democracy is in crisis. the former president of the united states continues to insist he didn't lose an election in which he got 7 million fewer votes and 74 fewer electoral votes than the winner did. at a rally in iowa saturday night, trump not only repeated his lies. he made sure to tell the crowd, quote, i never conceded, no reason to concede. at that rally an 88-year-old senator running for reelection seemingly gave away the game. listen to this. >> i was born at night, but not last night. so if i didn't accept the endorsement of a person that's got 91% of the republican voters in iowa, i wouldn't be too smart. i'm smart enough to accept that endorsement. >> so it couldn't be more clear. you want to get reelected as a republican in the house, in the u.s. senate, even at your local elections board or school board, you better be hugging donald trump pretty tight. that's how strong his grip is on the republican party, that the highest ranking gop lawmakers in america are not only willing but enthusiastically denying reality. but that will come back to haunt them, as trump supporters like this one are any indication. >> i think the republicans are as weak as they possibly can in congress. you have maybe six that are worth their salt. ted cruz, mike lee, rand paul, two or three others. the rest of them are just as same as the democrats. they've been there too long. they're establishment. they don't care about the american people because they're in their elite little tower. so we're just sick of it, you know? and we're not going to take it anymore. i see a civil war coming. i do. i see civil war coming. >> hmm. all right. joining us now to start the hour, "washington post" national reporter and co-author of "i alone can fix it," carol leonnig. and ian bassett, the executive director of protect democracy. carol, we'll start with you. donald trump, as you well know, he's held several rallies since the capitol insurrection but the one this weekend in iowa was different, i think, because of who was there lending their support. this one was attended by long time iowa senator chuck grassley, the iowa governor kim reynolds was there, there were members of the republican congressional delegation, otherwise mainstream republican officials, some of the very same people who just nine months ago were slamming trump for his role in the capitol riots, now only too happy to be seen supporting him. this is really a picture of where the gop is right now. carol? >> i'm so sorry. i agree. i'm watching, actually, grassley speaking again on my terminal, it may be the connection. but it's really striking, and i think you hit it exactly right, geoff, when you said, if you're wanting to get reelected, you want to hold on as tight as you can to donald trump. that's what's happened over and over again with republican members and leadership. and honestly, people like scalise and mccarthy have their fingers crossed until november and the midterms. what they're hoping for is that they are going to be able to seize control of the house. and after that, who knows who they'll support? but right now, 91% support for donald trump. they're going to throw themselves into that bucket of fish. and what's interesting too about this moment, geoff, is grassley is a pretty independent guy, a pretty -- let's just say a person who speaks his mind. and he told us everything we needed to hear in that rally by saying "i would be stupid not to line up with donald trump." >> purely transactional. and ian, you don't have to be an historian to recognize the danger in a political party showing blind loyalty to one person. i'm struck by what you told our team this morning, you said, "we're facing a five-alarm fire in our democracy and so far as a nation we're sending a single fire truck and some conscientious neighbors carrying buckets." give us the threat assessment as you see it. >> over the last 15 years globally, according to every major index, democracy has been in retreat. what you're seeing rise in its place are these illiberal authoritarian movements, in turkey, in the united states. we're at an extremely precarious moment in our country. the lack of response, including what you saw from grassley there, is particularly alarming. to look at history as instructive here, the authors of the book "how democracies die" call out a period in the interwar period in europe when you have far right parties rising in europe. in some countries the mainstream decided to reject the far right parties and unite to block anti-democratic parties from rising. in italy and germany, the center-right decided to try to co-opt far right parties and we all know what happened in those two countries. >> kim, to expand on ian's point, as i understand it, you believe that frankly it's too late to save this country. why is that? >> well, i'm really very worried. if you couple joe biden's lagging approval ratings, the expectation that most people don't turn out at midterms, gerrymandering across the country, we're also seeing antivoting laws and a new wave of laws that are taking the sort of bureaucratic role of counting votes and putting it in the hands of