hello, and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the united states and all around the world. you are watching "cnn newsroom" and i'm rosemary church. just ahead, boeing faces scrutiny. some airlines ground planes and the u.s. steps up investigations after this mid flight engine fire over colorado. texas still recovering from a severe winter storm and searching for answers after massive power failures caused chaos. and the u.s. struggling with a vaccine supply still falling

far short of demand as the covid-19 death toll in the country approaches half a million. good to have you with us. grounded planes and stepped up inspections coming just days after the terrifying mid-air engine failure over colorado on a united airlines 777 jet. a passenger captured this dramatic and disturbing video on saturday shortly before the pilots returned safely to denver. now boeing is recommending all 777s that use the same engine, the pratt and when itney 4000 series ground the planes. united is removing 24 planes from service and the faa will

step up the inspections. we are learning new details about what happened in the air. our peat muntean has the latest on the investigation. >> reporter: we are getting our first window into what may have played a major role in that dramatic in flight failure of united airlines flight 328. the ntsb says one of the fan blades of the right hand engine of that boeing 777 broke off, damaged another one, and other fan blades. in fact, investigators were able to find parts inside the inner containment ring of the jet engine. now begins the process of piecing this altogether and the focal point of the investigation will really be the pratt and whitney pw 4000 engine, the one specific to the boeing 777 in this incident. in fact, the faa has ordered emergency inspections of the fan blades on the pratt and whitney

pw 4000. they are removing all of them from service, 24 airlines, united airlines the only operator of that airline with that specific engine in the united states even though the pratt and whitney pw 4000 a workhorse. more than 2500 of them in service. pete muntean, cnn, washington. in japan officials are ordering the country's domestic airlines to stop operating all boeing 777 air krafrt powered by the same type of engine under scrutiny in the u.s. that affects 32 planes operated by all nippon airways and japan airlines. there's been another plane incident easterly similar to what happened in colorado. two people injured in the netherlands after pieces of a cargo plane broke off and fell to the ground. cnn's melissa bell joins us from

paris. what more are you learning about this disturbingly similar story. >> reporter: it was moments after this cargo plane took off that air traffic controllers realized there was a fire. the pilots were told to turn around. they were told to land in neighboring belgium. their runway is longer there and, therefore, deemed better for an aircraft to land on that might have been facing some difficulty. you can see from those images that have come from the neighboring town of meerssen, bits of metal have fallen on cars. that would be dramatic for anyone in the area in those moments after the 747 took off. it had been headed to jfk. it was carrying many pharmaceuticals. it was able to land safely. what is of interest, this is a

boeing 777, it is a pratt and whitney engine of the 4000 family that was involved. different type of engine, a different type of plane, but it was an engine fire in the pratt and whitney engine that is the subject of investigation as authorities are trying to figure out what happens after the plane took off from massereen. i spoke to jeffrey thomas about the concerns about the 777s engine failure. >> this particular incident raises some serious questions because now that we know the ntsb has said that one fan blade sheared off and damaged another and then was ingested to the engine, this is now identical to a similar incident in 2018.

again, united airlines pratt and whitney 4000 777 flight from san francisco to honolulu. in that particular case, exactly the same thing happened. one fan blade sheared off, damaged into another one. for two netly unload. it landed safely. so the question to be asked here is whatever action was taenen y did this incident happen again or appear to be identical and happen again? there's something to be looked at as far as the service bulletins that were sent out after that previous incident. >> boeing has had some very serious issues with its planes in recent years. what is going on here? >> well, look, yes, you're absolutely right, and all

manufacturers have serious issues from time to time. certainly boeing's having a very bad run at the moment. this is a pratt and whitney issue. it's not a boeing issue, although it's on a boeing arrow plane and we all call it the boeing 777 engine. it's a pratt and whitney issue and they need to step up very robustly to fix up this engine for their customer airlines. and move forward and get the airplane back in the air. it's the backbone of international airlines and travel across the globe. it has an excellent reputation for reliability and safety. so, yes, it is a black eye for boeing right now. they don't need another black eye, but it is a pratt and whitney issue. >> that was jeffrey thomas, editor in chief of airline ratings.com talking to me.

