Bitter cold is setting in after a major winter storm blanketed a wide swath of the country in snow, sleet and rain this weekend, creating dangerously icy conditions that promise to complicate cleanup efforts and make travel challenging on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Some of the coldest temperatures felt so far this season started to set in across the Midwest and Northeast Sunday and are expected to plunge further overnight. Wind chills will bring temperatures into teens in the New York City area and down to minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 40 degrees Celsius) in upstate New York, the National Weather Service predicted. Get More

Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand talked about her rural roots in upstate New York during a two-day visit to Iowa, which holds the first-in-the-nation presidential caucus and a key stop for any 2020 presidential candidate. Gillibrand’s trip came three days after she announced she intended to run for president. She participated in a Women’s March at the state capitol and talked to hundreds of voters at small events, NBC News reported. A Democratic rival, Sen Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, got bigger crowds during a trip earlier in January. “I’m not a national name and the fact that you turned out to meet me — I’m so grateful,” she told a coffee shop crowd in Ames. She presented herself as uniquely qualified to appeal across the aisle, a result of her politically moderate beginnings and her progressive bonafides as a liberal senator. Get More at NBC News

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren plans to rally with Boston airport workers to highlight the federal government shutdown and other concerns. The Democrat, who is weighing a run for president, will join labor union leaders, workers and other elected officials Monday at Logan Airport's international terminal. Organizers say they'll call for President Donald Trump to end the shutdown that's impacting Transportation Security Administration agents and flight traffic controllers. They'll also highlight a dispute between an airport contractor and baggage handlers, skycaps and other airport workers seeking to unionize. Get More

The Women's March returned to Washington on Saturday, bracing for inclement weather, coping with an ideological split and reconfiguring its route due to the government shutdown. The original march in 2017, the day after President Donald Trump's inauguration, drew hundreds of thousands of people. The exact size of the turnout remains subject to a politically charged debate, but it's generally regarded as the largest Washington protest since the Vietnam era. Organizers this year submitted a permit application estimating that up to 500,000 people would participate, but the actual turnout was expected to be far lower. Parallel marches were planned in dozens of U.S. cities. Get More

China's economic growth hit a three-decade low in 2018, adding to pressure on Beijing to beef up stimulus measures and settle a tariff war with Washington. Growth slowed to 6.6 percent from 2017's 6.9 percent as both the world's appetite for China's exports and domestic consumer spending weakened, official data showed Monday. Forecasters said they expect Beijing to try to shore up growth by making credit cheaper, raising government spending and adopting measures to encourage sales of autos and consumer goods. Get More

A Native American who was seen in online video being taunted outside the Lincoln Memorial said Sunday he felt compelled to get between two groups with his ceremonial drum to defuse a confrontation. Nathan Phillips said in an interview with The Associated Press that he was trying to keep peace between some Kentucky high school students and a black religious group that was also on the National Mall on Friday. The students were participating in the March for Life, which drew thousands of anti-abortion protesters, and Phillips was attending the Indigenous Peoples March happening the same day. "Something caused me to put myself between (them) — it was black and white," said Phillips, who lives in Ypsilanti, Michigan. "What I saw was my country being torn apart. I couldn't stand by and let that happen." Get More

A former CIA technical operations officer who helped rescue six U.S. diplomats from Iran in 1980 and was portrayed by Ben Affleck in the film "Argo," has died. He was 78. A family statement and his literary agent confirmed that Antonio "Tony" Mendez died Saturday at an assisted-living center in Frederick, Maryland. He had suffered from Parkinson's disease, according to the statement. Specializing in covert operations, Mendez helped devise the plan under which six diplomats who were in hiding were disguised as a Canadian film crew so they could board a flight and escape the country amid the Iran hostage crisis. The daring plot — for years a side note to the 52 people held hostage for 444 days — captured the public's attention in "Argo," which won the 2013 Oscar for best picture. Get More

The Patriots are headed to the Super Bowl for the third consecutive season. They needed overtime in Kansas City to do it. After winning the coin toss in overtime, the Patriots never gave Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs' offense a chance. Rex Burkhead capped a drive that featured three third-and-10 conversions with a 2-yard touchdown run to give them a 37-31 victory over the Chiefs. They needed overtime in Kansas City to do it. After winning the coin toss in overtime, the Patriots never gave Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs' offense a chance. Rex Burkhead capped a drive that featured three third-and-10 conversions with a 2-yard touchdown run to give them a 37-31 victory over the Chiefs. They needed overtime in Kansas City to do it. After winning the coin toss in overtime, the Patriots never gave Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs' offense a chance. Rex Burkhead capped a drive that featured three third-and-10 conversions with a 2-yard touchdown run to give them a 37-31 victory over the Chiefs. New England squandered a 14-0 halftime lead, and the teams waged a back-and-forth fourth quarter before the Chiefs' Harrison Butker forced overtime with a 39-yard field goal in the closing seconds Get More

The Super Blood Wolf Moon is almost at our door. This lunar phenomenon with a quirky name will be visible Sunday night across the country, for those without cloud cover. It'll be an unmissable event for American stargazers, since it's the only lunar eclipse that will be seen over the United States all year, according to Caltech's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a NASA partner. Get More

A couple who fell to their deaths from an outlook at Yosemite National Park in California in October were “intoxicated with ethyl alcohol prior to death,” according to autopsy reports. Meenakshi Moorthy, 30, and her husband, Vishnu Viswanath, 29, died of multiple injuries sustained by a fall from a mountain, wrote a forensic pathologist at the Stanislaus County Coroner’s Office, according to the San Jose Mercury News. Ethyl alcohol is found in common alcoholic beverages such as beer, wine and hard liquor. “We can only conclude that they had consumed alcohol but it is unknown to what level of intoxication,” an assistant Mariposa County coroner told the San Jose Mercury News. No drugs were present in their bodies, lab tests found. Get More

Greg Zuerlein kicked a 57-yard field goal in overtime to send the Los Angeles Rams to the Super Bowl with a 26-23 victory over the New Orleans Saints in the NFC championship game Sunday. The stunning finish came after New Orleans got the ball first in the extra period. Under pressure, Drew Brees fluttered up a pass that was picked off by John Johnson III, who was able to hang on to the interception while falling onto his back. The Rams weren't able to do much offensively, but it didn't matter. Zuerlein, who had already delivered a tying 48-yard kick with 15 seconds left in regulation, booted through the winning field goal with plenty of room to spare. Get More

A New Jersey-based “community restaurant” owned by Jon Bon Jovi and his wife will serve a free meal to furloughed federal workers on Monday. Get More