good morning. happy new year. welcome to a special new year s day edition of morning joe. we re on tape this morning with some of our top, recent conversations. we begin with a discussion about donald trump s increasing use of authoritarian language in his speeches and social media posts. in recent months, trump has repeated fascist rhetoric, including saying immigrants are, quote, poisoning the blood of our country, and referring to his political enemies as vermin. we pledge to you that we will root out the communists, marxists, fascists, and the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country. the threat from outside forces is sinister, dangerous, and grave, more than the threat from within. donald trump echoing the words of 20th century authoritarians at a rally earlier this month. joining us now, national affairs analyst john heilemann. special correspondent at vanity fair and host of the fast politics podcast, molly jong-fast. and co
with two more hopefuls officially launching their bids. the florida governor ron desantis and senator tim scott. mr scott has represented south carolina in the chamber since 2013, promising to revive america s culture of greatness. at a launch event in his hometown of north charleston on monday, mr scott used his personal story as an embodiment of the american dream. this was shortly followed by ron desantis long expected entry into the race and, while he trails donald trump in the polls, he is widely seen as his main rival. but his launch made headlines for other reasons. he chose to announce on a twitter livestream, which was hit by technical glitches. let s listen to how they both announced their candidacy. iam running i am running for president of the united states to lead our great american conduct. look, we know our country is going on the wrong direction. we see it with our eyes, and we feel it in our bones. our southern border has collapsed. drugs are pouring into
new concerns about the health of pope francis. a fever forcing him to cancel events. new insight from the reporter who interviewed him face-t-to-face jusust yesterday. the u.s. coast guard joining an urgent search in the bahamas for an american teen, who went overboard while celebrating his high school graduation. the critical shortage of more than a dozen cancer drugs patients being turned away from their chemo treatments what s behind all of this and celine dion s major announcement why she s canceling her global tour. announcer: this is nbc nightly news with lester holt and good evening i m tom llamas in for lester tonight if you re sitting in front of the tv right now, you re one of the lucky ones, either because you already reached your destination, or you decided to stay home if the long lines at airports today are any sign, it seems that americans have collectively decided that this is the summer to get out and travel, and there s no better time to start
2.5 million passengers today alone, amid questions of whether the system can handle it after last year s summer travel meltdown, and the roads are just as packed. plus, imagine if this was your pilot locked out of the cockpit climbing in through the window. also tonight, we ll show you the terrifying new video. a passenger apparently opens an airplane door midair. the wind whipping through the cabin. how it was able to happen. the new deadline just announced when the u.s. will default on its bills if there is no debt ceiling agreement. are we any closer to a deal? new concerns about the health of pope francis. a fever forcing him to cancel events. new insight from the reporter who intervieiewed him face-to-face just yesterday. the u.s. coast guard joining an urgent search in the bahamas for an american teen, who went overboard while celebrating his high school graduation. the critical shortage of more than a dozen cancer drugs. patients being turned away from their
but, after five decades in business reinventing whole industries, sir richard branson has been tested as never before, both financially and emotionally. the pandemic left the 72 year old fighting to save his empire and his reputation. he faced questions over how he has used women to promote his brand, and sceptics have asked why someone who campaigns on climate change is sending rockets into space. the original rebel entrepreneur continues to grab the headlines and confound his critics. i ve come to miami to hear the whole story. sir richard branson, thank you so much for speaking to me and to the bbc. how are you? i m good. i always think sitting down to do interviews like this is a bit like i ve never been a psychiatrist s chair, but it s a bit like being in a psychiatrist s chair. of course i m nervous. we ll see how you are in an hour. just to be clear, you have not seen or approved of the questions in advance. nothing is off the table, right? i m afraid that s the case