normal. at least 20 people have died as a result of the storm. an 11-year-old boy died in an unheated texas mobile home. authorities suspect hypothermia. three children and their grandmother died in a house fire. officials believe the family's efforts to stay warm may have caused the fire. college students are describing a frozen hell scape, with flooded halls and unflushable toilets. 7 million people, a quarter of the population are having to boil their tap water before drinking it because water pressure allowed bacteria to leak into the system. governor abbott who has yet to reach out some of his own state's mayors was one of roughly 20 texas officials who president biden reached out to. it's a departure from his predecessor who would wield assistance like a weapon against governors who wouldn't take the need. >> i talked to the federal emergency management agency, fema, the administrator. this afternoon i'm going to ask him to accelerate our response and request for quote, it's a different declaration, a major disaster declaration so we can get everything done that we need as possible. when any state, as i said when i ran, i'm going to be a president for all of america. all, there's no red or blue. it's all about commitment to the american people make to one another. >> this past week has left many texans frankly shell shocked, angry, and looking for accountability. no one seems to be taking responsibility even after they were warned. governor abbott who was already under fire for his poor handling of the pandemic is blame k the grid operators and the not in effect green new deal, which i will remind you is still a proposal. the grid operators are blaming the state government, and then there is ted cancun cruz who doesn't seem to care either way given that he planned a weekend vacay get away with his family to warm up and hit the pool bar. the man with a giant overnight bag continued his apology tour on sean hannity's show where he got a much warmer reception. >> last night, i flew down with them to the beach and then i flew back this afternoon. i had initially planned to stay through the weekend and work remotely, but as i was heading down there, you know, i started to have second thoughts almost immediately because the crisis here in texas, you need to be here on the ground, as much as you can do by zone and zoom, tgs not the same as being here. >> u huh. while the cruz family vacation was laughably ridiculous, and insulting, frankly, it was another reminder of how craven republican free market governance is. a governing style that puts a premium on selfishness, deregulation, and greed, unfettered, gluttonous greed. if this week didn't make that crystal clear, just take a look at jerry jones, the billionaire owner of the dallas cowboys whose company made a huge profit after the storm sent natural gas prices surging. who knew he was in that business. as texas republicans were turning on each other like the red wedding in "game of thrones," others stepped in to fill the void. former el paso congressman betoe o'rourke rallied together volunteers to make calls to senior citizens to make sure they had food, and shelter. then there's alexandria ocasio-cortez who's heading to houston after raising $2 million to help people in that state, and then there's houston native, beyonce knowles who's working with her charity foundation to help provide grants for those affected by the winter storm. all of these folks are doing more to help texans than the people who texas taxpayers are paying to do so. i'm joined by former el paso congressman beto o'rourke. i have to start by asking how things are. we know there has been better news i just mentioned out of ercot, but on the ground, how are things still looking in texas? >> it's still really tough for a lot of people, unfortunately. you mentioned at the top of your show, we have more than 7 million texans under a boil water notice right now in communities like san antonio and houston, texas, the fourth largest city in america, there's not enough water pressure in any of the neighborhoods to get anything out of the tap. as that's happening, supplies of water, and even food are dwindling because we have had logistical and transportation challenges due to the ice and snow, and the cold weather and the lack of electricity for much of the week, so it's really really still bad, and we are not out of the woods yet. we are grateful that most residential electricity is back online, but there are a lot of people who need a lot of help right now. and i'm so grateful to president biden and to his administration for seeking that major disaster declaration. that's the kind of help that we need right now, and texas, and for all of the folks at a neighborhood level who are checking on their neighbors to make sure they're okay, those who don't have transportation or access, helping them out, and all of these volunteers who have been joining us on these wellness check-in calls over the last couple of days, it's really been a lifeline for many of our fellow texans. >> you know, and of course whenever these disaster strike, it hits people who are the have notes the most. it hits people of color the hardest. just to zero in for a moment, the state government has seemed to be completely absent. it's amazing. i was watching the houston mayor on stephanie ruhle's show this morning who said he hadn't even talked to the governor at that point. are there resources that are being fanned out to make sure the communities of color, black and latino communities, asian american communities, communities that are impoverished in general are getting more help? >> i don't see that from our state government. i see it from local leaders. you mentioned sylvester turner, the county judge there, of harris county, rodney ellis, north texas, clay jenkins, k.p. george in fort bend, andy bend in travis county. the local leaders where government meets the road is where the accountability is. that's where the action happens to be as well, and i think that's