high tide in the gulf coast area where tropical storm elsa is pounding the florida shoreline right now. high winds and storm surge are the greatest concern for those still in its path. we'll tell you where it's headed our richard engel goes inside the firefight for troops taking on the taliban as the u.s. withdrawal is almost complete and enemy retribution explodes across the country. sha'carri richardson banned from competition for marijuana use. this morning, the fallout from

her olympic dreams dashed. what have we learned from one of the most expensive and extensive investigations in aviation history and the made for tv golf match with aaron rodgers and bryson dechambeau did not disappoint "early today" starts right now. >> elsa may be downgraded to tropical storm but it's still packing packing a punch. t there are even tornado watches in place this morning. the governor warned nefreveryon the coastal area to be prepared to lose power for several days

good morning >> hi, good morning, guys. i have some better news this morning. a collapsing storm system on the eastern side of this storm but what you're seeing right now across central florida is severe weather. these are the outer bands really impacting that area, and that will be in place for at least the next 12 hours. 60 miles west of tampa florida we're seeing sustained hurricane-force winds up to 70 miles per hour there's that north movement now at 14 miles per hour this is going to move in pretty quickly across cedar key is where we are expecting landfall around 2:00. then it continues to race into southern georgia, south carolina, north carolina, going to be dealing with torrential rain and massive flooding in that area, and then going into your friday, d.c., new york city, boston as well could see some wind gusts up to 45 miles

per hour good news is this storm system is starting to die down, but big threats are happening. storm surge and the flooding we'll talk about that coming up. >> talk to new a few, janessa. a somber day for the community in surfside, florida funerals were held for seven victims. the youngest, 4-year-old emma and her sister they were buried in the same coffin decorated with pink and purple ribbon. rescuers discovered more bodies sf >> we have recovered four additional victims the number of confirmed deaths is now 36. with 29 of those identified. >> more than 100 people are still unaccounted for. the pentagon announced the u.s. withdrawal from afghanistan is now more than 90% complete. leaving afghan forces to battle

the taliban. nbc's richard engel is on the ground with an exclusive as a fierce firefight broke out >> reporter: in a taliban-controlled area outside kabul, afghanistan's best troops huddle they'll raid a safe house and kill or capture the taliban inside before, these elite troops had american support, shoulder to shoulder no more. >> we are ready to fight if we die, we don't care about it we are ready >> reporter: they head out in old american humvees at one point slowing to a crawl, seeing what looks like a roadside bomb. the ied may have been a false alarm. they push on, now on foot. quietly. they hope to surprise the taliban. so the building they're closing in on is actually a mosque they think there are 15 taliban fighters inside.

but soon the commando on point spots a taliban fighter. the rpg's going to fire, be careful. they've clearly lost the element of surprise. so now it's just a straight-up fight. they finally made it this is their target no idea what could be waiting inside they look through the mosque's window, but the taliban are gone they escaped >> they escaped. >> reporter: the taliban haven't gone far the commandos kill three of them in hiding and an afghan airstrike kills three more >> the mission is very successful >> reporter: the taliban are making rapid advantages. the u.s.-trained afghan army is crumbling, losing or surrendering a third of its posts in the last few weeks.

so now it's up to the commandos to stop the taliban from taking over >> president biden is taking his sweeping infrastructure pitch back on the road today let's get straight to our capitol hill correspondent tracy potts. today's focus is on education. >> hi, aaron so we're focussing on education today with part of his family's plan, keeping in mind that here in washington the families plan and infrastructure which he also talked about today are being dealt with separately. but on the road the president is talking about both of them today he'll be at a community college in chicago, in suburban chicago. part of the families plan is to pay for the first few years of college for every american the white house explaining what the president's focus will be in that visit and in that speech. those remarks he's makinr

today. >> we see this as less of a political trip, more of an opportunity to speak to all americans about why his build back better agenda and why his effort to make, to extend the child tax credit to make community college more affordable, to make universal pre-k a reality, it's something people of many political stripes should be able to support. >> the infrastructure compromise, senate minority leader mitch mcconnell says that this is going to be a fight. but that if they can get the numbers together, the focus on their side is how to pay for this, that it's do-able, that it's possible they could pass a compromise and get it back on the president's desk >> all right, thank you. despite winning the 100 meter dash at the olympic trials, sha'carri richardson won't be running in tokyo after testing positive for marijuana and receiving a 30-day

suspension from the sport she was left off the olympic track and field roster >> reporter: it's official, the fastest woman in america, sha'carri richardson, will not be competing in any events at the tokyo olympics usa track and field announcing she will not run the 4 x 100 relay. her last chance to make the team she had the dramatic victory at the u.s. olympic trials. >> i just want the world to know that i'm that girl >> reporter: but following that jubilation, the 21 year old tested positive for marijuana, a banned substance. >> i know what i'm supposed to do what i'm not allowed to do, and i still made that decision >> reporter: she was suspended for a month and disqualified from running in the olympics

more than half a million people signed a petition to get her to run. while our heartfelt understanding lies with sha'carri, we must all maintain fairness for all the athletes. this news no doubt is going to disappoint fans. but richardson for her part says this is not the end of her career she has vowed to come back stronger, promising to be a world champion next year from tokyo, tom llamas, back to you. hollywood producer and award winning actress issa rae wants to inspire you the creator of "insecure" has teamed up with converse, releasing a new version of the chuck 70 sneakers. they are customizable with different colors and

