the olympics are over and "early today" is back. this morning breakingnews surrounding embattled new york governor andrew cuomo as his top deputy calls it quits late last night. new details just ahead the covid surge continues, with new mask mandates, more children testing positive, and possible news the fda could be closer than ever to giving full approval and authorization to vaccination. california's so-called dixie fire is now historically the state's largest single wildfire, and it remains largely out of

control at this hour the highs and lows of the tokyo olympic games with the u.s. coming out on top in all categories in the medal count. and imagine day after day stuck in a flooded elevator. "early today" starts right now after two weeks so glad to be back with you again early this morning i'm frances rivera >> good to see you i'm phillip mena the walls are caving in for new york governor andrew cuomo under threat of impeachment one of his top aides has now resigned melissa derosa, the secretary to the governor, announced her decision, saying the past two years have been emotionally and mentally trying. she was one of cuomo's fiercest defenders. derosa's departure comes after a report by the attorney general alleged the governor sexually harassed 11 women. derosa's name comes up 187 times in that report cuomo, who has not been charged with any crime, denies any wrongdoing and refuses to step

down today a judiciary committee will discuss whether there are grounds to impeach the governor. the last time new york state attempted this was 108 years ago in 1913. in chicago this weekend ten people are dead and at least 63 wounded after a series of weekend shootings. chicago police officer ella french was among those killed after being shot during a traffic stop her death was the first fatal shooting of a chicago officer since 2018, and she was the first female shot on the job in 33 years french's partner was struck multiple times and is currently in critical condition at the hospital three suspects from the incident are in custody the senate is pavingthe wa for a final vote on the bipartisan infrastructure bill after spending the day hammering out amendments, senators voted 68-29 last night to end a filibuster on the $1 trillion legislation. our capitol hill correspondent tracie potts joins us now with the latest tracie, good morning

so final passage of this could come in just a matter of hours >> reporter: hey, good morning yeah, they worked on this all night. the senate reconvenes at noon eastern time, so in just a few hours they'll continue debating and then we could see a final senate vote on this. possibly as late as tonight. but the latest that we're hearing is probably sometime tomorrow, maybe early on wednesday. this bill is on traditional infrastructure so transportation projects, roads and bridges sending billions of dollars toward those projects all over the country. that legislation has broad support from both sides of the aisle. now, democrats are also going it alone on a separate $3.5 trillion proposal to revamp education and health care. >> the two-track process is moving along it's been a process that has been a very good process it's taken a while, but it's going to be worth it as we -- as hopefully we pass both bills very, very soon.

the bipartisan infrastructure bill and the budget resolution with reconciliation instructions >> pelosi has said all along she will not allow this bill to go through the house unless they get their $5.5 trillion reckless tax and spending bill done at the same time. so just remember, if you help get this done you're helping get the $5.5 trillion -- >> we talk about reconciliation, that process allows democrats to dodge the filibuster and pass that second bill with just 50 votes in the senate. with stiff opposition from republicans. it will be a tightrope for democrats on this one, requiring virtually unanimous support in the house and in the senate. the house expected to take up both bills when they get back in september. back to you. >> all right, tracie, thank you. millions of kids are saying bye-bye to virtual learning and hello to a return to the classroom as they head back to school today this week from georgia to arizona students are hitting those alarm clocks and marching into their schools just as the

country is seeing a surge of covid among the delta variant. and it's causing concern for some parents and teachers. meanwhile, the millions of americans who owe student loans can breathe a sigh of relief as the white house has extended the student loan payment pause to january 31st the pause was set to expire at the end of september >> this as more than 700,000 bikers are expected to descend on south dakota for the annual sturgis bike rally, which started on friday. but while that event is still alive and well in the pandemic, sadly jazz fans will not be able to celebrate their love of music as the new orleans jazz and heritage festival has been canceled due to a surge of covid cases in louisiana nbc's kathy park has more on the covid uptick throughout the nation >> reporter: cities across the country sounding the alarm as covid cases explode to dangerous levels austin activating its emergency alert system, warning residents the situation is dire. just six icu beds available.

and for the third time florida broke a record for daily covid cases as doctors say more kids are getting sick >> there are more children in the hospital today than we had at any point in the past 18 months >> reporter: in just four days more than 3,000 kids in louisiana only tested positive for the virus. and due to the ongoing health emergency jazz fest in new orleans is canceled for the second year in a row this weekend hospitalizations in the u.s. topped more than 66,000, a grim milestone we've crossed twice in just six months to keep the pandemic under control, indoor mask mandates are coming back from baltimore -- >> baltimore's new case count has risen 374% >> reporter: -- to durham, north carolina where they declared a state of emergency in arkansas an about-face from the governor, who signed a law in april banning mask mandates >> and so it was an error to sign that law. i admit that >> reporter: the divide is

deepening over vaccines too. in texas a large crowd of health care workers protested outside baylor university medical center, where they're requiring staff to be vaccinated as the pandemic presses on, the sturgis motorcycle rally does too. >> i'm a realist it's my turn, it's my turn so not going to worry about it >> well, i'm very concerned, chuck, that we're going to see another surge related to that rally. >> reporter: and the u.s. crossed a critical milestone when it comes to vaccinations. now approximately 50% of the u.s. population is fully vaccinated here in new york the number is 69%. phillip? >> all right, kathy, thanks. over 100 large wildfires continue to rage across 15 states the dixie fire has become the second largest fire in california's history it has devastated the small town of greenville, where more than 100 homes and businesses were destroyed. nbc's steve patterson is there

