this is "andrew mitchell reports" in washington with a surge in gun violence, also the delta variant spreading and political unrest in the caribbean. at the white house president biden is holding a crisis meeting next hour with mayors, local officials and police chiefs amid an alarming rise of gun violence throughout the country. shootings in major cities like philadelphia, chicago and new york city, where a 13-year-old boy was among three killed on sunday. mr. biden is empowering mayors to use covid relief funds to combat the outbreak. this as covid cases are up by 16%, fueled by the delta variant, in a large number of unvaccinated americans, particularly in red states. today pfizer is briefing top health officials on the company's proposal to get emergency authorization for a booster shot. the government has said there is no scientific proof one is yet needed for people who are fully vaccinated. and it's the biggest

antigovernor protests in cuba over the weekend. cuba's president is blaming the u.s. for sanctions causing power and medicine shortages. president biden issued a statement supporting peaceful protests. let's begin at the white house with nbc news white house correspondent kelly o'donnell. first let's talk about the meeting the president is holding today with police chiefs the mayor of dc, as well as the democratic nominee for new york city, trying to get a handle on if surge in violence, incoming attacks from republicans as well. >> reporter: andrea, this is all about the practical issue of dealing with crime as people are experiencing it, and also the political undercurrent that the white house is facing with pressure from the progressive left to do more, as well as criticism coming from the republican right, questioning whether the president is tough enough on crime. all of these forces coming together at a time when these are difficult problems, there's a clear and, without dispute, spike in crime and gun violence in some cities in the country,

and there are some steps the white house says lawmakers and the administration have afforded local communities through the american rescue plan, that relief package as it was branded and passed earlier in the year. there's $350 billion for states and local communities to use. and a bit of a roadmap coming from the white house, how they can do that to shore up and support law enforcement, as well as use community intervention programs that they believe have a track record of being helpful at quelling crime and violence in communities, and some of the social support to try to help to discourage, perhaps, some of the draw toward crime with things like summer job programs and help for those who have been incarcerated, returning to life in the open society. so today we'll hear from police chiefs, in addition to the amars, also the san jose, california, mayor will be here. the president will then be laying out his prescription for

how to deal with this. again, with the political urgency in the backdrop of this, as well as the life and death and practical concerns the communities are trying to face, this is a core issue for the president and one that's not easy to resolve and not easy to get at root causes, and they believe that using funding and this kind of strategy can help. andrea? >> kelly o'donnell starting us off. thank you so much to you. another crisis for the white house is the covid crisis. today pfizer is expected to meet with administration officials as a disagreement rose over whether a third shot is needed at this time for already vaccinated americans. pfizer plans to submit its booster shot for fda emergency authorization this summer, though public health agencies say a booster is not necessary, at least not right now. joining us now, dr. patel, a physician who served as white house health policy director during the obama administration and bookings institution fellow, and also now bring in the fact that israel is going to start

using the pfizer booster shot for people who are compromised in particular, cancer patients and liver transplant patients. first let's talk about what dr. fauci had to say about the idea of a booster at all just this morning. >> what pfizer did, understandably, they looked at their data and they said based on what we see, we think people should get vaccinated with a boost. well, that's fine, except they're not the official recommending organization. so although they do good work, they did study and data that we will go over with them to determine if there's anything there that we need to use. >> so, dr. patel, who should we trust, pfizer who produced the vaccine or the government scientists who are in charge of authorizing it and are saying that they're looking at the

data? >> andrea, the perfect question, and it's unfortunate that we're even having to ask that question, we should absolutely trust the scientists. by the way, i would say it's not even just the government scientists, it's the administration officials today, as you point out, but also the advisory committee that has been incredibly important with the cdc, outside members for the most part, who are scientists, public health officials, who are part of that deliberating body, all transparent, all out in the public, of who should get which shots and when. that's where this conversation needs to happen. i'll just say do not -- this israeli news is not shocking. we know for about 5% of americans, as you mentioned, cancer patients, people with solid organ transplants and elderly, that a third dose might give the immunity that many people, myself included, have benefitted from with just the two doses. but that doesn't mean it's for everyone. >> we should point out that

