i wish everybody could feel that feeling. >> reporter: andy and gabe are musicians in nashville. they met at a concert in 2000, and became friends. they got together on occasion, but not as often as they would have liked. so they invented this bit of silliness seven years ago as a way of guaranteeing they see each other at least once a week. >> so this is the high five. >> reporter: andy has a log every encounter, including the one that was nearly their last. >> he was high five 312. >> reporter: gabe was hospitalized with a severe case of encephalitis. >> i forgot my life. >> reporter: and that's when his buddy, andy, now a virtual stranger, came to visit. >> i said, well, gabe, i need you to do something for me, give me a high five. he was like, oka >> when the moment happened, my body just did what it's been doing for years, clap, snap, high five. >> reporter: that was in september. since then, a lot of his memories have returned. but few more cherished than this silly tradition, which doesn't seem quite so silly any more. >> it's really special to have a memory of something,

charlie, one of the things gabe plotkin said was he really felt this was a company that had no valuee opinion of the trader keith gill who who has ao testified today. >> yeah. i trust gabe plotkin over keith gill, although keith gill might have made more money on this trade in particular. liz: he did. >> the analysis on gamestop is pretty solid. i mean, it's a company that's burning cash. your last guest just explained the short thesis, and it's right there. it's what you see. the analysis for the longs is, oh, believe this company is going to be great someday. and if you put those together, this is definitely a short, not a long buy. liz: people said that about tesla, charlie. let me just say, people said that about tesla, and gabe plotkin -- >> yeah, let's not compare a company that's -- liz: charlie, all i'm saying, all i'm saying -- [inaudible conversations] for different reasons. >> listen to what i'm saying. you are comparing a company that's on the cusp of creating electric vehicles, the thing of the future, with a mall outlet that sells video games that you can buy over the i

a source tells cnbc that the company has asked that the fda for permission t nbc's gabe gutierrez is tracking the vaccine rollout for us. >> reporter: at boston's iconic fenway park, a difference kind of opening day, a massive vaccination site at the concourse, shots right next to the bar. >> my niece from concord calls me this morning at 7:30 and sayt the vaccine. robin barack is a health care worker. >> it was impossible to find an appointment. it wasn't smooth. >> reporter: so far, 50 million supplied, 32 million administered every morning this couple logs on to find an appointment, no luck. >> it's like buying a lottery ticket. >> reporter: a new cdc mask mandate comes up as new and more contagious covid-19 variants spread the south african strain first found in south carolina is now in maryland, the brazilian strain is in america there is some encouraging news new cases in nursing homes have declined over the past four weeks. >> nursing homes have been a top priority for vaccinations. as theirriving a drop in infections as well. >> reporter: new york city plans to shut down all

nbc's gabe gutierrez joins us with some t from houston gabe, good morning. >> reporter: phillip, good morning. more gas stations have shut down in the houston area, and more people have lined up here throughout the day, also in their cars waiting to get more propane. all this as city officials say millions across the region are without power. the so-called energy capital of the world is mostly powerless. >> who dropped the ball here >> i think it's the state. >> reporter: texas has its critic the governor is calling for an investigation of ercot who operates the grid. >> how could you not see it coming >> ercot saw it coming what happened on sunday, as the storm blew in, it did damage to the supply side. it knocked it enough out of balance we had to take these measures. >> reporter: wind and solar only make up 21% of the state's power. natural gas makes up half. this week there wasn't enough supply for the demand caused by the extreme temperatures. >> the power system, i think it's safe to say at this point was not prepared for climate change. >> reporter: el paso on the other side of

gabe gutierrez, nbc news >>> if you're one of the millions fortunate enough to have gotten the covid vaccine, what's safe to do afterwards and what activities should you still avoid? katie beck looks at that for us. >> reporter: as the vaccine rolls out and more americans roll up their sleeves -- >> it feels like freedom. you know like somebody's letting me out of a cage >> reporter: a shot of relief >> my mom lives ten minutes away and i haven't been able to hug her in a year. >> reporter: but for some questions about life after vaccination. dr. eleanor murray says it's a phased approach but about two weeks after a second dose it's okay to socialize with others who are fully vaccinated >> you can get together you can take fewer precautions. you know, you don't necessarily need masks on >> reporter: visits with grandchildren and returning to a favorite place also okay while being mindful that you may still be able to spread the virus. >> people are eager to get back to some activity, routine they might have had >> you're probably safer to go back to doing those things i think that th

