the dark for the fourth straight day, as record cold temperatures stretch across the state. governor abbott is now pledging to reform the state's energy agency, and he's saying, and i'm quoting now, texans deserve answers about why the shortfalls occurred. and more severe weather is on the way. 100 million people are in the path of a major storm and winter weather alerts extend from the u.s. southwest all the way up to the northeast. let's get straight to texas, though, right now. our national correspondent ed lavendera is in dallas for us. ed, governor abbott has just signed a major disaster declaration. tell us about that. >> reporter: yeah, it's going to be another long night here. but after four days of taking a political beating over this disaster in texas, the governor says he accepts responsibility for the situation at ercot, the state power grid system, but not before once again laying into the executives at that agency, saying that what has happened is unacce unacceptable. >> texas is bracing for another dangerously frigid night. >> we are not yet out of this. we will not stop until normalcy is restored to your lives. as another winter storm barrels in, the white house has declared an emergency in texas and oklahoma. >> we ain't got no water, it's no heat, it's nothing! >> reporter: local officials are fed up and fearing the worst. >> the truth is, right now, we're just trying to keep people alive and safe for the next two days. >> we expect to see that death count rise. >> it is a mess. it is a mess. >> reporter: while power is being extraordinary through much of the state, some 13.5 million texans are now facing water disruptions. >> our whole apartment! >> i'm out of candles, you know, for a little bit of light. you can't charge batteries. >> reporter: at grocery stores, there are long lines and empty shelves as food supply chains buckle. >> you can't find food, and when you do, you have to stand on line four or five hours. this is ridiculous. whoever is in charge of this, they need to run 'em off, because that's not right. >> reporter: governor greg abbott has taken aim at ercot, the organization hired to manage more than 90% of the state's power grid. >> ercot failed on each of these measures that they said that they had undertaken. texans deserve answers about why these shortfalls occurred and how they're going to be corrected and texans will get those answers. >> reporter: ercot's ceo says it presented a catastrophic power grid failure with no time to spare. >> it was seconds and minutes. given the amount of generation that was coming off the system. >> reporter: others are blaming abbott and his states' focus on a low-cost deregulated power supply, largely independent of the national grid. >> the choice is not a federal takeover or people freezing in their homes. the choice is to require winterization of equipment, like all 49 other states do. >> reporter: one official left the crisis behind. senator ted cruz was photographed boarding a flight to cancun with his family. he says his daughters wanted to take a trip, so, quote, wanting to be a good dad, i flew down with them. and the senator added, my team and i will continue using all our resources to keep texans informed and safe. senator cruz is scheduled to return in the coming hours. and wolf, there are still about 375 households across the state that are still without power. but power grid officials say none of the outages at this hour is being caused by problems at power generating plants across the state. it's all from damages of the power -- of power lines around the area. so that will take some time to repair. and the governor this afternoon, wolf, is also calling for the mandatory weatherization of power plants across the state. too little, too late for this week. and it's something that the state legislature here has had a chance to do for years and years, but now with the urgency of what's happened this week, it's become a popular thing to champion. wolf? >> yes, it has. ed lavendera in dallas for us, ed, thank you very much for that report. tonight, there's more severe weather on the way. cnn meteorologist jennifer gray is tracking it all for us. jennifer, this one will impact people far beyond texas, right? >> you're exactly right. we have people from the texas/mexico border being impacted all the way up to northern new england. these systems are farvery far-reaching. we have the one that just went through texas, louisiana. that's impacting the northeast and we have this one on its heels, bringing more snow to places that have already seen several inches like san antonio. more freezing rain to places that already look like ice rinks. and it's also bringing hard freeze warnings to places that have been below freezing for the last week or so. here is the current snow depth. and you can see, 4 to 6 inches across places in texas, east texas, the hill country. you can see that bull's-eye right over little rock. record cold has been real since february 1st, we have seen more than a thousand record low minimums. more than 2,500 record low maximums. and the numbers will keep climbing, as we go through the next couple of days. look at dallas, 29 degrees, like i mentioned. dallas and san antonio both have been below freezing since the middle of last week. now, as this cold pushes to the east, friday and