to get americans and at-risk afghans out.

and unemployment benefits have run out for millions the questionof is will it hurt help the economy? it's "way too early" for this. ♪♪y" good morning and welcome to "way too early," the show that wouldn't wear white after or even before labor day. i'm jonathan lemire on this tuesday, september 7thon. we'll start with the 7 news. the united states has hit another grim new milestone in the coronavirus pandemic. the case counts across the country now tops 40 million as the delta variant causes infections to casurge. new cases have climbed steadily in weeks and the country is averaging more than 1,500 death as day for the first time since march. when it comes to vaccinations, about 270 million people have received their first dose. more than 175 million have been fullymi vaccinated, which is abt 53% of the total population. millions of americans are returning home afterer travelin over the labor day weekend and

health experts fear a covid-19 surge could already be brewing after several days of potential superspreader events. >> reporter: millions of americans are flocking to vacation hot spots this holiday weekend despite a cdc warning the unvaccinated should stay close to home. >> if people aren't vaccinated, they shouldn't travel. >> reporter: the edtsa reportin 5.3 million passengers crossing airport security since friday, more than double thero number sn at this point during labor day weekend last year. >> i'm going disney world. the covid numbers in florida scare me, but i'm vaccinated. >> reporter: many making their ways to stadiums, music festivals, and beaches across the country. yet the cases continue on. now reaching 40 million in the u.s.ll now health experts warn covid

cobe spreading. >> mostco cases of transmission arese likely to happen during travel, and those could be cases you carry into the classroom. >> reporter: with covid already forcing at least 1,400 in-person school closures since the begin thofg school year wreck cent data fromea the american academ of pediatrics indicated more than one in five new cases are in children. >> the only person i'm worried about is my daughter who's unvaccinated since she's 4. >> reporter: with no vaccine available for children 12 and under, parents are doing their best to protect their kinds while they're in school. new reporting shows there are vccinations for schools but not businesses. 84% of democrats and 60% of

independents support, f 4% of republicans oppose4% it. republicans are also the outlier on vaccine requirements for em inlable students with 60% being against the mandate. overyault ma54% say they're in favor of requiring students to get r vaccinated and 52% say th support businesses requiring vaccinations for employees. taliban claims to have taken control of the panjshir pronch, the last area in afghanistan held by forces. women tell the "associated press" that thousands of taliban fighters charged into eight districts of region overnight, but rep actives for the resistance forces say that the taliban's victory is false, insisting they'll continue to fight from strategic positions across america. meanwhile four more americans were reportedly evacuated from afghanistan yesterday. they were safely removed over land and the r taliban was awar

and did not impede their transit. this was the firstde known casef u.s. citizens being evacuated since the troop withdrawal officially endedwi last week. the white house has said it will continue to evacuate all americans who wish to leave afghanistan. 100af to 200 americans still remain there. the country is likely to see more fighting in the future. that prediction comes from the joint chiefs of staff, general mark milley. watch. >> i personally think the conditions are likely to develop of a civil war. you could see a resurgence of terror coming out of that general region within 12, 24, 36 months. let's bring in john hudson. he's inds doha, qatar, where

secretary antony blinken arrived yesterday. he's reporting live from a press pool van. thanks for being here. secretary blinken spoke yesterday. i want to replay that. >> there are groups of people who are groups together, some of whom who have the appropriate travel documents, an american passport, a green card, a visa, and others do not. and it's my understanding that the taliban has not denied exit to anyone holding a valid document, but they have said that those without valid documents at this point can't leave. but because all of these people are grouped together. that's meant that flights have not been m allowed to go. >> john, you're with the secretary there. give us a sense as to the update he provided about getting those americans and our afghan allies out of afghanistan.

