VA’s deep cuts, oldest park ranger, non-traditional holiday movies: Catch up on the day’s stories

By Daniel Wine, Jordan D. Brown, CNN

👋 Welcome to 5 Things PM! Everyone watches “Miracle on 34th Street” and “Elf” over the holidays, but festive vibes come in unexpected forms. So what’s the ultimate non-traditional holiday movie? Fill out your bracket.

Here’s what else you might have missed during your busy day.

5 things

1️⃣ VA cuts

Employees at the Department of Veterans Affairs are finding little to be merry about after the agency said it would eliminate tens of thousands of open jobs. The positions include doctors, nurses, mental health care providers and social workers.

2️⃣ ‘Your life turns upside down’

Mahendra “Mick” Patel went to Walmart to pick up Tylenol. What he perceived as an innocent exchange between strangers turned into a kidnapping charge, and the retired engineer spent 47 days in jail before the case was thrown out.

3️⃣ Avoiding the flu

Millions of Americans are hitting the road or taking to the skies for family gatherings during the holidays. Doctors offer advice on what you should do if you test positive for the flu.

4️⃣ A true trailblazer

Betty Reid Soskin, the National Park Service’s oldest active ranger when she retired at age 100, has died. She played a key role in educating visitors on the work of Black Americans on the home front during World War II.

5️⃣ Kitchen MVP

Chefs and casual cooks have different notions of kitchen essentials. Samin Nosrat, a best-selling author and host of a popular Netflix series, includes one item she used to dread but now adores.

Watch this

🎅 Dear Santa…: Tag along with CNN’s Richard Quest to the official address of Mr. Claus in Norway. Inside is a Christmas-themed post office that receives thousands of letters each year.

Top headlines

• Former Sen. Ben Sasse announces he has stage 4 pancreatic cancer and calls it a ‘death sentence’
• What we’ve learned so far from the latest batch of Epstein files
• Melodee Buzzard, a 9-year-old girl who vanished during a road trip with her mother, is found dead, source says

Check this out

👣 Mystery foot fossil: Scientists say they solved the puzzle behind a set of 3.4 million-year-old bones found in Ethiopia in 2009. The fossils have now been linked to an unfamiliar species and could shake up the human family tree.

For CNN subscribers

• Watch: CNN looks at Rob Reiner’s life and legacy
• ‘I’ve never lived in a pretty place like this’: How moving from the US to Germany changed this woman’s outlook on life
• ‘Nobody wants peace’: The Ukrainian men risking death to avoid the front line

Quiz time

🏈 The Kansas City Chiefs are moving to which state in 2031?
A. Arkansas
B. Kansas
C. Nebraska
D. Oklahoma
⬇️ Scroll down for the answer.

Thanks for reading

✅ Most popular in yesterday’s newsletter: ‘It’s really not easy’: Tips on moving abroad from people who learned the hard way

🧠 Quiz answer: B. The franchise recently announced its plans to move across state lines from Missouri to Kansas.

👋 We’ll see you tomorrow.

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Today’s edition of 5 Things PM was edited and produced by CNN’s Meghan Pryce.