CBS Evening News with Norah O'Donnell, 12/23/24
19:41 Share

Wondery Plus subscribers can listen to this podcast ad-free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app today.

Audible's best of 2024 picks are here. Discover the year's top audiobooks, podcasts, and originals in all your favorite genres. From memoirs and sci-fi to mysteries and thrillers, Audible's curated list in every category is the best way to hear 2024's best in audio entertainment. Like a stunning new full cast production of George Orwell's 1984.

Heartfelt memoirs like Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson's lovely one, the year's best fiction like The Women by Kristen Hanna, and Percival Everett's brilliantly subversive James. Another worthwhile listen is Amy Tintera's thrilling and twisting whodunit Listen for the Lie. This laugh-out-loud funny tale follows Lucy, a woman who needs to clear her own name after a true crime podcast decides to probe into the worst night of her life, one she conveniently can't remember.

Audible. There's more to imagine when you listen. Go to audible.com slash wonderypod and discover all the year's best waiting for you. Americans agree that everyone should be able to make their own health care decisions. You and only you should control your health care decisions. But the truth is, attacks on reproductive health care, including abortion, are only intensifying.

That's why your gift to Planned Parenthood is so important right now. No matter the battle, no matter the stakes, no matter what, Planned Parenthood is there. Protect our rights, protect our healthcare. Make your gift to Planned Parenthood at plannedparenthood.org slash protect.

- Not guilty. - Shackled and under heavy police escort, the man charged with killing a healthcare insurance CEO pleads not guilty in a New York City court, his lawyer's fiery defense. - The way this has been handled so far, his rights are being violated.

A scathing House committee report into Matt Gaetz released, finding evidence the former congressman paid numerous women for drugs and sex, including a 17-year-old girl while in office. Pizza, grab some beer. And how a popular back alley pizza pop-up is helping those in need, one pie at a time. If Chicago gets just the tiniest little lift from what we're doing here, then it's worth it. The CBS Evening News starts now.

Good evening and thank you for joining us. I'm Jerika Duncan. Nora is off tonight. Luigi Mangione traded an orange jumpsuit for a buttoned up shirt and sweater as he pleaded not guilty in state court today. Prosecutors allege he shot and killed the UnitedHealthcare CEO. It happened in Midtown Manhattan earlier this month. Mangione did not say much, but his defense attorney offered up

a mouthful. She went on the attack against a politicized legal process she says was orchestrated by New York's mayor and police, one that has turned her client, she says, into a human ping pong ball. CBS's Lilia Luciano is live outside Manhattan Criminal Court. Lilia.

Good evening, Jerika. What the defense attorney means by that is she's referring to two cases that are working in parallel, a state case and a federal case, which she argues are working at odds with each other. But the prosecutors from the state and the federal cases say are complementary.

- Luigi, would you say something? - Shackled and handcuffed, Luigi Mangione was led into a lower Manhattan courtroom today where he spoke briefly to enter a plea. - Mangione. - Mangione is facing 11 counts, including first degree murder in connection with terrorism for allegedly killing United Healthcare CEO, Brian Thompson, nearly three weeks ago. He's simultaneously facing federal charges that could carry the death penalty if convicted. - I have never seen a case with such volume

of evidence aside from the issue of the quality of the evidence today mangioni's defense attorney karen friedman agnophilo accused mayor eric adams of politicizing the 26 year old's arrest after a dramatic perp walk with heavily armed officers last week i'm very concerned

about my client's right to a fair trial in this case. He's being prejudiced by some statements that are being made by government officials. Like every other defendant, he is entitled to a presumption of innocence. CBS News legal analyst Rikki Kleeman. From what you heard today from Agne Filo, do you see these comments as an attempt to move the case to a different jurisdiction?

I think the defense attorneys are doing exactly what they should be doing. What they are doing is building block by block, and I'm sure that they will do it at every appearance. You just don't wait to the eve of trial to make these motions. You build them every single time you go to court.

And the next time Mangione is due in this court is February 21st. But we may see him before that for the preliminary hearing on the federal case, which is set at some point after mid-January. Lillia Luciano, thank you so much. Just before the holidays, the House Ethics Committee released a long-awaited and damning report on the conduct of former Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz.

