lester >> kerry sanders, thank you. >>> it is dangerously hot across much of the country with nearly 1 in 4 americans under a heat advisory tonight. and there's more dangerous weather on the way. al roker joins us. what can we expect >> right now we have 77 million people coast to coast with heat advisories, heat warnings heat indexes about 110 moving into tomorrow right now, we have tropical storm ida, 40-mile-per-hour winds, moving northwest at 14. a category 1 storm by saturday afternoon we expect landfall sometime sunday afternoon. but with water temperatures in the gulf in the upper 80s, rapid intensification is a big possibility this could make landfall sunday as a category 3 storm if it does, that's 16 years to the day hurricane katrina hit. >> i know you'll keep an eye on it thanks. >>> when we come back, inspiring america. a paralympian shows us what champions are made of. >>> up next, could your vaccination statdous a status affect your health care from insurance premiums to hospital visits. >>> we also talk to a bay area woman wanting to find out, waitic to hear if her fam

morgan chesky, nbc news, austin >>> this is kerry sanders in florida, where the covid crisis has gone from bad to worse. the florida department of health revealing a single day record, 22,903 covid cases that's the third time in a week florida's surpassed its all-time high >> it's overwhelming our staff. >> reporter: the spread of covid especially alarming among children florida hospitals now report 179 pediatric patients this as k through 12 reopens tomorrow in much of the state. in collier county, masks for the 47,000 students here will be optional florida governor ron desantis >> no mandates in the state of florida >> we have one ask. >> reporter: pediatricians in collier with the message for every parent >> i'm trying to encourage everybody to please take this delta variant very seriously due to the transmissibility it is incredibly contagious, and our children are getting sick i can't do this. >> reporter: olivia angeles' two children start school tomorrow. she wants them to wear masks because she wound up in the hospital with covid. >> i cannot imagine my kids going through that

kerry sanders, thank you. we're going deeper on that, it is not just disney. in a big way. 30 health care leaders from the last four administrations are out with a brand new letter this morning urging more ceos to take steps to protect workplaces. they want vaccine requirements, if a company cannot, they're asking them to take steps, adding incentives for vaccines, increased testing. companies are saying they're on board and are joining a huge list of companies following the letter's guidelines. joining me, one of those that signed the letter, andy slaf et, and shannon bagley. the government got the vaccine to us. health care workers educated us. now businesses, they've got the incentive. is this the third phase of vaccinating america? >> this is exactly what's going on. first of all, it is an unprecedented group of people, across the biden administration, trump administration, obama and bush administration, health care officials and scientists saying the same thing. the delta variant is a new thing. if you think you developed plans to keep the workplace safe

and i love that we have some kerry fans. >> huge kerry sanders fans. >> kerry!star? >> i had no idea that was coming. i don't know who it was. i don't have a monitor here, but wow. i feel honored. >> you have fans all over the planet and we love you, too. we'll talk to you in just a bit. thank you, kerry. >>> we have something to highlight for you this morning. we'll have it on our streaming channel tomorrow. covid in the classroom. >> yeah. we know parents all across the country have questions for returning to school, kids under 12 not yet eligible for the vaccine. we're going to bring in our experts to bring in all your most pressing questions during an hour-long special all day on "today all day." that's tomorrow. watch starting at 10:30 a.m. eastern on today.com. >>> news at 8:00, more than 20 people are dead, many still missing in tennessee after record rainfall caused catastrophic flooding. sam brock joins us from waverly, tennessee, with the latest. sam, good morning. >> reporter: sheinelle, good morning, tom, good morning. this is rainfall of historic pr

guys >> kerry sanders for us this morning, kerry, thank you for that >> all right >>> let's go over toow if we have any beach weather in the forecast. >> well, it depends where you are. if you're down through the carolinas and virginia going into saturday and sunday, you might see some beach water but watch for the rip currents in the water because of tropical storm henri out over the atlantic the rain we're seeing right now through the mid-atlantic has nothing to do with henri but notice it's very humid and feels tropical outside that's why the atmosphere holds so much moisture we could see rainfall rates of 2 inches per hour. flood watches are in effect. especially down through maryland, into delaware, southern new jersey and the coastline of virginia and also into northeastern north carolina now, we have very dry conditions the flip side of that out west where we have that fire weather watch in effect for parts of idaho, parts of oregon and also down into wyoming, as well, where we could end up with dry thunderstorms that produce the lightning without the rain and that could lead to

kerry sanders is following the growing controversy over masks in school. and also we're at the iowa state fair that is back after being canceled last year. that is in direct defiance. . there was a protest for mask mandates in south florida. take us through what you're seeing. >> you know, craig, it is really turning to say they would like to see a mask mandate. that would be in defiance of what the governor here has stated in the state. that there can be no mask mandates. we have seen several communities saying that they don't care what the governor says, they're going to put a mask mandate in. and the forth largest school district is miami-dade. the governor said anyone that defies this, the school superintendent and the school board members will close their sala salaries. this is their response to that threat. >> what i can tell you is at no point shall a threat against my salary factor into the decision that i will make regarding the best interest of students and teachers in our community. i cannot compromise on that. >> this decision in miami-dade is