saturday, we are going to be in store for more possible record cold temperatures at least 60 or more, but look at this. high temperatures tomorrow finally get above freezing for places like dallas, san antonio will actually hit 48 degrees. a little light at the end of the tunnel. that warm air will definitely be pushing in, wolf. of course, we'll see temperatures close to 70 degrees in dallas within the next five or six days. >> that's encouraging. looks like it's going to get better. our meteorologist jennifer gray, thank you very, very much. let's get more on all of this. democratic congresswoman shelia jackson lee of texas is joining us. congresswoman, thanks so much for joining us. i know these have been difficult days for everyone in texas, including you. you have been out delivering groceries and water today. but we've also seen a lot of houston residents lining up to simply get water from a park spigot. just how bad is the situation, congresswoman, right now? >> wolf, it's very bad. we're standing here at texas southern university where the students are helping us give out water to the neighbors. we came from another site, over 200 cars were lined up for water and food. it's very bad. and it's very bad, because this state, the state government, the state agency simply thought they could go it alone. it's unbelievable what we've experienced. and the thing that hurts me the most is the loss of life that we've experienced. we're familiar with hurricanes, but we are not familiar with the idea of people dying from carbon monoxide, fires, and losing the lives of grandmothers and children. that's what we've experienced this week. >> that's an awful situation. how long is it expected to take, congresswoman, before everyone gets power, gets water restored? how widespread is the problem of pipes bursting, for example? >> major, because, obviously, our homes are made for warm weather, but our electric grid should not be for warm weather, it should be for all weather. and unfortunately, ercot, which has five members on the board that are not even from the state, decided that texas should go it alone and they had an isolated system that was not subject to federal regulation and here we are with failed generators that did not provide energy. so right now, we are -- universities don't have power, neighboring homes do not have power. but what's most tragic and i'll just share with you is that people are losing so much. the pipes are bursting and they're taking out people's personal and beloved belongings. roofs, ceilings are caving in on homes, in kitchens, in bedrooms. so it's a long journey. they said that we might get power by sunday. but actuality, i called for them to get power on today. because they have power coming in from something called the southwest power administration, that is a tulsa -- excuse me, an oklahoma and an arkansas combination. really, those are the only two states that we have a real relationship with in terms of the grid. the grid is only texas and the it's failed us, and they failed us, and they failed the people. so we're pushing to say that we can't wait any longer. we need the power on no later than this weekend. >> what do you need most, congresswoman? most urgently to get through this? are you getting enough state and federal support? >> well, i want to thank the biden administration, who began talking to me at the beginning of the week. they told us about the southwest power grid. and as well, we know that they're prepared to give us some additional funding for our energy grid. but the most important thing is, i have asked the governor right now, because we have a state declared -- a presidential declared disaster, we need personal assistance from fema. we need individual payments from these people who have lost everything, whose homes have burned up, who lost their family members, who are living in cars. we hope the governor will write that letter. we haven't heard that he has, because it has to come from the governor, to ask the biden administration to give out individual assistance. the other thing is that we hope we can quickly pass the covid package, $1.9 trillion. because it will be some additional cash in their pockets. but the main is great. the lines are long. i don't know if you can see it. we're giving out water right now, people are in line for water and in line for food. and so we need power, but we're going to need cleanup. and the other thing that we're concerned about, and i want to thank the houston police department, the texas southern university police department, law enforcement within and the first responders, the fire department has been nonstop for emergency calls. but what we're going to need is well check. we're beginning to knock on the doors of our seniors in these older homes across the city, just to determine hopefully that they are -- they manage to get through, hopefully, that weapon won't see any high number of those who have past, though we know that we have had to take seniors out of their homes and take them to hospitals. >> representative shelia jackson lee, good luck to you and good luck to everyone in texas right now. we know what a horrible situation it is. let's hope it gets better and gets better soon, because lives are on the line. so much is on the line right now. thank you so much for joining . >> thank you. thank