israel was part of the pfizer test group. that's one of the ways they got their country vaccinated so quickly. their country, i should say, but not the palestinians. they did not permit any of the pfizer vaccine, at least initially and maybe still not now to give to the west bank, to gaza. >> yeah, the inequity, that will mirror, and what i worry about with this confusing messaging from pfizer, unfortunate it sounds like it's pfizer versus administration officials. that should not be what we take away, but it is because we still have, as you pointed out, a little bit under half the country that has not been vaccinated. imagine that in some places, andrea, this gives fuel to the notion that we do not need to be vaccinated because the government and the manufacturers can't even agree on what we need to do. and that is unfortunate and i hope that we can clear that up now, that this is a conversation that should be led by scientists and public health officials.

>> now, is the pushback from the administration also because they're concerned that they need to be focused on the people who are not vaccinated yet, and these efforts which become more critical as the delta variant spreads, and potentially these people, many of them in red states, many of them young men, many of them perhaps responding to the political impulse, we saw it again at the political action group this weekend. is that potentially a problem? because those people become petri dishes for other variants as well. >> right, it's definitely putting my kind of former white house hat on, it's definitely in all of the covid task force members' minds, but i will say it's really the data that's leading this conversation, as dr. fauci and others have pointed out. we simply do not have evidence that we need that third shot. and boosters are confusing in

and of themselves as a term. we're talking about a third shot of the same shot that dose one and dose two are. they're also working, all companies are working on some quote/unquote booster or kind of second set of vaccines that might be tweaked to deal with those variants, andrea. so you're absolutely right, messaging -- and we saw some of this during the trump administration, conflicting messages between state, local and the federal officials. now we're getting some of these conflicting messages from the manufacturers and the government. >> dr. kavita patel, as always, we really value your expertise. and cuba's president today is blaming the united states for the island's largest anti-government protests in nearly 30 years and urging his supporters to counter-protest. in a statement the president of cuba said -- i'm sorry, in a statement president biden said that u.s. stands with the cuban people and they had bravely

asserting fundamental and universal rights, including the right of peaceful protest and the right to freely determine their own future must be respected. that from president biden. currently, cubans are facing the worst economy in decades and a resurgence of the coronavirus. a lack of food, medicine, even electricity. nbc's morgan radford has a lot more. >> reporter: we really can't overstate the political significance of this moment. thousands took to the streets in cuba in a striking anti-government protest that was really unlike anything we've seen before. these protests started sunday and then today more marchers are now protesting in havana. they've been calling for freedom after what has really been a perfect storm for this country, a crippling pandemic, food shortages, and now a struggling economy. today the cuban president is bushing back, blaming the economic downturn on u.s. sanctions and saying that protesters are simply trying to divide the country. of course, andrea, this is as calls grow even louder for food, for medicine and for freedom.

what's really interesting here is there seems to be somewhat of a surprising contingent -- political contingent about what these tests are actually about, whether it's about covid or communism. and let us be very clear, this is about both. sources on the ground in havana have told me that the pandemic inadvertently did what many believe the embargo was unable to do, by creating such an impossible situation domestically that it forced change to come from the inside. and that's the part that we haven't seen before. so yesterday as protests erupted, the country announced 7,000 daily covid infections and 47 deaths. and then because covid had restricted travel food and supplies weren't getting into the country so there's been a dire food shortage. this is happening while the cuban economy shrank by 11%. so now as we've been talking to people on the ground there, this has created a storm and many cubans on the ground are hopeful

that change can come with enough international pressure. they're not quite sure when. andrea? >> morgan, thank you so much for that. and meanwhile, lawmakers in austin are holding marathon sessions as they debate what could become some of the most restrictive voting laws in the nation and how that could impact the coming midterms. plus, experience of a lifetime, sir richard branson back on earth after reaching the edge of space. what's next for commercial space travel? stay with us. this is "andrew mitchell reports" on msnbc. felt gross. it was kind of a shock after i started cosentyx. four years clear. real people with psoriasis look and feel better with cosentyx. don't use if you're allergic to cosentyx. before starting, get checked for tuberculosis. an increased risk of infections and lowered ability to fight them may occur. tell your doctor about an infection or symptoms, if your inflammatory bowel disease symptoms develop or worsen, or if you've had a vaccine or plan to. serious allergic reactions may occur.