politicians, and this big lie, we're seeing things set up for the midterms to hand over congress to republicans. and regardless of where the vote lies in 2024, that the election will be swung to donald trump. and the senate judiciary committee came out with a report recently that explained the nine instances where trump, leading up to january 6, tried to get the justice department to do his bidding and hand the election or help hand the election to him. what we will see under a donald trump version 2 is no accountability. two failed impeachments, he'll have his entire cabinet and people filled with, you know, loyalists. he won't make the mistakes he did last time, putting someone like vice president pence who wasn't willing to thumb his nose at the constitution. and we're not seeing the democrats prioritize saving democracy in the next 12 months before the midterms, which really has to happen. there are of course many, many other priorities, but they're just not doing what's needed, to pass the freedom to vote act, do something go to electoral counteract, maybe make dc a state so there are two more senators to even things out in the senate. all those things is just a finger in the dike, it's not happening and the window for it to happen is closing. most americans cannot imagine that they will wake up one morning and have something other than democracy, but as ian explained, this is something that has happened over and over in history and there's nothing about being democrats that protects us and our children and our grandchildren. that's what keeps me up at night. >> should we expect donald trump to run for reelection in 2024? i've been told repeatedly by people in a position to know that he probably won't run. but he knows the second that he says that, he'll be seen as being irrelevant. but that rally that he held over the weekend to me looked like a campaign rally. >> you know, geoff, you and i are in the same situation. when i sat down with my co-author phil rucker, with former president donald trump, i totally got the vibe of a man who is planning to run. we interviewed him in late march of this year, and he said -- he wasn't saying i'm going to run, but he was talking incessantly about how everybody needs to come and kiss his ring, he loved being president, he thinks he should still be president, if he ran again, everything in the country would be better in his view. he was using all the language of a person who is heading to iowa in a couple of falls from now. and i agree with you that it is a long time from now before that decision needs to be made. but it's clear that he likes everyone to think he's going to run and he sure is not giving any tell to indicate that he might withdraw from that idea. >> so ian, what then should be done to put some guardrails around democracy as we know it? you've articulated the problem, but as you well know, there is this asymmetry. democrats have this voting rights legislation that is running headlong into the senate filibuster. now the gop, as you point out, they have an incentive to potentially overturn the next election, and they have a roadmap for how to do it. >> i think it's important that we recall that after the civil war, when the 14th and 15th amendments were on the table to try to move our country forward into another century with a healthy democracy, one party, then the democratic party, opposed those amendments en masse. the republican party at the time understood, though, that for the union to survive, and for the country to remain a democracy as a form of government, those amendments had to pass. so they passed the 14th and 15th amendments on a single party line vote with just republicans supporting it. we're at a similar moment right now where if we want to make it to the 250th birthday of the world's oldest democracy, which would come in 2026, then today it's the democratic party that has to realize, the burden is on their shoulders. as kim recognized earlier, they have to pass the voting rights act, they have to amendment the electoral counteract, and there are several other things that need to happen as well. this needs to be accountability for the attacks on our democracy that we've seen in recent years. look, looking back right now, if you were a realtor from st. louis or a small business owner from dallas, texas, and you set foot in the capitol building on january 6, the full force of the u.s. government has come down upon your head. but if you had any position of power, authority, or responsibility, and you enabled or incited that attack, what accountability have you faced? none at this point. and that means there's no deterrent not to do it again. so doj needs to do a better job establishing accountability. the january 6 commission needs to do that. then civil society, business, media, big tech, faith. we all need to realize, this is not typical r versus d politics. this is democracy and it's time to take a side. >> the january 6 committee is threatening to hand out criminal contempt referrals to those trump allies who refuse to comply with subpoenas. what can we expect from the biden doj in terms of enforcement? the