texans are waking up to warmer weather this week, but the massive disruption caused by winter storms hasn't let up. this hour they're working on it. governor abbott expects power to be fully restored today. that's leaving many to clean up the damage on their own. cnn's natasha chen. >> we lost power on sunday night and we got it back wednesday. things have defrosted enough that we were able to get in and check out stuff and we have lines that were just gushing water so now we've got zero water in the house. just having to turn it off until someone can come and fix things. >> rachel stevens was without power and water for days and now

they're left to clean up the mess from frozen pipes. >> right now with so many homes across the city having pipes that burst and major leagues, major water damage, we need a lot of plumbing, materials, supplies right now. >> reporter: in the meantime, texas officials are invest investigating. >> i'm trying to get gas, groceries, make sure my pipes don't explode, the last thing i'm thinking about is a $7,000 bill from my utility. >> all of this was foreseeable. i wrote about it in 2011 and so for these exorbitant costs, it's not the consumers that should assume that. >> who should then? >> the bills should go to the state of texas. >> this was preventible. this wasn't a problem with any individual fuel source, this was

a problem of lack of leadership and lack of long-term planning. >> we all have a voice and we all need to use it accordingly because there's a lot of people in leadership that are just really just chilling in cancun. >> reporter: also this weekend, embattled texas senator ted cruz is tweeting pictures handing out bottled water to residents. he was under fire when he was spotted jetting to cancun. >> look, when a crisis hits my state, i'm there. i'm not going on some vacation. i know mr. cruz calls it a mistake and he's owned up to that, but i think that was a big mistake. >> the texas governor greg abbott said on sunday the texas public utility commission called an emergency meeting to issue a moratorium of service due to nonpayment and restrict electric providers from sending invoices that. will allow time to discuss those

skyrocketing energy bills. what went wrong. michael mccall blames infrastructure failures on a lack of cooperation and a lack of preparation for cold weather. >> i think power sharing would have been helpful. we could have shared with other power grids. texas does have its own grid called ercot. it was set up that way to be independent of federal oversight and regulations. that's very good with things like cyber security. not so good when it comes to an arctic blast. the difference between texas and the northeast, we're not prepared for this. we're not used to this weather, so when it happened our entire energy system was not winterized for subzero degree temperature as it is in the northeast. that's what we're going to be taking a look at moving forward are the recommendations made in 2011. how can we move forward to

winterize these places. >> earlier i spoke with daniel could he han and i asked who i am's to blame for the crisis, to the public utilities commission. ercot only handles the grid. it doesn't have any control over the gas system. what we saw this time was a breakdown of the gas supply system. no matter how well operating the power plants were, if they didn't have any gas to burn, the lights went out for all of us. >> with these storms causing multiple power outages, hal halting 1/3 of the production and impacting covid vaccinations in 20 states, it is a wake-up

call with extreme weather hitting america. how can we make sure this doesn't happen again? how likely is it it will happen again if we don't move swiftly? >> we saw this happened in a storm that was stronger than we've had in at least ten years but it's a level of storm we've had before and we're going to be threatened by other climate risks, by floods, hurricanes, droughts. we need our systems to be more resilient for a wide range of weather risks. who needs to make the first move to ensure that hapsd? >> this is happening while our state legislature is in session. we have a state legislature that meets only two years. there is an opportunity for the legislature to act on this. it's a matter for the legislature, the governor, the public utilities to address. it's not something ercot can address on its own. the u.s. is on the verge of another heartbreaking covid

milestone, but experts say there is hope as long as people follow the guidelines. details on what they're recommending, that's next. demonstrators in myanmar are protesting the military coup in huge numbers despite the threats of violence. memory, focus, accuracy, leararning, and concentratio. try our new gummies for 30 days and see the differenence.