you for caring. thank you very much. >> we certainly do care. up n immigration bill, even as it's trying to get its pandemic relief plan passed. we'll update you on that when we come back. we made usaa insurance for members 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following, president biden preparing to unveil a major contribution to the global fight against the coronavirus. our senior white house correspondent phil mattingly is joining us right now. he has details. phil, tell us what the president is about to announce. >> president biden tomorrow there announce that the u.s. will contribute a total of $4 billion to a global initiative. what this is doing is trying to get vaccines to 92 to lower to middle income economies. trying to surge vaccine opportunities, vaccine availability to economies that might not have the ability that the u.s. and other larger countries have to actually obtain those vaccines. the initial sum will be $2 billion. with a second contribution of $2 billion to follow as global pledges come in. essentially, what they're trying to do with this initiative is trying to expand the global reach, expand the global initiative, get other countries to also add their money in, as well. and the bottom line here, wolf, is two things. one, this $4 billion was appropriated in december by congress for this reason. however, the trump administration made clear they did not plan to participate in this initiative. the biden administration has reversed course and will now be sendi ing funds there. this money will not take away from domestic production or domestic distribution of the u.s. vaccine. the u.s., obviously,annd coming by late summer. so what the purpose of this according to senior administration officials, is to help other countries as new variants are spreading around the world. essentially trying to get as many shots into as many arms across the globe as they can, to try to stall what obviously has been an enormous problem for countries, pretty much everywhere over the course of the last year, wolf. >> a global pandemic, to be sure. phil, the white house also unveiled a sweeping new immigration bill that would create a path to citizenship for the millions of undocumented immigrants here in the united states. how difficult will it be, though, to get this passed? >> it's a -- there are a lot of hurdles. and the white house officials i've spoken to acknowledge that fact. democrats on capitol hill who sponsored bill, introduced the bill this morning made clear they know that's the case, as well. however, if this were signed into law, it would be the largest overhaul of u.s. immigration law in more than 30 years. and the cornerstone, wolf, as you mentioned, was an eight-year path to citizenship for those 11 million undocumented individuals in the country. also, a series of other proposals, like surge in funding for immigration judges and a widespread overhaul of immigration law. but wolf, the reality remains, as it did in 2005, as it did in 2013, as it did throughout the course of the trump administration, there is a very, very difficult pathway to finding 60 votes in the senate and 218 votes in the house to actually get this passed. what the biden administration's purpose is here, and in concert with the democrats on the hill who introduced this legislation, is essentially to put something on the table. they know the bill that was introduced today, which lines up with president biden's goals and kind of key elements of his plan announced on inauguration day is basically start the conversation recognizing that this won't be the final product. that they hope, they believe, this could start negotiations. however, there is an understanding here at the white house, this will be a lengthy process. this will likely not be the major legislative agenda item for them, but they want this to start the negotiations that in the hopes in the coming months it will spark something, something that might lead to a bipartisan consensus that could finally, after decades, get immigration laws or an immigration overhaul signed into law, wolf. >> this kind of comprehensive immigration reform is so, so important. long, long overdue. phil mattingly at the white house, thanks very much. let's get some reaction now from the house majority whip, democratic congressman, james clyburn of south carolina. congressman, thanks so much for joining us. do you believe this is the most realistic path forward on comprehensive immigration reform? passing it in different pieces rather than one big bill? how do you see it? >> well, thank you very much, for having me. you know, wolf, these kinds of things are very, very hard to do. but just because it's hard doesn't mean we shouldn't undertake the effort. i really think we can do this. i was majority whip the last time i worked with javier becerra. javier and i felt sure that we were going to get something from the senate. you may recall the senate gave a promise that it would do it and at the last minute, both mccain and if my memory serves, lindsey graham, decided at the last minute that they were not going to move on it. so we never got it. this time, we are starting in the house. we are bringing all of the folks together and sanchez is doing a remarkable job of cobbling together all the forces of the various committees, let them do what