live as soon as it begins. at the very same time we are keeping a close eye on what s happening down in texas. the deep freeze there is over but you have still got 8 million people without power, people lining up to get food and that s not all their problems. some texans are now getting hit with massive electric bills. this woman s monthly bill was over $6,000. i ll explain why that is happening in just a minute. and finally, a new and terrible milestone, the number of covid deaths in the united states of america has now surpassed half a million. a figure equivalent to the total population of kansas city, or miami, florida. the president and first lady will hold a ceremony this evening to honor and remember those who lost their lives. but there is good covid news out there. coronavirus numbers keep coming down across the nation, new cases have fallen, more than 40% over the last two weeks, hospitalizations and deaths are down at least 30%. i want to start this very busy w
more are expected as pilots and flight attendants get sidelined by covid. jetblue tells nbc news it is proactively canceling more than 1,200 flights through january, heading off the wave of sickouts, all fueled by another record in new cases. the u.s. is now averaging nearly 300,000 new infections a day. but with home testing kits still in short supply and hours-long waits to get a pcr test, there is a consensus that that 300,000 number is well short of the true number of daily cases. yes, cases are spiking, at a dizzying rate. but, and this is a big but, the caseload is not matching an equally dizzying hospitalization rate. new cases up 60% in the past week. new hospitalizations up 14%. and covid-related deaths are actually down, that s right, down, by 7%. we are not in the same place as we were in march 2020. there are vaccines and boosters along with promising data about that much-maligned j&j shot. there are antivirus. and we have masks, high quality ones. so let us kee
and susan collins will believe any lie no matter how obvious. i m susan collins. and i ve approved this message. well wow, that s an interesting an interesting commercial. willie, it worked in may, she won by nine. you got to say. it works. are hot dogs not made of the finest ingredients. no. really. okay. this morning, we have more on the fallout from the supreme court. chief justice john roberts confirms the leaked draft opinion that would overturn roe v. wade is in fact authentic, as democrats focus on the potential ruling. republicans zero in on the leak, assuming without evidence that it came from the left. that s really far-fetched. we ll assume why that assumption might be premature. plus, trump-backed j.d. vance wins the republican primary in ohio. how will the guy who will once called himself a never-trumper. also, a guy who stabbed ukraine in the back. a guy who said that we needed to have the federal government seize all of the assets from
vision we have brand new reporting on what president biden s campaign launch could look like and who will lead his team with his re-election announcement expected to come as early as tomorrow this as a new nbc news poll shows a vast majority of republican primary voters stand firmly behind former president trump despite the criminal charges and the looming legal challenges he faces. are we headed for a rematch? steve kornacki is here to break down all the um numbers for us the race to evacuate is under way in sudan american forces rescuing personnel from a u.s. embassy in a nighttime mission, as fighting the africa s third largest country enters a second week we have more on the incredible mission to get them to safety. what about the 16,000 americans still on the ground there in sudan? an american travel writer stuck in the capital describes chaos in the country the city is so tense right now. a lot of people are fleeing left and right. i can see the cars outside i m just
visited the queen where unusually unguarded william told one mourner how difficult it was to walk behind his grandmother s coffin yesterday. and the queen s daughter-in-law shared an emotional moment with a nonverbal young man in manchester. his mother explained the significance of that encount per. growing up with the queen, i think it s a nice day and a nice memory for both of us to twail see some of the royal family at this sad time. we are learning new details abts the funeral plans. on monday more than 2,000 people are expected at the state funeral in westminster abbey. queen elizabeth ii will be buried in the king george vi memorial chapel near her parents. there she will be reunited in death with her late husband, whose coffin will be moved from the royal vault to windsor. this is the scene right now as queen elizabeth ii s body is lying in state at westminster hall. lines of mourners have waited through the night in chilly weather, slowly moving forward, patiently