deadline for garland to act could be very soon. kash patel and steve bannon have been ordered to appear on thursday and mark meadows and dan scavino have been ordered to appear the day after that. >> if you recall, the first impeachment, the second article was for obstruction of congress, blowing off subpoenas, trump sort of did that with pecunity. our colleague glenn kirschner from this station has complained that garland should be doing more. it does look like he could be more front and center, protecting democracy in this moment. and absolutely these subpoenas have to be enforced, either criminally, civilly would take too long. jamie raskin has said publicly he hasn't ruled out the age-old notion of calling the sergeant at arms and having the congress itself enforce their subpoenas. this has to happen or the constitution itself becomes just a scrap of paper. donald trump mentioned the last round that if he won, he might not give up power if he were to be faced with a third term. that is the future of america, where the constitution itself, regardless of what's in there, becomes optional, because as ian says, there's no accountability. and we all need to be on the edge of our seats and vigilant and hold hands to make that not happen in this moment. >> kim wehle, ian bassett, and carol leonnig, thanks for starting us off this hour. ahead, the near total abortion ban in texas is reinstated just one day after it was blocked. former state senator wendy davis on this legal term and the next steps. ahead, the first pill to fight covid. drug maker merck asks the fda for emergency use approval. and stranded. southwest cancels more than 2,000 flights, leaving passengers scrambling for ways to reach their final destination. >> unbelievable. people are frustrated. ♪ there are beautiful ideas that remain ain in the dark. but with our new multi-cloud experience, you have the flexibility you need to unveil them to the world. ♪ when you hear, cough cough sneeze sneeze.. [ sneezing ] it's time for, plop plop fizz fizz. alka seltzer plus cold relief. dissolves quickly. instantly ready to start working. so you can bounce back fast with alka-seltzer plus. it's another day. and anything could happen. it could be the day you welcome 1,200 guests and all their devices. or it could be the day there's a cyberthreat. only comcast business' secure network solutions give you the power of sd-wan and advanced security integrated on our activecore platform so you can control your network from anywhere, anytime. it's network management redefined. every day in business is a big day. we'll keep you ready for what's next. comcast business powering possibilities. just two days after it was temporarily blocked, a civilian enforced abortion ban is back in place in texas. a federal appeals court struck down a temporary ban on the state law which prevents nearly all abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, that's before most women even know they're pregnant. the restrictions in texas were in effect roughly five weeks before the pause. in that time providers stopped offering the service altogether in fear of being sued. they say they have turned away hundreds of women as the fight over the law's future plays out in the courts. the department of justice has until tomorrow, october 12, to respond to this latest ruling. the ban remains in effect until then. joining us now is nbc news justice correspondent pete williams, pete, it's great to have you with us. where do things stand now in texas and what does this mean for women across the state? >> so sb 8 is back in force. the government has until tomorrow afternoon to respond to texas and then this panel of the fifth circuit court of appeals will decide whether the government is right, that texas can't carry this law out, or whether texas is right, that the government doesn't have any power to sue. those are the questions. what the justice department says here is that texas can't pass a law that deprives women of the constitutional right to an abortion without giving them a chance to challenge it in court, and of course the law was intended to be challenge-proof. that's the issue, can a state do that. >> it seems to be moving through the courts fairly quickly. does that suggest anything about where this might end up ultimately? >> no, this is moving through the courts quickly because this is not a decision on the merits. there will be a trial on whether texas can in fact do this or whether the federal government is right. what's happened in the meantime is texas has gone into court to say we want you to stay the judge's ruling while we duke this out in court. these injunction, temporary restraining orders, always tend to move fast. >> pete williams, thank you. former texas state senator wendy davis is the founder of deeds not word, which advocates for health care rights, among many other causes. great to have you with us. as i was mentioning to speed, the speed with which this case is moving through the courts, it feels like the courts are playing ping-pong with women's health. what effect does this whiplash effect have for women in texas? >> it has