Winter storm warnings and cold weather advisories are still in effect in Texas, with warmer weather expected to come in on Saturday. More than 2.4 million remain without power in Texas, and Louisiana, Kentucky and West Virginia are also experiencing major power outages as the winter storm rages on. The days of devastating power and water outages have come on the heels of Texas’ winter coronavirus surge. The state’s health department said that Covid-19 tracking data would remain artificially low this week because the weather has disrupted testing and tracing. Winter storm amplifies power grid inequalities for disadvantaged Texans Alexandra Villarreal As a brutal winter storm pummeled much of Texas, Cecilia Corral scoured social media posts written by fellow Austinites. From single mothers and their newborns, others in her city were freezing without heat or desperately needed food. “Yesterday, I lost count the number of times that I cried from what I was seeing,” said Corral, co-founder and vice-president of product at CareMessage, a nonprofit and patient engagement platform focused on medically underserved areas Millions of Texans found themselves cold and in the dark on Tuesday, unleashing suffering and death in a state that produces the most electricity in the nation by far, yet somehow lost control of its own power grid amid a harsh winter. Amid the catastrophe, photos of illuminated city skylines circulated on social media, sparking outrage, and revealing how socioeconomically disadvantaged families and people of color shouldered an outsized burden from officials’ bungled management. “It’s not just today. It’s not just this emergency. It’s every emergency,” said Natasha Harper-Madison, mayor pro-tem of Austin. “These are the kinds of disparities that we see on a normal basis all the time. They just happen to be amplified because of the emergency.” As sub-freezing temperatures and inches of snow shocked Texans in recent days, cranked thermostats warred with tougher operating conditions at power plants. With skyrocketing demand for energy and dwindling supply, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which manages the flow of electric power for most of the state, initiated outages to try to cope with roughly 34,000 megawatts of lost power. But critical infrastructure was exempt from the long-term blackouts, benefitting residents in the denser, more affluent areas that usually house those services, and disadvantaging underprivileged communities forced into neighborhoods where those resources are scarce. In Austin, the state capital, widespread blackouts have once again highlighted the city’s “racial and economic segregation”, Harper-Madison said. Images showed Austin’s swanky downtown – kept online to support warming centers, a local hospital, government buildings, etc – juxtaposed with the blackouts around it. In Dallas, skyscrapers lit up in festive reds and hot pinks for Valentine’s Day this long weekend, frivolously exhausting the city’s power, and Houston’s office buildings likewise shone bright on Monday night while locals shivered in their homes. Initially, rolling power outages were supposed to last a matter of minutes, but as the power grid foundered, they have extended long past those expectations, sometimes for days. “The current situation is not – absolutely not – tenable. There’s no excuse for this,” said Varun Rai, director of the University of Texas Energy Institute. As houses and apartments turn bitterly cold, hundreds of Texans are using life-threatening methods such as grills, cars or generators for heat and are falling seriously ill from carbon monoxide poisoning, including a woman and girl who died in Houston. CDC warns of "widespread delays" in Covid-19 vaccine deliveries due to winter storm The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said that states will face serious delays in receiving doses of Covid-19 vaccines due to the winder storm that has caused dangerous road conditions and power outages. “Due to the severe winter weather currently impacting a large swath of the country, the U.S. government is projecting widespread delays in COVID-19 vaccine shipments and deliveries over the next few days,” the CDC said in a statement. “Shipping partners are working to deliver vaccine where possible, contingent on local conditions, but the adverse weather is expected to continue to impact shipments out of the FedEx facility in Memphis, Tenn., as well as the UPS facility in Louisville, Ken., which serve as vaccine shipping hubs for multiple states.” In Texas, where many have been without power or water for days, the elderly and vulnerable residents scheduled to get vaccines this week are in limbo. Vaccinations in Alabama, Indiana, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Missouri and New Hampshire have been disrupted this week. DHS seizes more than 11m counterfeit N95 masks The Department of Homeland Security has seized more than 11m counterfeit masks, the agency’s secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said at a press conference. The seizures were made over the last few weeks, and search warrants have been issued to conduct more raids, Mayorkas said. “We are at a vulnerable time, of course, with the pandemic costing so many lives and causing so much harm,” he said. “And that individuals, criminals exploit our vulnerabilities for a quick buck is something