We start the day's other headlines in New York. A judge ruled that federal prosecutors

cannot seek the death penalty against Luigi Mangione in the killing of United Health Care

CEO Brian Thompson. U.S. District Judge Margaret Garnett dismissed murder and weapons charges

that carried the death penalty. She said they were legally incompatible with separate

stalking charges.

We're all very relieved. Outside the courthouse, Mangione's lawyers welcomed today's decision.

Prosecutors have 30 days to appeal. It comes a day after authorities say a 36-year-old man,

claiming to be an FBI agent tried to get Mangione released from Brooklyn's

Metropolitan Detention Center. He was arrested and is now being held there, too.

The U.S. Senate moved to pass a spending package this evening that would fund many federal

agencies through the end of the fiscal year. As part of an agreement between Republicans and Democrats,

funding for the Department of Homeland Security would only be extended for two weeks. That's meant to give lawmakers

time to hash out a deal on how to fund the DHS amid efforts by Democrats to rein in President

Trump's immigration crackdown. The House is then set to pick up the measure as soon as Monday,

meaning a partial government shutdown is expected to run at least through the weekend.

More than 200,000 homes and businesses across the south have now gone six straight days

without electricity after last weekend's debilitating winter storm. And there's little relief in sight.

Temperatures are expected to plummet this weekend.

More than 200 million Americans are under alerts for extreme cold for the next several days.

And weather officials say a rapidly deepening storm is expected to bring heavy snow and wind from the southern Appalachians across the Carolinas and into Virginia.

At a news conference today, North Carolina's governor said people should prepare for the worst.

If the snowfall comes in at the high end and communities experience 15 inches of snow, that's a lot of weight,

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