so let's bring in our own aerospace expert, tom costello. he is at the launch site near van horn, texas. tom, give us the facts. set the scene for us. who is on board and what should we be watching for on the ground? >> let's be honest, we probably wouldn't be here for the second launch of the blue origin jeff bezos rocket if it weren't for the fact who's on board this rocket. it is, as you mentioned, captain kirk, right? the iconic star fleet captain we all grew with up, at least i grew up with and what a brilliant piece of marketing on behalf of bezos. he is as you mentioned, 90 years old. i was with him last night, and with jeff bezos last night, remarkable. he's in remarkable shape. he is just as bright and smart and witty and funny as he was 40, 50 years ago, and he admits he said it on our air, he's nervous about this flight, and then i said, wait a minute, you battled rom yulens and klingons, and he said yes, but this is the real deal. he's going up, as you mentioned, it's just an 11-minute trip. three to four minutes of weightlessness

tom costello, thank you. >>> let's turn to the covid crisis now in news tonight about johnson & johnson's booster shots. also the timing for vaccinating younger children and easing border restrictions for travelers. gabe gutierrez has the latest >> reporter: tonight the fda is questioning the evidence johnson & johnson provided in its application for booster shots. while fda scientists did say there may be a benefit from a second j&j dose two months after the initial dose, the agency noted the data is limited, saying a key test used by the company was likely not sensitive enough adding the fda didn't have enough time to independently review much of the raw data from the trial ahead of an advisory panel meeting this friday it is not clear whether these concerns would be enough to delay emergency use authorization. >> we have the vaccine supply, and we will be ready to hit the ground running as soon as any additional boosters are authorized >> reporter: and now a new highly anticipated study by the nih shows mixing and matching vaccine boosters is safe and effective. the study added j&j cov

minneapolis, l.a.x., and other hubs taking facial recognition from the curb to the jet bridge tom costello, nbc news, atlanta. >> the future of flying. >>> up next for us, inspiring america with a new campaign to honor your hometown. >>> finally, the pride and powerful memories we share about our hometowns and a new campaign to unite us that's inspiring america. here's anne thompson >> reporter: small or big, near or far, hometowns are what we have in common >> we've got this in our dna. >> reporter: now documentary filmmaker ken burns hopes to unite our divided country in a new social media campaign, encouraging americans to honor your hometown is this designed to be an antidote to the divisiveness on social media? >> yeah, i think so. it's just a way to say, can't we set it all aside for a moment let's be together. >> reporter: the project's enlisted some famous friends to kick off the video submissions. ♪ in my tennessee mountain home ♪ >> reporter: dolly parton sings. >> i'm proud of my hometown >> this is the only hometown where i can do things like this. >> reporter: space station as

lester. >> all right tom costello in atlanta, thank you >>> in just 60 seconds, the moments just before and after alec baldwin fired that deadly shot on a movie set. what we're learning tonight. >>> new details about that fatal movie set shooting with alec baldwin in santa fe, new mexico what happened after the shot was fired according to witnesses and the surviving victim here's miguel almaguer. >> reporter: it was onset during rehearsal when the fatal shot was fired. the cast and crew of "rust" preparing for an old west shoot-out in this church when, according to a search warrant, alex baldwin was given a prop gun declared safe for use. sitting on a wooden pew, baldwin was drawing his weapon and pointing the revolver toward the camera lens the director joel souza who was wounded says he was looking over the shoulder of cinematographer halyna hutchins when he heard what sounded like a whip and then a loud pop. >> reporter: hutchins was shot in the chest and began to stumble backwards. another witness telling investigators she wouldn't feel her legs court documents allege assistant dire