one of the bright spots in a really tough week, and in the absence of statewide leadership, in the absence of leadership from our u.s. senators, one of whom went to another country in the midst of this crisis, so in the toughest of times, the best comes out of every day texans and we are seeing that across the board. in the wellness checks, the phone calls we're making, we talked to a gentleman in kaleen, texas, hadn't eaten for two days, could not get to a warming center. we got him to a center, and a warm meal. a gentleman last night, had a stroke after thanksgiving, was running out of water and food in his home, and was too embarrassed to reach out and ask for help. thankfully we reached out to him and we're connecting him with services now. this is really a case by case, neighborhood by neighborhood effort and mission that we're all on in texas right now, and we still need that help, so for everyone around the country who's wondering whether there's more that can be done, yes, when you contribute to food banks, to shelters, to grass roots organizations that are helping on the ground, that makes a world of different for us here in texas, and we are so grateful to all of you. >> yeah, absolutely, and you know, you mentioned the junior senator. the excuses that are being made for him, and i don't want to spend a whole lot of time talking to you about him, but you did run against him for that job in united states senator. in theory, you could have been in that position. people who are backing him up and making excuses are saying what could a senator possibly do, and sort of saying, well, there would be no point for him to be there, he's eating extra food other people could get if he was gone. what do you make of that excuse. his excuse is he was trying to do what's best for his family? >> i think what you have is people who are in government who don't believe in government at a time that we all need government to work, and in ted cruz you have somebody who actually tried to overthrow the government and overturn a lawfully, legitimately democratically decided election. there's got to be consequence and accountability for that as well. i think what most of my fellow texans have come to realize is we cannot count on those in power, especially when we literally do not have power in our homes. we have to turn to one another, to our local leaders and we've got to organize around future elections to make sure that we have people in positions of public trust who deliver for us, and make sure that we're okay, especially in these darkest, most dire hours, as we are seeing right now, in texas. >>. >> you know, and it's interesting because you mentioned, right, you have, you know, one senator who is focused on overturning the democratic election, you have a state government that has been just in a mania of deregulation, going all the way back to the 1990s. you know, el paso got through this better because it was part of the western grid rather than not being in the, you know, the state run sort of generous grid. i know it's a bit too early. there's still a crisis that's happening ongoing. do you anticipate that your state will rethink that model, that maybe regulation ain't such a bad thing after this. do you see that there might be an appetite to sort of reintroduce government after this is all over. >> no, it's not too early. joy, this is the perfect time, in fact, because we had a weather event not unlike this one in 2011. lots of promises made about weatherizing, power generators, improving the reliability of the grid, and look where we are today, so i think we need to have a mandate to weatherize all power generation across texas. we need to incentivize additional capacity for storms and natural disaster like these that because of climate change are only going to become more frequent, more severe, and unfortunately nor deadly and then yes, we need to connect texas to the national grid to sell excess power when we're generating it and drive those profits back into improving the infrastructure, and then in desperate moments like these where we need to draw down power, there needs to be a gateway for that to come through. i think those are very common sense, really nonpartisan solutions that people much smarter than i am have come up with. let's get that implemented and in the meantime, let's make sure people who are without water, heat, electricity, food, get the help they need. that has to be priority number one for texas. >> absolutely. bet beto o'rourke who's doing more as a civilian than the two senators are doing. if you tweet that out, and i'll make sure the state tweets it out as well. beto o'rourke, appreciate you. up next on the reidout. the doctor is in, dr. anthony fauci finally joining me on the "the reidout," i have so many questions. plus, ted cruz is having a bad year, the whole inciting insur recollection and airport walk of shake. he's not the absolute worst. the great producer, director, lee daniels is here. his new film "the united states versus billy holiday" about one of our greatest musical artists persecution at the hands of the fbi is getting major buzz. "the reidout" continues after this. 