a deadly weekend in portland, where clash progress testers escalated tensions leaving one person dead and nerves frayed from coast to coast. >> before we get into the music tonight, we need to take the time to talk about the devastating loss of chadwick boseman. he's a true hero not just on screen, budid. his impact lives forever the mtd to the life and career of actor chadwick boseman, who tragically died of colon cancer at the age of just 43 the number of coronavirus

cases in the u.s. topped 6 million on sunday, as the nation struggles to reopen and rebuild the economy. speaking of reopening, stretch to the limits. school nurses and the new challenges to keep your kids safe something to give you a little lift on this final day of august how does a real-life flying car sound to you the sky drive is the world's smallest, but sit for you? "early today" starts right now glad you're starting your week with us i'm frances rivera >> and i'm philip mena breaking this morning, president trump will visit law enforcement tomorrow the president doubled down on his decision after the governor of wisconsin urged the president not to visit, write thing letter saying he fears the visit may hinder not help the situation. this weekend, a man was shot and killed in portland after supporters of president trump and black lives matter protesters clashed in the streets. it's unclear if they were connected. and the tense protests,

white house chief of staff mark meadows defended the president >> they're not peaceful protesters these are people that every night conduct violent acts and it is in democrat cities you want to talk about donald trump's america, most of donald trump's america is peaceful. >> this after the president unleashed a series of tweets calling portland mayor ted wheeler a fool but wheeler blames the president for the chaos. >> president trump, for four years, we've had to live with you and your racist attacks on black people and now you want me to stop the violence that you helped create. >> it has been a chaotic week full of outrage since the shooting of jacob blake. lara trump says president trump has reached out to the blake family about a possible meeting, but the family's lawyers say

they haven't been contacted by trump's team shaquille brewster has more. >> reporter: here in kenosha, protests have continued for eight days and remainepeend. local officials are expecting concern as president trump plans to head to kenosha on tuesday. coming up, we'll talk about the opposition he's facing from three leaders here in the state, wisconsin governor, the mayor of kenosha and the state's attorney general, who is leading the investigation into the shooting of jacob blake jacob blake still reneighbmainse hospital we know he's paralyzed from the waist down people are continuing to call for accountability for the officer who shot him in the back >> shaq, thank you with just over two months until election day, the candidates are hitting the campaign trail joe biden is holding an event in pittsburgh this afternoon.

according to the campaign, the democratic presidential nominee will lay out a core question to voters -- are you safe in donald trump's america? president trump quickly swung back at the announcement on twitter, saying biden is going to pittsburgh because his poll numbers are plunging meanwhile, president trump is heading to kenosha tomorrow after a week of protests nbc's jennifer johnson has more. >> reporter: one week after 29-year-old jacob blake was filmed shot in the back by a kenosha police officer, people are still demonstrating and demanding reform president trump will go to kenosha tuesday to show his support for the city's police officers >> the president is on the side of law enforcement and the rule of law >> reporter: wisconsin's attorney general says blake admitted to having a knife in his possession democrats are blaming the president for the civil unrest sweeping the country >> the chaos and the disorder and the lawlessness that we are currently have seen, that's donald trump's america >> reporter: president trump not

backing down on twitter sunday, he threatened to send in the national guard to portland, oregon, after demonstrators took to the streets for the 94th night in a row. >> do you seriously wonder, mr. president, why this is the first time in decades that america has seen this level of violence? it's you who have created the hate and the division. >> reporter: the biden campaign unleashing a strong indictment of the president's handling of the turmoil. >> you saw president trump go to new hampshire on friday and say, you know, protesters my [ bleep ]. he's had every opportunity to speak as a leader. >> reporter: the biden campaign promising a different message of unity and reform when joe biden hits the campaign trail this week both candidates now out campaigning with the public, appealing to their base, with two months to do till the election jennifer johnson, nbc news, washington let's turn now to the coronavirus pandemic