>> that's been the big question. how are we going to get those americans back. and his claim that there are a number of people traveling with the americans that don't have the appropriate documents in order to get on those planes and have those planes take off. that's one of p the reasons why they have had so much anger from lawmakers, from other advocates, visa holders, and other at-risk afghans saying we need the state department's help to get them taking off from planes in afghanistan. secretary blink ken is saying there are some americans looking to get out, and they have the appropriate document and others don't. one part of the trip while he's there, we're on our way to the air force base where there's processing happening for afghans

and others who are looking to reset the united states, and so they're on their way now, but his overall smej thanking them for the process that's happened so far. >> let me hit you with a two-parter here. what more is the american government doing to try to expedite getting americans out ofet there, and, secondly, what sort of koops are they getting from the taliban? are they playing fair and behaving themselves in terms of facilitaing these departures? >> they appear to be behaving themselves. at least that's what the secretary of state said today. he said as recently as a few hours ago, the taliban have said that they're not going to interfere. what the secretary said is the u.s. will be holding them accountable g for that.

beyond they they're doing anything to help these americans get off. in some places, that might be helping negotiate landing rights. in other cases, working with third-party governments that might be in place to assist these americans and larger groups trying to get there. butou obviously there's been a t of anger from members of congress who say that they're stranded. the overall message from the state department is they're doing everything they can to help hithem. >> the "washington post" john hudson. please say hi to the rest of the reporters in the van for me and be safe. still ahead, the new abortion law in texas is facing a special challenge from the justice department. what merrick garland is saying than. plus, novak djokovic is keeping his calendar year of a grand slam alive. we haved all of those stories d a check on weather when we come right wback. no cars to be seen there?

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time now for sports. djokovic lost the first set to the man from california ranked 99th. he then rebounded and knocked out brooks by who was the last american left in the tournament. he e's now three victories away from becoming the first male player to counter the grand slam. the three-time u.s. open champion improves to 29-0. if hi goes on to win it all, he'll pass roger federer and rafael nadal with 21 titles. tomorrow, the class of 2020 will be inducted into the baseball hall of fame. most notable among the four players, derek jeter.

i'll keep my thoughts to myself about the yankees shortstop, but he s allegedly, a 14-time all-star and five time gold glove winner. he won rookie of the year in 1996 and mvp in 2000. he finished his career with 4,000 hits. but he's best known by yankee fans for clutch performances in big games, most note pli his home run that earned him the nickname mr. november. he was also part of the 2004 yankee team that blew a lead to the boston red sox. i won't be watching this tomorrow, but for those who may, he'll be joined by larry walker, ted simmons, and the late baseball union leader marvin miller. with less than a month left, the tampa bay rays are showing why they sit atop the a.l. east

and my red sox do not. nelson cruz comes up to bat with the bases loaded and center fielder appeared to lose the ball in the sun. you see it there. it hurts. cruz cruises to third and the ball is overthoun and he ends one a little league grand slam. they try to hold on but end up in an skreesh yating fashion in a game that lasted five hours and felt like 12. in a season that's had its fair share of losses, this is the worst yet. and we'll have coverage with joe scarborough in the next hour. time now for the weather lchlt e geese to meteorologist janessa webb for the forecast. good morning, janessa, what have you got? >> good morning, jonathan. the sun is a lot. more of that today. we have multiple weather stories picking up, one across the deep south. we're watching another abundance of moisture that's going to be

making its way across the gulf coast. this is unfortunate because we have people cleaning up after ida, and they don't need any more moisture in the forecast. that's what they're going to be dealing with for at least the next couple of days. some of these rainfall rates are pretty heavy across the florida panhandle. you can see 1 to 2isms per hour. then that front starts to leave us as we go into the weekend. some of these rainfall totals up to 2 inches for new orleans and that extends into sections of south carolina. today i'm also watching severe weather that's currently making its way across the great lakes. there is a slight risk of storms. later on this afternoon into your evening if you're across chicago all the way into the detroit area. currently storm prediction center has 16 million people under this severe weather risk, and the primary threat will be the straight line winds, also a little bit of hail. that entire front will change the game going into your wednesday if you're in the

northeast. we return to rainy conditions from new york city to boston, up to 2 inches. then another huge story across the pacific northwest. we have another heatwave that's entering that area. we have daytime highs. above 100. death valley, 124. that stays consistent for the pacific northwest as we head to tomorrow. looking at multiple stories, make sure you're staying tuned to the weather. jonathan? >> the northeast had perfect almost fall-like weather. i'm very, very ready for that. janessa, thank you so much. still ahead, skpaened unemployment benefits meant to ease the shock of the coronavirus pandemic have come to an end. what it means to millions of americans who are still without a job. we'll be back in just a minute. we'll be back in just a minute no dad, it's a video call. you got to move the phone in front of you like..like it's a mirror, dad. you know? alright, okay. how's that? is that how you hold a mirror?

