families, looking for a way to move forward, if nothing else, they expect for their leaders to be where they are, to remain on the ship and not to abandon the ship because you can have some comfort. senator cruz is also trying to explain what he did today but before we get to it, let s look at the kind of comfort he violated cdc covid guidelines and jetted off to. not just, well, it was the ritz, the ritz hotel, perfectly perched along the aquamarine waters of the caribbean. it from this vantage point that resort guests can experience the many charms of this tropical destination while enjoying the service, luxury, accommodations, and amenities that have come to make the ritz carlton so distinctive. no doubt, many texans are also dreaming of someplace warm tonight and perhaps someplace even warmer for the senator. here is what he told a cnn houston affiliate. a warning, you might want to take it, like maybe a margarita with a grain or two of salt. it was a mistake. at the
still do not have electricity. at least 50 deaths are confirmed in texas, and eight other states hit by the brutal winter weather. snow and ice have also created a backlog of about 6 million doses of the covid-19 vaccine nationwide. president biden acknowledged the weather slowdown as he toured a pfizer vaccine plant in michigan just a little while ago. this hour, i ll get an update on the delays with the senior adviser to the white house covid-19 response team, andy slavitt. he ll join us live. right now let s go to our national correspondent ed lavandera. he s in dallas which has been hit so hard. ed, texans are struggling to get ahold of drinkable water as the texas naightmare continues tonight. reporter: it is, wolf. most of the victims who died, died from hypothermia and carbon monoxide poisoning. millions will spend the weekend just trying to find water. a military plane transporting 84,000 bottles of water from california landed in galveston, texas. thousands of pe
christmas will be different than last. but i can t make that commitment to you. the vaccine rollout which was already lagging is now facing a new challenge. widespread severe winter weather that has shut down shipping hubs and canceled appointments as well as transportation. vaccinations in aln affected. the distribution in some places have been brought to a grinding halt as dr. fauci put it. officials say this means the u.s. will have to work double time to catch up. cnn s jeff zeleny is traveling with president biden in michigan. the u.s. is approaching any day now the 500,000 covid death. president biden under a lot of pressure to ramp up vaccinations. what is he saying today? reporter: he absolutely is under pressure and he knows that he own this is challenge and problem. it is why he wanted to come here to the pfizer plant behind me in portage, michigan, to see firsthand and make the case that, a., vaccines are safe. we have not heard this message in a while, because
the white house for us. what happened with the talks and negotiations? well, alex with after three hours of meeting at capitol hill today, both democrats and the president s negotiators emerged to say that there was progress today. they are by no means imminent that they are not there yet. still both suggesting that there was some reason for optimism. senator chuck schumer was saying these are the negotiations that they yet. take a listen to what he had to say a few minutes ago. he had, really, it was it was the best discussions we ve had so far. and i d call it progress, but a ways to go. this is not a a usual discussion because the urgency is so great. healthwise, financial healthwise and, again, the health of our democracy because our elections will be affected by the coronavirus. and we must address that. we also heard in just the last few minutes from the republican negotiators from the white house both the secretary and the treasury, steven mnuchin and the p
houston s mayor weighed in on ted cruz trip to cancun. for people who are fighting to stay warm, take care of their families, looking for a way to move forward, if nothing else, they expect for their leaders to be where they are, to remain on the ship and not to abandon the ship because you can have some comfort. senator cruz is still trying to explain what he did today but before we get to it, let s look at the kind of comfort he violated cdc covid guidelines and jetted off to. not just, well, it was the ritz, the ritz hotel, perfectly perched along the aquamarine waters of the caribbean. it from this vantage point that resort guests can experience the many charles of this tropical destination while enjoying the service, luxury, accommodations and amenities that have come to make the ritz carlton so distinctive. no doubt, many texans are dreaming of someplace warm tonight and perhaps someplace warmer for the senator. here is what he told a cnn houston affiliate. a war