some troubling new numbers out more than 25 million cases now confirmed around the world that's according to johns hopkins university india just recorded the highest single day spike of over 78,000. >> the united states has topped 6 million cases. more than 184,000 americans have died due to the virus. >> of course, many americans are hurting financially. the first of the month is tomorrow, and that could see a flood of evictions if there aren't some protections enacted. classes have only been in session two weeks, but the university of alabama has more than a thousand students who have tested positive students have the option of switching to remote learning mean while, there are universities in philadelphia and new york that are pushing in-person classes for two weeks after confirming over 100 cases each in an interview with the financial times, the fda commissioner says he would consider emergency authorization for a vaccine before clinical trials are complete. he insisted it's not due to pressure from the trump

administration and would only be made available for certain groups we're still seeing incredible victories over the virus. mary pierre reunited with her family after being hospitalized with covid 156 days. >> last night's 2020 ma shows was dedicated to honoring the memory of actor chadwick boseman. take a look. >> before we get into the music, we need to take the time to talk about the devastating loss of chadwick boseman, an actor whose talent and passion is a true inspiration to all the fans he touched. >> she delivered a heartfelt message paying tribute to boseman. and twitter announced the final tweet from boseman's account is officially the most liked tweet ever it read -- >> it gained 7.3 million likes on the platform so far nbc's steve patterson looks at

how big of an impact boseman made on the world. >> reporter: chadwick boseman embodied heroics and his role in "black panther" revolutionary for the pls who watched him on the big screen. >> he's one of many inspiring soup heroes. >> it kind of represents black people also. >> reporter: he was a fighter off screen, conscious of his role as a black leading man. >> we all know what it's like to be told that there is not a place for you to be featured yet you are young, gifted and black. we know what it's like to be the tail, not the head we know what it's like to be beneath and not above. >> reporter: the battle for representation in hollywood and across all media is being waged by a generation of young audiences demanding change >> why do you think it's important to have roles for characters that don't look like everybody else >> i think it's important to have role models and sort of

abolish the stereotypes. >> reporter: we interviewed students across the country about how they feel hollywood is representing minority voices >> i would say that my first aha moment would be when i was little and i watched mulan and i'm like, it's just kind of mind boggling that my first -- the first person that comes to my mind is an animated character. >> i don't think there's been a moment where i've seen my full self on tv or in a movie >> reporter: sociologist nancy yun consults filmmakers on diversity and inclusion. for yo especially, you can't be what you can't see. how am i going to know i can be a doctor if i've never seen anyone that looks like me. so even thinking of ourselves as heroes >> reporter: when minors are seen on screen, it niece a negative life.

gang member or thug roles are disproportionately played by black actors >> for every additional hour of television watched, black boys and girls and white girls, their self-esteem went down. but for white boys, their self-esteem went up. >> reporter: an honest look the country is now taking. >> representation matters. tv and movies are a powerful way to shape the way we act and think. >> reporter: cementi ining bose' legacy as a real-life superhero, to be seen, heard and respected. steve patterson, nbc news, hollywood. >> his death really e fights fo, even more so >> i think everybody was shocked when they opened up their phone or however they got the news over the weekend that happened he was so young. none of us knew. it was like kelly preston when she passed away, it was out of

no wrch nowhere. only 43 years old. >> i love everybody says, rest in power, instead of the typical rest in peace. let's turn now to the gulf coast where there is a long road to recovery ahead. hundreds of thousands in the path of hurricane laura are still waiting to get their power back on. morgan chessky joins us now. >> reporter: good morning from lake charles you can see behind me the power crews staying busy they were able to make their way into these hard-hit areas after the roads were cleared and they have a big task. we know that at least 200,000 people are still without power the mayor here in lake charles saying that this isn't going to be a process that will take days or weeks bu bk on and that's a real concern right now.he in louisiana. it is hot and we have spoken with a local ambulatory service that says people are calling 911, not because they're injured but because they don't have any

other means of leaving their homes and it's too hot to survive in their current condition. as it stands right now, the early estimates from hurricane laura simply devastating anywhere from $12 to $20 billion. this storm more than making its mark in this part of louisiana frances, back to you >> morgan, thank you and we have some flash flood threats. good monday morning, janessa >> good morning, everyone. i wish i had better news for the deep south louisiana going to be impacted by these heat alerts and advisories this morning. all the way into your afternoon. i do think this heat expands across the deep south for at least the next two days with 27 million people currently impacted the heat and humidity is going to be unbearable across that area also watching these storms or moving its way through

almost a fall-like pattern san antonio to new orleans, we'll be in the low 90s. we'll take a look at that week ahead, coming up >> all right, janessa, thank you. terrifying moments at a kite festival in taiwan that's a 3-year-old girl there entangled in the tail of a large kite she was swept away, being tossed like a rag doll. the crowd panicked trying to help her she fell to the ground where she was caught she suffered just some minor cuts >> just a helpless feeling on the ground much more ahead, including fraud charges in an alleged coronavirus relief scam. and school nurses are stretched to the limit

