December 17, 2024 - PBS News Hour full episode

In our news wrap Tuesday, prosecutors in New York charged the suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare's CEO with murder as an act of terrorism, Wisconsin officials say the motive behind a school shooting appears to be a "combination of factors" and Ukraine claimed responsibility for a bomb blast in Moscow that killed one of Russia's top generals.

In Syria, people are returning home after years of a civil war that displaced millions and left the country divided and destroyed. Assad regime checkpoints that severed any chance of seeing loved ones are now gone like the government. Special correspondent Leila Molana-Allen spoke to families overjoyed to be reunited, but now facing the daunting task of rebuilding their homes and their families.

Austin Tice, a former U.S. Marine and freelance journalist, is one of the longest-held American hostages abroad. The recent fall of Bashar al-Assad and his brutal regime in Syria has renewed hope that Tice will be found some 12 years after he was abducted during a reporting trip outside of Damascus. Amna Nawaz discussed the latest with Austin's mother, Debra Tice.

Congressional leaders should be ready to go home for the holidays. Instead, they are staring at another government funding deadline and scrambling to make it. The deal coming together could have much larger implications, but lawmakers have not yet released the full text of an agreement. Lisa Desjardins reports.

While the numbers are finally starting to decline, more than 74,000 Americans are still dying every year from opioid overdoses. Despite that, very few people who are struggling with addiction get treatment. William Brangham looks at the renewed focus on methadone, one of the oldest and most effective medications in this fight.

The Library of Congress announced the 25 films that made it into this year's National Film Registry. The registry, started in 1989, now includes some 900 movies, chosen for their cultural, historic and aesthetic importance to preserving the nation’s film heritage. Senior arts correspondent Jeffrey Brown has more for our arts and culture series, CANVAS.

The election may have ended over a month ago, but Tuesday marks the day Donald Trump’s victory becomes official. Across the country, hundreds of presidential electors gathered in their states to cast their Electoral College votes, an often ceremonial but essential step in the process of confirming the election results. Geoff Bennett discussed the significance with Jessica Huseman of Votebeat.