. >>> first, nbc's kerry sanders in florida, and morgan chesky in baton rouge, florida, and then from florida international university, dr. eileen marty. if i have to go to a live press conference for a major announcement, we will do that and i don't want to interrupt you. i want to start with you, dr. marty. we just heard from bill de blasio on the new vaccine requirement to enter restaurants and other entertainment venue, and very likely other large cities will follow suit. what is your reaction to the requirement? >> i am so proud of him. that's exactly what a leader should be doing right now. everything in their power that is reasonable and that is going to reduce transmissions. look what is happening in the united states. we're accounting for over 18% of the worldwide cases per day, and worldwide we're seeing upwards of 600,000 cases a day of this horrific, horrific virus. in florida we are now 1 out of every 4 cases in the united states, and we lead the nation in hospitalized children. children! >> doctor, why is this happening? the reason i ask you that is last year when there

kerry sanders is standing by for us in ft. lauderdale and dr. celine gawner. a new surge in covid cases and hospitalizations as i just mentioned. the new super spreader event, the anticipation prediction for this thing. what is going on there? >> reporter: yasmin, i am currently in sunrise, florida, the bb&t arena, and at the stadium we have these big trucks back here, going to be a monster jam event this weekend. the trucks get out, the fans come, about 27,000 and this is the conflict. people have been living under this sense of yes, we have coronavirus, but we also want to live our lives and get out and do things, and when you have a large group of people, doctors tell us, that's how coronavirus spreads. they have since october been doing these monster jam events around the country, and the promoters say they have had nobody come back and tell them that they were the case of a super spreader event but they also know that they have to encourage people to follow safe distancing, protocols. there will not be a requirement for folks to have mask although they en

kerry sanders in florida, reporting on one of the pieces of this labor short an evil.. competition that brings together the best little league teams was conditionals, but it is back with some pandemic modifications. dasha burns has the changes and what the players think of them. i'll tell you most of these players i assume are unvaccinated and this is right on the line of the 12-year-olds, yeah. >> yeah, i did score on assignments. it's a pretty exciting day. i just saw the florida team walk into the stadium here. the first game just kicked off but you're right most players are 10 to 12 years old. most are unvaccinated, and this looks very different. you see the obviously difference right now. formally it is fun zones, look at this concession stand here, no one in line, you can get your hot dog faster, you have florida fans for you here. a lot of excitement. >> some people coming through. there are a litany of rules for players and attendees, anyone attending and they come indoors. anyoner into acting with players needs to wear a mask including the umpire and the kids

let's bring in kerry sanders from one college campus in florida. these mixed mandates at the major universities in that state, but the nursing college you are at is requiring shots for all of its students. since you are our collegiate reporter today, how is that playing out where you are and across the country? >> well, here at chamberlain university where classes begin next week, if you are not vaccinated, you are not welcome into the building to take classes. it is indeed a mandate. we're seeing it play out across the country. i think perhaps the most interesting is university of virginia, they have made it clear to their students that they must get the vaccine. and this is a term at smu i'm sure when you went to college you never heard this before, you can drop a class maybe like you're taking calculus and not doing well and so let me drop this, but at uva, they are telling students that don't have vaccines that they are disenrolled. they have been dropped. now, 49 students at the snapshot time have been disenrolled. 238 in total have yet to pro

. >> kerry sanders is outside an elementary school in naples where the battle over masks and vaccinesool. what are parents and kids telling you? >> reporter: well, of course first day of school is always exciting for the kids coming with their parents, new backpacks, new sneakers. and in this case, some kids coming with masks. as you know, this is one of the communities where there is no mask mandate. the whole state has established from the governor's level on down no mask mandate. some communities are pushing back. but as we look at the kids arriving here and we see some of the fun that they are having coming in, the parents are the ones who are deciding whether their children will wear masks or will not wear masks. it means that you will have possibly your child sitting next to a child one with a mask, one without a mask. this is what the parents had to say. >> i want them to have a great year, you know, and if they are comfortable wearing it, i'll allow them to make that decision themselves. >> giving evan the choice. >> i am giving evan the choice. >> if everyone in my class is w

