The weather is finally heating up in Texas, but plenty of problems remain as the president declares parts of the state major disaster areas.

The question is, why are some Texans being hit with sky high energy bills?

Plus, COVID-19 now responsible for taking more than half a million American lives.

The question is, when will we all have access to the vaccine?

And on Capitol Hill, confirmation hearings for Attorney General nominee Merrick Garland get underway today.

With so much work to be done, the question is, if it gets confirmed,

where does he start? It's way too early for this.

Good morning and welcome to way too early, the show that was not in Cancun, I promise.

I am Casey Hunt on this Monday, February 22nd. We'll start with the news. The United States has now

passed the most grim coronavirus milestone yet. Over half a million people have now died from COVID. More than the number of

Americans who died on the battlefields of World War I, World War II, and the Vietnam War combined.

Nationwide, we've also surpassed 28 million cases now, and this figure is more than double the next highest global

death toll. That's Brazil. This evening, the president, vice president, and their spouses will

hold a moment of silence and a candlelighting ceremony to commemorate all those who have lost

their lives to COVID. And we are always thinking of those people who have

holes in their hearts, empty seats at their tables. So many, so many Americans. And President

Joe Biden did give an updated timeline for when all Americans should have access to the COVID

vaccines, hinting at the date July 29th.

We're now on track to have enough vaccine supply for all Americans by the end of July.

It doesn't mean it'll be in all Americans' arms, but enough vaccine will be available by that time.

This is going to be a continuous rolling effort. So we will have ordered, much of which

would have been distributed, over 600 million doses by the end of July, July 29th is the expected date. That could change.

...