and good evening. for one last night, major parts of texas are under freeze warnings but even as texans look forward to a warmer tomorrow, many are facing days, weeks, and months of mystery from a punishing week of broken water lines, flooding, gas and power outages, and all the misery that comes with it. >> this has been a hard week. okay? i've dealt with harvey. i've dealt with social civil unrest, the coronavirus for almost a year, and now dealing this week. this has been a hard week. >> houston's mayor weighed in on senator ted cruz's 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 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 same time, look, i mean, i started having second thoughts really as i sat down on the plane, as i started leaving. school had been canceled. it was something that we could do and we were trying to -- trying to take care of our families, which is what millions of texans are doing. but at the same time, you're right. as a leader, you need to be here. and you need to be here when texans were hurting and that's why i didn't feel good about it even as we were heading out. i knew why we said yes, but i was thinking it was a mistake almost from the outset. >> by the way, the look down and make it look like you're actually thinking about what you're about to say, even though you've prepared it all in advance is a classic cruz move. keeping them honest, there is a lot to unpack in what the senator said, almost enough to

fill the large suitcase for a trip he said was just to drop off the kids and head home. that wasn't true nor was it true claiming it was his daughters wanting to go on a trip with friends that was motivating this. he said he started having second thoughts as soon as he sat down on the plane, that may be true because he likely may have started looking at his phone and looked like he was on his way to becoming a trending hashtag, photos and all. he is certainly a very smart man and knows pictures like these don't look good but if the feelings of remorse were so intense so soon, he could have just gotten off. the wife was on the plane, she could have escorted the kids. as for damage control, he's shifted that into cruise control. >> we're at a very divided place in our country, where people are screaming vitriol and hate and you know what? i think that is a sad sign of where we are. i don't do that to other people. you don't see me screaming at people i disagree with that they need to resign. and one of the things i'm most

dismayed about how the last 24 hours has played out is this whole thing has dominated the air waves instead of focusing on let's solve the problems. listen, texans want the power back on. they want the water back on. they want the problems solved. >> i'm sure he's dismayed at the coverage but not for the stated reason. because truth be told, it has not dominated the airwaves. it may feel that way to him because it is so mortifying but the airwaves had hours and hours of reporting on the actual crisis, the one we're tired of hearing about and trying to escape from, senator cruz. as for the country being in a divided place, coming from the guy that did all he could to perpetuate the lie that the election was stolen and who tried to challenge the outcome of the legitimate election after the capitol was attacked is a little rich. let go to texas now for the latest. ed lavandera is in dallas for us. what is the situation? >> reporter: hey, anderson.

here tonight, we know that the death toll across the state of texas after what has been an absolutely miserable week is at 26. most of those victims died after hypothermia and exposure to carbon monoxide poisoning and it highlights that even with another night of frigid temperatures coming, the worst isn't over yet. a military plane transporting 84,000 bottles of water from california landed in galveston, texas. thousands of people are driving through massive food and water distribution sites in houston and san antonio. >> i don't think any of us was expecting this and for it to be like this. so it's all about survival right now until it starts getting warm. >> no water. it's real bad. and i have a 7-year-old. and it's like it's tough. >> reporter: some 14 million texans are battling water shortages as more than 1,200

public water systems across the state are fighting to fix disruptions caused by the winter storm and power grid failure. the worst of the texas freeze is over. state officials say the power grid emergency is now under control. >> we want to make sure that whatever happened in ercot falling short never happens again. >> reporter: governor greg abbott is calling on state lawmakers to pay for power plant weatherization upgrades. >> to make sure the machinery that froze up and was unable to generate the power you need, that may require funding. the state of texas to step up and provide that funding. >> reporter: there are tens of thousands of people without power in texas but getting these people back online will require utility crews to repair damage inflicted by the historic winter storm and that could take several more days to repair. >> i really want to acknowledge just the immense human suffering that we saw throughout this event. when people lose power, there are heartbreaking consequences. >> reporter: seven people around the town of abilene died from

