Hop back on that plane and get back here. I mean, chris, come on. Hey, you want to hear a totally different take . Yeah. Why not in our current climate, you know the right is going to believe him. You know hes going to go on there and say, i was going to work from home. How dare they, theyre the worst, the media is the worst. Hes going to get a pass. I should show you my Text Messages. It was breaking, we were trying to get it confirmed for the 11 00 show last night. Hes going to say, i escorted my family there, i made sure they were safe and came back. And then, boom, thats what happened. It didnt pan out. Hes not telling the truth. But even if he were, see, this is the problem with where we are, is that you know hes not telling the truth. He knows hes not of course he knows hes not telling the truth. And as long as he does it with a straight face and he keeps telling the same story, ill tell you what the headline was for me on that. You know how i am about the family i choose, right, how much i love you and what the bond means. Can you imagine people who you are close enough to to invite on vacation going bad on you and leaking your texts to the media . Yeah. Well, i can imagine that. He has to rethink the circle of trust. People were trying to send them to me, so i can imagine. Listen, you have okay. So, you have ted cruz, his wife according to the New York Times, ill say that, trying to get members of this really rich neighborhood in texas, in houston, to go on a vacation which they later blamed on their kids. You see it there on the Text Messages. Were having trouble, our house is freezing, what have you. Oh, were going to go down to mexico. Were going to go to cancun, and the hotel rooms are this, whatever. Again, according to that reporting. And then turn around and blame the kids. He went to cancun. Fine, he went to cancun. His wife, an accomplished woman, cant travel with the kids herself . Youre going to go on an overnight trip and pretend that didnt work with a you know what, big bag as that . That was a big bag for overnight. I dont have that bag for a weekend. I dont have that much clothes for a week when im going to the beach. And then people found out it was going to be sunday. I mean, theres so much wrong with that. Yes, hes not a local official, but he has pull in washington. He can move people. He can get to people. He can get to the right people. He can show he cares, thats all. Yes. Hes been on people for doing the same thing. I lay it all 0u9 Fout For Yo coming up. I got yelled at by the team. I dont really want to give this that much time. Why . Because texas isnt so much trouble. Theyre in a world of fire and ice. The san antonio apartment complex is coming down because they dont have water to fight it. Its hypocrisy. Its an example of the obvious. Heres what my problem is. Im telling you, don, look on social media. If youre on the right, whats the big deal, and then a comma, and they come right at you. And on the left they want cruz out. Theres such myopia. If the person is on your team, you have feeling. If theyre on the other team, you know, its thunder dome. And i just dont know where it gets us. To me dont be a hypocrite. He criticized, remember, the mayor of boston. He criticized the governor of california. Basically saying and he said the guy, you remember the mayor of austin went to cabo because his daughter was getting married . Sure. If youre using ted cruzs rationale, wasnt that dad trying to be a dad as well to get his daughter married . The rule for thee but not for me. We know the hypocrisy stuff. Its so obvious. And he goes on the mother ship tonight. I got that for you, too. You got it all, don lemon. Im going to be watching. Just remember, people, remember, chris, when i called you, i cant go on my vacation for thanksgiving because of the election and the travel advisory. This guy took an oath. All right, see you later. This is cnn tonight, im don lemon. So were going to get to our Breaking News because people are still in dire straits. The situation is improving, but its going to be a long haul for the folks in texas. More than 300,000 people are still in the dark and theyre freezing tonight in texas. After some of the coldest weather in decades knocked out many of the states power plants, now some 13 million texans are running out of water. Can you imagine . Houston, austin, san antonio warning residents to boil their water. Hospitals, Fire Departments running low. The department of health and Human Services declaring a Public Health emergency in texas. And in the middle of all this, theres senator ted cruz and his really, really bad decision to take a trip to cancun in the middle of a disaster in his home state of texas. Stopping by Sean Hannitys show tonight to get a pat on the back. I think you can be a father and be the senator of texas, all at the same time, and make a round trip, quick drop off trip and come home. Well, sean, thats right. Okay. But his story is unraveling tonight, as he admits. It was never supposed to be a