CBS broke the news on its findings early this morning. Gates responded almost immediately by filing a lawsuit attempting to stop the report's publication, but he failed to block its release. CBS's Scott McFarlane has the latest tonight from Capitol Hill.

Matt Gaetz, who just weeks ago was trying to land the job of U.S. Attorney General, Folks have been very supportive. is now alleged to have violated Florida's statutory rape law. The U.S. House Ethics Committee, which first launched an investigation of Gaetz three years ago, has issued a 42-page report of its findings today, alleging they found evidence Gaetz paid a 17-year-old girl who'd just completed her junior year in high school

$400 for sex in 2017 and made payments of more than $90,000 to 12 different women likely for sexual activity and drug use.

The report says women testified sexual encounters were consensual. One woman told the panel the use of drugs at parties with Gaetz may have impaired her ability to know what was going on. Gaetz has denied all of the allegations. The person doesn't exist. I have not had a relationship with a 17-year-old. That is totally false. Maryland's Glenn Ivey is one of five Democrats on the evenly divided 10-person ethics committee.

Well, I think from an ethics standpoint, clearly everything we talk about in this report is over the line. The committee said its report also found evidence Gates may have engaged in illicit drug use and that it's obtained text messages in which he refers to drugs as party favors, vitamins or roles. Allegations Gates also denies.

Gates recently acknowledged on social media that he had behaved embarrassingly in the past, drinking and smoking more than he should have. I don't know what he's going to want to do down the road, where he might want to run for office again. In that instance, voters should probably have this information.

Republicans, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, opposed the release of this report, arguing Gaetz is now a former member of Congress and no longer under the House Ethics Committee's jurisdiction. But at least two Republicans joined the Democrats on this panel to vote for its release.

Thanks. Jerika. Scott McFarland on Capitol Hill, thank you. With less than a month to go in his term, President Biden has granted executive clemency to nearly all federal death row inmates, 37 out of 40. The move reduces their sentences to life without the possibility of parole. It also makes them immune to President-elect Donald Trump's promise to resume federal executions. CBS's Ed O'Keefe has more tonight, including the prisoners who did not get clemency.

He once wrote legislation expanding the federal death penalty. I am not Mr. Soft on crime. I'm the guy that put these death penalties in this bill. But four years ago, then-candidate Joe Biden campaigned to end it. And as president, he paused federal executions. One of the reasons I'm against capital punishment

As you know, we have confirmed there's at least 195 cases since 1972 that the person who was convicted and about to put to death was innocent. Tonight, three men remain on death row. Robert Bowers, sentenced last year for killing 11 at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh. Dylan Roof, who killed nine in the 2015 Charleston church massacre. And Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the Boston Marathon bomber, who also killed a police officer.

But 37 others will now serve life sentences with no chance of parole. Nine convicted of killing fellow prisoners. Others killed prison guards, conducted mass killings or deadly drug-related crimes. In good conscience, Biden said today, I cannot stand back and let a new administration resume executions that I halted.

I will ask Congress to send a bill to my desk ensuring that anyone who murders a police officer will receive immediately the death penalty. President-elect Trump campaigned this year promising to restore the death penalty. Today, a Trump spokesman called Biden's decision abhorrent and said Trump will restore the rule of law when he takes office next month. 53% of Americans support the death penalty for convicted murderers, down 10 points in the last decade. But civil rights groups cheered Biden's decision.

our society is better as a result of it. And Pope Francis, whose Catholic Church opposes the death penalty, openly prayed this month that Biden, who's also Catholic, would commute death sentences. Today's a good reminder of how long President Biden's been involved in criminal justice issues because nearly all of the men who are on federal death row were there because of the 1994 crime bill he wrote as a senator. Now, 30 years later, he's sparing their lives. Tariqa.

Wow, very interesting. Ed, before you go, though, we're learning tonight that former President Bill Clinton is in the hospital. That's right, Jerika. A spokesman says the 78-year-old former president was admitted this afternoon to Georgetown University Medical Center here in Washington for testing and observation after developing a fever. His spokesman says Clinton remains in good spirits and, quote, deeply appreciates the excellent care he's receiving.

