i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room."ram at wolf blitzer. you can tweet the show at cnn sit room. erin burnett out front starts right now. >> out front next, a bone chilling threat tied to the state of the union. talk of blowing up the capitol by the same people who took part in the deadly insurrection. plus trump's 2.0, tonight republicans kicking off the largest gathering since the election and they have picked trump to headline it. he is looking for revenge. wage wars, a $15 minimum wage could threaten the covid relief bill. the struggle. >>> and good evening, i'm ability. out front tonight, a chilling

i am wolf blitzer in "the situation room."ng news on the urgent push to pass an emergency covid-19 relief bill. the house just followed the senate approving a key step toward allowing democrats to pass the legislation without gop support. this as president biden is building a case for quick action, making it clearer than ever really that he is prepared for democrats to go it alone. in a speech on the economy, the president offered the strongest criticism of republicans who in his words either want to do nothing or not enough. the white house is citing a dismal jobs report defending the nearly $2 trillion package. the u.s. adding 49,000 jobs in january, suggesting a gloomy outlook for economic recovery here in the united states. let's go right to the white house, chief white house correspondent kaitlan collins joining us once again. the president's early hopes for a bipartisan relief bill, hopes appear to be nfading. >> reporter: both chambers of congress passed this resolution, it is paving the way for democrats to keep moving

i'm wolf blitzer in the situation room. tonight a divided republican party is facing a major test of what it stands for in the aftermath of the trump presidency. kevin mccarthy expected to meet very soon with representative margery taylor green who is under a lot of fire right now for spreading dangerous and false conspiracy theories and lies. senate republican leaders including the republican leader mitch mcconnell is now condemning what he calls green's looney lies saying they're a cancer on the gop as democrats are working to throw her off committees. all this comes a week before the second trump impeachment trial. house democrats laid out their case today saying the former president's blame for the deadly riot at the u.s. capitol is unmistakable. trump's lawyers are resorting to the argument that the senate has absolutely no constitutional authority to try him after leaving office. also tonight, the white house says president biden hasn't budged on his $1.9 trillion price tag for covid-19 relief after meeting with repub

a covid-19 adviser told wolf blitzer that help is on the way and soon. >> starting tomorrow, saturday doses than states have ever received before because we'll be shipping this week's doses and next week's doses. we know this means for all the governors and all the states have said we want more vaccines that they will have to be ready, they will have to make more appointments, they will have to extend their hours and we're really hoping everybody pulls together. >> with us now is cnn's athena jones. the numbers are going in the right direction. new cases daily, hospitalizations, deaths, all dropping across the country. >> reporter: good morning, victor. that's right, it is good news. there is no doubt that the covid picture here in the u.s. continues to improve. in fact we're seeing the steepest decline in new cases since the pandemic began down almost 30% week over week. and that is good for many reasons. one reason it is good is it is good for the reopening of schools. encouraging news from the cdc at a white house coronavirus task force briefing. >> we continue to see a five week d

i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room." in a few hours, president biden will make his case for his $1.9 trillion pandemic relief plan, speaking directly to the american people in a cnn presidential town hall, his first since taking office. all of this amidst the worsening economic crisis. we're also following the first lawsuit against former president trump since he left office. leading house democrat and naacp now accuse him in a civil suit of conspiring with far-right groups to incite the january 6th insurrection at the u.s. capitol. let's begin our coverage this hour. at the scene of tonight's cnn presidential town hall in milwaukee, wisconsin. our chief white house correspondent, kaitlan collins is on the scene for us. kaitlan this is president biden's first presidential trip and first town hall since taking office. >> it is, wolf. it's his first domestic major trip where you will see he interacting with voting. his top aides say it's to pitch that economic relief plan he's been trying to sell to lawmakers in washington