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president declared that the country is on track to have enough doses for everyone american by the end of july, and he delivered a plea to those who still are hesitant about getting vaccinated. >> we all know there's a history in this country of having subjected certain communities to terrible medical abuses in the past but if there's one message to cut through to everyone in this country is this, the vaccines are safe. please, for yourself, your family, your community, this country, take the vaccine when it's your turn and available. that's how to beat this pandemic. >> while the u.s. has now surpassed 28 million cases and nearly an unthinkable half million deaths, we have seen a five-week decline in new cases. more americans are getting vaccinated but the winter storms have wreaked havoc on shipping hubs, impacting vaccination efforts across the country. thousands of appointments are being rescheduled as states wait for more supply. and this all comes as new variants of the virus are spreading, raising concern that we could soon see a new spike in cases. joining me now, dr. anthony fauci, director of the national institute of energy and infectious diseases and chief medical adviser to president biden. i have been really coveting this interview. it's good to see you. i have not seen you since the world aids day conference two or three years ago. it was during the previous administration. i will say you look younger. i'm not sure why. let's start by talking about this number, whenever i have to report the number of people who have died, dr. fauci, it just, it sticks in my jaw. it's painful to say the number. we're going to hit 500,000 really soon, and you did, you know -- i always have wanted to ask you this, this is the only question i'm going to ask you about the previous administration, did you ever feel at this point, did you ever feel this is the day i walk out and resign, and do a press conference and say everything i know and maybe that will change things. >> you know, joy, i never really considered resigning because i felt if i did i would really leave a vacuum of somebody who, as you know, i would always tell the truth, i would always be talking about with space on data, and i was afraid that if i just did this symbolic walking out, you know, it would be gratifying for a moment, but then i would not be able to have the perch that i would have on the task force to make sure we talk about truth and science and evidence, and not about anecdote. the answer to your question is i never seriously considered walking out of that at all. >> i'm glad you didn't. i think a lot of people are glad you stayed. you are the trusted voice. i know my god mother listens to you and she trusts dr. kizzy, the creator of the moderna vaccine. i want to talk about whether or not people are willing to take it. i want to talk about the equity issue. on vaccinations, we have a cold snap that's hitting texas. we have all of these sorts of difficulties getting the vaccine out, even when we didn't have that, i want to put up a chart that shows who's getting vaccinated. white americans make up 63.7 of those who have been vaccinated so far. this is a little over those half of vaccinated who are accounted for. african-americans who make up almost 14% of the population, are 6.3%. latinos, 8.8%. asian americans a little closer to scale. what can we do about that? because i've heard all of these anecdotes about when you open the federal sites up, wealthy folks drive to the sites, they will drive across town to make sure they get it first, and crowd out local communities. >> the tragic part of those data, joy, that is terrible is that it's the minority population, the brown and black people who are the ones that suffer most from the disease that you're trying to prevent by the vaccine that they're getting, you know, a double whammy against them, not only do they have the propensity because of their jobs out in the community to get infected, they have the underlying conditions that make them more likely to get a serious outcome. now when we have vaccinations available that the proportions that you show are very disturbing. there are two major reasons for that. one is a bit of understandable vaccine hesitancy. you don't want to hide behind that. it's that we've got to really extend ourselves into the community to get the access to minority populations that they're don't have. and what president biden has been doing since the day he walked into the office, and that is getting community vaccine centers up in areas that are also highly populated by minorities. getting vaccine doses into pharmacies including in areas that serve minority populations, and finally, going out there and doing mobile units to get to the not easily accessible areas. that's what we do to extend ourselves out there. what we have been trying to do, and i take this very seriously, is extend yourself to the african-american and latinx population, and explain to them that we totally respect why you're being hesitant, the history of how the government has treated minority populations decades and decades ago is shameful. it can never happen again, but that history gets passed down and you've got to say i respect your concern, but these are the two or three reasons why you really need to get vaccinated. for your own health, for the health of your community, and literally for the entire nation. >> yeah, my god mother watches this show, and you are probably the only person who can talk her into getting it. i appreciate you doing that, even specifically for the god mother. let's talk now about these variants. the idea that you have the south african variant, the variants from europe, we're talking about opening schools with that out there. does the variant being out there make you more hesitant about the idea of opening schools? >> the answer is no, and i'll tell you why, joy. first of all, we all need to abide by the public health measures that i talk about 25 times a day all the time. the universal wearing of masks, the physical distancing, the avoiding congregant settings, washing of hands, things like that, but you have to break the variants down into two groups. the variant referred to as 117 is the one that was dominant in the united kingdom. and that's the one that has the capability of spreading more efficiently from person to person, and it is even more virulent in that it can make you more sick. that's the sobering news. the encouraging news is that the vaccines that we have now that we're administering work really well against that variant, so since that's the one that looks like it's gaining momentum in our own country, and the models predict that by the end of march, it might be the dominant one, that's all the more reason to go ahead and when vaccine becomes available for goodness sakes, get