12/16: Migrants flock to border as Title 42 is set to expire. A massive winter storm system hammers the Northeast.

We begin with the crisis at America's southern border. An average of 2,500 people are crossing into El Paso, Texas every day -- men, women and children. And that number could soon skyrocket, with the expiration of a pandemic-era rule that made it easier to turn back migrants. On Capitol Hill, congressional leaders avoided a government shutdown at midnight -- approving a one-week spending bill, while negotiators work out the details of a $1.7 trillion budget for this fiscal year. A Congressional committee heard heartbreaking testimony yesterday from people affected by the Uvalde, Texas school shooting. The witnesses urged lawmakers to pass stronger gun laws. In Fort Worth, Texas, a sentencing hearing begins this morning for a former police officer convicted of manslaughter after shooting a black woman in her home. The U.S. Is re-starting a program to send free COVID tests to households, after a jump in new cases. There's a much larger COVID spread going on in china. It's keeping a lot of people at home, even after the government loosened its COVID restrictions. Turning to Britain, and the strong reaction to the final episodes of the "Harry and Meghan" docu-series.