nbc's kerry sanders got a sneak peek. >> reporter: shep, the mystery of the bermuda triangle captured when a navy plane disappeared into the vast expanse of the atlantic ocean. 1945, and planes of this vintage had flown out into theber mud qua triangle and then disappeared. they became known as the lost squadron, and 75 years later, we still do not know what happened. december 5th, 1945 five avengers take off naval air station ft. lauderdale on a routine training mission, 14 airmen headed to the bermuda triangle they were never seen again flight 19, the so-called lost squadron in close encounters of the third kind -- >> like these anymore. >> these planes were reported missing in 1945. >> reporter: the mystery disappearance was answered they were taken by aliens. but that's a movie now, in a new history channel documentary -- >> the graveyard of the atlantic, or, as we know it more commonly today, the bermuda t triangle. >> reporter: more than year-long s scientific mission into the bermuda triangle resolved some unanswered questions mike barnett, team's lead underwater explorer makin

morgan chesky in baton rouge, kerry sanders, in florida. dr. patel who served as policy director in the obama white house, and the mayor of miami beach, dan gelber. news week ran an article that said louisiana hospitals are so overrun, doctors had to cancel surgeries for brain aneurysms because of the covid patients. how bad is it? >> reporter: yeah, steph. it is bad and getting worse by the day. we know that here at the state's largest hospital, our lady of the lake medical center, elective surgeries were postponed starting last week. there was at one point a waiting list to get in the icu simply because the covid surge that nurses and doctors are describing as kind of happening overnight. the problem right now is that they're at their all-time high for covid hospitalizations, not for the summer or the year but since the pandemic began. they feel they're in dire straights. a federal medical team arrived over the weekend, doctors, nurses, team of 30 to shore up staffing in the meantime. but if numbers continue to rise, that's what has everyone

nbc's kerry sanders is in riviera beach, florida. i know where you are, kerry.ou know where were you are. one of the places where the school district requiring masks. also with us, broud county mayor steve geller and nbc's dasha burns where children are heading back to school without mask requirements, and another place where cases among kids are rising. kerry, first to you in riviera, florida. talk to us about what's going on there. >> reporter: yes. talk a little about the schools and what's going on here. first of all across the state a 24% increase in the last week of children testing positive for coronavirus. so that is significant. then wrap in, i just want to go back to the stick you shar stat the top. florida's now has more people in hospitals with coronavirus than at the peak in new york. so that underscores how much this has changed and shifted to the new epicenter here in florida. with the backdrop of kids going back to school this week here in palm beach county. other counties. broward and dade later this month, and so what they are looking at is pot

we got kerry sanders. he's live from palm beach gardens. were really glad to see that. they are saying we're not able to perform basic surgeries that we need to perform on the people who desperately need them. >> reporter: absolutely. i mean the frustration reaching a level where you have about 100 doctors make being their way here for that simulated walk out. we put the drone up to give the visual so people can understand that this is incredibly rare where doctors, some coming off their shift from the covid wards, others getting ready to go on shift, gathering out here. among the drivers that drove an hour and a half here to union that gathering is dr. nelson. i'm curious, first of all, what's the message, the symbol jim of you all gathering. >> it's important for everybody to understand that this is a preventable condition that's running into disaster in health care because something that we have available for everybody, something that can be given, people can get, actually prevent these complications and they are not really going for it.

attacks are rare, they do happen the most recent, a 12-year-old girl in maryland here's nbc's kerry sanderscovering after a terrifying incident on ocean city beach last week. >> it felt like something ran into my legs and i ran out and i find blood everywhere. >> the 12-year-old receiving 42 stitches from the first non-fishing shark bite in maryland's history in a community on long boat key florida, sharks in the backyard canals. >> shark land. >> janelle branauer has lived here 15 years but she's never seen anything like this. >> it was thousands of them. it felt like you could walk across the canal on the backs of the shark. >> all seeking refuge from a deadly red tide which saps oxygen from the saltwater that sharks and all fish need to survive. >> we had a lot of bon head. we had a lot of nurse sharks and then a few lemon sharks. lemons are the most aggressive. >> in panama city beach this hammerhead came frighteningly close to an unsuspecting swimmer before darting away. surf instructor was bitten on the leg while teaching surfing to kids on tybee island in georgia. a region with three

i'm hallie jackson in washington joined by kerry sanders, leigh ann caldwell and shannon pettypiece and dr. bernard ashby, florida state lead for the committee to protect health care. dr. ashby, i want to start with you and this is not your purview what's happening in new york city but as a medical professional, i have to ask you about it. this is just coming in to us reporting out of the "new york times" this big move potentially by mayor de blasio who, according to the paper, is set to announce any minute, i don't think we have that live stream up just yet but we'll bring it up in a second as it gets going set to announce vaccine requirement indoors in the nation's biggest city. i believe this would be the first of its kind mandate in this country, similar mandates have been put in place at areas overseas. i wondered just initially hearing this, dr. ashby, what your take on this is, and what the impact could be. >> that's a loaded, loaded question. so let me start with the fact that -- >> break it down then. pick apart where you want to go with that, doc. >> let's establish the fact v

