week. but make no mistake, people are truly suffering right now. listen. >> times were tough. i wasn't working because of the pandemic. so financially i maybe don't have the options to go out and buy a generator or to purchase fast food even. so it is hard. shelters are at capacity. there is no hotels anywhere. even if i wanted to take my kids somewhere to be warm, there is nothing. we've been driving around during the day with the heater on in the car just to keep warm. >> it is very stressful to be in a cold house, and if you're in a cold house you're definitely not eating any warm food. and then when you go out, you can't find food. >> the crisis is not over. people don't know when this is going to end. but the finger pointing is well underway. texas governor greg abbott has offered no clear time line and when power will be fully restored. he's pointing the finger at the manager of the state largest power grid known as ercot and said that more rolling outages are likely today but it is not close to the case. water is becoming an issue with nearly 12 million people facing disrupted service and boil water advisories. officials in san antonio and austin are telling residents to boil the water and used bottle water and groceries are flying off the shelves so there are no gressries like bottles water is impossible for many at this point. so that is the scope of the problem they're facing right now. so let's go to texas and camilla is live in dallas for us. camille, what are you hearing today? >> reporter: so we are hearing that there is progress when it comes to the power grid. but the county judge here in dallas also telling us that the reality is that there was also a lot of damage specifically to transformers and power lines here in the dallas area. so until all of that gets fixed, a lot of residents here are still going to be waiting and likely cold, angry and still with a lot of questions. texas in crisis. hundreds of thousands of residents still without power and heat after days of brutal cold temperatures. >> i'm nervous. i'm neverous than i was -- >> it is 32 degrees inside. we're worried about the pipes. >> reporter: residents documenting the damage. some posting photos on social media of frozen pipes bursting, sending water and ice into their homes. >> we had no fire wood left and we started using things in the house to keep the fire going and seeing my two sleeping babies under a bunch of blankets in front of the fireplace, that was slowly going out, was heartbreaking. >> reporter: inm are seeking refuge wherever they can. including warming centers or furniture stores. >> you could freeze in the middle of the night. so we had to find someplace to go. >> reporter: some even sleeping in their cars to stay warm. >> it is not like sleeping in your own bed. but we were warm. >> reporter: grocery stores running low on food. nearly 12 million texans are experiencing water disruptions with most of those under a boil water notice. even hospitals are struggling to maintain water pressure. in galveston, most residents have no power or heat. the local medical examiner setting up a refrigerated truck outside of the building. anticipating an influx of deaths. the county's judge furious. >> everyone knew this was coming. we had a week's advance notice so i'm very upset. >> reporter: the electric reliability council of texas ercot under fire for the power outages. the company said on wednesday it restored power to more than 1 million households. greg abbott has called for an investigation and for the company's executives to resign. but abbott himself is under fire. critics accusing him of deflecting responsibility by placing blame on renewable energy sources. >> this shows how the green new deal would be a deadly deal for the united states of america. >> reporter: changing his tune just hours later. >> the company that generate the power, they're operations have frozen up or have trip wired and are nonoperational. that is the lead reason why there is a shortage of power. >> reporter: beto o'rourke disagreers. >> we outperformed the forecast, regardless of what greg abbott and what other republicans and right wing media are saying. >> reporter: and the rolling blackouts are expected to continue throughout the day in this neighborhood, someone told me they were at three hours on and eight hours off. they're expecting to get shorter but at the moment they don't have any guarantees, kate. >> that is the worst part of it. camilla, thank you so much. this just coming into cnn right now, senator ted cruz, he is now facing a whole lot of questions after he was spotted on a plane traveling to cancun, mexico, in the midst of this unfolding crisis in home state of texas. jessica dean has the details on this and joining me from capitol hill. jessica, what are you hear before this? >> reporter: good morning to you, kate. we have confirmed what multiple social media users posted photo of and that is that ted cruz and his family traveled to cancun, mexico, while all of this is going on in his home state. of course, he is elected to represent and advocate for the millions of people who right now are without power, without water, without groceries, as you just laid out there. we do know that senator cruz did travel to mexico. we've also confirmed with a source familiar with his itinerary plans that he is booked on a return flight to houston for today but who is to say if