Nation: After three years of budget confrontations, the Republican-controlled House voted to raise the national debt ceiling with no fight. Only 28 Republicans voted in favor, Speaker John Boehner among them. Boehner’s decision to let the debt limit pass set off an immediate divide among the Republicans, with Tea Party members saying he had betrayed party principles.

–Attorney General Eric Holder called for the repeal of state laws that strip convicted felons of the right to vote. Nearly six million Americans, about a third of them black, have lost their right to vote. Speaking at Georgetown University, Holder said such laws have their roots in post Civil War efforts to stop former slaves from voting. But it’s up to the states … Holder and the federal government have no say in the issue.

Winter, Again: A swatch of the country from Texas to Atlanta is being coated with ice as a nasty winter storm moves through. Thousands of people are already without power as the storm is expected to move northeast. The National Weather Service says, “possibly historic ice accumulations of over one inch of ice will be possible for portions of northern Georgia and South Carolina.” More than 3,200 flights have been cancelled.

News News: Former NBC anchor Tom Brokaw has revealed he’s been diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a cancer of blood cells in the bone marrow. Brokaw, 74, was diagnosed in August and has continued to work on NBC special projects while being treated. NBC says his doctors are “optimistic.”

Also: A new study published in a British medical journal casts doubt on whether mammograms to screen women for breast cancer actually save lives. The study found that there was no advantage in discovering breast cancers when they were too small to feel.

Sochi: All the following results have already appeared on television.

–Shaun White, “The Flying Tomato”, failed in his bid to win a third straight gold medal in the Olympic halfpipe. Iouri Podladtchikov of Switzerland, known as I-Pod, won the gold medal and White finished fourth. The pipe was rutted, chattery, and slow, giving all the boarders trouble. White crashed in his first run. He was disappointed but gave I-Pod a big congratulatory hug.

–Devin Logan of West Dover, Vt. won silver in the women’s slopestyle skiing. Canada’s Dara Howell took the gold.

–The International Olympic Committee has lifted the ban on the Indian Olympic Association, allowing the three Indian athletes to wave the flag and be what they are, Indian athletes. The IOC had been punishing the Indian organization for electing officials who were under investigation for corruption, but they were replaced.

–NBC sports announcer Bob Costas, who has a case of pinkeye that makes him look like a ghoul, has been replaced on air by Matt Lauer. Costas had a noticeable problem with his left eye, but Monday the infection spread to the right and his red, swollen eyes just weren’t fit for prime time anymore. Giving up in good humor, Costas said, “I was trying to throw a complete game here, but I think we’re going to have to go to the bullpen.”

–It was 55 degrees in Sochi tonight with a high of 63 expected tomorrow. Comedian Jimmy Kimmel said it was so warm in Sochi, some hotel guests thought the heat had started to work.

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