Bloomberg Quicktake's video: Biden Tours Houston Food Bank After Deadly Cold Snap Hit Energy Capital

President Joe Biden toured an emergency operations center in Houston as he visited the city in the aftermath of a deadly cold snap that paralyzed America’s energy capital. “It’s a hell of an operation you have here, probably the best one in the country,” Biden said at the Harris County Emergency Operations Center, where he was briefed by acting Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Bob Fenton and other officials. “You’re saving people’s lives. As my mother would say, you’re doing God’s work.” He’ll later visit a federal coronavirus mass vaccination site, NRG Stadium. About 70 people died across Texas and other southern states due to the rare winter storm. The president has largely avoided criticism for the government’s response to the first natural disaster of his term. His predecessor Donald Trump was heavily criticized in 2017 for his response to Hurricane Maria, which decimated Puerto Rico. Instead, it was Texas Senator Ted Cruz, a Republican from Houston, who was lambasted for leaving the state on a trip with his family to Cancun while millions of his constituents lacked heat or running water during the storm. Cruz abruptly returned to Houston after the uproar. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki on Wednesday said that Houston being Cruz’s hometown had no bearing on Biden’s trip to the city. “He wanted to also visit a vaccine -- a place where vaccines are being distributed, so that was another component of the trip. In addition, we worked in very close coordination -- as I’ve noted -- as we were trying to figure out the timing of the trip, with experts on the ground, with our acting FEMA administrator on where it would be most appropriate to visit,” Psaki said at a White House press briefing. On Feb. 20, Biden approved Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s request for a major disaster declaration for Texas that allows grants for temporary housing and home repairs, among other actions. Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/2TwO8Gm Bloomberg Quicktake brings you live global news and original shows spanning business, technology, politics and culture. Make sense of the stories changing your business and your world. To watch complete coverage on Bloomberg Quicktake 24/7, visit http://www.bloomberg.com/qt/live, or watch on Apple TV, Roku, Samsung Smart TV, Fire TV and Android TV on the Bloomberg app. Have a story to tell? Fill out this survey for a chance to have it featured on Bloomberg Quicktake: https://cor.us/surveys/27AF30 Connect with us on… YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/Bloomberg Breaking News on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/BloombergQuickTakeNews Twitter: https://twitter.com/quicktake Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/quicktake Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/quicktake