he gets on the flight, we don't know until that happens. but that is certainly the case right now. jean wu tweeting that he is trav traveling while the straight is freezing to death and having to boil water. so it is dire circumstances in his home state of texas. as senator cruz travels to cancun, mexico, with his family. again, right now, the senate is out. they are on recess. so they are obviously not here doing any work at the capitol. he had traveled home and we now know that he had traveled to mexico while this humanitarian crisis is unfolding in his home state. kate. >> jessica, thank you so much. and while senator ted cruz might not have a role on the ground in texas, as this crisis is unfolding as he's a senator and he represents them in washington, of course, this is, as we know, all of us know, that when a major crisis happens in think state, this is the lawmakers from that state who could serve as a critical advocate for hearing the complaints and hearing the concerns and the dire conditions that their constituents are in so they could help bring word to people, bring word to the people who are on the ground in those emergency situations, to help things move in the right direction and get lhelp to the people who need it most. joining me now is chris turner, a top democrat in the texas state house. thank you for coming on. i'll ask you about ted cruz in a second but the most important things needs to remain the crisis at hand at the moment. what is the situation where you are? >> well, good morning, kate. thanks for having me. the situation is dire but improving slightly. it is been a catastrophic week across texas, including in my area in the dallas-fort worth metroplex. we've had millions without power. as your report indicated, power is returning, although there are still several hundred thousand households throughout the state that still do not have power. in addition, we have some households without natural gas. here in my neighborhood in grand prairie, texas, we have several hundred homes without natural gas so they can't warm their homes even though they do have electric power. adding to that problem is we have people across state with water shortages. the city of arlington, when i represent, a city of 400,000 people, is under a boil order. you have to boil your water in order to be able to use it and the same is true in cities across the state effecting several million people. so the situation is quite serious. >> these aren't just people you represent, these are your neighbors. what are you hearing from your friends and neighbors about what they're having to deal with? >> well, it is heartbreaking. and i heard your report from texas and we're hearing those kind of stories throughout our neighborhoods and district and state. people are scared. people are cold. they're worried about their elderly neighbors and parents and others who don't have access to a warm shelter. where that young children and infants are in similar cirques and then people with underlying health conditions. a lot of people in my district and elsewhere depend on certain medical devices to keep them stable in their homes. so when you lose power, that could be a catastrophic health event for people. so people have had a very, very rough time this week and a lot of this could have been avoided and that is the tragedy of it. >> i want to ask you about that. you've said that this entire episode represents a catastrophic failure of leadership. what do you mean? >> yeah, well, a couple of things. one, this weather event was predicted. this is not something that just came out of the blue. we've been hearing for well over a week from weather forecasters that we're going to have severe winter storms. that would drop the temperature into single-digits across much of the state and drop a lot of snow and ice across much of the state. so power generators knew what the weather forecast was going to be. somewhere between the power generators and ercot, which you mentioned and the public utility commission which regulated the utility industry in texas, there was a breakdown to where no one understood exactly how much power was going to be knocked offline on sunday night into monday morning. that is what resulted in millions, over 4 million tex households losing power. that should not have happened. and the fact that there was no advanced notice that this could happen was a catastrophic failure in leadership and we've seen the lack of preparation for this events that taken a tremendous toll and that is what i mean. and i think there is a lot of questions that has to be asked in the public and private sector. >> let's talk about some of the leaders. we just had a report on where we know ted cruz is. he's in cancun, mexico, amidst of this winter dafter. what is your reaction to that? >> it is just unbelievable. and just when i think ted cruz couldn't disappoint texans more, he finds a new way to do it. i said a month ago he should resign the senate for his role in the insurrection in the capitol and promoting the big lie that somehow donald trump has won the election. and so i still think that is the case and he's given us one more reason to resign. as far as i'm concerned it would be fine if he remained in can cuss, he doesn't do anything for us in texas or washington, so i don't me if he'll notice when he comes back. >> and you have the longest serving governor of texas, rick