a terrible impact, geoff. we already saw in the first five weeks that this ban was in place that many women were seeking care outside the state. there is now a six-week backlog in louisiana, a month-long backlog in oklahoma and new mexico has a backlog as well. and that's with only a small percentage of women being able to travel to those other states to get care. and there are countless others who have not been able to. there was a two-day period where the injunction was in place, and many of our clinics reopened and provided that care, even though they knew they were doing it at risk. this law has a retroactive provision in it which provides the ability for individuals to sue even during the injunction period, when an injunction is lifted, if the court later on stays that injunction, which is exactly what happened here. and in the long term, depending on what the court decides, we may live with sb 8 for a long time in our state if the fifth circuit and the supreme court continue to refuse to enjoin the law while its constitutionality is being tested. >> lawmakers wrote this law to be especially difficult for the courts to review and to ultimately remove, as pete was just talking about. with clinics across the state ending abortion services indefinitely, has this law accomplished its mission, even though it's in limbo right now? >> it's such a good question, geoff. and the answer actually is yes, because even though its constitutionality has not been determined, and i think no one can argue with a straight face that this is constitutional, the inhibition of doctors and clinics to provide abortion care because of the vigilante private lawsuits with a minimum of a $10,000 fine, the requirement that you pay opposing counsel fees, those factors have been sufficient to keep abortion clinics from moving forward even though they vehemently disagree with this law. really what it's going to take ultimately is for some of the clinics to bravely step forward, begin providing abortion services, and force this law into the court and force the constitutionality of that question. and in the meantime, if they do, we've created a fund that people can contribute to to help cover that financial risk for these doctors and other front line health care workers. it's fundthefrontlinetx.org. we ask your viewers to help make sure the doctors in texas who do the right thing won't suffer in consequence. >> how is this playing in texas? did republicans underestimate, potentially miscalculate the law, could the outrage galvanize pro-choice voters across texas? >> i think it will, and it will galvanize voters who don't normally vote with this issue top of mind. granted, some people have the ability and luxury to be able to travel elsewhere for abortion care, but the fact that this law doesn't have any exception for rape or incest, almost 80 80% of texans say they disagree with that. many disagree with the vigilante abortion ban and a six-week abortion ban with this law is. i think, i certainly hope, it will backfire on republicans and send a message to republicans around the country that roe is something that is highly regarded, that a majority of americans including texans support, and that they will be held to account at the ballot box if they continue to push against that majority opinion. >> big picture, how might democrats, do you think, how might democrats best move from defense to offense on this issue of abortion rights? >> that's a great question too, geoff. as you know, at the national level, the u.s. house has passed the women's health protection act. we await senate action on that. and i certainly hope the senate is going to listen to the outcry of people in texas and elsewhere who fear that this law is coming for them as well. we can no longer rely on the courts to protect access to abortion care and autonomy of reproductive decisionmaking. we are going to have to have statutory support in order to make this finally, once and for all, the law of the land. >> former texas state senator wendy davis, appreciate your insights and your time this afternoon. >> thank you, geoff. >> sure. ahead, the three new weapons we could soon have in the fight against covid-19. and more than two years after runners last took their marks, the boston marathon is back. he breathes... he kills.... 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>> right, i think it's going to be a great month for the pandemic, as far as the tools in our toolkit, right? you have merck, the antiviral medication. we have astrazeneca who wants to present their information on a monoclonal antibody. we know johnson & johnson and moderna are pushing for the boosters. but what i have to warn people about is, as far as the merck medication, we know that once you become infected, and our goal, i think we need to start how we're shifting the goalposts at this point. we want to keep people from being infected in the first place. so although, yes, we want you to enjoy these holidays, we have to remain vigilant because we know there's more consequences to covid-19 than just death. an infection carries risk. >> when you talk about consequences, one