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Residents In Austin, Texas, Suffering From Cold Temperatures And Lack Of Water; COVID-19 Vaccine Sites Being Set Up Across U.S.; Experts Debate Whether To Provide More First Doses Of Pfizer And Moderna Vaccines Before Administering Second Doses To Increase Number Of Vaccinated; Texas Governor Greg Abbott Calls For Investigation Into Electric Reliability Council Of Texas Due To Power Failures During Winter Storms; Republican Rep. Anthony Gonzalez Faces Heavy Backlash From GOP For Voting To Impeach Trump. Aired 2-3p ET

Aired February 20, 2021 - 14:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[14:00:00]

VICTORIA ARBITER, CNN ROYAL COMMENTATOR: So I think there was a lot of sadness that Harry and Meghan felt that it was in their interests to leave. I think it's also difficult for Harry being able to now make his peace with his decision, because of course he's starting his new life, but those connections run deep. So it remains to be seen how they proceed.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Wow, it really is something. OK, Victoria Arbiter, thank you so much for helping us see through all of it.

ARBITER: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right, hi, again. Thank you so much for being with me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

We begin this hour in Texas where temperatures and tempers are rising, snow and ice is melting, but the new crisis -- no water. And if there is water, it must be boiled, with nearly half the state is under a boil water advisory. After frigid temperatures crippled the power grid, all morning we have seen thousands of people waiting in long lines trying to get their hands on bottled water.

Several Democratic congresswomen are surveying the damage left by the winter storm which knocked out power to millions of Texans.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ALEXANDRA OCASIO-CORTEZ, (D-NY): When disaster strikes, this is not just an issue for Texans. This is an issue for our entire country. And our whole country needs to come and rally together behind the needs of Texans all across the state.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: The storms have also created a backlog of coronavirus vaccines. The White House saying 6 million doses have been unable to be distributed because of the weather.

Let's focus on the critical situation happening in Texas. CNN's Omar Jimenez takes a look at how people are doing, how they're handling what has been a brutal week.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: So you never even used your fireplace before this?

JENN STUDEBAKER, AUSTIN RESIDENT: Oh, no.

JIMENEZ: Jenn Studebaker and her family in Austin, Texas, were burning chairs, pieces of bookshelves, before eventually scavenging for bits of wood without even a means to cut it.

STUDEBAKER: That hammer is actually what we were splitting it with.

JIMENEZ: Using their nearly abandoned fireplace now as a means of survival.

GRAYSON CRUISE, SON, 17, HIGH SCHOOLS SENIOR: We put the head of a futon bed and put it right here so we could get closer to the heat, and I would sleep right here. So we would all just kind of be huddling together.

JIMENEZ: Restlessness from the new mentality they've now had to adopt.

STUDEBAKER: Everyone is thinking if we just make it one more day, just get one more day. And it's like, well, what if it happens again tomorrow? OK, we can't burn all of this.

JIMENEZ: Even though the power is on --

STUDEBAKER: The water is not even bubbling, nothing.

JIMENEZ: -- the water isn't. And it's not just Austin, because they're among the millions across Texas under a boil water advisory. In Houston, miles of long lines to pick up water as mass distribution sites. In San Antonio, this apartment complex burned to the ground as firefighters struggled to get enough water to fight it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our main concern is water supply. All these hydrants out here are dry. Well, they're not dry. There's just frozen and there's no water.

JIMENEZ: Even members of Congress forced to get creative.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm going to fill my toilet with water so that I can be ready for later today.

JIMENEZ: Without water in her Houston home, Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia collected rainwater to flush her toilet. And hospitals are struggling to prepare for an influx of patients amid an ongoing pandemic. DR. ROBERT SALDANA, MEDICAL DIRECTOR OF EMERGENCY MEDICINE, HOUSTON

METHODIST HOSPITAL: As more of our area hospitals were without power and water, many of their patients ended up at our facilities.

CHIEF CANDE FLORES, ABILENE FIRE DEPARTMENT: Earlier today we had a situation where an elderly female walked out of her home, and she was found in her backyard deceased. And that was directly related to the weather conditions.