perry, also the former secretary of energy under the trump administration, he said in a blog post the following, he said that texans would be without electricity for longer than three days to keep the federal government out of their business. what do you make of that after what you just described, you and other residents, your friends and neighbors are going through, i don't really understand, i conceptually understand what perry is trying to get at there but i don't understand it when you're literally in the middle of a crisis. >> well rick perry is wrong about that and it is laughable. governor perry is retired now so we don't have to worry too much about what he says any more. it is just absurd. people want the power to be on. and i think they care less about is the state regulation or federal regulation, they want the power to work and want government to work and assure ba basic essential services are available to them and their families. >> so the current -- the current governor is blaming ercot. is that the right place to be placing all of the blame? >> certainly some of the blame, someone needs to go to ercot but not all of the blame. they're talking about the public utility commission which has oversight over ercot. they have a state agency run by three commissioners appointed by the governor of texas. so the governor abbott appointed the three commissioners who oversee ercot. so we need to look at them and the governor and certainly the legislature, which i'm a part of it. we all need to look at what everyone could have done differently on all levels to prevent this terrible catastrophe in texas this week. >> but first and foremost, for some just surviving another day which is so sad. we're talking about texas here. the energy capital of america at this moment. thank you for coming on. >> well absolutely and i'll say that texas is a great state and the the people are great and we need the government to live up to the strength of our people. >> texas is a great state. thank you very much. coming up for us, weather is delaying vaccine distribution across the country. i'll talk to the largest health care system next. and later a sign of how the coronavirus is impacting americans. average life expectancy in the u.s. has dropped a full year. we'll be right back. 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>> this is very much in keeping with what we've been learning about this variant and what it means for the vaccine. and let me walk you through it. all of the vaccines, whether it was johnson & johnson or pfizer or moderna or astrazeneca, they were based on a blueprint of the virus done early last year before these variants started to appear, kate. and so it is not surprising to hear that johnson & johnson might have to have a booster. it wasn't designed with the variant from south africa in mind. it doesn't mean it wouldn't work at all against that variant. all of the data shows that it will have some effect but not likely 95% effective as we saw in the clinical trials for pfizer and moderna. this variant will make the vaccine less effective for that variant. but still, a good vaccine to get. so we may need boosters for all of these vaccines. and certainly the companies that make these vaccines have indeed talked about that. but this is all at this point in the realm of science. i want to talk a little bit about what it means for you and me. for all of us, if we could get the vaccine, get it. it works so well against nearly all of the coronavirus that is out there in the united states. we know that it works so, so well for the predominant strains. it f it works less well for the variant out of south africa or other variants that might appear, that is okay. we could get a booster later. but in the meantime, get the vaccine, it works so well against the coronavirus that is out there. if you could get it, get it. >> there is also striking data from the cdc showing just how much covid is impacting all of our lives. that u.s. life expectancy was fell by over a year in just the first half of 2020, elizabeth. >> that's right. and it rarely in modern times have we seen that life expectancy has gone down. it is gone up and up and up in modern times. to see it go down dramatically over the course of the first half of last year is really just so sad and so striking. so let's take a look at these numbers. so what they found based on data from the first half of last year is that overall in the entire u.s. population life expectancy was one down one year to 77.8 years. for black people if we take that separately it went down 2.7 years and that is so horrible and speaks to how this outbreak has had a disproportionate affect of people on color. so down 2.7 years to 72. for hispanic people down 1.9 years to 79.9. for white people, down eight tenths of a year to the age of 78. so again as you could see, down overall and particularly dramatic and terrible for people of color. >> absolutely. thank you, elizabeth. i appreciate it. let's turn to this. the wild winter weather is impacting covid vaccine distribution across the country. more than half of states are experiencing shipment delays as the weather is impacting major distribution hubs in tennessee and kentucky. the dangerous cold, the snow, the ice is all forcing vaccination sites, also forcing vaccination sites in many places to shut down temporarily. it is just one more factor in the already complicated