blue origin rocket launch that will carry william shatner on a record-setting ride into space tom costello has more. >> reporter: on the launch pad, the countdown is on hold william shatner and three others, a blue origin employee and two paying passengers now waiting until wednesday for high winds to clear. >> in the back of my mind is jeopardy and i don't mean the quiz. >> reporter: this morning shatner admitted the delay makes him nervous. >> i don't want to be on top of a rocket in 75 mile an hour winds. >> scottie, beam us up fast. >> reporter: hard to believe captain kirk is 90 years old now. >> i'm captain kirk and i'm terrified going to space. >> reporter: his four minutes of weightlessness will make him the oldest person ever to go into space. after 82-year-old wally funk's ride in july now shatner and his team are in the simulator preparing for their 11-minute round-trip >> you are all buckled in and ready to go to space. >> reporter: the same simulator we were in last summer. what really stands out to me is just the size of the window, and you've got six of them in here, right >

the cdc expected now to follow-up shortly with its endorsement tom costello now with late details >> reporter: this afternoon's fda news means hospitals and clinics have just days to prepare for another wave of vaccinations at inova hospital in fairfax, virginia, they're prepping to vaccinate 500 young children each day, even bringing in therapy dogs and star wars characters. how do you make this clinical setting less stressful for kids >> lots of things. we give kids stress balls, things to hang on to, distractions, bringing in costume characters we use the word "poke" instead of shots we let kids sit on mom's lap. we let them watch a video for distraction. >> reporter: with full cdc approval expected soon, needless could be going into young arms as soon as the middle of next week. critical to controlling the pandemic and getting kids back to a more normal life. 28 million 5 to 11-year-olds could be eligible for the shot. already 8,300 children in that age group have been hospitalized with covid. 146 have died. the eighth highest killer pfizer's vaccine offered a nearly 91% efficacy

with the supply chain expected to remain bottlenecked well into 2022 tom costello, nbc news, los angeles. >> there is more to tell you about tonight. up next, women's soccer stars speaking out about allegations of sexual harassment what they are demanding. wanna help kids get their homework done? well, an internet connection's a good start. but kids also need computers. and sometimes the hardest thing about homework is finding a place to do it. so why not hook community centers up with wifi? for kids like us, and all the amazing things we're gonna learn. over the next 10 years, comcast is committing $1 billion to reach 50 million low-income americans with the tools and resources they need to be ready for anything. i hope you're ready. 'cause we are. >>> there is new fallout from the scandal rocking the national women's soccer league. one of the players who's accused a now fired coach of sexual misconduct is speaking out to our morgan radford. >> reporter: the stories are gut-wrenching. >> i want people to know that i was sexually harassed, that i was psychologically manipulated and abuse

and other hubs taking facial recognition from the curb to the jet bridge tom costello, nbc news, atlantapaign to unite the nation by honoring your hometown. >>> and the braves make history in game one of the world series. definitely after meatloaf. like clockwork. do it! run your dishwasher with cascade platinum and save water. did you know an energy star certified dishwasher uses less than four gallons per cycle? while a running sink uses that, every two minutes. that means even small loads can save water. so why not do it? run your dishwasher every night with cascade platinum. the surprising way to save water. hi. so you're the scientist here. does my aveeno® daily moisturizer really make my dry skin healthier in one day? it's true jen. this prebiotic oat formula moisturizes to help prevent dry skin. impressive. aveeno® healthy. it's our nature.™ new daily moisture for face. you can't control what happens when they leave home, but you can control breakfast. and with 48 grams of whole grains, whether they've got dodgeball- or a talent show- or a jammed locker- we'll be there, cheering t

nbc's tom costello has the details. >> reporter: from checking out at the grocery store to filling upe gas pump we're all digging deeper in our wallets with prices on just about everything trending higher. inflation for september matched june and july, the highest levels in 13 years. billionaire investor paul tudor jones warns it is likely here to stay. >> it is probably the single biggest threat to certainly financial markets and again probably i think society just in general. >> reporter: a gallon of gas now averages $3.36 up 17 cents in a month. and $1.20 over the past year since the pandemic recession. the price of a used car has trended down in recent months but still a 24% spike from last year. it is a similar situation in grocery stores. >> i'm on social security so i have to be very frugal on what i buy especially now. the prices are really up. really high. >> reporter: in the past year a gallon of milk is up 14 cents on average. a nearly 50 cent increase for a dozen eggs. more than 60 cents for a pound of ground beef. >> i've noticed everything going up even if it is like 20

