News Wrap: Wildfire in hills of Los Angeles rapidly explodes in size

Amna Nawaz:

We start the day's other headlines in Southern California, where residents are fleeing a fast-moving wildfire in the hills of Los Angeles.

Fire crews are trying to contain the Palisades Fire, which has exploded in size to more than 700 acres. Smoke from the blaze can be seen from miles, with traffic jammed up as locals try to flee the area. The National Weather Service is warning of life-threatening, destructive gusts of wind in the coming days that could whip up such wildfires even further. Forecasters say the windstorms could be the worst in a decade.

In the meantime, a so-called polar vortex is bringing below-freezing temperatures as far south as the Gulf Coast. The frigid air comes as millions in Central and Eastern parts of the country dig out from a winter storm that snarled roads and toppled trees. Washington, D.C.'s most significant snowstorm in six years shut down the federal government for a second straight day.

And more than 175,000 people are still without power across the Midwest and Tennessee Valley. Forecasters say they may not see relief for days.

Dan Depodwin, AccuWeather:

Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia, those places aren't going to get about freezing until this coming weekend. So you have about five days or so or more of below freezing temperatures, and that means the ice and snow will not melt.

Amna Nawaz:

And there's another major winter storm brewing that could bring more snow and ice to the Central and Eastern U.S. and as far south as Texas.

In Western China, a devastating earthquake has killed at least 126 people. The 7.1-magnitude quake struck shortly after 9:00 a.m. local time in Tibet near the border with Nepal. Emergency responders rushed to isolated villages to search for survivors. The closest city to the epicenter is Xigaze, where streets are now littered with debris from crumbled buildings.

City officials say they activated the highest level of emergency response.

Liu Huazhong, Deputy Mayor of Xigaze, China (through interpreter): Moving forward, we will fully implement the important instructions given by General Secretary Xi Jinping. We will spare no efforts to conduct thorough searches for trapped people, provide medical care, offer essential relief, and ensure the basic needs of affected residents.

Amna Nawaz:

Chinese state TV says that more than 1,000 homes were damaged in the remote region and nearly 200 people were injured on the Chinese side of the border, in addition to those killed.

In Florida, authorities say that two bodies were found dead in the landing gear compartment of a JetBlue aircraft. The airline says they were discovered last night during routine postflight maintenance at Fort Lauderdale Airport following a flight from New York. Police say both individuals are believed to be men, but provided no further

details. JetBlue says it's working with authorities to understand what happened. It comes just weeks after another body was discovered in the wheel well of a plane, that time on a United Airlines flight from Maui to Chicago.

The man accused of burning a woman to death last month in a New York City subway car pleaded not guilty to murder and arson charges today. Sebastian Zapeta appeared for his arraignment in a Brooklyn court this morning. A police transcript shows Zapeta told officers he has no recollection of the attack and said he was — quote — "very sorry" when he saw himself in the footage.

Zapeta said he had been drinking heavily throughout the night. Prosecutors are seeking the maximum sentence of life in prison without parole.

The Biden administration announced today that unpaid medical bills will no longer appear on credit reports. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau says the change will remove $49 billion from the reports of some 15 million Americans. That's estimated to raise credit scores by an average of 20 points, which could help thousands of people secure loans and mortgages each year.

In a statement, Vice President Kamala Harris said: "No one should be denied economic opportunity because they got sick or experienced a medical emergency."

On Wall Street today, stocks slipped amid new worries about the pace of Fed rate cuts this year. The Dow Jones industrial average lost nearly 180 points on the day. The Nasdaq sank 375 points, or nearly 2 percent. The S&P 500 also ended firmly in negative territory.

The late President Jimmy Carter is lying in state tonight at the U.S. Capitol following a journey from his beloved home state of Georgia. To the tune of "Amazing Grace," Carter's casket left his presidential center in Atlanta for the journey back to Washington. Once there, his motorcade stopped at the U.S. Navy Memorial, where it was transferred to a horse-drawn carriage.

Carter was the nation's only Naval Academy graduate to rise to commander in chief. Then, it was on to the U.S. Capitol, where members of Congress and Vice President Kamala Harris paid their respects this afternoon. The public can visit starting tonight. Carter will remain there until his state funeral at Washington's National Cathedral on Thursday.

And singer-songwriter Peter Yarrow of the folk music group Peter, Paul and Mary has died. Yarrow co-wrote the group's best-known song, "Puff, the Magic Dragon." In the early 1960s, he joined forces and harmonies with Noel Paul Stookey and Mary Travers. Together, they created hit versions of Bob Dylan's "Blowin in the Wind" and Pete Seeger's "If I Had a Hammer," among others.

A social activist on and off the stage, Yarrow was involved in the civil rights movement and campaigned against the war in Vietnam. Peter Yarrow suffered from bladder cancer in his later years. He was 86 years old.