i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room." we're following breaking news. the white house just announcing that president biden has extended the national emergency proclamation, prompted by the coronavirus pandemic, into a second year. it was first issued by former president trump on march 13th of last year. and this comes as the fda now says the johnson & johnson single-dose covid vaccine is safe and effective and meets the requirements for emergency use authorization. that's expected to happen within a few days. the white house says 3 million, maybe even 4 million doses would be available to ship out next week. also breaking right now, the drugmaker moderna has just announced it's actually designed an updated version of its vaccine to help fight the south african virus variant. the company says doses have already been shipped to the national institutes of health for a clinical study. let's begin with all the late-breaking pandemic news unfolding right now. alexandra field is in new york city for us. alexandra, you're at a mas

i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room." we're following breaking news on the fight against the troubling covid-19 variants. a new study just out suggests the pfizer vaccine is effective against the fast-spreading strain of the virus first seen in south africa. details coming up on that. also tonight, president biden is arguing that the american people support his covid-19 relief plan, saying polling shows they want everything, everything that's in the package. he's been wrapping up his sales pitch including his participation in cnn's exclusive town hall overnight. but key questions remain. the white house is now trying to clarify the president's stance on several key issues after shifting messages. the administration now flatly declaring vaccinations for teachers are not required to reopen schools. however, both president biden and vice president harris are stressing that vaccinating teachers should be a priority. let's go to our chief white house correspondent kaitlan collins. kaitlan, president biden sounds confident that

i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room." we're standing by for president biden to dismantle more of the trump legacy. he's about to sign executive orders on immigration that include a task force to reunite families separated under one of the former administration's most controversial policies. we'll have live coverage of that. that's coming up. we're also following the growing in-fighting among congressional republicans just ahead of a critical party meeting tomorrow that comes amid questions, serious questions about its future. we've learned that house gop leader kevin mccarthy is expected to meet tonight, very soon we're told, with congresswoman marjorie taylor greene, who is under a lot of fire for spreading conspiracy theories and extremist social media lies and posts. among those criticizing her, senate minority leader mitch mcconnell, who slammed what he called her looney lies saying they're, quote, a cancer on the party. meanwhile, both sides have filed pretrial briefings just ahead of former president trump's upcomin

i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room." we're following breaking news. an unfolding weather disaster centered in texas, but now threatening to extend all the way to new england. just moments ago, the texas governor, greg abbott, said he signed a major disaster declaration that's awaiting approval by president biden. he also said that power has now been restored to nearly 2 million homes. but tonight, 325,000 remain in the dark for the fourth straight day, as record cold temperatures stretch across the state. governor abbott is now pledging to reform the state's energy agency, and he's saying, and i'm quoting now, texans deserve answers about why the shortfalls occurred. >>> and more severe weather is on the way. 100 million people are in the path of a major storm and winter weather alerts extend from the u.s. southwest all the way up to the northeast. let's get straight to texas, though, right now. our national correspondent ed lavendera is in dallas for us. ed, governor abbott has just signed a major disaster declaration. tell us about that. >> reporter

i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room," we're following breaking news.very, very significant vote that's about to happen momentarily in the house of representatives on whether to punish a republican known for embracing qanon, various conspiracies, lots of controversy, and plenty of lies. the democratic-led house is expected to strip representative marjorie taylor greene of her committee assignments after the gop leadership

i'm wolf blitzer in the "situation room."low me on twitter and instagram, and tweet the show. erin burnett "outfront" starts right now. >>> "outfront," texas facing another night of freezing temperatures, as the state deals with a major water crisis. officials fear the situation could get worse, not better. >>> plus, a longtime republican lawmaker says he's leaving the party. what was the final straw? he's my guest tonight. >>> and to new hope that may speed up vaccine supplies. let's go "outfront." >>> good evening.

