campaign, and very well timed as this report comes, further evidence that the economy is recovering. just hours before, donald trump delivers a speech on that very topic. we know he'll try to attack her on it. this gives democrats a way to rebut. >> yeah, and we're reminded that donald trump has been convicted of felony counts with the judge deciding today that of course this judge will stay in place for this case, and this case involves a sentencing on september 18th. so that's all in the background, not to be forgotten. that does it for us this morning. ana cabrera picks up the coverage right now. the race for the white house, donald trump returning to the trail as he faces growing pressure from top allies. this as the number two on the democratic ticket sharpens his attacks on the gop nominee. also ahead, new developments in ukraine, surprise assault into russian territory.

ukraine now claiming to have captured russian prisoners of war. how putin is responding. plus, new economic data out this morning showing inflation falling below 3% for the first time since 2021. we'll break down the numbers. and later, tropical storm ernesto strengthening as it pommels puerto rico, we'll have the very latest on the storm's track. ♪♪ good morning, it is 10:00 eastern. great to have you with us. i'm ana cabrera reporting from new york. this morning, a clear swing state split screen is now emerging. former president trump hitting the campaign trail for the first time this week after allies expressed frustration at the slow pace of his stump appearances since the shakeup in the race. this afternoon, trump will hold a rally in north carolina. vice president kamala harris will campaign there on friday, and then on sunday, she'll join her running mate, tim walz for a

battleground bus tour in pennsylvania after trump's return to that state. so they are kind of crisscrossing here. some brand new polling from the cook political report shows why the candidates are eyeing these battle grounds. among seven key states harris leads trump by one point. that's within the margin of error. but when you zoom in on the specific states, you see serious movement. north carolina, an eight-point swing toward harris. michigan, plus five since may. pennsylvania, four-point swing toward harris, and this survey was taken before harris picked her running mate and all the momentum that seemed to bring. yamiche alcindor and vaughn hillyard are covering the campaigns, and also with us, jim messina, and former senior republican congressional adviser, rina shah. trump back on the trail, facing heat from republicans for his light campaign schedule.

what do we know? >> right. he added a campaign event in montana last friday night. that is where today it is notable he is going to asheboro, north carolina, for a campaign rally. and on saturday, wilkes-barre, pennsylvania. you look at those seven states. the trump campaign had been talking about new hampshire being in play, virginia being in play, and this is the difficult part for a campaign less than three months out. suddenly you're working with upwards of nine potentially battleground states, and you have to pick not only where you spend your time but also spend your resources and when you compare it to the democratic side with their ticket appearing with down ballot candidates, there are senate candidates, within north carolina, there's gubernatorial candidate who right now has lower polling numbers with donald trump. there's a lot taking place within the republican party about donald trump's use of time and where he's appearing but also the extent to which he appears or does not appear with some of these down ballot candidates in the extent like pennsylvania, dave mccormick,

will we see him on saturday, alongside donald trump on stage. there's a lot that the trump campaign is going through. >> so many moving parts, the polls are moving, candidates are on the move. yamiche alcindor and tim walz will stop in pennsylvania. walz has sharpened his attacks on the gop ticket in his solo appearances this week. what will we see from them in the coming days. >> aware going to see him sharpening, as you said, these attacks. what harris was looking for in a running mate was not just someone who's going to govern and ready for a president, but also someone who's able to push back forcefully on republican attacks, and that's what we've seen from the governor. take a listen to what he said. >> vice president harris grew up in a middle class family, picked up shifts at that mcdonald's as a student. i keep asking this to make a contrast here. can you simply picture donald trump working at a mcdonald's trying to make a mcflurry or something. he knows us, he couldn't run that mcflurry machine.

the only two things they know about working people is how to work to take advantage of them. that's what they know about it. every single chance they've gotten, they have waged war on workers. >> and this was tim walz speaking in his first solo event to union members. he was really leaning in, both on the idea that he and the vice president really understand middle class, working class americans, but also he was contrasting the fact that he believes former president trump doesn't have the first idea of what it really takes to live a middle class life and to work for a living. that was of course his speech in front of the american -- i want to make sure i get the union right -- the american federation of state and county municipal employees. it tells you that he's, again, leaning into these union workers. we expect him to do more of that. i confirmed talking to a source, he's going to be in omaha, nebraska, on saturday. he's going to, again, continue to do solo events where he's going to be delivering biting attacks here, and as you said, on sunday, there's going to be a

