>> cheerio. right now on "america this morning" -- a surge in coronavirus cases. health officials sounding the alarm as new infections rise in nearly every state. some areas now putting mask mandates back into place. zblunchts one of the biggest anytimes at the olympic games forced to withdraw after testing positive. >> back to the ballpark. fans returning to nationals park less than 24 hours after erupted outside the stadium. the historic heat wave fueling dozens of fires in the west and new concerns about what the heat is doing to christmas trees. cleared for launch. jeff bezos and the crew making final preparations for their trip to space. >> welcome to the new shepard

crew capsule. >> abc news getting inside the cop sul like one that will carry the crew to space. and britney spears calling out her father and sister and trying to end the conservatorship. and how this skateboarder cruised through the x games. we begin with growing concern over the rapid rise in covid infections. >> the delta variant is driving up cases everywhere with the exception of south dakota and wyoming. alongside arkansas, the highest infection rates are in florida and missouri. and health officials are struggling to convince more people to get vaccinated. >> in another disappointing blow for the olympics, coco gauff was forced to pull out of the games after her covid test came back

positive. we have the latest. >> reporter: coronavirus cases are soaring across the country. as hospitals are pushed to the brink again, unvaccinated americans accounting for nearly all new covid cases. the delta variant, fueling cases everywhere but south dakota and wyoming. arkansas, florida, and missouri seeing the highest infection rates. this hospital in arkansas says it's now full. admissions statewide surging 80% in the past two weeks. >> covid is here right now. and we're still fighting it. >> reporter: and in florida, where new covid cases have d is ruled pandemic restrictions on florida-based cruise ships will remain. seattle's cruise season is set to begin today after a year and a half pandemic hiatus. over the weekend los angeles county reinstating the mask mandate regardless of vaccine status as cases rise there. the u.s. surgeon general, agreeing with the decision. >> while cases are rising, it's

reasonable for counties to take more mitigation measures. more than 65% of americans 12 and over have received at least one dose of the vaccine. the biden administration says they believe social media misinformation around covid is hampering vaccination efforts. >> we have had the pushback for vaccines the way we're seeing on certain media, we probably would still have small box. as is summer olympics is set to start in days, coco gauff after testing positive for the virus. concern growing in tokyo as there are now more than 50 confirmed cases linked to the games. >> the fda is accelerating the review process to fully approve the pfizer vaccine. dr. fauci says that may come by the end of august, but he still expects younger children may not get their shots until winter or the end of the year. >> andrea, thank you. at least two more democratic lawmakers from texas who fled to

washington have tested positive for covid. that brings the total number of confirmed cases within the delegation to five days after they left texas in an effort to block a voting bill. the democrats say they're experiencing mild symptoms or none at all. >> i thought i had a cold. i was fully vaccinated, and i had the pfizer vaccine earlier this year, so i had aches. i had loss of appetite. and a slight fever. >> the white house says vice president kamala harris had a routine doctor's appointment sunday, several days after meeting with some of the texas democrats who later tested positive. a spokesperson for harris says the v.p. was not i contact with the infect l legislators. a man opened fire on an ambulance crew and shot a firefighter and several others as they tried to put out a house fire. one person was killed. a badly burned body was found in

the home and twohin the suspect was critically injured in a shootout with police. less than 24 hours after a shooting outside of a stadium, the gunfire sent people in the stands scrambling saturday night and this morning police are searching for the suspects who caused the mayhem. >> reporter: this morning police on the hunt for suspects after gunshots sent crowds fleeing the washington nationals baseball game. >> 8-4. >> gunfire echoing across the stadium saturday night in the middle of the 6th inning. >> into the padre's dugout now. >> some fans running to the dugouts to take over. others ducking under seats, fearing an active shooter. >> remain calm and remain inside the stadium. >> we were lying on the ground. we thought there was somebody above us with a gun. >> reporter: pic s three people were injurn e shooting including one person who attded the ga.

d. pic say they're trying to find this vehicle, possibly involved in the shooting. on sunday an returned to watch the teams resume erin douglas feeling it was safe enough to bring her children. >> we felt it was an isolated incident. how would we exit this event leaving with our kids and their safety? >> both team managers getting emotional reflecting on the violence. >> to be with the men in there and obviously they're going out, they're thinking of their loved ones, and they're getting their families. seeing fans and seeing people in panic, they did the right thing. >> i love this city. the city is my home. it can be crazy. we all know that, and we all want to feel safe. >> no arrests have been made in the shooting. officials say two people are being questioned.