i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room." we're following the extreme winter weather crisis in texas. the state right now facing another night of record cold temperatures amid a water crisis triggered by the near total failure of the state's power grid. nearly half of the state is being told to boil water before drinking it but many still have no water at all. compounding the misery, food shortages that have left some grocery store shelves totally empty while others are limited purchases of essential supplies. we're also following the coronavirus crisis. president biden touring a pfizer vaccine facility just a little while ago in saying, and i'm quoting now, i believe we'll be approaching normalcy by the end of the year but i can't make that commitment to you. let's get straight to texas right now. omar jimenez is joining us in austin. the state is reeling from what critics say is a man made crisis. >> that is right. we're heading into another potentially final night of freezing temperatures here in texas. and the good news i

i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room." we're following breaking news. deeply divided house republicans meeting right now to weigh the fates of two congresswomen, georgia representative marjorie taylor greene under fire for spreading conspiracy theories and extremist social media posts and liz cheney of wyoming, number three house republican facing bitter backlash for her vote to impeach president trump. >>> meanwhile over at the white house, president biden met with top democrats to discuss his $1.9 trillion covid relief bill, telling his party to stick together, underscoring the agency, the cdc is out with a new forecast projecting that the united states will see as many as 534,000 covid-19 deaths by the end of this month. >>> also this hour, exclusive interview with the new homeland security secretary, alejandro mayorkas, first immigrant to head the agency at a critical time for our country. >> first, straight to capitol hill where there's breaking news. manu raju is joining us. this key meeting that's under way could sh

i'm wolf blitzer in the situation room with breaking news.oval to store its covid-19 vaccine at normal freezer temperatures, making it easier to get doses in the arms of millions of americans. we're also following alarming new revelations about security failures during the january 6th insurrection. the acting capitol police chief telling angry lawmakers that her department did not follow emergency protocols during the riot and warned that groups want to, quote, blow up the capitol when president biden addresses a joint session of congress. this as conservative republicans are kicking off a big meeting in florida expected to indulge donald trump's false claims that he won the election. tonight a sizable number of gop lawmakers are telling cnn they see no reason to debunk the former

i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room."onight the biden administration is driving home the ongoing danger from the coronavirus, extending a national emergency declaration into a second year. this as new progress is being made on the vaccine front. the fda has declared that johnson & johnson's one-dose vaccine does meet requirements for emergency use authorization here in the united states. that means a third covid-19 vaccine could be given to americans as soon as next week. and moderna just announced that it's designed an updated, updated vaccine to help combat the south african variant of the virus. let's go right to cnn's amara walker, who's joining us. amara, another vaccine clearly on the horizon right now the next few days. but the united states remains in a state of emergency. >> reporter: yeah, that's right, wolf. president biden declaring the continuation of this national emergency concerning the coronavirus beyond march 1st of this year. right now we're here at the delta flight museum's parking lot. this is one of

i'm wolf blitzer in the situation room.front starts right now. >>> out front next, 13 republicans asking not to vote in person on biden's covid bill tonight citing a public health emergency. that emergency, well, it has something to do with trump not so much public health. >>> plus president biden not punishing the saudi crown prince of an intelligence report says the crown prince was responsible for the dismemberment and vile murder of a saudi journalist. didn't he promise to be tougher on the saudis? >>> and inside the manhattan da's investigation into trump. now has trump's taxes and michael cohen is set to speak to investigators for th

i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room." you can always follow me on twitter and instagram at wolf blitzer. you can tweet the show at cnn sit room. erin burnett out front starts right now. >> out front next, a bone chilling threat tied to the state of the union. talk of blowing up the capitol by the same people who took part in the deadly insurrection. plus trump's 2.0, tonight republicans kicking off the largest gathering since the election and they have picked trump to headline it. he is looking for revenge. wage wars, a $15 minimum wage could threaten the covid relief bill. the struggle. >>> and good evening, i'm ability. out front tonight, a chilling threat. the acting u.s. capitol police chief telling lawmakers that some of the extremist groups involved in storming the capitol are preparing for another attack, and this one even deadlier. >> we know that members of the militia groups that were present on january 6 have stated their desires that they want to blow up the capitol and kill as many members as possible with a

i'm wolf blitzer in the situation room. we're following breaking news on golf legend tiger woods, hospitalized right now after a very serious rollover car crash in california. we're standing by for a news conference by the los angeles county sheriff that's expected to begin any moment now. we'll have live coverage. >>> also tonight "the l.a. times" reporting that woods was traveling at a high rate of speed before the crash and was pulled out of the car through the front windshield. we're told woods' injuries are not, repeat, not life-threatening and that he has what's described as compound fractures in his legs. woods' agent is quoted as saying the 45-year-old sports icon has been undergoing surgery. the sheriff's department official says woods' car crossed onto the wrong side of the road before it flipped on its side. no other people or cars were involved. let's start our coverage this hour as we await this news conference. let's go to the hospital where tiger woods reportedly has been undergoing surgery. cnn's josh campbe