pennsylvania bus tour between him, his wife gwen, as well as the vice president and second gentleman. four of them on the bus going through western pennsylvania, starting in pittsburgh and doing a number of other stops. officials told me this is going to be about retail politics, not just big campaign rallies and the thousands of people. they're going to be going up and shaking hands and talking about their vision for america in a one-on-one basis. >> there is not a lot of time. this campaign is a few months from the finish line, from the november election. and i understand we're hearing from a lot of trump competitors turned allies, now calling on him to get with it, to focus on policy, not personal attacks. is he listening? who is he listening to? >> i think there's a lot of good questions in there. yamiche mentioned unions, you know, on the elon musk spaces conversation that donald trump had with him, right, he congratulated, and he liked the fact that if workers are

threatening to strike that you go and fire them, which is really running separate from his whole appeal or effort to appeal to union workers that he had been contending he has been making over the last year. that's where it's left republicans, like nikki haley confused about what campaign's message is. she gave a forceful defense of voting for donald trump at the republican national convention. take a listen to her last night on fox. >> the republican party needs to make a serious shift here. and the first thing is the republican party, donald trump, people here at fox, quit complaining that she's not giving an interview. you don't need an interview from kamala harris. we need him to win. but you got to go out and do the work. the one thing republicans have to stop doing, quit whining about her. i want this campaign to win but the campaign is not going to win talking about crowd sizes. it's not going to win talking

about what race kamala harris is. it's not going to win talking about whether she's dumb. >> in conversations i've had with people, trump being trump has worked for almost two years of this 2024 presidential campaign, but now with kamala harris at the top of the ticket, it's a big question mark and there's a lack of a campaign theme, focus, and that comes from the top, donald trump. >> vaughn hillyard, yamiche alcindor, thank you both for the reporting. so, rina, you were at this online rally last night for the group republicans for harris, when you talk to republicans in the wild, are they more open to voting for harris than they were for biden or less? >> we had an incredible turnout last night, something like 70,000 people joined to hear from me and many others who have been long time republicans, particularly those in elected office, former members of congress, as well as former lieutenant governor of georgia, jeff duncan. what we're looking at right now is a situation where we know the work is there.

it's an up hill battle to appeal to the hearts and minds of republicans. i tried to talk to them, simply, practically, about being a small government conservative. i'm somebody that never wanted the government in my backyard, bank account or my bedroom, and certainly not the medical exam room. i think that works in this era. women will be the defining demographic of this election, like it or not. let me speak to the women for a minute when i say this, part of running a campaign, and i know this is a long time strategist is knowing your base. in this case, donald trump's base is shrinking, yes, he'll turn them out, but that's not going to be enough. kamala harris has changed the map. that is something that this trump campaign was not anticipating, and sitting here today, i still see a path to victory for her, even with georgia, north carolina, and nevada still being maybe not for her. if she's not able to win those states, again, i still see a path to victory, but nobody should get complacent here. that's why last night's rally mattered so much. we are an official campaign

group, republicans for harris, and there's a lot of work to be done in the next two months where we talked to conservatives about what matters to them. and when i say talk to the women, it's much like makeup. i don't use the same lipstick i was using in 2016. the trump campaign, they're not using new tactics. they're not using new tools. they haven't kept up with the times or evolved and therefore, they shouldn't be trusted to do what's right for the american people in the next chapter. kamala harris still gives us the best chance at defeated trumpism. >> what do you make of the new swings in these polls? >> i'm still weary of the polls to be honest. you know, like i said, i think it's a good look, it's good news for the harris/walz campaign. at the end of the day, i know how many undecided voters are out there. i know exactly what moderate republicans are thinking about her, thinking that they gave the biden/harris administration a shot in the past four years, and maybe they want to go back to trump. but maybe they just want to stay

home, and the latter is actually more likely for those folks. i want to turn those people out. this remains our last greatest shot at getting rid of trump once and for all. we can get back to a party of ideas and some talk about what solutions work from the right, but we can't do that, until we have extinguished the flame of trumpism. we can't do that if we get too comfortable with the new polling. >> you said voters see kamala harris as the change candidate in this election. how does she thread the needle of leaning into the change factor while also showcasing her experience as vp, which republicans want to make a vulnerability, arguing she's just biden 2.0. >> by getting out there and having the conversations that rina is talking about. i agree that the math has changed here. i love the announcement that they're going to put her in a bus and put her in western pennsylvania. that's exactly what they should be doing right now. get her with the people, have

