breaking overnight, a series of shootings results in multiple people wounded and killed in tucson, arizona. with emts and firefighters in the line of fire all 50 states are now seeing a rise in new covid cases. some taking a harder hit than others as mask mandates may be brought back to stem the surge the summer olympics began on friday and now tennis star coco gauff has tested positive for covid and will miss the games. as more cases are reported inside the olympic village this morning we're getting a much clearer picture of what went down when shots were fired

outside nats park on saturday night. that sent fans and players scrambling and it was lebron versus black widow in the battle for box office supremacy with the big screen and streaming too. it's monda 19th. "early today" starts right now glad you're starting your morning and your week with us. i'm frances rivera >> and i'm phillip mena. that breaking news this morning, police in tucson, arizona are unraveling the details of a shooting spree that left first responders fighting for their lives. >> this is highly tragic, really horrific incident, with many unknowns at this time that's going to involve a lengthy and complex investigation. >> here's what we do know. a man shot two emts who were at a park one of those emts, who's only 20 years old, is in extremely critical condition the gunman then drove to a

nearby house fire where he again opened fire. one firefighter was hit in the arm, and a neighbor who was there trying to help was killed. the suspect then rammed into a police car a shootout with that officer ensued, and that left the gunman in critical condition. one person also died in the house fire we are just days away from the start of the 2020 olympics in tokyo but there are already signs of trouble in the world's biggest sports stage as at least three athletes have now tested positive for covid-19 one of them, 17-year-old american tennis star coco gauff, who has dropped out of the games. nbc's molly hunter has more. >> reporter: 17-year-old tennis star coco gauff announced she had tested positive for covid-19, forcing her to pull out of the olympics. "i am so disappointed to share the news," she wrote on social media. "it has always been a dream of mine." adding "i want to wish team usa best of luck and a safe games. early this month gauff played at wimbledon, and before that thene traveling to europe or where she

tested positive. in tokyo with less than a week until the opening ceremony the case numbers are rising. >> there is no such thing as zero risk. and that we all agree. at the same time the mingling and crossing of population is incredibly limited, incredibly limited. and we can ensure that transmission between the various groups is almost impossible. i'm clarifying almost. >> reporter: since july 1st according to the organizing committee, 55 people under their jurisdiction have tested positive for covid including four athletes, all non-residents of japan, four media and the others games-concerned personnel. sunday the south african team announced two players had tested positive in the olympic village. >> the screening program since 1st of july has already delivered more than 30,000 results. so that's how diligent we are in terms of monitoring the population which is here, and we'll continue to do so.

>> reporter: and dozens of people following strict protocol now under quarantine athletes just hoping they won't have to miss their big event molly hunter, nbc news from asia to back here in the u.s., covid-19 is putting up a tough fight. new infections are on the rise in every state in this country the surge is mostly being driven by the delta variant in places with low vaccination rates nbc's kathy park has more. >> reporter: good morning. just months ago we saw covid cases falling. but numbers are now trending in the wrong direction. meanwhile, one former health official is asking cdc to act with more guidance on the national mask mandate. no signs of covid backing down in los angeles county a 700% increase in positive cases in just the last month. as masks go back on while indoors. >> i think better safe than sorry for sure >> reporter: former surgeon general jerome adams weighing in on mask wearing, tweeting "the cdc guidance was premature and

wrong. he added "instead of vax it or mask it the emerging data suggests cdc should be advising to vax it and mask it in areas with rising cases and positivity." the current surgeon general defended the cdc's decision on masks for the full yil vaccinated >> they gave xlunts and individuals the flexibility to make decisions about what to do with masks >> reporter: across america cases are rising in all 50 states some hit harder than others. health care workers in florida's seminole county point to a deadly trend >> the death count is extremely high 99.2% for the individuals that are unvaccinated >> reporter: in arkansas dr. cam patterson said his hospital is full and they are running out of caregivers and more worries around the world. prime minister boris johnson is in quarantine after a covid exposure >> i've been pinged. i've been asked to self-isolate by the test trace and isolate

system after i'd been in contact with somebody who has covid. >> reporter: this comes just hours before the uk lifts its remaining restrictions, dubbed freedom day, meaning no more mask mandates and capacity limits on nightclubs and sporting events. and the world health organization is issuing another warning, saying that the pandemic isn't over and there are four variants of concern right now and the possibility of even more emerging in the future back to you. >> all right, kathy, thanks. breaking news now. massive wildfires in the west are forcing more people to flee their homes. the tamarac fire south of lake tahoe exploded over 18,000 acres and spurred mandatory evacuations. it is zero percent contained this is just one of 80 large fires burning in 13 states the evacuation zone has expanded for the bootleg fire, burning in oregon it has burned nearly 300,000 acres, which is almost the size of los angeles that fire is 22% contained

