he apologized, but cruz took aim.complete and utter ip c hypocrites, and don't forget mayor adler who took a prooit jet with eight people to cabo and while in cabo recorded a video telling austinites to "stay home in you can." cruz, and you can't make this up, told christie to, quote, go back to the beach, referencing, of course, the infamous moment when christie closed a state beach when the government shut down only to sunbathe on it himself. another example during a speech in 2015 blasting the obama administration for inaction. >> if only the terrorist attacked a golf course. that might actually get the white house's attention. holy cow! >> a month before that when he was criticizing obama over a border crisis, cruz went on. >> this is an absentee president. he is not focused on the people who are hurting. >> he's going to two major fundraisers where he wants to be with wealthy democratic donors, but apparently he doesn't have time to actually go and see the border, he doesn't have time to go see the children who a

cruz. tonight he is admitting it obviously was a mistake to fly to cancun last night. daytime high 83 degrees, while millions of his constituents were freezing without power. "dallas morning news" captured the reaction this way. quote, ted cruz insists he's just "good dad" taking the girls to cancun, but leaves after one night -- long enough to get blistered. >>> back with us tonight, james carville, veteran democratic strategist, co-host of "the politics war room" podcast and back with us, mark mckinnon, former adviser to george w. bush and john mccain. he is now, of course, one of the hosts of "the circus" on showtime which thankfully is back on the air. hey, mark, i have to read you this. this is manu raju, the able chief congressional correspondent over at cnn. he writes about hannity who really tried to give an assist to his friend ted cruz tonight. hannity keeps saying cruz was just going to drop off his kids in cancun and make a quick round trip yet cruz admitted he was planning to s

rick wilson always repeats the joke, people who hate ted cruz and ted cruz.as bad as he is being portrayed in this 12-hour period? >> there are people who said they saw him putting on a human suit recently. i did my first campaign with james carville in 1984, learned most of what i know of politics from james. i wish you would throw the question to james. can you imagine a worse scenario for a politician -- first, i'd say natural disasters make and break candidates. and office holders. i mean, rick perry got a lot of his stature from ably handling hurricanes and tornadoes. i remember katrina very well from george w. bush. so it's -- it is the most obvious and easy opportunity for a politician to do good stuff, to be on the job, and to not only not be on the job, but to take a hike with your kids to can cruz is just astonishing. the final point i'll make about ted cruz, what's amazing to me he was one of the foot soldiers that tried to overturn our democracy, that helped lead to an insurrection at the capitol. the thing he'll probably be held accountable for p

even cruz had to contradict the spin for cruz. there are some real lessons here, and one of the lessons is try to be nice to some people in your moment in the sun because, you know, the sunsets on you and you want to have some friends when it sets on you that will defend you and say some nice things about you. it's just remarkable to me how universally ganged up on senator cruz is. it's really something to see. >> oh, yeah. it's one of the few moments of unity i've seen in 2021 in politics, as you mentioned, a lot of republicans particularly who know him, who deal with him are really concerned about as well his continued position in the party. there has been so much talk about the last president that people may forget there were a lot of candidates who ran in 2016. ted cruz came in second. he did get delegates. he did get grassroot voters. while he is supremely unpopular with a lot of people who deal with him, sean hannity, boy did he put his neck out. we have a little bit of that. take a look. >> you went, and you took your daugh

it is not just ted cruz. it's bigger than him. we saw this with donald trump's management of covid, where he turned the pandemic into basically a daily television show doing none of the actual work to make the crisis better, in fact, making it worse at every turn, getting people killed. but it was simply another platform for the former president. in fact, at one point, he was actually thinking of starting a white house radio show, but he decided he didn't want to compete with rush limbaugh. governing is not posting. it's not podcasting. it's not cable news anchoring. believe me, both my parents worked as civil servants in city government and i have a cable news show and they had harder jobs than i do. what we have seen in week in texas is a total failure of governance. it is not just ted cruz. the way to climb the ladder in republican politics as donald trump showed is not to be good at governing, that doesn't get you anywhere. it is to troll the libs. that is exactly what republicans in texas have been doing