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yesterday. ho will the loss of that lifeline impact economic recovery. nbc's business correspondent stephanie ruhle reports. >> reporter: unemployment benefits are over for 7.5 million americans. another 3 million will see their weekly checks cut by $300. it comes as hiring slowed in august, likely due to the surge in delta variant. brook delivered groceries when the pandemic started. she scaled back her hours when covid started and experienced a drop in payment. >> knowing that this date has been coming up, what has it been like for you? >> stressful. put me in kind of a slump, a depression. >> reporter: whitford says she's applied for over 150 jobs in the last few months, but so far no offers. >> i don't meet the criteria or they've already hired somebody. >> reporter: for 8 million who lost their unemployment

benefits, only one found a job. there's a growing mismatch between jiebs available and those looking for work. >> we've never cut off this many people in one fell swoop. unemployment can come fast, but finding a job can take time. >> reporter: in business owners hope the end of benefits help them find much needed workers. he's already begun receiving more applicants. >> i wouldn't call it a flood but more of a trickle. yes, we did see an uptick in people who are interested. toerch general merrick garland is pushing back on the restrictive new abortion law out of texas. the law bans abortions after six weeks, often before many women even know they're pregnant. garland says many opportunities to. he released a statement yesterday that reads in part the justice department will provide

support from federal law enforcement when an abortion clinic or reproductive clinic is under attack. we will not tolerate violence against those seeking to obtain or provide reproductive health services. citizens have a right to file civil suits and collect damages against anyone who is considered to be assisting in an abortion, including those who transport women to clinics. lyft released a statement that reads in part, quote, this law is incompatible with people's basic rights to prove circumstance our community guidelines, the spirit of rideshare, and our values as a company. michael k. williams was found dead on monday in his home in brooklyn. on "the wire," he played omar whittle in a series about drugs and corruption.

he went on to play in ""boardwalk empire."" the death is being investigated as a possible drug overdose. michael k. williams was 54 years old and simply presented the most iconic character and greatest tv southeast of all time. he will be missed. coming up, ahead of the 20th anniversary of september 11th, president biden moves to declassify documents. >> plus a preview and is a visit to new york and new jersey to see the damage caused by the remnants of hurricane ida. first we want to know why you're awake. i'm me or tweet me. leave out the "h" but use the #waytooearly. we'll reat our favorite answers later in the show. orite answers later in theho sw. (naj) at fisher investments, our clients know we have their backs. (other money manager) how do your clients know that? (naj) because as a fiduciary, it's our responsibility to always put clients first.

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welcome back to "way too early." it's 5:30 on the east coast, 2:30 on the west coast. today president biden will travel to new york and new jersey to survey the damage caused by the remnants of hurricane ida. the northeast was hit with record-breaking rainfall that caused catastrophic flooding days after it made landfall. at least 50 people were killed in six states. just before noon president biden will meet with local leaders. then he'll travel to queens and then deliver his remarks on the administration's response to the hurricane. the trip comes as president biden approved major disaster

declarations to both states. nbc's gabe gutierrez has more on the storm's aftermath. >> reporter: as ida's torrential rain pounded new york city, officers tried frantically to reach this flooded base management, but when specialized people got there, it was too late. three people had already drowned. >> we used to think flooding was a coastal thing. it's not anymore. >> reporter: in the city where places are hard to come by, they look at whether the local officials gave enough warning. >> the water came all the way up here? >> up to the window. >> she was also trapped in her basement. >> did you ever expect this much watter? >> never. absolutely not. it's days aster. the water was gushing in. we were locked in the basement. there was no way out. >> her son who is blind managed

to reach through this window and pull her to safety. >> when it started to go above my head, i thought i was going to die. >> reporter: in new york city 13 died n new jersey, 27. four very the mills including two college students who witnesses say were rushed away by rushing water. >> please, pray for them. pray for them, please. everybody play for them. >> reporter: president biden set to tour manville, new jersey. home after home, basement after basement flooded out. insurance adjusters are expected here over the coming days, but the agonizing cleanup only just beginning. karen survived in her home caring for her mother who's a quadriplegic. >> i looked around. i don't know where to start, you know. i doge know. >> just heartbreaking and terrifying footage. ahead of the 20th, the