oneday trip to drop off his daughters. That was a lie. You really just have to watch it. Here it is. We left yesterday. The plan had been to stay through the weekend with the family. That was the plan. I started having second thoughts almost the moment i sat down on the plane because on the one hand, all of us who are parents have a responsibility to take care of our kids, take care of our family. Thats something texans have been doing across the state. But i also have a responsibility that i take very seriously of fighting for the state of texas, and frankly, leaving when so many texans were hurting didnt feel right, and so i changed my Return Flight and flew back on the first available flight i could take. I couldnt take a morning flight because the current restrictions require a covid test. I had to get a covid test this morning before i could get on a flight back so i took the first flight i could get after getting the covid test and testing negative. Maybe lying ted, that was maybe the right moniker for him. Saying. So he admits it was never supposed to be a oneday trip. He admits it was a bad idea right around the time people started taking pictures of him and shooting videos, and his excuse for not getting on the very next flight was that he had to take a covid test. Which is kind of whats going to happen when you take a vacation in the middle of a pandemic with your kids and your wife during the middle of a pandemic. Good fathering, good parenting. Come on, now. The senator is slinking back to texas tonight. And a passenger asked to remain anonymous, and here he is getting off the flight with a police escort. By the way, if cruz wasnt traveling, those officers might have been assigned to help people in the community who really need it. Except theyre escorting him to and from and through the airport. A source telling cnn that some senior aides didnt even know the senator flew down to mexico with his family until the pictures turned up on social media. But the text from the senators wife heidi, well, they tell a different story. The New York Times is reporting that she texted friends and neighbors just yesterday saying this. Their house was, quote, freezing and suggesting a getaway until sunday at the ritz carlton where they stayed many times. Ill tell you why im pointing that out, the ritz carlton why i said it that way. Knowing the room rate was 309 a night and saying there is good security. And on top of that, now ted cruz has blown up his explanation that the trip was just about being a good dad. And i quote here. With School Canceled for the week, our girls asked to take a trip with friends, wanting to be a good daddy flew down with them last night and am flying back this afternoon. Sure. What good dad wouldnt drop his kids off at a Beach In Mexico in the middle of a pandemic . While the people he represents are freezing in their homes and lining up for food and water, what good dad wouldnt do that . Come on. There are people all over texas, hundreds of thousands of them who would love to take their kids someplace warm. On this show tonight we have two families with eight children between them who would have loved to have gotten them someplace warm as quickly as possible, someplace safe, someplace where they have drinkable water. A bathroom that they can use. Heat. Instead, hundreds of thousands of people are trapped in very dangerous conditions and their elected leaders are talking out of both sides of their mouths, like when ted cruz said this. This was just monday. Dont risk it. Keep your family safe and just stay home and hug your kids. I mean, you cant even ted cruz, who says stay at home and hug your kids. I want you to meet ted cruz when you meet ted cruz who flies his daughters to mexico. Not a good look. Kind of what the whats the washingto word im looking for . Hypocritical. Kind of like the hypocrisy the senator was so upset about when it was a democrat, austin mayor, steve adler went to mexico after hosting his daughters wedding. He criticized the mayor of austin for going to mexico, but then ted cruz goes to mexico. While the cdc says travelers should avoid all travel to mexico. Hes an elected official. Avoid all travel to mexico. Senator, elected by the people. Cnns kfile dug up a bunch more of ted cruzs do as i say not as i do about other politicians taking vacations, telling then governor Chris Christie to go back to the beach after the outrage over christies trip to a closed state beach with his family while new jerseys government was shutdown. Criticizing former president barack obama for spending what he thought was too much time on the golf course. If only the terrorist attacked a golf course. [ laughter ] [ applause ] that might actually get the white houses attention. Holy cow. I mean, how dare he play not even as much golf as donald trump in eight years as donald trump played in four. Wow. How dare he. I wonder why he criticized him. Criticizing the former president for playing pool. Apparently playing A Game Of Pool is a higher priority for