an independent investigation into the death of elijah mcclain mcclain's father is speaking to our gabe gutierrez >> stop, i have the right to stop you because you are being suspicious >> reporter: the body camera of elijah mcclain in 2019 sparked nationwide protest police gotten the call about a suspicious man wearing a mask >> reporter: he died after the officer tackled him and placed him in a neck hold and sedated him. in a new report now says neither the call nor any of the officers involved identified a crime that mcclain suspected in committing and the ems gave him amount of sedative the investigation was flawed because the department failed to ask basic questions of justification of use of force more mcclain's father -- >> did this have to happen >> no. if they were to treat him like a human and talk to him. >> reporter: the panel recommended that the police department review police training and want the officers involved to be fired and arrested >> it is time for these officers to take accountability. >> reporter: no comments from the aurora police department, mcclain would have

gabe gutierrez, antonia hylton, thanks to the both of you. we appreciate your reporting. >>> let me drink in congressman lloyd dogget representing the austin and san antonio areas. congressman, good morning to you. >> good morning. good to be with you, hallie. >> great to have you. i know it's been an unreal week for you i'm sure. this is now a water crisis in addition to a power crisis. how are people in your district doing? >> well, there are tens of thousands of people without water of any kind and a boil order -- boil water order in effect from san antonio through austin. i know we had a big apartment fire in san antonio last night, water was an issue, water pressure is an issue here. you know, what we have today is bright sunshine and thanks to some really tremendous utility workers who have been out there in the cold reconnecting us we've got power for most people, but we lack dependable water. and that's because we have in greg abbott our governor and his republican allies a government that just has not been able to deliver. they could

find that information on our nbc's nightly news facebook page >>> new fallout on senator ted cruz gabe gutierrez has more on that >> reporter: senator ted cruz now admits his stay to cancun was a mistake. >> as i was heading down there i started to have second thoughts immediately because the crisis here in texas. >> reporter: he got a frosty reception. the "houston chronicle" says texans is angry with ted cruz right now. >> he needs to show up and act like he cares. >> reporter: "the new york times" reveals a series of text messages from his wife mrs. 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 wi

infection as well. >> reporter: this site is closing down and new york city is shutdown tomorrow >> gabe gutierrez, thanks very much >>> elon musk plans to send four civilians on a mission to orbit earth. one of a billionaire of a bigger goal tom costello is at is at headquarters >> reporter: he's about to fst n astronaut already under going physicals and getting measured for a space suit by the end of the year, he and three others will climb into a spacex rocket for a multi-day trip orbiting the earth. making it happen another billionaire, spacex founder and ceo, elon musk >> this almost sounds like a joyride for somebody and the people that can afford it. is that what it is >> it is like when america went to the moon. it was not just a few people humanity went to the moon. >> reporter: isaacman won't say how much he's paying for the trip >> it is a massive fund raising effort to raise as astonishing $200 million for cancer research at saint jude's hospital he's writing a personal check for $100 million after years of supporting the make-a-wish foundation, he says it makes sense >> if s

gabe gutierrez, nbc news, guadalajara, mexico. >>> still ahead, the bizarre case of the online court appearance and the doctor who zoomed in during surgery. >>> plus, a new twist in the mystery of lady gaga's missing dogs >>> the biden administration is reviewing its ties with saudi arabia the state department says it plans to provide new information monday on possible action after an intelligence report released yesterday held saudi crown prince mohammed bin salman responsible for the killing of journalist jamal khashoggi in 2018 >>> and now to breaking news out of montana take a look at this. as many as 40 vehicles involved in a massive pileup on a bridge near billings. the wreckage shut down the highway. it was icy and visibility was reportedly very low when the chain reaction accident occurred according to the highway patrol, two people jumped off the bridge to avoid being hit by sliding vehicles no deaths but serious injuries are being reported >>> and now to an update on tiger woods. the superstar golfer suffered multiple serious injuries to his leg in a car crash earlier this

