people in the dark. texas has power system has been crippled. rolling blackouts have been imposed and grid managers cannot say when they will end. chancellor angela merkel wants to make a deal with the united states over the controversial russian pipeline that will bring natural gas to germany. it's been a particular source of transatlantic function. construction was halted for a year after the u.s. imposed sanctions. her coalition is working on a plan to soften russia influence over the european energy markets. the ceo of marriott international has died. arne sorensen took over almost nine years ago and oversaw marriott's $14 billion takeover of starwood in 2014. in 2019, he announced he had pancreatic cancer. he was 62 years old.

global news 24 hours a day, on-air, and on bloomberg quicktake, powered by more than 2700 journalists and analysts in over 120 countries. i'm mark crumpton. this is bloomberg. >> it is 1:00 p.m. in new york, 7:00 in berlin 2:00 a.m. in hong , kong. welcome to bloomberg markets. here are the top stories we are following on the bloomberg and from around the world. bitcoin surges past $50,000 for the first time as the blistering rally continues to captivate investors worldwide.

long-term bitcoin holder david tice predicts a crash for some assets. we will talk to him next. the energy crisis crippling power grids across the u.s. is showing no signs of abating as blackouts leave 5 million u.s. customers without electricity during an unprecedented cold-weather wave, and another 5 million homes in mexico lost power. we have the latest. and thomas healy, ceo and billionaire founder of the electric truck company. we will talk about his new ev battery technology and how spacs made him so much money. let's take a quick check of the markets. in what is the longest rally for global equities in 17 years. we are up 12 days in a row on

the msci world index. take a look at the s&p 500, just holding above the zero mark at 3937. you still have another 63 points to go before 4000 on the s&p but it looks to be in range. dollar spot rising today. that is more of a risk off sign lately as people reach for the perceived safety of the dollar. crude rising, traders concerned about production which has dropped by a million and a half barrels a day give or take due to the cold weather across the u.s., especially in texas. right now, bitcoin is $32. it has risen through $50,000 just a few hours ago. for more, let's bring in david tice, an advisor to bear etf.

great to have you on the program , david, as our first guest. so glad that we could get a hold of you. i talked to you so much during the financial crisis when you were running the prudent bear fund. at the end of the crisis, you sold that and moved on to producing movies, but something has brought you back to the daily grind of financial markets. i wanted to find out what it was. david: great to be back on. we have done some great things in the past. i have essentially been a hibernating bear. the market rallied and i was able to get out, get someone to federate it 12 years ago. i believe with record optimism

-- you look at where we are with the panic euphoria index, at record levels. national association of active investment managers, the typical optimism number is 80. we are at 110 today. the market, we have never seen a bigger disconnect between stock prices and where we are in the economy. david rosenberg, stanley draghi miller, others are saying how much higher can we really go? jeremy pointed out, when you get to this level of optimism, in order to keep it going -- who are you going to sell to? essentially, we have been in months of a decline. matt: you have a federal reserve that doesn't mind continuing to buy assets with no limits, a

treasury that wants to fund this government to the tune of trillions. looking for another 1.9 trillion. when you have these massive numbers, these are a lot bigger than the tarp numbers from our days in the financial crisis, exponentially larger. can't that drive momentum further and further? david: essentially, we are getting to germany type levels in terms of lack of discipline. i'm not predicting that for a while -- we are only at 2% inflation, but inflation is likely to pick up. we had personal income go up in march, april, may with this dramatic largess as far as paying people to sit on the couch. we are talking trillions rather than hundreds of billions.

we have never seen anything like that. we love gold and silver, a smattering of bitcoin as well. we know that we are in a sea of a currency world. stocks could levitate higher, but trees do not grow to the sky. there will be a price to pay from all of this. matt: what about gold? i have been watching bitcoin for years and it has not failed to impress me. the rally that we have seen since summer of last year has been incredible. gold has not kept pace. why aren't people who buy bitcoin who are worried about this magical money tree also not buying up gold? david: that has been a little bit of a disturbing factor for those of us that like gold.

