- [announcer] "firing line with margaret hoover" is made possible in part by robert granieri, vanessa and henry cornell, the fairweather foundation, peter and mary kalikow, and by the following. corporate funding is provided by stephens inc. (bright music) - peggy noonan, welcome to "firing line." - thank you, margaret. it's great to be here. - i've known you for many years, and it is a great pleasure to welcome you to this program. your new book, "a certain idea of america," is a compilation of 80 columns that you have written between 2016 and now. as we sit here in the wake of a divisive election in which a twice-impeached convicted felon, a man for whom you never voted, and even called for his removal from office after january 6th, has been democratically reelected, in this moment, what is your idea? - what is my certain idea of america? - what is your certain idea of america? - the phrase "a certain idea of america" comes from the famous first sentence of charles de gaulle's war memoirs, "all of my life i've had a certain idea of france." and i remember that when i read it, read t

robert granieri, vanessa and henry cornell, the fairweather foundation, peter and mary kalikow, and by. corporate funding is provided by stephens inc. >> misty copeland, welcome to "firing line." >> thank you. >> you are the most well-known ballerina in the world today. you, unbelievably, only took your first ballet lesson when you were 13 years old. you discovered ballet at your local boys and girls clubs in gardena, california. what was it like at that age to find something that you could tell you were good at? >> i mean, my life changed in an instant from the moment that i took my first ballet class, just to be able to discover something that -- that you truly feel like you're meant to do and built for. and to be called a prodigy from the time i started. my body responded immediately. i don't know that my mind was there yet, not until i was in an actual ballet studio, did it all click for me, and i felt beautiful. i felt like i belonged for the first time in my life. >> so, by the age of 15, just two years later, you were performing roles that it takes many dancers years and years t

- [announcer] "firing line with margaret hoover" is made possible in part by robert granieri, vanessa and henry cornell, the fairweather foundation, peter and mary kalikow, and by the following. corporate funding is provided by stephens inc. - maria ressa, alsu kurmasheva, jonathan munro. little live action on the front here. i wanna start by also disclosing to the audience. i am on the board of radio free europe/radio liberty. so alsu, you are a dual us russian national. and while you were visiting your sick mother in russia last year, you were detained by russian authorities, jailed, for supposedly failing to register as a foreign agent and sentenced to six and a half years in prison. you were released alongside "wall street journal" reporter, evan gershkovich, and others in part of a prisoner swap. two weeks after your sentencing, the world watched on television as you embraced your children and your husband. how are you adjusting to being back home? - margaret, thank you so much. less than two months ago, i was in prison and now i'm here. i'm so happy to be back. i'm so happy to a

-"firing line" with margaret hoover is made possible in part by robert granieri, vanessa and henry cornell, the fairweather foundation, and by the following. corporate funding is provided by stevens, inc. walter isaacson, welcome to "firing line." -thank you, margaret. great to be here. -you spent two years shadowing elon musk. in 680 pages, you set out to answer the qution, "could he have been more chill and still be the one launching us towards mars and an electric vehicle future?" what's your answer to that question now? -you know, you got to take elon musk the whole cloth. the absolute intense person is what's getting his rockets launched. it also makes him a very difficult character. but if you had a chill elon musk, a restrained elon musk, we'd all probably like being around him a bit more sometimes, but i don't think he'd be the one shooting the rockets to mars or getting us into the electric vehicle future. -you agreed to become elon's biographer at a high moment for him, before he went on to purchase twitter and become a more controversial figure. -yeah. -he had vast success with