weather related causes. a volunteer found an elderly couple in their home. it was 12 degrees inside. >> they were reluctant to leave their home. and so it was 24 hours later. she went back to take them food and found the husband deceased in bed. >> reporter: as if battling a massive power outage in frigid temperatures wasn't enough, residents like melissa webb in this san antonio area apartment complex could only watch as fire destroyed their homes. >> i haven't been able to go to work all week long, and now everything we have in there is gone. >> as the water pressure was, as you mentioned -- >> reporter: part of the building collapsed as a reporter interviewed a firefighter. frozen fire hydrants and failing water supply hampered efforts to put out the flames. cities are battling crisis after crisis. del rio's mayor says his city's waste water system was knocked offline for an hour this week, which sent sewage seeping into

some low lying parts of the city. >> this is something that's beyond historical, beyond unprecedented. it's a chain reaction of worst-case scenario of worst-case scenarios. >> reporter: texas governor greg abbott has renewed calls for an investigation of ercot and has also called for executives to resign. bill magnis, the ceo, answered those questions on cnn. >> how can you keep your job after a week like this? >> we're accountable to the people and leadership of texas. we're going to go and explain the steps we took and how that played into the entire situation on the electric grid. if that's the outcome, that's the outcome. >> reporter: anderson, tonight there are still about just under 130,000 households without power. the peak earlier this week was about 4.5 million. it has changed dramatically but that water issue is going to extend well into the weekend as

things slowly get back to normal here. anderson? >> people are obviously calling for changes in the wake of this. how likely are things going to change? you know, erin burnett aired a piece about el paso, which had had experiences in the past with cold weather and they winterized their facilities and they were able to really keep, seems like keep most of the power on during this time. >> reporter: well, the governor has made it clear that he wants the winterization issue of the power plants to become an emergency state item. here state lawmakers meet once every two years but anderson, there is a long history that goes back decades of these state lawmakers in texas not being very willing to put forth these kinds of regulations and ideas to improve these types of systems so there is always a lot of pushback in this state. this is a state that loves cheap energy, as cheap as possible, and they see regulations as an

impediment to that. so you had that struggle here. we'll see where it goes. it will be a long, hard fight. >> ed lavandera, appreciate it. now joining us for more is communications director for ted cruz, amanda carpenter, and texas resident paul begala. amanda, as i mentioned, you work with senator cruz. i read a fascinating piece that you wrote that i thought was interesting in your perspective. i'm wondering what you made of his decision and the aftermath of his apology. >> yeah, well, you know, i've been thinking a lot about it. how did he get here? because 2021 has so far been a tremendously bad year for ted cruz and it may not seem like the events that led up to the insurrection and his role in trying to cancel the votes of pennsylvanians and his decision to go to cancun isn't related. but i think it is. to me he lost sight what it

means to represent texans and deliver services for them and be there. i felt like he once had that perspective but a lot of things have changed, and i don't think this is exclusive to ted cruz. i'm not defending him, but the political incentives are so much aligned that to be a republican star, right, you have to boost trump constantly and own the libs and dominate and destroy people on social media. and that kind of stuff has really consumed ted cruz. that's what has led him to forget about what his role is supposed to be. so it's just hard to watch and i really -- i don't know if it's because he's planning on running for president again and he thinks this is what he has to do, or he just doesn't really care about being a senator anymore. but to me, when he only made the decision to turn around after seeing how this played out on social media, tells me that he cares more about this audience, whatever it is, than his constituents. >> and he monitors that carefully. that's one of the things you wrote about.

he checks where he's trending, what his press is. >> yeah, that was definitely my experience, yes. >> paul, as a fellow, texan, you're no great friend to ted cruz but just looking at this as a political observer, what do you make of how this has played out? >> well, i'll leave the personal insights to amanda. she knows him very well. i think it's two things. ideology and impunity. he says government would screw up a two-car parade. government can't do anything. so of course, when the governments need to do something, he feels like, i don't have to do anything. i'm just the government. it's part of an ideology. our government shot a dune buggy 300 million miles away to mars and it's taking pictures. it would be nice if he did his job. so it's ideology. it's impunity. he's in a one-party state. he can't lose if he eats right and exercises, he's going to win.