her talk about the issues, go straight to the economic contrast. she's going to give a speech in north carolina on friday and talk more about her economic theory of the case here, and i think that's exactly what she ought to do. people forget that people in north carolina get their ballots in three weeks. we are in campaign season here, the fact that she and trump are going to north carolina this week, shows you how this map has expanded since president biden got out of the race. >> jim, we keep hearing trump talk about crowd size at rallies, even suggesting the pictures from harris rallies have been ai generated. senator bernie sanders suggests that this isn't just about ego, that it's part of a much bigger strategy, saying, quote, if you can convince your supporters that thousands of people who attended a televised rally do not exist, it will not be hard to convince them that the election returns. in pennsylvania, michigan and elsewhere, are fake and fraudulent. jim, is that how you see it? >> absolutely, that's how i see it.

he's trying to set up this whole thing that he didn't actually lose, that the system was against him, which as you and i know is absolutely crazy. you know, i hope he doesn't listen to nikki haley. nikki haley had it exactly right on the clip you played, ana. these swing voters want both candidates to look at them and talk about what they're going to do in the future. and every day, donald trump is rambling about crowd sizes and all of this other stuff, he's losing voters to kamala harris. >> jim messina, thank you for the conversation. good to see you both. the first presidential election since the fall of roe v. wade, how abortion measures in at least eight states could move the margins in november. first, we're heading overseas where putin is under pressure as a surprise ukrainian incursion into russian territory leaves him scrambling to save face and land. also, the new complication for a cease fire agreement between israel and hamas. and later, two kayakers off the coast of california almost

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♪ i am, i cried ♪ [ laughing ] ♪ i am, said i ♪ ♪ and i am lost and i can't ♪ punch buggy red. ♪ even say why ♪ ♪ i am, i said ♪ ♪ ♪ welcome back. let me take you to the middle east. there may be new complications in gaza cease fire talks. as of this morning, hamas is refusing to take part in negotiations set for tomorrow claiming israel's prime minister wants to quote prolong the war. u.s. and foreign officials tell nbc news that netanyahu added new conditions that complicated

the talks. there's also the iran factor and its expected retaliatory strike against israel for the assassination of a top hamas leader in teheran. let's get the latest from nbc's richard engel, joining us from jerusalem this morning. richard, what more do we know about the status of the peace talks? >> reporter: well, i'm talking to several negotiators, including one right at the center of this process, and all of them and him in particular are not encouraged. they are not optimistic. they were supposed to be what had been described as make or break talks, starting tomorrow. but it's not even clear that they're going to go ahead or at what level they'll go ahead, and it's not certain by any means that even if they do go ahead that they could produce a result, a result that could see the hostages come out, that could see an end to the gaza war. both sides are blaming each other. you mentioned hamas.

i'll start with them. hamas's argument is that they already agreed to a cease fire deal, that it was based on a proposal put forward by president biden himself that a month ago they said they were willing to sign, to sign in all terms, which would see hostages come home, which would see an end to hostilities. but that, according to their interpretation, israel and prime minister netanyahu weren't willing to accept it, and extended the goal post, and that has been reported out by "the new york times." you're quoting nbc's own reporting as well. officially, the israeli government, it is hamas, that is a terrorist group, that compares to isis. hamas is not willing to negotiate, hamas is still holding hostages, and it is blaming hamas entirely and completely for the failure of the talks. the end result is there were very few people here that think

that the talks in the next couple of days are going to see an end to this conflict or even change it significantly. in fact, they're bracing for an escalation, that's why the u.s. has moved its troops here. that's why there's extra weapons here, they're waiting for a response from hezbollah and iran. so, yes, hopefully this could be ended by cease fire talks, but it doesn't seem to be moving in that direction, at least for now. >> there's just so much uncertainty and so much ongoing heart wrenching suffering in gaza as well as for the hostage families who are just so eager, obviously, to have them back safe. richard engel, thank you very much. from the middle east now to russia, and new developments in ukraine's surprise assault into russian territory. ukrainian president zelenskyy says his forces have now captured more than 100 russian pows. this as new video from the region shows ukrainian heavy equipment moving into position.

