this morning a chemical plant is under 24-hour emergency watch after multiple explosions with eight more containers that could potentially blow. many places surrounded by water or have no safe water. with e. coli levels soaring and thousands still in need of assistance. >> a new major hurricane, irma is now a category 3 storm and rapidly intensifying in the atlant atlantic. the new round of fake accounts has millions of wells fargo customers wondering if they're the latest victims. a police officer's shocking words caught on camera. the racial remarks he's heard making during a traffic stop and the action the force is taking over it. "early today" starts right now.

>> good to have you back after compelling reporting in texas. harvey is hurling towards tennessee creating a wake of devastation in its path. in texas the water is still rising and packing an estimated 100,000 homes. at least 38 deaths are blamed on the storm. rescue missions are under way. the coast guard chopping away to save a mother and four children trapped in their home. the waters not the only threat. the flooded chemical plant near houston is under 24-hour emergency watch after two explosions. the owner says eight more chemical containers could possibly explode. homeowners within 1 1/2 miles were urged to evacuate. the epa air tests in the area reportedly found no concentrations of toxic materials. another glimmer of hope, the country's biggest fuel supplier announced a critical pipeline that supplies 40% of the east coast's fuel could be reopened by this weekend. possibly averting a national gas line shortage. white house officials say

president trump will likely request nearly $6 billion to aid harvey victims. that money, about $450 million would be set aside for small business loans and $5.5 billion to the fema disaster relief fund which is turning through cash trying to keep up. the white house announced president trump would personally donate $1 million to harvey relief efforts. the president wasn't alone in his generosity. the dallas cowboys raised over $2.3 million for the salvation army with a telethon. jerry jones, the team's owner, even called in. >> how many million-dollar contributions have you had tonight? >> i haven't had not one of those. >> you got one now, buddy. >> oh, yes, sir. we got a million over here. >> and j.j. watts' campaign reached new heights. the houston texan has raised over $13 million. in the meantime, vice president pence was on the ground in rock port, texas, with the state's governor helping clear debris

neighborhoods. >> to see people who have gone through the horror of one of the largest natural disasters in american history, to be standing shoulder to shoulder, passing out food to their neighbors, helping their neighbors clear out their homes with a smile on their faces -- it's humbling to me. and it's deeply inspiring. >> nbc's garrett hague is in houston this morning. what's the latest? >> i'm in southwest houston, the bel air neighborhood, one of the parts of harris county that got significant flooding. it's out of that reservoir watershed we've been talking about which means people have been able to come home and start getting to work. this is what this neighborhood and so many others like it that flooded across houston and harris county are looking like this morning as people are coming home from around the city and around the state and beginning the hard work of putting their lives back together. tearing out the sheetrock. throwing out furniture that was water logged.

neighborhood are single story, so even though the water wasn't that high here, people lost essentially everything. the good news, from the harris county flood control officials overnight, they don't expect any further flooding across the city from places that haven't already seen it. the reservoirs are starting to come down. they think it might be ten days to 15 days before all that water is finally out of the system. and philip, here's the staggering number. we've been talking about a trillion gallons rain. that's hard to visualize, hard to wrap your mind around. one flood control official described it this way. this county took in enough water to fill the houston astrodome 3,200 times. most of that water on its way back out to the gulf of mexico. >> it was a whole lot of water, garrett, thank you so much. this morning in beaumont, texas, a city in crisis in the wake of rising floodwaters, 118,000 residents now without drinking water after the city lost power to its main and secondary water supplies.

for those already struggling through the flood zone. we'll get more from nbc's miguel almaguer. >> reporter: a state of emergency taking on new urgency. >> the sickest ones will go first. >> reporter: at a hospital, those already in need are being rushed out. surrounded by water, this hospital has no clean water. the place people turn to for help now whisking them away. nursing homes across the area, like this one in port arthur, evacuating. nearly 3,000 residents from more than 100 long-term care facilities have been saved. a prayer for help answered. so many have lost so much. and it's unclear how many are still missing. rescuers continue to go door to door and are on rooftops, breaking into homes where people may be trapped. we were there when dimica singleton and her family were hoisted to safety. >> please, somebody, go get my