cleanup has begun in germany after devastating floods swept through, killing more than 180 people the area was hit with about three months' worth of rain in just 24 hours, causing the worst flooding in more than half a century. rescuers are digging through the debris, hoping to find any signs of life from the hundreds that are still missing. for more on the recovery efforts we turn to nbc's claudio lavanga live in hemerscheim, germany claudio, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, phillip. the chancellor of germany angela merkel visited the area yesterday and she called what she saw surreal, which is how i would describe what we've been seeing around here for the past three days since we arrived in this part of western germany what you see behind me used to be a train station about a week ago. now it is a pile of rubble you can see to my left destroyed cars, car wreckages scattered around uprooted trees to my right

that's a pillar that used to hold a pedestrian overpass that had to be brought down by the authorities here because it became too unstable. really it looks like time stood still since wednesday last week, when a river like this, the ahr, one of many rivers like this, they became from gentle waterways into monstrous walls of water that just left behind a trail of death and devastation and now the cleanup has just started. we saw just about an hour ago the authorities were towing away all these destroyed cars that are lying on the river banks, on the road, all over the places here and yesterday angela merkel promised that the government will approve an aid package worth about $300 million by wednesday. and by the look of it, phillip, the residents here will need every single penny of that to rebuild what's lost. phillip, frances >> it sure seems that way. just surreal images coming out of germany claudio, thank you a covid outbreak has hit the

texas democrats who fled to washington, d.c. to block new voting restrictions in the state. two more state lawmakers tested positive yesterday, bringing the total infected to five all the representatives say they are fully vaccinated and the cases are mild meanwhile, that caucus is kicking off a five-day conference to keep the pressure on congress. for more let's get to nbc's traci tracie potts and tra tracie, abig week ahead in the fight over voting rights >> reporter: you noted a few of those members have tested positive they wanted to do this more in person but now it's largely virtual because of that. but the texas democrats who fled there to avoid enacting voting restrictions are now in washington trying to set the stage to urge congress to do that on a federal level, and this comes just after a weekend roundtable in georgia with

stacey abrams who has made a name for herself now pushing for voting rights in that state along with a couple of lawmakers listening to voters who had a really tough time casting their ballot long lines and other restrictions that abrams and other voting rights advocates say just should not happen >> the process of electing our leaders is not a partisan process. our selections may be partisan but our elections should not be. our elections are how we determine the course and the quality of our democracy >> i think it is sad just how much today's democratic party has decided that voter fraud is integral to helping them try to win elections. >> reporter: senator ted cruz and other republicans pushing back saying this focus on voting rights for democrats is their attempt to win more seats in next year's midterm elections, that it's all political. meantime, we're going to see more of this focus not only with the texas democrats conference

happening here in washington, based here in washington, but the senate rules committee is taking their voting rights actions their hearing on the road for the first time in 20 years. that's happening down in georgia this week. >> this fight revving up as we see right there. tracie, thank you. in san diego this weekend the u.s. navy christened the "usns john lewis" honoring the late congressman and civil rights icon on the first anniversary of his death actress alfre woodard broke the champagne bottle for the blessing many of lewis's former congressional colleagues were there as well, including house speaker nancy pelosi the navy plans to name another six ships after civil rights leaders. nbc meteorologist bill karins is in for janessa this morning. he's keeping an eye on that mega drought out of the west as well as a soggy southeast hey, bim, good morning good to see you. >> good morning. it's like monday's the same. we're dealing with the heat and the drought out west too much rain in the east. that's the case this morning bring the umbrella with you if

you're in the southeast from atlanta all the way up through alabama, mississippi including areas around new orleans here's how it's going to look as we go throughout the day this front is kind of stalled out in the region. that's the focusing mechanism to get the showers and thunderstorms. they'll be widespread. it's not going to last all day like typical, but even tomorrow we'll still have more storms to deal with especially coastal areas of texas and louisiana and much of the peninsula. for today's forecast your eyeballs immediately go up to the 105 in billings, montana today. the west is smoky in many areas. that's why boise has all those clouds it's not clouds. it's actually smoke. and that's from the bootleg fire in areas like oregon and even as we go toward tomorrow it's still going to stay very warm in interior sections of the east it's going to be that way for a while, it appear front

we'll see some sunshine in the ohio valley but not so lucky in new england. and i can attest, guys, i was in new england this weekend and it was not pretty ugly summer so far >> man, it seems like we're just having the worst luck with these weekends >> honestly it feels like houston used to feel when i lived down south there all those years ago. all right, bill, thanks. a final round rally at the open in great britain brought one young american back to championship status. collin morikawa did not bogey once on sunday, ending the tournament at 15 under par and securing the open championship it's the 24-year-old's second major victory in just eight appearances at golf's grand slam he won the pga championship with no spectators in attendance last year plenty more ahead including n nnoffense that got a baseball fabaed for life. first new details on the shooting outside nationals park. g than ever. and when kids have what they need to move forward together... anything is possible. kohl's.