and gabe, i live here so this has been all over the news. new yorkers with underlying health conditions can now get vaccinated. what are sites doing to keep up with demand? because we know the governor said it, local officials have said it, they just don't have the supply. >> reporter: yeah, that's exactly right, chris, you mentioned across the country the speed of vaccinations has been picking up, but this is one of many mass vaccination centers that officials say could be doing more if only they had the supply. we've seen a steady stream of people coming in for appointments here this morning, but we have been speaking with people throughout the past 24 hours who are extremely frustrated at the state's website that essentially slowed down yesterday, and in some cases grinding to a halt because so many new yorkers, several million of them, in fact, were now eligible for appointments for the first time because they had underlying health conditions. we spoke with one woman, 37 years old, she has sickle cell anemia, desperate to get a vaccine.

it's the little things >> reporter: she'd waited long enough gabe gutierrez, nbc news, east hartford, connecticut. >>> i'm miguel almaguer tonight inside these labs the cdc is hoping to analyze 6,000 covid samples a week, a race to track down dangerous and potentially deadlier variants of the virus, with the uk strain already detected in a majority of states researchers fear if the south african and brazilian variants are more resilient to vaccines the death toll could climb to 600,000 in three months >> we just don't really have a system to detect them before they become a problem. >> reporter: after just emerging from the deadliest month of the pandemic authorities say the variants could fuel a new surge in cases as early as march. while fewer americans are testing positive for the virus, testing sites are becoming harder to find and if there's less testing, new variants may be more prevalent. even for those who have recovered from covid, antibodies may not protect them from new strains of the virus. kelsey townsend, who was pregnant and on life support for almost 75 days, was just

is several days and it is making me ner nervous. >> reporter: it won't be nearly enough to meet >> gabenk you very much. >>> nbc news in partnership with a challenge success, conducted one of the most extensive national survedemand, lester >>> nbc news with partnership with challenge success, school of education, conducted on a national survey on how the pandemic affected students >> reporter: students are facing unprecedented challenges >> we are struggling >> it basically sucks. >> got me less interested >> reporter: we have been following 16 students ins the first day of school and they echoed what was found on our national survey. >> i never felt so much stress in one school year >> reporter: 75,000 students from 2018 to 2020 and in the fall of 2020 alone, found that over 56% of students said their stress related to school increased compares to the time of coronavirus >> i definitely feel very stressed and probably get around four or five hours of sleep. >> why am i having so many break downs. >> reporter: why am i having many mental breakdown. >> reporter: she went from frustration

here is gabe gutierrez. >> reporter: today in new york, phillip smith, could not sign up >> refresh andesh and you have to go back through the form again and again. >> reporter: he's been trying since sunday the demand on the state's website had been overwhelming he's still waiting >> i wish he could straighten it out so people can get vaccinated >> reporter: on sunday they were booking 350 appointments per minute >> reporter: how will authorities verify these folks have underlying conditions >> here at mount sinai, we'lln. >> reporter: more than 52 million doses have been administered but give letters to patients verifying their underlying conditions >> reporter: more than 52 million doses have been governor is refusing to expand eligibility. >> i am uncomfortable moving on from where administered but states are still struggling with supply there is not enough for the first shot california shutdown several vaccination sites and massachusetts governor is refusing to expand eligibility. >> uncomfortable moving on from where we are until we demonstrated that we made it possible for as man

nbc's gabe gutierrez joins us from the barclays center in brooklyn with the latest hey, gabe.en at 10% capacity the barclay center is rolling out new testing protocols as it welcomes fans tonight. it all comes, as you mentioned, with the emotional ceremony at the white house. president biden paused to remember the more than 500,000 lives lost to covid-19 on the vaccine front, officials say the country will be able to catch up to the 6 million delayed doses due to the weather last week by midweek however, super sites across the country are still shut down because of no supply, and many governors are frustrated at the barclay's center and in new york, the epicenter of the crisis at one point, places are starting to reopen barclay's center allowing fans with a mask and social distancing a key part of this is the ventilation system here. the brooklyn nets ceo says that the arena will be able to turn over air several times an hour also, it was announced that new york city will reopen movie theaters soon at 25% capacity. hoda >> all right promising signs there, gabe. thank you. >>>