bitcoin benefited by paypal making it easier. there has been a massive speculative euphoria taking it to 50,000. i think gold will catch up. i also run a gold stock hedge fund investing in precious metals equities. i have said this bitcoin rise, i believe, is a precursor to gold and gold stocks going up a lot. i do have a bit of a fear for bitcoin. it has gone up so fast, so quickly, and now there is a movie in india for legislative action to ban it, let people get out gradually over a few months. we also know various governments are putting together their own blockchain-oriented currencies. you wonder if they will be as receptive as they have been in

the past two welcoming bitcoin. matt: i know you were a buyer of bitcoin last year, have you sold your holdings? david: i am still there but not big in size. i wish i would have been more aggressive early. we actually have some of it in our gold stock investments that we make for clients, a small portion. it could certainly go up a lot more, so it is a great asymmetric bet, but there are certainly risks. matt: what do you think of the new administration? i'm sure the spending plans have you concerned, but i have also read you are worried about tax policy, the business family news of the biden administration. david: beasley, because we have a new administration, it is a lot less business friendly than

the trump administration. the trump administration cut taxes, regulations, and all of those are going in the opposite direction. it looks like the republicans can no longer stop, in the senate, having losses in georgia. all of this is disturbing for capitalists. there is risk to the market from that administration, and frankly, that has not been considered by this current euphoria in stock prices. matt: one thing that is a little bit comforting i would guess, is those who have boosted savings have been. does that make you a little more sanguine about what you view as the coming crash? david: it is always good to pick up the savings rate. we have thrown so much money --

i think it is $6.5 trillion of additional debt. we ended up increasing the debt after this recession more than the prior five recessions combined. we ended up buying more treasuries in three months, federal reserve, than had been bought in the 10 years prior. we certainly have unprecedented levels of monetary mania. that is something to be concerned about, why you knew to be owning gold and silver. matt: thanks so much for joining us. i'm glad you been able to weather the storms in dallas safely. i hope you get through it safely. david tice is an advisor to advisor shares ranger.

coming up, u.s. oil production plunges by more than 2 million barrels a day in david's home state of texas. crude oil soares as the coldest weather to hit texas in years brings havoc not just to texas but keep production states around the country. the latest market implications. this is bloomberg. ♪ [ sigh ] not gonna happen. that's it. i'm calling kohler about their walk-in bath. my name is ken. how may i help you? hi, i'm calling about kohler's walk-in bath. excellent! happy to help. huh? hold one moment please... [ finger snaps ] hmm. ♪ ♪ the kohler walk-in bath features an extra-wide opening and a low step-in at three inches, which is 25 to 60% lower than some leading competitors. the bath fills and drains quickly, while the heated seat soothes your back, neck and shoulders. kohler is an expert in bathing, so you can count on a deep soaking experience. are you seeing this?

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matt: welcome back to bloomberg markets. i'm matt miller. this is bloomberg. it is time for stock of the hour. energy prices are spiking up as texas battles a record cold snap

that has caused a cascade of power outages and road accidents. abigail doolittle has a look. abigail: not surprisingly, with the energy crisis in texas and the planes, the energy sector is on top. occidental petroleum one of the top stocks of the day really soaring. energy up 20% this year. we have about 5 million people in texas and the plains without power. i was just reading an article, some are in their cars trying to stay warm. even spilled over into mexico. relative to the power production that is off-line, it equates to about 20%, a pretty big chunk given the population. 5 million folks or so without power. not surprisingly, this is good for some of the commodity markets, not just oil, but natural gas. gas is soaring over the past couple of months.

up 14%. today, 6%. this on the possibility that there will be less around as production plummets by about 20%. what else is surging? when you have demand outstripping supply, spot prices in texas peking, hitting some caps, texas power spot over the last couple of days. the supply and demand not being matched. matt: what's interesting, we just spoke to david tice. he produced a movie with dennis quaid called "soul surfing." the other day i watched "the day after tomorrow," which was about global warming pushing this massive cold front through the

area, paralyzing north america. kind of spooky that this happens at the same time. how cold does it get in dallas? i always picture people walking around in shorts even in december. abigail: i watched something similar on the history channel, that global warming would bring about a deep freeze. by new york standards, it is not bad, but by texas standards, very cold. dallas, 12 degrees. el paso, 32. typically, temperatures are closer to 60. later this week, they'll be returning to the 60's, so there is a reprieve ahead. right now, very cold in texas. matt: thanks, abigail. i will tell viewers around the world, i'm checking in my bloomberg terminal. 12 degrees fahrenheit is -11 celsius.

