Senate Republicans have released a measure designed around President Donald Trump's proposal for breaking a budget impasse, its centerpiece his demand for $5.7 billion to build a southern border wall all but guaranteeing Democratic opposition and no foreseeable end to a partial government shutdown. As the shutdown dragged through its fifth week, another missed paycheck loomed for hundreds of thousands of workers. Voting in Congress was not expected to unfold until later in the week. Even then it seemed doubtful that the 1,300-page measure, dubbed "End The Shutdown And Secure The Border Act," had any chance of passing swiftly. Get More

Falling temperatures replaced the weekend's falling snow Monday as bitter cold and gusty winds swept across the eastern United States. The National Weather Service had forecast that temperatures would be more than 20 degrees below normal across the Northeast, with wind gusts up to 30 mph (48 kph) and wind chills approaching minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 40 degrees Celsius) in northern New York and Vermont. Those wind gusts caused flight disruptions at LaGuardia Airport in New York City on Monday and FlightAware reported hundreds of delayed flights. And after a few weather-related delays Sunday, Amtrak restored all scheduled service Monday Get More

Kamala Harris, a first-term senator and former California attorney general known for her rigorous questioning of President Donald Trump's nominees, entered the Democratic presidential race on Monday. Vowing to "bring our voices together," Harris would be the first woman to hold the presidency and the second African-American if she succeeds. Harris, a daughter of immigrant parents who grew up in Oakland, California, is one of the earliest high-profile Democrats to join what is expected to be a crowded field. She made her long anticipated announcement on ABC's "Good Morning America." "I am running for president of the United States," she said. "And I'm very excited about it." Get More

One doctor was suspended and another resigned from a long-term care facility in Arizona after a woman in a vegetative state gave birth there last month, the facility said Monday. The unidentified physicians were responsible for the woman’s care, Hacienda HealthCare said in a brief statement reported by NBC News. The company’s former CEO, Bill Timmons, resigned on Jan. 7, with its board of directors saying it would “accept nothing less than a full accounting of this absolutely horrifying situation.” The woman, 29, and a member of the San Carlos Apache Tribe, has been at the privately-owned facility for roughly a decade. She almost drowned when younger and is non-verbal and incapable of moving on her own. The woman gave birth to a baby boy on Dec. 29. Get More at NBC News

The percentage of TSA airport screeners missing work has hit 10 percent as the partial government shutdown stretches into its fifth week. The Transportation Security Administration said Monday that Sunday's absence rate compared to 3.1 percent on the comparable Sunday a year ago. The workers who screen passengers and their bags face missing another paycheck if the shutdown doesn't end early this week. According to TSA, many of them say the financial hardship is preventing them from reporting to work. Get More

Researchers have discovered a secret ballistic missile base in North Korea — one of as many as 20 undisclosed missile sites in the country, according to the researchers’ new report. The Kim regime has never disclosed the existence of the Sino-ri Missile Operating Base to the outside world. Ballistic missiles are the primary delivery mechanism for North Korean nuclear warheads. The report from Beyond Parallel, a project sponsored by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a defense think tank, was released Monday and comes after an announcement Friday that President Donald Trump "looks forward" to meeting with Chairman Kim Jong Un next month "at a place to be announced at a later date," NBC News reported. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Get More at NBC News

Democratic presidential contender Julian Castro launched his campaign by pledging support for "Medicare for All," free universal preschool, a large public investment in renewable energy and two years of free college for all Americans. That wasn't enough for some of his party's most liberal members. Critics on social media quickly knocked Castro's plan to provide only two years of free higher education — instead of four — as "half measures," ''scraps" and "corporate Dem doublespeak." Aware of the backlash, the former Obama administration Cabinet member clarified his position in an interview days later. Get More

Teachers in the nation's second-largest school district are expected to strike for a sixth school day Tuesday as talks between Los Angeles Unified and United Teachers Los Angeles continue. The union said Monday that teachers are due back at picket lines Tuesday morning even if an agreement is reached Monday, saying it takes time to mobilize a ratification vote of a deal. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti remained upbeat as he mediated the fifth day of marathon negotiations at City Hall on Monday. Get More

As Americans commemorate Martin Luther King Jr.'s contributions to the nation, Democratic presidential hopefuls are fanning out across the country to honor the civil rights leader. Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., used the holiday to launch a presidential campaign that, if successful, would make her the first woman and the second black candidate to become president. Meanwhile, an annual rally to observe King's birthday held in the capital of South Carolina, a critical early-voting state in the Democratic primary, will feature two senators expected to seek the White House in 2020, Cory Booker of New Jersey and Bernie Sanders of Vermont. Get More

Senator Kamala Harris announced Monday she has entered the 2020 presidential race. Harris, who plans to highlight truth, justice, decency and equality in her quest for the democratic nomination, is the fourth woman to enter the field. “I think this is terrific," Senator Elizabeth Warren, the first woman to jump into the race three weeks ago, said of the news. "You know, Democrats are full of ideas and full of energy and that’s how we’re going to make real change in this country.” Warren brushed off the idea that Harris might pull from her support, saying, "It’s about bringing more and more people into the fight.” Get More

A sportsbook in New Jersey is refunding bets on the New Orleans Saints game, and eye doctors in Louisiana and Texas are offering free exams to NFL referees after the team's controversial loss Sunday in the NFC championship game. Rams cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman acknowledged after the game he should have been flagged for a penalty. "Came to the sideline, looked at the football gods and was like, 'Thank you,'" Robey-Coleman said. "I got away with one tonight." The Rams went on the win the game, eliminating New Orleans from the playoffs and advancing to the Super Bowl, where they will play the New England Patriots. Get More

The University of Notre Dame will cover murals in a campus building that depict Christopher Columbus in America, the school's president said, following criticism that the images depict Native Americans in stereotypical submissive poses before white European explorers. The 12 murals created in the 1880s by Luis Gregori were intended to encourage immigrants who had come to the U.S. during a period of anti-Catholic sentiment. But they conceal another side of Columbus: the exploitation and repression of Native Americans, said the Rev. John Jenkins, president of Notre Dame. It is a "darker side of this story, a side we must acknowledge," Jenkins said in a letter Sunday. Get More