a new week, a new challenge in california where voters will decide whether to recall governor newsom and install a new leader. today covid mandates will be enforced in many places plus one hospital that is turning so many maternity ward staffse members have resigned over vaccine mandates can but there is some good news as well. sir richard engel is back in kabul weeks after the taliban withdrawal how are women being treated and what rights do they have.

first week of the nfl saw excitement excitement. plus, the stunning upset at the u.s. open. i'm kendis gibson. >> i'm frances rivera. we begin in california where president biden is set to survey damage from wildfires in el dorado county. later he'll join governor gavin newsom to campaign with one day left on the recall vote. >> with some pandemic restrictions in place, governor gavin newsom is facing this recall election. the last time a governor was recalled was 2003 when arnold charts negligent ger replaced gray davis in los angeles gavin newsom is

making the final rounds as the deadline for a final recall election is in place. >> we will defeat this recall election on tuesday. >> reporter: the governor needs to keep his job as opponents criticize him for imposing restrictions during the pandemic and on the homeless and the immigration population. >> i think there's a lot of change so i'm very grateful for it. >> reporter: yet newsom maintains support. >> he's done a good job with covid support. >> reporter: voters will decide by tuesday to keep gavin newsom as governor or replace him with one of 46 challengers. newsom needs more than 50% of voters to choose no on the ballot if the majority selects yes, the majority with the most votes will be the new governor >> the key is turnout. if they can turn out the 1 million democrats, they're going

to beat california's 5 million republicans. >> reporter: the list of co contenders, the front-runner, conservative talk radio host larry elder. >> i'm not anti-vax. i've been vaccinated i'm opposed to vaccine mandates. >> reporter: joining are barack obama, vice president kamala harris and president biden set to join the campaign. >> should newsom come out really strong, he sails forward into 2022 with a message for the party about how covid should be handled overall. >> reporter: a defining moment for california and a crucial test for newsom's legacy. >> early voting appears to favor governor newsom's legacy by 2 to 1. republicans are expected to come out in large numbers on tuesday as democrats are trying to mobilize more supporters.

now to afghanistan which has been firmly in the hands of afghanistan for two weeks. our richard engel returned to kabul to governed. richard, what sort of changes are you seeing already >> reporter: the first thing you see now when you land at kabul international airport is a giant sign in english and it says the islamic emirate of afghanistan seeks peaceful and positive relations with the world and that is the taliban's new message from its top leaders that they want to turn a page, that they are not the same group that was in power in this country in the 1990s the taliban announced that women and girls can go to school that was something that was not allowed before they said that they will be divided, the men and women will be in separate classrooms with a partition in between that islamic dress will be required, but they say they are changing a big difference that i've noticed since i was here two weeks ago, there are not as many

armed men on the streets it does feel considerably calmer. >> very interesting indeed richard engel in kabul thank you. as we kick off a new week, the delta variant continues to turbo charge the pandemic. now 41 million infections and the death toll has surpassed 663,000 people but in some states things are looking up. >> according to the cdc more than 2/3 of the populations in massachusetts, vermont, and connecticut have been vaccinated they are leading the country in vaccination rates. nbc's morgan chesky has the latest on the outbreak across the country. >> reporter: growing backlash over president biden's vaccine mandate. 19 republican governors denouncing the rule requiring employees with 100 employees making covid shots mandatory or offer weekly testing. >> the president's requirement hardens the resistance. >> ron desantis promising a

fight. >> people should not be cast aside because they make a medical decision. >> reporter: president biden said all federal workers should be vaccinated within 75 days or face fines >> the requirements of a vaccination are part of a long tradition we have in this country of taking steps as a collective to keep people safe fallout underway in new york, one hospital is turning away expectant mothers after staff members quit. >> the number of resignations leaves us no choice but to pause delivering baby at lewis county general hospital. >> reporter: in north carolina business owner steven bullock feels stuck. >> it's a fight every day. >> reporter: the vaccination rate about 40% now he feels someone quitting to work somewhere smaller where the mandate doesn't apply. >> have you found anything that is capable of changing someone's