with the supply chain expected to remain bottlenecked well into 2022 tom costello, nbc news, los angeles. >> there is more to tell you about tonight. up next, women's soccer s what they are demanding. >>> there is new fallout from the scandal rocking the national women's soccer league. one of the players who's accused a now fired coach of sexual misconduct is speaking out to our morgan radford. >> reporter: the stories are gut-wrenching. >> i want people to know that i was sexually harassed, that i was psychologically manipulated and abused >> reporter: the women of u.s. soccer speaking out against paul riley, saying the former coach victimized them. two of his former players, mana shim and sinead farrelly, breaking their silence, supported by their friend and former u.s. women's national captain, alex morgan >> mana, what made you speak out now? >> when sinead told me her story, i immediately knew we had to do something. i called alex right away and said we have to push this story because it'll save people. >> were you at all scared when you were told what had happened >> in the moment

tom costello has more tonight. >> reporter: on a houston runway this morning, moments of sheer terror >> it is a passenger airplane >> reporter: it happened just after 10:00 a.m., a private passenger plane fully engulfed in flames at houston's executive airport as emergency teams quickly converged on the scene. >> 19 people onboard, possibly 21 people onboard. there are multiple people off the plane >> reporter: amazingly, everyone escaped. 3 crew members and 18 passengers the youngest, a 10-year-old child. two people suffered minor injuries >> they were stunned they were very, very stunned but they did all self-extricate we can't tell you how they did that. >> reporter: authorities say the plane, and md-87 registered to a local investment firm, was thought to be headed to boston for the playoff game between the astros and red sox, but the plane never got off the ground >> the airplane rolled down the runway, struck an actual fence, and from there became disabled. >> reporter: the plane involved, 34 years old. no u.s. airline still flies the md-80 series of planes. the cause of today'

lester >> tom costello, thanks. >>> now to our series vote watch less than a year after victories in georgia gave democrats complete control of congress, republicans are on the verge of taking over election operations in the state's biggest democratic stronghold. geoff bennett explains why. >> reporter: tonight a new election showdown in georgia with the state's republican-led election board inching closer to potentially taking over elections in atlanta's fulton county, a democratic stronghold thanks to a provision in georgia's controversial new voting laws. democrats say it is only happening because georgia delivered close victories for president biden and two democratic senators last year. >> we will deliver georgia and fulton county for senator warnock again. so that's why there is focus, there is emphasis on continuing to criticize fulton county and our elections. >> reporter: but republicans, including top election officials, secretary of state brad raffensperger say state oversights will boost voter confidence. >> we never had that accountability issue before where we could rep

tom costello, nbc news, washington. >> our thanks to tom costello. >>> still aheader the dodgers makeomeback. plus, the red sox tie up the series against the astros. we'll have all the mlb reports. d before it starts, for all-day, all-night protection. can you imagine 24 hours without heartburn? (burke) i've seen this movie before. f(woman)day, all-niyou have?ction. (burke) sure, this is the part where all is lost and the hero searches for hope. then, a mysterious figure reminds her that she has the farmers home policy perk, guaranteed replacement cost. and that her home will be rebuilt, regardless of her limits or if the cost of materials has gone up. (woman) that's really something. (burke) get a whole lot of something with farmers policy perks. wait, i didn't ruin the ending, did i? (woman) yeah, y-you did. ♪ we are farmers. bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪ alberto and i don't fit into those other family plans. that's why we love visible. yeah, it's wireless with unlimited data and if you join a group it's as low as $25/mo. just get together and save! we look goooood! visible. wireles

