stranded in the desert more than 70,000 people ready to leave the iconic burning man

festival, now stuck in the mud with one death already reported, hear the news the festival organizers are reporting. >> i was right there, unless you want to die. >> a harrowing caught on camera. a washington deputy racing to outrun the firefighter why his fellow first responders are calling him a hero it's being called the biggest fraud in american history. nearly $300 billion stolen from covid relief programs. how the government is trying to track each dollar down the mets' pete alonzo hitting a home run the elite champs he is now joining. a legend living on through song we're wasting away in margaritaville this monday, remembering jimmy buffett. it's september 4th happy labor day. "early today" starts right now >> good morning. and thanks for joining us today.

i'm jessica layton. >> and i'm frances rivera. tens of thousands of people are still trapped in the desert in inform this morning. torrential rains led to a total lockdown of the burning man festival authorities say one person died at the height of the storm the cause of death is under investigation. the only vehicles allowed in or out have been emergency services one festival goer described the scene like this. >> getting around, like just walking to your tent in the mud is impossible. everybody is putting garbage bags over their shoes or boots or going barefoot because you sink down into the mud it's a quagmire. >> burning man's ceo tells nbc news the situation is not as dire as it's being portrayed and there is no cause for panic. festival organizers say the conditions are improving and they expect to start an orderly exit process this morning. meanwhile, florida has only just begun the recovery process after its own extreme weather. thousands are still waiting for power to be restored days after

hurricane idalia hit the gulf coast. president biden visited the communities that are now focused on rebuilding. our guad venegas has this update >> reporter: floridian continue picking up the pieces after hurricane idalia as tens of thousands of thousands are still without power. in horseshoe beach husband and wife dave and bea lost a recently purchased retirement house and had no home insurance. >> can't get insurance during hurricane season >> reporter: for now the focus is on saving what they can as residents and volunteers continue with the cleanup process much of the debris is getting pushed to the edge of the properties with the large mountains of debris building up in neighborhoods like this one in horseshoe beach residents are telling us they are waiting for this to get picked up before the recovery can continue but for many who are uninsured, fema is their best hope. while president biden surveyed the damage in live oak, he urged

congress to make sure there is enough money for the next disaster >> i'm calling on the united states congress, democrats and republicans, to ensure the funding is there to deal with the immediate crises. >> reporter: fema officials announcing money is running out and the $3.4 billion the agency has in reserves could be gone by mid september. back in horseshoe beach, governor ron desantis handing out food and not meeting with president biden. >> look, we know that these storms are things that happen in the state of florida but what we have to do is just respond as strong as we can. >> reporter: but residents say more help is needed. >> for everybody i think it is just not knowing what's going to come next. >> reporter: during his visit the president did meet with republican senator rick scott in a display of the much needed bipartisanship in congress while the president waits for them to approve the additional funds for fema >> our thanks to guad for that report in ukraine, russian drones

attack ports along the danube river, infrastructure that is critical to ukraine's grain exports. at least two people were injured in the rare assault close to nato borders ukraine is a major supplier of grain to developing nations and western leaders have accused vladimir putin of threatening global food security with his war in ukraine for the latest we want to go to meagan fitzgerald. good morning what do we know about the attack >> frances, good morning good to be with you. what we know is according to ukrainian officials in the early morning hours on sunday, they received a barrage of these iranian-style drones that were launched in the southern area. as you mentioned, along the danube river, which is in the odesa region this is incredibly significant because as you mentioned, there was a drone that struck a port near the danube river. this is a critical and one of the only remaining passageways for these ships to leave ukraine packed with grain and other food

products making their way on the rest of the world. as you'll recall back in july, russia pulled out of that drone -- or that grain deal. this was critical because it allows the safe passage of these ships to make their way to the rest of the world. ukraine now accusing russia of trying to create this global food crisis, and a global food famine for many of the countries that depend heavily upon the grain that comes from ukraine. we know that there was a fire that broke out on one of these ports. we know that two people were injured. all this is coming just hours before russian president putin is expected to meet with turkey's president erdogan erdogan, along with the united nations help broke they're grain deal so the mission here from turkey's president is to try and push russia to join the grain deal once again so that these ships will be able to move freely out of ukraine and off to the rest of the world. >> major ramifications there