gabe, what is it like on the ground? >> reporter: good afternoon, this is the water that is being loaded up by the city of houston officials that will soon be distributed to senior centers throughout the area. and katy that is the big problem today. thankfully overnight the power situation improved dramatically here in houston. we went from about 1.4 million people without power to about 100,000 or so. and we're continuing to see an improving power situation, but clean water is what people are looking for. you see all of this again being distributed throughout houston. we snow some water tankers are being prepared. but katy you mentioned earlier we heard from officials this morning and that raised a lot of eyebrows. it said that things could have been catastrophic if they did not impose those images on saturday night. what that means is is if the season is collapsed completely it could have taken months to rebuild it. many people feel it was a catastrophic view. dallas still dealing with extremely cold temperatures right

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 course, that's -- rain, but of course that's nothing compared to the deep freeze that we've seen across the middle part of the country and still pretty cold, although the temperatures are slowly coming back up. and so we have some mild weather here, and some light rain, and we've been seeing the first of li out there, with those low clouds, and we have another one, another chance of rain, right behind that for early tomorrow morning, and not a lot showing up here, on storm ranger, as we have seen once again, the very fine mist coming through, out of those clouds, especially near the coastline. so as we check out san jose, at times still some light sprinkles here and there, but overall, it's going to be a fairly good day, at least comfortable, w

gabe gutierrez, fascinating piece.xt here, a new in-person sunday sitdown. a cross-country ski lesson with star comedian jim gaffigan talking about his life in standup, the reaction to his political commentary and his take on hot pockets. >>> a life well lived. the trailblazing woman who made history by getting behind the wheel of a bus in nashville. >>> as we head to break, our photo of the week. an incredible shot of mount aetna erupting in cicely. not only is europe's largest volcano, it is the most active. it has been spewing lava and ash for nearly two weeks with no end in sight. ♪ this is the first day of my life♪ ♪ i was born right in the doorway♪ ♪ i don't know where i am, ♪ ♪ i don't know where i've been♪ ♪ but i know where i wanna go♪ did you know diarrhea is often caused by bad bacteria in food? try pepto® diarrhea. its concentrated formula coats and kills bacteria to relieve diarrhea. see, pepto® diarrhea gets to the source, killing the bad bacteria. so, make sure to have pepto® diarrhea on hand. ♪♪♪ you do

hoda >> all right gabe, thank you. by the way, coming up in our next half hour, we're going to focus on a growing frustration over access to the vaccine wait until you hear who received their shots before more vulnerable members of their community. that's coming up. >>> first, there's a lot happening in washington to tell you about. despite the snow including new developments of the looming impeachment trial of former president trump this morning we now know who will lead his defense. nbc's senior washington correspondent hallie jackson with the latest. good morning >> savannah, good morning. with a key brief due tomorrow, the former president has hired two new lawyers and is now previewing his strategy for the upcoming trial in a statement, saying both of those attorneys agree, the impeachment is unconstitutional. that's after his previous defense team fell apart because, sources say, donald trump pushed for them to include his false claims of election fraud in their arguments. >> reporter: a last-minute legal team no

gabe said the iranians say they want sanctions lifted 1st before they'll talk the biden administration clearly doesn't see it that way how is this playing out then. yeah this is the initial stages of posturing when it comes to diplomacy and negotiations and this was a meeting that was face to face meeting that was proposed by the european union it would have been the 1st preliminary meeting between tehran and washington and this is what tehran has said no to at least for now but the door still remains very much open especially here in washington the white house spokesperson a white house post person giving a statement out jazeera basically saying that they are disappointed in the decision by iran but we remain ready to engage in meaningful diplomacy to achieve a mutual return to the compliance with the j c p o a the white house indicating now that they'll go back to the p 5 plus one the 5 permanent members of the security council of course united states france the u.k. . china and russia add the other being germany to see where they go from here bottom line is though what you said is t