kerry sanders in naples, florida for us. kerry, thank you. let's move over to tennessee.that's where we have maura barrett. and here it's the issue of a rising number of hospitalizations among kids. now, put it in context because there's a lot of debate. we're seeing the numbers spike. is it spiked within this small group? are we still looking at 97%, 98%, 99% of kids are fine? or is this something that health officials fear is much bigger than we realize? >> health officials and doctors alike, chuck, are warning there are, quote, scary times ahead when it comes to pediatric cases. that's because 10% of the new cases statewide are actually in children under 10 years old. here in memphis at the le bonheur children's hospital and across the state there's been a 65% increase in pediatric hospitalizations just in the last week across the state there's nearly 40 kids in the hospital with covid. here alone 17 kids, six of them in the icu and two that passed away from covid complications within the last two weeks. so doctors incredibly frustrated because they say it's because of

nbc's kerry sanders reports. snore with the start of the school year under way in many areas, the wheels on the bus are going round and round again, but in many school districts those familiar yellow buses are carrying more kids, traveling further and taking longer rides than ever. >> we would have to combine bus runs so a child that was on a bus run could be 125 minutes but as much as 40. some systems are hitting the relief valve and asking parents to carpool. >> asking parents to be the solution to this problem really isn't the solution. >> reporter: some school districts are now offering lucrative bonuses to lure in drivers, but even that's not doing the trick. >> we're looking to fill 100 driver positions right now. >> reporter: at your last job fair how many people showed up? >> 16. >> we had 16 show up. >> reporter: 16. >> reporter: in some cases school bus drivers who tend to be older are shying away from the job because they are worried being around kids will be exposed covid. >> they can't end up -- >> e

kerry sanders is in miramar, florida, for us, one of the states driving the surge this morning. erry, good morning. >> well, good morning, savannah. right now, 1 in 3 new covid case is coming from texas or right here in florida. and the crisis perhaps best exemplified by memorial hospital miramar where i'm standing right now. this is a new surgery center that was set aside for surgery patients instead, they've decided tha they're going to use it for overflow for covid patients and they may see those covid patients as early as this afternoon. >> reporter: this morning, the virus spread reaching alarming new levels 42 states now seeing infection spikes over 100% in the last two years. the delta variant causing hospitalizations and deaths to surge by double digits nationwide >> if you get sick with the delta variant, we estimate that you could infect about five other unvaccinated people. more than twice as many as the original strain. >> reporter: the cdc says while vaccines are highly effective against delta, breakthrough cases are increasing. south carolina senator lindsey graham

. >>> coming up, kerry sanders has an exclusive tied to one of the bermuda triangle's most enduring mysterieskerry is going to explore it, coming up. but first, your local news >>> a very good morning to you. 8:26 on tuesday morning. i am laura garcia. a vehicle fire putting up a lot of thick, black smoke in the south bay. you may have seen it. video shows it could be an rv or a truck. the fire is burning near 101. no word on cause of the fire. so far it hasn't effected traffic. >>> breaking news, a red flag warning for firefighters as the fire bears down on south lake tahoe. it is approaching kirkwood mountain ski resort. south lake tahoe is under evacuation. containment this morning is back up to 16%. winds in the area could be destructive. in our neck of the woods, things looking better, kari? >> look at the clear blue view over the south bay as that smoke blows away from us. we are looking at improved air quality today. cooler temperatures, headed towards 80 degrees in south bay. hot in antioch. mostly 70s and low 80s for inland areas, 60s near the coast. we'll continue to see breezy wind

hitting the beach and there has been an uptick in shark sightings and in some cases shark attacks >> kerry sandersneighborhood has drones of sharks in their canals behind their homes, apparently kerry, what is happening there >> reporter: good morning. we've seen an uptick in chart sightings and this summer we've seen a number of more reports of shark bites. now, the reason we're seeing more sharks is because patrols from helicopters, drones, jet skis are out looking for sharks so the count is higher but here in long boat key, it's been a real curiosity. as we take a look at the drone shot, it's live television so we don't see the sharks here, but the residents have seen more sharks than they have ever seen in the canals in the past two weeks because the sharks are heading in from the gulf trying to escape the red tide a summer of sharks up and down the eastern seaboard this morning, jordan is recovering after a terrifying incident on ocean city beach last week. >> it felt like something ran into my legs and i ran out and i find blood everywhere. >> reporter: the 12-year-old receiving 42 stitches

