now a tropical storm is bearing down on the country. hello. we begin in washington, where president biden has sought to defend the manner of the us troop withdrawal from afghanistan. he was speaking after a day of chaos at kabul airport, as desperate afghans were prepared to cling onto aircraft as they took off, to escape the country. the taliban have taken control of most of afghanistan, encountering very little resistance on the way. but mr biden said he stood squarely behind his decision, and that there was never a good time to withdraw. our first report is from our north america editorjon sopel. the sudden capture of the country s capital has shocked the world. whatever the political bent of the network. the taliban has taken over afghanistan, seizing control of kabul. ..the verdict today has been unanimous and brutal. the biden administration is redefining the word i incompetent . an epic humiliation of us foreign policy, a woeful mishandling by president biden. just a
been a big hearted nation, you ve got a home secretary and foreign secretary who know what that means from our own personal history. new zealand announces a snap lockdown after the country detected its first case of locally transmitted covid 19 since february. haiti suffers further. after the death toll in saturday s earthquake passes 1,400, a tropical storm makes landfall on the island. and bob dylan is being sued by a woman who says he sexually abused her in 1965 when she was 12 years old. he denies the allegations. hello and welcome if you re watching in the uk or around the world. the taliban has urged government officials in afghanistan to return to work. it has offered them a general amnesty and, in a statement, said it wanted people to start routine life with full confidence. at kabul s airport, military flights have resumed after yesterday s chaotic scenes, when hundreds of afghans tried to board aircraft. those scenes at the airport have been highlighted by newly rel
one is the presidential palace. the second one is the the presidential palace. the second one is the taliban spokesman tweeted saying one is the taliban spokesman tweeted saying they have asked the taliban fighters saying they have asked the taliban fighters to refrain from fighting in kabut fighters to refrain from fighting in kabul city fighters to refrain from fighting in kabul city which some interpret as not to kabul city which some interpret as not to enter, not to fight in the city~ not to enter, not to fight in the city~ there not to enter, not to fight in the city. there have been a number of reports city. there have been a number of reports and city. there have been a number of reports and maybe when we come on here next reports and maybe when we come on here next time we can refer to the other here next time we can refer to the other reports. but another bbc colleague in kabul was at the government office a few months ago and they government of
as england prepare to make history in their first major final in 55 years. the queen pays a visit to the coronation street set to mark 60 years of the soap. good evening. in 11 days time anyone in england who is fully vaccinated against covid 19 will be able to travel to an amber list country without needing to quarantine on return. under 18s won t have to self isolate either. that means that families will be able to consider travelling abroad this summer. the relaxation of rules will mean a big boost for the travel industry. but expensive covid tests are still needed on return to england. and a number of countries like italy still won t allow british travellers in without a period of isolation upon arrival. here s our transport correspondent, caroline davies. the empty aircraft and quiet departure halls may soon be full of noise again. the announcement is the most significant change seen this year. from the 19thjuly, anyone vaccinated doesn t need to quarantine when they tr
and a lot of the country is heeding that message in some way, shape, or form. yesterday, the government announced that half of u.s. adult population has received at least one dose of the covid-19 vaccine. that s pretty amazing. the cdc reported that almost 130 million people 18 and older, have started the vaccine regimen and almost 84 million adults are fully vaccinated, which is about 32.5% of the population. we are getting there. good morning and welcome to morning joe. it s monday, april 19th. with us, we have white house reporter for the associated press, jonathan lemire, washington anchor for bbc world news america, katty kay. professor at princeton university, eddie glaude jr., and professor at the lyndon b. johnson school of public affairs at the university of texas, victoria defrancesco soto. thank you all so much for being with us this morning. we ll get to that good news on the vaccine in just a moment. but first, we begin this morning with minneapolis and the who