in how one sees ted cruz. this does not surprise me at all that ted cruz has done this. up with of the things about ted cruz and this is a thing we should demand from our lieders and i talked about integrity and telling the truth and how when we don't tell the truth people lives are lost. we saw it happen if flint, during covid, we saw it in the conspiracy theories in the election. now we're seeing it happen in texas not only of the governor but the senator from here. what i don't understand is ted obviously believes he's in a political party that this is acceptable for. it's not only acceptable to abandon your responsibilities and it's acceptable to lie about it. i'm of the mind of i'm willing to bet republican primary voters won't hold ted accountable. the only people left to hold him accountable are independent voters and democratic voters in a state light red but turning more purple in the course of these few years. it's an amazing thing that the lack of responsibility and accountability that ted has. i'm not one to criticize other people's parenting. i have four kid

i want you to meet ted cruz. will you meet ted cruz, who flies his daughters to mexico. not a good look. kind of what the -- what's the word i'm looking for? hypocritical. kind of like the hypocrisy the senator was so about when it was a democrat, austin mayor steve adler went to mexico in december after hosting his daughter's wedding. he criticized the mayor of austin for going to mexico. but then ted cruz goes to m mexico. while the cdc says travelers should avoid all travel to mexico. he's an elected official. avoid all travel to mexico, senator elected by the people. cnn's k-file dug up a bunch more examples of ted cruz's do as i say, not as i do attitude toward other politicians taking vacations, telling then-governor chris christie to go back to the beach after the outrage over christie's trip to a closed state beach with his family while new jersey's government was shut down, criticizing former president barack obama for spending what he thought was too much time on the golf course. >> if only the terrorists attacked a golf course. that might actually get the whit

you had hosts on fox news and conservatives defending ted cruz saying, oh, well, what could ted cruzually do in this situation? he's only a senator from texas. so he knows that reality. and so in that way, he probably didn't really care much, you know, fleeing his constituents. >> yeah, he probably also does the math and says he's got four years before he's got to be re-elected and hope that people forget by next week. >> and they may, given what has happened after the capitol insurrection. >> so there's a big foreign policy speech today from president biden, susan glasser. and he's turning the page on a whole host of trump america-first stuff, right. you know, reaffirming america's commitment to nato. trump apparently questioned that, beat him up for money, et cetera, but also the iran deal. and this particularly, susan glasser, important, because he has said and he will now say publicly, they're willing to open talks again on the nuclear deal that trump pulled out of. is there a path to resurrecting this? >> well, you know, it's interesting that this is once again sort of shot righ

senator cruz returning home tonight. what he said at the airport and now our team has learned when he originally planned to return. >>> news on the coronavirus tonight. 42 states canceling or postponing vaccinations because of the storms. pfizer now testing its vaccine on thousands of pregnant women. what we've learned. and life expectancy in the u.s. affect bid this pandemic. lichl expectancy dropping by at least a year. that's the biggest decline since world war ii. >>> the white house and democrats unveiling their major new immigration reform plan. does it have a chance? mary bruce is live tonight. >>> we also have breaking news on iran this evening. what the u.s. is now signaling. and martha raddatz with late reporting. >>> the horrific images in new york city. the powerful gas explosion. at least nine injured, including two children in critical condition tonight. >>> and the first of its kind mission to mars. the celebration late today as nasa touches down and history now made. >>> good evening and it's great to hav

has cancun cruz seen that ad?ruck his state, ted cruz booked an international beach trip and blamed the decision on his daughters. he was not standing up for his constituents as millions of them lost power, heat, and access to drinkable water while battling freezing cold temperatures. the uproar over cruz's departure was swift and unrelenting. cruz soon turned around, flying back to texas, a saga captured perfectly by our friend ashley parker in the "washington post." quote, usually it takes at least one full day in cancun to do something embarrassing that you'll never live down, but for ted cruz, it took just ten hours from when his united plane touched down at cancun international airport at 7:52 p.m. wednesday to when he booked a return flight back to houston around 6:00 a.m. thursday. for the state's junior senator to apparently realize he'd made a horrible mistake. one he admitted to when he spoke with a local houston station upon return. here's cruz's reaction when confronted about his decision to leave the

cruz returned from cancun following an uproar over his trip.l take part in a virtual g7 summit today focusing on the pandemic, the economy and china. also today, the u.s. officially rejoins the paris climate accord. >>> looking at the national weather today, more snow in the northeast makes for slick roads, icy conditions in the carolinas and storms in florida. and more heavy snow in the mountains of the west. >>> finally people helping people in the crisis. >> it's happening in texas. will ganss shows us. >> reporter: they say everything is bigger in the lone star state and while the winter storm was big, nothing is bigger than the generosity of the texan spirit. >> get out and help others that maybe are less fortunate or having a hard time, but i think it's definitely christian and hopefully it's texas too. >> reporter: coach jason dean is helping his georgetown community 330 gallons at a time. the athletics director filling up the tank he originally purchased for his cattle and hitting the road providing water to anyone and everyone who need

