News Information and Media Site: Nightly Rundown: Historic winter storm; Extreme deep freeze; 9/11-style Capitol attack commission; Impeachment fallout; Covid variants spreading; States expand vaccine eligibility; Royal baby watch

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By Dan Donahue, NBC Nightly News

Good Monday afternoon. All this week, Nightly News is airing "Kids Under Pressure," a series examining the impact of the pandemic on children.

Here is what's in our Nightly Rundown.

Historic winter storm sweeps across the country

A massive winter storm is bringing a blast of snow and ice across much of the U.S., and the coldest air in generations to the South.

Over 130 million people across 26 states are under winter weather advisories today, stretching 2000 miles from Texas to Maine.

At least 2 million people are without power in Texas, as record-breaking demand forces utility companies to conduct rolling blackouts.

Dallas had a wind chill of -16 degrees this morning. Houston, over the weekend, issued its first wind chill warning on record.

Houston and Austin have shut down Covid testing and vaccination sites due to the extreme weather.

The massive storm is also wreaking havoc on air travel, with more than 3,000 flight cancelations so far today.

Tonight, the storm will bring heavy snow into the Midwest and Great Lakes including Chicago, most of Ohio and Indiana, Detroit and Buffalo.

By tomorrow, freezing rain and icy conditions will move into upstate New York and across New England. Heavy snow will fall from Cleveland to Maine.

Right on its heels, another winter storm is on the way Wednesday, and it's expected to follow nearly the same track.

Al Roker will have the newest forecast on our broadcast tonight.

Major winter storm pummels parts of Texas and beyond

Pelosi announces 9/11-style commission to investigate Capitol attack

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has announced the formation of an independent commission to investigate the deadly Jan. 6 riot on the Capitol, similar to the panel launched in the aftermath of 9/11 to examine the circumstances surrounding that attack.

Pelosi said Congress will launch an outside, independent "9/11-type commission" to "investigate and report on the facts and causes relating to the January 6, 2021 domestic terrorist attack upon the United States Capitol Complex."

Last month, Pelosi tapped retired Lt. Gen. Russel Honoré to lead an initial review of the U.S. Capitol’s security.

In her letter to colleagues today, Pelosi said that Honoré's interim report made it "clear" that Congress "must put forth a supplemental appropriation to provide for the safety of Members and the security of the Capitol."

Republicans battle over future of the party after Trump acquittal

After Donald Trump was acquitted by the Senate in a 57-43 vote on Saturday, the most bipartisan impeachment trial vote in U.S. history, the Republican party is at a crossroads — do they embrace Trump, or attempt to move beyond him?

Sen. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, despite voting to acquit Trump, took to the Senate floor on Saturday and blasted Trump for his “disgraceful dereliction of duty.”

"There's no question — none — that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day," McConnell said.

But Sen. Lindsey Graham, one of Trump's most loyal defenders, is embracing the former president as the most dominant force in the GOP.

"Donald Trump is the most vibrant member of the Republican Party," Graham said on Sunday. "The Trump movement is alive and well."

"We need to unite the party. Trump-plus is the way back in 2022," Graham said.

The seven Republicans who voted to convict Trump for inciting the deadly Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol are now facing backlash from conservatives in their home state.

Some, like Sen. Bill Cassidy, have already been censured by their state parties.

Still, Cassidy believes Trump's grip on the GOP will loosen. "I think his force wanes. The Republican Party is more than just one person," he said on Sunday.

Trump and a small team are discussing when he may make his next public appearance, according to a source close to the former president. They haven't settled on whether it will be a media interview or some type of campaign-style rally.

Watch: McConnell's full remarks following Senate vote to acquit Trump

Covid cases fall, but highly contagious variants spreading

The average number of new Covid cases in the U.S. fell below 100,000 on Friday for the first time since Nov. 4, according to the latest NBC News tally.

On Sunday, the U.S. reported 779 Covid deaths, the first time since Nov. 29 that the single-day toll has fallen below 1,000.

But experts are urging caution, especially with those new, highly contagious coronavirus variants spreading rapidly.

The number of cases of the U.K. variant has now grown to 1,173 across 40 states, a number that’s nearly doubled since Feb. 4.

And a new study has found the U.K. variant is 30 to 70 percent more deadly than the typical strain of the virus.

Despite the threat from the variants, a number of states have been relaxing their Covid restrictions, and governors in Montana and Iowa lifted statewide mask requirements this month.

“We still have 100,000 cases a day. We still have somewhere between 1,500 and 3,500 deaths per day,” said CDC Director Rochelle Walensky on Sunday. “And yet we see some communities relaxing some of their mitigation strategies. We are nowhere out of the woods.”

States expand access to Covid vaccine but supplies running low

The U.S. is now administering an average of about 1.7 million Covid vaccinations a day, but as states expand their access, the supply isn't keeping up with the demand.

Today is the first day in New York that people ages 16-64 with pre-existing conditions are eligible to get the vaccine.

But the scheduling website was quickly overwhelmed on Sunday, the first day that newly eligible residents could begin signing up for appointments.

New York has administered 90 percent of first doses received from the federal government, Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office said.

California has used about 72 percent of its doses, and mass vaccination sites in Los Angeles and San Francisco were forced to close down over the weekend after exhausting their supplies.

Of the more than 70 million doses of vaccine distributed around the U.S. so far, 52.9 million have been administered as of Sunday, according to the CDC. View our vaccination tracker map.

Plan Your Vaccine with Comcast NBCUniversal’s interactive tool.

More Covid headlines:

The Biden administration opened a special enrollment period today to allow Americans to get health insurance under the Affordable Care Act.
The IRS won’t push back the April 15 tax filing deadline this year, as it did in 2020 due to the pandemic.
The U.K. has begun requiring travelers from Covid hot spots to quarantine for 10 days in government-sanctioned hotels, at a cost of more than $2,400.
A WHO team investigating the origin of the coronavirus has found the outbreak in Wuhan in December 2019 was far bigger than initially thought.
Italy has delayed the opening of ski season, after samples showed the U.K. variant has infected an alarming number of people in the country.
Mardi Gras is tomorrow, but authorities have warned crowds to stay away from New Orleans this year due to the pandemic.
Tonight, our series “Kids Under Pressure,” has a new study conducted by NBC News and Challenge Success that finds children learning remotely are more stressed than their peers in the classroom.

What else we're watching:

President Biden tweeted a Presidents Day message, promising Americans that “better days are ahead.”
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are expecting their second child, a spokesperson for the couple said in a statement on Sunday.
The CDC has issued a warning over a listeria outbreak in at least four states that may be linked to soft cheeses.
Archaeologists have discovered a 5,000-year-old beer factory in Egypt.