JIMENEZ: Emergencies merging and leaving those already affected by the pandemic wondering where to go next.

STUDEBAKER: I lost half my income, and then finally we're getting here. What am I going to do? We can barely live here. Sorry. It's like, it just keeps going and going. This whole year is just -- it just keeps going. And if we just make it one more month, then my tax return will come in, or we get some funding. I can't pay my utility bill. So just let us have the tiny apartment, that's all I'm asking. And maybe some water would be nice.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

WHITFIELD: Wow, the struggle is just seemingly unstoppable. Omar joining us live now. That's a tremendous perspective from that family. Thanks for bringing them to us. So now tell us where you are. And who are you talking to there?

JIMENEZ: Fred, we're at a brewery in the Austin area where the real effort right now is just trying to get water, because that is the next frontier of the crisis.

[14:05:00]

So we're with the family here who has come to do just that, where they're filling up water here at Meanwhile Brewery. So Anthony, what has this week been like? And tell me about the decision to come out and, in some cases, forage for water.

ANTHONY HUOANG, AUSTIN RESIDENT: To get water. We've been without hot water since Monday, so it's been a little bit tough. And yesterday we lost water. So like a lot of other people in the city, we don't have any water, and we're just trying to look for water. So we're here at Meanwhile. And so it's great to see the community come together and pitch in and do stuff like this. But yes, we're scrambling.

JIMENEZ: I believe it. You've got the whole unit here. Stella, I want top come down to your level here. Seven years old, have you gone through anything like this before?

STELLA HUOANG, AUSTIN RESIDENT: No.

JIMENEZ: What has this week been like for you?

S. HUOANG: Hard.

JIMENEZ: Why has it been hard? S. HUOANG: Because we've been out -- we've been out with power. But we

got it back.

JIMENEZ: It's been a weird week. I like your mask though, it's a nice koala mask.

And Sam, what about for you? You're coming to filling up water here. What's it been like this week for you, just being part of the unit here?

SAM HOANG, AUSTIN RESIDENT: It's been hard because we lost power and it's been long. And we're trying to get it back.

JIMENEZ: Has it been weird? You guys are filling up water just to stay clean and use bottled water instead of the tap. Has that been a weird experience? What's it been like?

SAM HOANG: It's been weird.

(LAUGHTER)

JIMENEZ: For you, Meredith -- very descriptive. But over the course, for you all's unit, did you ever think this is what you would be coming to in a place like Austin where you're literally having to use bottled water? And what are you looking forward to most about getting water back?

MEREDITH STEINER, AUSTIN RESIDENT: Well, there's a panic mode last night that we didn't have enough drinking water, so that was first and foremost drinking water for the family. We would love showers, but we'll get that when we get our water turned back on. But mainly it was just to have enough drinking water. Dishes can wait, laundry can wait, but just having enough to feel comfortable with.

JIMENEZ: The last thing to ask, quickly, is if I was Governor Greg Abbott standing right here, what would you say to me about what you need and about what you should have moving forward?

STEINER: We need to look at ERCOT. There needs to be accountability for this. This was entirely too long. We understand this can happen with storms. We're not prepared for this at all in Austin. But for this sort of destruction that happened and people, so many people who have been without water for as long as they have, someone needs to be held accountable.

JIMENEZ: We wish you all the best. I understand you're doing what you've got to do, like so many people across Texas. The number is more than 15 million across the state have had their water disrupted in some way, and this is what you've got to do, Fred.

WHITFIELD: It's a huge number. I love hearing from the kids, though. They are part of the problem-solving for the family right now, and they're really delightful expressive. Good luck to the family there. Omar Jimenez, thank you so much.

The weather disaster in Texas has not only brought hardship to the lone star state, it has also brought out the best as neighbors reach out to help neighbors and strangers have come to the rescue of strangers. And that was apparent from the moment the storm hit earlier this week.

And drivers stranded on the icy roads were rescued by good Samaritans. Joining me right now is one of those roadside heroes, Andrew Bost. He's an Austin resident who volunteered to drive around and rescue stranded drivers during this storm. Andrew, so good to see you.