president has ordered the department of justice and other agencies to start a review and declassify papers in coming months. it comes after years from victims' families for a push of the release of documents to prove that the saudi government had a hand in the attack. the conflict was on display when many relatives and surviors and first responders came about. house speaker nancy pelosi released a statement saying i fully support president trump's decision to order a declassification review for the december 11th terror attacks including declassified attacks to saudi arabia's involvement. the white house has also announced the president's schedule for the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. president trump and the first lady will travel to all three sites of the terror attacks,

visiting ground zero in new york city, shanksville, pennsylvania, and the pentagon. vice president harris and the second gentleman will also visit shanksville, pennsylvania, for a different memorial. joining us now, white house correspondent for politico and co-author of the playbook, eugene daniels. he's always, i'll glad to say, mbs nbc contributor. thanks for being here. on the've of 911, we're still looking at documents. how will people be dealing with it? will families be satisfied looking to implicate saudi arabia and hoye does president biden frame afghanistan during the 9/11 memorials after we went in and attacked them only to see the taliban return to power. >> the families have already started to kind of praise president biden in saying that this review and possible

declassification of some of these documents connecting -- possibly connecting them has come out they're happy. they wanted this review. more importantly, they wanted the public disclosure of some of these documents, so they're happy with that. it's unclooer if they're going to be happy with the documents. it's going depend on what's in the documents and what actually comes out. this is important for you to remember. it's not just a -- he's not just declassifying everything and sending it out. the fbi or justice department is overseeing this kind of review on what can be released so it's possible some stuff doesn't come out that the families wanted. that's something important for people to remember. when it comes to afghanistan, president biden originally talked about pulling all of our troops out of afghanistan. september 11th was the deadline they were using. so it was a symbolic gesture,

the symbolism of we're leaving this country. we've been there too long. it's a look at how he's going to frame it to the american people, let people know, we went there 20 years ago and we're out there and this country can move on and start to heal after 25 years. >> you'll be traveling today. we'll look at people who lost their lives or hat their property damaged. what el can we expect to hear from him today and will part of that be a pitch for his infrastructure and packages particularly when it comes to climate change and storms like this? >> no, absolutely. we saw the president do this in louisiana last week. we're probably going to hear a similar pitch this. is a chance not only for the president to see these people and for us to balk around and

see the damage and talk to local leaders about what's next and how much money is needed, et cetera. but it's a moment for the president to sell the reconciliation bill especially to the american peel. said last week, we don't need to build back the same. we need to build back better, to use his phrase and how they're thinking about this actual plan. that is something the white house is focused on. you know, we're talking about the people and what happened. but more importantly, when we come back to this, our infrastructure is not built to handle these types of storms and climate change specifically. climate change groups are pushing the president to do more and do more faster and that's something we're going to probably hear, especially as there's more evidence, more evidence and more evidence every year of how climate change is going to impact the united states, and i think he's going to use this moment to talk about that as well. >> politico's you ian daniels. thank you so much.

still ahead, the totally different reason or reasons why transportation secretary pete buttigieg will have his hands full. we'll have so much more when we come right back. stay with us. e when we come right back. stay with us are you one of the millions of americans who experience occasional bloating, gas or abdominal discomfort? taking align every day can help. align contains a quality probiotic developed by gastroenterologists. it adds more good bacteria to your gut

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>> time now for something totally different. pete buttigieg and his husband chaften are parents. he's the first openly gay cabinet member to become a patient. he shared, quote, chasten and i are beyond thankful for all the kind wishes since first sharing the news. we're delighted to develop joseph and penelope. good luck getting sleep, mr.