tom costello was in texas for today's voyage. >> two, one. >> reporter: against a cloudless sky, swagger and confidence on full display today. as jeff bezos' blue origin carried a beloved icon. within minutes 90-year-old william shatner became the oldest person ever to go to space, weightless for nearly four minutes with his three fellow passengers, blue origins' audrey powers and chris boshuizen and glen de vries, who each paid an estimated $250,000 to fly. >> this is nuts! >> no description could beat this. >> reporter: it was a quick trip. soon the booster rocket was landing back on the pad while shatner and team parachuted to a soft landing. >> and the capsule touched down. >> reporter: one of the world's richest men opening the hatch. jeff bezos grew up a star trek and captain kirk fan and invited shatner to fly. but for shatner this was far more than a ten-minute joyride. >> what you have given me is the most profound experience i have ever had. i'm so filled with emotion about what just happened. i hope that i can maintain what i feel now. i don't want to lose it. >> reporter: soo

>> you, tom costello. talk to us about who's onboard besides william shatner. >> you talked about audrey power, who is a pilot, but not a nasa-trained astronaut, by any means. a veteran of blue origin. she will be the last person to board the space capsule. they board from the highest seat numbered down. so six, five, four, three, two, one. they've only got four people onboard. and william shatner just boarded a few minutes ago. and chris bosshousen. she's the cofounder of planet labs, and glen de vries, and a cofounder of meta data. those two guys allegedly paid about $250,000 each. what they're doing now, strapping in, they have practiced dozens of times. over and over and over again, because they don't want to screw up, right? and one of the biggest challenges is, it's easy enough to strap in before you launch. the challenge is going to be once you're actually at altitude and you're in space, unstrap, get out of your harness, you've got three minutes to float. and then quickly jump back in and harness b

tom costello explains in the price you pay. >> reporter: 430 million pieces of mail move through theevery day. starting today prices are going up, delivery times going down while 70% of first class mail will still be delivered within three days, mail going longer distances, especially coast to coast, could take up to five days for delivery as airmail shifts to ground delivery. the most affected zip codes, those on the edges of the country, including florida, texas and states west of the rocky mountains, slowing down delivery for some of the four million prescriptions that are mailed each day. meanwhile, we'll also be paying up to $5 more in postage to send packages through the holidays. >> my customers aren't going to like it. >> reporter: small business owners worry about the impact. >> it would have a drastic impact on me because i'm already having problems with delays or lost shipments >> reporter: many postal customers aren't surprised. >> anticipate there is going to be more. >> a pay increase, i support, but as long as the service is good and there is no delays in the mail. >>

it makes their insecurities snowball at a time when they're very vulnerable. >> thanks to tom costellomportant story. >>> still ahead, the hip-hop show out of the decade. we'll take a look at the lineup when "way too early" comes back in just a minute. up when "way too early" comes back in just a minute what's the #1 retinol brand used most by dermatologists? it's neutrogena® rapid wrinkle repair® smooths the look of fine lines in 1-week, deep wrinkles in 4. so you can kiss wrinkles goodbye! neutrogena® (vo) at t-mobile for business, unconventional thinking means we see things differently, so you can focus on what matters most. whether it's ensuring food arrives as fresh as when it departs. being first on the scene, when every second counts. or teaching biology without a lab. we are the leader in 5g. #1 in customer satisfaction. and a partner who includes 5g in every plan, so you get it all. without trade-offs. unconventional thinking. it's better for business. hi, i'm steve and i live in austin, texas. i work as a personal assistant to the owner of a large manufacturing firm. i've got

william shatner, a member of the crew we have tom costello there in position to report it all. >>> plus, new guidelines from the fda slashing the amount of salt in food and they could impact nearly everything you eat. exclusive details, straight ahead. >>> the u.s. set to announce plans to reopen the borders with canada and mexico, but only to certain travelers. nbc national correspondent miguel almaguer with the details this morning good morning >> reporter: savannah, good morning. our nation's borders to the north and south will soon be back in business, but travelers will be required to prove they're vaccinated another safety measure in place amid a push to vaccinate more people here in the u.s., as well this morning, america signaling it's open for business from across the border again. the white house says it will lift a 19-month ban for foreign travelers crossing land borders from canada and mexico, but only for visitors who can prove they're fully vaccinated the announcement paving the away for nonessential purposes, including separated families and tourists to breathe life into