eats right, exercises, and continues to suck up to the trump base that amanda was talking about. he's got the arrogance of impunity without any checks. he won this last re-election. has beto o'rourke with less than 3%. i hoped he would get the message and listen to people like amanda and come home and take care of the home folks instead of catering to the ideology. but it doesn't look like that lesson took. >> it's ironic, i don't know if ironic is the right word. you mentioned this in the article you wrote, beto o'rourke is not serving in office, he actually did a phone bank which helped to check on seniors, helped mobilize this phone bank. aoc of all people, nothing to do with texas as far as i know. she raised some $2 million or so. >> yeah, and i personally know a few republicans who are fed up and frustrated that there is outsiders so to speak coming in

and helping when cruz got on a flight to cancun. that's embarrassing. i've worked with so many good people from texas, republicans who care about their state, that want to be there for their people and there just seems to be this trend happening where these messes are created, whether it's the pandemic or this horrific emergency that continues to unfold in texas and the republicans want to blame the libs, right? governor abbott was talking about the green new deal, which by the way is not a law that has passed. don junior was blaming a non-existent republican governor. when are republicans going to roll up their sleeves and go in and help? there is a role to play here and there is a lot of republicans that want to play that role but they don't have a way to do it when this is the leadership. >> cruz invoked his daughters and his parenting instead of owning up to it fully. it's another layer in the

apology tour he's on right now. >> it's pathetic. it's as pathetic as not defending his father when mr. trump falsely suggested that somehow he was complicit in the kennedy assassination. not defending his wife when mr. trump attacked her looks. you don't throw your kids under the bus. for goodness sake, i'm a dad, you're a dad, amanda is a mom. something ought to be sacred. it's a colossal error. i think it will leave a mark. he's had a long time to recover, very long time. four years is a lifetime. it seems like four years ago we were in the impeachment trial. it not been a week. he's got time. he should begin with simply apologizing and acknowledging a mistake and apologizing for throwing his wife and kids under the bus and trying to blame them. >> i want to throw on the screen a quote from the article you wrote, amanda. it's telling. you said that's the republican way these days, so what if there is a natural disaster or pandemic, blame the libs, dunk on them and then go to the beach

while democrats handle the cleanup and let the maga media run interference. there are folks who are existing not in the real world but existing to be big on twitter or big in washington as opposed to, you know, what their job or thinking more about their national profile than they are about actually what the job is at hand. >> yeah, and i worry, you know, sort of on the coattails of trump, there is a lot of people that don't understand or care about what government is supposed to be about. the performance is really the point of everything. that is the means to the end. it's the power and purpose. it's all there is, a performance. this is what the big debate about cancel culture is about. if your only point is to perform and to give voice for other people, well, then, you can't be silenced. that's the biggest thing that could happen to you. and the thing i keep reflecting back to is what marjorie taylor greene said after she got her committee assignments revoked.

it essentially was, so what? i'm here to make my voice heard. that's my job. no, that's not the job. it not your job to just go after people on twitter. i mean, after experiencing the pandemic, we should have a renewed commitment to what government means and what it can do and how it needs to protect people, but that sadly is not the lesson that republicans have been learning. >> amanda carpenter, great article. i encourage people to read it. paul, thanks so much. next, on the capitol attack, new charges and their disturbing implications. how organized the insurrections were and how the alleged conspiracy spread. stacey plaskett joins us. and later, michigan's governor on president biden's visit to the pfizer plant in her state and what he said today about the vaccine shortage and the debate whether one dose is effective enough for long enough to provide protection.