gabe, you've been down there. you were at the airport when senator cruz came back, and he ducked out a become way, i guess. didn't talk to you guys there. blistering criticism. >> reporter: yeah, exactly right, andrea. you're right. senator ted cruz avoided reporters at the airport, did grant a few local news interviews as well as to fox new late last night. he did say he regretted his decision to go on the trip as soon as he got on the airplane. of course many folks here in houston and in texas, millions of whom were without power on wednesday, are outraged, and the outrage is growing. "the houston chronicle" with a blistering editorial basically saying that the anger in texas right now over cruz's trip could power an electric grid. we did speak with several people waiting for propane yesterday. they were extremely frustrated by the senator's trip. take a listen. what would you tell senator cruz if you could? >> to get his butt back over here and help us out. help these people out. a lot of people out here still

gabe so another vaccine approved for the u.s. how significant then is this j.n.j. jab. yes very significant for several reasons but primarily because it is only one shot to get the vaccination and that is key because the moderna and pfizer vaccines are 2 shots there's one in the beginning and then you wait about $20.00 to $30.00 days and get the 2nd shot this one with johnson johnson one shot you're done and you're out and you've got you're now vaccinated also and this is key the johnson and johnson vaccine does not need cold storage it doesn't need to be kept in very freezing temperatures from the time that it's shipped and stored at hospitals or anywhere that it's going to be administered to patients or to people and that's unlike the moderna and pfizer vaccine so this is a this is a vaccine that is going to be easier to get out get out quickly and also it with only one shot it's going to be much easier in many many ways so a lot of people very excited about this and they're expected to roll out the 1st 2 to 3000000 doses here in the united states as early as next wee

gabe gutierrez is in new york city following this story. gabe, take us through where things stand this morning for folks who are now in this expanded group. is the state able to accommodate them yet? >> reporter: well, this has been a problem over the last couple of days. andrew cuomo had said this would be an anxiety producing time because there are millions of new yorkers now eligible for appointments but only several hundred thousand slots at this point. we have been speaking with some people heading in for appointments this morning. many of them actually coming for their second dose. a few did make appointments over the weekend. they said it was difficult. in fact, we did speak with some people, including a 37-year-old sickle cell anemia patient who has not been able to secure a vaccine appointment as of this morning. another person, a 51-year-old, he has a type of blood cancer. he was forced to hit refresh and refresh over and over again over the weekend. >> i'm still in treatment. i go to the hospital. i'm sitting around a waiting roo

gabe gutierrez live for us in houston. quite the image behind you. stay safe, my friend. >>> joining us now from dallas is democratic congressman colin allred. congressman, thank you so much for your time. let's start there with just what we've learned from our colleague in houston and also ask you about what we see in dallas. 160,000 customers, i believe, in dallas county are without power right now. similar to that in houston. have you been given any indication at all when the power authority might get everything back on track in your district? >> well, thanks for having me on. we are facing a real crisis here in dallas where folks are worried about things like hypothermia, carbon monoxide poisoning. it's really an unprecedented situation for us. we have some folks who have been without power since sunday night and that's really unacceptable. we don't have, i think, an accurate idea of when all the power will come back online. we've been told in the next day or two we'll switch from these large blackouts that we've had to more of a rolling blackout

my colleague gabe gutierrez is in the big easy this morning. let's talk about the economic impact because new orleans depends on hospitality and tourism, more than most other cities around this country. how are they going to survive without mardi gras, not just without having tourists coming in, locals work in hospitality and they've been without jobs for a year. >> that's exactly right, stephanie, it's not just one big party, this is an economic lifeline for so many people here in new orleans. by one estimate they're losing about $130 million a week in tourism dollars, mardi gras, as you mentioned, just simply huge here, another study put it at a billion dollar impact. yes, as you mentioned, it's looking very different this year. as you can see behind me bourbon street is virtually empty. the barricades here and shutting down the streets. bars have been closed for several days leading up to fat tuesday and yes as you mentioned it all comes after last year, stephanie, public officials are trying to avoid a repeat of mardi gras 2020 where more t

gabe? >> reporter: hey there, ari. we're on the north side of houston now, i-45. behind me there was a line a few minutes ago, people lining up for propane. actually because of the chilly temperatures actually had gotten inside their cars. ari, this is something we've seen throughout the day. people here are so frustrated that they have not -- they don't have a timetable for when this power will be restored. now they're being asked to boil their water. many are asking how do you do that if you don't have power? and it's something you've heard over and over again today. ari, within the past few minutes, i actually spoke with ercot's ceo. that's a nonprofit that operates the power grid here in texas. i asked him point-blank, how could they not see this coming? the ercot ceo argues that they did see this coming, that there were warnings over the past week or so. the temperatures were dipped. but then on sunday, they just got hit across the state with these subfreezing temperatures, and they just could not meet the demand. they had some generators knocked offline. and

