flex alerts remind us when to use less energy from 4-9pm. so we can all stay up and running. sign up today. and we're going to get everyone that we can possibly evacuate evacuated, and i'll do that as long as we possibly can, until the clock runs out or we run out of capability. >> promises from the top brass on getting our americans and afghan partners out as the taliban take hold of every region of that country in just a month, americans 18 and older can begin getting their covid booster shots if it's been at least eight months since their second dose, as president biden takes on states

over mask mandates. multiple wildfires burning at this hour, forcing thousands from their homes, evacuation orders escalating overnight. little relief in sight. stephanie ruhle on critical shortage of child care workers across the nation and the massive impact on american families. details from day one of r. kelly's sex abuse trial and how the prosecutor is framing their case a busy thursday ahead. "early today" starts right now. >> good morning to you i'm philip mena. >> and i'm kendis gibson thousands have been forced to evacuate their homes. caldor fire exploding in size, growing to more than 62,000 acres since it started just over the weekend. nbc's jacob ward is in northern california on this jacob, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, kendis the caldor fire started over the weekend and has grown exponentially and has grown in ways cal fire has called

unprecedented. it exploded, doubling in size. >> this area is extremely hard for us to get into. >> reporter: in california, 31,000 residents are under evacuation orders. two civilians were injured in the fire, which remains entirely uncontained. >> we are seeing generational destruction of forests because of what these fires are doing. this is going to take a long time to come back from. >> reporter: gusty winds and dry drought conditions creating a dangerous situation, destroying numerous homes and property. this classroom used to belong to the elementary school students here in this small town. it's a reminder that wildfires don't just touch down in remote areas. increasingly, they are sweeping through our lives. residents, racing to get out and making their way to safety. >> it's just very -- it's sad what's happening. >> it's hurting my heart right now because as i'm driving up here right now, this is the last time i ever see this area, it

will be heartbreak ing for me. >> reporter: these satellite images from nasa show the smoke reaching all the way to nevada, where ash rain down. officials are saying critical conditions continue here in the state because we're seeing record dry fuels, drought and high wind conditions all that means that this fire, you know, which could have been something small in times past, swept through this town with incredible force kendis >> thanks to jacob ward for getting us started there thanks. another disaster is unfolding in north carolina, where at least 30 people are missing. the remnants of tropical storm fred triggered dangerous flash flooding in the western part of the state. the quickly rising water caught many people off guard. >> my uncle, my great uncle is 87 he said in his entire life he has never, ever seen the water do what it has done right here, as fast as it did. >> the rushing water collapsed homes and caused mudslides the governor says more than 250 first responders are helping

with search efforts and at least 98 people have been rescued so far. president biden this morning on the defense, in the wake of the taliban takeover in afghanistan. telling abc news in a new interview, chaos was unavoidable. he also vow ed to get every american out of the country. nbc's jay gray is following developments from washington, d.c., and joins us now jay, the thing that was very critical out of that press conference with defense secretary, the mission could push past the end of this month. >> yeah, kendis, you're absolutely right negotiations continue with the taliban over that issue. we have new numbers from the white house overnight, saying nearly 6,000 people have been evacuated, 1,800 in the last 24 hours. that pace is going to have to pick up dramatically if we're going to see everyone out of that region by the end of the month. that work continuing, as the work from the white house and the administration continues to make a public defense of what has happened and how they'll

move forward the biden administration saying the results of the pullout were not what they expected. >> the intelligence clearly indicated multiple scenarios were possible. one of those was an outright taliban takeover following a rapid collapse of the afghan security forces and the government another was a civil war, and a third was a negotiated settlement however, the timeframe of a rapid collapse, that was widely estimated in range from weeks to months, and even years following our departure. there was nothing that i or anyone else saw that indicated a collapse of this army and this government in 11 days. >> now just days into the new regime, it seems pretty clear that the grip of the taliban is tightening across the entire

country, kendis. >> quite a cries on hand right there. >> yeah. >> jay gray, thank you. as thousands of afghans scramble to get out of the country, violent crackdowns are happening in areas outside of kabul airport. richard engel is on the ground with details. >> reporter: we are now on the military side of kabul international airport. this is where those extra american forces have been brought in they've been brought in to secure this facility while the evacuation takes place evacuation is now moving ahead quite rapidly. americans are being taken out. foreign contractors are being taken out. other foreign nationals are leaving, in addition to afghans who are fortunate enough to have exit visas, to have visas to other countries. and many afghans are complaining that that process is too slow. around the edges of this space, around the perimeter are many afghans who are try ing to push their way in the city is quiet. the city is tense. a lot of people are staying at

home but we are starting out to see the first signs of protests. very small group of brave afghan women went out on to the streets to demand rights and then in jalalabad, a disturbing incident afghan demonstrators went out. they were carrying the old afghan flag, not the new white taliban flag and, according to witnesses, taliban drove by in a vehicle and opened fire on that crowd. richard engel, nbc news, kabul schools across the nation are seeing a surge in covid cases among children and faculty members. in mississippi, more than 20,000 students are in quarantine from exposure to covid-19 after the first week of school according to some state data the number is 5% of the state's public school students classes return for in-person learning on august 9th the state says less than 36% of residents are fully vaccinated.