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suspected to have been involved. and police are offering a reward of up to $10,000 for information that leads to a conviction for more here's nbc's kelly o'donnell. >> reporter: fans returned a game resumed but anxiety lingered in the aftermath of gun violence. >> it's a different feel at the ballpark today >> reporter: fear took the field saturday night at nationals park in washington when gunfire could be heard >> please remain calm. >> reporter: confusion set in. and a race to find safety. players and fans scrambled >> it's a very bizarre scene at nationals park we have no idea. >> where the panic began was in right field. a whole bunch of fans in the concourse began running from center field to right field in the concourse. >> nobody knew what it was then a whole storm of people started running. >> reporter: the gunfire actually happened outside the ballpark

officials say shots were exchanged between two cars three people were wounded including a woman passerby, grazed in the chaos. this incident is part of a national spike in gun violence friday, also in washington, a drive-by shooting left this 6-year-old girl, nyiah courtney, dead her mother and four other adults wound. >> nyiah was starting the first grade this fall. and now that won't happen. >> reporter: cities report more gun violence new york, gun incidents up 29% over last year atlanta, homicides up more than 27%. philadelphia, up 31% with 299 murders president biden says the federal government can do more to crack down on licensed gun dealers who sell illegal weapons >> we'll make sure you can't sell death and mayhem on our streets. it's an outrage. >> our thanks to kelly o'donnell

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all right, time for your week ahead forecast. let's put a spin on this we don't have anything in the tropics heading our way. so that's great. and i don't think we're going to have any organized severe weather outbreaks this week. so we're just going to have to deal with downpours or weather that's way too dry and way too hot. the southeast today with scattered downpours. umbrella today from dallas to atlanta all the way through eastern north carolina a few showers left in areas of new england. and the fire threat still high in areas of the west heat wave in montana could see up to 105 degrees in billings, montana. then on wednesday still a few storms heading to the northeast. not going to rain all day, though summer monsoon that means occasional showers and storms in the four corner region but still no wet weather for california and areas of the interior west. and then on friday kind of a quiet weather map. i can deal with this on friday, guys especially in the east we're heading into oomt weekend. it looks positive. >> we'll take it, bill

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in today top stories a bizarre arrest in western nevada police say a reno woman broke into the dental office where she used to work, stole cash and then admitted to pulling more than a dozen teeth from an unwilling patient. 42-year-old laurel ike, who is not a dentist, told authorities she used discarded anesthetic on the patient. still no word on a motive. she faces multiple counts of burglary and performing surgery without a medical license. >> geez. a former walmart employee who has down syndrome has been awarded $125 million after a jury found that her former

employer violated the americans with disabilities act. according to the "new york times," the woman worked for the company for 15 years but was fired in 2015 due to excessive absenteeism after she said the company shifted her hours, which created significant difficulties for her. well, a federal jury awarded the woman $125 million in punitive damages and $150,000 in compensatory damages walmart said the verdict would be reduced to $300,000, which is the maximum amount allowed under federal law for compensatory and punitive damages a baseball fan is facing a lifetime ban from every major league ballpark after he hit red sox outfielder alex verdugo with a ball from the yankee stadium stands over the weekend. the fan was ejected on saturday after an angry verdugo shouted toward the bleachers in the sixth inning the yankees released a statement saying "there is absolutely no place for that conduct in their stadium. >> finally they're doing something like that, not just at

that stadium but all stadiums. it's extremely dangerous out of control >> no joke there it's official. the first ever openly transgender athlete will compete in the olympic games new zealand weight lifter laurel hubbard was cleared to compete by the international olympic committee over the weekend at 43 years old she will also be the oldest lifter at the tokyo games. while her supporters hav cheered, on her inclusion, hubbard has faced? controversy. critics question the fairness of allowing transgender athletes to compete against women. team usa faced off against border rivals canada with first place on the line at the concacaf gold cup on the line here the americans hardly waitedto get in the action started there just over 20 seconds into the match sebastian leget crosses it over to moore, who buries it for the goal it is the fastest goal in team usa history, breaking clint dempsey's 2014 record. and it was enough for the americans to beat canada 1-0 in that game. >> all right getting better at soccer every year we're hoping we're hoping >> i know we had some action

when it comes to italy versus england. now we get something closer to home >> we're nowhere near that level but hopefully one of these days. >> thanks for kicking off your week with us i'm frances rivera >> and i'm phillip mena. all this week the "today" show is live from tokyo

breaking overnight, dozens of wildfires are engulfing california, oregon and 11 other states with little relief in sight as the megadrought are sparking fires. tennis star coco goff tests positive and pulls out of the games. primed for a liftoff jeff bezos blue origin is ready for