>> reporter: yeah, frances, the dixie fire now a third the size of rhode island. it's torn down at least 400 structures but remember, there are 14,000 still remaining in the threat zone over the weekend winds died down a little bit temperatures cooled down a little bit hopefully allowing firefighters to make some progress on this ever-expanding fire. but fire conditions still remain very poor. it's starting to get hotter. the winds are picking back up. el valevated fire danger for th rest of the week as it continues to expand on multiple fronts meanwhile, the air quality has been absolutely abysmal, both here in the fire zone, in the state of california and really on the entire west coast as we've seen some of the worst air quality readings this year alone. back to you. >> all right, steve, thank you let's turn now to the wildfire emergency unfolding right now in greece. over the last week large fires have been raging across that country, threatening hilltop villages and ancient sites and forcing thousands of people to abandon their homes.

nbc's claudio lavanga joins us with the latest. greece's prime minister is blaming climate change for this devastation. >> reporter: good morning, phillip. well, greece's prime minister as well as scientists are blaming climate change for these recent wildfires because greece as many other countries across the world including north america as you may remember is also experiencing a record-breaking heat wave. now, greece recorded in the last few days temperatures of up to 117 fahrenheit, which is the highest temperature in the last 30 years, which in turn has fueled these raging wildfires. especially on the island of ebia, which is the second largest island in greece, where it destroyed in the last week alone thousands of hectares of land including a lush forest it is famous for including houses, businesses, entire villages and forcing thousands of people, more than 2,000 people, residents and holiday makers alike, to evacuate on ferries. in the meantime, firefighters have found it very difficult to contain the raging wildfires

because the fire is now so big that billowing clouds of smoke and ash have completely enveloped the northern part of the island, making visibility very low both from the air and on the ground the firefighters already lost his life and countries across europe like france and elsewhere in the world, egypt, france, spain, have stent firefighters to help them out but what would really help them out would be rain. but none of it is forecast unfortunately in the coming days on the contrary, more heat wave is on the way, making this an ongoing situation. phillip, frances >> sadly, it's becoming a global problem. all right, claudio, thank you. >> yeah, back here in the united states the heat alerts in some plains are reaching 110 degrees. let's turn now to nbc meteorologist janessa webb, who has those details. hi, janessa, welcome back. great to see you again >> hi, good morning. good to see you both good morning, everybody. we are watching these heat concerns across the central tier, and the southern plains this afternoon these heat waves, they continue

back to back and even going to watch that for the pacific northwest. this morning watching 10 million people at risk of heat alerts across this area look at our daytime highs. they are in the mid 90s. but the heat index is really the problem. it sits around all the way in to about wednesday afternoon. daytime highs st. louis 91 degrees and then you can see this bubble of warm air continues to see down, eve flort orlando, 91. upper 90s for dallas another heat wave for the pacific northwest. we'll discuss that coming up >> all right, janessa, thanks. as janessa just said, millions of americans are at risk of severe storms across the midwest

this morning and that's on top of torrential rain that's flooded parts of omaha saturday, trapping these people in an apartment elevator. the water pouring in up to their necks before they were finally rescued. >> we are just getting started on your monday ahead, we'll tell you what facebook is doing with prayer and religion and we will have the must-see moments from the summer olympic games in tokyo we've got the big roundup next "early today" is back in two bye dad. bye. [ sings along with music ] have a great first day, dad. when it comes to laundry, everyone thinks their way is the right way. i just stuff everything in.

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part a japanese taiko drummer set the stage. each beat a prayer to remember those no longer with us. the games organizers said symbolizing triumph and hope the women's usa basketball team winning 90-75 against japan. their seventh consecutive gold medal. a record and the u.s. women's volleyball team beat its long-time rival brazil for their first olympic gold sprinting star allyson felix becoming the most decorated american track & field athlete in olympic history after the u.s. women won the 4x400-meter relay. how has this one differed from the previous games >> usually it's about running, winning medals and for me it was about representing for women, for mothers, and overcoming. >> reporter: in fact, the women of team usa led the way, claiming 25 more medals than the men, solidifying the u.s.'s lead with 113 medals to china's 88. and a curveball.