secretary. many americans flocked to the movies over the holiday weekend. marvel's movie drove records for the highest grossing film earning $90 million for the u.s. and canada. the previous record was set in 2007 by haen which earned over $30 million that holiday weekend. it was released in theaters and surpassed the horror film "candy man" with took in $13 million. jeff bezos has reportedly invested in an anti-aging lab. he's developing technology to program human sells. bezos is one of its investors. while bezos has not confirmed his investment, this wouldn't be the first time that bezos got involved with anti-aging companies. in 2018 he invested in

technologies that makes anti-aging therapies. bezos is a very spry looking 54. tiktok rocketed to popularity during the pandemic and now new data shows that tick tock has surpassed youtube in average watch time in the u.s. and uk, and a report surveying data from android phones, the data shows on average users spend more time on tiktok, looking at higher levels of engagement. youtube is overall the most time spent. still ahead, the latest on covid booster shots. the biden administration had planned on roll ought an extra dose of both pfizer and moderna later this month, but dr. anthony fauci says that may not be possible. we'll be right back. ing with it. with e-commerce that runs at the speed of now.

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i think our true delta wave is going to start to build in the northeast in the northern part of the country. this is going to be a highly regionalized epidemic. i do think labor day and the return to school are going to be incubators. i don't think we're done with this. i hope we are, but i don't think we can conclude that just because the cases are coming down from the mini surge we saw over the summer. >> that was fda commissioner dr. scott gottlieb warning the northeast will see another jump in covid cases related to the delta variant. the booster shots will likely be ready by the 20th, but a third moderna choice might have to wait. >> we were hoping we would get both the candidates, both products, moderna and pfizer, rolled out by the week of the 20th.

it's conceivable we'll only have one out. joining us now, yasmin. what can you tell us regarding the booster plan? >> well, the whole booster plan was rolled out unusually. the white house got ahead of the cdc and fda. it's important to note that the director did sign onto this plan, but before the agencies had completed their reviews, they were going to roll out boostering the week of september 20th. there was a lot of data. the advisory committee would follow with its own recommendation and that whole process was scrambled in this case because there was so much

fear about the surge that the delta variant was causing, israel and other countries showing the vaccine immunity falling behind and not wanting to be caught flatfooted. there have been tensions. there are many inside the agency who felt the white house got ahead of them. >> on friday the white house unveiled a $65 billion plan. what were the main items in that plan that grabbed your attention? >> well, it was the things we've seen. you saw v million for diagnostic tests, a lot of money, more than $10 billion for vaccines and therapeutics. money for improved national stockpile. you saw a lot of money dedicated or allocated for the major changes in this pandemic. obviously we didn't have enough medical equipment or basic equipment at the beginning of it

that they vowed. doings no tick testing was the big one and the obvious ones, vaccines and therapy. i think they did it better than in some other areas. >> yasmeen, we're also talking about a new variant. we shouldn't jump to conclusions but there's so evidence it might be able to get around. what can you tell us about this new variant and what policies and concerns does the administration have right now as they try to curb its impact? >> i think it's a little unclear the threat posed by the new variant that the w.h.o. has labeled it a variant of concern. it's very unlikely delta would not be the dominant strain given the transmissibility.

it's already responsible for 90% of u.s. cases. they're often more transmissible, more worrying. it's definitely cause for concern, but i think it's a little bit premature to determine how big a threat it's going to pose, especially while the delta variant is still more dominant. >> let's circle back to what dr. gottlieb said at the top of the segment where he see as rise in cases coming from the northeast, but we're seeing it maybe, hopefully, has peaked in some cases where it's surged. given us a broad overview of where the nation stands right now in terms of the pandemic and what we could see in the weeks and months ahead as the weather gets colder, which traditionally, of course, helps virus spread in. >> i think one of the challenges with the pandemic, is it's so

difficult to tell how things are going to play out in the next couple of months. it's unclear what's going to happen in the u.s. as dr. gottlieb said in that clip, you have schools reopening and the north and northeast tha as hard by the southern states are so it might start to peek in the north and northeast more than it has in the summer. it's unclear whether it will spread, slow down, or whether another variant will emerge. there's concern headed into the fall. we've heard officials say they worry that the country is in for a lot of hurt over the next few months, especially as people move inside, with school reopenings, colder weather and the challenge with schools being open of other virus spreading at the same time and being able to distinguish and manage the load on the health care system from the viruses all circulating. you'll have more people out and

about this fall and winter than we did last year. >> thank you so much, please come back soon. earlier in the show we asked this question. why are you awake? one feline is up early because someone won't use the water bowl. dori is up early seizing a good weather day and getting ready to see the morning sun rise on the ocean. and natalia tweeted up feeding our first child, an 8 day old baby girl. mimi is a disaster volunteer up early to start a 13 hour drive to houma, louisiana. thank you for that. and pat writing trying to catch a mouse in an ocean city, maryland house. i think you should borrow the cat from earlier in the segment, that would go a long way. up next the axios one big thing and coming up on "morning joe," the taliban claims to have concurred the last pocket of