learn more at cosentyx.com. ♪ ♪ when technology is easier to use... ♪ barriers don't stand a chance. ♪ that's why we'll stop at nothing to deliver our technology as-a-service. ♪ the instant air purifier removes 99.9% of the virus that causes covid-19 from treated air. so you can breathe easier, knowing that you and your family have added protection. ♪ ♪

look...if your wireless carrier was a guy, knowing that you and your fyou'd leave him tomorrow. n. not very flexible. not great at saving. you deserve better - xfinity mobile. now, they have unlimited for just $30 a month. $30 dollars. and they're number 1 in customer satisfaction. his number? delete it. deleting it. so break free from the big three. xfinity internet customers, take the savings challenge at xfinitymobile.com/mysavings or visit an xfinity store to learn how our switch squad makes it easy

to switch and save hundreds.

pushing ahead with sweeping voter restrictions. a vote in the state legislature could happen as early as tomorrow, after a marathon weekend session of public testimony, republicans were still unable to provide proof of voter fraud in the last election. nbc news reporter priscilla

thompson joins us from the state capital in austin. what kinds of restriction rs republicans proposing and do democrats have any more tricks up their sleeves? last time they walked out so there wasn't a quorum and they could delay the vote. >> reporter: these bills include many of the same things that democrats bulked at in the regular session, things like the ban on overnight and drive-through voting, the criminal penalties for election officials, meanwhile increased protections for partisan poll watchers. what we saw this weekend was sort of the first iteration of this fight with hundreds of people showing up, largely to express their opposition to this bill during public testimony, which ran into the early morning of sunday. and i want you to listen to some of what those folks had to say to lawmakers this weekend. >> how many eligible voters can you squeeze out of our democratic process and be okay with it? i believe that answer should be zero. >> lawmakers will be sending a message that you can be on the

front lines of our economy, that you can be risking your lives at times, like so many have done during the pandemic, but yet you shouldn't be able to cast your vote. that's not right. >> reporter: so at this point these bills do appear to be headed towards a vote at some point in week. in terms of what democrats can do here, they can try to fight some of this bill on procedural grounds. we saw some of them putting forth amendments over the weekend. no amendments were accepted on either of these bills, and of course the other option is for democrats to walk out again. and at this point they are going to need to make that decision pretty quickly now. andrea? >> priscilla thompson, thank you so much. joining us, "new york times" white house correspondent peter baker and former rnc chairman steele and from the desoto school of public affairs. victoria, let's talk about what's going on down in texas.

they did back off on getting the sunday voting after sunday church sessions, but there are other things that they didn't back off on. so how does this play out? what do you think are the most difficult and restrictive rules? >> andrea, so the bills that we're seeing right now are pretty much the same that we saw during the regular session, with the exception, as you noted, of reinstating the sunday voting hours and also not allowing it to be as easy to overturn, for judges to overturn election results. >> and michael steele, texas is certainly a bellwether of republican voting restrictions, we saw a big change in terms of their senate and local elections last time around, but of course not the governor's race, what they were really caring about and also the national race. so what is at stake for the national republican party in

trying to keep texas red? >> well, i think the first thing at stake is they are in alignment with whatever trump is spouting in terms of the 2020 election, which we heard this past weekend at cpac part two, just more vilification and lies. so you have republicans not just elected officials now, but party organs, all aligning themselves, so for a state like texas with this legislation having been defeated during the first round, now they have to bring it home. they have to continue to make the case that's consistent with the national branding around the 2020 election. i think that's what you saw this weekend from the reporting we just heard, where they didn't take any amendments. yeah, we'll give you sunday, but the rest of it we're going to keep pretty much in line with

what republicans are saying about this election around the country, and that is nothing, because there is no proof of fraud. that's the irony in all of this, is that they've not presented one iota of evidence that these bills are claiming to address. so the big lie continues. it has now become almost the ugly truth out of the gop, and that's something that voters will have to contend with when they go to the polls starting this fall. >> and, peter, i think there's one area of texas, i can't recall exactly the district, where there is a particular college with a large minority population, and every single time they have to go to court for those kids to be able to vote near their college, rather than their home states. and it's been decided by the courts over and over again, and every single cycle they have to