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or go to crepeerase.com right now! the united states is fast approaching another grim milestone. 500,000 covid-19 cases since the start of the pandemic. president biden will mark it with a candlelighting ceremony. dr. anthony fauci is offering promising news. paulo sandoval explains. >> reporter: some hope from the nation's top infectious disease expert. dr. anthony fauci told cnn's state of the union said it's possible the country may start returning to normal by the end of the year. >> you're fully vaccinated. are you seeing your family? >> right now, not yet. not yet.

i mean, i would look forward to it within a reasonable period of time as the rest of my family gets vaccinated. >> reporter: fauci also insists for now the u.s. is sticking with a two dose schedule. this comes after delaying second doses making more first doses available to the public. winter weather delayed the delivery of 6 million doses last week. new york's vaccine counter showing fewer than 1,000 first doses remaining in the city. >> we are able to get 2 million of the 6 million doses out. we expect to rapidly catch up. n fill that back log. >> despite delays, vaccines are still making it into arms at a rate of 1.5 million a day nationally leaving parts of the country difficult to access by land.

this va clinic was the first to fly it in. and a vaxxathon. they gave 4,000 people their first shot this weekend. >> they see this as potentially saving them of their lives and giving them their livelihood back. >> i have a husband, i have children, grandchildren and i want to be around to be with them. >> reporter: expect global attention to once again focus on the origins of the virus. >> we do not believe china has made available significant data on how this began to spread in china and around the world. we believe both the w.h.o. and china should step up on this matter. >> reporter: a preliminary report from the world health organization will be released. expected to call for extensive contact tracing of the first covid patient in 2019. they believe it was an office

worker from wuhan, china. a personal look at the supply chains in the wuhan market. new york city reported there were less than 1,000 available covid-19 vaccines yesterday, meaning this next allotment cannot come soon enough. the city describing the doses on hand as the total number in new york city to administer. a spokesman said weather delayed shipments put the city's entire vaccine effort at a stand still last week. city health officials said the deliveries are expected by today. this means more sought after appointments will likely open up. new york city has administered 1.5 million vaccines. the single day positivity rate dropped to just 3% for the first time since thanksgiving. paulo sandoval, cnn, new york.

and that was the snapshot in new york. here is cnn's paul bercammen with what the vaccine rollout looks like on the other side of the country in hard-hit california. >> reporter: california governor gavin newsom came here to the faithful central bible church in california. this is where they set up a vaccine pop-up site. it is aimed at getting shots into the arms of the under served, under vaccinated african-american and latino communities. it's a spinoff of the biden/harris super site at cal state los angeles. when he finished with the tour he stopped and talked to the media. they own the fact that they have not been doing enough to get the shots into the black and latino communities. >> we have to not only save lives, vac cinations save lives and we have to get people back into work, church, school. we can safely do that by truly

delivering on this promise so this is a downpayment in that perspective, but we have a lot more work to do. >> reporter: in california there's' contentious debate when to reopen all schools. the members of the largest teacher's union in the state, l.a. unified, say they don't want to go back to school and they point out many schools are in poor neighborhoods where there have been huge coronavirus outbreaks. governor newsom reiterated that he is going to set aside 10% of all future vaccine distributions for teachers and staff members at schools. he also said that he sees a bright light at the end of the tunnel. the numbers out of california much better. at last count, just 6700 new cases and the positivity rate shrinking to 3.1%. reporting from englewood, i'm paul bercammen. now back to you. >> thanks for that. as paulo sandoval reported just a short time ago, a world

health organization panel is recommending a deeper look into the origins of covid-19. and cnn's nick peyton walsh joins us from london with more details on this exclusive report. nick, what can you tell us? >> reporter: rosemary, we know this w.h.o. panel has been expected to put its report out for a year after finally getting it last month into china itself. remember why this is so important. the origins of the coronavirus. finding out how this started so we can stop it from happening again. now we understand from those investigators involved in drafting their report, there will be two key rechbommendatio here. the first one revolves around the first known patient that contracted covid-19. a man in his 40s who lives with his wife and child. an officer work in wuhan who got it on december 8th. the report will recommend deeper contact tracing of this individual, specifically in

reference to something he said in an interview with the w.h.o. team. his parents went to a local wet market. that's important because wet markets in china have fresh produce and live exotic animals. they're trying to decide whether the disease jumped from humans to humans. that's the first recommendation. let's look more deeply at who the first patient met. the seafood market in wuhan is where you look next. you may have heard of it already. they are now saying, the w.h.o. panel, that they want to see a more thorough look into the supply chains of that particular wet market, specifically a list of farms in the south of china

that they want examined. the big thing here, rosemary, is these are things that other independent scientists are frankly startled haven't already been done. one said it was implausible given the amount of resources they pour into the research. the other said it was surprising they haven't gotten into it. an independent report isn't the same as agreeing with western prejudice. if the two key recommendations of the report focus on deeper concentrations, many questions will be asked as to what china's been doing in terms of looking into this for the past year. rosemary? >> critical points there.