that we will continue to aggressively pursue.” The investigation was prompted after 3m, a company that manufactures N95s, reported suspected fakes. Hospitals and medical facilities in 12 states have been notified that they may have purchased counterfeits, per the DHS. Latino and Black Americans see lowest Covid vaccination rates, new data shows Nina Lakhani Latino and Black Americans are being vaccinated against Covid-19 at the lowest rates despite suffering disproportionately high levels of serious complications and deaths, new analysis reveals. Only 3.5% of Latinos and 4.5% of Black Americans have so far received a vaccine shot compared with 9.1% of white Americans and 8.6% of Asian Americans, according to state figures analyzed by APM Research Lab. Indigenous Americans have the highest inoculation rate so far, with 11.6% (one in nine) already having received at least one dose. News of the relatively fast vaccination rollout in Indian Country comes shortly after the Guardian revealed that Indigenous Americans are dying from Covid faster than any other community in the US. Analysts warn that the available data is extremely patchy due to poor reporting by many state health departments, but that the trend strongly suggests that access to the Covid vaccines has so far been inequitable. “Unfortunately, despite the fact that we know Covid-19 has had very disparate impacts, about half of all states currently fail to provide vaccination data by race and ethnicity,” said Craig Helmstetter, managing partner of APM Research. “In the states that are providing data, Black and Latino Americans are lagging far behind Asian, white and indigenous Americans. It was several months into the pandemic that cities and states began releasing racial and ethnic breakdowns of Covid hospitalizations and deaths. A year on, almost half a million Americans have died, yet we still do not know the ethnic background of one in 10 people killed by the virus. The vaccination rollout got off to a very slow start in the US, hampered by the Trump administration’s inadequate preparation and logistical support for states, as well as chronic underinvestment in public health capacity. The pace has picked up, with more than 1.6m doses now being administered every day, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Joe Biden’s national Covid strategy promises to put equity at the heart of the vaccination programme, as his team strives to meet a campaign promise to get 100m doses into arms in his first 100 days in office. As of 12 February, only 24 states and the District of Columbia had published comparable data about the number and share of their racial and ethnic communities who have received one or both Covid-19 vaccine doses. New York and Illinois, two of the six most populous states, are among those that had not released comparable ethnicity data, making it impossible to track whether promises to ensure equitable access are being kept. The White House has issued a readout of Joe Biden’s call with Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel. “The President emphasized U.S. support for the recent normalization of relations between Israel and countries in the Arab and Muslim world,” the White House readout says. “He underscored the importance of working to advance peace throughout the region, including between Israelis and Palestinians.” The Israeli readout did not mention Palestine. Today so far That’s it from me today. My west coast colleague, Maanvi Singh, will take over the blog for the next few hours. Here’s where the day stands so far: The controversial conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh died at 70. Limbaugh’s wife, Kathryn, announced on his radio show that he died this morning from complications of lung cancer. Limbaugh announced last year that he had been diagnosed with stage four lung cancer. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris endorsed prioritizing teachers in vaccine distribution, as many American parents call for reopening schools. White House officials added that the president and the vice-president agree with guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that vaccinating all teachers is not a requirement to reopen schools. The White House declined to offer a timeline for when the country may return to normal. Press secretary Jen Psaki said today, “We are not in a place where we can predict exactly when everyone will feel normal again.” During his CNN town hall yesterday, Biden said he thought the country might be somewhat back to normal by Christmas. Joe Biden spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today. The hour-long call was the first conversation between the two leaders since Biden took office. Donald Trump broke his media silence. For the first time since leaving the White House last month, Trump participated in a television interview. The former president spoke to Fox News about the death of Limbaugh, and he’s expected to do two more interviews tonight. Maanvi will have more coming up, so stay tuned. It appears that Donald Trump will continue his media tour tonight, after giving his first post-presidency television interview earlier today. Newsmax has said the former president will participate in a 7pm ET interview to discuss the death of radio host Rush Limbaugh and other issues. Trump is also expected to appear on Fox News host Sean Hannity’s show tonight. Trump