ANDREW BOST, RESCUED STRANDED DRIVERS ON FROZEN ROADS: Thank you, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: So tell me how these instincts kicked in. What did you see, what did you know about, and what did you do?

BOST: I have to be honest, the first instinct was fun. I got out in my four-wheel drive truck as soon as the snow hit just to see what was going on and how the truck would do. And I found somebody who needed to be pulled out, so did that. And then I thought, well, there must be more opportunities out there. So I looked online for four wheel drive opportunities in Austin for volunteering and then saw an article about somebody else who was doing it and got hooked up with him.

WHITFIELD: Oh, my gosh, you're kidding me. So obviously, there was no hesitation on your part. You were like, OK, my ride works, and now let's put it to good use and help out people. Who were you encountering, and what kind of need do you believe you addressed?

BOST: There were all kinds of needs. I pulled some people out of ditches. I delivered some meals. I delivered some boiled water. I gave a ride to a nurse to a hospital. I cut some trees out of roads. Just whatever I could find that needed to be done.

WHITFIELD: Wow. So what was the reaction when you would everybody and when you kicked into high gear, so to speak, what was your reaction from people?

[14:10:06]

BOST: Great reactions. There was a lot of gratitude. It was clear that there just were a lot of people with varying needs. And in Texas, we don't often need four-wheel drive, but this was that rare opportunity when it was absolutely necessary. And so it was good to be able to help people when I had the tool to do it.

WHITFIELD: And what about for yourself? You had the wheels, you had the tool to help out others, but how did this cold snap, this blanket of ice and snow, how did it impair you? Did you have water at home, food, all that?

BOST: Yes, so the first night of the crisis, we had water and electricity. We wound up hosting some elderly neighbors of ours who didn't have electricity. The next night, we had lost power, so those neighbors went back home to their cold apartment and we went and stayed with some friends. The next night, they had lost electricity so we went and stayed with some other friends. And so we've just kind of been electricity nomads for most of this week.

WHITFIELD: Wow, seemingly unending, but thankfully your graciousness was unending too, helping out so many people who I know are really grateful for that. And it all goes full circle, right?

BOST: I hope it does.

(LAUGHTER)

WHITFIELD: All right, Andrew Bost, thank you so much, all the best to you.

BOST: Thank you, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Still ahead, Texas officials are investigating massive hikes in electric bills like this one as a direct result of this week's storm. One company even suggesting that if you don't like it, find another provider. So much for the full circle I was just talking about, of good deeds.

Coronavirus vaccine sites, they are getting back up and running after suffering several delays in the effort to distribute vaccines. We'll take you live to a site that managed to remain open throughout it all.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:16:19]

WHITFIELD: California Governor Gavin Newsom says his state will now set aside 10 percent of its vaccine doses for teachers and childcare workers. This as the White House works to ramp up vaccine shipments after severe winter forced delays in all 50 states over recent days.

CNN's Polo Sandoval joining me now from New York. And also, CNN's Paul Vercammen is with us at one the nation's first FEMA mass vaccination site in Los Angeles. Paul, let's begin with you. How are things going?

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They just opened this site this week. This is one of the Biden-Harris administration pilot sites, one of 100. And look behind me and see all the white tents. They've already vaccinated 19,000 people at this site.

And if it looks to you like it's running with military precision, it is -- 220 members of the Army from Fort Carson working with FEMA and the California Department of Emergency Services. We spoke with a soldier here who has two tours of duty in Iraq as a medic.

He saw mass casualties in Mosul, people suffering from IED wounds, gunshot wounds. And he says it is a quite an honor to be fighting a virus here in America on a college campus.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SGT. GERRARDO GUZMAN, ARMY VETERAN ADMINISTERING COVID-19 VACCINES: I was trained to be a lifesaver, so that's my primary job. But this is also what I joined the Army to do, not only just to help people overseas, but also to help people at home. That's one thing I'm extremely proud to be doing at this time. The fight against COVID has been a fight that we've been fighting for the past year, and it's been -- I'm glad to be fighting against it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VERCAMMEN: And this site targeting underserved communities, this is the Latino enclave surrounding Cal State Los Angeles. We should also note that while this is humming along, no disruptions in vaccine supply, Dodger Stadium, the massive L.A. vaccination site, is shut down. Shipments from Tennessee and Kentucky not able to get here. Tens of thousands of people frustrated, angry that they couldn't get their shots. This has been postponed.