nick peyton walsh bringing us the latest. thank you. china thinks its relationship with the u.s. has been damaged immesh bring by the trump administration. that was the message delivered by foreign minister wang li in a major speech a few hours ago. he said relations between the two countries are the worst they've been since diplomatic ties were established, but he added that he hopes the u.s. and china can work together to improve relations going forward. you are watching "cnn newsroom." still ahead, all eyes are on washington as lawmakers decide the fate of president biden's covid stimulus package. will a nearly $2 trillion bill survive the week fully intact? we'll take a look. smell, and feel. it's air care, redefined. air wick essential mist.

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an ominous warning from myanmar leaders. anti-coup leaders will, quote, experience loss of life if they don't stop. they don't plan to stop. the leading pro democracy group is calling for historic demonstrations today after more than two weeks of protests by tens of thousands of people, and those activists have already suffered the loss of life. large crowds attended vigils for two protesters who were shot and killed by police this weekend. in a tweet the u.s. secretary of state promised, quote, firm action against anyone who commits violence against protesters. paula hancocks is following the story from seoul.

she joins us now live. paula, we are seeing those pictures. so many people getting out on the streets. they are digging their heels in despite this warning from the military there in myanmar of loss of life. >> reporter: rosemary, we're seeing significant numbers of people onto the streets. it appears the call by the civil disobedience movement to have an historic day and for people to close businesses, close shops and come out onto the streets to protest hasn't been heeded. there are many factions of people on the streets in different cities as well for the country. it is an ominous warning that we have heard from the military blaming some protesters for inciting violence and saying that they created riots and anarchy in the words of the military. that is why the military had to

return fire, as they say. this is obviously referring to mandolay over the weekend. on saturday night two more people were killed by security forces trying to disperse crowds. on friday there was the first casualty on the protester's side since the february 1st coup. the military through the state broadcaster has said the protesters are trying to incite violence will, quote, suffer the loss of life. now we haven't at this point seen any kind of confrontation between security forces and the protesters but, of course, it is something that we are watching very closely to see on those live streams if there's any sense of tension. rosemary? >> all right. paula hancocks joining us live from seoul. many thanks. appreciate it. the confirmation hearing for u.s. president joe biden's pick to lead the justice department gi begins in a few hours.

merrick garland had been nominated to the supreme court by president barack obama but it went nowhere because republicans refused to hold a hearing. this time democrats control the senate. here is part of his opening statement. if confirmed, i will supervise the prosecution of white supremacists and others who stormed the capitol on january 6th, a heinous attack that sought to disrupt a corner stone of our democracy. the peaceful transfer of power to a newly elected government. meantime, the house is pressing ahead with the president's $1.9 trillion stimulus package. the biggest hurdle, a proposed minimum wage hike that even some democrats aren't on board with. cnn's susan malveaux has this. a very busy week on capitol hill as democrats say that the

aid needed by millions of americans is on its way. a $1.9 trillion covid relief package. the democrats pushing it through without the support of republicans. they say all-americans will appreciate the $1400 of stimulus checks, enhanced unemployment aid, assistance for small businesses, vaccine distribution, schools as well as state and local governments. the main sticking point here, however, the minimum wage. the increase to $15 an hour. that is something that progressive democrats are pushing for saying it is essential that it become a part of the covid relief package. >> the president came out very strong early on saying he wanted a $15 minimum wage in this bill. he has been 235fairly consistenn that. i know there are questions about whether or not the senate can get it through. i can tell you, da dana, this wd mean 30 million americans would

get a raise, 1 million americans would come out of poverty, and 30% of the minimum wage workers are black, 25% are latin x. it is absolutely essential we do it. i believe the senate will do it. >> they must truly approve of that, that it is not an extraneous vision inside of the budget bill. also there are several democrats calling out against this provision as well. it is not likely to survive the massive covid relief bill. americans, rest assured, they believe the relief will come. it will come quickly and is on its way. suzanne malveaux, cnn at the capitol. cnn senior political analyst ron brownstein joins me from los angeles. he is also a senior editor for "the atlantic." great to have you with us. >> thank you, rosemary.