something that caught my eye today, was a little bit underplayed, the wto selected the first woman leader of the organization and also the first african leader of the organization. she is actually the first american as well because she has dual citizenship. it was not unexpected, was not a surprise, so maybe that is why the story is not getting so much play but she is an important incredibly figure. she used to head the global alliance for vaccines and immunizations. what a time to have somebody used to run a global alliance for vaccinations running the wto . at the same time, one of her main goals is negotiating with countries around the world to deal with the now $26 trillion e-commerce marketplace. we talk about regulating big

tech all the time. she is an incredibly important person to do that, and she wants to help fix the relationship between china and the eu. so really cool to have her now running the wto. coming up, we will talk with the co-founder and president and ceo of lee cycle. the company joining the spac want to save hundreds on your wireless bill? 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.

matt: welcome back to bloomberg markets. i'm matt miller. it is time for hyperdrive, which looks at the future of transportation technology. today, we are looking at li-cycle, as a lithium ilog. it is the largest recycler of lithium-ion batteries in north america, announcing it will go public by a spac.

it will be the first public lithium-ion battery recycling company. joining us now is the cofounder and president and ceo, ajay kochhar. thanks for coming on the program. tell me about the decision to go public by a spac. it has been so popular. why that rather than playing ipo? ajay: li-cycle, we are the largest lithium-ion battery recycler in the u.s. today. we have 40-plus battery supply customers. 14 of those are the largest electric vehicle manufacturers. we sell products back into the marketplace. we are doing it today predicated on new technology. a lot of people have been wondering, as you see these vehicle perspectives coming out,

companies like gm and others making bold announcements around electrification, and people are wondering what will happen to all of these batteries? one nuance to that is as you make batteries, there is production rejects, and that is natural. any production does that, which equates to a lot of material that is growing in lockstep with the proliferation of lithium-ion batteries. our industry needs to grow in lockstep with the production of ev. spac for comes down to efficiency, access to capital, which adds value to our business. it is the speed and efficiency that helps us serve our customers as best we can to grow in lockstep with them. that is why we went down the road of the spac. matt: it is an incredibly

important mission. you are right about this being one of the most discussed issues around ev's. the opponents of ev's, if you can imagine there is such a thing, always bring it up. how do you source the old batteries, what do you do with the recycled material? ajay: great question. those 40-plus battery suppliers, customers, that is all b2b. a critical growth standpoint. any battery manufacturer may sell into a module that may go into a vehicle. there is all kinds of voice that comes out of that process. even the best manufacturers have that. that equates to hundreds of thousands of tons. this past year, 400 62 5000 tons of batteries which equates to $2.7 billion in value.

people might be saying recycling his way in the future, but it is actually happening at the same time. in addition to that, we have portable batteries, cell phone batteries as well. it has taken us five years to get here, and that is how we source mainly b2b. on the other side of your question, we have a partner that is the largest independent nickel cobalt trader globally. at li-cycle, we have a two-stage process that is fit for recycling all types of batteries. we remake the fundamental building blocks of batteries and sell that contract. just a brief comment, the way it was done before we came along -- and that is why there is opposition from some folks likely -- is mainly thermal processing. a lot of groups that are waste

oriented, taking the waste, burning off what they do not want, and only getting a small portion of the materials. that is not economically sustainable and it is not environmentally sustainable. you generate a lot of toxic emissions to do that. we put that on its head and we said we are going to innovate. that is where we find ourselves today, building that out in the future. matt: thank you so much for joining us. i hope we get to talk with you again soon because we are covering batteries a lot. ajay kochhar, li-cycle ceo. the ticker is licy. you can read more at hyperdrive.b loomberg.com/hyperdrive.

mark: i'm mark crumpton with bloomberg first word news. bloomberg has learned the texas governor greg abbott is asking

freeport lng export terminal to limit operations. this is keeping with the states disaster declaration as a polar blast shows few signs of letting up soon. across the u.s., power grids continue to be stressed this has resulted in blackouts, leaving almost 5 million customers in the dark. or the second day, suppliers from north dakota to texas are imposing rolling power cuts to meet demand. the u.s. has recorded the lowest number of daily coronavirus cases since october 25. there were a little more than 65,000 infections reported sunday. seven-day moving average has also fallen. the holidays third set the cases soaring. prime minister boris johnson wants the u.k. current lockdown to be their last. he is drawing plans for lifting pandemic restrictions on socializing, shopping, and traveling to work. his priority will be to reopen schools on march 8.