this president than it would be to go and see the humanitarian crisis hes created. Forget theres always videotape. Or a tweet. And theres more. Ted cruz accusing the then president of not being focused on people who are hurting. He is not focused on the people who are hurting, who are paying the cost for his failed policies. Its like looking in a mirror, isnt it . And then theres ted cruz the martyr, who says, lets not take any recesses, lets work every day. Its crazy that wed be taking a recess. There are a bunch of us, myself included, that have been urging Leadership Back from january, lets not take any recesses. Lets work, lets work every day. Lets work weekends. Lets work till we get the job done. Maybe that doesnt mean during a crisis in your state where people are freezing with no electricity and water. I mean, he didnt specifically say that, so. Well, not every day, i guess, you know, not while its freezing in texas and balmy in cancun. Like i said, do as i say, not as i do. People in trouble rely on their elected officials to help, to be there on the ground when disaster strikes. And ted cruz used to know that, or at least he seemed to in this campaign ad. When disaster struck, texans came together. Helping each other. Everyone doing their part. Like ted cruz, who brought home billions in Disaster Relief and passed Emergency Tax Relief for those hit by hurricane harvey. No official state or federal has been more involved in the recovery of Galveston County than ted cruz. When the hurricane hit, you stood up for texas. And ted cruz stood up for you. Im ted cruz, and i approve this message. So much empathy, a man of the people. You know whats standing up for the people of texas . How about being there alongside them, senator, helping to get water to desperate texans . Like these folks in houston, lining up for water from a park spigot. How about helping local governments coordinate with each other, working to get more resources from washington. You know washington very well. Thats where you are. Thats where you work. You can help. You know a few people there. You know, do the kind of things that ted cruz was elected to do. Yes. A u. S. Senator. Who represents texas and the people of texas have a right to expect you to have their backs. I want everyone to remember that this is a man who loves calling out elites and libs. Thats why i said ill tell you why it was the ritz carlton, whatever. Elites, elites. So, i guess flying off to mexico to go to the ritz carlton while everybodys suffering, thats not elite . The elites make you do it . Maybe it was the squad. I dont know. But those Text Messages from the New York TimesShow Heidi Cruz trying to get their neighbors from one of the richest neighborhoods in the nation to go to a country the cdc says travelers should avoid. Talk about america first. Did they go to miami . Did they go to Fort Lauderdale . Did they go to the keys . Did they go no, visit maralago. Nope. Not america first. Mexico. We all know that were in the middle of a pandemic. Why are they even traveling at all . And then trying to blame it on their kids. You call that being a good dad . Its not what i call being a good dade. Its infuriating. Its hypocritical. Again, my aya angelou said it, when people show you who they are, believe them. We shouldnt forget in all this, though, its really about hundreds of thousands of people who are freezing in their own homes with power, pipes broken, 13 million running out of water, people lining up in a park to get water. How long will all of this go on . Were live in texas for you. Thats next. Thats a very good question. Will there be an ev for me . What about me . An ev for me . What about me . Can i get one too . An ev for this princess . Whats an ev . And there better be one for me. And what about michelle from michigan . Me . What about me . Us . Will there be an ev for me . Me . Me . Me . Me . Another night of freezing temperatures in texas. Hundreds of thousands of people still without power. Theyre bundling up trying to stay warm. Some texans without power since sunday. The misery gets worse. Millions either 2k0e7b9 have wat millions either dont have water or they have to boil it. Some boiling snow to be able to flush their toilet. Cnns ed lavandera joining us live from dallas. Thanks for joining us. More than 13 million are dealing with water disruptions. This chris is far from over. Give us the latest, please. Reporter well, it is far from over, but it has really changed dramatically since we last talked to you last night, don. Remember last night we were at 1. 8 million households without power. That has dropped to under 350,000, probably around the 300,000 mark at this point. So that is an improvement. And officials with the state Power Grid System say none of the outages that remain is being caused by problems at power plants across the state. However, that means it might take a little bit longer to get those homes back online because were talking about power line damage, the physical damage left by the winter storm. And as you alluded to, the water issue is really a problem all across the state. Some 13. 