from Saudi Arabia who has been working here and has been in Germany since 2006. German officials had warned people to be vigilant at Christmas markets, which are popular for holiday gift shopping and family outings.

And it's eight years almost to the day since a terror attack on the Berlin Christmas market which left 12 people dead.

German police believe the suspect acted alone and they suspect he had an explosive device in the car. Margaret. Elaine Cobb, thank you. Well, now to this breaking news from Capitol Hill. The House voted a short time ago to approve a stopgap plan to fund the government until mid-March. It appears a partial government shutdown will be averted.

But what does this indicate about how hard it will be for Republicans to govern after President-elect Donald Trump takes office next month? CBS's Nicole Killian has the late developments from Capitol Hill. With hours to go... It was five days before Christmas and all through this house.

Not a lawmaker was resting, not even their spouse. The House rushed through another plan to keep the government open before midnight deadline. This is a good outcome for the country. I think he certainly is happy about this outcome as well. The latest version would extend government funding through mid-March, retain more than $100 billion in disaster aid, and keep $10 billion in economic assistance for farmers. I would hope soon Christmas is right around the corner, right?

We know two things are happening. We're going to make a decision and Santa's coming. But it no longer includes a key provision pushed by President-elect Donald Trump to suspend the debt limit, which would have provided more leeway for his agenda by giving the U.S. more borrowing authority. Have you briefed the president-elect yes or no on this plan? The president's very interested in how his administration will start in January. So we want him to be on a footing for success.

Earlier, the president-elect said if there is going to be a shutdown of government, let it begin now under the Biden administration. The White House fired back. That Republicans blew up this deal. They did, and they need to fix this, period. In the event of a shutdown, hundreds of thousands of federal workers could be furloughed. Essential employees like active duty military and federal law enforcement would be forced to work without pay, and national parks and museums would close.

But mail would still be delivered, Social Security checks would still go out, and the upcoming inaugural ceremony would proceed as planned. We have been following the deliberations. For Ted Kendall, a fifth-generation farmer from Bolton, Mississippi, who's counting on additional farm aid, his livelihood is on the line. We need this assistance in farm country. If we don't get some help, a lot of farmers are not going to be able to

to survive. The last government shutdown was back in 2019. It lasted more than a month and cost the U.S. economy roughly $11 billion. Tonight's vote comes as lawmakers are set to recess for the holidays. Margaret.

and perhaps narrowly avoiding one. Thank you very much, Nicole Killian. A record number of Americans are expected to be on the move over the holidays. AAA estimates nearly 120 million people will pack the nation's airports and highways between now and New Year's Day. Our senior transportation correspondent, Chris Van Cleave, has everything you need to know about the holiday rush.

Tonight, dreams of trouble-free travels dance in the heads of flyers from coast to coast as an estimated 2.8 million deck the halls of the nation's airports. The airlines are expecting record crowds, leading to these long lines at Seattle's airport starting around 3.30 this morning. That was definitely the busiest I've ever seen any airport.

Anne Marie Steinbron missed her flight to Orlando last night after getting stuck in an airport traffic jam. How frustrating is that? You're sitting at the airport, but you can't get to the terminal.

Super frustrating and it's like, it's just like watching the minutes tick down. I was crying at the desk before getting a drink. This guy's not going to make it. And millions more are watching the weather. Snow and frigid temperatures mean treacherous driving in parts of the Midwest and Northeast, and it's also delaying thousands of flights.

We left our house around like 9:00 exactly and so it was supposed to be like a 30 minute trip but it turned into an hour. AAA expects Sunday will be the busiest on the roads just as the East Coast is hit with an arctic blast. An estimated 107 million will be driving for the holidays. Sunday and the Friday after Christmas are also expected to be very, very busy at the airports but the travel rush runs all the way through Monday, January 6th. Margaret.

And we know you'll be tracking it all. Chris Van Cleave in Phoenix. While major airports in the Northeast could be impacted by bad weather tonight, winter weather advisories are in effect from the Great Lakes into the mid-Atlantic region. Meteorologist Rob Marciano is tracking it all. Good evening to you, Rob.