But again, here at this FEMA test site where many people are watching to see how this works, they've been able to vaccinate people both in the drive-through forum, and nearby there's also a walkup site. They're going to fan out into local neighborhoods as well and administer vaccines. So far, so good here as they test this program. Back to you now, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Thank you so much, Paul. So Polo, to you, on the east coast now in New York, a new Israeli study shows evidence that a single dose of coronavirus vaccine might be enough to significant reduce the chances of getting the disease. So how is that impacting the debate over delaying these second doses?

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The big question, here, Fred, to delay or not to delay those second doses, it's a big part of the discussion among the medical community, and also discussions that were mentioned in two letters that were submitted to at least two major foreign medical journals. Of course, the idea behind that would be to make more first doses available to more of the general public, especially those vulnerable.

However, and this is important, there are two top American officials, including Dr. Anthony Fauci and Andy Slavitt, who have at this point they have repeatedly disagreed with that point of view, saying that so far the main, or at least those reports, they do not consider the possibility that the effectiveness of the vaccine at the immediate level could potentially decrease. So that's important.

But nonetheless other experts like Dr. Ashish Jha, who is the Dean of the Brown School of Public Health, says the U.S. should at least consider making those second doses available after five, six, eight, maybe even 10 weeks, but not beyond that.

[14:20:05]

Again, the point would be to make more of those first doses available to more members of the general public here. But again, what's key here is that Pfizer and Moderna, they tested and secured those FDA authorizations with those two doses. So Andy Slavitt is essentially telling the American public right now, Fred, until you hear otherwise, proceed with those scheduled second doses, until they hear otherwise.

WHITFIELD: All right, Polo Sandoval, Paul Vercammen, thanks to both of you, appreciate it.

Still ahead, a major failure of the Texas power grid this week is prompting serious inquiries into what we wrong and who is responsible. Meanwhile, some customers there are facing massive spikes in their energy bills. One customer seeing his bill spike to over $6,700. He's joining me, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:25:22]

WHITFIELD: It's been a tough and dangerous week because of that powerful winter grip. Texans are slowly getting power restored, but more than 80,000 residents remain in the dark. In Texas, still lots of questions about how this happened and what needs to be done to make sure it doesn't happen again.

CNN Business writer Matt Egan joining me now. So Matt, there are a lot of folks pointing fingers, wanting to know who is to blame for all of this. So where should a lot of the blame be directed?

MATT EGAN, CNN BUSINESS LEAD WRITER: Fred, there is more than enough blame to go around. But understandably, a lot of the focus is on ERCOT, which is the nonprofit that controls most of the state's grid. And what's really important to note is that Texas Governor Greg Abbott, he has actually called for an investigation into ERCOT.

Federal regulators are also investigating this. And as bad as this all was, this was actually almost even worse. ERCOT officials said that the grid was seconds or minutes away from a catastrophic failure. And all of this is really stunning, because Texas is an energy superpower.

It is number one in the United States in terms of oil, number one for natural gas, number one for wind. In fact, it makes more power than any other state in the country. But sadly, as we've learned, not even Texas is immune to mother nature.

WHITFIELD: We even heard some of the blame going around from the governor, the Texas governor. And wind turbines were one of the things that he placed blame on.

EGAN: Yes, listen, there's no doubt that wind power is booming in Texas. It's actually booming around the country. And that's because of the climate crisis and because technology has made wind so much cheaper. But wind only accounts for less than a quarter of Texas' power.

This is still a fossil fuels first state. It relies on 40 percent of its power last year was from natural gas, another 18 percent from coal. And both those fuel sources, coal and natural gas, they went down because of the extreme cold weather. Energy Department officials, they actually said that the blackouts were, quote, largely driven by coal, gas, and nuclear. Wind was just limited impacts.