and unpredictable vaccine supply chain. just this week, michigan's largest health care system beaumont health was forced to cancel nearly 2,000 vaccine appointments. they're not working to reschedule vaccine appointments. in the press release, they said it is an unexpected and significant reduction in pfizer covid-19 vaccine allocation from the state of michigan. joining me now is carolyn wilson for more on that from beaumont. explain to me what happened here. why did you need to postpone the appointments? >> thank you, kate. really related to the vaccine that we received from the state of michigan. beaumont is the largest provider and responded to vaccination in a major way. we started with large supply of pfizer from the state of michigan and were able to give it to michiganders who want the vaccine. so giving about 115 now vaccines in the first few weeks we needed a lot of second doses. the state has since changed its strategy for allocation and moving more away from hospitals and health systems, into rural areas and counties and others and so we did not get enough vaccine. >> the spokesperson for the state health department told cnn it is unfortunate that they chose to cancel second dose appointments while we're continuing to work with them. what is going on here? >> we too, we're just exceptionally disappointed. as you could imagine here if the state of michigan, vaccination applications are high. the demand is high. and most of our doses were scheduled when people got their first vaccine. we wanted them to leave the first vaccine with their second appointment. so we knew and the state knew and people getting vaccinated knew when the second doses were due. we've done a lot of reconciliation with the tate on the the numbers and the need for vaccine. un unfortunately we were told how much we would get and we used every last dose of yesterday. meaning i have absolutely no vaccine for today in order to keep the appointments that were prescheduled. we did work through the state again over the weekend and into monday i just got notice about 15 minutes ago that another 7,000 doses are arriving here today. which will allow us to avoid cancellations for friday and saturday of this week. >> i have to ask you, though, have you gotten, this is seeming like a problem between your health system and the state and you seem to be caught unawares by the by the change in strategy. have you worked this out. because this is no joke. you don't want to have to cancel the appointments. people want to get the shots. have you gotten assurances from the state that they're going to be able to make up for this and how confident could you be that this won't happen again? >> we're doing everything that we can to have this not happen again. we spent several hours with the state and the national guard reconciling numbers. last thing that beaumont wants to do is cancel. we working with the hospital association and peers and we are not the only health system that have not received the second doses. it is a state problem. and i do understand and we're working collaboratively with the state, we're dependent on them for vaccine. we want to be part of the solution. bow mant believes in vaccination. there are about 480,000 people here in southeast michigan that look to us for health care that are over 65 years of age and many of them want the vaccine. so we're doing everything that we can to partner with this state in a collaborate way to get the vaccine to people that want it. >> let me ask you about it. because the biden covid response team have stated they're giving states visibility to know how much vaccine they'll have three weeks out. it is supposed to avoid situatio situations just like this. so is that not happening? >> we're not privy to state receipt numbers. and we would love that transparency. po for us to plan ahead, we don't want to cancel. we have a lot of weather here and the last thing i want to have is people coming to the clinic and not having vaccine. so we hope this will never happen again. >> we'll follow up. thank you so much for your time. >> thank you. come up for us, federal authorities are now looking into how new york governor handled data on covid deaths in nursing homes in the state just as a state lawmaker that you see on your screen right there claims that the governor threatened to destroy him over the scandal that is now erupting. the details are next. hi, i'm dorothy hamill. if you're turning 65 soon, like me, you might be thinking about medicare. i know i want coverage that connects all the different parts of my health care to keep me aging actively. aetna medicare advantage plans offer $0 monthly plan premiums and prescription drug coverage. with benefits like dental, vision and hearing. and telehealth. that's the aetna medicare advantage. call today to learn more or to be connected to a local agent in your community and we'll send you a $10 visa reward card with no obligation to enroll. a striking reality today. the governor's of three of the biggest states in the country, they're all in trouble. facing mounting pressure over three very different controversies and scandals. in new york, the fbi and the u.s. attorneys office in brooklyn are now investigating how andrew cuomo's administration handled covid deaths in the state's nursing homes. cnn is reporting and also reporting a new york lawmaker said that the governor threatened to destroy