Good evening, Margaret. No doubt they were de-icing plains across the northeast. There was a snow globe at times with the snow coming down hard, accumulating on the grass, but the roads were mostly okay. This was supposed to be a fast clipper system, but it kind of got some juice from the ocean, a coastal load developing, and the radar, you can see, still very active. Matter of fact, that'll continue to fill in

Overnight tonight, especially across eastern New England, Boston, Eastern Mass, you may wake up to two to four inches of snowfall there. And then it all clears out. The winds are going to pick up tomorrow afternoon for everybody in the northeast. And when chills Sunday morning will be in the teens, single digits, even below freezing and through parts of New England. Warming up a little bit, heading into Christmas Eve. That's a problem on both coasts. Strong system coming into the west coast.

And that traverses the country also in the southern plains up the northeast, rain and another wet snow event here in the northeast come Christmas Eve. Reminder, tomorrow is a winter solstice, so it's the shortest day of the year, also the coldest so far this year for a lot. Margaret. Stay warm, Rob. Thank you. Now we'll go overseas to Syria, where today the top U.S. official in charge of freeing Americans held overseas visited Damascus for the first time since the fall of the Assad regime.

Roger Carstens is leading the search for answers about Austin Tice, a Marine veteran and American journalist who vanished in Syria more than 12 years ago. We spoke with Carstens in an exclusive interview for this Sunday's Face the Nation.

You told reporters that you were amazed at the number of secret prisons that Bashar al-Assad had, more than 40 of them. Have those prisons been searched yet? And do you know if journalist Austin Tice was held in them?

So it's not going to shock me to find out that there are prisons that have yet to be discovered and searched. I would say if I'm stunned by anything, it's just the amount of prisons. I mean, you'd almost think that if you were running a country and you wanted to jail your enemies, you'd have one prison and it wouldn't be secret. But to have like 35 or 40 secret prisons, I find that just horrifying, disturbing and yet in a way fascinating. Ahmed Alshara, the head of HTS, his group is

and he himself are still technically designated as terrorists under U.S. law because of prior affiliation with al-Qaeda. Do you trust that they are being helpful to the U.S. now? Today, we conducted a joint search of a facility that we all thought would have some sort of relation to Austin Tice.

So, I understand, of course, their past. What I can tell you is that right now they're being helpful in the search for Austin. So, you conducted a joint search with HTS of a prison today. Did you believe that that is where Austin was being held? You know, Margaret, we had a lot of information over the last 12 years that pointed to a variety of facilities. And in necking that down over 12 years, we came up with a priority list of about six sites.

And of those six sites, we felt that this had the highest probability of having held Austin at one time. And you can see more of our interview this Sunday on Face the Nation. Austin Tice is just one of the thousands missing in Syria. CBS's MTS Tayyib spoke with people desperate to find their loved ones who disappeared during Bashar al-Assad's brutal reign.

They come looking for answers. Scrutinizing what has become a wall of pain outside a hospital in Damascus. Hoping in these photos to find some trace of their loved ones. Disappeared into Syria's notorious prison system during the brutal 13-year civil war.

Among them is Syrian-American Sana Mustafa, posting her own agony on the wall, missing posters of her father Ali Mustafa, who hasn't been seen or heard from in 11 years after he was detained by Bashar al-Assad's secret police. What are you hoping to find? Answers.

We deserve an answer. Like the most simple basic human right is to know if someone is alive or dead. Under Assad's long and oppressive rule, even the slightest criticism could land someone in prison where they were tortured and starved, sometimes to death. What do you miss the most about your dad? I miss having a dad.

you know, having someone to call Baba. While we were talking, one person... This is his friend. After the other... 11 years, 12 years. Her husband and her brother have been disappeared since 2013. ...showed us photos of their disappeared loved ones. Faces etched with grief.

Everyone here has a story of pain and loss, and the numbers are staggering. According to Syrian human rights groups, at least 100,000 people have been disappeared in Assad's prisons. But many believe that that number is far, far higher. The fear is many of those disappeared are buried here, in newly uncovered mass graves.

How are you feeling right now? I mean, you're here with so many people who hold your pain. You know, I feel in community. I feel grateful. I know we're all in this together and we're searching for our loved ones together. A shared strength found at this seemingly endless wall of pain. Imtiaz Tayeb, CBS News, Damascus.

And workers at Starbucks and Amazon are staging pro-holiday labor strikes. What you need to know is next.

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Employees at Starbucks stores started a five-day strike today in several U.S. cities, including Chicago and Los Angeles, a protest that could soon spread to hundreds of stores. And workers are also on strike at more than a half-dozen Amazon facilities with more locations expected to join. We get details now from CBS's Carter Evans. No contract! No!