that we're watching. meagan, thank you. north korean state media claims that the kim jong-un regime staged a, quote, tactical nuclear attack drill over the weekend. now this report says the drill was conducted to warn enemies that north korea will be prepared in case of nuclear war. two cruise missiles carrying mock warheads were carried west into the yellow sea. north korea says the recent war games are nearly a response to joint u.s.-south korean drills close to its borders now intense video from the middle of the wildfire in washington state new body cam video shows an officer escaping the flames, barely making it out of the inferno. he had been helping to evacuate people from the gray fire earlier this month nbc's kathy park has the story >> go, go, go, go, go! >> reporter: that's the voice of deputy briton morgan, moments before body camera footage shows him barreling down a hellscape

he'll never forget morgan determined to survive as he is surrounded by a wildfire growing out of control >> it's as close to hell as i think you can get here on earth. >> reporter: just outside of elk, washington, the oregon road fire profit. ed evacuation orders on august 18th morgan was called in that day to help get local residents out of harm's way >> i feel for these people they're losing everything actively in front of them they're losing everything. and there is nothing they can do to stop it. >> reporter: but after pleading with one person trying to salvage what he could -- >> do you have a ride at least >> reporter: deputy morgan quickly finds himself in imminent danger as the winds begin to shift. >> my whole mind was get out of here, and try and get everybody else out too. >> reporter: he rushes back to his patrol car. >> 13 come back now. it's copping our way. >> reporter: making last-minute pleas with others to get out as the flames moved closer. >> it's headed right for us, matt i was just there. >> reporter: still facing resistance, he issues this warning for those staying behind. >> unless you want to die!

>> reporter: he then has no choice but to save himself and heads off into thick smoke, following the overhead lights of his partner's car. >> it was like opening up like even door. >> reporter: he recalls the intense heat on the street, to the trees, appearing to be on the verge of collapsing. >> i don't want to [ bleep ] die. >> i think i might die here. well, if i'm going to go out, i'm not going go easy. >> reporter: then the smoke finally thins out as he narrowly escapes the inferno. that was hairy >> reporter: also surviving the resident he saw moments earlier who he managed to escape tire, thank you, bro i was so worried about you are you okay >> i don't think i could say anything in that moment to make that man feel better, but that doesn't mean i can't try in many ways it goes beyond description. >> reporter: sheriff john noles was also in the fire zone, helping with the evacuations he has no doubt that the actions of first responders and law enforcement saved lives. >> we can't train that we can't

teach it it's part of who they are. >> reporter: a day on the job pushing them to the limit, with every harrowing moment caught on camera kathy park, nbc news another heart-stopping video out of michigan shows the moment an officer arrives to save the life of a child who was choking. take a look. >> i've got a baby dying. >> what do you mean? >> help, help! help >> let me see. >> so this mother had been rushing to the hospital when police stopped her speeding car. the 18-month-old was unresponsive the officer patted his back until the toddler started breathing again. the boy was taken to the hospital and is doing a lot better now labor day means most people are trying to soak up the last bit of summer, and the season's relentless heat. we'll be sticking around for much of the country. nbc meteorologist michelle grossman is here with a look at what to expect this holiday. good morning. >> great to see you. a lot of us are going to see

temperatures well above normal for this time of year. anywhere from 10 to 25 degrees above normal especially from the northern plains, the midwest, great lakes, into parts of the northeast. we're going to break records once again today it's going to be warm and sunny too in the southeast we're also watching holiday showers. parts of the west, the great basin, central plains as well. could be gusty storms, especially in the northern plains also looking at moisture moving from the gulf of mexico into the lower mississippi valley into the gulf coast that's where you see the green there. we are watching the chance for some flooding in spots but for the severe weather, we're looking from bismarck to rapid city with winds gusting over 60 miles per hour those are the two greatest threats. we do have a threat for our tornadoes. that's on the lower side, but still not zero also looking at chance for very heavy rain in spots. especially where you see the brighter colors, the reds, the oranges the yellow that's where we could see the rain showers especially within some of the storms that could lead to flash flooding we're going sethe cold froe ntn.