go back. texas has been playing this game against minority voting. the president is supposed to be giving a major speech on voting rights tomorrow in philadelphia at the constitution center, but a lot of democrats are losing patience with him, congressman jim clyburn is pleading with the white house to reform the filibuster rules just on constitutional issues like this one. and listen to julian castro today on "morning joe." >> a carveout or a push on the talking filibuster, as the president has already said he supports. the problem is that we really haven't seen any activity. we haven't seen any push from the oval office on this issue and you can see that the impatience is growing among democrats. >> so, peter, what are we going to hear from the president, and why haven't see seen legislation to try to attack the 2013 supreme court rollback of the

voting rights law? >> well, look, in the end there is impatience, obviously, on the left with president biden and the democratic leadership. but the problem is are the votes there. we've seen with senator manchin and others they're not willing to go as far -- >> peter, i think we've lost peter baker. michael steele, can you address the question of why the president -- democrats have had the majority in the house since 2018. they haven't been able to do anything. >> yeah. >> they haven't tried to do anything on the 2013 voting rights act, which is central to trying to deal with this issue. >> well, it is. and peter put his finger right on the salient point, is that the democrats don't have the votes because at least two of their democratic colleagues in the senate aren't supporting this push by the broader

democratic electorate to do something. so what is that something that needs to be done? well, okay, let's address what the supreme court unpacked out of the voting rights, the '65 voting rights act, and that remains the biggest problem. they just don't have the votes. >> peter, i think you're back. if you can -- apologies for the difficulty today. can you finish that thought? >> yeah, i think michael's point is right, which is to say that the filibuster rule is frustrating because it means you have to get 60 votes to pass most things in the senate. they don't have 51 votes, so the filibuster isn't necessarily going to put this over the top. it's not right now, the democrats are not fully onboard. they are working with the narrowest of majorities both in the house and the senate to get the consensus they need in order to pass legislation to reverse the supreme court decision in the voting rights case or

reverse some of these legislation actions. so it's frustrating for people on the left and also for president biden because he doesn't have a united caucus behind him. one or two votes in a 50/50 senate is enough to detail the efforts that they would like to take. >> except that the criticism is they don't get that unless he puts more political energy into this himself. we'll see what that speech is like tomorrow. peter baker, michael steele, victoria, thank you all. back to the historic protests in cuba. freelance journalist ed agustin joins me now. can you describe what you're seeing now and hearing from people there? the protests yesterday were simply astounding, amazing. >> reporter: yeah, yesterday i was out in downtown havana the whole day and i witnessed thousands of protesters in the central part of havana who were

out demanding change, demanding that the communist government stand down. and their main gripe, their main grievance was these are people who have, especially since the pandemic, have become used to having to live on small food rations, are used to empty shelves at the supermarkets and pharmacies, and increasingly used to power cuts, the water going out. so it was really the underlying complaints of people, was that they're fed up with waiting in line and economic privation. the protests started in the morning and they arrived in havana yesterday early afternoon, and these protests, some were peaceful and others were violent. i saw confrontations between protesters picking up paving

slabs and hurling them at policemen. one policeman was hit in the face. police responded with batons and i'm seeing videos now, the internet is cut in cuba, but ammunition. later in the afternoon the army was on the state and people who support the cuban government came out in their thousands as well, showing their support of what they see as a revolutionary project that's worth protecting. right now in havana, at least, the internet remains cut and a tense calm has descended on the city, while in key points around the city security and police are out in force trying to show an appearance of normality. >> as to what really triggered this, because the sanctions, the u.s. sanctions have been crushing for years, but you're suggesting that under covid the privation reached a breaking point for these people. were there a lot of people jailed as well? how harsh was the government