>> well, you know, i know ted cruz. ted cruz worked in the policy department in the 2000 bush campaign and i worked in the political campaign of 2000 and then i worked in 2004. it didn't surprise me because ted from the days i knew him back then when he was a staffer, ted has always been concerned about himself. one of the things about leadership that is so evident in the midst of this, we thought we learned a lesson last year in covid. we thought we learned a lesson in how people are going to preserve our democracy, but the two things -- leaders have to have many values, but the two that are most important is first service. you are there to serve your constituents or serve the people you represent, and telling the truth and being honest. in both cases ted has proved what he's always been, which is he's only about self-service, and he is incapable of telling people what the truth is. we saw that as his ever changing story in the midst of this. i will tell you one story. one of the quickest way to end a meeting in the bu

, and i hate ted cruz.ne. i am -- just from a political perspective, i seriously can't get my head around this. just at a basic human level -- about but at a political level, like, have you ever seen something quite this tone deaf? >> no. i mean, from both a human and political level. the one thing you don't no when you have a statewide crisis like this is go to cancun. you don't go on vacation. what you do -- i know you asked the mayor what can you do? what can you not do? first you find out what you can do. you work with -- you are one of two statewide federal officials. you are asking ferc, you are talking to ferc, you are talking to fema, you are talking to the governor. you are finding out what to do, and you are telling your staff what to do, and you are coordinating. you are helping. wlits getting generators, whether it is getting food. cruz has big, big donors. get one of your big donors to fly some food in, fly some jen traitors in. >> right. >> you have municipal officials to work with, county off

on senator ted cruz's marie antoinette moment. what was he thinking? >> he was thinking about ted cruz. he was thinking about his own hide. i found it very funny he's wearing a texas flag around his mouth, and he's trying to go a little incognito but the press saw him at the airport but he always talks about the alamo as being texas, if you take the john wayne version of the alamo with davi crock et al. and the line on the sand in texas that you don't leave when dire circumstances arrive, ted cruz, if he were at the alamo, davey crockett would have been going where's, ted, we can't find him, the answer would have been he's flown off to cancun. it's a horrific look for a politician when the big freeze is going on here and people are suffering for him looking to parlay it into a resort vacation in cancun. >> do you think he's going to face any real consequences for this failure, or do you think texas is going to forgive and forget? >> you know, the dirty secret in texas is ted cruz isn't very popular. i know you wouldn't believe that, he gets reelected,

senator cruz told cnn this

so where is ted cruz? ted cruz is on his way back- _ so where is ted cruz?so where is ted cruz? ted cruz is on his way back. this really is a - his way back. this really is a stunning misjudgment, isn't it? if you like, and unforced political error on the part of a man who is known to entertain presidential ambitions four years from now. indeed ted cruz ran for president four years ago, only to lose out to donald trump. and he basically said that he went down, he was planning a family holiday during the senate recess with his family. he said he was going down yesterday and coming back today, and he was doing it because of his children, he did it for his daughters because he wanted to be a good dad. but it has since emerged that he was due to stay there until saturday and only brought his flight forward after this storm that is engulfing him now, this political storm, not a meteorological one. ted cruz has been called upon to resign by democrats in the state of texas. and as i say, it is a truly extraordinary political error on the part of somebody who has a

ted cruz puts ted cruz and republicans before he puts the people of texas and i think that's the theme we saw this week from the senator. >> it's just sad overall. it's not that ted cruz could have saved many of the lives, including that 11-year-old who died of hypothermia. the optics, though, awful, and definitely could have helped the overall situation. i'm going to have to leave it there. michael starr hopkins, david jolly, thank you guys. >>> coming up, it's been a packed 30 days. we'll check on president biden's first month in office. >>> plus, cuomo in crisis. the new york governor launched into an hour and a half-long defense as his critics hone in on the nursing home scandal. on the nursing home scandal. ♪ the calming scent of lavender by downy infusions calm. laundry isn't done until it's done with downy. hi, i'm debra. i'm from colorado. i've been married to my high school sweetheart for 35 years. i'm a mother of four-- always busy. i was starting to feel a little foggy. just didn't feel like things were as sharp as i knew they once were. i heard about prevagen and then i sta