meanwhile, russia has moved in aircraft, drones and artillery forces to halt the ukrainian advance. joining us now, nbc's kelly cobiella. just an incredible moment for this war. tell us more about how russia is responding to ukraine's surprise assault. >> russian military officials have repeatedly said the situation is stable inside the country, but today, the governor of another border region declared a state of emergency because of heavy ukrainian shelling. president putin promising to kick out the enemy earlier this week, yet eight days after ukraine launched this incursion, they're still in russia, and they're still advancing. >> this morning, ukraine on the offensive continuing to fight inside russia. the ukrainian military releasing video they say shows russian soldiers surrendering earlier this month, and these still showing russian prisoners blindfolded in the back of a pickup.

nbc news has not been able to independently verify these images. it's the first time there's been a foreign incursion of russia since world war ii. the offensive in russia's kursk region on the country's southern border. ukraine says it shows 74 settlements across 386 square miles. ukraine's top military commander telling president zelenskyy tuesday the fighting is ongoing along the entire front line. the two discussing the possibility of a prisoner exchange between captured russian forces and ukrainian prisoners of war. president biden weighing in. >> i have spoken with my staff on a regular basis, probably every four or five hours in the last six or eight days, and it's creating a real dilemma for putin. >> reporter: russia says more than 100,000 residents have thousand been forced to evacuate or are fleeing on their own. this group of russians recording a video message asking president putin for help after losing

their homes and fleeing under fire. the stunning surprise attack, an embarrassment for the russian leader. putin meeting with top defense officials on monday, vowing to drive ukrainian troops out. releasing this video it says attacks on ukrainian forces in russia claiming tuesday its military has stopped ukraine's advance, but ukraine says it's still fighting. ukraine today also claimed to have destroyed a russian bomber. nbc news has not been able to independently verify that. and today ukraine's deputy prime minister said they plan to establish a security zone in the kursk region. organized humanitarian aid, establish evacuation corridors to russia and ukraine. ana, that is a sign that ukraine, anyway, doesn't want to go anywhere anytime soon. >> kelly cobiella, thank you for bringing us the latest. joining us now is jason beardsley, former department of defense senior adviser and former green beret.

we have been hearing for some time how ukraine had been in desperate need of weapons and equipment. they were falling behind, it seemed, in this war. so how are they able to pull off this audacious attack? >> yeah, this is a very ambitious attack, and what they really did was calculated risk here. which may have some near-term advantages, but it also comes with some long-term disadvantaging. holding that terrain inside russian territory first and foremost is very difficult. they have a rear guard action now that they're going to have to defend against the population. there's insurgency problems, and the direct problem of direct confrontation with russian assets, very close to the heart of russia. so the ability to consolidate and defend what they have held is going to be strained beyond a couple of weeks. this is a pretty tenuous situation to be in. >> "the new york times" put it like this, quote, this defensive is a major gamble, if ukrainian troops are able to hold territory, they could stretch the capacity of russian troops,

deliver a major embarrassment for mr. putin and get a bargaining chip for peace negotiations. if russia manages to push took place out of -- troops out of kursk, they could be blamed for giving an opening to gain more ground. is this a major gamble for ukraine? >> absolutely. you're taking territory where the military has a lot of capacity to refit and resupply, and you do not, remember, the resupply from ukraine has to come from nearby regions. those are lines of communication, roads, fuel, food, things like that that they're going to have to continue to supply, which are all opportunity targets for russian air power, russian drone, russian artillery, so the longer this goes on, the harder it gets. and bear in mind, there's a gas metering stations 500 meters from the border, where ukraine could fall back reasonably, hold that position, and then use it as a negotiating chip down the

road. but the politics of this look more like theatrics and volodymyr zelenskyy probably parlaying this to really try to get more support from the west and ensure that his home defense has got a bolster of sort of success because right now the lines have been stalemated for some time. >> putin said russia will, quote, squeeze the enemy, and kyiv will receive a, quote, worthy response. is a putin push to the edge a more dangerous putin? >> that's a great question. he's been flirting along the edge for a while, but we have seen a lot of restraint from moscow, part of the doctrine allows them to utilize things like low yield tactical nuclear weapons, if you can say such a thing. he has been pushed. they have a reasonable defense inside ukraine. this is going to probably have a little bit of blow back on those forces.