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breaking news tonight, ties culpability to the former president, the justice department today unsealing indictments tieing together nine alleged associates of the oath keepers in the largest conspiracy charge to date. prosecutors say searches of the cell phones and email accounts show some taking cues directly from things the former president said or tweeted. prosecutors citing messages they

claimed one defendant sent a facebook friend, trump said it is going to be wild. it's going to be wild. he wants us to make it wild. that's what he's saying. he called us all to the capitol and wants it to be wild. sir, yes, sir. also tonight, federal charges against a pennsylvania officer caught on video running at police yelling charge scuffling with them and yelling i'm a cop, i'm a cop. a day later this officer allegedly messaged an associate saying i may need a job because word got out i was at the rally, lol. joining us now, one of the house impeachment managers, congresswoman stacey plaskett. what is the news about these alleged associates of the so-called oath keepers and how they cited former president, the former president as a motivating factor interpreting that he was sending them messages? >> first, thank you for having me on the show. i'm here at government house in the u.s. virgin islands and both

governor albert bryant and i send our deepest regards and well wishes to the people of texas as they're living through their natural disaster right now. what i can say about what happened with the oath keepers is that this is no surprise to those of us who are investigating president trump and the attack on january 6th. this is in fact confirmation of what we had presented to the american people and to 100 senators. that in fact, the president had encouraged, incited, and organized those individuals that we knew were already violent, brought them to washington, d.c., at a specific time, specific location, a specific date for a specific purpose, that being to attempt to over throw our government. >> there is also word that house investigators received an initial batch of documents from the fbi and intelligence

agencies regarding security failures on january 6th. what are some key questions you think investigators need to find answers to? >> i would love to find out information, not only related to the organization and the coordination of these groups in the lead-up to january 6th, but in fact who some of the campaign people were for president trump and those of his associates who assisted in that organization. as you can recall from the impeachment trial, one of the things that we brought out was that the president himself was involved in the organization of the event of january 6th from changing the permit, from being mainly at the ellipse to having them march to the capitol, along with who were going to be the speakers, the music that was going to be played, and the invitations that went out. >> is it clear to you how the joint house investigation, which is being led by the intelligence oversight, homeland security, and judiciary committees will differ from the 9/11 commission which speaker pelosi proposed, which still has to be enacted into law?

>> well, i think that speaker pelosi made an excellent move in having us look into the attack and what led up to it but also expanding it. i agree with benny thompson, the chairman of the homeland security committee, that we need to look at the hate that the events also organize and galvanize. we need to understand what brought us to january 6th. how we could allow an individual like donald trump not only to organize these people but in fact that law enforcement was not more vigilant in stopping these groups that we knew to be terrorist organizations here within us. >> do you worry going down that road will be viewed by republicans as politicizing this investigation? >> i would think that every american would attempt -- would want to root out terrorism within us, would want to root

out radicalization of americans to move against their own government. that should not be a democrat or republican event. and i think that the speaker will do her best along in forming this commission to ensure we have the best of americans there, not for it to be partisan, not even to be bipartisan but to be a non-partisan activity that looks at the events leading up to january 6th and making recommendations on how this can never happen again in our country. >> in the aftermath of insurrection, the former president's relatively few critics within the republican party, mitch mcconnell chief among them, are seen as such a problem that lindsey graham is headed to mar-a-lago this weekend to supposedly try to lower the temperature within the party. what does that kind of mini saga say to you about what the coming weeks and months may look like? >> well, you know, i'm not a member of the gop and that's

their own issues that they're going to have to deal with. they have allowed an individual like donald trump to take and corral and try to take over a party, which although i don't always agree with, it has an important place in the american democracy. we need to have a bipartisan activity where there is negotiation between two groups coming to an agreement about how we move forward in this country and the fact that lindsey graham is going as usual to his master donald trump to get his orders is not surprising. i'm hopeful that good individuals within the republican party, we saw them during the impeachment and the trial, individuals like lisa murkowski and mitt romney, liz cheney and jamie herrera

