a new surge in covid cases has many calling this a fourth wave as experts from coast to coast warn the unvaccinated about just how dangerous the delta variant is becoming. today could be d-day for the multitrillion dollar infrastructure plan. will the senate take one giant leap for america wisconsin wins the world champion milwaukee bucks capture a win. what's next for billionaire

jeff bezos as he basks in the euphoria of his blue origin triumph. we'll check out the newest olympic sports in tokyo with the games starting in just two days. "early today," meanwhile, starts right now. good morning, i'm phillip mena >> glad you're with us i'm frances rivera we are seeing very troubling evidence this morning that a fourth wave of covid has begun the highly contagious delta variant now accounts for 80% of new cases. the u.s. is averaging 20,000 new cases a day, and deaths are up 50% compared to last week. >> an urgent warning has been issued in st. louis. they're pleading with everyone to return to wearing masks at indoor public places whether you're vaccinated or not covid hospitalizations in southwestern missouri have already started to surpass the surges that that region saw in the winter >> the delta variant first took hold in india, and a new study estimates that the true covid death toll there may be about 4

million. that's ten times higher than the official number. the center for global development in washington, d.c. studied the excess deaths during the first six months of this year >> and a study from boston children's hospital found that covid may have orphaned more than a million children around the world. they defined orphan of losing at least one parent or custodial grandparent. >> the majority of cases and deaths are among the unvaccinated the vaccine sites are nearly empty where cases are high a closer look at why so many americans aren't getting a shot. good morning, gabe >> reporter: frances, good morning. here at our lady of lordes center, across the country daily vaccination rates are plummeting john got the covid shot that he put off for months >> what was kind of holding you back before? >>esy, i just didn't see the need for it.

i just thought, well, i am young and healthy and thought maybe i wasn't going to be as affected as other people that would be more at risk >> reporter: he's what public health experts describe as the moveable middle, adults that may have been initially skeptical of the vaccine but aren't dead set against it >> one, two, and done. >> reporter: people like sharon. >> i felt like i was being pushed into it and when someone pushes, i'll push back. >> reporter: who became convinced after her adult son got sick >> why don't -- did you get it today as opposed to a couple months ago around the country roughly half of americans are fully vaccinated but daily vaccinations have dropped below 1 million. louisiana is among the states with the lowest rates, 36% of the population here is fully vaccinated some parishes are below 20%. >> i think there was a lot of t initially when the vaccine came

choice is all the more personal. john is expecting his first child later this year. >> that kind of raises the stakes a little bit, right >> absolutely. >> reporter: this hospital in lafayette has seen 260% more covid patients since two weeks ago. frances? >> gabe, thank you a key vote scheduled for today on the bipartisan infrastructure deal is already on shaky ground. nbc's tracie potts joins us now with the latest from d.c tracie, good morning even republican senator who's backed the bill may vote against it today >> reporter: right and we could see that play out today. the crux of the issue here, phillip, is that lawmakers are still hammering out this $3 trillion package. the bipartisan group that's been working on this came out of a meeting late last night saying they think they're close to a deal they sound hopeful that some sort of an agreement could be on the horizon but could be several days away. despite nearly unanimous republican opposition, senate

majority leader chuck schumer is moving ahead with a procedural vote today he argues it would speed up passage on the final bill. >> look. senators of good will on both sides want to finish the bipartisan infrastructure bill before the august recess but in order to finish the bill, we first need to agree to start. that's the first step. let's all agree to start that's what this week's vote is about, and i hope my republican colleagues will join us in beginning debate >> the vote should be held next monday, not wednesday. give us some time to resolve the remaining issues >> reporter: lawmakers are considering two different big packages here. today's procedural vote is on the other one democrats are working on, a $3.5 trillion plan to expand medicare, create clean

jobs with democratic votes only funded by tax heights on wealthy taxpayers. we may hear about this today with president biden traveling to ohio to push his build back better plan and talk about the economy. >> tracie, thank you just a few hours ago it was game six of the nba finals and the bucks needed one more win over the suns for their first championship in a half century it was become and forth low-scoring game chris paul led phoenix with 26 points to try and force a winner-take-all game seven >> but the star of the show and the series was giannis antetokounmpo. the greek freak tied the nba record for scoring in a close-out finals game. he dropped 50 points, grabbed 14 boards, blocked five shots, 17,000 were in the arena, another 65,000 outside the pfizer forum saw the bucks take game 6

it's the second time the bucks have won the title, their first since 1971 and after that massive game six, of course it was giannis who was named finals mvp the company's founder jeff bezos and the rest of the crew spoke out just moments after landing. here's nbc's jay gray. >> reporter: with a burst of fire and blast of smoke, blue origin braces toward the edge of space in a new era of exploration. four civilian astronauts breaking free from gravity oler damien, an 18-year-old physics student, the youngest person to ever travel to space and wally funk who in the '60s was denied a chance because she was a woman. >> we had a great time it was wonderful

i want to go again fast. >> reporter: also in the capsule mark bezos and his brother amazon founder jeff bezos whose imagine and funding created the historic path for the sub orbital flight >> oh, my god! [ laughter ] my expectations were high, and they were dramatically exceeded. >> reporter: bezos joins an exclusive billionaires' boys club that includes sir richard branson who made the trip just days ago and elon musk whose spacex team continues to shuttle astronauts to the international space station. >> what they're doing, they are revolutionizing space travel, and they are the oroville and wilbur of today. godspeed to all of them. let's see what happens >> reporter: the nation and world watching to see where this new phase of space travel ultimately - >> touchdown >> reporter: lands jay gray, nbc news