i'm wolf blitzer. we have breaking news about golfer tiger woods involved in a serious accident and taken to surgery for leg injuries. let's go to cnn's nick watt, who is in los angeles for us. give us the latest. what are you picking up? >> reporter: well, wolf, what we're hearing from officials here is that tiger woods was driving on a downhill stretch of road, a winding piece of road where officials say it is possible to pick up a lot of speed just through momentum. he crossed over the median of the road, over the curb and rolled that suv in shrubs by the roadside. he is, as far as we know, still in a hospital about eight miles away from that crash scene. his agent told golf digest magazine he's suffering from multiple leg injuries and, as you mentioned, has either undergone surgery or is still in surgery. now we've got a few more details from the l.a. sheriff's department, speaking with kcbs. the injuries to tiger woods, they say, are nonlife threatening. they believe he was conscious when official

good he figured it out this coming wednesday we'll learn soon and quickly cuts to commercial when wolf blitzer accidentally stumbles into a discussion on the root cause of major issue and in mid march you'll read a. fruit by the foot issues 14 page apology for enablers to name implying people have feet yeah you're damn right for it by the but that's our show but as you know we are being suppressed online the best way to find out about our videos is to join our free e-mail list by texting the word redacted to 33777 just send the word redacted to 33777 until next time goodnight and good bye to. the british and american governments have often been accused of destroying lives in their own interest what you see in this these techniques is the state devising methods to him to essentially destroy the personality of an individual. by scientific. this is how one doctor's theories were allegedly used in psychological warfare against prisoners deemed a danger to the state that was the foundation for the method of psychological interrogation psychological torture was disseminated within the u.s. intellige

quickly cuts to commercial when wolf blitzer accidentally stumbles into discussion on the root cause of major issue and in mid march you'll read fruit by the foot issues 14 page apology for enablers to name implying people have feet yeah you're damn right by the but that's our show but as you know we are being suppressed online the best way to find out about our videos is to join our free e-mail list by texting the word redacted to 33777 just send the word redacted to 33777 until next time goodnight and keep fighting. join me every thursday on the elec simon chill and i'll be speaking to guests of the world of politics sports business i'm show business i'll see you the. it's been decades since the fall of spain's fascist regime but old wounds still haven't healed. and those. who are. able to. go to me on the bus at us as mean older than us and they seem close which we know sells ins of newborn babies were torn from their mothers and given away and forced adoption that only. feaster. to this day mothers still search for grown children while looking in hope for their birth parents. san

of india was seeing this westley disturbance now feeding a few showers across the pool over to wolf blitzer snow over the high ground but it will continue to drift further east was bright skies coming back in behind the temperatures lifting in new delhi to 23 degrees. welcome to down from every one of us. even those working quietly behind the scenes . so you can relax and enjoy the perfect breaking news. and when you leave with a smile we know our day's work is done qatar airways welcome to our home. here with al jazeera these are the top stories this hour delegates in libya's a transition it talks in switzerland voting to select a new interim government's candidates have been narrowed down to 2 lists each representing key provinces running for prime minister and roles in a new presidency council. u.s. president joe biden is ending american support for the saudi led war in yemen and that will include a ban on the sale of specific weapons saudi arabia has responded by saying it supports a political solution and the european union's foreign policy chief has appealed for russia's opposition le