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joining us now with a look at axios a.m., congressional reporter for axios alayna treene. great to see you. what is the axios one big thing for this fine tuesday morning? >> good morning, jonathan, great to see you again. our big story today is about how the influx of afghan refugees coming into america, and following the withdrawal from afghanistan, is really worsening an immigration crisis that we've been seeing in this country so far. my colleague steph kite reports that the pentagon needs to add 50,000 spots to bases by next

week in order to house some of the refugees. 50,000 sounds like a lot but when you look at the number of undocumented immigrants who have tried to come into the country and cross the border since last year, over 1.2 million, it's not as much. this is an issue that this white house has been seeing for some time now due to covid pressures and the delta variant and policies that were implemented by the trump administration. and so, it's just adding to the stresses on our u.s. immigration system. >> this morning axios is also covering former president donald trump's plans to sell rights to his international hotel in washington d.c. the hotel, just a couple blocks from the white house, is a spot that became the nexus for republicans or at least trump fans during his time in office. really a center of power in washington during those four years. what's the latest on the deal? >> well, the talks -- the former

president is in advanced talks, meaning he's nearing a deal with some real estate brokers. the way this would work is that essentially he would have a discussion with different real estate people who would eventually take it over and look at selling it to different hotel management companies and rebranding it. the rebrand is the big thing. you think of this hotel and think of the big golden letters, trump international hotel. this is where the president would hold court and his advisers people like rudy giuliani would sit for hours welcoming people within washington d.c. and to see those golden letters taken away would be a huge symbolic gesture, something you can be assured his opponents would be savoring. these talks are in stages, unsure when a deal may happen. >> with whispers growing the

president may run again in 2024, eyebrows raised that he would sell a place that had an important role in his time in office. we know that axios has been looking at the ongoing debate over mask mandates and you have a poll with surprising results. what did you find? >> very surprising. we mainly looked at the opposition to mask mandates in schools. and i think typically you would expect places like texas and florida where mask mandates are banned to have more opposition. in reality, places like colorado, iowa, ohio, minnesota, those are where we're seeing the highest opposition to some of the mandates. if you look at colorado in particular, about 70% of republicans in the state oppose mandates if you compare that to texas where fewer than half, about 46% of republicans oppose mandates. it's interesting to look at and see the differences. so i think we're going to expect

a lot of these numbers to change, of course, as people are coming back to school. it's after labor day, we 'hearing from the white house and the cdc that they're expecting cases to worsen particularly as we head into the fall and flu season is upon us. it's interesting to see whether more mandates will be banned or how these views change as kids go back to school and some of the trends with covid persist. >> interesting stuff. thank you so much for being here. today, of course, the day after labor day, traditionally summer has now considered to be coming to a close and a renewed interest as school starts across the country. and certainly, there will be a lot of attention paid to the white house as people are back from summer vacations, locking in on the news. there's a lot of story lines going on right now, the delta variant causing covid cases to rise. the aftermath of the u.s. military withdrawal from afghanistan. of course, the looming 20th

anniversary of the september 11th terror attacks and the ongoing impacts from the devastating storms. the president will be in new york and new jersey today surveying the damage and certainly warning about the dangers of climate change. thank you all for getting up way too early with us on this tuesday morning. "morning joe" starts right now. good morning, and welcome to "morning joe." it is tuesday, september 7th. we are following a number of quickly developing stories this morning, including the united states now topping 40 million covid cases since the start of the pandemic, with health experts keeping a close eye on the impact of labor day weekend travel. plus the taliban claims to have captured the last part of afghanistan holding out against their rule. it comes as secretary o