>> i thought i was going to die. i really thought i was going to drown. everything in my house was floating. >> reporter: 68-year-old ella bradley was brought to this shelter, hours away from her daughter. >> my granddaughter called. and i told her, i'm going to make it, baby. i don't think i'm going to make it. >> that's my mama. >> reporter: like so many families, waiting to be reunited. >> i want to talk to her, make sure she's okay. >> reporter: in houston floodwaters blanket much of the city. but where the water is receding, the scope of the devastation is now being revealed. across the region an estimated 100,000 homes have been damaged. 32,000 people remain in shelters. and 25,000 have been rescued. but the real loss is measured one family at a time. through stories of heartbreak and survival. with president trump planning to visit houston on saturday, his second visit to texas since the storm, the death toll

above 30. but officials say when they search neighborhoods like this one, that nob will likely rise. frances, back to you. >> miguel almaguer, thank you. congress is preparing to return to session after the long holiday weekend and they'll have to hit the ground running with a long list of items to address including raising the debt ceiling, passing a budget, reauthorizing the national flood insurance program in the wake of hurricane harvey. nbc's tracie potts is here with a look at congress' return. what else is on the agenda? >> reporter: yes, it's going to be a busy month. in addition to making sure america can pay its bills, in addition to making sure that we prevent a government shutdown, lawmakers here have to reauthorize children's health insurance, they need to reauthorize the faa, the federal aviation administration, and they need to take a look at emergency aid for hurricane harvey victims for these storm and flooding victims that we're seeing in texas. there is a lot of demand. so far the government has

who need disaster assistance, they're getting 900 calls an hour, officials say. some of that money is being shifted around within fema. in fact, a committee here on capitol hill has already given final approval to shifting another $500 million. but that's a drop in the bucket. they're going to need a lot more than that. vice president pence was in texas promising that every texas family and every texas business that needs help will get it. but that's going to be up to congress when they return on tuesday. >> thousands of texans depending on that money, thank you. south korea on edge this morning. a ministry official warning north korea could conduct another nuclear test at any moment. this on the heels of north korea's latest missile launch over japanese territory on tuesday. now the u.s. and inn a big show is flexing its muscles at kim jong-un. nbc's chief foreign correspondent richard engel reports. >> reporter: a senior u.s. military official tells

war planes that buzzed over south korea flew close enough to the border that they were visible inside north korea. before veering off to drop bombs on a south korean range. the aircraft took off from japan and guam and are among the most sophisticated in the u.s. arsenal. two b-1b bombers. four f-35 fighter jets. and the u.s. isn't just showing it can fight from the air. american marines were honing their skills. in live fire exercises. u.s. forces in south korea are always on a state of high alert. these marines came from their post in japan to work with south korean forces and familiarize themselves with the very terrain where they might have to fight against north korea. >> i think we're a little more focused just because of current events. but we're always focused. that's our job, that's why we're here. >> reporter: here

guiding apache helicopters as they fire on simulated north korean targets. >> this is building readiness. this is ensuring that if we get the call, these guys can put steel on target to protect ground forces. that's the bottom line. >> reporter: the u.s. military making it clear to north korea, it's ready. u.s. military officials tell us they do not expect north korea to back down after this. just the opposite. that this is now a game of one-upsmanship with the next move likely to come from pyongyang. >> thanks to richard engel reporting. let's go to nbc meteorologist bill karins, a look at harvey. >> get out here. yeah we didn't see too horrendous flooding around memphis, that was good. nashville done with the worst of it. still pouring though through the state of kentucky. if we get isolated problems with water it would be in areas from bowling green to louisville where we could see 3 to 5-inch rainfall totals. as far as what we're going to deal with, irma is still a

we don't know where the final destination will be. we know it's serious storm, category 3, 115-mile-per-hour winds. the next five days it heads in the general direction of the northern leeward islands and could be a category 4 by that time. if it was to get near the east coast it wouldn't be until the end of next week, maybe after labor day weekend. here's a closer look at the day ahead. showers and thunderstorms down in florida will cool you off in the afternoon after a hot day. the north is still dry in areas of texas that are still dealing with some of that floodwater. look at these temperatures, beginning of september, looks like the beginning of october in the ohio valley and northeast. fortunately for a lot of us the cool trend will continue to the weekend. weekend forecast coming up. in the news this morning, filmmaker tyler perry is donating $1 million to harvey relieve efforts including

saying they're amazing people who would not shut out those seeking shelter. supreme court justice sonia sotomayor was seated in the judge's chambers named after aaron judge. >> a41-year-old bridge in china, explosives making way for a new bridge in its place. plenty more ahead this friday. "early today" is back in two. or" per roll more "doing chores for dad" per roll more "earning something you love" per roll bounty is more absorbent, so the roll can last 50% longer than the leading ordinary brand. so you get more "life" per roll. bounty the quicker picker upper.

