news special report. >> good morning, guys. craig and i are coming on the air to bring you the latest about hurricane ida. that storm packed an incredible punch. a category 4 storm. right now, weakening. >> right now, ida making landfall on sunday seven miles shy of a cat 5. the surge of water caused devastating flooding.

overnight, people told to get to higher ground immediately. >> hundreds of people begging for rescue at this hour. louisiana dealing with a catastrophic power failure. that means a million people in new orleans. the entire city of new orleans in the dark. that's where we'll start with al. what's the latest there? >> guys, i will tell you, i look all around. we can hear the sound of generators. very few lights. it is breezy. the rain has stopped. of course, that means we have a lot of devastation. it is dark. we don't really have an idea until the sun comes up of what we'll see. we were hunkered down in our hotel. there is a lot of flooding. we are in downtown new orleans. give you a sense of the power of the system. the strongest wind gusts where ida came on shore, port

fourchon. we had 172-mile-an-hour wind gusts. in new orleans, 87-mile-an-hour wind gusts. that's tough. we've heard about sky scraper windows getting blown out. a real mess here. right now, ida is 95 miles south, southwest of jackson, mis. moving north at eight miles an hour. this is going to be a slow mover and high impact storm. today, slowly moving across mississippi. a tornado risk still across the gulf. tomorrow that moisture will merge with a front increasing the flood risk for kentucky and tennessee because that region has been soaked with heavy rain and then wednesday to the mid-atlantic and the northeast continuing the record setting wet summer. heaviest rain across new england. a real mess, we are talking

rainfall stretching from the gulf all the way to new england of about 5 to 7 more inches with 55 million people under flood watch. >> al, interesting what new orleans did post katrina is that they fortified the city. this ended up being a big wind event. there are places that are water issues. with power being out, what is the issue with the pumps and power? >> they do have emergency backups. right now, in our hotel, the water is running but we don't know whether it is potable or not. ems is down. if you've got an emergency, nobody is coming. they really don't have a sense of what the state of the city is right now because communications are down. it is a disaster right now.

one of the major power lines that comes into the city. a big transmission tower. it is gone. literally, it is gone. right now, a lot of the cell service towers are gone. it is a cities that cut off right now. >> al, thank you so much. >> we'll come back in just a minute. let's turn now to senior correspondent also in new orleans. what are you seeing there? >> reporter: the big story right now in new orleans is the power outages you were talking about. there has been significant structural damage. we are on decatur and one of those famous balconies in the french quarter. this destruction is a combination of a traffic light, a awning of the famous candy shop

here. i'll ask my photographer to zoom in to this black hole. this is the french quarter right now. no power whatsoever. not a single light. the only light you are seeing now is from our television lights. it is spooky, eerie and scarey in the french quarter right now. the police are out and about. it is some what safe. as soon as your car lights turn on, you see glass, windows, broken glass. i have a lot of friends and relatives here in new orleans who have evacuated. they are all trying to text. cell towers. at&t seems not to be working. verizon is working. at&t, you can't get an email, phone call or text out. a lot of confusion. mass power outages. a lot of hospitals suffered

structural damage. i'm told a lot of patients from louisiana optionor health, i'm told their patients are okay but some hospitals had to transport from the bayou hospitals because it got too dangerous. some is elderly citizens in the towers that had to be evacuated. i'm getting texts of people asking how bad is new orleans. it is bad. the problem is, we don't know how bad. >> we won't know until the sun starts to come up there. >> interesting you point out the hospitals. there was a hospital that lost power and generators and literally nurses and doctors were handbaging and pumping oxygen. we'll learn more at first light. let's bring in morgan in houma, louisiana. just about an hour's drive from new orleans. that was right smack dab in the

path of the storm. morgan, what do you have? >> reporter: we are south of where that hospital had to save those patients by hand. we won't see the true damage until the sun comes up. as we pull out, this is one building on one block in one community left crippled by ida. what is frustrating is that first responders don't know how bad it is either. every direction they go to, they are getting flat tires. we checked with the police department as we made our way down with power lines blocking the streets, they had to leave many homes that either took on water or had roofs ripped right off. this is the extent of the damage from wind gusts, upwards of 140 miles an hour. part of the problem in houma and surrounding is that this was the