i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room." we're following breaking news on the second impeachment trial of donald trump. after an opening round of arguments, the u.s. senate just voted that the trial is, in fact, constitutional, six republicans agreeing with all 50 democrats, that the senate can move forward with trying the 45th president of the united states. even though he's no longer in office. starting tomorrow at noon eastern, house democrats and trump defense lawyers will begin arguing the merits of the single article of impeachment charging trump with inciting the deadly insurrection at the u.s. capitol a month ago. let's go right to capitol hill. correspondent ryan nobles is joining us. so we got a taste of both sides, cases today including dramatic video evidence. >> >> reporter: you could describe it as the pre-game show before the trial begins tomorrow over the constitutionality of the proceedings and six republicans joining all 50 d democrats agreeing that although trump is not in office, this impeachment trial ag

of india was seeing this westerly disturbance now feeding a few showers across the pool over to wolf blitzer snow over the high ground but it will continue to drift further east was bright skies coming back in behind the temperatures lifting in new delhi to 23 degrees. qatar airways. radicalism is on the rise across the globe and we're told it's everywhere we're told we're supposed to be highly suspicious of everybody and everything but our government policies aimed at tackling radicalization in fact pushing youngsters to the fringes of society the impact is you don't belong and there's only so much we can take before you say ok that's me rethinking radicalization of the radicalized youth syrians analogise era the latest news as it breaks human rights groups are questioning why people are taken to this isolation senators and the treatment they receive one fair there with detailed coverage beyond groups now control the villages that we can see on the other side of the river people who live on this side they can hear gunfire when they're fighting from around the world months after that will ca

i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room." we're standing by for the trump impeachment trial to resume. before their break house impeachment managers presented an amazing amount of very disturbing new evidence showing videos inside the u.s. capitol during, during the deadly insurrection. videos that had never been seen publicly until now. we've got a lot of coverage going on because we're waiting for this trial to resume. in the meantime i want to go to jim acosta. he's in west palm beach, florida getting reaction. what are you hearing from the trump folks? what are you hearing from the pence folks? >> reporter: yeah, wolf, i mean, one of the things that we're trying to dig into right now is just to get some of the reaction to some of that just awful video that we saw play out as the house impeachment managers presented their case. and you know, one of the things that i'm hearing from multiple trump advisers, people i've who have been speaking with the former president in recent weeks, is that he has not felt or shown any remo

i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room." we're following breaking news.sing the horrible milestone of half a million americans dead from covid-19. we're standing by for remarks from president biden who will lead a candlelighting ceremony and a moment of silence to mark this truly terrible toll the country has endured. earlier president

wolf blitzer posed that question to secretary of state anthony blinken. >> there's no doubt that ourbility to speak with that strong voice for democracy and human rights took a hit with what happened on january 6th at the capitol, but i've got to tell you, i actually see the glass is half full because we had a peaceful transition of power pursuant to our constitution. the grievous assault on congress, what happened, members of congress came back. they came back to the senate. they came back to the house. they came back to the halls of congress and they did their job pursuant to the constitution to ensure that we had a peaceful transition of power. you know this so well throughout our history, we've had incredible challenging moments. sometimes we've taken our own step backwards, but what's made us different is our willingness, our ability to confront these challenges with full transparency. >> blinken spoke about the biden administration's approach when it comes to the middle east. here's what he had to say. >> look, the hard truth is we are a long way i think from seeing peace break

i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room." we're following breaking news.d house republicans meeting right now to weigh the fates of two congresswomen, georgia representative marjorie taylor greene under fire for spreading conspiracy theories and extremist social media posts and liz cheney of wyoming, number three house republican facing bitter backlash for her vote to impeach president trump. >>> meanwhile over at the white house, president biden met with top democrats to discuss his $1.9 trillion covid relief

i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room." we're following breaking news. the united states only moments ago surpassing the horrible milestone of half a million americans dead from covid-19. we're standing by for remarks from president biden who will lead a candlelighting ceremony and a moment of silence to mark this truly terrible toll the country has endured. earlier president biden's stimulus relief package cleared yet another critical hurdle in the house with a full floor vote expected later this week. we're also following a key confirmation hearing up on capitol hill. president biden's attorney general nominee, judge merrick garland, just wrapped up his first day of testimony, making clear that if confirmed, he's, quote, not the president's lawyer. first let's get the very latest on this truly heart-wrenching pandemic news. our national correspondent ryan young is working the story for us. ryan, half a million americans killed by the coronavirus just this past year. tell us the latest, tell us what's going on where you are. >> reporter: well, so devast

