News Wrap: Inflation report raises new questions about U.S. economy

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• Amna Nawaz:

  In the day's other headlines: The Labor Department's latest look at the U.S. economy raises new questions about just how fast inflation is easing.

  Consumer prices in January were up 3.1 percent from a year ago, smaller than the annual increase in December. But month to month, prices rose 3-tenths of a percent, and that was slightly more than in December. Analysts attribute much of it to rising costs of homes, rentals and hotel rooms.

  On Wall Street, the inflation numbers raised fears that interest rates will stay higher for longer than expected. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 524 points, or 1.3 percent, to close at 38272. The Nasdaq fell 1.8 percent, and the S&P 500 also dropped 1.3 percent.

  A winter storm disrupted schools, commutes and flights across much of the Northeast today. Snow fell from New York City to Massachusetts, and parts of Pennsylvania got 15 inches. The storm also brought winds gusting to 60 miles an hour and coastal flooding in some areas. Many government offices and schools closed,and more than 1,000 flights were canceled.

  The heads of the CIA and Israel's spy agency discussed a possible cease-fire in Gaza today with the leaders of Egypt and Qatar. The session in Cairo came as Israel threatens an all-out ground assault on Rafah, where some 1.4 million Palestinians are sheltering. More of those refugees packed up and left today after shelling overnight.

  Israel said it's working on plans to move them, and U.S. officials insisted again that they be protected.

• John Kirby, NSC Coordinator For Strategic Communications:

  Any credible plan that could be executable would have to take into account their physical movement, safe movement, as well as proper substance for them, food, water, medicine, access to health care.

• Amna Nawaz:

  Also today, the State Department said it's investigating reports that Israeli forces killed a 17-year-old Palestinian-American in the West Bank on Saturday. Another Palestinian-American teen was killed in the West Bank last month.

  The Pentagon says Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has been released from the hospital and has resumed his duties. Austin was being treated for bladder complications from prostate cancer surgery. He had canceled a trip this week to meet with NATO ministers on Ukraine aid.

  Flight attendants rallied at major U.S. and British airports today in a push for higher wages. Pickets went up at 30 airports total in the daylong protest. Attendants argue that pilots have scored big labor deals, but cabin crews have gone unrewarded.

  A special congressional election in New York is being closely watched tonight as a possible bellwether for the fall elections. Democrat Tom Suozzi faces Republican Mazi Pilip in a contest with a heavy focus on the influx of migrants. The winner replaces Republican George Santos, who was expelled from the House in December over charges of corruption and stealing campaign cash.

  In New Orleans, today was Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday, the grand finale of Carnival season. All day long, floats paraded through the French Quarter and down major thoroughfares. As always, the centuries-old tradition featured elaborate costumes, live music and colorful bead chains.

  And the reconstruction of Paris' famed Notre Dame Cathedral has reached a new milestone. Scaffolding is being removed from the top of the medieval landmark for the first time since a devastating fire in 2019. It reveals a new spire with a golden rooster and cross. The cathedral is expected to reopen in December.