State House and Senate leaders have failed to agree on the details of a $500 million Hurricane Helene relief bill, delaying the bill's passage by weeks. Democratic Gov. Josh Stein says he wants to work with GOP lawmakers, and President Donald Trump, on Helene but needs faster action and more funding. State Senate leader Phil Berger said the legislature may have a deal soon, but Stein said in several speeches this week the wait has been too long. Meanwhile, death threats against politicians have been on the rise in North Carolina. And NC Capitol Bureau Chief Laura Leslie breaks news about asbestos concerns inside the state legislative building.

Helene relief aid and a bill to invest the NC Pension Plan in Bitcoin and other cyrptocurrencies are moving forward in the legislature. So are bills to ban DEI in public schools or to crack down on students using cell phones during class time. But other education worries could be on the horizon: The state's biggest school district is implementing a hiring freeze, citing in part the efforts by President Donald Trump to eliminate the federal Department of Education, which gives North Carolina over a billion dollars every year.

On this week's edition of the Wrap, Jefferson Griffin's challenge to 60,000 voters moves forward in both state and federal courts. Which one will rule first? WRAL's Laura Leslie and Will Doran also break down Stein’s executive action on reproductive rights ahead of the Trump inauguration, and doctors opposed to RFK’s nomination to HHS put Tillis on the spot as 2026 looms.