nbc's kerry sanders joins us now from one of those battle grounds, florida kerry, good morning. >> reportergood morning, craig. florida reports just in the last week a 24% increase in the number of kids testing positive for coronavirus. so while nationwide children represent a small portion of the overall covid cases, the concern, of course, is that they are seeing these increases and these increases are happening, as you noted, as governors are ordering no mask mandates. it's why some states have decided, despite what hospitals are saying, which is they're needed, they're saying there must be a mask mandate and kids must wear them to protect themselves this morning, the covid crisis accelerating across the south. florida, texas, missouri, and arkansas seeing their largest single-day spike in hospitalizations since the pandemic began still, republican governors in seven states have banned mask mandates president biden calling that counterintuitive >> do you have presidential powers to intervene in states like texas and florida where they are banning mask mandates >> i don't believe that i d

savannah. >> kerry sanders in naples for us. stand monday in his long delayed murder trial. durst is accused of the execution style killing of a close friend at a beverly hills home back in 2000. erin mclaughlin joins us with more on this story. erik, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, craig. legal experts say it's highly unusual for a defendant to testify in a murder trial, but the story of robert durst is anything but ordinary. in court, under oath, durst strongly denied that he's a killer. >> did you kill susan burma? >> no. >> do you know who did? >> no, i do not. >> for two hours, alleged killer robert durst denying any involvement in the december 2000 murder of his close friend, susan burman. the 78-year-old was in a wheelchair, wearing prison clothes, wearing his lawyer's questions off a tablet, because he says he has trouble hearing. >> pause for a second. >> reporter: during his testimony, the defense trying to sow seeds of doubt. durst described a litany of health issues, including bladder cancer and recalled chi

nbc's kerry sanders has the latest. >> reporter: this is kerry sanders in florida where the covid crisis has gone from bad to worse. the florida department of health revealing a single day record, 22,903 covid cases, the third time in a week florida surpassed its all-time high. >> it's overwhelming our staff. >> the spread alarming among children, florida now reporting 179 pediatric cases, this as k through 12 reopens in much of the state. in collier county, masks will be optional. florida governor, ron desantis. >> no mandates in the state of florida. >> we have one ask, wear a mask. >> pediatricians in collier with a message for every parent. >> i'm trying to encourage everybody to please take this delta variant seriously, it is incredibly contagious and our children are getting sick. i can't do this. >> reporter: olivia's two children starts school, she wants them to wear mask because she won't up in the hospital with covid. >> i cannot imagine my kids going through that. i would really just cry. >> reporter: teachers like megan wilkes stuck in the middle. is it difficult to be the te

let's bring in nbc news correspondent kerry sanders from palm beach county. what are you hearing there? >> well, good morning. there's a real debate in the state right now about whether parents can have the schools mandate actual mask wearing because the governor has made it clear, the school boards, the superintendents, they cannot do that and if they do do that they will potentially lose their salaries and, again, that would be the superintendents and the school boards. the real constitutional question here is does the governor have the authority to withhold their salaries and essentially tell them what to do, or as the local home rule in the state of florida, 67 counties the governor has been hammering over and over again that if children are going to be masked that decision will only be made by the parents. it will not be made by the government. this is what the governor here, republican ron desantis had to say yet again on this issue. >> it's a parent's decision. if you believe in the masking during the school, you're free to do it. no one is saying you

kerry sanders is in florida where hospitalizations and deaths are higher now than at any other point in this pandemic in florida. kerry, good morning. >> reporter: craig, not only has the hospitalization rate tripled here in florida in the last month, one in five deaths in hospitals here with covid is happening right here in florida. it's one reason private industry is now trying to get people to get vaccinated. in fact, delta air lines now trying to entice it. 74,000 employees, to get vaccinated, and if they don't, those unvaccinated employees will get hit right in their wallets. with coronavirus cases surging this morning delta air lines is the latest corporation to put pressure on its employees to get vaccinated delta's ceo ed bastian in a memo wednesday announcing unvaccinated employees will face strict, new requirements, including weekly covid testing, and the unvaccinated will also get hit with a $200 monthly health care surcharge, the fee to cover the estimated $50,000 cost per patient for covid hospitalization. bastian writing, "it's necessary to address the financial risk th

kerry sanders from florida this morning. thank you so much. >>> there was a kaiser survey that showed only 3 of 10 americans said full fda approval would make them more likely to get the vaccine. that leaves a lot of people in the country who still, despite the announcement yet, will not get it. >> maybe a mandate will. >>> coming up on "morning joe," dr. anthony fauci will be our guest this morning. plus new york city mayor bill de blasio will join the discussion following his announcement of mandatory vaccinations of all public schoolteachers and staff. >>> and president biden is facing mounting pressure from congress and the international community for extending the deadline for withdrawing troops from afghanistan. >>> you're watching "morning joe," we'll be right back. e," w. ♪♪ i thought i was managing my moderate to severe crohn's disease. then i realized something was missing... ...me. my symptoms were keeping me from being there for her. so, i talked to my doctor and learned humira is the #1 prescribed biologic for p