they think is best. bring us one comprehensive bill. i think we can get it through the house. as long as we have everybody involved in the process. that is what she's doing and i think we can do it in a bipartisan effort. >> you think, obviously, the top priority for president biden is dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. the emergency covid relief plan right now. but will this immigration plan be president biden's top priority if he wants to win republican support? >> no. i don't think so. i think the top priority for republican support will be the infrastructure bill. that, i think, will be what we would call our recovery package or our stimulus package. what we're doing now, regarding covid-19, is the rescue package. the $1.9 trillion. i think we need to do about a $1.5 trillion infrastructure bill. that's where we have our roads, our bridges, our water, our sewage, broadband. the kind of things -- ports and rails. the stuff we need to do to get the economy moving. putting people back to work. we could create 300 or 400,000 jobs through a real stimulus infrastructure program. so i think that we're going to do that. that would be a priority. but the committees will still be working on immigration. and once was get people stimulated, the economy stimulated and people back to work, i think we can turn our attention to immigration and by that time, they ought to have a piece of legislation that we can be -- look favorably on. >> as you know better than i do, the house is looking to pass president biden's covid relief bill as early as next week, but the progressive caucus in the house is making clear they want that $15 minimum wage included in this package, not kicked down the road. if that stays in the bill, can president biden still get it passed in the house? >> if it stays in the bill, he can get it passed. if he doesn't stay in the bill, it will not be him kicking it out. he has put it out there. we know what's that he wants. it's what i want. but we can not get around the par par parliamentarian. i hope we'll get a favorable ruling from the parliamentarian. and if we do, i think there are republicans who will vote for a minimum wage bill. we know the minimum wage is $7.25 an hour. that is, in a family of four or five or six, that's poverty wages. we shouldn't have a person working 40 hours a day -- a week, i'm sorry -- and then have to be still in poverty. we ought to have a livable wage. we're not talking about doing the whole $15 by tomorrow morning. we're talking about gradually getting there. but show some movement. so i want it to happen, but we're going to go forward with the bill, even if the parliamentarian does not give us a favorable ruling. >> that $7.25 hourly wage, the minimum wage right now, that's been in effect since 2009. it hasn't been raised since then. so it's time for it to go up, to be sure. congressman clyburn, good luck to you. thanks so much for joining us. >> thank you so much for having me. just ahead, could a second shot of a single-dose vaccine improve its efficacy against virus variants? we've got new information. we'll be right back. ♪ [ "could have been me by the struts ] ♪ hey, mercedes? how can i help you? the 2021 e-class. motortrend's 2021 car of the year. as carla wonders if she can retire sooner, she'll revisit her plan with fidelity. and with a scenario that makes it a possibility, she'll enjoy her dream right now. that's the planning effect, from fidelity. nefertiti: as a young girl i was always comparing myself to my sisters. they were always thin and i wasn't... i ate a lot of food. and then after i had my son it was really difficult to lose the baby weight, and everything took so much time and energy and i didn't have that. and then i tried noom, it was easy and it was super convenient. it's effective, i'd say it's life changing. my my name is nefertiri and noom worked for 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weeks. >> the challenge we have right now is that there's about 22 million americans who have received their first dose, waiting for their second dose. >> reporter: supplies are running dry from new york all the way idaho, where only a limited number of pfizer doses arrived this week. same goes for washington state. major problems stemming from storms affecting fedex hub in memphis and the u.p.s. hub in louisville. in texas, a cold weather crisis creating an avalanche of problems. >> we even had a facility lose power, so we had to -- a public health facility lose power. so we had to figure out how to distribute and salvage those vaccines, which we were able to do. >> reporter: the slowdown in vaccines at a time when many americans are already at their most vulnerable. >> if you're obviously following what's happening with these viruses, particularly this uk variants, what we call b-117, this most likely will cause a major surge of cases in this country. >> reporter: new reports show that the vaccines that are currently available protect against new strains of the virus, but senior white house covid adviser andy slavitt says manufacturers are looking at ways to combat new variants that emerge by updating the vaccines or adding boosters. johnson & johnson, the maker of a single-dose vaccine, which could receive fda authorization soon, is also looking at weather a second shot would improve