affirmations like "run with it." they are available now on converse.com and priced at about $115 let's bring back in janessa webb with more on today's extreme weather. hello, janessa >> hi, guys. the severe weather threat is big time across central florida right now. we have tornado warnings going off for ft. myers area and can you see the heavier bands producing torrential rain. we have rainfall rates of three inches per hour in some sports already. even orlando going to be dealing with the severe weather. watching throughout the day the potential of severe weather making its way to georgia and south carolina now let's talk about the storm surge, three to five feet in sa sarasota to cedar key right now that we're going to be watching throughout the afternoon, as we see that potential landfall for the keys and southern florida,

one to three feet. not in the clear just yet. along with massivefalling below for san diego. the desert southwest still very hot, in the triple digits. with these tropical threats now expanding we'll look at the carolinas, even sections of the northeast coming up, guys. >> thanks, janessa. still ahead, the emotional night on america's got talent. remembering the twa 800 disaster huge it's reshaped aviation 25 years later. and so is walgreens, with pharmacists who you know, who know you. so, when you're ready, they'll be ready to give it to you safely, for free. this is our shot at bringing our communities back together.

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and most expensive investigations in history. but for the families of those lost it is a memory seared into their hearts here's peter alexander >> reporter: 25 years later, joe richner vividly remembers that call >> i could hear the girls running and enjoying this emselves and having a great time they were so excited to be going to paris that is a thought that will always live with me. >> reporter: their flight from jfk crashed into the atlantic. all 230 people on board lost >> in some ways it seems like the blink of an eye. in other ways it seems like a long time. >> reporter: the ntsb saying it was likely the result of an electric spark >> it changed at how the

industry looks at preventing these accidents. >> reporter: and we're safer as a result of it investigators recovered 95% of the wreckage, first reconstructing it in new york and transporting it to northern virginia the wreckage helped solve the mystery behind the failure and taught valuable safety lessons, changing the way aircraft are designed the ntsb says out of respect, the reconstruction will soon be dismantled and destroyed peter alexander, ashburn, virginia >> even a quarter creentury latr the memories not fading. still on performance that brought down the house on america's got talent and the ice man cometh

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it hits theaters on july 23rd and heads to amazon prime on august 6th >> he was in the "door" as well. now to a very emotional performance on america's got talent a singer was inspired to take the stage after he had a loss. >> what's your name please >> myname is matt mouser >> what he said moments later stunned the audience >> i lost my wife in the same helicopter crash that killed kobe bryant. >> reporter: mouser's wife, a teacher and basketball coach was one of nine people lost in that crash. >> christina was incredibly funny, and we spent our life laughing, you know shes w she was the one person that got me >> reporter: the couple's three children watched him sing a phil

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good morning, everyone you know, this storm system is going to be remembered as a rainmaker. we're about to have eight states be impacted by flood watches and warnings possible in the next few days it stretches all the way into sections of the northeast. now to focus more on central florida, we're talking about eight inches locally in some spots. so these are low-lying areas, easily flooded areas and so we're going to continue to see that with the high tide coming in throughout the day so look at these hurricane warnings still in place for the tampa area, but now these watches and warnings, they have spread all the way into wilmington, north carolina, also for coastal areas of south carolina and southern georgia. remember, the winds today will be picking up around cross city, up to at least 60 miles per

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now let's get a live update from florida's gulf coast where tropical storm elsa is expected to make landfall today and we're already seeing the impact of its outer bands as it moves just offshore what's the scene there this morning? >> reporter: hey, good morning, filip. we continue to see this thing move through in bands. right now the rain not as intense has it has been throughout the night the whind continues to whip. let me give you a look at the

palm fronds whipping back and forth. we're inside a marina here in clearwater beach the boats have been rocking back and forth throughout the night the issue with this storm, and it's been that way since the beginning, has been the water. we're at high tide right now so the storm surge combined with the high tide and the rain which is starting to pick up a bit as we are talking has caused some flooding in the tampa area and this is a storm that's going to continue to push through this area and then up and along the eastern seaboard for the next several days the wind whipping here rain coming through strong at times. that's a process that's just going to continue over the next several hours here in clearwater beach. we'll know more about the damage once we get a bit of daylight here but right now it looks like nothing significant. still have power on the ground here that's good news we see police cruisers at times just drive through, checking to make sure everything is as good

as it can be during this storm it's reduced to a tropical storm again at this point. starting to break up a bit but still delivering a punch, phillip? >> and a major concern there, the deadliest part of the storm. >> got to be careful well, before his charity golf match, phil mickelson put on a putting clinic, trying to hit as many as he could in 30 seconds. each earned 10,000 meals for those in need. mickelson raised 150,000 meals for feeding america. having a great year besides those 15 straight putts and doing that for charity it's one of the oldest to ever win a major, 50 years old on the pga championship >> still impressive. thanks for watching "early today. >> before we go, we want to tell

you what's coming up on the "today" show a look back at jimmy and rosalind carter's love story as they celebrate 75 years of marriage we hope you have a great if there were a button that would help you use less energy, breathe cleaner air, and even take on climate change... would you press it?

right now at 4:30, hitting close to home and an unwanted spotlight for nbc bay area. our own crew and colleagues the topic of a big police meeting in oakland today why the crime on camera that has community leaders calling for change. trash. plaguing the sides of california city streets and freeway why is the governor here highlighting plans to clean up california. the new major re