The year is ending the way it began, on the picket line. Starbucks workers say trouble's been brewing over pay raises. What are union members looking for in terms of wages? Fair wages that are livable. You should be able to afford rent, food, and health care. Cassie Pritchard says the offer of a 1.5% yearly raise won't even keep up with inflation. It's a pay cut in reality. It's a nominal pay raise, but it's only in name. And we don't get it!

- Shut it down! - Teamsters started picketing at Amazon delivery hubs on Thursday, supported by almost 10,000 frustrated drivers and warehouse workers. - The workload has progressively gone up. The algorithm sees you and it says, "Okay, she can do this many and this many hours. I'm gonna give her more."

After six years, Vanessa Valdez still doesn't get any sick days. Amazon says drivers like her are not staff, but outside contractors. It's an easy way to wash their hands of us, so we end up voiceless. Please shut it down! 2024 has been a year of strikes, including autoworkers, longshoremen, and Boeing machinists.

Union members say they're struggling with the cost of living while corporate executives bank record high salaries. Starbucks new CEO Brian Nickell stands to make more than $100 million in his first year. Our CEO is the face of corporate greed in America right now.

Now, the strikes aren't expected to have a big impact on overall operations. Amazon says most packages should still arrive on time. And as for Starbucks, well, employees only shut down a handful of stores like this one behind me. But they do plan to expand the walkout to possibly hundreds of stores through Christmas Eve. Margaret Carter Evans in California.

A 52-year-old Indiana man was sentenced to 130 years in prison today for the murders of two teenage girls who vanished during a winter hike near their hometown of Delphi, Indiana in 2017.

Richard Allen was convicted last month of killing 13-year-old Abigail Williams and 14-year-old Liberty German. Allen was spotted in a blurry Snapchat image posted by one of the victims after they hiked across a bridge, and that became a key piece of evidence in the case.

Well, according to CNN, the party is over for this company, Party City, which is the largest retail chain of its kind in the U.S. Their CEO reportedly told workers all of the stores are closing and today was the last day of work for corporate employees. CBS News cannot confirm that story at this time, but because Party City was in business for 40 years and filed for bankruptcy last year, we're letting you know.

And stick with us. There's more on the other side of this break.

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A group of kids in Phoenix share some holiday kindness. Here's CBS's Steve Hartman on the road. The red caps were the only clue. The only hint that something Christmas was afoot. Here we go. Something that would soon strike straight to the heart. Are you guys serious?

As we first reported last year, the kids responsible for these moments of joy are students and former students of Derek Brown. A Phoenix Elementary teacher who uses our on-the-road stories to teach kindness and character.

A perennial favorite, Secret Santa. That wealthy businessman who every year gives out hundreds of hundred dollar bills to random strangers. I was like shocked because well, who does that? I've never seen anyone like give, just give money away like that. Could you imagine that someday it would be you? No, not ever.

And so, with guidance from Mr. Brown, I sent everybody an itinerary. The kids started a secret Santa club and began fundraising, calling friends, family, and businesses. They raised $8,000 without any help from their school or district.

just so they could turn around and give it all away. It's okay. To people like Rosemarie Hernandez. Thank you. Rosemarie had been out of work for a week. You will give me a lot of relief. Thank you, thank you, thank you. You get so many feelings in your body that just makes you want to do it again. Which is why a few weeks ago, they did it again.

This time with even more students handing out even more money. They gave out $10,000 this season but received something priceless. Their joy, that's the gift to you. Exactly the realization Mr. Brown was hoping for. I want this memory to be so strong that it now drives them every day in everything they do.

Did today change you? Definitely. I never felt this way in my life. So this was really a life changer for me. Whoever said money can't buy happiness, obviously, never gave it away. Steve Hartman, On the Road, in Phoenix. God bless you too. And that is tonight's CBS Evening News.

For Norah O'Donnell, I'm Margaret Brennan, and I'll see you Sunday on Face the Nation. Have a good night.

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They say Hollywood is where dreams are made, a seductive city where many flock to get rich, be adored, and capture America's heart. But when the spotlight turns off, fame, fortune, and lives can disappear in an instant. When TV producer Roy Radin was found dead in a canyon near L.A. in 1983, there were many questions surrounding his death. The last person seen with him was Lainey Jacobs, a seductive cocaine dealer.

who desperately wanted to be part of the Hollywood elite. Together, they were trying to break into the movie industry. But things took a dark turn when a million dollars worth of cocaine and cash went missing. From Wondery comes a new season of the hit show Hollywood and Crime, The Cotton Club Murder.

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