2 Million People affected by water issues across the state. Thats half the population of texas. So its hundreds and hundreds of Water Systems across the state affected by Water Pressure issues. You can see plumbers driving around all over the state as they scramble to fix these situations in every corner of the state, don. Ed lavandera on the story for us. We appreciate your reporting. Be safe out there. I want to bring in judge lena hidalgo of harrisburg, texas. Appreciate you joining us. How are you doing there . Thank you. We are cautiously optimistic. Millions of folks here in Harris County are home to houston and 33 other cities. Many spent four nights without energy, without power, without water, just incredibly difficult circumstances, including many of our Emergency Managers and Emergency Workers families here. Now as your correspondent mentioned, we have gotten the bulk of the power back, but the cascading effects of that power loss and lack of preparation on behalf of the state Electric Grid Manager is has shown itself. Yeah. In particular, on the water issue. I want to talk about that because there is a hard freeze warning in houston tonight, judge. Millions of people across texas are under a boil water advisory. Are you worried more people could die . You know, weve been so busy responding to the emergency and the crises within the crisis that we havent had a completely accurate count of the deaths. But i received an update just very recently, upping the number of deaths from hypothermia. I think thats, you know, certainly an under count. Its possible to see more impacts. Its definitely very tragic. Its possible the power will be back out somewhat. But the recovery, the water issue is getting Water Pressure back to our hospitals, getting people back up to speed after so much suffering, those impacts are going to be felt for a few days. Its been a very traumatic crisis for folks. Yeah, youre still in the middle of it. It takes some time to assess really just how much damage and what the human toll and the health toll and the toll on lives that could come out of situations like this. I want you to check out this video. People lining up in houston to get water out of a spigot in a park. This is the United States of america. How is this acceptable, judge . Its not. Its absolutely not acceptable. And its not acceptable to the community. And we are going to need answers after this. It doesnt make sense that a state in this country is not able to prepare for tough weather that we knew was coming, for tough weather that energy and infrastructure elsewhere can sustain. And so we need to figure out what went wrong in the way that the Texas Energy Grid is run, who ultimately created that legislation that set up, and whats going to done to change it. But right now there is still a lot of work to do in response and in recovery. Listen, you need help from wherever you can get it, whether its local, state, or federal officials. What was your Immediate Reaction when you heard that senator ted cruz flew off to cancun with his family while the people he represents suffered . I obviously saw the news story with everyone else. I dont want to comment on it. I just dont have room for politics in my head right now. Ive still got a lot of people struggling just to be able to find drinking water. Ive still got hospitals that im fighting to bring back online, First Responders who havent been home in many nights and struggle to keep in touch with their families. But, of course, i watched it. And what you said right there says plenty without commenting on the politics of it. There are lots of people hurting. Thank you, judge, i appreciate you joining us. Best of luck to you. Please come back and update us. Thank you. Thank you. They lost power, they lost heat, they lost water, and they resorted to burning the baseboards of their home to stay warm. Just one example of what people are dealing with. Im going to talk to a texas Family Weathering the storm. Theyre there alive right after this. Did you know prilosec otc can stop frequent heartburn before it begins . Heartburn happens when Stomach Acid Refluxes into the esophagus. Prilosec otc uses a unique delayedrelease formula that helps it pass through the tough stomach acid. It then works to turn down acid production, blocking heartburn at the source. With just one pill a day, you get 24hour heartburn protection. Prilosec otc. One pill a day, 24 hours, zero heartburn. So, the people across texas are struggling now for nearly a week. Not only to keep their families warm, but to have enough to eat and clean water to drink. Tough on parents, but extra tough on the children. Confused about whats been happening so far for so many days. So, john nays and john milton blackburn are trying to keep it together for their three children during this ongoing crisis, okay. They join me now to talk about their families experience and what a cute family they