years ago. the report back then, the findings, potential solutions. was any of it followed? some families tonight now boiling snow to use as their main water source, empty grocery stores and this evening, the storm that s not over. the northeast still bracing for what s on the way and rob marciano timing it out. also tonight here, the backlash after texas senator ted cruz left his state in the middle of this emergency when millions were without power to go on vacation in cancun. the images going viral, showing him with his family boarding a flight to mexico, asking houston police in the middle of the emergency to help escort him at the airport. senator cruz returning home tonight. what he said at the airport and now our team has learned when he originally planned to return. news on the coronavirus tonight. 42 states canceling or postponing vaccinations because of the storms. pfizer now testing its vaccine on thousands of pregnant women. what we ve learned. and life expect
allegedly showing one of the engines failing. this was shortly after the unity airlines flight to honolulu took off. the plane turned around for an emergency landing. there are no injuries to anyone on board and no known injuries to anyone on the ground from the falling debris. here is audio from the very moment the pilot issued his may day call to denver air traffic control. may day, may day, united 28, 328, heavy may day, may day aircraft. denver departure unite 328 heavy may day aircraft just experienced heavy failure need to return immediately. i m going to return to our l lucy kafanov there at the scene. reporter: pam, the fact that there were no injuries to the 241 people on board or any of the people on the ground here in colorado is truly a miracle. where i m standing right now, i want to give you a scope of the debris field, down behind the police car, down that street is a massive park, a dog park, there s a soccer field. this is an area, it s snowing now, but
week. but make no mistake, people are truly suffering right now. listen. times were tough. i wasn t working because of the pandemic. so financially i maybe don t have the options to go out and buy a generator or to purchase fast food even. so it is hard. shelters are at capacity. there is no hotels anywhere. even if i wanted to take my kids somewhere to be warm, there is nothing. we ve been driving around during the day with the heater on in the car just to keep warm. it is very stressful to be in a cold house, and if you re in a cold house you re definitely not eating any warm food. and then when you go out, you can t find food. the crisis is not over. people don t know when this is going to end. but the finger pointing is well underway. texas governor greg abbott has offered no clear time line and when power will be fully restored. he s pointing the finger at the manager of the state largest power grid known as ercot and said that more rolling outages are likely today
online. hundreds of thousands of people still in the dark, millions are under boil water advisories with another blast expected to engulf texas with more freezing rain, snow and dire temperatures. keeping warm right now, equal survivors. gas grills, even bonfires, essential. the texas power grid is now at a center of a debate for oversight, and this life or death moment includes a very sharp political edge as many texas democrats blake blackouts on poor planning and years of neglect by republicans who for four years have controlled most of that state. also a new trouble sign this morning for the american economy. first-time unemployment claims jumping again to 860,000-plus. continued claims stood at 4.5 million. the biden team says this new data underlines the urgency for the covid relief plan the president wants to speed through congress. we look at the situation and recognize this is a very precarious moment for the economy. covid relief is a big agenda item number 1. b
nearly a week since the deadly winter storm struck the lone star state, it s still struggling to get safe water to millions of residents. meantime, the white house s $1.9 trillion stimulus plan could go to the floor later this week but many on the right say it s still with too many liberal earmarks. we have live team coverage today. david spunt is at the white house, casey siegel is in dallas, tracking the winter storm s aftermath. christina coleman is live in los angeles with more on the united airlines engine failure. reporter: no one was injured but there was significant damage on the ground and some terrifying moments in the sky. fortunately, the flight crew was able to land the plane safely. take a listen to the mayday call. we re experiencing engine failure. we need to clear. mayday, mayday, united 328, heavy mayday, mayday. departure, heavy mayday, experienced engine failure. need to return immediately. reporter: one of the jet s engines exploded yesterday, sho