I also spoke to Neil Chatterjee. He is a Commissioner at FERC, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and he said, quote, "No single fuel source can be blamed for this event. Some wind capacity wasn't available, but neither was gas, neither was coal, neither was nuclear." And this is not coming from some leftwing group. This is a Trump appointed federal regulator from coal country.

WHITFIELD: So where is the focus going to be now on how to fix this, or avert another calamity like this?

EGAN: I think the lesson is that we've got to prepare the whole system for extreme weather events that were once thought to be rare. Texas is built for heat, not cold. They prepared their systems for extremely hot weather.

But clearly, they've got to winterize everything, they have to make sure windmills are winterized for cold weather. Remember, windmills are popular in Denmark, in Iowa, two places that are used to much colder weather than Texas. And the same obviously for natural gas and coal and nuclear, they have to be winterized.

Bill Gates talked to Anderson Cooper about this, and Bill Gates said that natural gas plants, they could have been winterized, but that costs money. He said, quote, the tradeoff was made and it didn't work out. And it's tragic that it leads to people dying.

But Fred, this is obviously not just a Texas story. Climate change is having a dramatic effect on weather. So that means northern states like New York, they have to make their systems better prepared for hotter temperatures than they ever thought were possible. Of course, there will be a next time. I think the question is whether or not the lessons have been learned.

WHITFIELD: There will be lots of reevaluating for sure. Matt Egan, thanks so much.

EGAN: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: Officials in Texas are now investing after several customers received sky high energy bills as a result of that weather crisis. Customers in the state have the option to choose between fixed rates and market rate energy plans that are tied to the price utility companies pay for electricity. Well, when the winter storm wreaked havoc on the state's power grid, power prices shot up, and so do bills for customers on market rate plans.

My next guest is one of those people, and he just received a bill for nearly $7,000. That probably knocked him right off his chair. So here to discuss, DeAndre Upshaw. And what was your reaction -- that would have been my reaction, fall right off the chair. What was your reaction when you opened that envelope, or saw it in your email?

[14:30:06]

DEANDRE UPSHAW, RECEIVED $7,000 ENERGY BILL: It was very shocking. The way that the marketplace works is you get emails that show you how much your account is being charged. So overnight I woke up and I had nine emails which saying, hey, we just charged you for $100 in each email, and it just kept going and didn't stop. WHITFIELD: No. And did you feel like, what am I going to do, how am I

going to pay this? Or did you feel like, oh, no, there's a problem, someone's got to address this?

UPSHAW: It's wild. We're in the middle of a pandemic. Texas is having record-breaking weather. The last thing I'm thinking about while I'm trying to get gas and groceries and make sure that my pipes don't explode, the last thing that I'm thinking about is a $7,000 bill from my utility company.

WHITFIELD: And so what did you do? Did you immediately reach out? Griddy is your power company. They did put out a statement suggesting members should switch providers if they think the prices are too extreme. That's very insensitive-sounding. What happened when you reached out, or who did you reach out to?

UPSHAW: The thing that makes this even worse is that not only are we in a pandemic and there's record-breaking storms, those Valentine's Day weekend and a national holiday on Monday. So by the time I got the email from Griddy urging us to switch, I put that plan in motion, but my new provider said, we can get you switched and set up on the 15th, then the 15th turned to the 17th, then the 17th turned to the 19th, and then the 19th turned to the 22nd.

So I made changes to my account, but it's in the middle of a storm. People don't have power, people don't have water. The last thing we should be worried about is having astronomical utility bills.

WHITFIELD: Right, so what about that $7,000 bill now? Is it resolved? Will it be forgiven? What's happening? I'm kind of worried for you.

UPSHAW: I'm worried for me, too. After it hit about $1,000, I switched the card on the file to one that's at a limit, so they haven't been able to charge me for the most recent $5,000. We're hoping that -- there's lots of people, neighbors that I have who were with Griddy. They lost power for the entire weekend and are still getting charged more than the use that they would have used the previous month.

