absolute devastation and it really is heartbreaking just from the air it looks completely leveled >> hurricane dorian's relentless wind, rain, and rising tides destroying over 45% of the homes on some bahama islands, with many neighborhoods obliterated multiple mass shootings over the past few weeks have pushed walmart to take action the retail giant moving to halt sales of some ammunition and also asking shoppers to not openly carry weapons in stores the nra clapping back hard chaos as newly installed prime minister boris johnson faces a number omas the fastest

car you will ever see? the new bugatti topping out at over 304 miles an hour buckle up. "early today" starts right now good wednesday morning i'm phillip mena >> and i'm frances rivera. after pummeling the bahamas for over 48 hours, we are finally getting a look at the widespread devastation hurricane dorian left behind. neighborhoods have been totally destroyed on the abaco islands at least seven deaths have been attributed to this storm but that's expected to rise. officials in the bahamas have called it a crisis of epic proportions. dorian is now marching up the southeast u.s. coast and could hit the carolinas later this week morgan chesky is in nassau with the latest developments. >> reporter: frances, good morning from nassau airport, which has become kind of a ground zero for the search and rescue efforts going on incothe made landfall. we are now getting even more

details about th bught thecognie the first images frolost >> absolute devastation. it really is heartbreaking j lk. >> reporter: debris fields for miles. houses surrounded by water and boats littered across the island with airports underwater, many relief efforts are now on standby. the island blasted with hurricane-force winds for nearly two days straight. and on neighboring grand bahama record floods came fast. satellite pictures show the island nearly swallowed up by the sea, a combination of storm surge and feet of rain as dorian stalled over the island. >> it's so surreal >> reporter: local journalist tim nailen and his family rushed out of their home, wading through chest-high water to survive. >> about a foot deep and in 30 seconds, about two minutes it was up to our need. and it just kept coming in >> reporter: dorian's early numbers out of these two islands alone are staggering 35% of the homes believed to be damaged or destroyed more than 60,000 people now need

food and access to clean drinking water a team of military helicopters have been making runs to abaco island, picking up the injured and bringing them back here to nassau to receive much-needed medical treatment. >> we have never experienced something like this in our life. >> reporter: adrian archer treated some of the very first people to arve you. >> my country. my people. >> reporter: as many on the islands remain cut off, still trapped and left waiting for help to come while rescue efforts started yesterday, today may be the first day that the majority of those relief teams carrying the much-needed supplies can finally make it to those hardest-hit areas to help people in need >> morgan chesky, thank you. as hurricane dorian lashes florida with tropical storm conditions, anxiety grows in the carolinas. more than a million people have been able to the e outer banks and 800 more flights have been

canceled today and the airport in charleston will close this afternoon. not expected to reopen until friday nbc meteorologist janessa webb is track dorian for us again this morning >> reporter: we just want dorian to be done with here it's really picking up for florida and for at least the next four days we're going to be really watching this really closely. the outer bands, the signatures right now, what you really need to watch for throughout this morning and this afternoon, potential for a few tornadoes to even spin up and also we're seeing a 100-mile radius of these tropical force winds. the winds are going to continue bp throughout the afternoon. currently sustained of 105 miles per hour we still have a cat 2, and that will continue. the consistency right nor dorian really continues through thursday this is where we see the uncertainty here i'm going to take south carolina, georgia out of the mix for potential landfall but now the outer banks we're

watching very closely thursday into friday. >> about a day or so to get ready for that janessa, thank you congress returns to session next week amid growing calls for tighter gun control. lawmakers face mounting pressure in the wake of several mass shootings. today's issue of the "washington post" features a scathing full-page editorial urging senate majority leader mitch mcconnell to do something. meanwhile, some of the nation's largest companies are taking safety into their own hands. nbc's tom more. in august brought two more >> reporter: the first weekend massacres in america 22 people murdered in that el paso walmart the next day nine killed in dayton, ohio earlier in the week police say a former employee at a mississippi walmart shot and killed two workers. walmart's ceo said the status quo is unacceptable, announcing walmart will discontinue sales of ammunition for assault-style weapons and handguns and discontinue handgun sales in alaska, the only state where it still sells handguns and after panic at a missouri

walmart -- >> a male wearing a bulletproof vest and an a.r. around his neck has just walked into the store and is recording himself >> reporter: one suspect arrested the company said "we are respectfully requesting that customers no longer openly carry firearms into our stores in states where open carry is permit." so far this year 289 mass shootings. >> walmart leadership is stepping up to the vacuum they see from washington leadership they have to protect their customers. they have to protect their associates >> reporter: the question will other retailers follow walmart's lead dick's sporting goods is already cutting back on gun and ammo sales after the parkland school shooting in a statement the nra now says it is shameful to see walmart succumb to the pressure of the anti-gun elites. rather than place the blame on the criminal walmart has chosen to victimize law-abiding americans. frances, we also have walmart calling on the white house and on congress to strengthen background checks and assure the