beutler, and adam kinzinger, senator cassidy, will in fact rise up and take back control of their party and lead it in the direction that i believe most of the members of the republican party want to go. >> you know, it's so interesting. we don't hear -- it doesn't feel like we hear often people saying what you just said, which is we -- democrats saying we need an opposing party. we need a republican party in order to, you know, lead this country. we need that give and take that negotiation in order to actually accomplish things and to kind of steer the best course forward. this is an age where owning the libs or, you know, attacking, you know, the far right -- or attacking conservatives is what's popular. >> well, i don't think that's what the majority of members of congress believe. if you look at the democratic party in the house of representatives, the majority makers are in fact those moderates, individuals who come

from the purple states. i'm happy to be one of the leaders of the new democratic coalition, which are pragmatic business forward economic development democrats who believe that there are legislation infrastructure, jobs, support for small businesses that we can work with individuals across the aisle to move legislation forward. we know that the best legislation that has been most long-standing in this country have been when both democrats and republicans have been willing to sit down. and as a lawyer, the best negotiation and best contracts are those in which individuals have given up something and willing to concede and support one another. and i think that that's the way that all americans want us to move forward and i think most of democrats working in congress believe that and are looking forward to that. what we're hoping for is on the republican side for them not to be paralyzed by trumpism or

magaism and they will once again become a party, which many instances is more conservative and fiscally more conservative than some of us but has an important place in this country. >> congresswoman, appreciate your time, thank you. >> thank you, thank you so much. even with all we're learning about the capitol attack, republican lawmakers are still courting the former president like the kingmaker they seem to believe he still is. senator graham is heading to mar-a-lago this weekend in hopes of bridging the growing rift in the gop. perspective from john king, anchor of "inside politics" and dana bash, co-anchor of "state of the union." you have the report of graham heading to mar-a-lago to go golfing with the president, which he's toted on other networks and high profile republicans basically trying to make, you know, the president persona non grata.

what does graham think he can accomplish? >> he argues and does so publicly that there is no way to make the former president persona non grata and the best thing to do is try to persuade him to be constructive in the republican party going forward. you know, it very well could be a fool's errand and it wouldn't be the first time either graham or republicans went on a fool's errand trying to deal with the former president on a number of issues but this is really pressing because the very real concern here in washington is that if the former president puts his thumb on the scale for trump-like candidates in swing states that will decide whether or not republicans re-take control of the senate, then it could very well hurt their chances to re-take control of the senate. so that is his goal, but as you said, there is a very different

school of thought in the gop and that school is try to squeeze him out and try to, you know, ignore him and that will diminish his cloud. >> i feel like we're back in 2016 with republican candidates running against donald trump and trying to figure out how to deal with him. some will ignore him. others will make fun of him, try to play his game. they're still trying to figure it out. does it make sense to you that lindsey graham is choosing this tack? i find it fascinating that the night of the insurrection he said he was done with trump and was out and sad at how it ended and now he's, you know, going to kiss the ring. >> yeah, lindsey graham has tried. you don't need the other 100 republicans, 200 republicans, or 500 republicans. he's tried every one of these tactics. donald trump was a cancer back in 2016 to lindsey graham. he was a liar. he was going to destroy the party. you're right. there is four years intervening

and the insurrection, which is i'm done with donald trump. now he's going to kiss the ring. not a lot of consistency. he used to hitch his wagon to john mccain's horse and back in those days, lindsey graham had a consistency. now he's all over the place. what he seeks most is relevance and he believes that relevance is golfing with the former president by day and being on "hannity" at night. does graham have great influence in the republican party? the answer to that is no. i've been at this 35 years and i don't know anybody out there in the state who says, what does lindsey think? we should get lindsey's advice. he believes matching up with donald trump somehow makes him relevant in the chatter. in the real world, i don't think so. >> he admits he wants to be relevant. that's his goal. he's very open about it. >> he is. but dana, you agree he's not the kingmaker and he's not that influential? >> no, he wants to -- the answer is yes, i agree but i also agree that he is very open about the fact that he wants to be

somebody who helps to get the party wherever it is at that moment that he thinks it needs to get and right now, he wants to get his gavel back as chairman of the judiciary committee and his colleagues to get they are gavels back and this is the way he hopes to do it. >> fascinating. dana bash, john king, thanks so much. quick reminder, watch "state of the union" this sunday and dana's guests will be dr. anthony fauci, congresswoman pramila jayapal, and arkansas governor and texas congressman michael mccall. still to come tonight, president biden at a pfizer vaccine plant in michigan. we'll discuss what he said about the vaccine storage with someone there with him. he'll discuss how long the road is ahead. ay of advanced safety systems. or it isn't.