kerry sanders are out there talking to folks on the ground and how young people are reacting. let's take a quick look at this. >> reporter: what is that is awakening like when they realize it? >> it is tragic for us to see it because at that stage is too late. it is too late to fight this virus. >> that's the front line doctor and that's regarding to those who are not in the worse at risk and on the pool who find out they are in trouble and is too late. >> yeah, it is a terrible tragedy. just imagine we have something that's life-saving for you and you are not willing to take it even though it is free. it is very befudding getting into the head of people who are not willing to take this vaccine despite everything that's being done. i believe it is ben franklin, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. for this, we don't even have the pound of cure. getting that vaccine is so safe. more than 160 million americans have gotten it with very, very few side effects compares to the side effects of covid. long covid, cognitive fog, fatigue -- i mean it really is a no brainer t

and wait until you see how passengers learned about that outbreak kerry sanders joins us live with the latest >>> plus, the shortage of back to school supplies to school supplies vicky wynnas a closer look at h ♪ ♪ i've got nothing to eat. nothing. [crying] hold on, i can do something. ♪turning nothing into something♪ ♪i turned nothing into something♪ it's amazing what you can do with nothing, and a little best foods. >>> good morning. it's 7:26. i'm kris sanchez. here are today's top stories including possible power shutoffs looming in parts of the bay area. >> i'm bob redell, pg&e says it might have to shut off power to dmers napa, solano, sonoma and 13 other counties up north because of concerns of high winds and wildfire danger. the public safety power shutoff would happen tomorrow and affect about 39,000 customers, 27,000 of whom are located in butte and shasta counties and extremely small number of customers in napa, solano and sonoma counties would be impacted. >>> good morning. i'm cierra johnson in san francisco today, the first day of classes for more than 50,000 students in

. >> exactly we got kerry sanders in orlando with more on that.ood morning, it used to be easy to find drivers who wanted to sit in this seat but not so much anymore. nationwide, some school districts are offering $5,000 signing bonuses to get drivers right now with fewer drivers, that means there are fewer buses running. more kids are packed inside and all of that comes at a time when social distancing is more important than ever. with the start of the school year underway in many areas, the wheels on the bus going round and round again. in many districts, those familiar yellow buses are carrying more kids, traveling further, and taking longer rides than ever. >> we would have to combine bus runs you can imagine a child may be on a bus run that used to be 30 minutes, now may be 50 minutes >> reporter: the shortage of qualified drivers forcing some schools to scramble and hitting the relief valve asking parents to carpool >> asking parents to be the solution to this problem really isn't the solution >> reporter: some school districts are now offer

and kerry sanders in sunrise, florida, ahead of this weekend's big monster jam, kerry? >> andrea, as we are seeing hospitals here in south florida overwhelmed with coronavirus patients showing up and needing attention, at the same time we know that with this fourth wave that is under way, americans have tired of being cooped up and want to get out. you can see behind me the monster trucks and this is just one more example of folks trying to live their lives at the same time, living in the time of a pandemic and we have the monster jam event this weekend and the trucks at the bb & t center and there will be fans coming to watch the trucks do what they do at these competitions, at the same time they don't want this to turn into an event where coronavirus is spread throughout the crowd. they will not require folks to wear mask, but will encourage folks to wear masks and come out and realize that we are living in the time of coronavirus. >> the best way to protect children from delta on who can't get vaccinated yet is to get vaccinated yourself. >> the thing they recognize

kerry sanders is in tampa floor, both of them covering real problems that schools are having. mike, let's start with what we're about to hear, that briefing is coming up any moment. all of the top health officials in this administration we're expecting to be there. walk us through what we know about this plan so far. >> well, kris, the officials that we're about to hear from are the same as those that issues this significant recommendation. it is as soon as september 20th. there has been data to show the effectiveness of the vaccines and we're talking in this case about pfizer and moderna waiving over time. the incidents, the production against mild to moderate disease is really beginning to wane among those older populations. what is so significant is that those elderly populations, they would have been the very first to receive those doses when they began really going online eight months ago. and that is significant because the recommendation that they're making is that individuals begin getting that booster shot starting on the eight months from their most recent. the secon

nbc's kerry sanders is in florida. that's the state dealing with one of the country's biggest spikes. kerry, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, hoda. look, as hospitals are struggling to keep up, large scale events like the monster jam with these big trucks will go forward this weekend. we're at the bb&t center here in sunrise. an estimated 20,000 fans will come to attend. masks are not required but they are encouraged. and, of course, health officials and the organizers recognize that large gatherings like this is how the coronavirus spreads. this morning, the highly contagious delta variant is leaving much of the country battling a late summer spike. new cases and hospitalizations are exploding across the south. >> if florida and louisiana were countries and not states, they would be number one and two in the world for the incidence of covid. >> reporter: the strength of the delta variant surprising even moderna president dr. stephen hogue. the cdc director warning of delta's spread. >> our vaccines are working