the reality of it is this landscape is not going to be shaped by ted cruz. it's going to be shaped by donald trump at least in the interim. we'll see who emerges and how they emerge in response to a trumpian effort, but, you know, ted is going to have to stand in line like everybody else. >> okay. michael steele, victoria defrancesco soto, thanks very much to you. good luck to all of you with family in texas. >>> attacks against asian-americans have spiked. racist rhetoric around the pandemic. now the new wave of violence, political leaders speaking out about how to stop these attacks. that's coming up. vicks vapopatch. easy to wear with soothing vicks vapors for her, for you, for the whole family. trusted soothing vapors, from vicks sure, your health insurance tells you to see a doctor but, um, look around. these days it's not that easy. you're telling me. but humana helps make it easy. human care gives you tons of ways to talk to your doctor: phone, computer, in person, or tablet. hey jean! hi! this is just a quick follow up. your numbers are looking great

. >> when the hurricane hit, you stood up for texas, and ted cruz stood up for you. >> i'm ted cruz and i approve this message. >> cruz is not up for re-election now, and he is abandoning his state. it is bon voyage where he heads to cancun at 84 degrees leaving a city that is now freezing. he is not too sentimental when it comes to those suffering in disasters in other states. when heat waves caused massive power outages last year in california, ted cruz mocked the blue state after the governor called on folks to conserve energy. this is what he said. california is now unable to perform even basic functions of civilization, like having reliable electricity. democrats want to make california's failed energy policy the standard nationwide. hope you don't like air-conditioning. now, when called out on his cruelty a couple days ago, cruz said that he has no defense and he did the twitter equivalent of a shrug. not good, he said, about what was going on his state. stay safe, he added. not long after he made like frankie avalon and bounced back to the beach. i want to talk to rodney garrett,

but ted cruz isn't the only politician and feeling the heat.icism for his response, biden being accused of waiting too long to ramp up the federal response. right now, millions of texans have to boil drinking water. thousands still have no power. yesterday, biden authorized fema to send supplies but that could take days to arrive. jesse, i thought i would start with you and say governor abbott didn't call -- you know, he's the one who did not call biden. biden calls governor abbott to see if he needs help and offer help your declaration of emergency from the federal government was done last sunday. they said a while back, but i see there are people who think may be biden should have reacted earlier, what do you think? >> jesse: biden is never going to be they want to throw on the bomber jacket and the khakis and go off to air force one and show that his heart is with texas. like any other president, bush, clinton, obama, trump, they would be there throwing out paper towels or whatever they do to make it look for the cameras like they care. poli

. >>> texas senator ted cruz's cancun odyssey, landing hiin the only hot water in the state. this morning he's defending himself. >>> nasa's amazing feat, landing perseverance squarely on the red planet after an inkrecredible journey to mars. >>> janet yelin says we risk more by not doing it. >>> do you want to build a snowman. hot springs. and then some. "early today" starts right now good morning to you. i'm phillip mena. >> i'm lindsey reiser. the lone star state is still reeling after the disaster continues to unfold. after being hit with a brutal storm, texas is now facing a water crisis more than 200,000 homes are still without power and things are getting desperate with some people having to boil snow to use as drinking water. our morgan chesky has the latest. >> reporter: people in texas facing a power outage and now a water crisis nearly 7 million state wide without access to clean drinking water. the white house declaring a state of emergency for texasing okl , oklahoma, and other states >> texas deserves answers for how this occur and how it's going to be corrected

senator ted cruz speaking out overnight, the one-on-one exclusive interview. why he says he took a family vacation while his state was in crisis and the text message his wife reportedly sent. >>> new lease on life. the woman who was hiding inside a church in ohio for three years to avoid being deported finally goes home. what her case says about the current push for immigration reform. >>> breaking overnight, the new investigation focusing on marilyn manson. >>> caught on video, the tv reporter held up while in front of the camera. >>> and later, going green. one determined golfer refuses to let the snow get in the way of his game. >>> good friday morning, everyone. 12 states and washington, d.c. have declared emergencies because of the winter weather. >> at least 40 deaths are blamed on the extreme conditions. let's get to the radar now, the latest storm wrapping up in the northeast, and it was another frigid night across texas where a gradual warm-up will begin today. >>> the power is coming back on but millions of people in texas are without drinking water.