place part of the eye wall got stuck from ida and unleashed those devastating winds for hours at a time. that is why as bad as it is right now, will only get worse. i spoke to a terrabonne deputy and said, is this as bad as gutaov? he said this is the worst i've ever seen. >> talking to people who went through katrina said this one feels so much worst than that did. this is just in the moment. the aftermath still ahead. >> in houma, my sister in-law and brother live there in the coast guard. the wind damage will be the story there. morgan, thank you. >> just about 30 miles from new

orleans is jefferson parish. the last time i heard you speak, you talked about people chest deep in water waiting for rescue. that was such a dire situation. i know there is a situation orleans. what are you hearing from those people who are in need right now? >> we have still not made contact with people in grand aisle. we lost contact with the phone service down. it is still dark out. our teams are ready with maps. all of our first responders are getting ready. the initial focus will be going to la feet. we've had a lot of rescue requests there. we are, thank god, ending a terribly frightening night.

it was complete darkness outside. the winds are still there. i poked my head outlast night. it is frightening where i am to hear the noise, the wind and the complete darkness. can you imagine being stranded. this is where that night of hell will be ove with for people when the lights come we have been ready to get out here. today is the day we'll see the damage and know how long of a recovery it is going to take for us. it has been a long, long, day and long night. >> there were reports that a levee failed there in jefferson county. what can you tell us about that? and concerns about the barges becoming unmored. >> all of this is in the la feet area i'm talking about. reports of the levee fail is differ from a levee overtopping.

the word i got and verified by the mayor was that the levees were overtopped. just that the water was higher than the levee that was built. that is the confirmation i got. they have a bridge that connects parts to the crown point area. we have had vessels and barges hit this bridge before in other hurricane situations. again it happened yesterday. it is, i think, two boats or vessels hit it. one of them sunk. the bridge cannot be used and will be out for several months. we'll have to rebuild that. even when we rebuild, we'll have to ferry those people back and forth for quite some time for several months. >> jefferson parrish president. we are praying for you and i

know you are working hard there. >> i know your heart is with us. >> we'll stay with nbc news all morning long. more coming up on today. you can get up dates all morning you can get up dates all morning long on nbc news.com. ♪♪ just follow your nose! mmmm! part of a complete breakfast. for people who are a little intense about hydration. neutrogena® hydro boost lightweight. fragrance-free. 48 hour hydration. for that healthy skin glow. neutrogena®. for people with skin. it's a simple fact: nothing kills more germs on more surfaces for that healthy skin glow. than lysol spray. it's a simple fact: it even kills the covid-19 virus. science supports these simple facts. there's only one true lysol. lysol. what it takes to protect.

i'm 53, but in my mind i'm still 35. that's why i take oste bi-flex to keep me moving the way i was made to, it nourishes and strengthens my joints for the long term. osteo bi-flex, plus vitamin d for immune support. leading news, u.s. military retaliation in afghanistan american forces carried out a drone strike against an isis-k vehicle. the target was an isis-k fighter who the pentagon says posed an imminent threat to the kabul airport. officials say secondary explosions from that blast indicate there may have been explosives inside the car.

afghans told the "new york times" that as many as nine civilians including children were killed. defense officials are investigating those claims it was a somber weekend for president biden and the first lady yesterday they paid respect to the 13 u.s. servicemembers killed in a suicide attack near kabul airport. they are navy hospital corps man. david espinoza, humberto sanchez. the president grieved alongside their loved ones during the dignified transfer in dover air force base here's nbc's ali vitali with the latest >> reporter: president joe biden honoring the fallen. the remains of u.s. service members killed in kabul arriving home to the united states in flag-draped cases.

11 marines, a navy medic, and an army soldier, 13 in all. among them nicole gee, one of two women killed on the front lines. days ago she shared this picture from the airport cradling a baby, captioned "i love my job." one of the last photos she'do it times bowed his head and closed his eyes he and the first lady, along with the secretaries of defense, state, and the chairmen of the joint chiefs, gathered with mourning families at dover air force base for hours sunday's somber dignified transfer a weight also borne by airtime presidents before him. it is grim news out of afghanistan, where the evacuation mission enters its final hours. the white house on alert for the likelihood of more attacks that could come >> in terms of having an on-the-ground diplomatic

presence on september 1st, that's not likely to happen. >> reporter: the u.s. saying the taliban has given them assurances that people are travel authorization can still leave the country freely >> august 31st is not a cliff. after august 31st, we believe that we have substantial leverage to hold the taliban to its commitments. >> reporter: and the offensive against isis-k ongoing >> and they are now in the process of identifying further targets to action. >> reporter: frances, secretary of state antony blinken will host a virtual meeting with global partners on afghanistan today. nato, the european union, the uk, and turkey among those countries who will gather to align their approaches meanwhile in d.c., yesterday's solemnity was a brief pause to the usual politics the biden administration, though, bracing for another tough week >> okay, ali vitali for us, thank you. still to come, we are going to remember the legend ed asner.