We were sitting in our preponderate with A.C. off, sitting at 64 degrees for most of the past week with everything off, yet our bills and our usage are two or three times what they usually would be this time of year, not to mention the costs that they charged. So I am anticipating there to be a lot of action around this. There are resources that we've tried to reach into, Texas rent relief fund.

But in the meantime, I've got friends who are on Griddy who it knocked out their entire checking account, moved into their savings account, they can't pay their rent. And all of this, once again, in the middle of a pandemic and during a time where you can't drive in Texas because there's too much snow, there's too much ice, and grocery stores don't even have milk or eggs. So just another thing on top of another thing.

WHITFIELD: Where is the compassion? And while all this continues to go, it's unending, we saw that with some of the other families that we just profiled last hour of just one thing after the next. And everybody is close to their breaking point. You on the other hand, you have a smile on your face, and you seem to be handling this very well.

UPSHAW: We feel very fortunate and blessed when -- we didn't lose power for a majority of the time. We pay a lot for it, but we've got friends, family, I have got friends who are melting ice to flush the toilet. We have friends who are without power for 48 hours who came.

And said, we're saying, we're paying for this electricity, might as well have other people use it. So all I can really do is have a smile on my face and count it a blessing that I'm not one of the 30 plus people who died. That's where my sympathy and my pain lies with. I'll figure this bill out, but I've got my life and I've got my health, and that's enough for me.

WHITFIELD: That's such a great way to handle it, because, like you said, some things are out of your control, but you've got to count your blessings. And sadly, this has been a deadly storm. And it is still causing a lot of agony for a lot of people. DeAndre Upshaw, I am hoping and wishing the best for you. Just keep fighting on because somebody's got to fix that problem. That is just -- that's out of control.

UPSHAW: Thank you so much.

WHITFIELD: Thank you.

And for now, more information about how you can help Texas winter storm victims. Go to CNN.com/Impact.

Next, one city managed an impossible feat during the storm, keeping the lights on. How El Paso, Texas was spared in this statewide near blackout.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:38:57]

WHITFIELD: The lights are slowly coming back on in Texas after days of freezing weather caused a near-total collapse of the power grid. Just over 70,000 people are still left in the dark. But as much of the state reckons with the massive infrastructure failure, the lights in El Paso barely went out at all. CNN's Dianne Gallagher explains why.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: No power. No water. It's been the same story across the state of Texas this week, well, most of it.

RALPH LOYA, EL PASO RESIDENT: They're freezing in San Antonio, Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth. But Rio Grande Valley, we're very, very lucky.

GALLAGHER: The reason the lights never really went out in a major way here in El Paso as a bit more complicated and rooted in experience.

LOYA: We had gas shortages, water shortages, power outages.

GALLAGHER: Ralph Loya, like everyone else in El Paso, can't forget the 2011 deep freeze.

LOYA: It was a catastrophe that hit the city that we just weren't prepared for.

GALLAGHER: El Paso Electric Company Senior Vice President of Operations Steve Buraczyk was in the control room 10 years ago this month when it all came crashing down.

[14:40:04]

STEVEN BURACZYK, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT OF OPERATIONS, EL PASO ELECTRIC COMPANY: We actually had over three days when the temperature in El Paso never got above freezing. And we lost most of our local units. Those impacts lasted for weeks and weeks after. And so we made that decision that we were going to harden our assets, that we were going to invest in new technology and invest in new infrastructure.

GALLAGHER: The winterized plant that manager Albert Montano is showing us around today exists in part because of that big freeze.

ALBERT MONTANO PROJECT ENGINEER, EL PASO ELECTRIC COMPANY: We're designed to run in the summer, but there's these few times where we have an overnight low that we have really got to get all the systems up and ready. And our team was able to do that.

BURACZYK: It's a lot easier with a brand-new plant, because now we're designing it for minus 10. You have the top technology, state of the art. And so you can design in these redundant systems.

GALLAGHER: And built-in redundancies that needed to be tapped into this week when natural gas supply dropped.