are. Thank you so much for joining us. John, you and your husband, three kids you see there since sunday. Youve had no heat, youve had no water. Your pipes burst. I see the electricity is back on now finally. Tell me what this whole ordeal has been like for your family. Well, it was kind of stressful. On sunday night when the power started flickering there was a little bit of concern there, but by the time monday rolled around about 9 00 in the morning, the power went off and it didnt come back on. And it started getting later in the day and the house started getting colder. We started getting a little concerned. And by night fall, we had to clean out the fireplace which i dont think weve used in years, and made a little warm room in the middle of our house trying to stay warm. So you tried to stick it out in the house, i am told. So you stayed warm. I saw some pictures there. Did you rip Cabinet Doors off and did you use actual the actual baseboards of the floorboards what did you use . Yes, the baseboards of the house. They were easy to get to. You could break them easy so we didnt need any special tools. We just had to stay warm. It was either that or we were going to go after the dining room table next, you know. We just didnt know what else to do. So that was the best we could come up with for the night. But were thankful we made it through. We kept ourselves warm. We stayed together as a family. The pipes burst in the walls, is that correct . Yes, they did. And luckily we heard it and as soon as we heard the Water Gushing i keep a water key in the front closet so i ran out and turned off the water at the street. But after we had no power and no water, the house was cold and we had already burned through everything we had, we drove up to our church and stayed in the gymnasium. And there was power there. Both of you are john, john and jon. Final straw, you said i have to get my kids out of here and get to a shelter. Right. The main thing we had to make everything positive for them because the night before when we were here on monday night and it was cold, and we had our house basically, part of it burning in the fireplace in front of us, she was holding my hand because she was scared at that point. Once it got dark, thats when it started getting real for them. Once we got to the church, we just kind of had to keep letting them know we have to pray for other people. We had to and we were contacting people when we were there. Hey, were here. You need to come here. Well stick this out together. And we just made things fun for the kids so they didnt stress out. I mean, im a person that when im faced with challenges, i put comedy in a lot of things. So without them knowing, we played the shining in the gymnasium. I had a video with a bicycle and her one of the crazy twins. Fun stuff for all of us just to kind of get through it. So youre holding josi is with you. Josiah is with the other john. Aden is at the back in the middle. Were you scared . Did your dads make you feel safe . Yes. Yes to what . Yes to what . Yes, were you scared, or did we make you feel safe . Make us feel safe, yeah. Aden, how worried were you guys . How worried were we . Yeah, because it had to be cold. Yes, it was freezing. We were really worried that the lights wouldnt come back on and the heater and the ac and stuff. And when the water pipe burst, we were worried that it wouldnt workout and we wouldnt have any water. Yeah. We boiled snow. You had to boil snow . And filled the bathtub with snow. We had snow coming in the house everywhere we could, melting it and filtering it and doing all we could. We were fortunate we had a neighbor bringing us water as well. But we had to keep things moving ahead because we didnt know what was going to happen. So, lets talk about anything you want to say josie or josiah . Because aden got to do all the talking. Do you want to Say Something . No . Okay. All of of a sudden theyre shy. Jon mays, you said the government must change. The governor blamed it on solar wind and energy. Now he said he takes responsibility. Whats your reaction . Im glad that hes taking responsibility. It was frustrating. I can tell you, when were sitting in the cold and the dark and you dont have any water and youre burning your house and you feel kind of abandoned and left out, and thats what i was feeling. I can tell you in turn, though, ive been very grateful. Our local community here, the mayor of carrollton was quick to open up Warming Centers and communicate to all the people here locally in our community and all of our friends and family have reached out to us. And weve reached out to them, too. Weve all pulled together and helped each other. I mean, if anything, in has been such a wonderful Learning Lesson for us on how Important Community is and how important it is to Stay Together as a community. But you still need water, right . You still have no water . I was able to thank goodness, i had a handy dad that taught me well and i was able to cut the wall open and find the burst pipe. We