crackdown on these protests? >> reporter: in terms of a government crackdown, i can confirm that hundreds of people were jailed and there was violence both sides, from the protesters towards the state authorities and from the state authorities -- from the state with many police, but also plain clothes police officers towards the protests. so i've been reporting in cuba for years and i've never seen protests of this scale and i've never seen violence on this scale. i think in terms of why it's happening now, i would give two reasons. first of all, it's economic. cuba, no country in modern history has been sanctioned for as long as cuba. cuba has been under sanctions since 1960 by the united states. those sanctions were very, very much increased under the trump administration and the biden administration, to date, has not removed any of those sanctions. and so this is a long-standing pressure cooker strategy which

has as its aim the idea to sufficient indicate the cuban economy, and provoke discontent to overthrow the government. as you alluded to, the pandemic has made things far worse. they're highly reliant on tourism revenue, cuba no exception, and especially havana, we're seeing that play out. and so that's one of the reasons. the other big change, factor here, of changing things, is the internet. the protests started both in an eastern city and a western city in the morning and news of that swept to havana. by early afternoon people started coming out. in years gone by when there were protests in towns and cities in other points in cuba, people simply wouldn't know. we're seeing the mass rollout of the internet with millions connected changing the social complexion and the physical realities on the ground. >> thank you so much, ed agustin, in havana.

and the afghan handover, the symbolic end of america's longest war. rare access to the generals handing over control as we speak. we'll have two eye reports from the afghan capital coming up next. you're watching "andrew mitchell reports." this is msnbc. your skin's cerami s and strengthens it against dryness for softer, smoother skin you can lovingly embrace. renew the love for your skin with dove body wash.

the commander of u.s. and nato forces in afghanistan, general scott miller, has stepped down from his post today, marking a symbolic end to the u.s. military mission in the country. today a ceremony was held to mark the event in kabul, where general miller handed over control to his boss, u.s. ken tral command general, frank mckenzie and paid service to those killed while fighting there. >> many have lost service members, civilians, our afghan partners have lost service members, they've lost civilians,

and as we've spoken about previously on this very ground with this group over time, our job is now not to protect. >> joining me now from kabul, nbc news chief foreign correspondent richard engel and pentagon correspondent, courtney kube. you were speaking with general mckenzie, i believe, on your flight over. what did he tell you? >> reporter: that's right. he really laid out the security situation here, which there's a lot of concern about. the taliban are making a lot of advances throughout many different parts of the country right now. the afghan security forces in some cases have been able to push them back. but the concern right now is if they start to go after some of the capitals. he believes they are looking to a military solution to the conflict, which both the u.s. and afghan government have said, no, we need a negotiated peace settlement, no military solution. the concern is that the taliban will keep trying to push forward

into some of these centers, and ultimately he said they know they need to take kabul if they really want to take this country over. but mckenzie also spoke about his concerns about the intelligence piece here in afghanistan. now, the afghan government actually has been able to provide somewhat more reliable information and intelligence about the taliban, especially in recent days and months. but one of his concerns is that as the taliban is overrunning some of these areas, the afghans don't have as good of intelligence in those areas, and as the u.s. and nato advisers that have virtually all left this country now, as they're no longer embedded with those afghan military and police, they aren't getting the information. so general mckenzie said he had a much better picture of the overall security and intelligence situation here in afghanistan just 180 days ago, andrea. >> which is obviously worrying. richard, as you see the taliban

gaining ground and you've seen the combat from the afghan forces and special forces, which did fight back, but the other afghan army forces, the regulars, are turning over their equipment, surrendering, volunteering their equipment in some cases, right? >> reporter: the taliban are clearly trying to take over this country, and they've learned a great deal. 20 years fighting against the united states military. that's how their armies get better. if you look at where they're taking over, they're generally starting their advances in the north, which is not the taliban stronghold. they are trying to ring and surround cities. they don't want a repeat of what happened 20 years ago. 20 years ago the taliban were in power, they now say it was a mistake, and the u.s. invaded. and the u.s. invaded by forming an alliance with traditionally non-taliban allies, the people who don't like the taliban,

never liked the taliban in the north. so the taliban are first going after those areas, they're cutting off the roads, they're setting up choke points, they're taking over the bases that have been abandoned by the afghan soldiers. and they know the south, which is the traditional taliban stronghold will always be in their hands. and they're trying to isolate pockets of possible resistance. so they are working with a plan and the plan, for now, deal with the north, cut off the access, surround kabul and kabul increasingly is surrounded, and many people i've spoken to, some of whom advised the afghan government, that are members of the afghan government, who believe that kabul could fall and don't think that it would be -- frankly, don't think it would take much. >> and just to quickly point out, richard, you've been talking to the translators. we've been told by the state department today they are going to begin reprocessing those special visas, which had not