95 degrees today in philadelphia 96 in d.c. all right, guys, it's september. but we're looking at sweltering temperatures in spots. we'll talk about that coming up. >> michelle, see you soon. thanks when we come back, details from a deadly shooting at a high school football game >> and growing outrage over the hundreds of billions in covid relief that was stolen and spent on luxuries. dryness and frizz that keeps coming back, could be damaged hair that can't retain moisture. you need pantene's miracle rescue deep conditioner. it's filled with pro-vitamins to help hair lock in moisture, visibly repairing six months of damage in just one use, with no weigh-down. guaranteed, or your money back. for hair that looks healthy and stays healthy.

if you know, you know it's pantene. hey guys, check it out: it's mrs. stevens. they say she can make things appear out of thin air. hey! you guys want to come in? my mom made dinner. make your table legendary, with country crock. sometimes jonah wrestles with falling asleep... ...so he takes zzzquil. the world's #1 sleep aid brand for a better night sleep. so now, he wakes up feeling like himself. the reigning family room middle-weight champion. better days start with zzzquil nights. well, you can add this to the list of issues that came out during the pandemic. there are new concerns about how the covid relief fraud cases were handled in what appears to be the biggest fraud in american history. ken dilanian has more. >> reporter: it's the biggest fraud in american history. republicans in congress are

demanding answers about what the biden administration is doing to claw back hundreds of billions of dollars stolen from covid relief programs. >> we must identify where this money went. >> reporter: nearly $300 billion in fraud, some of it spent on sports cars, luxury homes, even exotic animals lawmakers are asking attorney general merrick garland for data on how much covid relief money was siphoned away by foreign criminal organizations. >> if these are criminal organizations, if these are terrorist organizations, these are ways they pad their pockets, and that is of grave concern to me. >> reporter: citing an nbc news report that russian mobsters, chinese hackers, and nigerian scammers have used stolen identities to plunder tens of billions of dollars, most of that during the trump administration justice department officials say they've recovered $1.4 billion and charged nearly 3200 alleged fraudsters across the country including a massachusetts businessman sentenced to two years last week for using his

ill gotten gains to buy an alpaca farm. and this instagram influencer facing five years after pleading guilty to bilking taxpayers to fund a luxury spending spree >> we didn't design these programs we didn't manage the programs. agencies should have prevented this before it happened. >> reporter: justice department inspector general horowitz acknowledges only a small fraction of the millions of scammers will ever be prosecuted but says they have to keep going. >> there needs to be that commitment to getting the money back and holding people accountable. >> reporter: the reality, though, is that most of the stolen money is gone for good. white house officials point out congress has yet to act on president biden's request for more money to hire more fraud investigators and prosecutors. >> all right our thanks to ken for that report students are mourning the loss of a fellow classmate after shots were fired at a louisiana high school football game. police responded to the shooting

during halftime at port allen high school. shots range out in the stadium parking lot steps away from the football field a medical helicopter arrived at the scene, and the two victims were rushed to the hospital. the 16-year-old boy was pronounced dead and the 28-year-old woman was treated for nonlife-threatening injuries to her arm still to come here on "early today," we have the breakdown on an early season battle between with the of the best teams in football and a historic push to the play-off we'll tell you why, after this [exhales] easy to apply for the whole family. vicks vapostick and try vaposhower for steamy vicks vapors. when target's good and gather groceries, bring joy to the table for less. when sharing, the love starts with quality ingredients. and when great taste meets low prices. that's totally target. ♪ it's the most wonderful time of the year ♪