military grade malware was used to spy on world leaders. a group of media outlets from around the world identified more than 1,000 people in 50 countries believed to be potential targets of an israeli-based group working on behalf of government clients. they say at least 37 smart phones were hacked including one we longing to the fiance of jamaal khashoggi. the aftermath of deadly flooding across western europe. debris seen in belgium and the netherlands this morning. the floods are blamed for around 190 deaths and several hundred eople are missing. angela merkel toured the damage in one community calling the floods a reason for faster action against climate change. abc surveyed part of the destruction left behind by ra raging flood waters. >> reporter: they ripped apart the home.

it's hard to fathom the force that tore apart concrete. it took cretes, tossed them on to the river bank, destroying everything. this town is now completely cut off. >> the floods came after the area experienced more than a month's worth of rain in just 24 hours. >> about 70 major wildfires are burning in the u.s. mostly across the drought stricken west. hundreds of homes near a fire south of lake tahoe have been evacuated. it consumed 30 squiare recent extreme heat in oregon is killing christmas trees at an alarming rate. that can mean higher prices during the holiday season. time for a look at the monday morning weather. monday morning weather. all right. there's still a big mess to clean up after a rare tornado roored across part of southern new jersey. it was on the ground nearly 8 miles with winds up to 90 miles

per hour. no injuries reported and today there's rain for most of the southern u.s., and there are concerns about lightning sparking new fires across the west. checking today's high temperatures, 86 in l.a. and portland. high 80s around the great lakes. boston only reaches the low 70s. 93 in denver. coming up, a deck collapses, injuring several people. the images coming. ahead jeff bezos and his crew about 24 hours away from launching into space. how they're preparing this morning. and dozens treated after they were exposed to chemicals at a water park including sulfuric acid. new details coming up.

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back with the pope's first vatican appearance since his surgery. he recommended taking advantage of summer as a time for rest, contemplation, and compassion. a toddler was among eight people hurt in a partial deck collapse. a six foot by six foot section of a deck gave way at a home. two people suffered serious injuries. everyone is expected to be okay. a water park will remain closed in houston through today after a chemical spill. there was a vapor release containing sulfuric acid and bleach at six flags in texas. nearly three dozen people went to the hospital and many others felt the chemicals on their skin. >> i kept wondering why i was burning. i was looking at her phone and wondering why i was burning. >> a lot of people running. people that work there, security, running back and forth.

>> officials are trying to figure out what caused the leak. they say the park will reopen when they're confident it's safe. now to jeff bezos and his crew making final preparations for their trip to space. the trip includes the oldest and youngest person to ever go in space. >> blue origin is officially cleared for liftoff. the rocket set to take off tomorrow morning with amazon founder jeff bezos and his three crew mates on board. overnight, abc getting inside a training capsule similar to the one that will take the crew to space. >> these are the largest windows that have ever flown in space. >> it's pretty roomy considering. you wouldn't think so. the other thing to note, you d - know, is once you're up in space, you end up having a third dimension as well. it feels even roomier, and also to give you a sense, this has ten times the amount of volume that allen shepard had on his first flight to space in 19 61.

>> the crew now preparing to blast off for the 11 minute flight where they will experience three minutes of weightlessness. >> everything comes loose, and if you're in space, you're literally going to start to essentially levitate out of your space, because you're in zero g. you're going to get out of your seat. you can come and do somersaults and maybe a superman across the capsule. >> bezos will be accompanied by the first paying civilian aboard a commercial spacecraft. >> oliver, become. >> bezos electric the second billionaire to leave the planet. after richard branson launched his spaceship last week. bezos and his passengers will travel 62 miles above the surface of the earth, a little farther than branson's 53 miles. >> blue origin will take off from west texas where forecasters say the weather looks favorable for liftoff. we'll provide live coverage to the flight tomorrow morning. coming up, the reward

increasing after a popular podcaster is killed in a hit and run. also ahead, britney spears calls out her family members in a scathing instagram post. the latest in the ongoing court battle, next. ectronic notes fad] [fast upbeat music begins] [music stops] and release. [deep exhale] [fast upbeat music resumes] [music stops] why hide your skin if dupixent has your moderate-to-severe eczema, or atopic dermatitis under control? hide our skin? not us. because dupixent targets a root cause of eczema, it helps heal your skin from within, keeping you one step ahead of it. and for kids ages 6 and up, that means clearer skin,

