congratulations to the right now on "america this morning," the delta variant of the coronavirus tightens its grip. new cases up more than 300% in parts of texas, up more than 100% in part of florida and now a study claims the j&j shot may not be as effective against the delta variant. the experts weigh in on booster shots, new restrictions and another variant of the virus found in a major city. extreme conditions. smoke from wildfires burning in the west travels nearly 3,000 miles to the east coast. the air quality alert and overseas another once in a century flood disaster leaves kindergarten students stranded in waist high water in a subway tunnel. party inil the bucks are nba champs for the first time in 50 years.

the mvp talks about struggling to pay for food just eight years ago in greece. after his historic flight to space, amazon founder jeff bezos faces criticism for his comments about his employees and customers. swimming in extra cash. how one couple made $100,000 renting out their pool. and from the future of train travel to tom brady's comedy at the white house to the breakfast cereal that's really popping, all the trending stories for your wednesday morning. good wednesday morning, everyone. we begin with the delta variant of the coronavirus being described as a raging forest fire overwhelming some hospitals. >> about 3,000 americans are now being hospitalized every day and one major concern is children. doctors in florida report infections among kids under 12 who are not eligible for the vaccine rose 87% in the last week.

>> more restrictions are being announced in clark county, nevada, home to las vegas, a new indoor mask mandate for employees. in new york city a new requirement that health care workers get vaccinated or be tested weekly, and in houston, the mayor is closely watching a new variant of the virus. meanwhile, a small new study is raising some concern about the j&j vaccine. abc's alex presha is here with the latest on all of this. alex, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, andrew. as cases spike because of the delta variant, doctors are now watching a new variant found in the u.s. called the lambda variant. this morning a hospital in houston is reporting its first case of the lambda variant of the coronavirus, a strain shown to be more transmissible first discovered in peru last summer but doctors say the biggest concern remains the delta variant that now accounts for 83% of covid infections. >> the overwhelming majority of deaths from covid-19 are now

occurring in unvaccinated people. vaccines are widely available across the country, and this suffering and loss is simply and entirely preventible. >> reporter: the country is now averaging 26,000 cases per day, up 25% in the last week. public health researchers in arkansas described a sharp rise in infections and hospitalizations as a raging forest fire. in tennessee hospitalizations have doubled this month. >> did you think at the time you'd have to re-open this? >> absolutely not. >> reporter: abc's trevor ault is visiting a hospital in memphis, which just re-opened its covid unit. >> it seems to be surging back. we've had a huge uptick of cases over the past few weeks, and it's disheartening because we had been in such a good spot. >> reporter: and this morning the mayor of chicago is warning of new restrictions if cases keep rising. >> i know many of you are enjoying summer in chicago and a return of our iconic fairs and festivals, but that doesn't mean this is a free for all and that people can skip out on being fully vaccinated and not following common sense guidance

around gatherings. >> reporter: adding to the concern, a new study finding the one shot johnson & johnson vaccine may be less effective against the delta variant. health experts caution the small study has not been peer reviewed and other studies have found the j&j vaccine is effective, but the study is helping fuel the debate over the need for booster shots. the cdc director tuesday acknowledged the durability of the vaccines will decrease but slowly. >> fortunately we're anticipating that this will wane and not plummet, so as we see that waning, that will be our time for action. >> reporter: now regarding booster shots, cdc advisers are meeting tomorrow to discuss the latest research, andrew. >> alex, thank you. more breakthrough covid cases have been confirmed at the white house and on capitol hill. a white house staffer has tested positive along with a spokesperson for house speaker nancy pelosi. both aides are fully vaccinated. meanwhile, a heated exchange erupted on capitol hill between senator rand paul and dr.