All right, Ed O'Keefe at the White House, thank you. 60 Minutes got an inside look at how Israel pulled off one of the most daring and sophisticated intelligence operations in history. It was the so-called pager plot in which pagers worn by members of the Hezbollah militia were turned into miniature bombs. Leslie Stahl spoke with two recently retired Israeli agents who spent years masterminding the plan.

This is the pager that Hezbollah was using. So it's very sleek, it's very shiny, and it certainly can fit in a pocket. So what did you do to change this?

to make it into a bomb. So, to make it into a bomb, we have to enlarge it a little bit. In order to put explosives inside, but not too much. Using dummies, Mossad conducted tests with the pager in a padded glove

to calibrate the grams of explosive needed to be just enough to hurt the fighter, but not the person next to him. If you push the button, the only one that will get injured is the terrorist himself. Even if his wife or his daughter will be just next to him, he's the only one that's going to be harmed.

And you can watch more of Leslie Stahl's report, including perspective from those in Lebanon at CBS News dot com. Well, moving on to weather now, it's already treacherous in some places, and that's especially concerning if you're one of an estimated 120 million Americans who are traveling this holiday. CBS's Rob Marciano is keeping track of the big picture for us from north of New York City. Rob, what's the latest?

Well, this cold air, Jerica, has been around for the last couple of days. The coldest air we've seen really in some places in years. So the ground, the roads are plenty cold. We just need a little bit of snow and it's going to be some slick travel. We've got that on the radar screen. There you see this clip resistance is going to come through and temperatures tomorrow, at least along the I-95 corridor, will be below freezing when that moisture arrives. So let's time it out. You'll see some snow fly later on tonight from Pittsburgh to Buffalo to Binghamton to Burlington and then right through the I-95 corridor. Quick

pulse, but maybe just enough to slick up the roadways, the most accumulation will be well inland. Been very active in the west. We had a good storm come through yesterday. Another one coming through tomorrow night. That's when it's going to have some big wind and waves and mountain snow with it. And another one after that. So some of the mountain passes in the inner mountain west will see significant snow. And that's really where your best chances of seeing white Christmas. But from Chicago to New York to Boston, this is really the best chance we've seen for having any sort of white Christmas in years.

Jerika? Yeah, white Christmas and cold kind of go hand in hand. Rob Marciano, thank you so much. A holiday drone show in Florida goes horribly wrong with a mid-air collision and a serious injury on the ground. The latest on the investigation next.

A holiday light show in Florida went dangerously wrong when several drones crashed to the ground, one of them seriously injuring a small boy. Now the NTSB and the FAA are investigating how this could have even happened as the boy's parents spook out. Cristian Benavidez reports. As dozens of drones illuminated the night skies above Orlando. Oh no. Are they supposed to be going? Several crashed and fell. At least one went off course.

And directly into a crowd. Striking seven year old Alexander, who needed emergency heart surgery, according to his parents. Before they went down, the green one went straight at us and I went to the left and my son went to the right and it hit my son. The biggest thing is him right now and just.

figuring out what's wrong. They were saying his oxygen. You're okay, baby. You're okay. Yeah, he keeps stop breathing. Drone shows are a billion dollar business. The company behind this one, Sky Elements, claims to stage them in all 50 states. The company says it's cooperating with the FAA's investigation to determine how and why this Christmas show became so chaotic.

Across the country, several cities have turned to drones as a safer alternative to fireworks. New York, Denver and Dallas all have drone light shows planned for New Year's Eve. Jerika? Definitely pretty, but can be dangerous. Thank you. In tonight's Eye on America, a public servant stands up to a gang of cyber criminals by calling their bluff. You don't want to miss this. That's next.

When an emergency strikes, every second counts. For Doctors Without Borders teams around the world, seconds can often mean the difference between life and death. So we don't waste a single one. Every second and every dollar is a critical resource. That means more vaccines given, more wounds bandaged, more surgeries performed, and more life-saving research done. We're counting on your support. Make a life-saving donation today at doctorswithoutborders.org.