vaccinated. the south african variant is a bit more problematic. that's the one that is dominant in south africa. it is in our country. it's not dominant. it's still at a low level, but the efficacy of the vaccine and the monoclonal anti bodies is down about five fold. we still have enough capability of the antibodies that are induced by our vaccine to give you some protection, particularly against severe disease. but we have to keep our eye out not only on those two variants, but on any variant that might evolve, and the way you do that, joy, it's complicated but it's simple. it's, a, you continue to abide by the measures that we talk about, and, b, get vaccinated, when the vaccine becomes available to you. that's the best protection against this. >> well, dr. fauci, i have like a thousand more questions for you, but i know i'm going to get another chance to ask them. thank you for being here. thank you for everything that you're doing. really really appreciate you. and i want you all to join us next friday at 7:00 eastern for our very special town hall, which dr. fauci, members of the congressional black 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>> it's three agencies of government when i get there that are gone, commerce, education, and the, what's the third one there, let's see. i would do away with the education, the commerce. and let's see. i can't, the third one, i can't. sorry. oops. by the way, that was the department of energy i was reaching for a while ago. >> yeah, yeah, that's right, the department of energy was the infamous third federal agency that perry wanted to get rid of back in 2011 when he was running for president. so if republicans like him had their way, the whole country would have had no energy policy at all. perfect. however, the worst texas republican this week was the mayor who thankfully resigned after telling his residents to stop complaining as they froze. he said only lazy people should expect access to heat and water. it's not just texas republicans who take pride in denying aid and services to their own constituents. under fire for giving wealthy neighborhoods priority access to the covid vaccine, florida governor rick desantis is now threatening, get this, to pull doses if local officials criticize his distribution methods. good luck, poors. joining me now, michael steele, former rnc chair, and victoria de soto, michael, you know i have to go to you first on this. you used to run this party. i remember a time when republicans tried to rebrand themselves as compassionate conservatives, now it's all let the poor die. if you don't like my policies i'm going to take your vaccine so more people can die, and you're whiney if you don't like freezing to death. what's happened? >> there seems to be i guess a zero sum approach to governance. that's the only way to look at it. i don't know who these people are. i don't know how any mayor or any governor or anyone in elected responsibility in a dire situation like this, their response, their go to is get over it. i just. >> yeah. >> look, i'm not going to sit here and try to, you know, explain this in any way, shape or form. this is unlike anything i've ever encountered in politics. i know as the former lieutenant governor of my state that if bob urlick or myself during the crises we had when the hurricanes came through and we had the bad winter weather, if our response to the people of maryland was get over it, stop complaining about the cold snap, or all the water in your basement, you know, you don't survive that. and that's why the mayor resigned. that's why ted cruz now is piling all of this crap on his daughter of all people. oh, it's her fault. daddy, can we go away, sure. >> daughter blamer. >> it makes no sense. >> you know, i mean, vicky, welcome to the show. you know, my understanding of government is that especially at the state level, as michael just said, storms, crises, really define particularly governors and you're now seeing the governor of texas try to blame a nonexistent green new deal, which has never been enacted as law, try to blame, alexandria ocasio-cortez, which has nothing to do with texas, except for raising $2 million for texas, doing more than the governor is doing, i wonder how this style of governance can keep going where they have no federal government to blame. this is all on them. >> it is. and this could have been averted, joy. we could have kept the power on during this past week if we had winterized in 2011 as the recommendations were made. but the deal is the power companies were given the option, winterize or go the cheaper route and don't winterize, and obviously what are they going to do. but this is going to come back bite the republican party. not just because of the poor form, but the complete lack of heart, of empathy, of any human emotion to the suffering that's going on, but to the brand that texas has cultivated over the last two decades as a business friendly state, the texas miracle, this is where you want to come and relocate your factories and your plants, but if you're looking to relocate to texas and you see the mess that has happened in the past week, you're going to have second thoughts. am i going to move to a state where things work most of the time, where there's kind of infrastructure to support my business. so i think that this is where we're going to be seeing the fallout over the short to long-term, and i've already been hearing murmurs in terms of the business community being the one to put the pressure on republicans because otherwise they're not going to move. >> it's a really good point, michael, because, you know, states like texas, states like florida attract a lot of people who come there for the weather but if your state is basically a failed state, eventually you can attract business. florida looks like a cruel, not very smart state. their governor is vindictive and sort of sadistic. i don't know why anybody would move their business there. that means your employees have to be there. nobody