him and his career in a phone call about the scandal. the governor denies that allegation. let me bring in cnn's mj lee who broke this story. and mj, what would you tell us about the call and where this is headed? >> reporter: well, kate, you're recall that a top aid to governor cuomo, melissa derosa, told state lawmakers in a private virtual meeting that the state had delayed sharing with the legislature the full scope of covid related deaths of nursing homes residents because of potential federal investigation. now ron kim was on that call and what he told cnn is that last week after the new york post first broke the story about that call, krcuomo called him and wanted him to put out a new statement. he said that cuomo threatened to destroy him. here is what he said on our air last night. >> the governor called for about ten minutes and it seemed like one hour, berated and yelling and threatening that i have to issue a statement to -- that invalidated what i heard. he asked me to lie to cover up for his staff and this was done in front of my family. >> reporter: we also spoke with kim's wife that overheard parts of the angry phone call and her husband told her afterwards that governor cuomo threatened to destroy his life. we spoke with other new york legislators that would not go on record like kim did and said they were also aware of cuomo making threats of political retaliation to lawmakers who would not stand by him. >> so, mj, what is the response from cuomo's office? >> well, kate, cnn first reached out to his office for comment on tuesday and initially in the written statement they didn't directly respond to or deny kim's allegations of threats. they also didn't deny the allegation of threats from other legislatures and accused them of making threats of their own and sent another statement from a senior adviser say in part, kim's assertion that the governor said he would destroy him is false. the governor has three witnesses to the conversation, the operable words were two the effect of, i am from queens too and people still expect honor and integrity in politics. now this adviser said that kim told cuomo that he would put out a new statement, something that kim denied and cuomo as you saw yesterday said that he and kim had a long and hostile relationship and accused him of having political animus going back years. kim has been one of the most outspoking critics. his uncle has died in a nursing homes and he's asking cuomo to be striped of the power he's had since the pandemic started, kate. >> thank you for bringing us that reporting. coming up for us, officials in los angeles county are giving the all clear to reopen elementary schools for in person classes. the superintendent of the l.a. unified said it is not happening. he joins me next. sneakerhead. metalhead. me? 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[footsteps] so, are you gonna buy the car? please! if i could just go home, and discuss things with my wife- i've been here all weekend. you can leave anytime you want. no! ahhh! never go to a dealership again. well, that was painless. go to vroom.com, buy a car and we'll deliver it straight to you. if you are confused about when schools can and should safely reopen, you are not alone. parents and teachers across the country are understandably frustrated. and the series of clarifications and frankly mixed messages coming from the biden administration has not helped. and it is happening not just on the federal level, but also on the local level. one example right now is los angeles county, california. the good news of covid cases trending downward has led county health officials to say that elementary schools could reopen for in-person learning there. but most will not. joining me now to talk through this, and explain why is the superintendent of the l.a. unified school district, austin beutner. thank you for coming back in. the county said it is safe enough to reopen elementary. you have laid out the upgraded ventilation systems and the appropriate testing procedures, you've worked so hard to get in place that are in place for your district, so why are you not reopening for elementary students? >> well the cdc told us in the new directors and brilliant researchers and scientists doesn't speak in sound bites. she said focus on mitigation in schools which as you said we've already done. the second is look at the community spread of the virus and the third is the role vaccination play. and let's just look at the role of the community spread. los angeles county spread across 4,000 miles included communities like la canada, with very low case counts, average household income of $200,000. that is the communities we serve, which are 85% black and latino and most impacted by this virus where case counts are 15 to 20 times higher and household incomes are ten times lower. the most impacted communities are the ones that we serve which is where the role of the vaccination to complete the picture because in the communities that we serve, long beach has already vaccinated the k through 5 educators and hillsborough california, from san francisco, a quarter million dollars household income, virtually no covid, they're vaccinating all of their educators, bus drivers, classroom teachers. we need to do the same in los angeles and they need to be doing everything the cdc said to reopen school classrooms in the safest way possible, all three, not