MONTANO: We went into diesel operations with the first unit on Monday of this week. And that's when we started seeing issues with gas pipeline pressure.

GALLAGHER: But another reason El Paso isn't in the dark, it's located so far from other Lonestar cities that it's not on the same power grid as 90 percent of the rest of Texas. There are three power grids in the country. Western, that's what El Paso is on, eastern, and Texas, the only state to have its own grid in part to avoid certain federal regulations.

This week, the Texas system, which is operated by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT, failed, and has faced accusations of being unprepared for the storm.

GOV. GREG ABBOTT, (R) TEXAS: I'm taking responsibility for the current status of ERCOT. Again, I find what has happened unacceptable.

GALLAGHER: Planning for a once in a decade storm is expensive, but it is possible and worth it, says El Paso Electric, if it prevents disasters like what we're seeing in Texas this week.

BURACZYK: When we saw what happened to our community in 2011, we made a decision, and we said, never again. GALLAGHER: Now, this doesn't mean that that winter storm was not

challenging here in El Paso. In fact, they had employees working around the clock, making sure that this city did not suffer the same fate as others in this state. They did say that about 3,000 households lost power, but fewer than 900 were for more than five minutes, and they say that almost every household had power back on within a few hours.

Dianne Gallagher, CNN, El Paso, Texas.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right, still ahead, Republican voters slam an Ohio congressman for doing the, quote, unthinkable, voting to impeach former President Trump. Could he and other Republican lawmakers who crossed the president get voted out of office?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:47:27]

WHITFIELD: All right, the GOP is at a pivotal crossroad following the impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump. Only 10 Republican members of the House and seven senators voted to impeach and remove Trump from office. A vast majority of the party siding with Trump, including most of the GOP's leaders.

Now some of those who voted against Trump are facing intense backlash from their constituents. CNN's Dan Merica has been following this for us. So, Dan, you recently traveled to the Ohio district represented by Congressman Anthony Gonzalez. And what are you hearing from people there?

DAN MERICA, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: You hear a real sense of betrayal. Now, Anthony Gonzalez was a pretty unknown Republican lawmaker from northeast Ohio. He was first elected in 2018, reelected pretty easily in 2020.

The thing that set him apart was the fact that he was a top-notch football player, actually played at Ohio State as a wide receiver, was drafted in the first round to the Indianapolis Colts, putting him with Peyton Manning, a Hall of Fame quarterback. He got out of the NFL because of injuries after five years. But what really set him and put a name -- had his name known is the fact that he sided with nine other Republicans in the House who decided to impeach former President Donald Trump.

And what you heard from constituents was shock. And Republican groups were stunned, many of whom have called for his resignation, have unendorsed him. You have county parties that had backed him fully, saying that they are censuring him or going through the process of censuring him. And some Republicans have even lined up to challenge him in a primary in 2022.

We often think about this fight of the Republican Party on a federal level, a Trump versus McConnell, maybe a Josh Hawley versus a Mitt Romney. But what we're seeing is the most acute points of this challenge, of this challenge for the Republican Party, are coming at these district levels. And to capture this, I want to read to you what Shannon Burns, a local Republican activist said, about the betrayal he felt.

Remember Ohio State, a beloved school in Ohio. They're rivals with the Michigan Wolverines, and this is what Shannon had to say. "This is like him playing for the Buckeyes again, getting down to the two- minute warning, running into the locker room, getting a Michigan jersey, and running back out.

It's not that you turned your back or you did something we didn't like. You did the unthinkable." That's how people are approaching this impeachment vote, Fred. And that's going to have a long-lasting impact on members like Gonzalez.

WHITFIELD: My goodness, so the long-term consequences for the party, as some like Gonzalez want to take a lead, but then others who say, no, go as the

[14:50:09]

MERICA: The long-term consequences really rely depend on what Republicans in these counties and in these districts do. I mentioned that there are already Republicans lining up to challenge Gonzalez in a primary. The impact of those primaries will say a lot about where the Republican Party goes from here.

