GEOFF BENNETT: And we start today's other headlines with the latest on a multinational prisoner exchange.

U.S. officials say that Belarus released three detainees from jail today, including one American.

That's part of a broader swap that saw the U.S. free Russian cyber criminal Alexander Vinnik.

He was suspected of funneling billions of dollars through his cryptocurrency exchange and pleaded guilty last year to a money laundering charge.

In return, Russia released American schoolteacher Marc Fogel.

MARC FOGEL, Released From Russia Prison: I feel like the luckiest man on earth right now.

GEOFF BENNETT: The 63-year-old Fogel joined President Trump at the White House late last night, holding a can of Iron City Beer and draped in an American flag.

Mr. Trump said the exchange could be an important part in ending the war in Ukraine.

A federal judge has cleared the way for President Trump's plan to shrink the federal work force through a deferred resignation plan.

U.S. District Judge George O'Toole Jr. in Boston found a group of labor unions did not have legal standing in calling the program illegal.

Eligible workers had initially faced a deadline last week to accept the offer commonly referred to as a buyout.

Under the plan, they would be allowed to leave their jobs with the promise of pay through the end of September.

Eight government watchdogs are suing President Trump for abruptly firing them last month.

The federal lawsuit argues the inspectors general, who all served during Mr. Trump's first term, should get their jobs back.

It states -- quote -- "President Trump's attempt to eliminate a crucial and longstanding source of impartial nonpartisan oversight of his administration is contrary to the rule of law."

They further argue that Mr. Trump was legally required to give Congress 30 days' notice beforehand.

In Washington, D.C., the newly installed Board of Trustees at the Kennedy Center voted today to make President Trump its chairman.

It comes days after Mr. Trump announced plans to overhaul the institution and after he replaced the board with his own appointees.

The board also voted to fire the institution's president, Deborah Rutter.

She had initially planned to leave at the end of the year.

Former Acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell will now be the interim president.

President Trump has cited the center's hosting drag performances as a reason for wanting to reshape its programming.

The Trump administration is scrapping a Biden policy that aimed to regulate name, image, and likeness payments to college athletes under Title IX rules.

The guidance required that universities treat those funds the same as athletic scholarships, and that would have meant paying out the money proportionately to male and female athletes.

A Trump official called that guidance overly burdensome.

More winter weather hit the Central U.S. today from Oklahoma to the Great Lakes.

Further east, they're digging out from a separate storm that cut its way from Kentucky to the nation's capital.

Clouds were out in Virginia today as much of the mid-Atlantic was blanketed in white.

At one point, nearly 200,000 customers were without power there.

Meantime, in California, they're bracing for an atmospheric river that will bring heavy rain.

Forecasters say the flash flood risk is especially high for burned-out areas around Los Angeles.

Federal health agencies are restoring Web sites and data sets that had been forced offline due to a presidential order.

That comes after a judge in Washington, D.C., ordered the content returned, saying their loss threatened the work of doctors and public health at large.

The scrubbed material included information HIV monitoring, contraception, and the enrollment of women in clinical trials, among other things.

The site removals were apparently in keeping with an executive order from President Trump directing agencies to remove any indication of alleged gender ideology.

Consumer prices ticked higher last month, rising 3 percent when compared to the same time last year.

That was due largely to higher costs for groceries, gasoline, and rent.

Today's reading is likely to give the U.S. Federal Reserve further reason to hold off on cutting interest rates.

President Trump made cutting prices a central part of his reelection bid, promising to reduce prices on day one.

Instead, economists say his proposed tariffs could drive prices higher, even if temporarily.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell told a congressional committee today that the Fed will see how those policies play out before acting.

JEROME POWELL, Federal Reserve Chairman: We will then try to make an intelligent judgment about the overall effect on the economy of those and conduct our policy accordingly.

But we're -- it's not our role in any way to comment on the wisdom of the policies that are enacted by Congress or by the administration.

GEOFF BENNETT: Concerns about the pace of Fed rate cuts sent a chill through Wall Street today.

The Dow Jones industrial average ended down more than 200 points by the close.

The Nasdaq managed a tiny gain of just six points.

The S&P 500 closed lower, slipping about 16 points.

And canine enthusiasts are paying tribute today to the nation's new top dog.

WOMAN: For best in show at the 149th Annual Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, I choose the giant schnauzer.

(CHEERING) GEOFF BENNETT: Monty, the giant schnauzer, took home the most prestigious award in the U.S. dog show world last night.

Judges determined the 5-year-old most closely matches the ideal for his breed.

Some of the other finalists included a whippet named Bourbon, who has been the runner-up three times now, plus a bichon frise named Neal, a Skye terrier named Archer, and a shih tzu named Comet.

Monty and his owner, Sandy, don't get a cash prize, but they do get a trophy, a giant ribbon, and, of course, lots of bragging rights.

Still to come on the "News Hour": House Republicans release their budget blueprint, as the Senate confirms Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence; cuts to the federal government continue, this time within the Department of Education; and actor Adrien Brody unpacks his Oscar-nominated performance in the postwar epic "The Brutalist."