mind at this point >> frankly, i have not folks are really dug in and it seems the harder you try, the further they go. >> reporter: and yet major corporations in favor. companies like amazon, home depot and walmart say they welcome the plan the hope, drive down u.s. covid cases as they start to plateau infections now down 10% from their peak during the latest wave driven by the delta variant. there are three main reasons why. increased use of masks indoors a steady rise of vaccination rates and the virus burns through until there is no one else to infect. >> our thanks to morgan chesky for that report. let's talk about the nfl right now. as teams return to the gridiron, fans head back to the stadium amidst the pandemic. the league and team gripped with bringing fans back loudly and safely >> nothing quite like the opening sunday of the nfl season. >> reporter: nfl sunday is back

and so are the crowds. 60,000 packed in indianapolis, masks encouraged but not mandated nearly 70,000 in tennessee after containing an outbreak on their team just weeks ago. most stadiums have drastically loosened covid protocols no mask mandates, no temporary screening, a far cry from last season's cardboard cutouts the strictest rules among nfl teams set to play out at the las vegas raiders regular season opener last season looked a lot like this empty stands cleared out by the pandemic monday night, a different picture. 65,000 fans will take a seat here but first they'll include a vaccination. >> they can celebrate in the way that they love and remember and not worry about the person sitting next to them. >> reporter: for the glass family the vaccine mandate is what's pushing them through the gate. >> it got me over the gate they mean business. >> reporter: here's how you get inside you download the clear app, you

select las vegas raiders, take a selfie, opt to add your vaccination card and you're good to go without a mask. >> with the ground breaking call not considered a touch down by everyone a torrent of tweets calling it ridiculous, intrusive. 1800 tickets were refunded or rolled over to next year. >> have you worried that the call might isolate any raiders fans or discourage people from coming >> we can keep the building full regardless of what the health landscape looks like. >> reporter: all of the raiders vaccinated their opponent with more than 90%. lamar jackson said he's undecided about getting the vaccine. it's unclear if he's since changed his mind the nfl promising to dole out strict punishment for covid outbreaks among unvaccinated players. the affected team could be forced to take a loss.

the nfl's top doc optimistic with less than 7% of the players without the shot. >> half of the players who came into training camp who were unvaccinated have started in the vaccination process since that time we are seeing improvement. >> reporter: it will not affect who you root for but will shape how you do it. let's turn to tropical storm nicolas. it's posing a major weather threat for texas and janessa webb is tracking it all. >> i'm slightly concerned about this one because right now it's a very small storm but it's going to continue to really gain strength and you can see the moisture content that's what you're looking at right now about to flow into coastal areas of texas into portions of louisiana. right now 70 miles southeast of the mountains of the rio grande,

60 mile per hour winds it will be catastrophic across this area. now the national hurricane center has it making landfall later on tonight potentially overnight then slowing down and then it continues to really stay -- gain its force as it makes its way into louisiana so it turns into an area of low pressure as we go into wednesday. that's why hurricane watches and tropical storm warnings are in place across this area that's a look at the weather start today. here's a look at your day ahead. so our temperatures across the deep south and this area were in the mid 80s. stormy conditions even for florida today. also watching severe weather threat for new york city all the way into northern new england. also storm surge going to be a huge problem with the storm system we'll talk about that coming up. >> janessa, we'll check in with

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unlike my vacuum, it sneaks under and around places. look at that!! dust free and hassle free. bringing out the fans in los angeles. history for max scherzer in the fifth inning against the padres, scherzer became the 19th player to toss 3,000 career strikeouts the inning saw scherzer throw an immaculate inning. this was interesting over the next weekend, the next generation of tennis stars shined bright at the u.s. open 25-year-old from russia ended novak djokovic's year-long quest to complete a grand slam here are the highlights. >> reporter: hey there, kendis what a night it was at the u.s. open world number one novak djokovic going for not only the u.s. title but also the grand slam.

if he did it, he would have been the first man to win all four major titles in one year since 1969 but this just wasn't his night. an upset, number one novak djokovic losing his quest to be the first man in over 50 years to win the grand slam losing in straight sets to dannel me medvedev coco gauff 17 and katie mcnally 19 competing in the doubles finals but coming up short that less than 24 hours after 18-year-old emma raducanu of the u.k. made history in the women's finals becoming the first woman to win a major title in her second grand slam event. >> i think it shows that the future of women's tennis and just the depth of the game right now is so great. >> she beat out fellow teen 19-year-old leylah fernandez who thanked new yorkers for their support. >> i hope i can be as strong and as resilient as new york has been the past 20 years.