just one. >> let me play for you on the issue of community spread and case counts, i spoke with one expert earlier this week and he's the director of harvard healthy buildings program. he studied the safety in schools extensively. let me play for you what he said. >> the community spread metrics are not good predictors of what is happening in the school. you could have a school open safely even if community spread is high if you have good infection control measures in place. >> you have considered this? you have good control measures in place? >> we have fantastic control measures in place and community spread as the cdc tells us is part of the picture. if our case counts are 15 times higher than more affluent community which is also in the average, we need to take that into context. and this is all about risk mitigation. it is not about open schools any way possible, it is open schools the safest way possible. that is why vaccinations for those that work in schools can and should be made part of the picture immediately. >> let's talk about vaccines. you talked about the cdc director, and she said clearly as well as the head of the second largest teachers union in the country, randy winegarden was on the shown saying that the science said that vaccinating teachers is not a prerequisite. do you disagree with that, austin. >> i think you're looking at it a half full or half empty. if you can, why wouldn't we. long beach, next to los angeles unified, they vaccinated all of the elementary school educators and staff. hillsborough, northern california, one of the more affluent communities in all of california are vaccinating all of their school staff. my point since we're serving the hardest hit communities why aren't we taking care of them first. vaccinating them today. it would take one set of doses over the next few weeks to reopen all of our elementary school classrooms, offered in person instruction for a quarter million kids with half a million family members, we should be vaccinating those who work in the schools. >> have you heard from the state? have you heard from the county about if this is possible? >> we continue to hear frankly excuses. 1% of the doses of vaccine coming into the state of california over the next two weeks to reopen schools in the second largest school district in the country, this sounds like something we should do. >> one thing that is a question is if vaccines for teachers and school workers are the final step, and let's say they would become available. you've talked about i think 25,000. do you know that all 25,000 would want to get the shot? >> we'll make that available. i think the importance is to allow choice for those so that they could protect themselves as best as possible. and we've already committed to reopen schools as soon as all three pieces are in place. if we get on with the vaccination, we'll have children back in schools as soon as possible and in the safetiest way possible. >> it is not easy, if it was it won't be where we are as a country. it is complex and i know there is urgency on your part. there is certainly urgency on the part of the families, especially some of the families you've told me their stories about these children who desperately want to be back in school. we'll stay back in touch. thank you for coming on. >> thank you. still ahead for us, the biden administration is announcing a sweeping immigration reform bill today. could president pull off what so many presidents have proved incapable of doing, passing comprehensive immigration reform. come on cody, where are you buddy? ...then your bank should have the technology to help you track your spending. virtual wallet® for digital banking. one way we're helping to make a difference at pnc bank. good morning! the four way is a destination place. right here, between these walls, is a lot of history. we tried to operate a decent, respectable place that anybody wouldn't feel bad to walk in. i am black. beautiful. i must be respected. it was for everybody. you never know who you're going to meet. black lawyers, doctors, educators, martin luther king, b.b. king, queen of soul aretha franklin. you're sitting in the place where giants ate. the four way, as a restaurant, and the cleaves family meant so much to this neighborhood. to have a place where you have dignity and belong, that's the legacy of the four way. loving people. sharing and caring and loving people. that's a great way to think. ♪ turning 65? at aetna, we take a total, connected approach to your health and wellness to help you age actively. with medicare advantage plans designed for the whole you, we offer monthly plan premiums starting at $0. hospital, medical and prescription drug coverage, in one simple plan. plus dental, vision and hearing. aetna medicare advantage plans. call today to learn more or to be connected to a local agent in your community and we'll send you a $10 visa reward card with no obligation to enroll. to support local restaurants, we've been to every city. including little rock and even worcester. and tonight... i'll be eating the chicken quesadilla from...tony's tex mex...in... katy. (doorbell) (giggle) do ya think they bought it? oh yeah. if you smell gas, you're too close. leave the structure, call 911, keep people away, and call pg&e right after so we can both respond out and keep the public safe. covid's still a threat. and on reopening schools, we know what