The other aspect here, and this is actually probably something in Gonzalez's favor, is the fact that this vote happened very early in this congressional term, meaning there is over a year until he has to face voters again. And as one county official told me, this county who censured Gonzalez told me, said that there are -- a day is an eternity in politics. And there are a number of eternities between now and when he has to face voters again.

So the real question is, is will voters remember this vote, voters who remain deeply loyal to Trump, will they remember when they go to the ballot box in a Republican primary in 2022?

WHITFIELD: This is hardcore, and it has gotten and is getting ugly. Dan Merica, thanks so much.

MERICA: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: We've got so much more straight ahead, but first, a quick programming note. Bill Gates sits down with Anderson Cooper. Gates predicted the pandemic, and now with his new book he takes on as what he sees the next big threat. "AC 360," the big Bill Gates interview tonight at 9:00.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:56:10]

WHITFIELD: A new CNN original series chronicles president Abraham Lincoln's life, his struggles, his true character, and the compromises he made to save the union and free slaves. Who was honest Abe really? CNN's Tom Foreman reports.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Every president sells an image -- patriot, dealmaker, groundbreaker. Abraham Lincoln was the rail- splitter. Sold to voters as a hardworking laborer, a man of the people. But that is also the first big myth about honest Abe, pushed by his political party.

MICHELLE MITCHELL, NEW YORK UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY: They wanted stories that showed Lincoln being this humble rail-splitter, being a country bumpkin.

SIDNEY BLUMENTHAL, AUTHOR, "A SELF-MADE MAN": The plain truth was Lincoln was a lawyer and a politician, and had been a rail-splitter a long time before.

FOREMAN: The second myth, Lincoln rose to power by supporting the abolition of slavery. Although Lincoln thought slavery might die eventually, he focused on simply not letting it spread to new western states, fearful of the political and economic consequences if it did.

CHENJERAI KUMANYIKA, CO-CREATOR, "UNCIVIL" PODCAST: The idea of abolition is demonized because abolishing slavery was a radical idea. He basically has to defend himself against being an abolitionist.

FOREMAN: The third myth, Lincoln was a champion for black American rights. To the contrary, he explicitly argued that whites were the superior race, and he adjusted as needed.

VAN JONES, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: We have a tendency to say he is this moral paragon or he's just a political animal. No, he's a hybrid. If you want to understand him, you have got to understand both sides.

FOREMAN: Myth four, Lincoln was destined for greatness. One might think so, but Lincoln's career was marked by many business, professional, and political failures. He won the presidency only because the Democratic opposition split between three different candidates.

And myth five, Lincoln singlehandedly drove his destiny with ambition, intelligence, humor.

CONAN O'BRIEN, WRITER, COMEDIAN, AND TELEVISION HOST: He used wit and comedy at his own expense to connect with people.

FOREMAN: That's partially true, but by all accounts, his wife Mary Todd pushed him hard to become the president so loved and remembered, facts, myths, legends, and all.

Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

WHITFIELD: "Lincoln, Divided We Stand" airs tomorrow night at 10:00 right here on CNN.

A Texas mayor's frustration with the lack of water in his city is prompting action after he called out a water company live right here on CNN. Here is how Manor, Texas, Mayor Larry Wallace describe the situation to me in an interview earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR LARRY WALLACE, MANOR, TEXAS: One last thing I'd love to ask is if I can hear something from Aqua America, I haven't heard from you all week. And I have 2,600 people without water.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right, Aqua America is also Aqua, Texas, and this is a statement since that interview. Aqua Texas responded, writing in part "We are transporting semitrucks of bottled wear from outside the state. We will be coordinating distribution areas for the customers.

We have been in touch with our drivers and anticipate we will have bottled water available in Briar Creek," which is the subdivision of Manor, "by this evening. We are working with local officials to determine and set up a safe distribution location." So in that statement the company also says that a key supply line broke, and they hope to have it fixed and ready by tomorrow.

And they also note that once the weather warms, they do anticipate more pipeline breaks may result in further service disruptions. So we heard from the mayor, and now a response after he put out that plea. He wanted to hear from that water company, and there you have it.

All right, so we're now also getting to see far away what Mars looks like in full color.