the man who chaired donald trump's 2017 inaugural committee was arrested on tuesday and charged with violating federal lobbying laws. the indictment said tom barrack unlawfully tried to influence te united arab emirates barrack will plead niot guilty. harvey weinstein will now face charges for the sexual assault of five women in los angeles. weinstein arrived at an airport there in burbank tuesday after losing his fight against extradition. a combination of extreme temperatures and drought is creating the perfect storm to fuel wildfires in the western united states. our jake ward takes a closer look into the science behind the fast-spreading flames and why researchers are so concerned >> reporter: more than 80 large fires are burning across 13 states with brutal heat, high

winds, and flames already scorching 1.2 million acres. scientists predict not just more fire this summer but more dangerous fire because the fuel is so dry. >> drier it is, the faster it can spread >> reporter: this man runs one of the top fire labs at san jose state university in april we thought this looks really bad and then may, oh, still looking bad. june, oh, this is looking really bad. and now july it's the lowest we've measured >> reporter: the difference between a fire that runs through moist vegetation like thisnd a fire that runs through dry vegetation like this is the difference between a fire that a department might be able to put out and one that might destroy a neighborhood yet just beyond this dry fuel, new houses are going in right where they could burn. knowing what you know, would you live here? >> no. this is very dangerous this is when the skies all turned orange.

he builds fire simulations at this point in the season, it has actually occasionally rained it in fact rained on us just a few minutes ago, but scientists say that the vegetation here, especially trees, can't actually absorb new water this late in the season they're dormant essentially going into the fall. so even though we have these new sophisticated systems for predicting the behavior of fire like this, it seems we are stuck with this unprecedented dry fuel that we have here on the ground. you guys >> my goodness jake, thank you. >> eye opening and disturbing all in the same. let's turn now to our wednesday weather with nbc meteorologist bill karins to see if at all the weather is going to help in other areas bill, good morning >> yeah, and good morning. we're actually going to see some severe storms today in a highly populated area, the i-95 corridor in the northeast. there were some storms yesterday in areas of upstate new york and central new york, some to the

binghamton area. and later on this afternoon this will start a little earlier in the afternoon than typical, sometime around 1:00 to 2:00 baltimore and washington, d.c., you're in the marginal risk, but the yellow areas, we could see hail and damage winds. the tornado threat is very low, but just keep an eye on that i-95 corridor later this afternoon. we've had a lot of heavy rain the last couple days, especially louisiana and alabama. today are going to be typical scattered storms it will be very warm in the west once again, and that continues ev into tomoenrr we're also goie scattered storms along the gulf coast and in the four-corner

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so, it is true some of the biggest fires can create its own weather. and they actually create their own clouds and they're called pryocumulus clouds all of that heat rises and cools, condenses into those clouds and those clouds can go higher than the jets fly, about 50,000 feet. they can produce lightning and sometimes even a little bit of rain we are going to be watching fire today that behaves with high winds. high fire danger in the west especially in the red flag area. this is where we have a lot of big fires burning right now. there's 20 big fires in montana and 17 in idaho alone. >> that's fascinating that it can create its own weather and i would imagine the lightning can spark up new fires of its own >> disturbing, too up next, hello dolly

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you're probably wondering why i'm dressed like this. well, it's for my husband's birthday remember, some time back i said i was going to pose on the playboy magazine when i was 75 well, i'm 75 and they don't have a magazine anymore >> national treasure dolly parton after she recreated her famous 1978 playboy magazine cover in a bunny outfit all for her husband carl's birthday. she said he still thinks she's a hot chick and she is not going to try to talk him out of that what a birthday gift, 75 years old and that's the gift?

76 i don't know what she's going to do. [ laughter ] >> what she's got going on though is very impressive. kudos to her and her husband breaking this morning, a team usa beach volleyball player taylor cobb has tested positive for covid-19 taylor's brother says he is fine and he's healthy this year the world's greatest sports spectacle will have new sports. >> reporter: rolling into tokyo. a new wave of competition. it's been a long, hard climb for these nontraditional sports. now, taking off a new olympic era on the world stage >> it may not be your father's olympics, but it's your kids' olympics and today's olympics. and i always applaud the ioc for pushing the envelope to make sure the definition of sport

includes to expand >> reporter: climbing, karate, surfing, and skateboarding making their debut >> hopefully we have some great waves to perform on. this is such a unique sport. we rely on mother nature >> reporter: the search for golden karate comes in the country where the discipline began. >> being japanese-american, i take huge pride in representing my own country where i was born and raised in. and i am super excited to just go out there in tokyo and represent my sport, represent my country. >> reporter: this new group of american athletes honored, anxious, and confident >> i want everybody to know team usa is going to put on and we're going to bring home some medals. >> reporter: for the first time these unique athletes will have a golden opportunity to climb to the top of the olympic podium. jay gray, nbc news >> and a reminder the "today" show is live from tokyo all this week as competition kicks off ahead of friday's opening

ceremonies so much excitement here and anticipation too, holding our breath when we're hearing more of these positive covid cases coming up for team usa >> yeah, it'll be all the better when we can get to friday and get through it >> thanks for waking up with us. i'm frances rivera >> a i'm phillipnd

. right now at 4:30 a bay area bombing suspect almost released from jail. how the wife put a stop to his release. plus -- >> i think there's going to be a big headache here for a long time. >> what happens next? the oakland city council votes yes to move forward with a new a's ballpark, but the move not sitting well with major league baseball. not just your i.d. you might need to bring something else with you the next time you grab a drink in the city. a change some bars are considering as the delta variant spreads. this is