what's really tragic is the 300, 400 or a thousand troops that ukrainians use have to defend a large territory in the enemy's homeland. that takes away a little bit of their enemies until the southern region of the luhansk province. this is not a clear shot to victory. it's got to be done quick, otherwise they're really extending their lines. >> jason beardsley, i appreciate the conversation. thank you for sharing your expertise. under pressure by the cost of everything from eggs to rent to gas, the new report showing inflation just fell below 3% for the first time since 2021. plus, eyes on the atlantic where a tropical storm could strengthen into a hurricane today. today. ♪

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we have breaking economic news this morning. inflation is dropping, coming in at 2.9% in july. we're talking about the prices you pay. it's the first time that inflation number has fallen below 3% in more than three years. let's get right to nbc news business and data correspondent brian cheung. okay. eggs, rent, gas, break it down for us. >> we haven't seen a number this low since march of 2021. prices are going up but going up by a slower pace than the prior months. july 2024, compared to july 2023, 2.9%. that's how much prices rose over the one-year period. that's a slower pace than the 3% in the june-to-june period. let's take a look at the yearly rate of inflation. we have made vast improvements from the over 9% inflation rate.

we have been coming down, and we have been hovering around the 3% inflation, which makes it significant we broke through to the 2.9% figure this morning. when you unpack the report, where did we see the changes in prices? again, this consumer price index, it's a measure of everything that we purchase on a regular basis. food prices did increase. these are monthly figures i'm showing you now. same pace as we saw in the may to june period. energy prices helped us out here. gasoline prices declining between june and july. when you include other things like natural gas, basically going sideways between june and july. the one point of concern that we have is housing costs. this is the largest expenditure for most americans. housing increasing by .4% june and july. this accounted for 90% of the includes in the overall inflation index. we're going to have to continue

to watch that if you want to see the other inflation number in the coming months. >> what does this mean for interest rates that we have seen stay at a high level for a year now? >> analysts that are reacting to the report basically are saying this solidifies and guarantees a federal reserve interest rate cut in the next meeting which will happen in the middle of september. the story is going to be all right, the federal reserve is looking at what's happening with not just inflation but wage growth also has increased as well. 3.6% is the yearly pace of wage increased, above 2.9%. the federal reserve saying we have held interest rates so high quite a while, that's the reason your mortgage rates and credit card rates are high. it appears to be a good dynamic with people making more and prices are going up. we'll have to see if the fed does cut. >> lots of positive news for americans. thank you very much, brian cheung. abortion on the ballot, up next, what abortion measures in at least eight states could mean

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a member of the squad clinches a win in a closely watched primary challenge. minnesota congresswoman ilhan omar fended off several democratic competitors in tuesday's primary. this comes after two other squad members, jamal bowman of new york, and cori bush of missouri lost their primaries. in wisconsin, a key senate matchup is set.

senator tammy baldwin will face trump-backed republican businessman, eric huvde in november. and across the country, abortion is on the ballot this november. missouri secretary of state confirming yesterday that voters will decide whether to enshrine abortion access in that state's constitution this fall. it's the eighth state to put the issue to voters this year. nbc news senior correspondent laura jarrett has the details. laura. >> reporter: a constitutional amendment in missouri that would wipe out the state's near total ban on abortion, now set to appear on the ballot this november. while abortion rights organizers in the swing state of arizona shattered records with more than half a million signatures to get their proposed amendment added. >> this initiative has made the ballot. >> tonight, missouri and arizona joining a growing list of states, all with similar ballot measures that would create a new right to abortion up to the point a fetus can survive up to

24 weeks, something opponents say goes too far. this ballot push, the by-product of the supreme court overturning the right to an abortion, allowing each state to pass their own restrictions. laws now under increasing scrutiny as new data emerges about what's been happening in hospitals. a new analysis of federal records by the ap showing more than 100 pregnant women in medical emergencies like ectopic pregnancies denied care in the e.r. since roe was overturned. doctors tell nbc news, they are navigating vague laws. >> there's so much fear and confusion. kiley thurman had an ectopic pregnancy. she was initially denied an abortion in texas, despite the law making an exception for such emergencies. then it ruptured. >> i want to have kids. and i wanted to keep my