anthony fauci. paul accused fauci of lying to congress about funding research at a lab in wuhan, china. dr. fauci fired back. >> all the evidence is pointing that it came from the lab and there will be responsibility for those who funded theincluding y >> i totally resent -- >> allow the witness to respond. >> i totally resent the lie that you are now propagating, senator, and you are implying that what we did was responsible for the deaths of individual. i totally resent that. >> it could have been. it could have been. >> and if anybody is lying here, senator, it is you. senator paul, you do not know what you are talking about, quite frankly, and i want to say that officially. >> dr. fauci has been the target of conservatives. some want him fired. more than 80 wildfires are burning across the west, and now the smoke has reached all the way to the east coast. the smoke was so thick, it obscured the new york city skyline. an estimated 40 million americans are now experiencing

poor air quality because of the fires, and the fire threat because of extreme drought conditions in eastern washington state is so severe, that huge tracts of state land will now b of thedesmom 1 of ly 300 fng in daytime sky. air quality warnings are posted across canada. breaking overnight, the milwaukee bucks are nba champions for the first time in half a century. they beat the suns in game six last night, 105-98. giannis antetokounmpo scored 50 points and was named mvp. the win set off a massive celebration for thousands of fans which included fireworks. the mvp said he learned at an early age not to give up on your dreams. >> 8 1/2 years ago when i came to the league, i didn't know where my next meal would come from. you know, my mom was selling stuff in the street like, and now i'm here sitting at the top of the top. i hope this can give everybody

around the world hope, i mean, allow them to believe in their dreams. ir atge one day after jeff bezos' flight to space, the amazon founder is facing criticism after thanking amazon workers and customers for funding his iy he could have used his billions for more practical purposes. meanwhile, the next blastoff in the space race among billionaires is said to be far more ambitious. >> and touchdown. >> reporter: this morning jeff bezos and crew already talking about what's next after their flight to the edge of space. >> that's incredible. >> whoo. >> reporter: bezos, his brother mark, 82-year-old wally funk and 18-year-old oliver daemen spent three minutes in weightlessness. >> is it everything you thought it would be? >> fantastic. >> reporter: with breathtaking views of earth 62 miles above the surface. the capsule landing just ten minutes after takeoff.

bezos reflecting on the experience with "gma's" michael strahan. >> any initial thoughts? >> my initial thought is i can' hotiny the earth's atmosphere is. workers and customers for funding his flight. >> i want to thank every amazon employee and every amazon customer because you guys paid for all this. >> reporter: the online criticism swift, one person posting, i'd like a refund. bezos later responding to criticism that his money could have been better spent. >> if you don't focus on the future, then you don't have explorers, you don't have progress. you know, what if you said to wilbur and orville wright, hey, guys, you know, why don't you work on something a little more practical. >> reporter: bezos also announcing a $200 million donation to nonprofits here on

earth, $100 million each to chef jose andres and former obama administration advisor van jones. race, elon musk. his company spacex is planning a far more ambitious spaceflight in september for civilians. the inspiration4 mission will take four civilian astrona astronauts 330 miles above the surface of the earth, five times higher than bezos or richard branson flew all to raise money and awareness for st. jude's children's hospital. back to jeff bezos and the future of space travel, he said we need to get good at going to space so we can save earth. all right. time now for a look at your wednesday weather. slow-moving storms across the southeast could result in big rainfall totals and flash flooding today. another day of monsoon rain storms in the southwest could also cause flooding. rain is also expected in the rockies and northern plains, but more dry conditions along the

west coast. checking today's high temperatures, extremely hot for interior parts of the west, 99 in salt lake city, 92 in both denver and washington, d.c. and 70s today for the northwest and great lakes. coming up, the fastest train in the world hitting nearly 400 miles per hour. but first the man accused of posing as an uber driver to murder a college student goes on trial. the dna evidence in question. plus, the couple who could now face prison time for a gender reveal party that went horribly wrong.

narrator: covid-19 has changed how we show up and show out with our family. now it's time to take the first step that lets us get back to talking smack with a side of mac and cheese. before we can safely come together, we need the facts. as covid-19 vaccines become available, you may have questions. man 1: should i get it? man 2: is it safe? woman: should i wait? narrator: it's smart to question. now get the facts at getvaccineanswers.org so you can make an informed decision when vaccines are available to you. back now with children in central china. being rescued in plastic bins after extreme flooding swamped

their class. eight inches fell in one hour. 100,000 people had to evacuate. and subway passengers had to be rescued from chest high water under ground. >> bewe turn to the man accused of killing a south carolina student. his trial is under way. dna in the spotlight. >> this morning, prosecutors laying out the case. charged with kidnapping and murder. 21 year-old back in 2019. police say he had called an uber after a night out with friends. but got in the wrong car. prosecutors say he had been circling the popular five points district. before picking her up. her body was found the next day by turkey hunters. 65 miles away. >> found alone in the woods. covered in her own blood. dead.