in florida, school districts in miami and tampa have passed mask mandates for all students, which violates emergency rules put in place by governor ron desantis, who issued an executive order banning mask mandates in schools and threatened districts that went against the law. a total of four school districts have now defied that order. this, as teenagers in new zealand can roll up their sleeves to receive a covid shot. the country, upped a covid lockdown, is allowing kids 12 to 18 to get vaccinated against the coronavirus. here is nbc's chris pallone. >> there are people who are dying and will die who didn't have to. >> reporter: calling this the pandemic of the unvaccinated, president biden is taking more steps. >> if you work in a nursing home and serve people on medicare or medicaid, you will also be required to get vaccinated. >> reporter: the president threatening to withhold federal funds to facilities that don't

comply. >> if you visit, live or work in a nursing home, you should not be at a high risk for contracting covid from unvaccinated employees. >> reporter: the president also ratcheting up pressure on republican governors who have mov moved to block mask mandates in schools despite cdc guidance to the contrary severe cases in children has been on the rise in recent weeks. >> we're not going to sit by as governors block and intimidate educators of our children. >> reporter: threatening to take legal action against governors to overrule local school boards and reimburse docked pay for teachers it comes hours after the covid task force recommend people get a booster shot eight months after their second fpfizer or moderna dose. >> we are concerned that the current strong approximate protection against severe infection, hospitalization and death could decrease in the months ahead. >> reporter: researchers are still studying data on the johnson & johnson vaccine and

announcement about boosters of people who got that shot will come in the next few weeks chris pallone. let's get over to janessa webb dangerous conditions are take ing place all across the country this morning. >> good morning. we're still dealing with post-tropical cyclone fred which continues to cause flash flood concerns across the northeast. to today, we'll get rid of this storm system as it pushes offshore for the pacific northwest to the desert southwest, we're dealing with monsoonal moisture. the problem is that it's not across the coast where we're dealing with those fires that continue to brew across northern california now, red flag warnings, it's just for this section of the country today, but the problem is, it's very dry. we're still dealing with that methata

drought. look at this plume of smoke we're dealing with due to the jet stream it stays stagnant in this area the next two days and we'll start to see a drift in the jet stream, and it starts to make its way more into the dese afternoon. all that heat is starting to make its way to the upper midwest to the midwest high humidity today across iowa. temperatures in the 80s. >> and then tropical season, it continues to brew. we'll take a look at that forecast coming up. >> all right janessa, we'll talk to you in a bit. thank you. old navy is taking a major step toward body equality with a major overhaul of its clothing sizes. the company will offer expanded sizing for women with sizes running from extrasmall to 4x. plus-size retail market for

women is expect ed to grow $32 billion this year. the company says it wants to be more inclusive. "early today" is back in two with the latest on the recovery efforts in haiti after that deadly earthquake. the osut pntr.precorais kelly as a predator in an explosive start to the singer's sex abuse trial. you need it mo. it's non habit forming and powered by the makers of nyquil. new zzzquil ultra. when you really really need to sleep.

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when he broke off the relationships. he has pled not guilty the death toll continues to climb in haiti after saturday's his historic earthquake. 2,200 lives have been lost and more than 300 people are missing. the number of injure have had soared to over 12,000. u.s. coast guard says it has delivered near ly 7,000 pounds f medical supplies and transported over 200 patients. u.s. navy ship carrying more rescue equipment has also been deployed to the island today is world humanitarian day, which was created by the uni united nations to honor people like those serving in haiti, who d dedicate their lives to helping others now this year, the u.n. wants to remind world leaders of their overdue pledge to give $100 billion annually for climate action now they're challenging people to do 100 minutes of any activity like running, swimming. supporters can join what they are calling the human race on the strava app. still to come here on "early

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actress, a rep said the couple have already welcomed a child together he has asked for privacy, saying for all inquiries please contact our publicist at shea thinks as more parents are returning to the workplace, they're finding child care costs soaring out of control. >> reporter: for porsche twit, daycare is essential but she can't afford it. >> it costs more than my mortgage. >> reporter: tuition for her child's care, up 30%. >> i am trying to find if i can do a combination of daycare at different location, hiring in-person care and starting my day much earlier to watch her. it's actually horrific. >> reporter: for the 27 million americans who need child care in order to work, it's a hefty expense. for young children, averaging