been processed under covid, they didn't have staff in there. maybe too little, too late, according to some of those you've spoken to? >> reporter: oh, too little, too late. but for the translators it's not too late. they're still here, so if they can get out, that would be the difference between life and death. kabul increasingly feels like an island. even afghans aren't leaving kabul. so if you are a translator, and there are many translators who have come to kabul because it's something of a safe haven. we spoke to one who is now sort of hiding out in kabul because he doesn't want to go back to his home village. when he does go back to his home village on a rare occasion to make sure his wife and family are okay, he goes in at night, he doesn't raise his voice because he doesn't want his neighbors to see him. so you have thousands and thousands of translators who are hiding out in kabul or living in secret in their areas that are either taken over by the taliban or about to be taken over by the taliban. so, yes, it's too little too

late, but they are still here, they are still alive. so if something can be done to get them out now while there still is a safe haven, while there still is an international airport, clearly that would be the difference between life and death. >> richard engel, courtney kube, thank you so much to you both. earning his wings, the hype over space tourism skyrocketing as the billionaire space race blasts off. that's coming up next. you're watching "andrew mitchell reports" on msnbc. of doing what's right, not what's easy. so when a hailstorm hit, usaa reached out before he could even inspect the damage. that's how you do it right. usaa insurance is made just the way martin's family needs it with hassle-free claims, he got paid before his neighbor even got started. because doing right by our members, that's what's right. usaa. what you're made of, we're made for. ♪ usaa ♪

hey, i just got a text from my sister. we're made for. you remember rick, her neighbor? sure, he's the 76-year-old guy who still runs marathons, right? sadly, not anymore. wow. so sudden. um, we're not about to have the "we need life insurance" conversation again, are we? no, we're having the "we're getting coverage so we don't have to worry about it" conversation. so you're calling about the $9.95 a month plan -from colonial penn? -i am. we put it off long enough. we are getting that $9.95 plan, today. (jonathan) is it time for you to call about the $9.95 plan? i'm jonathan from colonial penn life insurance company. sometimes we just need a reminder not to take today for granted. if you're age 50 to 85, you can get guaranteed acceptance whole life insurance starting at just $9.95 a month. there are no health questions so you can't be turned down for any health reason. the $9.95 plan is colonial penn's number one most popular whole life plan.

options start at just $9.95 a month. that's less than 35 cents a day. your rate can never go up. it's locked in for life. call today for free information. and you'll also get this free beneficiary planner, so call now. (soft music) ♪ hello, colonial penn?

i was drowning in student loan debt. i was in the process of deferring them, paying them... then i discovered sofi. completely changed my life. lower interest rate. my principal is going down. sofi is a place where you can start to tackle those money goals today. compared to where i was three years ago, i'm kinda killing it. ♪♪ - [narrator] this is steve. he used to have gum problems. now, he uses therabreath healthy gums oral rinse with clinically-proven ingredients and his gum problems have vanished. (crowd applauding) therabreath, it's a better mouthwash. at walmart, target and other fine stores.

this may look like a regular movie night. but if you're a kid with diabetes, it's more. it's the simple act of enjoying time with friends, knowing you understand your glucose levels. ♪♪ the instant air purifier removes 99.9% of the virus that causes covid-19 from treated air. so you can breathe easier, knowing that you and your family have added protection. ♪ ♪ billionaire sir richard branson made history sunday when he and his crew became the first space tour oifts. branson and five crew mates launching 5,500 miles beyond the earth. nbc's tom costello spoke exclusively with branson and his family and has the latest on the

so-called battle of the space billionaires. >> reporter: the space race between billionaires has a winner. >> that is a full duration burn, spokes. we are headed to space. >> reporter: blasting off above the new mexico desert on sunday, at speeds over 2,300 miles per hour. sir richard branson and a crew of five others aboard virgin galactic's unity spaceship. the journey 17 years in the making and a lifelong dream for branson. >> i was born as a child with a dream, looking up to the stars. now i'm in a spaceship. >> reporter: their flight reaching 53.5 miles high. nearly four minutes of waitlessness and a truly out of this world view before descending and returning home. >> it's a complete experience