i'm wolf blitzer with a situation room special report. tonight, house speaker nancy pelosi isn't letting donald trump's senate acquittal be the last word on the capitol insurrection. she said congress will establish an independent commission like after 9/11 to investigate facts and causes of what happened here in washington on january 6th. this, as president biden is now eager for lawmakers to focus on getting covid re lealief legisln passed now that the impeachment is over. the president is getting ready to hit the road to sell his trillion plan at a town hall in wisconsin tomorrow night. in the meantime, some republicans are struggling to move on as trump's acquitted deepened the divide in the country and as they are facing mounting legal trouble including the possibility of criminal prosecution for his role in the capitol riot. let start our coverage with our chief white house correspondent kaitlan collins. after the distraction of the trump impeachment trial, the clock is ticking for president biden and democrats to pass the emergency

(as wolf blitzer) "otherwise. why else. would he be so. bad. at. mimicking. human. speech?n." but not every internet crazy is going through agonizing reappraisal. case in point, on saturday, anti-vax protesters temporarily shut down the covid-19 vaccination site at l.a.'s dodger stadium, delaying appointments by nearly an hour. nice try, anti-vaxers, but these are angelenos. they're not going to quit because you made 'em wait 60 minutes! it takes two hours just to change lanes on the 405. the protest organizers wanted people to be open to their message, so they urged attendees to "refrain from wearing maga attire as we want our statement to resonate with the sheeple." "yeah, the ones getting the vaccine are sheeple. now everyone hide the matching hats we bought from our bankrupt casino god-king." but despite the calls to "resonate with the sheeple," the actual tone of the protest was a bit more aggressive, with anti-vaxxers blocking the stadium entrance and holding signs, like "tell bill gates to go vaccinate himself" and "swab my butt hole, i dare you." okay, that's not a

fauci told wolf blitzer there is concern of reinfection from the south african variant. i wonder if you could tell us what the significance of that is and does that hold if you're vaccinated? >> right. right, so, we had some clues about this a while ago. what will happen is they'll take plasma from people recovered from covid and expose it to the variant virus and see what happened and they found that pr previously exposed weren't working as well against the variant. so we sort of already knew that for people out there that say look, i had covid and i'm good, understandably in terms of antibodies, they say they're fine, they weren't getting as much protection against these variants and now we have seeing evidence of reinfections in south africa and we also saw reinfections with another variant in brazil. so that is the concern. we don't know how big of a deal this is going to be. but that is what dr. fauci is referring to. and again, it makes the vaccines that much more important. 85% protection even if it is the variant. >> sanjay, great to have you on all of this. than

. >>> i'm wolf blitzer. >> and i'm erin burnett.nt trial. >> today promises to be the most consequential day yet. we could have a decision as soon as later this afternoon. the senate is expected to convene up on capitol hill in one hour and they could debate whether wl to call witnesses as there are some major questions that still need to be answered. one key point, what did president trump know about the deadly and dangerous insurrection on january 6 and when did he know it. this is after a stunning new report about a shouting match between trump and kevin mccarthy as rioters were breaking

i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room."me winter weather crisis in texas. the state right now facing another night of record cold temperatures amid a water crisis triggered by the near total failure of the state's power grid. nearly half of the state is being told to boil water before drinking it but many still have no water at all. compounding the misery, food shortages that have left some grocery store shelves totally empty while others are limited pu

i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room."resident biden will make his case for his $1.9 trillion pandemic relief plan, speaking directly to the american people in a cnn presidential town hall, his first since taking office. all of this amidst the worsening economic crisis. we're also following the first lawsuit against former president trump since he left office. leading house democrat and naacp now accuse him in a civil suit