$250 per week, or $13,000 a year that cost could rise as four out of every five child care centers say they don't have enough staff, and some are paying more to hire workers. >> the biggest challenge right now is finding and retaining high-quality staff. >> reporter: during the pandemic more than a third of workers lost their jobs and some never returned to child care centers that pay around $12 an hour. >> child care facilities are now having to compete with higher wages offer ed by a lot of large multinational corporations who are also facing worker shortages. >> reporter: >> we had to close a number of our programs and rooms. >> reporter: how come? >> because we don't have enough staff at this time we're down about 50 staff in early child ed. >> reporter: increasing starting pay by $2 an hour. until she has more staff her waiting list of 40 families will likely grow. >> if you're down a clerk at your local convenience store,

the line would be longer, the service would be slower. that's not an option in child care. >> reporter: the federal government has provided over $53 billion in covid relief for child care and early education, and president biden wants $450 billion as part of his build back better agenda it including capping child care costs for families, investing in child care centers and raising the minimum wage for workers for $15 an hour. are you able to do your best at work >> i don't think so. you get that mom guilt of where you're like, i'm not being the best employee, i'm not being the best mom and it hurts your heart. >> reporter: a growing problem with no easy solution. stephanie ruhle, nbc news. a warning against counterfeit medications. >> speaking of warnings, one airlines new rule for avoiding sticky situations in the skies dry eye symptoms keep driving you crazy? inflammation in your eye might be to blame. [inflammation] let's kick ken's ache and burn into gear! over the counter eye drops

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the #1 toothpaste brand in america. good morning more treatment? we're going to try something different today. hi! awwww, so pretty. dogs bring out the good in us. pedigree® brings out the good in them. hello to my friends in hawaii we are watch ing hurricane lind that's in the eastern pacific. this is a very strong hurricane that's actually going to be dying down, as we go into later this afternoon, but it's going to cause some rough surf across the hawaiian islands into the maui area as we go into this weekend. then it turns more into the a tropical cyclone we are in hurricane season in the eastern pacific, guys. sometimes we forget about that. >> yeah. and we're almost halfway through the alphabet as well janessa, thanks. next on "early today,"

puttg e uginthdoh in donuts. why krispy kreme prices are on the rise stem isn't working at it's best taking metamucil everyday can help. metamucil psyllium fiber, gels to trap and remove the waste that weighs you down. it also helps lower cholesterol and slows sugar absorption to promote healthy blood sugar levels. so you can feel lighter and more energetic metamucil. support your daily digestive health. and try metamucil fiber thins. a great tasting and easy way to start your day. (host) you want healthy ingredients. your cat is all about the the flavor. tastefuls has it all. (molly) i really want him to eat well but he's just really picky. okay, he seems interested. i think he likes it. i have a new cat food...blue tastefuls. one taste is all it takes. [growling] [sfx: toaster ding] meet the 4-year-old 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. good evening. it went on longer than world war ii, and the phase of the war is finally over, and then the last u.s. combat troops crossed the border into kuwait and emptied their weapons because they were no longer in harm's way and their mission was over. >> that was 11 years ago today. the last american combat brigade, and today 2,500 us

troops remain in the country counter the remains of isis. and then a man in custody accused of gunning down two women at an indiana plant. officers chased the suspect and he was arrested after he crashed his vehicle. the plan the was 45 miles north of the indianapolis shutdown production for the day after the incident. if you take the hiv prevention pill known as prep, the maker of the brands says fake tablets could be dangerous bringing serious and sometimes life threatening health risks. authentic tablets are purplish brown capsule shaped pills, and

both pills have the letter gsi on the other side. an unusual note from united airlines, and a memo that it sent for flight attendants to manage situation onboard air crafts, and it comes as we have seen a surge on unruly passengers in airports and on planes, and one of the things in the note said not to use duct tape on passengers. >> then use crazy glue or something because people are out of control. come september, krispy kreme is raising its prices, and it's due to rising costs in ingredients like sugar and oils

and the price increase will be mainly on dozens of donuts. the cost of an individual doughnut will still be about a buck. >> you are right, everything is costing a little more now. >> including a doughnut. thanks for

fire. flames ripping through a neighborhood. we're following its destructive path. hours away, we are feeling the impact here in the bay area. we are waking up to more smoke and haze and we'll tell you how long it's expected to linger. this is "today in the bay." good thursday morning to you. thank you for joining us. i am laura garcia. >> i am kris sanchez. marcus has the day off. we have team coverage this morning as the smoke from the wildfires