join the cruz's at the ritz carlton in cancun, where they stayed before. anyone can or want to leave for the week, according to the "new york times," we may go to cancun. she floated a direct flight and hotels with capacity. seriously. the times says the texts were confirmed by a second person on the thread, who declined to be identified, because of the message's private nature. cruz's office did not respond for request for comment, texas democrats are calling on him to resign. >> as leader, we stay on the shift. we don't leave the ship when the ship is in trouble. >> manyexs still without water, are furious. >> what would you tell senator cruz, if you could? >> to get his butt back over here and help us out. help these people out. >> that's gabe guiterrez reporting. >>> let's turn to the micro climate weather forecast. that's the scene at the golden gate bridge. rain is hitting in some parts of the bay area. so what does your weekend look like? meteorologist kari hall is here. kari, what's the news? >> we do still have some really light rabe, but of cours

look, this is a multilayered issue for ted cruz. not only are we talking about leaving his state while it's struggling and people -- millions of people are without electricity, you also have to layer in that there's a pandemic happening, as you noted earlier. there are restrictions on traveling to places like mexico. and so you know, back in the school district that his kids are he said that the school is closed this week. and we heard from a couple of parents at that school who were unhappy that he was traveling internationally, saying they'd been discouraged to do this and that if i come back you have to quarantine for seven days. there's a lot of layers to this story. >> and not just traveling internationally, traveling to mexico where the cdc specifically gives a high warning of not to go there. it's fascinating. and fascinating reporting that you were able to obtain those messages. shane, appreciate it. shane goldmacher, thanks so much for the reporting. joining us now is texas democratic congress juan joaquin castro. congressm

the "new york times" has obtained text messages from friends of the cruz family that show heidi cruz saying that their house was freezing and inviting everyone in the neighborhood to join them at the ritz carlton in cancun where they have stayed several times, according to the texts obtained by the "new york times." ms. cruz told the neighbors that they'd be coming back from cancun on sunday. that was the plan. nbc news has learned that senator cruz's return flight from cancun was scheduled for sunday until it was suddenly changed at 6:00 a.m. this morning so that the senator could fly back to houston today. and the only reason senator cruz came back to texas today is because he got caught sneaking off to cancun in the middle of a crisis, a life-threatening crisis for the people in the state he is supposed to represent. and the reason he snuck off to cancun, and here the story spreads far beyond senator cruz to the republican party more generally, the reason he snuck off to cancun is because senator cruz does not understand what leadership is and like so many other elected officials

this story is bigger than ted cruz.her republican, the mayor of a small town in west texas, had to resign this week after telling his residents to stop whining about the cold and power outages, suggesting only the strong would survive. the same attitude prevailed up and down texas state government, which is controlled by republicans at every level. texans were warned a full decade ago about its power grid could not withstand severe weather like we're seeing this week. and republicans ignored the warning, kicking the can down the road in favor of dereulation and ever growing oil profits. the state's so-called leaders including governor greg abbott, have been blaming renewable energy for the crisis, even though the state runs primarily on fossil fuels. and this dereliction is hardly new. texas republican leaders have been mocking other states for their natural disasters for years. their favorite scapegoats include a second term congresswoman from queens and a green new deal that doesn't exist yet anywhere in the country.