the head of the national institutes of health spoke to wolf blitzer and laid out why this development crucial. >> well, we have had two vaccines, now it looks like we are going to have three, and that means we can get more doses into arms. even though the numbers of cases are coming down, they've kind of plateaued in the last week. we are not done with this and the best way to get done is with this vaccine being added to the others. this one is a single dose so it's a little less complicated you don't have to have that second dose three or four weeks later, it also doesn't require fancy freezers, it can be kept in the refrigerator so it has real advantages there. >> the j & j vaccine has two more hurdles to clear with the cdc but that is set to happen today. jacklin howard explains how things will play out. >> reporter: now that the fda has authorized the johnson & johnson vaccine for emergency use in people 18 and older, we're next going to hear from the cdc. the cdc's advisory committee on immunization practices is set to vote on how the vaccine will be used, the vote then goes to t

i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room." we're following the winter weather crisis in texas.he governor says he just signed a major new disaster declaration and is awaiting approval by president biden. he says 325,000 homes in texas are without power for a fourth straight day. but massive outages are easing with electricity restored to some 2 million homes. abbott says he takes responsibility for the power debacle, pledging to reform the independent organization that operates the state's power grid. the winter misery is spreading across the nation. in the south, more than 22 million people are under a hard freeze warning tonight and 100 million americans in all are under some kind of winter weather alert from the south up into the east coast. let's go to our national correspondent in dallas for us. texas is still suffering. you know that better than i do, with a water crisis, in addition to remaining power outages. >> reporter: yeah, wolf. there's still a lot of problems here in texas. but nonetheless, governor greg abbott taking responsibility for the current status of the o

i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room." we're following breaking news.ves, just a little while ago, following the senate in passing a key step that paves the way for democrats to approve president biden's $1.9 trillion covid relief package without republican votes. in his first major economic speech today, the president was building the case for moving fast and without bipartisan support on the stimulus plan

i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room."e're following breaking news on a defining moment for republicans that's playing out right now up on capitol hill. the house gop has been meeting behind closed doors discussing whether to punish two members who symbolize the split within the party. the conspiracy-embracing representative marjorie taylor greene and the third-ranking house republican, liz cheney, who voted to impeach former president trump. stand by for new information on that. and the republican infighting continues. meanwhile, the biden administration is trying to stay focused on covid relief. the president meeting with fellow democrats today, urging them to go big and stick together as they move ahead on his nearly $2 trillion package without at least for now republican support. in just a moment i'll talk with senator bernie sanders. he's the new chairman of the senate budget committee. he was in that meeting with the president earlier today. but first let's go up to capitol hill. our congressional correspondent ryan

i'm wolf blitzer in the situation room. we're following breaking news.an variant of the coronavirus. the news comes amid growing concern about multiple variants which the cdc warns could lead to a rapid rise in new covid cases here in the united states. meanwhile, on the heels of last night's cnn presidential town hall in whic

i'm wolf blitzer. this is "the situation room" special report. following new developments from the capitol siege. house speaker nancy pelosi telling lawmakers a while ago that congress will set up an independent commission to investigate the january 6th attack on the u.s. capitol. pelosi says it will be similar to the 9/11 commission. the announcement comes in the wake of former president trump's acquittal in a senate impeachment trial. tonight, there are new questions about whether he can be criminally prosecuted as well as questions about the future of the gop. with the impeachment drama over, president biden's agenda is once again front and center as he moves to garner support for his $1.9 trillion emergency pandemic relief package. he will lay out his big plan tomorrow night in a cnn presidential town hall, his first since taking office. the president will travel to wisconsin for the event, the first official trip of his presidency. let's begin this hour with our chief white house correspondent, kaitlan collins. mr. biden has just returned to

i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room." we're following breaking news on president biden's talks with republican senators as he struggles to get bipartisan support for his $1.9 trillion covid relief plan. at last word, the talks were still under way inside the white house, but we do expect to hear from the republican senators once they walk out. we'll have live coverage of that, get their read on how it went. even before the meeting going to started congressional democrats took a first step setting up a process that would allow them to approve covid relief without, repeat without, republican votes. also breaking right now, new details emerging about the case against former president trump that will be made during had his impeachment trial next week. we're told house democrats plan to accuse him of intentionally inciting rioters with a month's long effort to subvert the will of the american voters. this, as divided republicans grapple with the future of the gop after trump and just ahead of a critical party meeting from the