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in a moment, key numbers tracking positive data that comes with concerns about people letting their guard down as cases and deaths decline and what that may mean for herd immunity. i'll talk with the director of the institute that conducts the research but first, president biden toured a pfizer factory today. while there he explained despite the vaccine shortage, the country on the road to getting vaccinated.

he said, quote, i can't give you a date when this crisis will end but i can tell you we're doing everything possible to have that day come sooner rather than later. the comments come after research found one dose of the pfizer vaccine was 85% effective in the month after people received it bolstering arguments to increase doses held in reserve for a second shot. dr. anthony fauci today said one dose would be risky and the research frankly isn't there. that's not what they tested it for. earlier, we spoke about the state of the fight against covid with someone that was with the president today, governor gretchen whitmer. governor, bad weather postponed president biden's trip to michigan until today. the same storms delayed the vaccine delivery. do you agree with what the president essentially said today that the vaccine rollout will recover and make up for lost time? >> i think they will. there will be setbacks, there are things that will happen that we can't control but what the biden administration can control, they are doing very well, and that is getting vaccines out to states. that is entering into contracts

to secure more vaccines and so hosting the president at pfizer today was great and was a moment of real pride for us here in michigan but i think hope for the whole nation. >> the white house vaccine czar said today the vaccines are sitting safe and sound in the factories and hubs ready to be shipped when the weather allows. what is your understanding what the doses in michigan at pfizer will be able to go out? >> i don't know precisely the date. some things are moving locally and in the region but they have a plan they're continuing to manufacture and so i don't think that this will be a net shortage of vaccines. it just going to be a bit of a delay. >> part of the problem has been personnel to administer the shots, to help, you know, in vaccination centers. president biden said fema has provided tens of millions of dollars to expand vaccination access. we know across the country, communities of color are seeing

for lower numbers of vaccinations overall. what's the situation in michigan with that? >> well, i mean, equity is an important aspect to us making sure that we get these vaccines out, and the biden administration is focused on it. my administration is focused on it. we've got a lot of hurdles to overcome, whether it is creating and ensuring there is confidence in the vaccine. and ensuring vaccines are prioritized in socially vulnerable areas with populations that are uniquely vulnerable to the virus. so we had to be very intentional about it. we're making strides but there is much work ahead to do. >> the percentage in wisconsin where i interviewed the president the other night were really pretty stunning. i think it was in milwaukee. i'm speaking roughly it was

nine point something percent of white residents in milwaukee were vaccinated where there was 3.3% of black residents. >> yeah, well, you know, i can't speak to the numbers in wisconsin. i can say, though, that when you prioritize the health care field as we should have prioritized in the beginning, it does disproportionately impact the numbers. being intentional about equity, making sure we go to where people are is something that's important. when health systems are doing it, that creates another dynamic so there is a lot of pressure points here but i think our strategy here in michigan is to really focus on those social vulnerable indexes to make sure that we are equatable and making sure we've got vaccines that are going into pharmacies across the state, not just the big pharmacies because we got a lot of rural population that needs to be served as well. >> is that already happening or is that under way? >> that's under way. and, you know, as we are going to see vaccines continue to increase the number, we'll be able to make even greater strides in that. today's news about locking in hundreds of millions of more

vaccines over the coming months means that in a matter of weeks, months maybe, we'll have more vaccine than demand and that will create another challenge for us but that will be a much better problem to have. we want to get to 70%, though, and that's when life returns to normal and that's when we know kids are safely back in school and all of our economy is re-engaged at full stride and so that's the goal. 70%. >> what do you tell people in your state when they ask you that question? when are things going to get back to normal or some semblance of normal? >> in michigan right now, our positivity rate is 3%. it's one of the lowest in the nation. we have gotten over 1.7 million shots in arms, one of the highest in the nation. we keep this trajectory up and masking up and take protocols seriously, we will resume some normalcy, probably by the summer and that's our great hope. but as we started our conversation, anderson, weather can change things and we can't control that and that's why we have to be nimble.