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wearing down this lsu defense. going to pressure to the left. throw for the end zone battles, coleman, touchdown! >> we are back to break down the biggest games in sports, starting with the top ten showdown in orlando. jordan travis played lights out for number 8 florida state he threw for four touchdowns on

the night and rushed for another. the seminoles were down by three at the half, but blew the game wide open from there, beating lsu 45-24. so another sign that summer is over college football on in my house all weekend. texas will play alabama this coming weekend so some big college matchups. >> no matter who you cheer for, it's great to hear it in the background especially with this kind of slowly getting the postseason. let's swing over to baseball where pete alonso hit his 40th home run of the season and the mets win over the mariners this is his third season hitting at least 40 home runs since his call-up to the big leagues in 2019 alonso joins an elite list of players who hit 40 homers in three of their first five seasons, including albert pujols and a pair of hall of famers too. this is the part of the season where it's full swing. rooting for the teams, hoping they make to it the postseason. >> full fling intended and now history on the hard

wood for the minnesota lynx. they started off their season 0-6. but after a win over the mercury, minnesota punched their ticket to the postseason they're the second team in wnba history to qualify for the play-offs after an 0-6 start four teams are left in the hunt for the final three spots in the wnba play-offs the last games of the regular season are on sunday >> a lot to watch. and a lot to enjoy including right here still to come, it's a holiday to sit on the beach or to sit in some traffic >> what you need to know about labor day, when we come back is. in clinical trials, entyvio helped many people achieve long-term relief and remission. infusion and serious allergic reactions can happen during or after treatment. entyvio may increase risk of infection, which can be serious. although unlikely, a risk of pml, a rare, serious, potentially fatal brain infection cannot be ruled out. tell your doctor if you have an infection, experience frequent infections,

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unions and activists fought for better treatment to establish a day in honor of the members of these groups it was signed into law by grover cleveland in 1874. massive sales. hundreds are hoping, target, dollar general, macy's and best buy. and if you're heading back from a long weekend trip, transportation analytics says wait until after 7:00 for the best traffic coming up, a cheese burger in paradise for jimmy buffett. . they say she can make things appear out of thin air. hey! you guys want to come in? my mom made dinner. make your table legendary, with country crock. want luxury hair repair that doesn't cost $50? pantene's pro-vitamin formula repairs hair. as well as the leading luxury bonding treatment. for softness and resilience, without the price tag. if you know... you know it's pantene. air wick.

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confirming the news. nbc's joe fryer has more ♪ wasting away again in margaritaville ♪ >> reporter: more than half a century, jimmy buffett lived what he sang about, proudly building a billion dollar career around beach anthems like margaritaville ♪ it's 5:00 somewhere ♪ >> it's 5:00 somewhere ♪ cheese burger in paradise ♪ >> and cheeseburger in paradise. more than a musician, buffett embodied a lifestyle, a breezy slacker happy to waste the day away born in mississippi, buffett would find his sound in the laid back rhythms of florida's key west, a counterpoint to the so-called yuppie generation, buff buffett's blend of regional rock found a fan base known as parrotheads. a jimmy buffett song come to life. >> i think everybody needs a little escapism.

and a stockbroker, a hedge fund manager. you'd see people coming from work, taking their ties off and putting their hawaiian shirts over their suits >> reporter: over his career, buffett sold more than 20 million albums all that fun in the sun paid off, and not just in record sales. buffett became a billion dollar brand, opening jimmy buffett's margaritaville restaurants across the u.s selling books, beer, real estate, popping up in movies ♪ ♪ cheese burger in paradise ♪ >> inspiring a broadway show all the while, he never lost his laid back charm, revealing in 2018 his secret to having fun. >> it's lucky to have this job i think the older you get and do it, the more you appreciate it. >> reporter: buffett himself once said if there is a heaven for me, i'm sure it has a beach attached parrotheads the world over know that is the icon's paradise. >> and our thanks to joe fryer for that so raising a margarita

or beer too for him, for jimmy buffett. >> we even just said on the show on friday morning it's 5:00 some where. any time you say, that you're going think of him what a legend. four astronauts returned to earth early this morning after a long six-month stay at the international space station. the dragon spacecraft endeavor undocked at 7:05 sunday after a one-day delay due to bad weather at the splashdown site but their spacex capsule successfully parachuted into the atlantic off the florida coast at 2:17 a.m. today >> day or night, it's always fascinating to see that. thanks for watching "early today. have a safe and happy labor day. i'm frances

right now at 5:00, a holiday heads-up for travelers headed home through the east bay. drivers can expect big backups. we are live this morning with an update on thent