. >> the white house adviser andy slavitt told wolf blitzer help is on the way and soon. >> starting tomorrow, saturday, we're going to be shipping more doses than states have ever received. because we're shipping this week's doses and next week doses. we know what this means for all of the governors and states that have said we want more vaccines that they're going to have to be ready, make more appointments and extend their hours and we're really hoping everybody pulls together. >> with us now, cnn's athena jones. athena, positive trends here, covid cases, hospitalizations, deaths, all dropping across the country. >> reporter: good morning, victor. that's exactly right. there's no doubt about it, the covid picture here in the u.s. is improving. the nation is rapidly approaching the average of 70,000 new cases a day. that sounds high. it is high, but the last time for perspective that the country was below that number was late october. so, all of this improvement, is, of course, good news for schools. encouraging news from the centers for disease control friday at a white house coro

i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room," as we begin a consequential week here in washington, includingchment trial of a former president of the united states, the first time in u.s. history. just a short while ago, senate leaders reached a deal on the rules for donald trump's second impeachment trial that gets under way in less than 24 hours. chuck schumer says each side will get 16 hours over two days to present their respective arguments. meanwhile, the white house says president biden won't pay much attention, if anything, as he focuses on advancing his covid rescue package, making critical decisions that could determine who supports it. first, more on this trial of donald trump and the new rules just agreed to in the u.s. senate. our chief domestic correspondent jim acosta is covering this for us. as you know by now, the trial begins tomorrow based on these new rules. what can we expect? >> that's right, wolf. senate democrats and republicans have reached a deal on the timeline. they will vote on the constitutional question of

i'm wolf blitzer in the "situation room." you can follow me on twitter and instagram, and tweet the show. erin burnett "outfront" starts right now. >>> "outfront," texas facing another night of freezing temperatures, as the state deals with a major water crisis. officials fear the situation could get worse, not better. >>> plus, a longtime republican lawmaker says he's leaving the party. what was the final straw? he's my guest tonight. >>> and to new hope that may speed up vaccine supplies. let's go "outfront." >>> good evening. i'm poppy harlow, in for erin burnett. cnn learning 26 people have died from the severe winter weather that has hammered the lone star state, as officials brace for another night of below freezing temperatures. expected to push the water system to the brink. 14.9 million people across texas are being told to boil water, or they have no water at all. that's more than half of the state's population. they're also dealing with burst pipes and water treatment plants that are offline. officials say it could

i'm wolf blitzer.t golfer tiger woods involved in a serious accident and taken t

i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room." we're following breaking news.coronavirus vaccine at warmer temperatures than previously required after the company submitted new data. that move is expected to have a significant impact on availability across the country. we're also following new developments in the congressional hearings on the deadly january 6th capitol siege. 50 days ago today, the acting u.s. capitol police chief telling angry lawmakerth t

i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room." you can always follow me on twitter and instagram. you can tweet the show. >>> "outfront" next, national guard is deployed to help those struggling to survive. >>> the johnson & johnson vaccine is not going as planned. why the setback. >>> and mitch mcconnell's strategy. we have new reporting tonight on his plan. let's go "outfront." good evening. a cascading catastrophic blackout. that's a quote. that's what the man overseeing texas' power 2k3grid is warning right now. the sun setting in texas right now. close to 7 million texans are being told to boil water the state's govor says expect rolling blackouts to continue. after three days there's still no estimate as to when power will fully be restored. for the mill i don'tens who are freezing. remind you, we are in the united states. texas is in the united states. this is a child safety gate being burned by a family to heat their home. and then this picture. this man says he's having to resort to using closet rods to burn those in order to keep from freezing. look at this picture. just

i'm wolf blitzer. this is "the situation room" special report.eaker nancy pelosi telling lawmakers a while ago that congress will set up an independent commission to investigate the january 6th attack on the u.s. capitol. pelosi says it will be similar to the 9/11 commission. the announcement comes in the wake of former president trump's acquittal in