>> reporter: both teens relatively unknown until now fernandez ranked 73th and raducanu 150th going into the grand slam tournament but now even the queen knows raducanu's name it is a remarkable achievement at such a young age and tennis legend billie jean king writing it is wonderful to see this generation living our dream. these teens aren't the only ones making history degrout won the wheelchair. >> andy: olcott won in wheelchair >> reporter: so we had teen champions, a golden slam but no grand slam this year the 2021 u.s. open is a wrap kendis >> it's been 52 years since we've seen a grand slam. very disappointing there allison, thank you

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rams dominant sunday night win over the bears matt stafford threw three touchdowns in his first game in los angeles, 34-14 over chicago. comeback star making performances and more marked a busy week one in the nfl in kansas city it was the cleveland browns who were in control early leading by 12 at the half but never count patrick mahomes out. the chief put up 26 points taking the game away from the browns 33-29. >> joe burrow didn't miss a beat in a return from a devastating knee injury finding jamal chase. the bengals and vikings would go down to the wire in overtime trading possessions until cincinnati kicked one through the uprights for 27-24 win tennessee had no answer for kilar murray the titans comeback was stifled

by a flock of errors on the defenders led by chandler jones's five sack performance. the cardinals head back to arizona 38-13. among the fantasy standout, t.j. hopkins nearly helped the lions complete a massive comeback over the 49ers. mia chaka made herstory. she was the line judge against the jets against the panthers. >> good for her. janessa tracking new trouble in the tropics. and she's so lucky she's a star britney spears surprises friends with an engagement announcement. you really did me a solid with that “maya markdown” on my insurance. here's the deal maya, state farm offers everyone surprisingly great rates. right. no really.

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whmutes shaq?ese buttons in today's top stories north korea said it successfully tested a long range cruise missile. it flew over 900 miles before hitting their targets. it was the country's first test since march and analysts say it's their first such weapon with a nuclear capability. south korea did not disclose whether it detected the latest test but confirmed it's conducting a detailed analysis in cooperation with the united states the u.s. said it will continue to honor the operation

now to great britain the duke of york was served on august 27th. the lawsuit alleging that he abused a teenager. her suit alleges that she was compelled by jeffrey epstein and ghislaine maxwell to engage in sexual activity with andrew some 20 years ago and the prince abused her in london, new york and on epstein's private island. andrew has denied the allegations and said he has no recollection of meeting her. his attorneys have disputed whether the lawsuit is viable. a court hearing is scheduled for today. wedding bells are in the air for the britney spears the pop singer shared her engagement on instagram and she wrote i can't blinking believe it she met sam in 2016 on the set of her slumber party musical they have been together since. she is always posting workouts with him like that he's also been her support during her conservatorship

battle literally life changing stuff happening for britney spears. >> an eventful 2021. mtv music awards kicked off sunday night marking the 40th anniversary. holds the title of best new artist and song of the year in a song good for you. justin bieber and the rapper kilroy performed on the barclays center in new york accepting a major award for bieber as artist of the year. billy eilish accepted an award her impactful song "your power" was nominated because of the power. >> these award shows coming back and not a lot of masks and a lot of crowds as well. great to see it get back to normal. college football fans avoided a cat-astrophe if you look below you can see

the fans turning an american flag into a net for the cat. the cat lost its grip, they caught it. afterwards the fans gave the kitty its own simba moment. >> they said the cheers were louder.

right now at 4:30, coming down to the wire on the eve of the recall election, candidates are pulling out all the stops, including the president himself who is coming to california. it's going to be a very eventful day on the campaign trail and we'll break down where the governor stands. >> smoke returns. wildfires blowing smoke into the bay area once again. we're tracking your air quality. this is "today in the bay." and a very good monday morning to you. thanks so much for joining us. i'm laura garcia. >> welcome back. i'm kris sanchez. good to be with you. marcus is