we have to give each other grace and we will have to double down on those safety protocols. >> governor gretchen whitmer, appreciate it. thank you. >> thank you. now to the new numbers from a key model tracking the course of the virus we mentioned a moment ago. the institute for health metrics says that new cases, deaths, and hospitalizations are steadily declining. largely due to seasonal reasons but also because of the vaccines. they worry people may become less cautious about masks and distancing as virus numbers decline. the bottom line, the institute does not expect to reach herd immunity prior to next winter, which is sobering to say out loud. perspective from our chief medical correspondent dr. sanjay gupta and dr. chris murray. dr. murray, your new projections are down from last week but you still predict more than 100,000 people to die between now and june 1st. can you explain why that is? >> well, you know, cases and

deaths are going down, but we see the trajectory is going to be sort of steady declines but that still adds up to an awful lot of americans dying by june 1st. part of it is the spread of new variants, that's going to slow the decline, not reverse it. it will slow the decline. and all these factors are coming together to determine what is the trajectory between now and june 1st. >> and to me, the headline out of this, besides those -- that projection is why you think the u.s. will not achieve herd immunity before next winter. can you explain? >> well, you know, the model suggests that we should have a quiet summer. you know, deaths and cases will keep going down as long as people don't overreact and stop wearing a mask and stop being

careful as long as we're on a slow pace of recovery, the summer should be quiet, but we know covid is really seasonal. so when the next winter rolls around, we need to have a much higher level of protection to stop covid in its tracks than we're likely to achieve. >> we're having problems. we'll try to get that back. sanjay, what do you make of that? because we've talked -- we've had people, i've heard doctors say that the numbers of people who probably have already been infected and were asymptomatic or -- asymptomatic is much higher than the official numbers and therefore maybe we're closer to herd immunity than people think. >> yeah, no, i was a little surprised. i was anxious to see how he was going to explain that because you're right, anderson. if you do the math and we do these back of envelope

calculations to get to herd immunity, 70% to 80% of people, at the current pace of vaccinations if they didn't increase and herd immunity because there are people who have been naturally infected, obviously and we're probably under counting by -- there is probably three times as many people infected than we're counting. if you do the math, you see middle of summer we get to herd immunity. perhaps dr. murray is worried about the variants and perhaps escape immunity, meaning some variants cause the virus to not be as easily, you know, affected by the vaccines. i'm not sure. i think the concern that you may have another surge in the fall in terms of cases is possible. that happens in the colder months. but i'm not sure we would see the corresponding significant increases in hospitalizations, significant increases in deaths because we should have a lot of immunity by then. >> dr. murray, we were able to re-establish communication.

i want to ask you about the idea, i interviewed somebody, a doctor a couple weeks ago i think it was or last week, time is oddly perceived by me now given this pandemic, who suggested because more people probably have been infected than the official numbers indicate, who are asymptomatic, didn't know they had it, that we may be closer to herd immunity than people think. you seem to indicate that's not the case. >> well, you know, cdc conducts surveys on a very regular basis testing for antibodies in every state and when you pull that data together and put it together with what we know about the infection detection rate, about 20% of americans have been infected, plus or minus a couple percentage points. but it's not the idea some people are saying it's 50%. and that 20% gives some protection, but the reason the fall may not be, you know, what we're hoping it to be is that there is evidence emerging that