happens when we don't put safety first. ignore proper ventilation or rates of community spread, and the virus worsens. fail to provide masks or class sizes that allow for social distancing, and classrooms close back down. a successful reopening requires real safety and accountability measures. including prioritizing vaccines for educators. parents and educators agree: reopen schools. putting safety first. if you see wires down, treat them all as if they're hot and energized. stay away from any downed wire, call 911, and call pg&e right after so we can both respond out and keep the public safe. new this morning, the white house is rolling out a sweeping immigration reform bill that includes a pathway to citizenship for millions of undocumented immigrants already living in the united states. comprehensive immigration reform is something many presidents have tried and, of course, failed to get done. the biden white house out of the gate seems to be acknowledging this very tough road ahead as it is making this big announcement. joining me right now is cnn's jeremy diamond live at the white house for us. jeremy, what are you hearing about this plan and how real they think their chances are? >> kate, president biden came into office, and right then and there on inauguration day, he released a framework for what he hoped to see as comprehensive immigration reform he was putting forward. today we are seeing that actual piece of legislation built off of that framework introduced in congress by the president's allies in the house of representatives, and then next week it will be introduced in the senate. at the core of this immigration plan is an eight-year path to citizenship for the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants who are already here in the united states. and then a faster track for some of those undocumented immigrants, including those individuals who came to the u.s. illegally as children and were brought by their parents. it will also make some changes to u.s. law, changing some of the language around illegal immigration referring to non-citizens not as aliens but simply as non-citizens, and then you're also going to see some efforts to, on the legal immigration front, making it easier for spouses and children of permanent residents here in the united states to actually come and iemigrate to the u.s. s well. again, this is just the introduction of this piece of legislation. what you're really seeing here is an effort by the president to kind of set a marker here for what he would like to see in this immigration reform plan. this white house is very clear-eyed about the fact that the politics here are very tough and the numbers are stacked against them, particularly when you look in the senate with the narrowest of narrow majorities there with 50 democrats and 50 republicans. there are long odds that they'll actually get ten republicans to sign on board with a plan like this, and that's why we saw president biden earlier this week acknowledging that perhaps some of this would have to be broken up into pieces, and that may very well be what ends up happening here. >> biden is also getting some outside support to boost his agenda. what are you hearing about that? >> yers, the president is gettig some backing from outside allies. a group of strategists with the blessing of the white house are performing a nonprofit group called building back together. this is a group that is expected to put together a core group on the outside and really provide some air cover in the form of tv ads and air ads to boost the president's agenda, including this coronavirus package he's pushing through congress. kate? >> thank you very much, good to see you. ivanka trump is indicating she's not likely to jump into politics, well, at least, the florida senate race that has long been rumored, at least for now. a source of marco rubio is saying she contacted rubio saying she would not challenge rubio's primary in florida next year. in fact, the two are planning to get together around tax day to promote a child care tax credit. stand by to stand by on that one. much more on the dire situation in texas as hundreds of thousands of people remain without power. we'll be right back. no, but we came through smelling of mistletoe. the now platform lets us identify problems before they became problems. if only it could identify where my ball went. this you? hmm... no, mine had green lights. whatever your business is facing. let's workflow it. maybe i should workflow my swing... servicenow. want to save hundreds on your wireless bill? with xfinity mobile you can. how about saving hundreds on the new samsung galaxy s21 ultra 5g? you can do that too. all on the most reliable network. sure thing! and with fast nationwide 5g included at no extra cost. we've got you covered. so join the carrier rated #1 in customer satisfaction. and get a new samsung galaxy starting at $17 a month. learn more at xfinitymobile.com or visit your local xfinity store today. to our viewers in the united states and around the world, i'm john king in washington. thank you so much for sharing your day with us. it is a crisis test in texas and a question of who's to blame for now days-long blackouts and death. a relentless winter chill has killed at least 37 people across eight states. fema generators now keeping infrastructure for hospitals

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