Happening Today: Government Shutdown, Trump, Turpins, Flu, Sundance Film Festival

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Congress Likely Racing Toward a Government Shutdown

A bitterly-divided Congress hurtled toward a government shutdown this weekend in a partisan stare-down over demands by Democrats for a solution on politically fraught legislation to protect about 700,000 younger immigrants from being deported. Democrats in the Senate have served notice they will filibuster a four-week, government-wide funding bill that passed the House Thursday evening, seeking to shape a subsequent measure but exposing themselves to charges they are responsible for a looming shutdown. Republicans controlling the narrowly-divided chamber took up the fight, arguing that Democrats were holding the entire government hostage over demands to protect "Dreamer" immigrants brought to the country illegally as children.

Record Share of Americans Strongly Disapprove of Trump, Poll Shows

President Trump ends his first year in office with 39 percent of Americans approving of his job performance, according to the latest national NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll — the lowest mark in the poll’s history for any modern president ending his first year. Fifty-seven percent disapprove of Trump’s job, including a majority of respondents — 51 percent — who now say they strongly disapprove, which is a record high for Trump in the survey. That’s compared with 26 percent of Americans who strongly approve of the president’s job, NBC News reported. Among key demographic groups, 46 percent of men, 45 percent of whites and 41 percent of seniors give Trump a thumbs-up, versus 35 percent of those ages 18-34, 33 percent of women, 26 percent of Latinos and 8 percent of African Americans who do. By party, 78 percent of Republicans approve of the president’s job performance, compared with 8 percent of Democrats and 33 percent of independents.

“Human Depravity”: Couple Accused of Years of Child Torture

A couple accused of holding 13 children captive in a Southern California home described by authorities as a torture chamber have been charged with child abuse and torture. David Turpin, 56, and Louise Turpin, 49, jailed since their arrests over the weekend, pleaded not guilty in their first court appearance. Bond was set at $12 million bail. During a news conference, prosecutors announced criminal charges against both defendants and detailed what they called a case of "human depravity" that continued for years and left their children malnourished, undersized and with cognitive impairments. The charges included torture, abuse of a dependent adult, child abuse or neglect and false imprisonment. David Turpin also faces a count of lewd act on a child. Prosecutors said the siblings, ranging in age from 2 to 29, suffered years of "severe" abuse.

Officials Plead With New Yorkers to Get Flu Shot as Record Number of People Are Hospitalized

State health officials say a drastic rise in flu cases has hospitalized more than 1,600 New Yorkers this past week alone. Gov. Cuomo says all New Yorkers six months of age and older over who haven't received a flu shot yet should get vaccinated as soon as possible. Cuomo says the health department reports influenza cases rose by 54 percent over the past week, with new cases diagnosed in all 62 counties. The 1,606 New Yorkers hospitalized the past week with lab-confirmed flu is the highest weekly number since the health agency reporting began in 2004, according to Cuomo. Health officials say there were at least 17,362 confirmed cases of flu reported, with more than 5,200 people hospitalized this season.

3 in 4 NYC High School Students Sleep-Deprived, Study Shows

The vast majority of New York City high schoolers, and many of the city's school children, are sleep-deprived and spend too much time on electronic devices -- factors that makes them at risk for poor mental health, according to a new study by the city Health Department. On an average school night, 75 percent of high schools students reported getting fewer than the recommended eight hours of sleep, while 11 percent of school children ages 6 to 12 years old said they got less than the recommended nine hours of sleep, data released this week by city health officials shows. The report suggests a link between too much screen time and a lack of sleep. School children are recommended to spend no more than two hours on electronic devices each day, but 53 percent said they spent more time than that on an average school day, according to the study. Likewise, the study found that 66 percent of high school adolescents exceeded the recommended four hours or less of screen time each day. Lack of sleep has been associated with a higher prevalence of emotional and behavioral problems in both school children and adolescents.

Hot-Button Topics Coalesce at the Sundance Film Festival

The Sundance Film Festival has always been a place for boundary-pushing programming, but from the Me Too movement, to diversity and representation in film and even the current presidency, this year the snowy mountain town of Park City, Utah, is primed to be an epicenter of conversation around some of the most burning issues of the day. Among the over 110 films set to play at the festival are timely documentaries about trailblazing women like Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg ("RBG"), Netflix's "Seeing Allred," about attorney Gloria Allred who represented women in sexual misconduct cases against Bill Cosby and Donald Trump, and Hollywood actress and activist Jane Fonda ("Jane Fonda in Five Acts"). The festival has a number of buzzy narrative features spotlighting African-Americans, too, like the racially-charged police killing drama "Monsters and Men," a wrongful conviction tale, "Monster," ''Tyrel," about a man who panics when he realizes he's the only person of color going on a weekend trip, the dystopian "Sorry to Bother You," and the opening night film "Blindspotting," a dark comedy with "Hamilton's" Daveed Diggs.