the u.k. government will publish its plans next week. myanmar's military junta has shut down the internet for a second night to stem protests after it seized power from civilian leaders on february 1. authorities are trying to disrupt telephone and internet access to make it harder for demonstrators to organize. global news 24 hours a day, on-air, and on bloomberg quicktake, powered by more than 2700 journalists and analysts in over 120 countries. i'm mark crumpton. this is bloomberg. amanda: live from toronto, i'm amanda lang. welcome to bloomberg markets. matt: it is a pleasure to be with you, amanda, all the way from berlin.

i'm matt miller. we are joined by our bloomberg and bnn bloomberg audiences. here are the top stories we are following from around the world. the u.s. power crisis. blackouts hit states from north dakota to oklahoma. the latest on the energy front as power grids remain crippled, and millions go without power. then we will speak with the ceo and founder of hyliion, thomas healy, about competition in the ev space as ompao public by spac, and making more billionaires like him. dino -- finally, we will speak with the ceo of bacardi about the spirit industry in the midst of the pandemic. a lot to cover today, amanda. amanda: we are watching markets be pretty quiet here. close to records, we have seen stocks trade into record territory and then back out of

it. we are seeing the reflation trade we've been watching in recent sessions. optimism about vaccinations and the earnings sending stocks higher. the nasdaq and tec in general is a bit of a weak spot. energy is the real standout today. that subgroup of the s&p 500, not a heavyweight. along with pot stocks, that market is higher today. keeping our eyes on the price of that commodity, as that historic storm across the south. 5 million americans without power. rolling blackouts continued to disrupt supply. we have been talking to a number of guests. here is what they had to say. >> what is the priority for keeping the lights and the heat on? >> oil and gas is not going away anytime soon. >> we need to have a very broad mix of powergenerating sources.

>> we need to make sure we are smart enough to make those coexist alongside one another but while keeping a focus on improving our environment. >> this is a reminder for a wake-up call. we absolutely need fossil fuels in the mix. it's about how to get it greener. amanda: a couple of our own commodity experts are with us. alix steel in new york, rachel adams-heard in houston. alix, it is not often that you get a storm like this in texas. in terms of the ability of the production of the system to whether it -- part of the pond -- what are we looking at here? is this for a couple of days and then go back to what was fundamentally driving oil? alix: when i'm talking about the oil, once temperatures normalize, you could be looking at five to 10 days until things get back.

from that perspective, it will be short-term. the bigger issue for me is the conversation that comes out of it. if the conversation stays alternative energy will not work, we don't need it, we need to stick with fossil fuels -- if it becomes a binary conversation, that has implications all the way to d.c. and biden's energy plan. matt: what do you hear about green energy? a lot of viewers have been writing in saying, did they go to big on green, were they too fast worrying about climate change? is that the problem? alix: no. it is an issue but it is not the problem. there is a scathing op-ed that i want to read. liberals claim the price of fossil fuels are now comparable, which is true, but they are no free lunch. biden administration lands to banish fossil fuels is a greater

existential threat to americans than climate change. that is a staggering statement, even though it comes from the journal. to your point, it is not just about wind power, which only makes up 25% of their mix. they rely heavily on natural gas, which is over 50% of the mix. your real problem is storage. if you cannot store natural gas, wind, solar, that is the problem. that is in addition to the intricacies of the texas power market which is unique to texas. you need storage to make that alternative energy work. it has nothing to do with whether you are pro or con fossil fuels. we just need a better way of doing it all. amanda: i want to bring in rachel and i don't want to gloss over the impact the storm is having on human terms. two people are dead probably from exposure. and the economic damage done to

the oil and natural gas industry. give us the context of where this is hitting. we are hearing that natural gas producers are delaying some results. part of a longer trend of pain for the industry. rachel: there has definitely been pain. you have folks who didn't have power for over 30 hours. indications that these outages are more rolling in nature and not just the same blocks of homes that have to deal with freezing temperatures. but you are still talking about folks who were told over the

weekend to prepare for half hour outages, and we ended up not having electricity for over a day. at the same time, there are these record low temperatures. i know a lot of folks will say that is not that bad, but no one knew to prepare for something like this. that is where we run into a lot of these issues. matt: i saw an incredible turn earlier showing call options on wti, shooting to the moon. exponentially higher than the highest high we have ever seen. you think there are speculators in this market? alix: just a little bit. i saw that on your 5:00 show and i thought, cool chart. you mentioned, you can trade that on the robinhood platform, so that is a part of it, but you saw oil prices and contract move particularly high. this also helps yourroll yield. if i own an october contract and do not take physical delivery, i am making extra money. most structural analysts point to the fact that we have run a little too far, too fast. the demand is not picking up.