for a lifetime. >> reporter: more than an hour after takeoff -- >> and there is full stop. >> reporter: -- a moment to rejoice, followed by a triumphant celebration back on earth. we spoke exclusively with branson and his children, holly and sam. >> richard, congratulations. how are you? >> i will come down soon. >> did it live up to your expectations and hopes? >> i always dreamt about what it would be like to be in space looking back at this incredible earth. it's impossible to describe just how magnificent it is. >> reporter: adding a new title to his resumé, civilian astronaut, and he has the hardware to prove it. show us the wings. you worked hard for these. >> i'm afraid nobody will be able to take this way. >> reporter: his excitement uncontainable. for branson's family, it was

nerves that were sky high. >> i don't think i would be a loving son if i wasn't worried. >> i knew fundamentally they were going to come back but it's quite hard when you're dad is going to do something so pioneering that no one else has really done. >> i just wanted to see if you loved me. >> reporter: virgin galactic's first full passenger test flight comes just nine days before jeff bezos is expected to climb into his blue origin rocket. he congratulated his competitors, adding, i can't wait to join the club. >> things are looking great. >> reporter: now a new goal, cutting down that quarter of a million price tag for a ride. doing so could make space tourism a possibility for the masses and allow everyone to see the world from this new perspective. >> for the next generation of dreamers, if we can do this, just imagine what you can do. hey!

>> just imagine. joining me now is contributing writer for "the new yorker" and the author of the new book "test gods, virgin galactic and the making of a modern astronaut". you've spent so much time researching virgin galactic. first, what makes richard branson so special? why did he, at least this first lap, win the race of the billionaires? >> thanks for having me on. yeah, i was fortunate enough to spend four years embedded inside of his company and then another two years working on the book, and so, yeah, i feel like i sort of understand the fabric and the feel of the company. what makes richard so special? you know, he's one to take a chance and i think that's a testament to his character and it also speaks to his confidence in the vehicle that he was ready to hop in there. it's very important to remember, prior to this flight they had only had three space flights and the second one nearly didn't come back in one piece. it suffered some serious

structural damage. so three flights in for him to say i'm ready to buckle up and go on the fourth, it's a real vote of confidence for his engineering team. >> and what is the future for space tourism? let's say they can get the price down from the extraordinary quarter of a million dollars. but will people be willing to take this risk? would you do it? >> well, so there are a few great questions there. first of all, the price is going to have to go up before it comes down. they've already said it's potentially going to be -- they're reporting it could be as much as half a million dollars per seat. right now you have 600 passengers who have reservations who have paid between $200,000 and $250,000. they flew four passengers on the flight on sunday. so they need to clear that entire customer roll before they're ready to take the next batch of customers, who would pay upwards of $300, 000,

$400,000. until it gets to a first class ticket, which is certainly beyond my budget and means, and most people's budget and means, we're way out. we're easily more than a decade. so the question, though, would i go, you know, i think it sort of depends. it depends on what the flight tempo is. when i was in the company to a day-to-day basis watching the way they were working through problems, i was ready to go any minute. and then, you know, we have all gotten stuck in our houses for the past two years, and suddenly going to the grocery store seems risky. getting into a spaceship seems like a trip i wasn't ready to take, and also my book was done so it was an easy justification for my wife to say i need to do this for the book and now i would need at argument to do that. it's extraordinarily exciting and getting back to richard,

it's really important to remember as well that he's made his business empire largely branding, by brand and by improving the customer experience. and what he did suddenly with virgin galactic after this horrible accident, is that he was forced to build something for the first time, really, and that something happened to be spaceships. this was a pivotal moment and this is a real change to his whole business empire. >> nick, thank you so much. love having you on today. and good luck with the book. european champs, a big day. it will be scoring a huge soccer victory in a match that all came down to one final shot. celebrations today even more festive after a year-long battle with the pandemic, but also the dark side of the celebrations, the reactions. you're watching "andrew mitchell reports" on msnbc. muscle health. versus 16 grams in ensure high protein. boost® high protein also has key nutrients