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nly thing worse than having such large ears, is having such large eyes." nly tso find a venus smooth that contours to curves, the smoother the skin, the more comfortable you are in it. flexes for comfort, and has a disposable made for you. skin smoothing venus razors. nbc los angeles camera captured this explosion at a power substation right behind reporter tony shin. fortunately no one was hurt. the area was already experiencing widespread power outages during a six-day heat wave. officials say a power surge or static electricity likely caused that blast. a veteran georgia police officer is out of a job after video shows him telling a terrified woman at a traffic

"police only shoot black people." his lawyer says the officer was trying to de-escalate a tense situation. nbc's pete williams has the details. >> reporter: the video shows a cobb county georgia police officer talking to a woman in a car he pulled over on a traffic stop. she's unwilling to move her hands, afraid she says of getting shot, and he tells her, don't worry. "but you're not black, remember? we only kill black people, yeah, we only kill black people, right? all the videos you see." >> reporter: though it happened a year ago the video is just now coming to light. the officer greg abbott has been on the force nearly 30 years. his lawyer says he was trying to use the passenger's own statements but the police chief said what happened was unacceptable. >> i don't know what's in his heart. but i certainly know what came out of his mouth. the recommendation is to terminate his employment from the cobb county police department. >> reporter: the date stamp on the video, july 10th, 16

just four days after cell phone video went viral showing the moments after a white policeman killed a black driver, philando castille in minnesota. as shocking as the georgia video is -- >> remember, we only kill black people. >> reporter: leaders of the black community in the county say the chief's decisive action is reassuring. >> we have hope here in cobb that we have a chief and leadership that is serious. about bringing this department to be one of the better ones in the nation. >> reporter: the police chief says the community and his own officers expected an appropriate response. pete williams, nbc news, washington. straight ahead, the wells fargo stagecoach off track again with 1.5 million more phony customer accounts. new details this morning next. terrible toilet paper! i'll never get clean! way ahead of you. charmin ultra strong. it cleans better.

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the wells fargo fake account scandal has grown even larger. the bake now says a total of 3.dive million unauthorized accounts were opened up, up from just over 2 million. >> that means even more headaches for more potential victims. nbc's anne thompson has more. >> reporter: the wrong kinds of numbers keep adding up for wells fargo. 1.4 more accounts opened without customers' permission, cg

the bank says went on for seven years from 2009 to september 2016. to meet quotas wells fargo employees were pressured to open the phony accounts, victimizing consumers and small businesses with fake checking, savings, credit card accounts and unsecured lines of credit, racking up fees for the bank and potentially ruining customers' credit. >> out-of-state purchases, foreign purchases, vendors who i can't make heads or tails out of. >> reporter: two years of frustration for david mckee who says wells fargo used his information to open three bogus accounts. >> my wife and i have done our best and we've been responsible. it's drained our savings account. >> reporter: mckee says wells fargo called checking back, promising an answer in ten days. >> you probably wouldn't have known if wells fargo opened an account without your permission in your name. you'll probably be informed by wells fargo that that happened. and any fees you incurred will be returned to

>> reporter: investor warren buffett, ceo of berk hire hathaway, says the bank is fixing its problems but wasn't surprised more fraud was found. >> what you find is there's never just one cockroach in the kitchen. >> reporter: ceo tim sloan apologized saying the first priority is make things right for customers, a balance sheet that in the minds of many remains very much in the red. anne thompson, nbc news. how about a major homecoming tomorrow we'll tell you about there in houston. and get ready for force friday. details next. ...companies... ...solve problems. how? we eat. we eat almonds... ...strawberries... ...quinoa. and yeah...we eat chocolate. ♪ we eat in sweatpants... ...in skirts. we eat alone... ...and together.

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good morning, more than 48 hours and counting. why this local war

himself to his house. by the time the sun comes up, it's not something you see every day. the new video of three men breaking into a local business and you won't believe what they stole. we are tracking harvey. take a look at storm team 4 radar. one week after hurricane harvey hit texas. it's still causing a lot of problems for the south and now it's headed our way. let's get to sheena parveen. this is going to impact our labor day holiday weekend plans. how so? is it going to be a washout or what? >> that's the thing, molette. a lot of people planning for the weekend and no, it's not going to be a washout. rain at least one day this weekend. it's still a tropical depression now. tropical depression harvey centered over tennessee. you see a lot of the rain moving into kentucky. so a lot of the rain on the other side of this thing. luckily the cloud cover is because of