>> president joe biden has been in office for one month. this represents a big week for him with a critical vote for his covid relief bill. it's on track to pass without republican support. where do you see this going? will it matter if the bill ends up not having republican support? >> i don't think it's going to matter in the end. i covered the first year of the bill clinton presidency. i covered the first year of the barack obama presidency, each time there was high drama about holding together republicans in the first year. clinton was calamatous trying to get that through a democratic house and senate. obama had to negotiate away big

chunks to get the three votes he needed in the senate to preempt a filibuster. this time you are seeing much less division whether it includes the minimum wage and one major issue seriously dividing them. it's highly likely that they are going to pass this in both the house and senate through reconciliation. maybe one or two republicans -- a couple republicans in each chamber will come along. there is a clear kind of learning from experience, much more willing to go alone and jump together than they were in the first year for either obama or clinton. >> also this week, president biden's pick for attorney general, merrick garland, is scheduled for his confirmation hearing. how do you expect that to go? what might be some of the stumbling blocks? >> first of all, this is like probably the longest lead up to a hearing ever. he was of course barack obama's choice for the supreme court in 2016 after conservative antonin

scalia died. mitch mcconnell would not schedule a hearing for him with republicans in control of the senate at that time. here we are five years later and president biden picks him to be the attorney general. the most charged question former rick garland is going to be what he says, if at all, about how wide a net he intends to cast about the january 6th insurrection and whether former president trump is in the cross hairs for that. dick durbin, chair of the judiciary committee put out a statement basically saying that we came even closer than we realized to the former president trump successfully weaponizing the justice department, and i think there are a lot of important issues in front of the justice department on civil rights, voting rights, criminal justice reform, police reform, but i think the most explosive area is going to be how he --

what if anything he signals about whether he's willing to look at the president's role in the riot. >> ron brownstein, always a pleasure to get your analysis. many thanks. >> thank you. thanks for having me. england is on the path to ending a coronavirus lockdown. what we're learning about a roadmap set to be unveiled later today. that's next.

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>> reporter: prime minister boris johnson is being led by data and not dates learning from previous mistakes of opening up too quickly. these are the conditions. these conditions need to be met before he opens up step by step in differing phases. the first step, rosie, is that the vaccination proceeds at full speed. the second point that he wants to point out is that the evidence -- there's evidence showing the vaccinations are being effective in terms of bringing down the rate of hospitalizations. that is the second point. the third point is infection rates. are they decreasing. so far they are. they've been decreasing in january and february but they want to continue decreasing so that has an impact on

hospitalizations. for the fourth point, the fourth category really is really the variants. the variants are important because here the quickly you open, you create a breeding ground for further variants. that has an impact on hospitalizations. it has an impact also on the vaccination program. so with that in mind, those who think the country's going to open up at full speed may be somewhat disappointed, rosie, because what we know is that schools will open on march 8th. buy don'we don't know if that w happen. parents will be relieved. two people can meet outdoors, for a coffee, let's say, on march 8th. care home residents will be able to have one visitor and that will be so important because they really need that human physical touch. after march 8th, here's what the government expects to do.

>> on the 29th of march it will be two families or the rule of 6 meeting outdoors and outdoor sports, tennis, golf, other outdoor sports including team sports on the 29th of march will return. >> reporter: so what you're hearing from the government, this approach, rosie, is going to be slow, is going to be cautious and phased. the prime minister wants it irreversible. he clearly does not want to go into a fourth lockdown. all of this that we just set out for you needs to be approved by members of parliament. that will happen later today. no doubt the prime minister will get some push back from those who think the economy -- the country is opening up too slowly, but worth bearing in mind, rosie, it's important that the vaccination program which has been so successful is not hampered in any way.