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a diver attached a chain to the car to pull it out. there's a $50,000 reward in the hit and run death of mat george. co-host of she rates dogs was killed early saturday. investigators say george was hit by a bmw as he crossed a street in the beverly grove neighborhood. the missouri native was 26. another court hearing being held today in britney spears' battle. it comes after spears called out her family in an emotional social media post. christine sloan >> reporter: this morning pop eye con britney spears taking aim at her critics on social media, telling her more than 31 million instagram followers the conservatorship headed by her father has, quote, killed my dreams. and that for those of you who

choose to criticize my dancing videos, look, i'm not going to be performing on any stages any time soon with my dad handling wi what i wear, say, do or think. i've done that for 13 years. i'd rather share videos from my living room instead of on stage in vegas. ♪ >> the latest post is a day after she lashed out to those closest to her after they shared supportive posts online. spears saying they weren't there for her when she was drowning. she slammed her sister, jamie lynn for performing her music back in 2017, writing i don't like that my sister showed up at an award show and performed my songs to remixes. my so-called support system hurt m me deeply. spears is fighting toend the conservatorship that has control herd life and career for 13 years. today the singer's co-conservator is scheduled to

be in court, asking for the state to pay for additional security for her claiming she's received death threats. ♪ >> reporter: spears has received support from fans and celebrities and says she's hopeful. a judge allowed her to hire her own attorney, matthhew rosengar. the next hearing is scheduled for september. >> christine, thank you. in golf, collin morikawa won two majors before his 25th birthday. he won the british open by two strokes. he joins tiger woods as the only to win the british and pga championship before 25. coming up, how experts possibly find michelangelo's fingerprints. ahead, lebron james scores a big hit at the box office even as critics bash the new "space jam" movie. here's what james is coming next.

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♪ time to check "the pulse." time to check the pulse. we begin with an out of the world performance. >> lebron james helped lift "space jam" to the top of the box office. it pulled in more than $31 million. the figure is despite not so kind reviews from critics which prompted james to post the words haters, along with the box office totals. next, robin roberts is stepping up to the plate with big shoes to fill. >> robin will start her week-long stint on jeopardy as guest host following george stephanopoulos with his turn last week.

>> robin wants to bring a little of alex trebek back to the podium. just a little bit. >> she's going to do great. >> now to england and word of a classic fingerprint. >> it's a possible remnant of michelangelo preserved in wax. >> they took it off a work. they called it an exciting prospect. finally history-making skateboarding at the x games. >> a 12-year-old from brazil pulled off a 18 he called himself super stoked. >> it him the youngest gold med list in the x-games history. he was congratulated by tony hawk. i know his dreams were made. we were just talking about tony hawk, pro skater. >> that's right. and tony hawk, back in the day

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start stopping with nicorette checking the top stories, more hospitals across the the top stories. more hostacrs t countr are scrambling to cope with the spike inov cases driven by the fast-spreading delta variant. after testing %-pd has been vaccinated. the first felony sentencing for a january 6th rioter at the capitol takes place today. prosecutors are reportedly seeking 18 months behind bars. a federal judge's decision today could set a standard for many other cases. new overnight, michael taylor, the american who helped nissan's former chairman escape a trial in japan has been sentenced to two years in prison. his son received 20 months. both men claim they were tricked. today's weather rain across most of the south. heavy at times in the southern plains. storms in the west, raising fears about lightning, sparking

new wildfires. and finally, one tv show has provided kids with more than an escape during the pandemic. >> we see how peppa pig is teaching them a new way to talk. >> my daddy is an optician. >> matias knows his daughter loves peppa pig, but realized something was up after danny returned from a trip to get eyeglasses with her mom. >> she tells me daddy, i went to the optician. it's a strange word for somebody that speaks spanish and english and has no british ancestry. instead of cookies, biscuits. >> reporter: danny isn't the only kid peppering peppa into conversation. >> my daughter has what i would call the peppa pig british

accent. >> how dlclever. >> daddy, are you okay? >> parents talking about the peppa effect. >> for christmas, i had to put out a mince pie for father christmas, or as we call him in the states, santa. kids spending more time on the tely during the pandemic, binge watching peppa pig, episodes free on youtube. >> that was my lifesaver for the first two months while my wife was out working and i was working from home with the daughter. >> from february 2020 to 2021, peppa big remained the world's second most in demand children's cartoon. only after sponge bob square pants. >> oh, daddy, i think i might be a chatter box. >> the company behind peppa said young fans see her as a friends, and as we do with friends we admire, pick up characteristics.

>> cheerio. right now on "america this morning" -- a surge in coronavirus cases. health officials sounding the alarm as new infections rise in nearly every state. some areas now putting mask mandates back into place. plus, one of the biggest games at the olympic games forced to withdraw after testing positive. back to ballpark, fans returning to nationals park 24 hours after gunfire at the stadium. the historic heat wave fueling dozens of fire in west and now new concerns about the heat is doing to christmas trees. clear for launch. jeff bezos and his crew making final