ted cruz is usually nothing but calculated. a very poor calculation, very callous. >> and you cover him lisa. also very into social media. it's not like this would have been surprising to him that people would take pictures of him and this would pop up. >> exactly. i mean, i don't understand it, except that sometimes he is known to put his own self-interests above those of the state and this is just another example. >> and anna, this comes at a time where the cdc is urging people not to travel. >> yeah. look, at least in these pictures he's wearing a mask. i've seen several pictures of him flying before where he's not wearing a mask. and you know, lisa's very right. what we've seen from ted cruz in january was him peddling lies that led to an insurrection, and an act of domestic terrorism that led to deaths and injuries of over 140 police. what we see from him in february is him fleeing the state while his constituents are burning furniture and sleeping in their cars in order to stay alive and not freeze to doeth. death. a leve

this is senator cruz's move. and he comes back and suddenly he wants to have a reset and put it back together. this is gross, negligent, reckless incompetence. >> yeah. and, you know, willie, of course text messages revealed later showed it wasn't the children asking that he goes down for a day and then comes back. again, everybody's welcome to go where anybody wants to go. just not in the middle of an ice storm. and this is, again -- >> it's more than an ice storm. it is a catastrophe. >> it is just a catastrophe. that false populism he always talks about. i'm against all the fighters. and barack obama is playing pool. this guy went to princeton, harvard, mr. elitist himself always playing the populist card. and it's just -- it's been phony. and he got called out this week. >> yeah. almost like all that outrage was insincere and completely phony as we looked through the clips. he criticized the mayor for going to cabo. and complete and utter arrogance to think you could scroll onto a plane on a commercial flight

>>as cruz county moves into occupation base vaccinations santa cruz public health is determined thatchers will live or work in santa cruz county both serve the community and are eligible for vaccines under phase, one b. >>in its response to our inquiry. santa clara county public health wrote quote based on states guidance and allocation formulas to date vaccinations of any population other than health care workers have been limited by county of residence. we understand that the state is working on uniform guidance and as soon as that is released the county will make any necessary adjustments to vaccine appointment eligibility. >>i'm by far not the only one i know there are hundreds all throughout county. teachers as well as other education employees to live in other counties, specifically santa cruz county walker for example is among the 9% of san jose unified school district employees living outside santa clara county. >>in its statement the district said it is working on options or other pathways to the vaccine saying quote we will provide all san jose unified employees the opportu

and why the media is roasting ted cruz ted cruz for flying to mexico after going easy on gavin newsom for defying his own covid rules with a fancy french dinne. we will look at that next. ♪ ♪ reported reductions in pain severity, using less or a lot less oral pain medicines. and improved quality of life. that's why we recommend salonpas. it's good medicine. sfx: [sounds of everyday life events, seen and heard in reverse] ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ sfx: [sounds of fedex planes and vehicles engines] ♪♪ sfx: [sounds of children laughing and running, life moving forward] ♪ ♪ >> rachel: senator ted cruz under fire for taking his family and flying to mexico as the state of texas is reeling from a deadly and devastating winter storm. now about 24 hours before flying home and apologizing. >> in hindsight, i wouldn't have done it. i was trying to be a dad. all of us have made decisions when you've got two girls who have been called for two days and haven't had heat or power, saying, we don't have school, why don't we go and get out of here? really from the moment i sat on the plane i began really second-gues

chris: well, that was ted cruz's original story as he headed back home.rned he'd left freezing texas this week for a trip to sunny, 80-degree mexico. but that was not the end of it. and it's time now for our sunday group. senator mitch mcconnell's former chief of staff, josh holmes, pollster kristin soltis anderson and moe e lay think of georgetown university's institute of politics and public service. so, josh, part of the problem -- i guess the biggest part of the problem was the fact that ted cruz thought he should go down to mexico in the middle of this freeze-up in the first place, but compounding that was the fact that his story kept changing. as we say, first he was just dropping his family off and come back the next day, then it turned out that his wife heidi was inviting friends to come join them through the weekend. take a look. >> i was try to be a dad, and all of us have made decisions. when you've got two girls who have been cold for two days and haven't had heater power -- i'd initially planned to stay through the weekend and to work remotel

in typical ted cruz fashion, every detail that comes out of this story is more ted cruz-ier than theone. for example, senator ted cruz failed to mention his college roommate also was along for the visit. i got to say, that makes the "i was just escorting my kids" excuse sound really weird. ( as ted ) "hey, you wanna fly down to mexico for some fun? also, i have to leave immediately, can you watch my kids? one margarita apiece!" it gets worse, because after cruz returned, we found out he left his dog behind. now, before you feel sad for the dog, remember, he got to spend two days away from ted cruz. but united airlines has bigger problems than who ratted out ted cruz, and i'll tell you all about it in the latest installment of my beloved segment, "keep in mind, everyone's fine." >> i'm okay. >> stephen: remember, before you watch the footage i'm about to show you, keep in mind: everyone's fine. shortly after takeoff on a united flight from denver to honolulu, a passenger shot this video of-- oh, my god! oh, my god! now that is a good reason to use flight attendant call button. "uh, ex