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we get the story tonight from nbc's tom costello, off the coast of california.s for port police as the backed up -- comes into view. from the air, a stunning 76 ships, headed for the ports of l.a. or long beach now sit idle. extending 40 miles out into the ocean. everywhere you look, there is a ship just sitting out here on the water. just one clog in the supply chain that extends across the ocean to asia. leaving some u.s. store shelves empty of key products, from toys, to clothing, to electronics, to furniture, to car parts. a typical ship carries 14,000 containers and in each container about $100,000 worth of merchandise. for right now, this ships are sitting going nowhere, stuck for ten days. >> it's not just for california, new york sports are also backed up. shipping costs are soaring and there aren't enough truck drivers to move products off the docks. the problem, asian manufacturing has slowed to a trickle during covid, now it's struggling to keep up with americas exploding consumer demands. jeanne chirac a, runs the port of los angeles. >> we're buying

tom costello will walk us through how the technology works on the "today" show. >>> a 13-year-old beingiled a vaccine hero in the north bay. when he was in kindergarten, he became the face of mandatory childhood vaccinations during the 2015 measles outbreak. he had leukemia and was not able to get the standard vaccination. but he inspired others to get their shots and keep him safe. yeah, his story led california lawmakers to pass senate will 277 so parents can claim a personal belief vaccination. >> it's not just for the 200,000 people here, it's for the entire state affecting a lot more people and keeping a lot more people safe. >> a different perspective for you. >> marin county is the most highly vaccinated county in california at 93%. >> when i first saw that, i was, like, let me check that again because they were so anti-vaccine. >> yeah. >>> next on "today in the bay," we're tracking your commute and forecast. meteorologist, kari hall, will have details for us. >>> and then the giant hurdle passed for school kids getting the vaccine. we'll be right back. >>> i suspect once people

our report tonight from nbc news correspondent tom costello. >> reporter: on capitol hill facebook andmnation. >> facebook knows that its services are actively harming young children. >> how can we or parents or anyone trust facebook? >> have you quantified how many children have taken their own lives because of your products? >> reporter: facebook's head of global safety appearing remotely and on the defensive. after the "wall street journal" revealed internal facebook research found one in three teenage users said instagram has contributed to their own body image issues, eating disorders, anxiety and depression. among teens who had suicidal thoughts, 13% of british users and 6% of american users traced those thoughts to instagram use. though facebook insists far more teens benefit from the social connections. >> more of them found their engagement on instagram helpful than harmful. >> reporter: but 20-year-old grace park believes the constant instagram posts contributed to her own anxiety and eating disorder in high school. >> everyone else is way skinnier and way prettier and had ni

tom costello, nbc news, atlanta. >> by the way, what could go wrong with those kiosks?us, what happened in this room today that caused such instant and intense outrage? >>> we've been talking about climate change as a future problem instead of a present one. >> the reality is the humanitarian crisis is going to spill over. >> because, yes, marches and protests can spark change, but so can money. racism is not good for business, and that's been proven time and time again. are you taking a statin drug to reduce cholesterol? it can also deplete your coq10 levels. i recommend considering qunol coq10 along with your statin medication. the brand i trust is qunol. at heinz, every ketchup starts with our same tomatoes. but not every tomato ends in the same kind of heinz ketchup. because a bit of magic unfolds when there's a ketchup for everyone. >>> last thing before we go tonight. kyrsten sinema is back in the news and getting talked about a lot tonight, which always seems kind of fine with kyrsten sinema. tonight she and her wing man joe manchin have had meetings in the offic

tom costello said it earlier. this was a stroke of marketing genius on the part of blue origin, and it certainly was. william shatner said over and over, every person on earth deserves to experience this. what really stood out was -- we mentioned this before. he is passionate about the environment. he's passionate about preserving planet earth, and he talked about the fragility of it and how you can really feel it and see it in that moment when you're staring back at earth. it's funny, the comment he made was almost identical to what jeff bezos said after his launch back in july. certainly inspirational to see william shatner, an icon to so many, a person who inspired so many children to study science and technology, and dream of going into space. he just did it and spoke of it as the greatest experience of his life. i mean, he was brought to tears. may, what did you think of that reaction? it had to resonate with you. you've experienced it yourself. >> i was really excited. i thought he did a really excellent job