Hey, I'm Ryan Reynolds. Recently, I asked Mint Mobile's legal team if big wireless companies are allowed to raise prices due to inflation. They said yes. And then when I asked if raising prices technically violates those onerous two-year contracts, they said, what the f*** are you talking about, you insane Hollywood a**hole?

So to recap, we're cutting the price of Mint Unlimited from $30 a month to just $15 a month. Give it a try at mintmobile.com slash switch. $45 upfront payment equivalent to $15 per month. New customers on first three-month plan only. Taxes and fees extra. Speeds lower above 40 gigabytes per detail.

2024 could go down as the worst year yet for ransomware attacks. Hackers gain access to a computer server, lock up all the files, and then demand payment to get the victims back online. Well, in tonight's Eye on America, Usher Qureshi has the inside story of how a public official in Atlanta stared down one of the world's most destructive cyber criminals.

This incident has been reported to law enforcement and is under active investigation. In Georgia last January, Fulton County Chairman Rob Pitts found himself in a showdown. Staring at criminals he couldn't see, Fulton County was under a ransomware attack. So phones, courts. Everything was there. Everything was shut down. Things that you take for granted, going to the library to check out a book, couldn't do it. Getting a marriage license.

Checking on your taxes. You couldn't do it. Did you feel like you were being held hostage? Well, we were being held hostage. Ransomware criminals are in the extortion business. They hack an organization's network, lock up the data, and then demand a ransom for the keys. Attackers last year walked away with a record $1 billion, but the number of organizations that pay has fallen from over 80% to just about 30% today.

What the hell is going on in Georgia? The stakes in Fulton County couldn't have been higher. Five months earlier, former President Donald Trump and 18 others were indicted in Fulton County, charged in connection with their efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

The hackers claim to have secret documents from the case and threaten to make them public. How much were they asking? Several, several, several millions of dollars. We do not encourage organizations to pay the ransom, but we understand it's a business or an organizational decision that has significant ramifications.

Ryan Vordren is assistant director of the FBI's Cyber Division. We negotiate for hostages. We don't negotiate with terrorists. What is the position with ransomware criminals? The FBI typically doesn't get involved in negotiating with ransomware actors. A major Russian-based ransomware syndicate called LockBit took responsibility. LockBit.

one of the most prolific ransomware variants in the world. Four months later, the FBI indicted LockBit's alleged ringleader, Dmitry Horshev, who they said used the strange-sounding name online, LockBitSup.

This would be the dark web, specifically the Russian dark web. Our team at CBS News scoured hacker chat rooms online until finally, Lakvitsup answered. He seemed concerned about the FBI and told us they had the wrong guy. He claimed to be apolitical and then bragged he is a wolf who eats the weakest. He is a formidable adversary, right? But we have really good people in the FBI as well, and that's how we've been able to get close to him.

And this is what we dubbed the war room right here. Lockpit ratcheted up its threats in Fulton County for weeks. Deadline number one came and passed. Get another call. Deadline number two passed. But Chairman Pitts followed the FBI's advice, refusing to pay the ransom. It's taxpayers' money, and we certainly weren't going to pay, you know, footloose and fancy free with our taxpayers' money. The hackers faded away.

And Fulton County pieced its network back together. But Pitts knows it was a roll of the dice. These are not high school kids in their basement playing on a laptop. That's not the case. This is a big, big business. Could this happen to you again? It could. Absolutely could. A roll of the dice that paid off for now. For Eye on America, I'm Usher Qureshi in Atlanta.

Fit said not today. Well, it's a slice that's hard to come by in Chicago, a story that will warm your heart and your appetite coming up. Even if you think it's a bit overhyped, AI is suddenly everywhere from self-driving cars to molecular medicine to business efficiency. If it's not in your industry yet, it's coming fast. But AI needs a lot of speed and computing power. So how do you compete without costs spiraling out of control? Time to upgrade to the next generation of the cloud.

Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, or OCI. OCI is a blazing fast and secure platform for your infrastructure, database, application development, plus all your AI and machine learning workloads. OCI costs 50% less for compute and 80% less for networking, so you're saving up

pile of money. Thousands of businesses have already upgraded to OCI, including MGM Resorts, Specialized Bikes, and Fireworks AI. Right now, Oracle is offering to cut your current cloud bill in half if you move to OCI. For new U.S. customers with minimum financial commitment, offer ends 12-31-24. See if your company qualifies for this special offer at oracle.com slash cbs. That's oracle.com slash cbs.

You sign up for something, forget about it after the trial period ends, then you're charged, month after month after month. The subscriptions are there, but you're not using them. In fact, 85% of people have at least one paid subscription going unused each month.

Thanks to Rocket Money, you can see all your subscriptions in one place and cancel the ones you're not using anymore. Now, boom, you're saving more money. Rocket Money is a personal finance app that helps find and cancel your unwanted subscriptions, monitors your spending, and helps lower your bills so you can grow your savings.

Rocket Money has over 5 million users and has saved a total of $500 million in canceled subscriptions, saving members up to $740 a year when using all of the app's premium features. Cancel your unwanted subscriptions and reach your financial goals faster with Rocket Money. Go to rocketmoney.com slash wondery today. That's rocketmoney.com slash wondery. rocketmoney.com slash wondery.

People will go to great lengths for their favorite pizza. Well, we found a pie slinger in Chicago who has one of the hottest slices in town. His thin crust pizza is so popular, he's raising plenty of dough for a good cause. Here's CBS's Charlie DeMar.

By day, it's just an ordinary alley. But one night a month, it's the drive-through for Chicago's most exclusive pizzeria. Appreciate it, man. Yeah, man. Thanks so much. Enjoy. The cheese, the crust, just absolute perfection. I am so excited!

I've been wanting to get this since like summer. Hanny Pay locked into one of this month's very limited edition crust fun pizzas, donating $160 in exchange for one of only 12 thin crust pies. I got a DM and just decided, okay, well, eight o'clock, I'm going to be looking for an alley somewhere and we'll have an adventure.

The alley is behind John Crothers' garage and his creations usually sell out minutes after he opens online reservations. Pizza, grab some beer. The recipe is rooted in love and kindness. I don't take any money for these pizzas. What you do is you make a donation to the charity of the month that we designate and you get a pizza and I get to know that this place that means a lot to me is seeing more money this month.

His pizza passion started in 2020 as a weekly pandemic relief ritual for his family. We talked about it and I figured that if the only thing I could do was make pizza, then the only thing I could do was make pizza for the people out there making a difference. Since then, his thin crusts have raised over $80,000, a lot of dough for charities around Chicago.

The $832 this month helped Yanni Demoulas buy toys for kids spending the holidays in the hospital. It took zero convincing. I sent him one message about it and he was immediately in. What do you get ultimately from all this? I get to make pizza that I'm really proud of. And I think that if Chicago gets just the tiniest little lift from what we're doing here, then it's worth it. Charlie DeMar, CBS News. Take care. Chicago.

Love it. Pizza with a purpose. Well, that is tonight's CBS Evening News. For Nora O'Donnell and all of us here, I'm Jerika Duncan. Thank you for watching. Have a great night.

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.

Follow Hollywood and Crime, The Cotton Club Murder on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can binge all episodes of The Cotton Club Murder early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery+.

Hi, I'm Lindsey Graham, the host of Wondery Show American Scandal. We bring to light some of the biggest controversies in U.S. history. Presidential lies, environmental disasters, corporate fraud. In our latest series, NASA embarks on an ambitious program to reinvent space exploration with the launch of its first reusable vehicle, the Space Shuttle. And in 1985, they announced they're sending teacher Krista McAuliffe into space aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger, along with six other astronauts, but less than two minutes after liftoff.

The Challenger explodes. And in the tragedy's aftermath, investigators uncover a series of preventable failures by NASA and its contractors that led to the disaster. Follow American Scandal on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. Experience all episodes ad-free and be the first to binge the newest season only on Wondery+. You can join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. Start your free trial today.