people who have some issue, a mental issue or what havd a gunr we also now have kroger, the nation's biggest grocery retailer, joining walmart and asking people in open carry states please do not come into our grocery stores carrying a weapon frances? >> a shift for change. tom, thank you september is off to a shaky start on wall street as u.s.-china, the trade war continues to weigh on markets. the dow tumbled nearly 300 points after a fresh round of 15% tariffs hit chinese goods over thes joins us president trump claimed on twitter he's actually winning the trade war. >> that's hiclaim, franc and phillip, but wall street doesn't seem to agree. you saw what happened with the stocks they're tumbling 300 points. this was the first trading day after those tariffs kicked in. between the u.s. and% imposed bs on september 1st that was sunday. monday was a holiday

and then tuesday the market reacted. china imposing its own tariffs in retaliation but take a look at this. president trump on twitter saying that the negotiations with the u.s. and china are going well he's accusing china of what he calls a $600 billion ripoff of trade imbalance he often talks about. he said the u.s. is hemorrhaging jobs and he's promising a tougher deal that will hurt china's economy without getting the european union involved. he said the eu also has an unfair trade balance with the united states, so he wants to do this on his own. we'll see how these negotiations move forward with that type of rhetoric phillip and frances? >> tracie potts for us tracie, thank you. investigators still searching for answers off the coast of california. authorities now say that all 33 passengers and one crew member are presumed dead after that deadly boat fire on a diving boat among the victims here, five members of the same family

nbc's miguel almaguer has the latest >> reporter: the boat fire exploded so quickly off santa barbara's coast the sheriff says there was likely no chance of escape for the 34 victims now presumed dead. >> mayday, mayday, mayday! >> reporter: the mayday call came in from five survivors zbl. >> i can't breathe >> reporter: all members of the "conception" take a dinghy to bob hansen's boat. >> there are some things you can't unsee. i don't know if i'll ever forget the sight of that boat burning >> reporter: switching to a recovery operation what was left of the dive boat has sunk to the ocean floor. among the missing a cal family of five with three daughters who loved to dive. cher r sherri mcdonagh just arrived from cincinnati to identify her daughter ali. the one crew member who died below deck the conception was wrapping up a weekend dive trip like this one

when the blaze apparently trapped those sleeping in these tight quarters the 75-foot boat has three levels five crew members were on the top deck when the fire broke out on the second deck in or around the galley the 33 passengers and one crew member below deck with no way out. the sleeping quarters had an entrance by the bow and a safety hatch toward the stern >> at this point it's thought fire was blocking both entrances hed appear to be what happened by the time it was discovered the fire was in such a state that it was -- it had essentially fullea >> reporter: with no cause for the fire, the "conception" perhaps holding answers at the bottom of the sea. >> investigators spent several hour we also spoke to one man who had been aboard that vessel in the until we note cause of the fire. past and said under these conditions he can't imagine a scenario in which anyone would have made it out alive phillip? >> it's horrifying to think

about. miguel, thank you. serena williams is closing in on her record-tying 24th grand slam there were some questions headinging into her quarterfinal match after williams rolled her ankle during her last outing the 37-year-old silented the doubters, though, only losing one game on her way to an easy straight sets victory. 100th ca. open win her semifinal match is against sixth seeded ellin a svitolina. federer was upset in a thrilling five-set quarterfinal match by gregor dimitroff the oun only unseeded player left in the draw was 0 for 7 against federer heading into the match. >> let's turn to dorian and janessa. >> we are seeing the beach erosion. that's going to be a huge issue here we haven't really talked aboutt.

that changes every day and today across south florida into the northern area, jacksonville beach, it's around thatn top of the rain, on top of the continuous surge we're going to see, you're going to see that high tide. the flooding going texas into louisiana hot steamy air. daytime highs still in the 90s can't promise you a landfall here but we know the surge a huge issue for these four states >> doing a whole lot to worry about. all right, janessa, thank you. after one of its cars made a high-speed run bugatti is the first carmaker to top 300 miles per hour the bugatti chiron is officially the world's fastest supercar, hitting speeds of 304.77 miles

per hour on a test track in germany. this isn't the first speed record bugatti has broken. they set the record in 2005 at 254 miles per hour and again in 2010 they capital themselves at 58 bugatti says this latest record, though, will be their last attempt. just aadhe, vice president pence sparks controversy with his hotel stay we'll be right back. sfx: upbeat music a lot of clothes you normally take to the cleaners aren't dirty dirty. they just need a quick refresh. try new febreze clothing quick dry mist. it eliminates odors and refreshes lightly-worn clothing. breathe happy febreze...