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of our system. >> reporter: the first flights lifting off in about two years for the news, i'm tom costelloate 47634.44, the date that william shatner is set to launch into space. for you non-trekkies that's next tuesday. he's heading up on the blue shepherd rocket, courtesy of team jeff bezos. this morning on the "today" show he said he can't wait to see earth from a whole new perspective. >> i've got to think that once it's done, once i've been into space and seen the universe and seen our earth and the contrast between that hostility and this warmth and how important it is to keep the earth alive so that we don't wreck it, we human beings don't wreck it, that contrast in all of that is so dramatic to me. >> mccoy, it's science william shatner set to join blue origin's vice president of mission flight operations and two paying customers on the trip he will become the oldest person to travel to space and boldly go where a bunch of astronauts and a handful of super rich people have gone before shatner won't even be the first actor up there russia launched an actor, a director and one cosmon

here's nbc's tom costello. >> reporter: the countdown is on for yet another tourist view of mother earthrocket, this is a slow ride to the edge of space. inside a pressurized capsule hanging beneath a massive helium balloon. now laid out at tucson's >> spaceport. if you were to stretch this entire balloon out, how big would it be? >> tom, this balloon would fit a football stadium on the inside. >> reporter: that big? >> that big. that's what it takes to take 10,000 pounds to the stratosphere. >> reporter: that's 100,000 feet up it's not space passengers won't go weightless, but the view will be spectacular inside a first-class cabin complete with massive windows, wi-fi, even a bar and restroom ryan hartman is the ceo. >> what you'll be able to see at the edge of space is the curvature of earth against the backdrop of space. so you'll see the stars in broad daylight you're going to see the full curvature of the earth >> release, release, release >> reporter: a very different trip than the rocket rides that richard branson's virgin galactic and jeff bezos' blue origin are selling >> oh, my

. >> good afternoon, i'm tom costello. they've got 76 of these massive container ships right now stuck, going nowhere, a massive log jam out here in the pacific ocean as ships coming in from asia simply can't get into the port. that means some of what you want to buy and is not in the stores may be inside those containers. the question is will they have those supplies in the stores in time for the holidays? coming from this police boat, an example of what the backlog is doing to the entire supply chain and what they're doing to try to alleviate it. >> that's a lot of product right there. you can watch tom and the entire report on "nightly news" beginning at 6:30. >>> new and discouraging data on california's air quality. california's increasing number of wildfires are making those spare the air days add up. today the california public interest research group, or calpirg, is calling it trouble in the air. millions of californians breathe levels of pollution that could put their health at risk. >> 38.6 million californians,

lied to the american public about their company's roles in climate change we get more now from tom costello >> reporter: on the virtual hot seat today, oil company executives challenged for the first time ever on their company's histories of spreading disinformation about big oil's role in climate change. >> it is time for the fossil fuel industry to finally change its ways >> reporter: presented as evidence, this video of an exxon lobbyist secretly recorded by greenpeace activists which they say shows how exxon tries to undermine climate control policies. >> did we aggressively fight against some of the science? yes. >> reporter: for decades, democrats say oil execs have denied or downplayed a climate change link, despite their own internal research showing the fossil fuel connection. but today every oil company executive acknowledged the industry does indeed contribute to climate change >> climate change is real and the use of fossil fuels contributes to it. >> this is a defining challenge for our generation, absolutely. >> reporter: but the executives deny engaging in disinformation to f