called in to Fox News this afternoon, shortly after Limbaugh’s wife announced that he had died of lung cancer this morning. In the interview, the former president described Limbaugh, who was a loyal supporter of Trump, as a “fantastic man” and a “fantastic talent”. Trump also took the opportunity to repeat his lies about widespread fraud in the presidential election, which resulted in the deadly insurrection at the Capitol last month. Biden meets with labor leaders to discuss coronavirus relief Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are meeting with labor leaders in the Oval Office to discuss coronavirus relief. “A lot of these folks have been my friends for a long, long, long time,” Biden said of the labor leaders. “As they say in parts of my state, these are the folks that brung me to the dance.” The president also touted the positive polling about his $1.9tn coronavirus relief proposal, which is making its way through Congress. “I asked a rhetorical question, those who opposed the plan: What don’t they like?” Biden said to reporters at the start of the meeting. “Don’t they want to help people with nutrition? Don’t they want to help people be able to pay their mortgages? Don’t they want to help people get their unemployment insurance?” As the reporters were being shuffled out of the Oval Office, one journalist asked about Biden’s call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The president said they had a “good conversation”. House speaker Nancy Pelosi has released a statement about the winter storm impacting Texas, which has caused widespread power outages. “All Americans are watching the situation in Texas and throughout the heartlands with great sadness. We must come to the aid of those suffering without power and water, and we grieve with the families who have lost loved ones to this disaster,” the Democratic speaker said. Pelosi applauded Joe Biden for declaring a state of emergency in Texas, adding that the president’s coronavirus relief proposal would secure $50bn the Fema disaster relief fund. “Extreme weather poses risks to the grid that require smart and urgent investments to reduce blackouts and brownouts,” Pelosi said. “Together, we must build back better an electric grid that’s cheaper, cleaner and more reliable.” Biden talks with Netanyahu for the first time as president Joe Biden had an hour-long conversation with Benjamin Netanyahu today, the Israeli prime minister said. In a tweet, Netanyahu’s office shared a photo of the prime minister on the phone with Biden. Netanyahu said the conversation was friendly, and the two leaders committed to strengthening the alliance between their nations. It took Biden four weeks after his inauguration to speak to Netanyahu, which had raised questions in Israel about the relationship that the two leaders would have, especially considering the close ties between Netanyahu and Donald Trump. Yesterday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Biden would “soon” speak to Netanyahu, but she did not specify when. Jill Biden will soon sit down with Kelly Clarkson for her first solo television interview since Joe Biden was sworn in, the first lady’s office announced today. A spokesperson for Jill Biden said the interview will be aired next Thursday, on “The Kelly Clarkson Show: White House Edition with the First Lady, Dr. Jill Biden”. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo reportedly threatened a Democratic legislator with political retribution as his administration faces criticism for concealing the extent of coronavirus deaths in long-term care facilities. CNN reports: Describing an alleged exchange with the governor that has not been previously reported, Democratic Assemblyman Ron Kim told CNN that he received a call on his cell phone from the governor last week as he was bathing his children at home. ‘Gov. Cuomo called me directly on Thursday to threaten my career if I did not cover up for Melissa [DeRosa] and what she said. He tried to pressure me to issue a statement, and it was a very traumatizing experience,’ Kim said. Cuomo proceeded to tell the assemblyman that ‘we’re in this business together and we don’t cross certain lines and he said I hadn’t seen his wrath and that he can destroy me,’ according to Kim. ... When CNN first reached out to Cuomo’s office for comment for this story on Tuesday, communications director Peter Ajemian did not directly respond to or deny Kim’s allegation of threats from the governor in a written statement. Late Tuesday, Ajemian said the office would send a clarifying statement. Ultimately, the office sent a statement from senior adviser Rich Azzopardi late Wednesday morning that said: ‘Kim’s assertion that the governor said he would ‘destroy him’ is false.’ DeRosa, a top aide to the governor, privately admitted to state lawmakers last week that the Cuomo administration concealed the extent of nursing-home coronavirus deaths because officials feared the justice department would launch an investigation into the matter. George W Bush sends condolences on death of Limbaugh Former Republican president George W. Bush released a statement earlier today with his and his wife, Laura’s, condolences on the death of conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh. “Laura and I are sorry to learn that Rush Limbaugh has passed away,” the statement read. “Rush Limbaugh was an indomitable spirit with a big heart, and he will be missed.” “As he battled hearing loss and cancer late in life, he was sustained by the support of friends and family, his love of sports and rock and roll, and his belief in God and country,” Bush said. The South Carolina House has passed a bill banning nearly all abortions in the state, following the lead of other states with similar measures that would go into effect if the US Supreme Court were to overturn Roe v. Wade. The Associated Press writes: The proposal passed the state senate on Jan. 28. It faces a final procedural vote in the House on Thursday that likely won’t change the outcome and will then be sent to the governor for his signature. Republican governor Henry McMaster has promised to sign the measure as soon as possible. The House voted 79-35 in favor of the bill after nearly all members of the Democratic caucus walked out in protest at one point. A few Democrats stayed behind as Republicans wiped out more than 100 proposed amendments. After holding a news conference to speak against the bill, several other Democrats returned to express their opposition to the measure, which has come up for debate in the legislature numerous times over the past decade. Nearly all House members were later present for the vote. “You love the fetus in the womb. But when it is born, it’s a different reaction,” said Representative Gilda Cobb-Hunter of Orangeburg, the House’s longest serving member at 29 years. Numerous Republican lawmakers spoke in favor of the bill. Rep. Melissa Lackey Oremus said plenty of women have mixed feelings when they get pregnant, especially when they aren’t where they want to be in their life. “They don’t deserve to die just because their mother made a bad choice one night,” Oremus said. The bill requires doctors to perform ultrasounds to check for [preliminary signs of] a heartbeat in the fetus. If such a pulse is detected, the abortion can only be performed if the pregnancy was caused by rape or incest or the mother’s life is in danger. About a dozen other states have passed similar or more restrictive abortion bans, which could take effect if the supreme court with three justices appointed by Republican former president Donald Trump were to overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 court decision supporting abortion rights. Lawsuits will follow if the bill becomes law. Afternoon summary The White House press briefing has wrapped up but there’ll be plenty more US political news in the offing this afternoon, so do stay tuned. Here’s where things stand so far today: ‘We are not in a place where we can predict’ when normal life will return to US life, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said. Joe Biden said last night that he hoped America would be “in a very different circumstance” with the coronavirus pandemic by Christmas, after being asked about normality at a town hall in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Donald Trump called in for a Fox News interview to discuss the death of radio host Rush Limbaugh. The former president described Limbaugh, who was a loyal supporter of Trump, as a “fantastic man” and a “fantastic talent”. He said they both believed Trump won last November’s election not Joe Biden who was, in fact, the clear winner. The White House announced that the Biden-Harris administration is investing $1.6 billion to expand coronavirus testing in the US. The government is focusing on support for testing in schools and to expand testing facilities to underserved populations, among other measures. Dr Anthony Fauci said this morning that he did not believe vaccinating all teachers should be a requirement before schools reopen.The infectious disease expert appeared on CBS’ “This Morning” show, where he said he believed requiring all teachers to be vaccinated before reopening was a “non-workable situation”. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said she did not know whether Joe Biden would release a statement about the death of Rush Limbaugh. The controversial conservative radio host died this morning, after being diagnosed with stage four lung cancer last year. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Joe Biden will ask the department of justice to conduct a review of his legal ability to cancel student debt once his team is in place there. Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer and Senator Elizabeth Warren have proposed calling for canceling $50,000 in student debt, but Biden reiterated yesterday that he supports canceling $10,000 in student debt. Schumer and Warren released a statement today saying, “Cancelling $50,000 in federal student loan debt will help close the racial wealth gap, benefit the 40% of borrowers who do not have a college degree, and help stimulate the economy. It’s time to act. We will keep fighting.” White House press secretary Jen Psaki would not say whether she is optimistic that the final coronavirus relief package will include the proposal to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour. “We’ll see,” Psaki said. “It may not look the same way when it comes out of the sausage-making machine.” Progressives in Congress have demanded that the $15 minimum wage hike be included in the relief package, but Joe Biden has previously expressed skepticism that the proposal will be allowed to stay in the legislation, due to reconciliation limitations.