partiliamentarian or at least overrule her. but the minimum wage issue will be set aside for another day, and the truth is it makes it easier to get the covid incentive through with a 50-50 senate. the president left to view the damage of a freeze that left no power or water. the vaccine committee will decide if johnson & johnson s single vaccine gets a green light. the president promising more vaccination sites will come online in the coming weeks. but it warns that a surge in variants may already be happening. things are tenuous. now is not the time to relax restrictions. we may be seeing these sets of variants in the most recent data. more vaccine doses may speed up the pandemic recovery. the covid relief package may be on the way. it does a lot of things. relief for small businesses, schools opening. with me to share their reporting and insights, phil mattingly and cnn s lauren fox. lauren, let s start on capitol hill. let s focus first on the big picture. we ll get t
legislative priority of his presidency. also happening now, an fda board is reviewing johnson & johnson s vaccine, the first single dose option to fight the coronavirus that not only prevents most sickness but may also stop transmission of the virus. we re also watching syria after the president launched the first airstrikes of his administration. the pentagon says the attack was targeted against militias there backed by iran in response to recent rocket attacks on american forces in the region. we begin, though, in houston where the president will play a role that we haven t seen in a while, comforter in chief. in his first trip to a disaster zone since taking office, he will meet with local leaders and survey the damage caused by a deadly winter storm. last week millions experienced extended power outages with freezing temperatures that resulted in the deaths of 29 people. arlette saenz is covering this in houston. what are we expecting from this trip, arlette? reporter:
country, texas being one of them, where vaccination sites are understandably closed. getting more covid vaccine shots into arms asap is just one of many important promises the new president made in a cnn town hall last night. go big on stimulus was the biden mantra. yes, to supporting a $15 minimum wage. but the new president says he s open to listening to small business worries. no to de-funding the police. and no to telling his justice department who it should and should not prosecute. yes the president says to a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. four weeks in, last night was a telling look at the new president s communication style, not long before joe biden took the milwaukee stage, his predecessor unleashed a trademark rant insulting the senate republican leader mitch mcconnell as weak and as inept. biden made clear that to him trump is he who shall not be named, and definitely he who must not be emulated. decency and respect are back in the west wing