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welcome back along with teachers, school nurses are facing agonizing decisions about how to protect students while keeping their own families safe from covid some say it's just not worth it, while others are taking the risk nbc's anne thompson has their stories. >> reporter: in the age of covid, the school nurse has never been more important. >> i've had some sore throats and headaches today. >> reporter: jen bueller is at an elementary school in orlando. >> so the mask is included under there. >> reporter: if students present with just one covid symptom, that go home >> if i send this child back, i could expos an entire class. >> reporter: to say nothing of bringing it home to her own family in iowa, heather weber has dual challenges of covid and geography. >> people trust me with something that they hold so d r

dear, their children >> reporter: she's the nurse for 750 students, and each afternoon adds 300 high school students across town. >> they called on me to come over there, i would have to make sure that the kiddos on this side of town had what they needed >> reporter: school nurses are stretched thin the national association of school nurses says most oversee 920 to 1200 students and 25% of the nation's schools don't even have a nurse. to meet student's needs in the pandemic, the association says nurses must have appropriate ppe, including and a separate space to isolate students who may have the virus. things not many schools can afford amy says she resigned as an el m -- elementary school nurse in georgia. where a covid outbreak followed

here >> they said in their opening plans that were public to everyone that masks were a personal choice. >> is were masks a personal choice as far as you were concerned? >> no, absolutely not. >> reporter: living with her elderly father and young daughter, she didn't want to risk their health or that of her students >> how much do you miss being a school nurse >> i miss it terribly. i do i miss their faces i miss their hugs. i miss their pictures that they used to draw me. >> reporter: a difficult choice, as school nurses try to protect both families, at school and at home anne thompson, nbc news.

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the things i hold of value, things i fight for we found something we're fighting for as the nba, as a collective unit i use these shoes as a symbol to keep fighting all around the world. it's like i say, they give me a lot of power to keep fighting. we want to win, i show my emotion, it comes up >> an emotional jamal murray he memorialized george floyd and breonna taylor on his sneakers in denver's first game back after protests following the shooting of jacob blake. in that game, murray scored 50 points, propelling the denver nuggets to victory and forcing

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in today's top stories, the former minneapolis police officer accused in the death of george floyd is seeking to have the murder charges against him dismissed. according to court documents, defense attorneys for derek chauvin argue that floyd's alleged drug use was the crucial factor in floyd's death. meanwhile, prosecutors say they plan to seek stiff sent tenses against chauvin and the flee other officers two florida men are facing bank fraud conspiracy charges after they allegedly stole $3 million in coronavirus relief

funds. the group began a scheme in 2017 to defraud a texas bank using 700 fake identities to create bank accounts. officials say from april to july of this year, the group used their fake identities to apply for and gain millions from the paycheck protection program. the mtv video music awards lit up new york. ♪ >> wow the weekend brought the fireworks as you can see and it won video of the year there. and the baby brought the fire, as well. the rapper honored the black lives matter movement and made a powerful statement about police

brutality in his performance like so many times before, lady gaga turned heads with her fashion forward look >> my god bless you. i'm very honored at the awards i've bee winning for best song has to be my favorite, because at the e >> what a mask there ariana grandi and bts were the other big winners. the show included musical performances by medical workers. >> without a live audience, you're afraid of all the energy that would be lost but in this case -- >> they brought it the japanese flying car startup had an exciting test flight this vehicle is sized to fit into two spark parking spaces. the car flew for about four minutes and they plan to start a

flying court transport in 2023 some people hook flook forward t >> you have to train people how to safely fly that thing oks cool, lo

law enforcement and the rule of law. >> the chaos and the disorder and the lawlessness that we are currently seeing, that's donald trump's america. portland on high alert this morning after a man was shot and killed during a protest saturday night. it happened after hundred of trump supporters drove into the city and clashed with count eeer