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you know what, you've got spunk. [ laughter ] >> well -- >> i hate spunk. >> the loss of a tv legend who was best known as the gruff but

loveable person on the "mary tyler moore" show. he won yet another after appearing in the landmark mini series "roots. younger generations know him as santa in "elf" and in the pixar movie "up. he has over 300 acting credits that span five decades he fought for artists' rights while serving two terms as presidents of the screen actors guild. he was 91 years old and passed away peacefully. "elf" is a fixture in our household during the holidays. we'll be thinking of him and having so many amazing memories. we want to check in with meteorologist janessa webb we're going to the latest on ida's path and hospitals are filling up quickly across the nation. we exe one that's been paved

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it's adorable. just like you. tobi bag? go for the handful! i want to show you, i'm on the downwind side of the building i can stand here, i can hear myself think but watch what happens when i walk out here. it's a whole different world so this is more representative certainly of hurricane-force wind that is coming in with this thing as we speak. >> that was weather channel's jim cantore showing just how dangerous those hurricane-force winds are. >> you see an overturned

dumpster on his side janessa, when we talked to miguel almaguer earlier in the show, he was in baton rouge. he said conditions had improved a little bit, but you could still see the rain coming down >> you know, new orleans, baton rouge really got lucky this storm system ran parallel to them. but the parishes in between not so lucky we do not want to see the photos that are about to come out in the morning. we're going to see just heavy-duty damage across this area, forecasting about 3 to 5 inches but i think totals ranged up to about 12 inches in less than four hours and that's why flash flood watches, they extend to mississippi, alabama, parts of nashville, 14 million people throughout tomorrow afternoon still going to be dealing with flash flood warnings >> all right, janessa, thank you. we're going to look at how gasoline prices at the pump are impacted by the storm, when "early today" comes back

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secret in today's top stories, the delta variant seems to be tightening its grip on the nation according to the "new york times," the u.s. has now topped more than 100,000 average daily covid hospitalizations that average was calculated over the last seven days, and it's higher than in any previous covid surge except last winter's according to data from the u.s. department of health and human services, florida has the most hospitalizations of any state with over 16,000 texas follows with 14,000 receiving care liberty university in lynchburg, virginia, has ordered a temporary campuswide quarantine starting today due to

a spike in covid-19 cases. according to the school's covid-19 dashboard, there were 159 active infections as of saturday 124 of the cases are among students 35 are among faculty and staff so classes have been moved online large indoor gatherings are suspended. now, the university does not require vaccinations the quarantine is scheduled to end september 10th we have a consumer alert to tell you about fratelli beretta is recalling 862,000 pounds of italian meat any pasta, prosciuttos, salami and copa have been linked to a salmonella outbreak. ready-to-eat meat shipped to retailers nationwide they have best-buy dates of august 7th, 2021, through

february 11th, 2022. hurricane ida is also wreaking havoc on the energy sector according to the bureau of safety and environmental enforcement, more than 90% of oil production to temporarily shut down. the news pushed oil prices down by about 25 cents a barrel to 6849 the brent climbed 16 cents it was up more than 11% last week a group of kids from michigan are waking up world champions this morning this ball driven to center it's playable. there it is in his glove and the little leaguers are world series champions >> they got it done. the taylor north little league beat the squad from hamilton, ohio 5-2

no international teams competed this year because of the pandemic the little league champs also got big league props >> i love that slo-mo run. we need

a special edition of "early today" is ahead. we are tracking ida's path of destruction from ripping the roof off of a louisiana hospital to knocking out power to all of new orleans. now, over a million people with no electricity in the area we'll tell you where ida is headed now we're just hours from the final u.s. withdrawal out of afghanistan. tensions remain high, and officials are on high alert. plus, we'lhe 13 men and women who died at the hands of terrorists. we've got the latest on the covid pandemic including the surging numbers of new