17.9 million people have had their first dose of the oxford astrazeneca vaccine. that's 1/3 of the population. that is very good news but there are so many vulnerable people. 2/3 of hospitalizations are by under 70s, those who have not been vaccinated. it will be interesting to see whether he gets pushback from his government. >> let's hope it all goes smoothly. isa soares bringing us the latest. it has been one year since italy's first coronavirus lockdown and the first lockdown in europe. the images of silent streets and exhausted medics spooked the continent and pointed to a sign of things to come. cnn's delia gallagher visits the city with the first reported covid-19 case to see how they're doing now. >> reporter: february 21st, 2020, is a date the people of

codogno, italy, will never forget. it was here in this tiny town that italy's first case of covid-19 was reported resulting in a complete lockdown of their town and the beginning of what would become a national and international pandemic. this resident said it was the mother of all tests. we live differently now. the mayor of codogno says he still gets goose bumps when he remembers that day which took them all by surprise. seeing the risk in europe was practically zero, nothing. instead, it was among us and had already stricken. since that first patient, italy has seen it spread to 2.7 million citizens and close to 100,000 have died. 324 people died in codogno from

covid in the first three months. in a town of 16,000 residents, this past year has taken its toll. we lost so many friends, says this resident, so many relatives. they are never coming back. codogno was the first town to go into strict lockdown. the lockdown was followed by many towns and eventually the entire country. one year on they echo sentiments felt by many across italy. >> it's crazy. i don't want to live like this anymore. no. no. no. >> reporter: mayor is optimistic things have improved. last year we were really fighting bare handed, he says, an enemy that we couldn't see and didn't know. this year we make giant steps, both in prevention and in diagnosis. >> i think people see it.

>> reporter: the mayor says he is proud of his town, a front line, he says, where battles have continued. delia gallagher, cnn, rome. texas leaders are facing lots of questions about last week's deadly winter storm. despite that, texans did extraordinary things to help each other out of the crisis. some of their stories when we return.

an update on our top story. we just learned south korea's asean na airlines has become the latest to halt operations of the boeing 777 planes. they are powered by the same pratt and whitney 4000 engine under scrutiny. korea is waiting to receive recommendations before it grounds its 77 planes. texans are known for the world over for the maverick spirit. when the state was hit by the ferocious winter storm last week, it's no wonder many texans

turned to one another to get through the crisis. michael holmes takes a look. a commitment to the community that's no sales gimmick. during the recent winter storm, a houston furniture store owner known as mattress mack turned his showroom into a shelter for residents needing a place to warmup and have a hot meal. it's an act of kindness that some will never forget. >> the coronavirus, i lost my job, my mortgage. in those pictures looking at my house, you know, it was terrible. i have to clean it up. >> reporter: stories like this of goodness and hospitality have helped melt the ice by brightening the days of texans and during hardship caused by the cold temperatures. like when delivery driver chelsea timmons slid down the icy driveway of people she was delivering to and couldn't get back out. the homeowners got their groceries and invited chelsea to

wait inside, which turned into a five day stay until the weather cleared and a new friendship. then there's the local distillery that decided to open its taps of water and give away free filtered water to anyone with a jug until boil orders are li lifted. or the grocery store that lost power and with no way of checking people out got to leave with their supplies without paying. >> the woman checking out said, don't bother. we don't have time to bag anything. i thought, that's kind of weird. how are you going to ring it up? she said with her arm, go ahead. you can proceed out the store. >> reporter: these feel-good moments stretch beyond human kind. volunteers rescued thousands of sea turtles off san padre island. keeping them in warm pools. a shelter may not be as cozy as mattress max showroom but another example of texas strong.

michael holmes, cnn. >> we need more of those moments. thanks so much for your company. i'm rosemary church. "early start" is up next. you're watching cnn. have a great day.

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welcome to our viewers in the you stunited states and alld the world. i'm laura jarrett. >> i'm christine romans, exactly 5 a.m. in the east. boeing recommending all airlines temporarily ground 777s that use the same engine as that denver flight forced to land after a mid-air explosion. united airlines grounded the planes after saturday's near