the super cycle conversation remains rooted in the metals. oil is not so much in the conversation. amanda: we have to reflect on oil near pre-pandemic prices, and in no way is the demand near that level. what do you make of that disconnect, and how much of it might just be retail speculation? rachel: we have to keep in mind, this is a short-term event. clearly, there will be folks in houston that will be happy to see $60 oil. well, some of them cannot see it because they don't have power. but you don't want to count on that very long because so much of the output has been taken off the market because of the weather. matt: thanks for joining us, rachel, alix steel. always a pleasure to talk with you. i hope that i can see you at

some point again in boston over the fourth of july. a note for our viewers, you can see alix again because she is hosting a special edition of "commodities edge" today. she is digging into this energy crisis which has got us all captivated. coming up, we speak with hyliion 's ceo and founder. thomas healy on the company's brand-new batteries, and how they could change the ev space, and also how the spac grace changed his bank account. this is bloomberg. ♪

matt: welcome back to bloomberg markets. i'm matt miller. alongside amanda lang in toronto on what is truly a global show. amanda: it truly is. [laughter] one of the stores we've been watching closely has been, along with highflying markets in general, stocks in the green space taking off. the company we are about to speak about in the ev space in particular. what do you make of the valuation of these companies who are yet to make money and in some cases yet to have a major contract signed? matt: valuations are one of the first things i look at in my terminal, when i touch a sector like this, whether it is ev's or pot stocks, it is hard for an old guy like me who is looking

for p/e's, when there is no e. talking to someone who doesn't even necessarily have their products fully out on the road. thomas healy joins us now from hyliion. you will probably know his electric car company because it made headlines, going public through a spac. we will get to that in a moment as well. i am a car guy, i love to read about the new technology that you developed. talk us through your strategy. you are going at ev's from a different angle. thomas: you hit the nail on the head. we are not going the conventional ev path that you see happening in the passenger car space. hyliion is focused on the commercial vehicle side of things, those semis you see on the highway. while we are changing those over to electric, we are using and

onboard region extender in addition to the battery pack, so you are producing the electricity locally as you go. the grid is already being overloaded right now, so this is a way to move to electrification but not having a huge impact on the grid. amanda: you are one of the companies to take advantage of the spac moment. a lot of capital looking for homes. is there a case to be made that it is early for you to have this level of scrutiny? to matt's point, we will look at the valuation, but talk about the tension between those two things. thomas: no doubt a lot of early-stage companies are coming into the market focused on this ev space. there is so much momentum behind this shift toward electrification, it is causing this idea of not if we

are going to move to electric trucks, but when. the way to get there faster is to have more capital available in that space. the spac market has enabled that. from our standpoint, we have had to develop and grow our team. we just added a new cfo this week that has a lot of company experience. there are ways to overcome those deficiencies of being an early stage company by bringing the right people into the organization. matt: how did you choose this particular method of going public? so many stories have a headline -- billionaire thomas healy -- and then we are told that you have been fairly frugal. you have the same watch that you have since you were 12. but it is a unique set up. you cannot go and cash out and buy yourself the latest hybrid

supercar. you have to focus on the business. thomas: that is correct. both for myself and my past shareholders, we were a private equity backed firm for we went to this spac transaction. all the old shareholders are privy to a lockup. whether it is six months or two years, in my case, there is no real way to do that pass out. people are incentivized to having the right mindset. we are here to make this realistic and make it happen. we are not here to just cash out the shares the day after the spac is announced. that is what keeps everyone focused on the right thing. amanda: and what is the thing we should focus on? when you say that we are here to execute, what are the metrics that we should focus on? contracts, fleet sales? thomas: all of the above.