for immune support. boost® high protein. ♪ ♪ when technology is easier to use... ♪ barriers don't stand a chance. ♪ that's why we'll stop at nothing to deliver our technology as-a-service. ♪

as the olympics are set to open in tokyo, athlete vs. to navigate quarantines and other covid restrictions causing all sorts of issues. tom yamas has the latest in tokyo. >> as you know the olympics are the ultimate test for any athlete, but the tokyo games will be even more challenging because of the state of emergency here in tokyo. from the moment that athletes arrive they have to wait in long lines, they will have to wear masks everywhere, and it may

feel like a time machine to a year ago when everything was locked down. the athletes are saying it is difficult. they're allowed to stay in the village and go to the event sites. they can't see any tourist locations or go to restaurants. as we know under the state of emergency restaurants and bars cannot serve alcohol. there is also some push back now against the government that are very upsate about the state of emergency that will hurt their bottom line. in olympic news, big news from novak djokovic, the greatest tennis player in the world right now. he was on track for a golden slam. winning a grand slam and a gold medal. now with the restrictions he says he is 50-50 on whether or not he will compete. he is upstlet will not be fans and he won't be allowed to brick

all of his team members with him. also team usa losing to team nigeria. this was a stunning loss. players from team usa are saying this is not the end of the world. this was an exhibition game and they need this to get together. they have not been playing together for that long so they hope the loss will help get their minds on the game and get them in the zone when the real competition begins. andrea back to you. thank you, tom llamas. and italy celebrating a moment of triumph. >> italy are champions of europe! >> the italian soccer team winning the european championship. fans in rome and across the country flooding the streets that spent most of last year empty because of covid. but it was a heartbreak for england as they saw their hopes of bringing home the first hit

until -- title in decades home. it has been an ugly reaction against the poor player that missed that final point. the penalty shot. >> yeah, andrea, that's right. the mood where i am in rome and england could not be different. the celebrations last night unbelievable. italians out in the street. the team is on a bus going around the city right now. they met with the president, they're going to meet with the prime minister. just real joy across the country. and in england, of course, i live in london, my adopted country, it is very different. but also really racist underbelly coming out. three young black players missing those penalty shots. the abuse online on social media was really swift. you have a young diverse team, seven of the 11 starters had a

parent or grandparent born in another country. the racism was online, on murals vandalized this morning. the english team says we're disgusted that some of our quad have been subjected to the discriminatory abuse online after tonight's game. we stand with our players. as you might imagine the condemnation from the mayor of london, from the prime minister, look at this has been swift. he says this england team deserved to be lauded as heros, not racially abused in social media. racism in football not new, but those watching say it reached a new ugly peak. >> molly hunter, thank you so much. troubling indeed nap does it for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports." kaci hunt will be in for chuck todd coming up next. e in for chk todd coming up next. you hope the more you give

the less they'll miss. but even if your teen was vaccinated against meningitis in the past they may be missing vaccination for meningitis b. although uncommon, up to 1 in 5 survivors of meningitis will have long term consequences. now as you're thinking about all the vaccines your teen might need make sure you ask your doctor if your teen is missing meningitis b vaccination. ♪ ♪ ♪ aloha! isn't this a cozy little room? sorry your vacation request took so long to get approved, so you missed out on the suite special. but lucky for you, they had this. when employees are forced to wait for vacation request approvals,it can really cramp their style. i'm gonna leave you to it. um, just— with paycom, employees enter and manage their own hr data in a single, easy-to-use software. visit paycom.com and schedule a demo today.

this isn't just a walk up the stairs. when you have an irregular heartbeat, it's more. it's dignity.

the freedom to go where you want, knowing your doctor can watch over your heart. ♪♪ the instant air purifier removes 99.9% of the virus that causes covid-19 from treated air. so you can breathe easier, knowing that you and your family have added protection. ♪ ♪ welcome to monday, it's "meet the press daily." i'm kaci hunt in for chuck todd. we're following breaking news, democrat state lawmakers are planning on fleeing the state to pass the republican bke