wants that. over time, tourism is going to suffer. it does start to bite. i think this is performative government, michael, where you have like ted cruz performs insurrection because he's doing a performance, this isn't about governing. and he does this thing where he runs to mexico, instead of performing strength and saying, you know, i went, so what, he then is weak, now it looks like he's on the losing end of it. let me show you lauren bobert, she's a congresswoman from colorado that don't like dumb government. she was at a hearing and her background on her zoom is a whole bunch of guns. michael, i grew up in colorado. lots of people have guns, nobody i ever met in my entire life, nobody ever showed them to us. this is stupid. how does stupid get you more votes? >> apparently it does. because they're electing them. i mean, she got elected. marjorie taylor greene got elected. so i don't know what people are expecting or what they're looking for out of their leaders. i mean, you want your congresswoman sitting in a hearing with, you know, ak-47s as their backdrop, okay, i guess if that's your thing and that's what gets your boat floating, then, okay, shoot a hole in it, i don't know. >> allen west got elected, brother, one term! yeah, well, and maybe that's what it should be, but i think a lot of people in the country right now are shaking their head and looking at the gop and going, what the hell, i mean, seriously. okay, so what's the next level of crazy you're going to go to to prove what. a party, leadership should be about the very thing that victoria touched on, and that's governing, how do you govern, not just in the goods times when you can, you know, show how smart you are, et cetera, but in the tough times when those smarts need to be tested and put to work. and across the board, that has been a failing point. >> real quickly, vicky, because, you know, or not other side of the aisle, you have somebody like governor cuomo who actually really got lauded for his really smart handling and compassionate handling of the covid crisis only to now face his own scandal over not necessarily being super transparent about some of the deaths that were happening in nursing homes. talk a little bit about that, that then begins to mitigate the idea of good governance, at least from someone like him who's seen as having a national future. >> at the core of good governance is truth, it's accountability, and you cannot hide, you know, you can hide for a little bit, but ultimately it's going to come out and in this day and age, when we have technology, when we have so many virtual files, when we have our text messages that can be made public, we need to understand that you cannot hide, and i think this is what's so frustrating for someone who otherwise is very talented, is very smart, to think that they can get away with this, and i think that is the problem, and that's why we need more transparency. if people were dying, okay. this is a tragedy, but how are we going to fix it. if we don't have the real numbers, if we don't have transparency, we can't formulate policy to make good on it. >> and you know, but the difference is democrats in new york will punish him for that. republicans would just be like so. that's the difference between the two parents,parents, first continue celebrating black history month, award winning director lee daniels is here to talk about his must see film "the united states versus billy holiday" the story of the civil rights leader's activism. i'm so excited to talk to him. we'll be right back after this. . we'll be right back after this when you drive this smooth, you save with allstate the future of auto insurance is here you've never been in better hands allstate click or call for a quote today what do you look for when you trade? 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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. what is the government's problem with billie holiday? why is the government always after you? >> my song, "strange fruit." it reminds them that they're killing us. they say they want the names of my suppliers. they don't want no names. they want to destroy me. >> in the upcoming film "the united states versus billie holiday," the great ann dra day plays the jazz legend who faced unrelenting attacks from the federal government after she refused to stop singing her anti-lynching masterpiece, strange fruit. as the hollywood reporter points out it's one of two new movies, along with judas and the black messiah, that depict relentless campaigns by american government intelligence agencies to silence influential black voices closely after an impeachment trial in which the majority of gop senators showed their complicit in violence from white supremacist groups by voting to acquit the instigator in chief. i'm joined now by lee daniels, director of the film. lee, it's so great to talk to you. congratulations on the film. i'm hearing the name andra day every day and talking about this incredible performance. but you decided to do something different. my good friend chris witherspoon from pop viewers, he made this really great point to me and some friends. we were talking about billie holiday, and most people know "lady sings the blues." they know that kind of narrative about her and even some of her troubles. but you went right for the political fbi attacks on her. why? >> mm-hmm. because i didn't know that it happened. you know, i'm a psycho-fan of "lady sings the blues," and i thought billie holiday was a great jazz singer, a troubled woman that was, you know, in and out of jail, but i didn't know that she was a civil rights leader and that she was -- that she kicked off the civil rights movement as we know it with this "strange fruit" song and that the government really tried to stop her. they did everything they could to stop her. and i -- you know, i had to tell the story. there was no way i could not tell the story. it's too important of a story to not tell. >> and, you know, the song "strange