let me go to gabe gutierrez in new york. you have new york where you have that have just expanded vaccine eligibility to people under 65 if there are certain preexisting conditions, but, boy, that has triggered serious frustration from people trying to get an appointment. it's like basically getting a hot concert ticket online if they can. >> reporter: that's exactly right, hallie. over the past 24 hours we have spoken with several people that have really had such a frustrating time trying to get those appointments. we're here at the javits center, a mass vaccination site, and it's not just an issue of supply because many mass vaccination sites across the country for weeks have been saying that they could be doing so much more if they had an increased supply, but now as you mention it's those patients 65 and under with preexisting health conditions that are now eligible but there was such a demand yesterday here at the new york state website that it essentially ground to a halt during some parts of the day. we spoke with one

thanks very much >>> now a plea for help of human smugglers in texas gabe gutierrez with the 911 call a warning it is disturbing >> reporter: the call for help came monday night from san antonio from a migrant saying he was trapped inside this truck the 911 dispatcher tried to keep the caller on the line as he gasps for air >> reporter: investigators were able to ping the cell phone and track down the secure video >> reporter: the harrowing call offers a rare glimpse inside the reality of human smuggling. this body camera video from texas showed the rescue of suffocating migrants inside the tractor trailer. in 2017, 10 migrants were found dead inside another. >> this human smuggling organization don't care for human life all they care is to make profit. >> reporter: a source told nbc news that the tanker may have discovered empty and no sign of the migrants >>> now to our nbc news investigation, even with donald trump's second impeachment trial underway, behind the scenes, the most profitable assets in his real estate empire are at risk. cynthia mcfadden has the story. >> reporter: to

. >> gabe gutierrez, thank you. >>> how some are getting the >>> well, they are desperate for the covid vaccine and they don't want to wait, their is kerry sanders. >> reporter: the young and old unused vaccines. both moderna and fooiz pfizer are kept at low temperatures once they come to room temperature, the vaccine is good for five hours >> reporter: it is unclear how much vaccines have gone to waste. it is happening often enough vaccine facebook group crowd sourcing where to go >> for the moment this is working. >> there is no downside to what we are doing >> any arms is better than a trash. >> reporter: in seattle, brad johnson was tipped off by his son. >> reporter: they notified you and you ran. >> yeah. >> reporter: hunters hoping today is the day. >> we stayed here sunday, monday and tuesday and today. >> reporter: you have been waiting that long >> monica and her friend is not eligible to register in florida because they are from mexico leftovers are a fair game the vaccine hunters with the motto waste not, wano waited in line today? >> reporter: a dozen people here able to ge

here's nbc correspondent gabe gutierrez. >> reporter: a new scramble in the hunt for the vaccine.re underlying health conditions are now newly eligible. on sunday the demand brought the state's sign-up website to a halt. >> refresh, refresh, refresh. then you have to go back through the form again and again and again. >> reporter: 51-year-old phillip smith has a type of blood cancer. >> i want the vaccine. i want america to get back to normal. >> reporter: last week they announced people 16 to 64 with certain underlying health conditions would be eligible starting today but have just 24 hours to sign up beforehand. >> that was gabe gutierrez. with me now, medical contributor dr. natalie azar. thank you. so for being with us. so in new york, it's a bit of a problem because more people can get it. but the system isn't equipped to accommodate all those people and there's not enough vaccine. so are we expanding the population a little too fast here? >> yeah, i think that's probably a reasonable interpretation. look, for about a week now cynic we heard that the government was going to

suffered through the cold and lost of power, texas' senator, ted cruz is flying to cancun, mexico gabe gutierrez is in houston where the senator just landed >> reporter: ted cruz is back in houston offering this explanation before he boarded his flight to cancun >> we had no heat and power. yesterday my daughter says if i friends and heidi and i agreed so i flew down with them last night and i am dropped off here and headed back to texas. >> reporter: for many texans it was a bad look, his home state grappled with some freezing temperatures and an escalating crisis senator cruz boarded the flight to mexico and the pictures went viral. democrats are calling him to resign this is beyond anything you would expect during a crisis like this. >> reporter: it all comes after cruz 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 hurtin