japan's baseball team managed to beat the u.s. at its own game. president biden praising team usa. >> beyond the medals and results, it reminds us that we are stronger than we ever thought we were. >> reporter: each and every athlete competing in these real, frances and phillip. of the 50,000 folks involved in staging these games, only 430 positive tests but as we leave tokyo, infections are rising. the world's attention turning from celebrating human excellence to fighting the virus that threatens us all. back to you guys >> reality waiting for us after the games. keir, thank you. >> that's right. well, speaking of the olympics, new on nbcnews.com, a record number of lgbtq plus therese v athletes competed and earned medals this year at least 180 olympians from 30

countries and 32 of them earned medals according to out sports, if the lgbtq plus olympians competed as their own country they would rank seventh, head of countries like france and germany. still to come here on "early today," share a little prayer. how facebook is keeping the faith with a new tool. and dolly parton reveals what she did with the royalties om wtnfrhiey houston's iconic cover of "i will always love you. who refused to wear pants this morning. why, andi? i'm a dinosaur. won't wear pants, will eat eggo waffles. get your wins where you can when you l'eggo with eggo. truthfully, it's frustrating to see how fast dust reappears. but dusting with a cloth is a pain. get your wins where you can and dealing with a bulky vacuum.. . is such a hassle. uchhh!!! so now we use our swiffer sweeper and dusters. the fluffy fibers? they pick up dust easily. grabbing it in all those hard-to-reach places. gotcha!!! and for our floors, sweeper's textured cloths lock all kinds of dirt, dust and pet hair.

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photos of former president barack obama's 60th birthday bash leaked online and now they've been deleted the party was held in the back yard of his mansion on martha's vineyard the guest list scaled back over covid concerns among those invited john legend and chrissie teigen, gabrielle union and dwyane wade, beyonce and jay-z. also alicia keys and her not on the list meghan markle and prince harry >> that's all right. we weren't on that list either >> the pictures still are circulating around, they're just kind of fuzzy, blurry background pictures, people dancing you know typical mansion party i guess on martha's vineyard. >> it's more intriguing now that they've deleted it, though in its latest update facebook has rolled out a new prayer request feature for users of all faiths. in particular facebook group members can use it to "rally prayer power for anything from illnesses of loved ones to an upcoming job interview." you name it. after the post is created, other facebook users can just tap that new reaction button which reads "i prayed.

a company spokesperson said, "during the covid-19 pandemic we've seen many faith and spirituality communities using our services to connect. so we're starting to explore new tools to support them. >> not surprising, though. what we see is it's always evolving so when it comes to this not too surprising to see it out there >> yeah. it's appropriate a lot of times too to just say hey, i'm thinking about you country music star dolly parton revealed a significant purchase she made with royalties from whitney houston's cover of her 1973 song "i will always love you." appearing on "watch what happens" live with andy cohen, parton says she used some of the money to buy an office complex in a black neighborhood in nashville, tennessee the singer says she felt it was a way to honor houston, saying this is the house that whitney built. very, very relevant. so many reasons why we love dolly from recreating her "playboy" cover magazine photo to something significant like this >> helping pay for the vaccine research she's doing it all these days. up next janessa's monitoring the impact on air quality for the

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in today's top stories we're remembering the life of legendary florida state football coach bobby bowden the hall of famer has died after he was diagnosed with a terminal medical condition in july. he led his teams to more than 350 wins and two national championships. bobby bowden was 91 years old. we are also remembering beloved actor markie post. she was best known for her roles in "night court" and and "the fall guy" and "kids are all right. post had been fighting a long battle with cancer she is survived by her husband and two daughters. her "night court" co-star

january larroquette says we thank the cosmos for blessing us and enriching the world with her as long as it did. markie post was 70 years old for the first time the pro football hall of fame inducted two classes in a star-studded weekend in canton. peyton manning headlined the class of 2021 enshrined on sunday manning won an nfl record five mvp awards in his career calvin johnson and charles woodson were also among the 2021 class. and also on saturday troy polomalu and coach jimmy johnson were honored among the class of 2020, whose induct ceremony was canceled last year due to the pandemic last week tech company apple said it would begin scanning iphone photos for child sexual abuse material later this year that announcement is getting some strong pushback from things like this and organizations like the freedom of the press foundation and now 5,000 people have signed an open letter to the company urging them to rethink its rollout of the measure, citing privacy concerns the letter published by the electronic frontier foundation

called the update a back door that could be used to spy on apple users. in a scene reminiscent of the jackie robinson film "42" the colorado rockies are investigating after a fan was heard directing a racial slur at a marlins player >> [ bleep ] [ bleep ]. >> the marlins outfielder luis brinson was at bat in the ninth inning when that slur was yelled loud enough to be picked up on the television broadcast of the game the rockies released a statement condemning that fan's behavior, saying that the fan was not identified before the end of the game the 2020 olympics are far from over. the paralympic games will kick off in tokyo later this month. thousands of athletes with a range of disabilities will compete in 22 different sports this year american paralympians were l. finally earn as many as olympians for each medal win opening ceremonies kick off august 24th right here on nbc.

and i know a lot of us having those withdrawals from the olympics being over we'll get our fix right there. >> a little bit, yeah. still a little more to go when it comes to that >> thanks so much for waking up with "early today. we're glad to have you back with us i'm frances rivera >> and i'm phillip mena. coming up on the "today" show, coming up on the "today" show, meet the duo who brought hom featuring fresh artisan bread, layered with tender seasoned steak, sautéed mushrooms, roasted red peppers, and smothered with melty american cheese. the new cheese steak melt, now at togo's.

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