fruit" of course being about lynching and talking about that particularly in that era when white audiences did not want to think about the things that their own cousins, friends, fame members, police officers they trusted were doing. talk about making a film like that at a time when we just saw, you know, confederate flags flying in our capitol, when we saw the attempted lynching -- a lynch mob go in to try to get the speaker of the house, to get the vice president. and that to me, when i saw those crowds rush in, i thought that must be what a lynch mob looked like. >> joy, i had no idea when we did this movie that we would have the george floyd incident or even the noose at the capitol. but it was an aerosol. i did "the butler" and with "butler," it was hope. i felt hope with obama in office. but with trump, i just -- i did it because my spirit attracted me to what was in the air. and in the air were nooses. so, no, i didn't see them, but we saw them later on. >> yeah, and we're seeing now law enforcement get a lot of questions, you know. you have the capitol police now investigating some of their own for potential complicity in the crime we saw take place on january 6th. how in the narrative of when we talk about, you know, lynchings and we talk about, you know, violence against the black body, how much does law enforcement need to be talked about and the fbi indeed? >> part of the reason i did the movie too was my dad was a cop, and the only time i saw him cry -- we're from philadelphia, and the only time i saw him cry was when he came home after rizzo, commissioner rizzo because it wasn't mayor then, did what he did to move, the move organization. it was an atrocity. and i think that this is a dilemma. it just seems like from billie's time to the '60s, 70s, to today, this country is in trouble. this country is in trouble, and i only know how to help through my work. >> yeah. and you do. i mean the stories that you tell are so rich and so beautiful. i have to have you talk a little bit about andra day, her transformation into billie holiday is remarkable. >> thank you. >> talk a little about her because this is first big acting gig. >> first big acting gig. i think she trusted me. i'm so transparent with my actors about my -- my vulnerabilities and my flaws, and she just -- she just -- we jumped off the cliff together in telling. she knew the importance and how important it was for both of us to tell billie's story, to tell the right way. and i'm just -- it was a gift from god, joy. you know, she -- i don't -- god's been looking over this project. billie has been looking over this project by handing me her, yes. >> absolutely. and what do you hope people take away overall from the film? >> i think that if billie who was a we're black woman in the '50s, could go out and stand up to the government because she didn't look at herself as a civil rights leader. she was just living in her truth and doing her thing. that if billie could do that back in the '50s, we must do the same. we owe it to her. we owe it to people who have died for us to do the same, such as you're doing, joy. you do it -- you do it every day. so we all have to be like you. >> you're too kind. you're too kind. >> i'm too real. >> well, now i'm going 0 to keep you. see, now it's a hostage situation. you're going to stay right here because we have made it to friday, and you know what that means. it is now time to find out with our wonderful special guest lee daniels, who won the week? michael steele, victoria defrancesco soto are back. michael, you are the veteran in this who won the week game, so i'm going to allow you to go first, sir. who won the week? >> i'm going to go a little bit contrary in here. ted cruz won the week, and he won the week -- [ laughter ] he won the week because this brother has given every aspiring and currently serving elected official a primer on what your responsibilities are and are not in a storm just so we're clear. >> it's like what not to wear basically. okay. victoria defrancesco soto, can you rescue this, please? who won the week? >> we are going with texans, everyday texan neighbors, texan neighbors who are checking on each other, who are pulling each other out of ditches when they were on the roads, and a very special shout-out to my parents' neighbors who were taking care of them when i couldn't get to them because of the storm. so it's about the texan neighbors this week. >> yeah. that's wonderful. see, that's good. see, michael? that's how you do it positive because yours was super ironic. it was funny. it was comedy, but i don't know if it was really the winner. okay. we're going to give lee daniels our esteemed guest, sir, who in your view won the week? >> i'm mad at him because ted cruz rocks my world for that one. that was a good one. i was saying -- i was saying the 911 workers from texas. i mean all around the state what they've been doing is an incredible job. half of them don't have electricity. they're in the same -- it's a mess out there for them, and yet they're able to direct people that are calling in. they are my heroes right now. >> yeah. absolutely. well, my pick is not a person. my pick is a little adorable thing, snowflake. snowflake won the week, and i'm going to tell you why. snowflake, who was left at home with some human who also was ditched by ted cruz and didn't get to go to mexico got to spend a full 24 hours not in the presence of ted cruz. that's called snowflake winning the week. i'm the host. therefore, i win. lee daniels, michael steele. victoria defrancesco soto, that is great. lee's movie, the united states versus billie holiday premieres next friday on hulu. "all in" with chris hayes is next. tonight on "all in" -- >> yes, this was a black swan event, if you will. it was a one of a kind, maybe the only type of event in 100 years. >> tonight the crisis in american leadership that leads to catastrophes like texas. then disturbing new conspiracy charges for nine

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