it is not necessarily protection from one variant to the next variant. look what is happening in peru. they have 50%, 60% being infected in the past and now they have a huge outbreak right now unfolding and likely that's likely the new variants showing up there. that shows you a lot of people being infected doesn't necessarily mean in the presence of new variants that we'll have the protection we hope for. >> so in peru, you said as much as 50% of the population had been infected and yet they're getting re-infected because of these variants? >> you know, in peru, the daily death rate is back up to the peak of what it was last year, and they had one of the worst epidemics, if you remember. and so it's just exploded there, and it's an example, same thing is happening in northern brazil where they had really high levels of infection but still,

they're having this big outbreak and that's very likely the new variant, the p1 variant in that case. >> sanjay, in israel, they have been able to vaccinate larger parts of the population. infection rates fell 85% after one dose and canada researchers found people had more than 90% i have talked about it. it is better to vaccinate people with one dose and rather than fewer people with two doses. >> i don't think the debate has been resolved. people have strong points of rue on this. there's two things. first of all the data wasn't new. they were looking at the existing pfizer data. and found after one dose there was a significant amount of protection. most people in the trial obviously four weeks later got

another dose. there wasn't a significant time period to say how long the first dose really benefit. so. we don't know. you get one dose, it's not as good as two doses but it may be pretty good. we don't know how long it lasts. we just don't have the data on that. i think what a lot of people are saying like fauci and others, let's stick with what we know. the other thing that's interesting, anderson, this idea if you give partial immunity, might you be inspiring more mutations? this is not the exact metaphor but like giving someone inadequate antibiotic treatment, might you create more resistant bacteria? one is a treatment and one is a prophylactic. you want to give the full immunity if you can. >> i really appreciate it. thank you so much. speaking of vaccines the cdc is saying more than 59 million doses of the covid-19 vaccine have been administered in the united states. we'll introduce you to one of the oldest people in the united states.

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we reported just before the break that more than 59 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine have been administered in the u.s. of those there's one unique recipient in south carolina. gary tuchman has the story of a remarkable woman with a recipe for a long life. >> reporter: maria is the oldest known person in the state of south carolina. one of the oldest people in the united states. and on this day the 111-year-old is getting her second dose of the covid vaccine. >> okay, that's good. >> reporter: now one of the oldest people in the world to get the vaccination. >> did it hurt? >> no, no. >> reporter: maria lives with her daughter and son-in-law near the blue ridge mountains.

she was born in germany and lived there a long time, more than a century, to be exact. shortly after her 100th birthday she moved across the ocean to the united states. everyone calls her omi, an affectionate german term for grandma. >> omi, it's sunny and beautiful again in south carolina today. isn't it so nice to live here? >> yes. it's beautiful. >> reporter: maria is incredibly optimistic. she loves her family, reading and naps and has a daily ritual that she's convinced has increased her longevity. what is the secret to living to 111 years old? >> i drink wine and beer. i eat what i like. >> reporter: maria was a little girl during the first world war and the influenza pandemic. in her 30s during world war ii she became a widow more than 75 years ago.

her daughter and son-in-law say she's had to be strong. >> we look forward to seeing her every morning come out cheerful, ready to have breakfast. a couple cups of coffee and take on the day. >> reporter: how important was it your mother get the vaccine? >> we felt like it's a civic duty. everyone needs to get the vaccine because if we want to get over this we have to have the vaccine. >> reporter: maria is well aware she's now a role model. >> i'm very happy to get the shot. >> i really feel blessed that i could have her for such a long time, and i hope i have her many more years. >> how old do you want to be? >> reporter: like metusala. a biblical figure who lived to 969 years old. i hope you get there and i think if anyone can it would be you.

>> she's so great. >> i'm impressed you knew the age of metusala. has anyone else been able to get the vaccine? in her family? >> reporter: maria does live in the same house as her daughter and her son-in-law and they are both in their 70s so in south carolina they are eligible and they, too, today went and got their second vaccines. it's a much more relaxed atmosphere. the grandchildren and great-grandson not yet eligible but they'll get their shots as soon as they can. >> it was amazing she was alive during world war i and through the pandemic in 1918. gary tuchman, thank you so much. a lot more ahead tonight. we're on for two hours. the latest on the dire water situation in texas as they face another night of record cold weather.

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