here's tom costello. >> reporter: on capitol hill, facebook and its instagram app under blistering bipartisan condemnation. >> facebook knows that its services are actively harming young children. >> how can we or parents or anyone trust facebook? >> have you quantified how many children have taken their own lives because of your products? >> reporter: facebook's head of global safety appearing remotely and on the defensive after "the wall street journal" revealed internal facebook research found 1 in 3 teenage users says instagram has contributed to their own body image issues, eating disorders, anxieties and depression 13% of british users and 6% of american users trace those thoughts to instagram use. though facebook insists far more teens benefit from the social connections. >> more of them found their than harmful. >> reporter: but 20-year-old grace park believes the constant instagram posts contributed to her own anxiety and eating disorder in high school. >> everyone else is way skinner and way prettier and has nicer clothes, and that also hurt my own self-confidence about my own body

their flight to the final frontier he was at a loss of words after returning from space nbc news' tom costello has more. >> 3, 2, 1 >> reporter: against a cloudless sky, swagger and confidence on bold display, as jeff bes so blue origin carried a beloved star icon star trek captain william shatner, captain kirk. he was weightless with three fellow passengers. blue origins audra powers and they each paid an estimated $250,000 to fly. >> no description could equal this. >> reporter: it was a quick trip soon the booster rock was landing back on the pad. while shatner and team paradoubted to a soft landing. >> and the capsule touched down. >> reporter: one of the world's richest men opening the hatch. jeff bezos drew up a star trek and captain kirk fan and invited him to fly for shatner, this was much more than a ten-minute joyride. >> what you have given me is the most profound experience i can ever have. i am so filled with emotion about what just happened i hope that i can maintain what i fell if you. i don't want to lose it. >> reporter: son after, we caught up with him on the landing pad. bil

our tom costello now on what could be a very troubling sign ahead of the busy holiday travel season. >> reporter: five days after the meltdown began -- >> are there any seats -- >> reporter: -- southwest was mostly back on schedule today, canceling just 89 flights after cutting nearly 2,500 since friday forcing hundreds of thousands of angry passengers to miss their flights. >> it was horrible we had a flight friday morning at 7:00 a.m. that was canceled due to crew issues we were delayed 12 hours getting out of orlando to get to chicago. >> i was kind of scared this morning that our flight was going to be canceled >> reporter: southwest ceo gary kelly >> obviously, i really feel for our customers. >> reporter: again today blamed the trouble on weather-related airport ground stops in florida last friday >> by the end of the day we had significant numbers of airplanes and flight crews that were totally out of position >> reporter: but while other airlines recovered quickly, it took southwest until today to catch up. through the summer many airlines struggled to handle the unexpected s

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tom costello now has the latest. >> reporter: it is a critical development for the 28 million 5 to 11-year-olds potentially eligible for a covid vaccine. pfizer today said its vaccine is nearly 91% effective in preventing symptomatic covid for that age group. now the fda will meet next week to consider giving its approval. >> plenty of children get seriously ill if you go to pediatric hospitals throughout the country. so although the incidents of severe disease is less, we still want to protect the children. >> reporter: meanwhile, the cdc has now officially cleared all vaccine booster shots. here's what you need to know. if you received your second moderna or pfizer vaccine more than six months ago, you're eligible for a booster if you're at least 65 years old or you live in a long-term care facility or you have underlying medical conditions or you live or work in a high-risk location pregnant women are also encouraged to get a booster. >> if you are among the 15 million americans who received the one-shot johnson & johnson vaccine and it's been at least two months, you can get a boo