cruz telling friends her house was freezing and inviting hers to join the cruz at the ritz carlton in cancun >> when things were happening we simply stayed on the ship and that's the commitment that we made when we signed up for these positions. >> reporter: cruz's office did not respond for comments about those reported texts >> gabe, thank you >>> this week's weather is still having a ripple effect on the covid-19 vaccine effort 42 million americans have received at least one dose hospitalizations in just over 62,000 miguel almaguer with more tonight. >> reporter: tonight as brutal weather finally begins to clear, its impact on the race to vaccinate americans is coming into view. 6 million doses were delayed to all 50 states because of shipping problems. this map shows the footprints of the storm but it reached coast to coast >> they don't have it. >> reporter: more than 2,000 vaccination centers lost power including hospitals and clinics. authorities scramble to inoculate anyone they could. lines forming at this texas synagogue. outside of the storm in florida, more than 200,000 do

cruz. rafael edward cruz is number two. he is number two all right. so he loads his family onto a plane to get the hell out of town. and unfortunately, you know, he's been on tv kissing trump's ass so much and for how long, everyone recognizes him, even with his mask on. they post all these pictures of him, and there's so much backlash, he has no choice but to immediately book a flight home. here he is on the upgrade list for a flight back to houston today. he didn't get upgraded, they put him in coach. [ laughter ] reporters were waiting for him at the airport in cancun. here you see the reporters following him on this fun journey. did you enjoy your trip? [ laughter ] united airlines, in an attempt to distance themselves from this controversy, put on out a video that -- well, just have a look. >> well, we're excited to have most of you on board. please make sure your safety belt is secured. unless you should be staying at home because your state is facing a historical humanitarian crisis. in that case, lift the buckle to release and get the [ bleep

not ted cruz. he was in mexico. you're with mitch mcconnell who believes that you have to nominate candidates who can win elections in november. not candidates who can win primary elections. and whether that person is supportive of president trump ortands apart from him, it doesn't matter to mitch mcconnell. as long as they can win an election and -- in states next year like pennsylvania, ohio, kansas, and, you know, ultimately win over independent voters maybe even some democrats who have not been fans of republicans in recent years. then you got the president who of course the former president who believes you got to be with him, you got to do it his way, you got to support everything he does and that's the only way for republicans to succeed. and what's trickier, too, and anna knows this well, is you got different political dynamics in the house and the senate. house elections will probably be won in districts where you got a large base of republican support and the way districts are drawn across the country, tho

protesters were outside senator ted cruz's home. ted cruz has repeatedly criticized others. two weeks ago he attacked the mayor of austin for going to mexico. i saw so many people saying, boy, you better be careful who's in your text chain. the take away is don't abandon your state in a time of crisis and try to lie about it and pin it on your kids. >> yes. this is something that have caught a lot of people who cover ted cruz. he is nothing if not very calculating about his image and thinking three steps ahead. the idea of just running away to an international trip into the warm luxury resort while your state is suffering just does not seem like politics 101 at all here. you often hear from politicians like cruz and others who talk about the coastal elites, mainstream media, do real people get on a plane in the middle of a pandemic in a cold snap and go to a luxury resort in texas? that does not sound like a man of the people to me. >> nope. >>> as texas tries to thaw out, covid vaccinations are set to resume in houston. they slowed across the country because the weather hel

i mean look, i get that ted cruz is tired. man deserves a break after trying to hard to overthrow the government. but this is not the time, ted! when your constituents said they need clean water, they didn't mean go find a wet t-shirt contest in cancun. i mean seeing ted cruz skip town for the beach has been very frustrating for the people in texas. but on the other hand, it has been really exciting for the people in cancun who got to meet him on the street. wow, bro, i didn't know that senior frog was a real guy. that was awesome. >> and what is even worse is that when he got caught, instead of owning up to it and apologizing, he acted like a total ted cruz. >> breaking right now an update on the reports that texas senator ted cruz took a trip to cancun as the state was dealing with massive power outages, something that had many of you upset online, a statement from cruz saying in part with school cancelled for the week, our girls asked to take a trip with friends, wanting to be a good dad, i flew down with them last night an