over the past year, we announced a large preorder with mobility logistics. we have a product that we already have deployed in the field, our hybrid electric solution. we have that running across north america already. some companies are already deploying this. we are still in low-volume mode, so you will see that shift into higher volume deployment. also with our truck powertrain, we are going through the transition phase right now. we will be deploying that with early customers, demo fleets this year, and then next year, begin to commercialize that solution, getting it out to higher volumes. the thing i will say about it is, the fleet interest in this space is unbelievable. they want electrification, they know it is coming, but the thing that everyone is pushing for is you have to be able to push a

solution that is economical. don't come with a truck that will cost half $1 million and even more to operate a diesel truck. it needs to make sense. amanda: thomas healy, great to have you with us. we will be watching. ceo and founder of hyliion. drinking during the pandemic. checking in with the ceo of bacardi on the trends the industry is seeing. stay with us.

amanda: i'm amanda lang in toronto alongside matt miller in berlin. one of the trends of this pandemic has been the change in alcohol consumption. people have been drinking more at home, changing the way they drink at home. drinking trends have had a big impact on the business for sure. ready to drink cocktails showing

a huge rise. is that turning into a profit for the beverage companies? matt: absolutely. i have been drinking a ton more since the lockdown, but in a different way than i would typically at a bar or restaurant. i am pretty excited to talk to our next guest. amanda: our next guest is tony latham, the executive vice president and ceo of bacardi. matt alone may be helping our bottom line, but we know this is a global trend. as it turned into an improvement for you or is it simply mitigating losses that you are seeing elsewhere? tony: good afternoon. we used to source 30% of our revenue pre-covid from the on-prem, bars, sporting clubs, global travel retail. what we have seen since the pandemic is a significant switch

in consumption to the off premise, purchasing liquor through retail stores, consuming at home. i would say it is more of a mitigating factor at the moment rather than an upside, at this stage. matt: i wonder what kind of rebound you expect. what are you looking at when people are able to get back out to the bars and restaurants? surely, people are going to party harder than they did in 1999. tony: we are certainly looking forward to people getting out and experiencing bars and restaurants, experiencing our wonderful brands in those venues. a lot will depend on how quickly the on premises can reopen. we have seen a stop-start through the summer and early fall of this year, so we will see what happens over the next few months. irrespective of that, a few

trends have emerged over the months that we think will stay beyond the pandemic which we are excited about. amanda: what are some of those trends? we should note, the name is well known to many for certain products like rum, but you have a bunch of sub brands that people are familiar with. what are the trends that you are watching closely? tony: the explosion of e-commerce and direct to consumer has been an exciting development. we have seen that penetration barrier come down. people mixing at home, creating cocktails, being adventurous, creating with our wonderful brands, to take creativetakes on cocktails. you mentioned in your opening the convenience of ready to drink cocktails has been a big

growth. the premium trend was in existence before covid, and accelerated through covid. people are still very conscious of moderation and wellness. the opening up of a low abv, no alcohol category is also emerging. matt: i need to lean into the wellness trend. i have been drinking a lot of dark and stormy's. also love to put some grey goose with some ginger beer, squeeze of lime. i wonder about another recreational drug that has picked up a lot in the u.s., and of course in canada, marijuana. bacardi 151 is hugely popular among the crowd that uses that drug to make tincture. have you looked into expanding

into that industry at all? tony: we are looking at market opportunities but the consumer first. we are looking at all markets that are evolving. what we are seeing in terms of the legalization, the use of canada's -- cannabis in canada and the united states, it is not having a very significant impact on the spirit industry. certainly not impacting our brand. you mentioned gray gooose. we also have bombay sapphire, patron tequila has been performing particularly well over the past 12 months. we are focused on the super premium brands we have in our portfolio, maximizing the potential of those. amanda: we have to leave it there. matt: i have to cut you off there. there.

>> i'm mark crumpton. the energy crisis crippling the

texas power system is spreading. millions of people across the u.s. have been plunged into darkness. authorities are trying to avoid a total collapse of the grid. homes and businesses are losing power in the middle of an unprecedented deep-freeze. blackouts likely to continue throughout the day. coronavirus cases and hospitalizations dropping dramatically across the u.s., suggesting the measures to stop transmission are working for now. 28 million americans have tested positive. that probably gives them some degree of immunity. 12% have received one dose of a vaccine. data gathered from mobile phones suggest people are being more cautious, day-to-day. on capitol hill, democrats turn their attention back to the president's priorities. they want to push through his 1.9 trillion dollar stimulus package and get his cabinet