clearly than right off the coast of california where massive container ships are stuck in place >> tom costellothe mess. >> yeah. it is a mess you know, the port of los angeles is the country's biggest and busiest. just south of us here is the port of long beach so these two ports are completely jammed up ships backed up out into the pacific ocean. it comes down to exploding consumer demand here in the united states, insufficient capacity to manufacture what we want in asia, not enough ships, not enough trucks, not enough truck drivers to get it to the store near you. >> off the coast of los angeles, the reason you're paying more for everyday items and perhaps struggling to find some in the store, a vital parking lot in the pacific. container ships, mostly from asia, stretching across the horizon. to get an up close view, we rode along with marine 12. it didn't take long. the radar suddenly filled with ships. that's it right here. they're right outside the outer harbor. 76 ships waiting for up to ten days each to enter the port of los angeles or nearby long beach. everywhere you look, there's a

on everything from gas to food and it is all happening as we head into this busy holiday season tom costello joins us with more on this. tom, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. make no mistake, they are, in fact, connected. inflation connected to that stretched supply chain from main street usa to youre supply chain and soaring inflation. they are driving up prices on everything from gas to food. it's all happening as we head into this busy holiday season. tom costello joins us with more on this. good morning local grocery store, your shopping mall, gas station, we're seeing this across the country, consumer price index up 5.5% in september. that's an indication of where prices are going and experts say they see no sign it's going to turn around soon >> reporter: from checking out at the grocery store to filling up at the gas pump, we're digging deeper in our wallets with prices on just about everything trending higher inflation for september matched june and july, the highest levels in 13 years billionaire investor warns it's likely here to stay. >> it's probably the single biggest th

in to talk more about the 90-year-old captain kirk's historic flight is nbc news correspondent tom costello and san -- >> yeah. >> between san antonio and el paso. nothing else out there. >> yeah. and that's about all there is out here is a truck stop. it's a pretty small footprint here in west texas. joe, you and i are about the aim aim age, and "star trek" what was a bfd for us when we were kids, captain kirk and romulus, it was a big thing. to see captain kirk take off later, 10:00 a.m. eastern time is the launch. 9:00 a.m. central time. right now, all systems are go. >> reporter: if jeff bezos and his blue origin team had hoped to generate even more buzz than their successful first flight, who better for that mission than the man who played the iconic captain kirk. >> that will give us warp speed. >> reporter: if there's anything special you want to do kind of play tribute to all of those years playing captain kirk. >> the thing i really want to do? come back down. >> reporter: 90-year-old william shatner, and blue origin executive and two who paid. >> i can't think of a better ambassad

tom costello has more. >> reporter: it's a critical development for the 28 million 5 to 11-year-oldsor that age group. they will meet next week to consider getting its approval. >> plenty of children get seriously ill if you go to pediatric hospitals throughout the country. so though the incidence of severe disease is less, we still want to protect the children. >> reporter: meanwhile the cdc has cleared all vaccine booster shots. here's what you need to know. if you received your pfizer or moderna vaccine at least six months ago you're eligible if you're 65 years old, live in a long-term care facility, are at high risk, or work in a high-risk location. if you're one of the americans who received one johnson & johnson vaccine, you can get a booster regardless of your age. >> there may be some people who might prefer another vaccine over the one that they received and the currentc dc recommendations make that possible. >> in d.c. this 76-year-old works at a clinic, putting him at risk for a breakthrough covid. he wants another moderna dose. >> i want to protect my family, co-workers,

how about riding a massive balloon to the edge of space tom costello with one company's looking at anion complete with wi-fi, even a bar sign me up >>> also, it's the biggest story in the media world right now the large and swift collapse of ozy media. its ceo and co-founder carlos watson is going to join us live to talk about what happened and what's next for the company. but first, this is "today" on nbc. and there you have it- woah. wireless on the most reliable network nationwide. wow. -big deal! ...we get unlimited for just 30 bucks. sweet, i get that too and mine has 5g included. that's cool, but ours save us serious clam-aroonies. relax people, my wireless is crushing it. that's because you all have xfinity mobile with your internet. it's wireless so good, it keeps one upping itself. >>> just ahead, oprah, maria, hoda, enough said after your local news harm it? but now, flight by flight, we can make a difference. because delta has committed to becoming the world's first carbon-neutral airline on a global basis. we believe you shouldn't have to choose between seeing the world, a