ted cruz flying to his family to cancun while people in his home state are freezing without food and water. how he's defending himself. growing fears of variants, and whether the new mutation may require a third shot and the biggest drop of life expectancy since world war ii dr. anthony fauci one-on-one of whether he says teachers need to be vaks ccinated before schools reopen. the new investigation of covid deaths in new york of nursing homes. the fellow democrat says governor cuomo threatens him for speaking out nasa's mission all coming down to a nail-biting seven minutes. >> announcer: this is nbc "nightly news" with lester holt. >> good evening, from deep freeze and days without power now crisis of no water. a million or more people are still in the dark with millions more without drinkable water, melting snow for basic needs. we'll take you there in a moment >>> there is also news we'll get to about the vaccines and those dangerous covid strains and later talk about sticking a landing. the big deal that happens on mars and the first photo. let's start closer to home with morgan

matt, gas mask gaetz tweeted ted cruz should not have apologize. that can be used by someone else. this is probably the best thing he can do for the state right now. and of course sean hannity making the case that working remotely is still work, even if your remote workplace is senor frogs. >> you made the right call coming back. you also can be a father. there's also something called technology. we also know what teleworking is, and i think there's a lot of sanctimony in politics comes from that. >> the worst comes from donald trump jr. tweeted, the hypocrisy of those trying to cancel ted cruz who have been silent on their democratic incompetence is telling. first off, your dad will never love you, and second, we are being very very quiet about the democratic governor of texas, and you know, that's because there is no democratic governor of texas. the texas governor is a republican, man. but you and your party are so programmed to place the blame on democrats that you're spitting out dribble on a swivel, rather than blaming the daughter blamer who

criticized austin, the mayor, while flying to cabo >> reporter: cruz had this message for texas. >> you can stay home and don't risk the ice >> reporter: the senator was originally scheduled to return on saturday but rebooked his flight early >> what's happening in texas is unacceptable and a lot of texans are hurting. >> reporter: among them, several we met still don't have water and still standing in line for propane. >> reporter: what would you tell ted cruz >> get your butt back here and help us out. >> reporter: senator cruz did from reporters here he went out another exit lester >> in 60 seconds, dr. fauci on reopening schools and when things will get back to normal and will a third vaccine dose be needed >>> let's turn to the covid crisis now andrea mitchell spoke with dr. anthony fauci. >> reporter: dr. fauci weighing in on the heated debate of vaccines at schools. >> is it safe for teachers to go back to those schools not vaccinated >> to say you are not going to open up schools until every single one of the teacher getting vaccinated, i don't think that we can go there oth

climb aboard a ted cruz.ed cruz not responsible for covid, motion sickness or nausea related to seeing his face. >> that last line. eugene daniels, can you top that? >> no! >> i don't think so at all. you know, i think -- it was brutal to watch and that's -- that is why it's confusing, why his team and him even thought that he could kind of go and get away with this. ted cruz is someone that really brings a lot of emotion out of a lot of people on the right and the left. and it's an example of something that americans really dislike about washington, d.c. someone who criticizes other politicians for doing something very similar and then the lie and the spin and then finally having to say that you did it. and all of that reminds people why they don't like washington, d.c. and it's a reminder to all of us that the group chat is never safe. be very careful with what you put in the group chat, because it always may come out and that's exactly what happened here today. >> that's the lesson eugene is taking away fr

resign, ted cruz!side for his arrival home. and speaking to reporters, senator cruz expressed regret. ...whether the decision to go was tone—deaf. it was obviously a mistake and, in hindsight, and people i was trying to be a dad. and all of us have made decisions... when you've got girls who have been cold for two days and they're saying, "look, we don't have school, why don't we go, let's get out of here?" i think there are a lot of parents that would be like, 'if i can do that, great.�* that's what i wanted to do. as i said, really from the moment i sat on the plane, i began really second—guessing that decision, saying, "look, i know why we're doing this, but i've also got responsibilities." let's get more on this now from alana rocha, who is a reporter at the texas tribune. thank you very much for coming on the programme.— thank you very much for coming on the programme. thank you for havin: on the programme. thank you for having me- _ on the programme. thank you for having me. that _ on the program