most of them staff members tested positive and now we're learning one of those people has died kerry sandersest kerry, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. sad news carnival cruise line says the passenger who died, quote, almost certainly did not contract covid on their ship, the vista. the cruise line says the 77-year-old woman was given immediate medical attention, and they then helped provide transportation from belize to a hospital in the united states. the cruise line says because of the sad news, they will be making no more further comments. this morning, the safety of cruise ships, relaunched under the covid era, under scrutiny. according to the "new york times," a 77-year-old woman from oklahoma who tested positive for the coronavirus while sailing on the carnival cruise ship vista to belize has died the woman received medical care on board the ship and was then evacuated from belize back to the united states. the ship departed from galveston, texas, on july 31st we reported on the same carnival cruise last week after 27 cases of covid were uncovered on day four of the eight-day

vin gupta bringing context and clarity to all of the conditions and kerry sanders and barbara ellison, thank you for your great reporting as well. >>> meanwhile, former president barack obama is scaling back his big 60th birthday party. he and his wife had faced some criticism about the extensive guest list with guests like oprah and steven spielberg and pearl jam as the musical group. and today is his 60th birthday. >>> so, today, could firefighters be at risk? we are going to take you inside of a major battle that is bruining. stay with us. out of convenience, or necessity. we can explore uncharted waters, and not only make new discoveries, but get there faster, with better outcomes. with app, cloud and anywhere workspace solutions, vmware helps companies navigate change-- meeting them where they are, and getting them where they want to be. faster. vmware. welcome change. riders, the lone wolves of the great highway. all they need is a bike and a full tank of gas. their only friend? the open road. i have friends. [ chuckles ] well, he may have friends, but he rides alone. that's jer

. >> with us now is nbc's kerry sanders in ft. laulauderdale, florida.th doctors and nurses who have been dealing with the influx in covid patients. what are they saying? >> reporter: one of the things we've wondered are what are the latest numbers. florida governor ron desantis has decided that the dashboard that many states have doesn't need to be released to the public on a daily or hourly basis. rather, it's once a week. we've turned to the florida hospital association to give us their count. i just got an e-mail moments ago that says as of today and including yesterday's numbers there are now 17,001 new covid cases in the state, which is another record. you can see behind me some of this orange that's up. this is a portion of the hospital that is yet under construction. inside, you can see this is an area that was supposed to be a surgical center. it was set up for that purpose, but now because of the overwhelming number of covid cases, they've set aside this area for the overflow of covid patients they see arriving as a result of the fast spreading

joining me now are nbc's dasha burns in johnson city, tennessee, in appalachia, and kerry sanders in florida. first to you, ron desantis fighting this battle for mask mandates at both the local and national level and speaking out again today. >> reporter: indeed, andrea. we are seeing an increase in the number of children with covid up 20% in the state, but the governor says there is no need for a mask mandate. in fact, he's threatened school districts in the state of florida all 67 counties that if they put a mask mandate in he will cut not only the salaries to the superintendents and also to the school board. i'm here in riviera beach. this is in palm beach county. the kids here have been told to wear masks. their parents can opt out. in some of the community in the state they're defying the governor saying no, you must wear masks and there won't be an opt out. the governor says while the numbers are increasing and gives a nod to the fact the percentage of kids that are testing remains the same. so more kids are indeed, also showing at hospitals that they're testing positive for co

kerry sanders live in florida. thank you. programming note for you, this friday msnbc is answering your questions about going back to school during the pandemic. you probably have a ton of those questions. send them via email. we'll have our experts answer as many as they can. that special report is happening this friday 11:00 eastern only here on msnbc. >>> coming up, former u.s. attorney for georgia set to speak with the senate judiciary committee about former president trump's role in trying to overturn the election results. we'll have that after the break. and we're going to our team on the ground in afghanistan as the taliban takeover intensifies. what happens when we welcome change? we can transform our workforce overnight out of convenience, or necessity. we can explore uncharted waters, and not only make new discoveries, but get there faster, with better outcomes. with app, cloud and anywhere workspace solutions, vmware helps companies navigate change-- meeting them where they are, and getting them where they want to