of the unintended consequences of there potentially being a pill is you have these vaccine-hesitant people who say, i'm not going to get the vaccine, if i get covid i'll just take this merck pill. what's your view on that? >> the view on that is we're not trusting and looking at what data has shown us. between 10 to 30% of all persons who have been infected with covid-19, although they've recovered, they still have lingering symptoms called long covid. study after study are showing there are literally structural changes to people's brain. people say, i only lost my taste and smell, that means the virus infected your brain cells. what does it do to the lon longevity of your life, what are the long term consequences? we don't know yet. why risk getting infected with a virus that we're still uncovering the consequences that have, and particularly potentially infecting our children. their bodies are still developing. we have to take caution and due diligence. >> let's talk more about covid and kids. we're weeks away from the fda meeting on vaccines for children between the ages of 5 and 11. dr. fauci said kids can celebrate halloween safely with masks. kids represent one in four new covid cases, as you know. what's the real and present danger for kids when it comes to coronavirus? >> initially there was this rhetoric that kids are somehow protected from covid-19, which i did not understand. at least 6 million children in the united states of america have been infected by this virus. we know for sure that, again, 30% of those children are starting to have these long covid-like symptoms and what does that mean? we're talking about vaccination for our children in particular, it's very important, because kids want to be kids, they want to mingle with each other and play with each other, which they should be able to, right? but what we know is that when they go out for these halloween parties, they are then going into schools. so all it takes is just one child to pick up that virus and now we can have an outbreak in a school. that has consequences. it reminds me, when we say these children, oh, only 500 has passed away, if your child is one of those 500, it's your complete world. we have to start thinking about this differently in the way we approach it. an eighth grader in mississippi is no longer with us. i know if we could do anything to take back that moment when she passed, we would. we have to be proactive in our approach. >> appreciate you so much for those insights, dr. ebony hilton. meantime, the boston marathon is back. at 9:00 a.m. eastern this morning, runners took to the starting line for the first time since 2019. but the race looked a little different this year. participants were required to provide proof of vaccination or a negative covid test. and there were staggered start times to avoid the lingering that usually happens before race officials tell runners to take their marks. nevertheless, bostonians and runners alike were excited for this return to relative normalcy. joining us for mile 22 of the race in boston is nbc news correspondent shaquille brewster. shaq, i'm still laughing from what you said on the 9:00 show this morning that you don't know why anybody would want to run 26 miles. neither of us are runners. runners are special people. but people have been speeding by you all day. what are they telling you about the return of the race and these new covid protocols? >> reporter: geoff, i'm about four miles from the finish line. so if you look at the runners, you see a lot of pain in their faces right now. so i'm letting them go by, i'm cheering them on. but talking to the spectators who have come out here, you hear the cheers and the cow bells, you see them with their signs, they say this year is more special than ever. that's a big thing, when you're talking about the boston marathon. it normally happens in april and this is a day people take off from work, employers let their employees go and spend the day to cheer on these runners. people are saying they're coming out here, they feel like this is extra special because of what they haven't been able to do for more than two years. i want you to listen to just a couple of the conversations i've been happening with folks standing out here for hours, yelling at the top of their lungs to encourage these runners after they go by. >> it feels really amazing, seeing everyone just like rally around together. it's been postponed, so it just feels -- it feels very good to be here and see everyone cheering on the runners. >> i've lived here all my life, this is the first time i've come in. it's special to come in, and be able to enjoy it safely. >> people are a lot more excited than usual. >> reporter: now, geoff, you mentioned some of those protocols. all the runners have at least given a negative covid test or given that proof of vaccination. and you notice, it's not as dense as it would normally be for the regular section of the marathon runners. that's intentional because of those staggered start times you were tablet. >> shaq, has this assignment changed your views on long distance running, or no? >> reporter: absolutely not. unless someone is chasing me for that long of a period of time, i will not be running 26.2 miles. >> shaq brewster, good to see you, man. you can stream the boston marathon live on nbcsports.com and on the nbc sports app. a rebroadcast of the app airs tonight on nbc's olympic channel. coming up, southwest airlines cancels 2,000 flights, blaming bad weather and its own staff. and a cargo logjam is delaying delivers ahead of the holiday season. our next guest argues it's time to bring in the u.s. army. to bring in the u.s. army. onlye enjoying chocolate cake. now, she can have her cake and eat it too. nexium 24hr stops acid before it starts for all-day, all-night protection. can you imagine 24 hours without heartburn? introducing fidelity income planning. we look at how much you've saved, how much you'll need, and build a straightforward plan to generate income, even when you're not working. a plan that gives you the chance to grow your savings and create cash flow that lasts. along the way, we'll give you ways to be tax efficient. and you can start, stop or adjust your plan at any time without the unnecessary fees. talk to us today, so we can help you go from saving...to living. at humana we believe your healthcare should evolve with you and part of that evolution means choosing the right medicare plan for you. humana can help. with original medicare you are covered for hospital stays and doctor office visits but you'll have to pay a deductible for each. a medicare supplement plan can cover your deductibles and coinsurance but you may pay higher premiums and still not get prescription drug coverage. but with an all-in-one humana medicare advantage plan you could get all that coverage plus part d prescription drug benefits. you get all this coverage for as low as a zero-dollar monthly plan premium in many areas. humana has a large network of doctors and hospitals. and telehealth coverage with a zero-dollar copay. so call or go online today and get your free decision guide. discover how an all-in-one humana medicare advantage plan could save you money. humana, a more human way to healthcare. ♪upbeat music♪ transitions™ light under control. ♪upbeat music♪ transitions™ signature gen 8™ available now, in 4 vibrant style colors. transitions™ ♪ available now, in 4 vibrant style colors. 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>> uh-huh, we were supposed to leave yesterday. >> reporter: are passengers entitled to some sort of refund? >> yes, especially for our hotel compensation at least. >> i had to pay extra money. >> reporter: why? >> because they canceled twice. twice. twice. >> reporter: how many times? >> two. >> reporter: the three airports impacted the most are chicago o'hare, denver, and bwi in baltimore, among others. right now what we're seeing is a conversation going on about whether or not a covid vaccine mandate might be playing a role in this because southwest does have one. the pilots association has asked a court to intervene and to block it. southwest and their union say that has nothing to do with anything that we're seeing right now. that's the very latest here in miami, geoff. >> sam brock, our thanks to you. quote, it's not sustainable at this point. everything is out of whack. that's how a man who runs a port in georgia described the backlog at major shipping hubs in an interview with "the new york times." ships anchored as far as the eye can see, waiting for their turn. shipping containers pile up, waiting to be picked up or moved as well as. as "the times" put it, what once seemed like a temporary phenomenon, a traffic jam that would eventually dissipate, is increasingly viewed as a new reality that could require a substantial refashioning of the world's shipping infrastructure. our next guest has an idea to end the current backlog. call in the u.s. army. and he knows a thing or two about how that can work. joining us now is the former commander of the joint task force katrina, lieutenant general russel honore. it's good to have you back with us. your tweets over the weekend caught my attention. you said, it's time for secretary of transportation pete buttigieg to stop all the tv interviews and go to the sports and get this stuff fixed. you used a different word instead of "stuff." you also wrote the president should consider calling in the u.s. army. what could the army do here? general honore, i think you're muted, sir. try it one more time? >> i had a senior moment. >> there you go. >> sorry about that. >> it's all good, sir. your recommendations to fix this backlog at u.s. ports. >> yes, we need to do something. we need to do something with some draconian solutions to the problem. because it's going to get worse before it gets better. it didn't take long for the white house over the weekend to see this as a national security issue because it's impacting the economy. it's affecting things that could affect people's health as well as the sustainment of things we want coming on the holidays, and it's having an impact in places like haiti who are waiting on survival of goods that have been donated and shipped there that can't get there. so