gabe, what's going on? >> reporter: hey there. underlying medical conditions here in new york were allowed to sign up for these vaccine appointments but as the government had been warning for several days, millions of new yorkers were trying to sign up for hundreds of thousands of appointments and there was this huge backlog. the website slowed down for parts of yesterday. we spoke with one man, 51 years old. he has a type of blood cancer. he was so frustrated logging on the that website and having to hit refresh over and over again. >> i think it could be live saving. not only my own life but i could save somebody else's life but not transmitting covid to them. i'm still in treatment. i go do the hospital and i'm sitting around a whole waiting room of people with cancer. i don't want to get them sick especially people older and sicker than me because i've been in their position. >> reporter: that's phillip smith describing why he needs the vaccine. even though he's opinion trying to since yesterday, he hasn't been able to get it.

. >> reporter: they'll be back for another ride gabe gutierrez >> we know you have a lot of questions when and where you can get the vaccine. we are here to help on plan your vaccine campaign vicky nguyen tells us how it works. >> reporter: plan your vaccine of everything you need to know. first select your state and age group, you want to click on occupation and make sure you risk if you have any high-risk health concerns. learn the distribution timeline in your state, who's eligible now and who's up next. hover over your state and you will see the percentage of people who's vaccinated and how much of the allotted of vaccines have been used >> this interactive map and it will show you the closest vaccination site be sure to call ahead to make sure they have supplies available. you can enter your e-mail and sign up for alerts you can do that for as many if you want to help your parents plan their vaccine, you can sign up and get alerts for them it is available in spanish and mandarin, vicky nguyen, nbc news >>> up next, a look inside a little known crime unit of the irs. >>> inside th

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joining me now is gabe gutierrez. and everyone welcome. gabe, you're on the ground there, set the scene for us. >> we're talking about how people in texas want power and water. they don't know when they will get it. we're at a parking lot here on the north side of hus and this is something that we're seeing over and over again. people waiting for propane. and i got here late last night and it was incredible to see the city of houston. this is a very different disaster than you recollect harvey but it is a huge power debacle here in the city of houston and many businesses are shut down. more and more gas stations are shut down. so they want to heat their homes. city officials here just updated and said more than a million people in the city are without power. they are hoping to get the water system back up by tomorrow, but it's unclear when the power will return. and you mentioned the system here in texas different from the rest of the country, they're being questioned on why this could not be done sooner. they're saying operators earlier i

gabe, good morning >> good morning.k city. 15,000 vaccine appointments will be made available next week. but nationwide, some seniors say the hunt for the second dose is even harder than the first >> reporter: from coast to coast, for many seniors getting a shot in the arm has been a shot in the dark did you think it was easy to make an appointment? >> no. the program was really difficult and forget the telephone >> reporter: the problem not just the first dose but now the second in california, 76-year-old marjorie cline got her first moderna vaccine dose at dodgers stadium 11 days ago but sinc then she's spent hours trying to sign up for another one. how confusing is the whole process? >> it's very confusing it's first of all, it's confusing from the beginning to the end. it's kind of like you have to create your own roadmap. >> reporter: in texas, about 6,000 people are overdue for their second doses the cdc says for the vaccine to be most effective, people should get their second shot 21 days after getting the first

thank you so much, gabe. >>> joining us now is dr. jha, the dean of brown university's school of public health. dr. jha, good morning. >> dr. jha, we're talking about this 500,000 number. i mean, that is about the equivalent of the population of the entire city of atlanta. if we would have told you a year ago at this moment, we are going to be reaching 500,000 deaths by this point, would you believe that? >> yeah, so good morning. this short answer is no, i didn't believe it. i really thought we were going to do much better in this pandemic. you know, we have such a great public health agency in the cdc. we have so much capability as a country, great doctors and nurses, hospitals, good public health system. i just never, ever thought we'd hit anything close to this. this has been, i think, an unfortunate surprise for a lot of us. >> so many lessons to learn, and there will be time for that. we're still in the middle of it. do you think, though, dr. jha, that we have turned that corner? we do see the cases declining. obviously, the vac