efficacy. >> reporter: amid the race to vaccinate, the country is posting its lowest number of new covid cases in months. the average now just over 77,000 new cases a day. the lowest it's been since the end of october. hospitalizations now as low as they've been since early november. deaths are declining, but still averaging more than 2,000 a day. the lasting toll of a virus that leaves a permanent scar on us all. the cdc now reports that in the first half of 2020, average american life expectancy fell by a year. the biggest decline since world war ii. here in brooklyn, they're working with the supply that they do have, but they are prioritizing. they're only giving out shots at this site to people who are getting their second doses. that johnson & johnson single-dose vaccine should be approved soon. that would make more vaccines available to the public. but johnson & johnson are also saying they are doing a trial of their two-dose vaccine. they've already enrolled 21,000 people in that study. and wolf, we should have the results later in 2021. >> all right, we'll see what happens. alexandra field in new york for us. thank you. let's get more on all of this. joining us now, the former cdc acting director, dr. richard besser. dr. besser, thanks so much for joining us. this weather crisis comes as the country is in the middle of this widespread rollout of a time-sensitive two-dose vaccine. so what happens, dr. besser, when these shots can't get to where they are needed the most wins on time. >> yeah, this is a challenge, wolf. you know that you can't predict the weather and went you've got things that are time sensitive, it's very -- it's critical. on the timing side, though, two months ago, cdc looked at the recommendations in terms of how tight you had to follow that dosing. so for one vaccine, it's three weeks. and one vaccine, it's four weeks. they said, you can go up to 42 days. a total of six week. so although this is going to put a time crunch on that and get some people near that 42-day limit, hopefully, the weather will let up and they'll be able to get vaccine to those people who are in that. but it will delay the number of people who are able to start vaccination at a time when everyone is so eager to get vaccinated. >> because a lot of people are waiting either three weeks or four weeks for their second dose, if they can't get it now, they'll be nervous. johnson & johnson, which you know, developed this single-dose coronavirus vaccine, now says by the second half of this year, we'll have data on whether a second johnson & johnson shot would actually improve efficacy against the new coronavirus variants that are out there for the uk, south africa, and elsewhere. how important is this research? >> well, it is important. as we've been seeing around the globe, there are new extrstrain this coronavirus that are emerging. and what we're seeing is that vaccines aren't as effective as they are -- as they are against the strain that was circulating here before. what we want to see, and i'll be looking at the data that j&j is submitting to the fda, does it hold up that they are extremely effective against severe disease, so hospitalization and death? we have to keep our eye on that prize so that we're not distracted by the idea that, well, someone could dstill get covid and have some symptoms. if eit keeps people out of the hospital and saves lives with one dose, that's terrific. if we can look at two doses, booster doses, changes to vaccines, those are all changes that scientists are considering. >> let's hope it works. dr. besser, as usual, thanks so much for joining us. >> thanks, wolf. coming up, a major breakthrough in space exploration. the moest advanced mars rover i nasa history has just touched down on the red planet. we'll have details when we come back. tonight, the growing divide within the republican party is certainly on full display amid a simmering feud between former president trump and senate minority leader mitch mcconnell, cnn has now learned that the number two republican in the house, congressman steve scalise, quietly paid a visit to the former president at his mar-a-lago resort this week. let's get some analysis from our senior political correspondent, abby phillip, and cnn political commentator, charlie dent. abby, first, the republican leader in the house, kevin mccarthy, he visited the former president down in palm beach. now congressman steve scalise makes the trip down there. why are these lawmakers so intent on staying in good graces with trump? >> it's a real reflection of where they believe that the republican base is right now. and if you are kevin mccarthy or steve scalise or really many republicans in the house of representatives, you are reliant on that base for your political survival. remember, they are up for re-election in two years. every two years, they have to go to the voters. and so i do think that they are saying very clearly here that they don't think that there is a path forward without -- without basically bowing to trump. and signaling to his base that he is still someone with a lot of power. and that that's not going to change anytime soon. they're not like people in the senate who can wait four or six years for their time to come up before voters. they have to do it much, much sooner than that. >> charlie, you're a former republican