this is a big issue. but this problem has evolved because we have not modernized at the rate of the large ships coming in. we have not streamlined, after deregulation, the control of the ports. and i'm going to give you a quick list. who is in charge of the port? the u.s. government, the u.s. coast guard, the terminal operators, the state, each governor, appoints a commission. then you go to the truckers who have fleets and independent truck drivers. then you have the rails and the locomotives owned by warren buffett. it's a convoluted system that's not meeting the challenge of covid. as i was asking, why isn't the secretary of transportation at the port to get this figured out? we have to stop acting like victims. this is a country, the united states of america, in world war ii, we knew how to fix damn problems like this. we've got to fix these problems and stop talking about them. and a solution is to bring in the seventh transportation brigade with three battalions of drivers and clear the ports, take it to military installations, work out some solution. the normal will not work. >> you invoked the name of the secretary of the department of transportation. i reached out to the d.o.t. this morning and they directed me to an interview that secretary puge gave to "morning joe" last week. take a look at this. >> this is a major challenge. and this is something that's been a major priority for the white house, certainly for our department. it's why the white house set up this task force. and what we're looking at is basically everything between those ships and your shelves that gets the goods to where they need to be. part of that is things like physical infrastructure. part of that is, as you say, labor. and look, obviously it's an incredibly complicated situation. we're talking about global supply chains. and it's mostly private sector systems. but we have a big role to play, and that's why we've been convening all of the different players. for example, held round tables bringing together everybody who is connected to the ports. the port operators, the port owners, labor unions, shipping. >> so what more needs to happen? he's talking about how he's meeting with the stakeholders, the white house named a special envoy to handle this port issue. you can fix problems that most people can't fix. how would you fix this one? >> we've got to stop acting like victims and act like the most powerful nation in the world. get the resources there and fix it. this could be fixed. and it may take some presidential declaration. get with the unions, get with the governors. use the military installations to store cargo if we need to. use government facilities to store cargo. we can fix this. this is not impossible. but the longer this backlog of shipping lasts, the more it's going to affect the economy. this is a national security nat issue. we need an all of government solution. the department of labor working with those unions, looking at the drivers. we could probably pick up drivers from the afghan refugees. they would love to go to work making $11,000 a year, which they would love to drive a truck across the country. we need to fix some of this damn stuff and stop talking about the infrastructure bill and fix what we got. >> lieutenant general russell honore, appreciate your passion as always and your willingness to join us this afternoon. >> good luck, america. coming up next, why captain kirk's next mission to space will have to wait. stay with us. wait. stay with us before nexium 24hr, anna could only imagine a comfortable night's sleep without frequent heartburn waking her up. now, that dream... . ...is her reality. nexium 24hr stops acid before it starts, for all-day, all-night protection. can you imagine 24 hours without heartburn? 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>> 70 miles an hour is close to overwhelming. that's almost a hurricane. i don't want to be on top of a rocket in 75-mile-an-hour winds, and neither does anybody else. so we have -- they have -- canceled the flight. it was supposed to go up tomorrow morning. it's now scheduled to go up on wednesday morning, and we've got our fingers crossed, because everybody has things to do on earth, like talk to you. >> reporter: captain kirk wants to get back down here on terra firma. interesting, he makes a point that his life is coming full circle. 55 years ago he was a struggling actor, really down on his luck. didn't have any money, wasn't able to pay the bills, and one day he was looking up at the stars and he was thinking about the astronauts who were up there and he really wasn't having any luck, and within a week, they called and offered him the job of captain kirk. now after 55 years, he is going into space. he said at the age of 90, his life is going full circle. amazing how "star trek" changed his life. without that success, he wouldn't be going up with jeff bezos. back to you. >> this wraps up our hour. hallie jackson is coming up next. hallie jackson is coming up next starts for all-day, all-night protection. can you imagine 24 hours without heartburn? 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