gabe gutierrez has the latest on that gabe, good morning. >> hoda and savannah, good morning.istrict, elementary schools have already reopened, but parents are still waiting for word on when middle and high schools might come back. in other major cities, like san francisco and chicago, tensions are even higher. >> reporter: the push to reopen schools may now be heading to court. the city of san francisco is taking the unusual step of suing its own school district to force it to reopen for in-person instruction. >> it's important to understand that the fear our staff is feeling. >> reporter: the city attorney says while many private schools have reopened, public school kids have been remote learning for nearly a year. >> more than 54,000 san francisco schoolchildren are suffering. they are being turned into zoombies by online schooling enough is enough >> reporter: in chicago, the district and the teachers union are still locked in tough negotiations educators are refusing to return to in-person learning without being vaccinated quinton washington says because of that decision,

gabe gutierrez, nbc news, jersey city, new jersey. >> that's how it's supposed to work. coming up for us, it was that rare moment today when words from the american revolution echoed through the senate chamber. and this time it was not part of an effort to overthrow the government. (sam) gamers! verizon 5g ultra wideband is here, with ultra... low... lag! so start becoming the best gamers in the ga-- (avatars) oohh! (sam) 5g ultra wideband, now in parts of many cities. this is 5g built right. >>> let's do what thomas payne told us to do, use our common sense. the sense we have in common as citizens. if we don't draw the line here, what's next? what makes you think the nightmare with donald trump and his law making and violent mobs is over? >> last thing before we go tonight, that's jamie raskin, the lead house impeachment manager. he is a liberal democrat from maryland, a law professor by training, educated at harvard and harvard law school. his son tommy, named after thomas payne, was at harvard law school, second year student when he took his own life this winter after

. >>> state senator gabe cortez introduced a new bill today. it aims to end what he calls human trafficking in the digital age. >> even if an original video is taken consensually, to share that without a person's consent, is a form of abuse and sexual assault. that's what this bill is getting after. >> espy 435 is the bill's legal name. it would allow victims of online sex trafficking to take legal action. if it was taken in consent and distributed without consent, offenders could pay $100,000 for every two hours of online exposure, once given a notice of the violation. website the break the law would have to publicly disclose those violations. >>> the clock is ticking for california students to claim billions of dollars in financial aid for college. a new report shows that fast but it applications are down 11%. dream act applications, which extend aid to eligible undocumented students, are now 15%. the deadline to file fafsa, cal grant, is march 2nd. >>> it has long been accepted as normal blood pressure. according to a new study, why a one-si

>> i was really interested in a capital from melvin capital founder gabe plotkin. he said the hedge fund industry as a whole will have to adapt to this experience of gamestop. and we all know by now that gamestop short interest heading into the squeeze was very high. it was about 141%, which is pretty astronomical. he said melvin capital already has a data science team monitoring message boards which is really interesting because if you really scrape reddit and wallstreetbets, the first post about melvin capital and the potential for a short squeeze actually showed up in october. so that probably would have been pretty helpful for melvin to know since in january alone bloomberg news reported that they lost 53% on that gamestop short. taylor: did we get any further clarification today about the interrelationship of all of these people, where there is a lot of questions about maybe misconduct? what did we learn today? katie: that was definitely a focus. you had plenty of people testifying today but a lot of time was spent specifically on the robinhood ceo vlad tenev

i want to bring in from fenway park nbc new's gabe gutierrez.this is fenway park. the iconic home of the red sox. it's a little surreal to see concession stands to my left and to my right you see this long line now of people getting vaccinated, many of them 75 and older. this is the first day that seniors 75 and up can get vaccinated here in the state of massachusetts. as you mentioned, a senator told us it's like the wild west. they have been having trouble getting some of the vaccine appointments ready to go by signing up on the website. some of the people we spoke with say the process here at fenway has gone very smoothly. they got the this morning. they rushed over here. officials here say that they plan to get about 500 people vaccinated today and ramp that up eventually to more than 1,200 and hopefully they hope to do more. >> we have coordinated with the state. we only ramp up inasmuch as already those vaccines have taken -- have been taken into account. we're not worried in terms of accessibility of the vaccine. >> reporter: again, peopl