fallopian tube. now it's gone. a piece of my womanhood was taken. >> she along with another patient in texas are now calling on the biden administration to investigation. >> -- investigate. >> i had to fight like hell to get my care, and i still didn't get it fast enough. >> laura jarrett with that reporting. and now i want to bring in msnbc political analyst, a pulitzer prize winner and the founder of hoturo media. eight states now with abortion on the ballot. we know activists in three more states are trying to get the issue on the ballot as well. take a look at the polling from the kaiser foundation just this morning, showing seven out of ten reproductive age women oppose leaving abortion policy up to individual states. that includes 53% of republicans. how much do you think this issue is going to rev turnout in november? >> i was just on the ground in eastern new mexico right on the

border of texas. so you have a situation where texas women are going to new mexico to get abortion, and what i witnessed was activism happening in these small towns by latinas who are like now taking on the issue of reproductive rights. >> which is counter intuitive. >> especially because that part of new mexico is very red. but they're standing up, and it's like, what is happening. they're like when roe v. wade was taken away from us, that's what inspired me to become a political activist. so i do think it's going to bring women out. because as much as we say, it's kind of line trump light women who like trump, but they also want to protect this right. i think that they could come out. >> that's so interesting. so donald trump has been trying to find his way against his new competitor, kamala harris. he keeps mispronouncing her name. >> on purpose. >> and listen to what he said in this new interview yesterday.

>> it's caused because of harris, kamala, you know, nobody knows her last name. it's harris. everybody thinks of her as kamala harris. >> what's he trying to do here? >> he's trying to get attention. i think, ana, people are beginning to see the desperation in donald trump. it's a little bit strange. it's like you can feel around him that he's in some quick sand. the pick of j.d. vance is not working out for him. he's beginning to look a little desperate, and i have to say i did a double take when i was watching that strange news conference in mar-a-lago because i was like, wow, donald trump, you're looking a little haggard, and i think it's showing in just the way he's speaking and what he's trying to do. it's to try to get attention. >> well, we know that the polls are shifting. we talked about all of these swing state polls at the top of this show. we have this new polling from usa today, suffolk university, and this is in specifically florida, guys, can we get the florida poll up there.

i wanted to show this. this shows trump with a 5-point lead over kamala harris in florida. this is within the poll's margin of error. remember, desantis won the gubernatorial race here by 19 points in 2022. so the fact that it's this close, at least in this one poll, can only read into it so much. is florida in play, do you think? >> so, ana, i have it on record that i have said for several years now, don't walk away from florida, and i'm so happy to be like confirmed that i was saying this. you have young voters in florida who are prepared to listen to a message from a candidate like kamala. in fact, that's where i was with kamala. when i interviewed her, she was in miami, reaching out to young latino, black, young white progressive, jewish voters in florida. they're in play.

younger voters are walking away from trump who might be supporting trump in southern florida, latinos, they're having the conversation at the dinner table now. it's in play. i'm just like, yep, florida is in play. who would have thought. >> so much to watch. thank you so much, maria, good to see you. up next on ana cabrera reports, turning and turnin tropical storm ernesto, expected to turn into a hurricane. and great white within feet of two kayakers. >> we talked about it briefly. the shark followed my buddy for two or three minutes, just very slow. minutes, just very slow with t-mobile's reliable 5g business internet. employees get the information they need instantly. this is how business goes further with t-mobile for business.

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lashing puerto rico with torrential rainfall. puerto rico's governor urged not to leave their homes overnight, and activated the national guard this morning. more than 632,000 customers in puerto rico have lost power. and remember, the territory is still rebuilding its vulnerable power grid after hurricane maria wiped out so much of the island's infrastructure seven years ago. nbc news meteorologist ryan hanrahan is tracking it all for us. first, let's go to nbc's guad venegas in miami. what are you learning about what is happening in puerto rico right now? >> reporter: ana, the island is under heavy rain. flooding continues to shut down roads. in fact, just minutes ago, we're hearing from local municipalities that are shutting down more bridges with some of these rivers flooding. the eye of the storm already made its way north, but this heavy rain is expected to continue slamming puerto rico throughout the day. there's also a danger of possible landslides, especially

on the west coast of the island. but for now, there's a lot of attention being paid, of course, on these areas that are flooding. there's also the issue with the power. you just mentioned more than 600,000 customers without power. you look at the number. that's customers, two to three people per household. it could be more than a million people without power in puerto rico, which is concerning because in the past, when the island is slammed by these types of storms, and we see the power outages, it will take days or even weeks for a lot of people to get their power back. of course, many of the residents are now waiting for the governor to speak, to give an update, and also hoping that the head of the power company will be in that press conference and give more information to these power outages and also inform on what kind of damages they're seeing, and what is being done to restore power as fast as possible. >> it's very much a developing situation we know still. we know the white house has