tore down quite a bit of sheetrock, but we finally found it. We cut the pipe and kept it so we could at least have water tonight so were grateful. You tore into your walls and you tore into the baseboards. You have a lot of repairing to do. You have a lot of handy work. Thank you, john. Thank you, jon. Thank you, aden, josiah and josie. Im glad youre safe and youre looking out for each other in the community. Thats the way it should be. Youre good examples tonight. Thank you for having us. Be well. Absolutely. Bye. Bye. More news on the Pfizer Vaccine youll want to know. One dose may be enough. You. Look. Stunning. Want the truth to why i wake up feeling rawrrr. So darn awesome . I take care of my skin. Not this skin. That skin. And when youve got incontinence, you sure need to. Tena intimates pads lock liquid in, and are now 100 breathable to care for your intimate skin. Are you still here . Text tena5 to 52236 for your free sample. Kind to skin. Protects like tena. Carl shopped for the lowest Mortgage Rate and chose amerisave, a choice hell never regret. Unlike the choice to hitch hike. Ahhh which ruined his hand modeling career. Its over. Dont worry, carl. Things are looking up. Visit amerisave. Com now. Lower Mortgage Rates mean higher savings. So, right now we need two doses of the coronavirus vaccines to be effective, but theres Promising New Research about the Pfizer Vaccine. Lets discuss with william, former professor at harvard medical school. Thank you so much, good to see you, sir. By the way, hes the author of variants, the shape shifting challenge of covid19. Still good to see you after introducing your book. There is a new study out from israel published in the lancet gor journal. It found the Pfizer Vaccine after the first dose, they looked at 7,000 Health Care Workers that got the vaccine. Tell us what this means. Good news . Not necessarily. You know, weve seen hope versus reality many times. Our government, our Government Experts dont recommend one dose only. The company doesnt recommend one dose only. And i personally would say its taking a risk. We know these variants are ready to pounce and it does protect, one dose, for a while, but it doesnt give you full protection. And it may not last very long. And the moment it weakens, a variant can come in and get you. I dont think we should keep putting hope against reality when we know that weve kept on doing that and we have 500,000 Dead Americans to show for it. So im not a big fan of one dose. So, the white house says the weather is causing delays in Vaccine Shipments and deliveries and the country is seeing a small dip in the average number of doses getting into arms. Do you think that well be able to make up lost ground that happened over the last week or so . You know, this administration seems committed to getting as much vaccine into peoples arms as the industry can make. And theyre helping do that by supporting the local government with federal resources. The more we can do that, the Better Things will go. And i think by the time the first 100 days is over, well exceed the goal that has been set. Id like to see and wed all like to see a lot more, but i think that they can makeup for lost time. So, professor hazeltine, if someone is having trouble getting their second dose because of these delays, is it okay if a few extra days go by or do they have to start all over . No, a few extra days is fine. And even you know, you can wait a long time. Its that period between the two doses, the longer you go before you get your second dose, the immunity you have starts to decline. It may testifynever be what it be. Thats where the variants can come in and take advantage. We know that were in the midst of a wave of variants. There are five variants at least and probably more in this country spreading. We know how fast they can spread. In great britain, they were a small fraction of the viruses at the beginning of the year. Theyre almost all the viruses today. They can spread fast. And theyre more dangerous. They are more lethal. They spread more rapidly. And weve just learned something else. That one of the reasons for that, at least for the british variant, is it lasts twice as long in your body. You get twice as sick and twice as fast to spread it. Its nothing to fool with. This virus is a dangerous wild beast. You give it a chance, it will get you. Thats why we have to be really careful with the onedose strategy. Professor hazeltine, thank you so much. Appreciate t. Youre welcome. Thank you. And thanks for that great show. Just before me. Thank you very much. I appreciate that. Well see you soon. Be safe. A Top Republican paying a visit to the former president in florida as he snubs another. Were going to tell you whos who next. Tonight, ill be eating the al pastor burrito from Boca Burritos right here in aurora. doorbell rings excellent as a local access show, we want everyone to support local restaurants. Right cardi b . Yeah eat local trill sound dramatic music announcer the right car for you is out