US News Roundup: Biden brings empathy to storm-battered Texas; U.S. authorizes J&J's COVID-19 vaccine, making it third available and more

Biden brings empathy to storm-battered Texas, security official lays out state's mistakes U.S. President Joe Biden met with volunteers at a food bank, toured a health center and visited an emergency operations facility on Friday to assess recovery efforts from a severe Texas winter storm while an aide blamed state government for being unprepared.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Biden brings empathy to storm-battered Texas, security official lays out state's mistakes

U.S. President Joe Biden met with volunteers at a food bank, toured a health center and visited an emergency operations facility on Friday to assess recovery efforts from a severe Texas winter storm while an aide blamed state government for being unprepared. Biden and his wife Jill Biden landed in Houston where he met Republican Governor Greg Abbott and Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner to discuss the recovery from last week's storm, which caused serious damage to homes and businesses, left millions without power or clean water for days, and killed at least two dozen.

U.S. authorizes J&J's COVID-19 vaccine, making it third available

The U.S. government on Saturday authorized Johnson & Johnson's single-dose COVID-19 vaccine, enabling millions more Americans to be vaccinated in the coming weeks and setting the vaccine up for additional approvals around the world. The J&J vaccine is the third authorized in the United States, following ones from Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna, both of which require two doses. Electric firm Griddy loses access to Texas grid, customers shifted to rivals

Texas's grid operator on Friday shut Griddy Energy LLC's access to the state's power network for unpaid bills and shifted its 10,000 customers to other utilities, as new signs of a financial crisis rose after a state-wide blackout. Griddy was the power marketer that sold consumers electricity at wholesale rates, which rose to $9,000 per megawatt hour as cold weather struck the state last week. Unable to cope with demand, utilities cut power to 4.3 million residents as temperatures fell below freezing.

Biden administration to appeal eviction moratorium ruling

The U.S. Justice Department said on Saturday it will appeal a judge's ruling that the nationwide eviction moratorium during the COVID-19 pandemic is unlawful. The measure authorized by Congress and issued by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention covers most residential evictions in an effort to help curb the spread of the coronavirus. A federal judge in Texas ruled on Thursday that Congress did not have the power to authorize the moratorium under the U.S. Constitution.

Biden White House asks 'Trump who?' ahead of speech to conservatives

President Joe Biden's White House has made it clear it plans to ignore Donald Trump's speech on Sunday to a conservative conference in Florida, where the former president is expected to go on the attack against his successor. "Our focus is certainly not on what President Trump is saying" at the Conservative Political Action Conference, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters.

Cuomo calls for outside review after second former aide alleges sexual misconduct

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo called on Saturday for an outside review following a report of sexual misconduct allegations against him by a second former aide, compounding problems for one of America's most well-known Democratic politicians. Charlotte Bennett told the New York Times that Cuomo had asked her questions about her sex life, including whether she was monogamous in her relationships and if she had ever had sex with older men.

Biden scores legislative win as House passes $1.9 trillion COVID relief plan

President Joe Biden scored his first legislative win as the House of Representatives passed his $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package early Saturday, though Democrats face challenges to their hopes of using the bill to raise the minimum wage. Democrats who control the chamber passed the sweeping measure by a mostly party-line vote of 219 to 212 and sent it on to the Senate, where Democrats planned a legislative maneuver to allow them to pass it without the support of Republicans.

Arrest warrant issued for suspect in murder of Yale student

Police investigating the fatal shooting of a Yale University student have officially named a graduate student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as a murder suspect, intensifying a nationwide manhunt. The New Haven Police Department said in a Facebook post on Saturday that it had secured an arrest warrant charging Qinxuan Pan with murder, and that it would provide additional information on Monday. Pan remained at large, it said.

U.S. Capitol riot suspect disavows far-right group, but loses bid for release

A leader of the far-right Oath Keepers group accused of helping lead the deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol by Donald Trump's supporters lost her bid to be released from jail, despite disavowing the group during a Friday court hearing. U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta in Washington denied Jessica Watkins's request to be released while the criminal case against her unfolds.

U.S. administers 72.8 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines: CDC

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said 72,806,180 doses of COVID-19 vaccines had been administered in the country as of Saturday morning and it had distributed 96,402,290 doses. The tally is for both the Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines as of 6 a.m. ET Saturday, the agency said. Both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines involve two doses.