. >> doctor, kerry sanders have been out reporting on this and speaking with medical professionals likef, take a look at some of that. >> governor of florida indicated of the number, and he said it is all a hoax. >> i can tell you what we are seeing in the hospital. the number of patients are unprecedented. that's in black and white. we have more patients in our hospital now than ever before. if you look at the slope of the curve, we are happy to provide you with our census curve. you can see the line is going straight upward. >> that's the chief medical officer at memorial healthcare. doctor, i want to play exactly that because we have viewers in florida like anywhere else. there are things that are debatable and part of our jobs as journalists to be honest of what's unknown and debatable. what we have here on the record verified are the hospitals and the doctors and their leaderships saying it is worse today in florida hospitals because of covid than ever been this year or last year. what does that tell you and what does it tell you of the risk going forward in some of these places th

kerry sanders spoke with the trainer and the man who jumped in to help >> whoa. >> it was a terrifyinger no one saw coming. an 8 1/2 foot alligator attacking the handler in west valley city, utah 367891-year-old lindsay bowles left hand in the grip. the 150 foot reptile known as darth gator would not let go. >> he bit down and i realized, this is going to be serious. the powerful gator dragging her into the enclosure then instinctively thrashing her violently in the water in what's called the death roll. >> we got trouble. >> that's when a father with his stepson quite literally jumped into action. >> what were you thinking? >> i knew if i didn't get in there and pull this animal down, he was going to tear her arm off. >> theresa watched in disbelief as he fearlessly jumped on the gator's back >> it didn't surprise me a whole lot because that's the way he is but i was terrified. >> the 48-year-old construction worker turned gator wrestler held the animal down before it eventually loosened its grip on lindsay's hand allowing her to narrowly escape. it was then just donnie versus the gat

joining me now from two states particularly hard hit our nbc correspondents kerry sanders in hollywood, florida, and nbc news correspondent alison barber in fayetteville, arkansas. kerry, i'll begin with you. yesterday president biden criticized republican governors including florida governor ron desantis the way they have handled the pandemic. take a listen. >> worst of all, some state officials are passing laws or signing orders that forbid people from doing the right thing. i saw to these governors please help. if you're not going to help at least get out of the way. >> so what are you hearing from folks there in florida about the situation on the ground, how it's playing out and certainly in the political word, the president taking aim at florida's governor? >> it's a extremely divided electorate here in florida. there are those patients -- i mean, this real centers around the governor's ruling that he has the sole authority in the state to determine whether people, children, will wear masks when they go back to school next week, and the governor has said not only do i have the sol

i want to dig into all of this and bring in kerry sanders in ft. lauderdale, florida. mayor steve adler is joining us from austin, texas. and from the children's hospital in philadelphia is on the fda vaccine advisory committee so i have a whole lot of questions for you, doctor, if i got the pfizer vaccine and i hear it is only 42% effective, i'm a little freaked out. can you give us some context? how worried should we be? >> not worried. i think what you want from these vaccines you is want them to protect you against moderate severe critical disease. the kind of disease that caused you to seek medical appointment or to go to the hospital or worse. and this vaccine, these vaccines, the mrna and johnson&johnson remain very good at doing that. you can't expect this kind of vaccine also to be highly effective against highly asymptomatic, that's good for the rotovirus or flu vaccine. you can get control of this infection by just having protection against moderate severe critical disease. so i think when people are holding up the bar of trying to get protection against asy

let's bring in nbc news correspondent kerry sanders from palm beach county.te in the state right now about whether parents can have the schools mandate actual mask wearing because the governor has made it clear, the school boards, the superintendents, they cannot do that and if they do do that they will potentially lose their salaries and, again, that

nbc news correspondent kerry sanders has the latest. >> reporter: in florida the new hot bed of the pandemicces overwhelmed by manual calls. >> we have multiple covid patients that want transportation. >> reporter: nationwide more than 100,000 covid patients in hospital icus. the crisis most acute in florida where the hospitalization rate has tripled in just the last month. at tampa general the covid ward at 90% capacity, three times what they have had at the highest point last year. >> it's really just -- it's like nothing i have ever seen. >> reporter: florida hospitals now reporting 90% of those admitted were unvaccinated. >> it feels like it's almost worse than it was when it started last year. the patients we're getting are younger and they're turning sicker much faster. >> reporter: florida's governor today encouraging vaccines, but actively pushing back against mask mandates. >> you just have to understand it's going to be part of life and there's ways to protect yourself on the front end, there's also ways to treat yourself on the back end. >> so far this school year at least 90,000

we have kerry sanders in florida, morgan chesky in houston where it's the first day of school there and then cal perry where the schools are shut down due to the outbreaks. kerry, we saw a doctor walk out protesting the high numbers of folks who are getting admitted into the icus there because they're not vaccinated. how could this affect things, the breaking news that the fda has authorized full approval of the pfizer vaccine? >> what we saw here, doctors are frustrated and they gathered in this parking lot where i am, more than a hundred or so, gathered here to say enough is enough. and this is coming at the same time as you say with the breaking news of the fda eliminating the emergency use authorization, and nows having approval for the pfizer vaccine. some people are saying i don't like the idea of emergency use and now it's fully approved. dr. jennifer butchner is out here and one of the organizers. your patients who have been fence sitting, the ones who said i don't want to get the vaccine how does this become a game changer? >> we hope this alleviates fear in our community and a