she had been stabbed multiple times. from the bottom of her feet. throughout her torso. throughout her face. her neck and head. >> she was last seen on video getting into the backseat. police tracked that car. and say they found bleach, cleaning wipes. window cleaner and her phone in the car. the child locks were activated so the back doors couldn't be opened from inside. the defense argues he couldn't be responsible. arguing someone else dna was found on her body. not his. >> hear this number again. that is zero. that's the amount of dna on her body. that matches his. zero. >> the death sparked ride share companies uber and lift to make safety changes. including adding a 911 feature

in the app. lawmakers in south carolina required drivers to make their license plate visible in the front of the vehicle. and impose criminal penalties w drivers. other safety legislation is considered by congress. >> prosecutors say upcoming witness will testify she saw him with the knife. that was used to kill her. he could face up to life in prison. if convicted. >> thank you. california couple who gender reveal party sparked a deadly wild fire last year is facing eight felony charges. involuntary manslaughter for the death of a firefighter. they could face 20 years in prison. if convicted. >> coming up. could the olympics be cancelled? >> a summer of frustration. with long lines and delays effecting travel. and shoppers. and shoppers. a possible solution next. why hide your skin if dupixent has your moderate-to-severe eczema

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workers and a short alk of everything from furniture to menu items at taco bell. >> frustrating everyone from retail consumers to travelers who hoped for more of summer ev needs to have patience. the service levels are uneven. organizations are struggling to get people they need. and the quality of talent they need. >> with a record number of job openings. companies are going to new extremes to fill vacancies. recent le suggesting using prisoners a work release program to find workers. part rs of the service industry also looking into the idea. restaurants inare and ohio use a state run program connecting them with people transitioning out of the criminal justice system. meanwhile at the airport. long lines due to a labor shortage have contributed to a

spike in violence. the head of the tsa telling congress tuesday that 85 officers have been assaulted since the pandemic began. >> two assaults yesterday. to a check point. there has been some frustration over the mask mandate. >> the worker shortage having a ripple effect on product supply chain. >> taco bell warning customers some items may not be available because of the national ingredient shortages. lack of truckers blamed for a liquor shortage. >> the alcohol week to week. we don't know what we can get. theyrinted help wanted signs on beer cans. >> a shortage of foam is causing delays in furniture. >> tom brady comedy steals the show. >> the homeowners making

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checking the pulse. we begin with people swimming in crash thanks to the airbnb of backyard pools. >> a couple in michigan. renting out their pool. not the house the pool. they charged $75 an hour. business boomed as public pools closed during the pandemic. >> they listed the pool on a web site. and easily covered the cost of the pool. >> next the future of train travel. china developed a train to satisfy the need for speed. >> it can hit 373 miles per hour. by using a force in the billed as the fastest ground vehicle in the world.

covering 600 miles in three hours. >> next, tom brady comedy stole the show at the white house. >> president biden welcomed the tampa bay buccaneers. they brought the president a jersey and election jokes. >> not a lot of people think we could have won. and in fact about 40% of the people still don't think we won. >> i understand that. >> you understand that mr. president? yeah. >> personally. it's nice for me to be back here. we had a game in chicago i forgot what down it was. i lost track of one down in 21 years of playing. they called meepto adeadlines supporting president trump. >> cinnamn toast crunch fans can munch on popcorn. the cereal has been transformed into a snack. >> how about birthday cake

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building a better bay area. moving forward. finding solutions. this is abc7 news.

now at 5:00, a new surge and new questions about how the johnson & johnson shot holds up against the delta variant. the details experts are pointing out in a new study. >> you cannot be close to people that. interacting with people will not be the same. getting ready to return to in-person learning. the plan a district release. for vaccination may soon be required. one family's side hustle the brought in $100,000 and you might be able to do this, too. >> that is a tease. thank you. we buried the lead. good morning. you are watching live. that was ats for your. we want to start with mike and the forecast. let it breathe. >> people are really