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unfolding in the united kingdom. prime minister boris johnson's plan to leave the european union has just suffered a major setback as the showdown over brexit continues to escalate - thank you. johnson lost a key vote in parliament a member of his conservative party walked across the chamber to sit with the opposition while the prime minister was speaking. matt bradley is in london for us he's following all the chaos for us matt, mercifully take over and teppeng over there. >> reporter: yeah, phillip, it's tough. it's very detailed there's a lot of wonkiness going on but as we mentioned, the drama is thick here and there's going to be more as today unfolds. what happened last night was basically that members of parliament voted to take back the agenda from the boston now they'll be able to introduce their own bill so what we're expecting here today is a bill to delay brexit after october 31st, which is the deadline for britain crashing out of the european union probably with no deal, and

that's what a lot of people here, a lot of economists are really worried about may have a major effect on the british economy can if there's a no-deal brexit boris johnson is the one stewarding he st he's going to move immediately to have a new election and here's what he sait thatdon't want an election the public don't want an election but if they pass this bill the public will have to choose who goes to brussels on october the 17th to sort this out and take this country forward >> reporter: but jeremy corbyn, who's the labor leader, the leader of the opposition, he said that his labour party will only vote for a new election if they have a guarantee that it will be held before brexit, before october 31st, and the prime minister is going to need corbin and his party's support to get that 2/3 majority for a fresh election phillip? >> no shortage of drama over

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in today's quick hits heidi klum received a special present from her husband he gifted the supermodel with a colorful piece of the berlin wall that separated east and west berlin for 28 years breakout artist lizzo lands her first number one on the billboard hot 100 with truth hurts. the song, which was originally released back in 2017, rose from

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mmm... i guess not. new gain scent blast. love it or hate it. it's intense. here's to the crazy ones the misfits. >> i'm just curious about the pathology behind this. >> people would say we're the crazy ones >> we finally have our first look at "between two ferns: the movie. the film is a full-length version of zach galifianakis's viral web series he stars as an awkward interviewer on a quest to host his own primetime talk show. the star-studded trailer features everyone from matthew mcconaughey to chrissy teigen.

jon hamm there between two ferns sprouts on netflix september 20th i got a message from my brother yesterday with this trailer saying he can't wait, and neither can i. >> just for having one guest or a few but to have an entire feature film of it it's going to be awesome in today's top stories animal shelters have plummeted across the country. that's according to largest the report found that euthanasia rates fell by more than 75% over the last decade. the shift is bleevgd to have been caused by more people spaying and neutering their pet adopting rescue animals. we have some good news for comedian kevin hart who is on the mend from back surgery less than a week after being in that horrific car crash in malibu the head of his production company is speaking out this morning with some encouraging news about the actor's recovery here's nbc's joe fryer >> reporter: days after surviving a crash inside his vintage muscle car, comedian kevin hart is on the mend. the president of his production

company says kevin is doing fine after back surgery and is expected to have a full recovery very soon. the california highway patrol says hart was a passenger in his car. the driver lost control after making a turn. the car left the road, busting through this fence, and then rolling into the ditch, down below. these pictures from tmz were taken at the scene hart escaped the car on his own but firefighters had to cut the roof off to resc bck's fiance rebecca brocksterman authorities say alcohol was not a factor but are investigating excessive speeds as a possible factor hart's love of cars was on display last month during an episode of "jay leno's garage" on cnbc. now hart's fans hope he's back in action both on screen and off soon joe fryer, nbc news, los angeles. >> everybody's breathing a huge sigh of relief we saw those pictures, people -- you think the worst.

>> 100%. when you see wreckage like you that think how can someone tool get up and walk away which he did at first. but w. know. wishing him a very speedy recovery hey, thanks for waking up wi mena >> i'm frances rivera.

4:30 on your wednesday morning. taking a peek outside a live look at san francisco from san bruno mountain. giving you a bird's-eye view. nice way to start our morning. good morning to you. thanks for joining us. i'm laura garcia. >> and i'm marcus washington. thank you so much. meteorologist kari hall has been tracking all the weather that we have throughout the bay area. i see the smile on your face, good thing. >> cooler today but still kind of humid as you get ready to head out the door. you may be feeling that with temperatures now in the low 60s. a live look in walnut creek, mostly clear skies. our temperatures through the day will start to warm up, headed

into the upper 70s by 11:00 and we're also going to have a little bit more humidity. i'm tracking a chance of some