approved a disaster emergency declaration. so where is this storm, and what's next? >> the storm is north of puerto rico and it's moving away, but the rain bands are still impacting the island, and you can see here, here's puerto rico, the center of circulation is actually about 125 miles to the northwest of san juan. but these feeder bands, these squalls to the south of the center of circulation are just pounding puerto rico right now with heavy rain. as of 9:00 this morning, many areas on the island picked up already between five and 10 inches of rain. it's still powering. you can see heavy inches of rain from san juan west. flash flood warnings in effect for most of the island. tropical storm warning out in puerto rico and the virgin islands. the storm is expected to dump at least another 2, 3, 4 inches of rain. exists and also the threat for mudslides. the track of the storm is going to be away from puerto rico and away from the east coast of the united states. so that is some good news.

but it is expected to strengthen pretty rapidly. looks like we'll have the storm getting close to a category 3 as it moves close to ber mao ta by the weekend, and as it does say, there's a potential for strong rip currents coming to the east coast of the united states. even though we're looking well to the east of the atlantic seaboard, i think we'll have issues on the beaches all the way down to florida. >> thank you. up next on ana cabrera reports, great white shock. the close encounter two kayakers had off the coast of california. plus, a message from the stars as we expect an update from nasa on the astronauts and efforts to bring them home. stro efforts to bring them home just like i was. dryness and frizz could be damaged hair that can't retain moisture. new pantene miracle rescue deep conditioner,

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welcome back. later today we expect an update from nasa on the crew of boeing starliner. they've been stuck on the international space station now since june. two astronauts, sunny williams and butch wilmore were only supposed to be in orbit for about a week, but there's been an issue with the star light's thrusters that have made it impossible to return home. they'll be stuck there until possibly february. you've got to see this. this is a close encounter with a

great white shark captured by video. nbc's morgan chesky has their story. >> it's the one thing you definitely don't want to see out on the open water, right, especially when you're a mile away from the shoreline. a shark anyone just feet away. fortunately for them, the shark didn't appear too interested. but this summer, that hasn't always been the case for others in the water. >> there he is. >> reporter: this was the moment two kayakers in california's half moon beno it issed that they were being followed by a great white shark. >> you all right? >> yeah. >> reporter: its huge fin appearing feet from ian walters who was on the water with a friend that day nearly a mile from shore. >> i noticed it by him. we talked about it briefly. the shark followed my buddy for maybe two or three minutes, very

slow. >> reporter: the red triangle of great white sharks are off the coast. food for sea otters, sea lions. >> it's where it's there. that's where it lives and we were in its house essentially, and it came to check us out. >> reporter: not every shark encounter has been this benign. this teen lost her leg after being bitten by a shark a week ago. she remains balanced and positive and experiences bouts of pain. earlier this summer 49-year-old pro suffer was killed by a shark in hawaii. county saw four bites. a rash of bites off the coast of

texas, too, with a video capturing a shark here. sharks attacking humans is exceedingly rare, and this summer's number of attacks is no higher than average. >> in terms of shark sightings, we see increasingly more because many more people have drones, and so people are much more aware of animals in the water. it doesn't mean there are more animals in the water. >> get this. florida had more attacks than australia and hawaii. experts say they ma be caused in part by the high number of people visiting florida beaches. they had 144 million folks visiting the beach. you've got to imagine they're going to the beach. >> i think that's one more

reason why i prefer the book on the beach and sitting back and watching the waves go by. that's going to do it for me this hour. thank you for joining us. i'll be back at 1:00 p.m. in for chris jansing. remember, you can catch our show online around the clock and on other platforms. for now, i'm ana cabrera reporting from new york. jose diaz-balart picks up our coverage right now. good morning. 11:00 a.m. eastern, 8:00 a.m. pacific. i'm jose diaz-balart. we begin with the latest on the white house. donald trump and his running mate jd vance will be out on the campaign trail. meantime vice president harris's running mate tim walz will be attending fund raisers in colorado and massachusetts today. this comes one day after walz made his first sol