there. And at truecar, you can find it and a great price. Because truecar knows what people in your area have paid for the car you want and can show you whats an especially high price and whats an uncommonly low price, so you can see whats a great price and get the actual price youll pay at the dealership. Get your car and a great deal, all from home, with truecar. So the former ambassador to the u. N. And possible 2024 president ial hopeful Nikki Haley Learning The Hard Way what happens when you cross donald trump. Cnn learning that the former president snubbed haleys maralago meeting request. The two havent spoken since she said that she was disgusted by trumps actions during the insurrection. She claimed in a Wall Street Journal oped yesterday that praising trumps record and criticizing his conduct is not having it both ways. So joining me now is cnns senior political analyst john avlon who can hopefully explain this logic to me. John, thank you so much. Good evening. So, nikki haley like so many other republicans is trying to have it both ways despite what she says. Is that never going to work with trump . Not with this cat. I mean and nikki haley is seeing that, right . Where other, you know, representatives like Steve Scalise are going to kiss the ring, if youve criticized donald trump, hell freeze you out because youre either with him or against him. Theres no reasoning. And against the backdrop of an attack on the capitol, this shouldnt be a tough call. A rational human being who is a trump supporter would say i support what he does in terms of policy but i condemn what he did as an insurrection. Haley yesterday tried to patch things up by blaming the media for the gop divide in her oped. But, listen, the divide is real. Number two House RepublicanSteve Scalise met with trump yest yesterday. Someone close to senator Mitch Mcconnell says that he will never bend the knee. Gop is in fullon Identity Crisis right now. It is, and theyre choosing sides in this gop civil war. Its stunning to see senators like ron johnson take a whack at mcconnell. Look, the fact that the State Parties are, you know, scensurig senator who had the courage to condemn an insurrection. But to see senators turn on people what they realize this is a choice between truth and lies, this should not be a tough call. If youre proactively choosing to suck up to the big lie, then youre on the wrong side of history. Republican lawmakers in georgia trying to push an election bill that would limit absentee voting, ban early voting on sundays, which is a huge voting day for many Black Americans who attend souls to the polls events. Is this a blatant attempt to suppress the black vote . Yes. Look, you know the history of rolling back Voting Rights and restricting access, particularly in the south. This isnt a tough call, but its part of the gop legislature. The republican elected officials down there who run the elections said this was a clean election. But this is whats known as conspiracy bootstrapping. This whole the big lie of Election Fraud is used as a pretext to push election, you know, Voting Restrictions that are really about making it easier for republicans to win in a state thats trending purple. And the head of the Gwinnett County gop gave the ghost away a couple weeks ago when she said, look, if we dont change these laws, were not going to have a shot at winning. But at the end of the day, this is a really ugly legacy of racism, and theres trying to ram through this bill. This is nothing but suppression. Wheres the bill right now . Well, theyre going to try to apparently push it through in a session tomorrow. Well see if they succeed, but thats one of the things theyll do. Theyll put up a 48page bill and try to ram it through. If theyre trying to make early voting not applicable on sundays, thats a direct shot at souls to the polls. You dont need to know a ton more than that. John avlon, thank you. Appreciate your time. Be saichfe out there. 100 Million People from the south to the east coast at risk for a deadly winter storm. Were live in texas where millions are facing a water crisis on top of a power crisis. Stay with us. Covids still a threat. And on reopening schools, we know what happens when we dont 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. So heres the Breaking News. President joe biden speaking with Texas Governor greg abbott tonight about the devastating storms that damaged the states power and natural gas supplies. Hundreds of thousands of people in texas still without power tonight, bundling up to fight off another night of freezing cold temperatures. And adding to the misery, around 13 million texans are facing a water crisis. Either they dont have water due to broken pipes or lack of Water Pressure, or theyre being warned to boil water before they use it. And senator ted cruz returning to texas tonight, admitting that flying to cancun for a lon weekend while millions of his fellow texans are suffering was a mistake. Lets bring in now omar jimenez. Hes live for us in austin