congressman. you know steve scalise. you worked with steve scalise. what's your reaction to learning he went down to palm beach to meet with the former president? >> well, it's very clear to me that steve scalise and kevin mccarthy have kind of put themselves in a bit of a box. they so badly want to get back in the majority, they feel they need the president to do so. but i would argue by embracing trump and trumpism as strongly as they have, they're making it more difficult to win back seats in the suburbs and these marginal and swing districts. and they only need to win four to five seats. but i think the closer they get to trump, the harder it is, i think, for them to reclaim some of those swing districts they need to recapture the majority. i also think, too, part of it is, you go back to the marjorie taylor greene issue, they didn't punish her, because they were afraid that would alienate mbs of the freedom caucus who would not then vote for kevin mccarthy for speaker, like what happened in 2015 when those voters withheld their votes. >> the democrats only have a five-seat majority in the house of representatives right now pop so it's very, very tight. abby, as house republican leaders cozy up to trump, senate republican leaders in contrast seem to be taking a different approach. why is that? >> well, some of them have to have a long view. but also, take a look at the senate members who, for example voted for impeachment. so many of them are not actually running for re-election. they're retiring, they're leaving their seats and so they were freed to criticize trump. if you're mitch mcconnell, also, you're thinking about what you need to do beyond these districts that are drawn to be incredibly ruby red, where you are definitely going to have to be running actual general election campaigns against democrats. and mcconnell is making a very clear calculation that he believes that trump is not the way forward. and it's for all the reasons that i think charlie just described, which is that, you know, the suburban problem for the republican party is one that will be very much felt by the senate candidates who are going up for re-election in two years and in four years and mcconnell is making a clear statement that he thinks that trump is disastrous for that. he has some reason to believe that, because they lost two seats, just a few weeks ago in georgia. >> abby phillip, charlie dent, guys, thank you very much. there's more breaking news coming up. nasa's "perseverance" rover has just landed on mars to search for signs of past life. plus, he was an early hero of pandemic, so why is the new york governor andrew cuomo now coming under increasing attack? thinking about your financial plan... ...so are we. prudential helps 25 million people with their financial needs. with over 90 years' of investment experience, our thousands of financial professionals can help. go to prudential.com or talk to an advisor. joint pain, swelling, tenderness. my psoriasis. cosentyx works on all of this. cosentyx can help you look and feel better by treating the multiple symptoms of psoriatic arthritis. don't use if you're allergic to cosentyx. before 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"perseverance," nasa's most tech technologically advanced mars rover in history, just touched down on the red planet after a harrowing descent through the martian atmosphere. >> confirmed! "perseverance" safely on the surface of mars, ready to begin seeking the sands of past life. [ cheers and applause ] at this point, t"perseverance" s continues to transmit direct through orbiter to earth. >> let's bring in our cnn aviation analyst, miles o'brien. miles, this was amazing to see. just how big of an accomplishment is this landing? >> wolf, it was by far the most complex landing that nasa has ever tried on the red planet. very rugged terrain. and historically, there's always a tug-of-war between the scientists that want to go to the rugged terrain, because that's where the interesting rocks are, and the engineers who would prefer to pick a veritable parking lot, where it's easy to land. but they pulled it off using some additional technology this go-around. wolf, they are 5 for 5 attempts at landing rovers on mars since 1997. it's truly remarkable. and i should remind everybody out there, this actually is rocket science. >> it certainly is. this rover called "perseverance," miles, will be looking for signs of past life on mars. tell us about that. >> well, we're looking for the ancient remnants of what was a warm, shallow sea in that location. this crater. the hope is when we look at rocks that age on this planet, there are a bunch of them in australia, as a matter of fact, when we look at them, there's telltale signs of biological organic life. and if "perseverance" happens upon similar patterns, that will get those scientists pretty excited. they'll do some drilling, do some photo taking, do some science onboard "perseverance," but this is the first step sample return mission. they will leave 20 samples on the planet of mars. it will be brought back to earth and maybe then, we'll -- finally have an answer on whether there was life on mars. >> will this put us closer to actually sending humans to mars? >> it's all intertwined, wolf. there's the technical accomplishment of getting this big device -- about the size of an suv onto the surface. that's a big challenge. but on top of that, you know, part of the reason to send human beings is that an astronaut with a pick ax and a magnifying glass can do a lot more science in a fraction of the time that perseverance can do its job, as good as it is. we'll see where this leads. >> miles o'brien, thanks very, very much. there's other news we're following. the new york governor, andrew cuomo is coming under increasing fire amid a growing controversy over his handling of the coronavirus pandemic not that long after many saw him as a hero of the crisis. brian todd is working the story for us. he's facing new allegations of a cover-up and threatening behavior. >> reporter: he's facing the possibility of increased strunt from the federal government. but what it's really boiled down to at this point is a classic new york political melee. tonight, andrew cuomo's latest political battle has gotten inte intensely personal with new accusations of intimidation. >> that's classic andrew cuomo. a lot of people in new york state has received those phone calls. the bullying is nothing new, the threats, the demand that someone change their statement right that moment, many, many times i've heard that and i know a lot of other people in the state have heard that. >> reporter: the comments by new york mayor bill de blasio who has had a long-standing contentious relationship with andrew cuomo. congressman kim criticized cuomo over nursing home deaths from covid says cuomo threatened to destroy his career. >> 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. he called me -- my wife was right next to me. i was about to bathe my kids. and it really just put my family and my wife into shock and trauma. >> reporter: cuomo's office says kim is lying about the conversation. there was never a threat to destroy anyone. cuomo and his aides say kim's accusation stem from their history. >> i've had -- my office, more than me, has had a long and hostile relationship with assemblyman kim. >> reporter: it stems from backlash cuomo was getting over his handling of the pandemic. a law enforcement tells cnn, the fbi is looking at the handling of data surrounding covid-19 deaths in long-term care facilities in new york. this comes after a top aide to governor cuomo admitted to state lawmakers that his administration delayed the release of that nursing home information because they were concerned the trump administration would turn it into a political football. it's not clear whether federal investigators are looking at cuomo himself. cuomo's office says it is cooperating with the justice department and cuomo addressed the crisis this week. >> these decisions are not political decisions. they're all made on the best information the medical professionals have at the time. >> reporter: a far cry from those dark early days of america's battle with coronavirus when cuomo was looked on as a true national leader. >> you guys need a hand? >> reporter: a time few others were. one analyst says cuomo enjoys high favorability ratings for his handling of the pandemic. >> but this is among the biggest political crises that the government has faced, if not the biggest. and the difference here is the attention that he's getting. >> reporter: asked by cnn to comment on mayor bill de blasio's remark that he's a bully, he said not comment on that. new york lawmakers are looking to strip governor couomo of his emergency powers and are calling for investigations into the nursing home policy. there's more breaking we're following. the texas governor signs a major disaster declaration as his state reels from severe weather. tonight there's another storm on the way. >> the first 100 days, brought to you by carvana, the new way to buy a car. building an experience that lets you shop over 17,000 cars from home. creating a coast to coast network to deliver your car as soon as tomorrow. recruiting an army of customer advocates to make your experience incredible. and putting you in control of the whole thing with powerful technology. that's why we've become the nation's fastest growing retailer. because our customers love it. see for yourself, at carvana.com. hi, i'm a new customer and i want your best new smartphone deal. well i'm an existing customer and i'd like your best new smartphone deal. oh do ya? 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(upbeat music) get the food you love with perks from- - [crowd] grubhub. ♪ smooth driving pays off you never been in better hands allstate click or call for a quote today ♪ >> announcer: this is cnn breaking news. welcome to our viewers here in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room." we're following the winter weather crisis in texas. the governor says he just signed a major new disaster declaration and is awaiting approval by president biden. he says 325,000 homes in texas are without power for a fourth straight day. but massive outages are easing with electricity restored to some 2 million homes. abbott says he takes responsibility for the power debacle, pledging to reform the independent organization that operates the state's power grid. the winter misery is spreading across the nation. in the south, more than 22 million people are under a hard freeze warning t

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