music] in 1965, i worked for [indistinct] sturgill coal company, the first big strippers here in eastern kentuckyutting some trees and got our tools and this young guy comes up, about my age, maybe a little younger, and he says, "my grandmother doesn't want you cutting her trees." i start to say something back, "well, you know the company sent, i mean, they've sent us up here to do this, what do you mean?" and that was the widow combs' property. [light music] that year at thanksgiving, she was arrested by the kentucky state police for stopping them from strip-mining her land and as i've always heard it was land that she was leaving to her grandson. it's just mind boggling, but i was one of the first three people run off of the widow combs' land [chuckling]. - [reporter] for 20 years mining has destroyed this country on the borders of tennessee and kentucky, but in the mountains the people have begun to fight. - every time i'd complain about the blasting, the superintendent said to me one day, he said, "do you realize that you're bitin' the hand that feeds ya?" and i said, "yeah, but i also realiz

. >>> two school districts in eastern kentucky canceled in-person cases due to uptick in covid-19, respiratory. attendance had dropped more than 82% less than two weeks ago when classes started and class members were sick as well. here in atlanta, morris brown college announced this week that it was implementing a two-week mask mandate and other mitigation protocols after reports of covid cases among students. now, officials expect updated covid-19 vaccines to be available to the general public by mid-september. cnn's meg terrell has more on the coronavirus threats emerging around the u.s. >> well, we know that cdc's group of outside advisers is planning to meet on september 12th to talk about and recommend the updated covid shots for the fall. that always happens after the fda has a already signed off on the vaccine. so that's expected to happen around that time frame. after that, the cdc director will likely accept that recommendation and the vaccines will start to become available in pharmacies. we're talking about that sort of middle week of september, around september 12th. the few days a

. >>> two school districts in eastern kentucky are cancelling classes less than two weeks after the starthool because of upticks in cases of covid-19 and other respiratory illnesses. the lee county school district said attendance had dropped by 81% by early this week before classes were moved online. in georgia, morris brown college this week said it was implementing a two-week mask mandate for students and staff after it received reports of positive cases among students. with me is dr. matthew, a primary care physician and public health specialist. so how worried should people be about this uptick in what they believe to be covid-19 cases? >> unfortunately we're in a surge. that's not unexpected. it is scorching hot out there. i'm a tennis player. i can't play tennis until 8:00 at night. so people are hanging out indoors. people are not getting tested. that's how the virus gets transmitted. this summer surge is not unexpected, but he shwe should aware of it. >> covid-19 has changed and evolved so much over the course of the past few years. there was a moment where everyone thought, okay,

the study and there are two of those studies one is the lake in upstate new york and other is eastern kentucky and i provided the website there for you to look that up to see how the processes going and iar will leave it with there are people in the program that are here to answer questionsal and there's the regional coordinators in that heritage area program and peter samuel and alisa in north carolina as part of the region. there is a website and instagram if you want to learn more. now we will go to the manager of the great dismal swamp national wildlife refuge. he began working with fish and wildlife in 1992 and has been in virginia since 2001. since 2007 has been the manager at the great dismal swamp national wildlife refuge in the eastern u.s. i will turn it over to you. good to go. thank you for the opportunity. good afternoon everybody. it's a privilege to be part of this showcase in national heritage area for the great dismal swamp landscape and the area. i want to see if we found the highlights of the refugees. many people know about the natural resource significance and more and mor

so in eastern kentucky, two school districts actually canceled in-person classes this week after morene of the districts reporting an 82% decrease in attendance last friday. but relief could be coming soon. we have cnn medical correspondent meg terrell joining us on this story. meg, when exactly will the vaccine updates be available? >> so it's coming pretty soon. we understand that cdc's group of outside advisers is scheduled to meet on september 12th to talk about recommending the covid vaccines for the fall. that always happens after the fda has signed off on these. so that's expected to happen around the same time. and once the cdc director accepts the recommendation, these will starts to become available. we're talking about perhaps that week around september 12th, by the end of that week folks can start going out to their pharmacies. these updated vaccines target a single strain of one of the more recent circulating variants called xbb.1.5. the currently dominant circulating variant is called eg5 it represents about 20% of cases in the u.s., at least that's the estimate as of a

now one is the finger lakes in upstate new york, and the other is the kentucky wildlands in eastern, kentuckyve provided the websites there for you to look that up to see more information on how that process is going. and i'll just leave it that note. there are multiple people in the program that are here if you have further questions myself and susan taylor in the washington office, and then there's regional coordinators as part of that heritage area program. and one is peter samuel who's in the philadelphia office. and virginia is part of that region. and then alisa kun susan or atlanta office and north carolina is part of that region and there's our website and our instagram if you want to learn more thank you. all right. thank you elizabeth, and now we will go to chris lowey. who is the refuge manager at the great dismal swamp national wildlife refuge. chris began working with fish and wildlife in 1992 has been in virginia since 2001. and since 2007 has been the refuge manager at the great dismal swamp national wildlife refuge. one of the largest refugees in the eastern us chris turned ov

guest: i grew up in eastern kentucky, my father was a preacher. so i grew up in a coal mining town. the coal mining town was very poor. the farm town was a farm town, i worked on farms. it was nice. i grew up in the 1950's, it might as well have been the 1750's, compared to now. you have all of the jobs, i worked on farms, i would cut tobacco for one dollar an hour during the season in august and september. i found after those jobs -- i knew what i wanted when i grew up, which was to have an office job. it was so hard. it was healthy growing up, then i got scholarships to good schools and got lucky, got this job at the national lab with very smart people. i have had a lot of luck in life , my father was very influential in guiding me in terms of my values and where i went to school and such. being the son of a minister does somewhat deter you from being too religious, because you see the dark side of it as well as the good side of it. host: what does a vice chair of covington in berlin do? caller: i had started a business law firm in new york city that merged with covington 20 some

today be weather aware eastern kentucky, western virginia, washington, d.c., delaware and south jerseynd shine in detroit. the beautiful river walk there has been voted number one in the u.s. for three years running. that's where we're going to find ike ejiochi this morning. good morning, ike. >> reporter: good morning, guys. we are on the detroit river front with just a couple new friends that i have made. how are you doing, guys? we doing all right? [ cheers ] now, listen. detroit is known as the motor city, but we elected to use pedal power to check out something else detroit is known for. and that is pizza. let's take a look. square, thick, and crispy. that's how detroit does pizza. people put their heart into this pizza. it's been ours forever. >> reporter: detroiter jason knows pizza, taking slice lovers to all his favorite spots. >> we joke detroit used to be the motor city. now we're the motorless city. we are moving to bike. >> reporter: the tours have made him a local celebrity, serving up stories with each slice. >> we ride past some cultural elements or historical elements

the risk stretches from eastern tennessee and kentucky to the southern part of the northeast. the main threats are damaging wind gusts, isolated tornadoes and large hail. >>> we're following developments out of ukraine where at least three people have been injured in russian missile and drone attacks on the southern refugees on of odessa. multiple fires were sparked. and the foreign ministry is condemning russia's actions in the black sea after russia defense ministry said one of its warships fired warning shots. to get into this, clare sebastian is joining us with more. what more have we heard from the sources about the overnight attacks on odesa? >> yeah, owe dedesa has had mul attacks. and they seem to be targeting the ports. this team we're seeing debris from missiles, air force saying it shot down some 15 attack drones. but if you look at the pictures, extraordinary to think that that is caused by debris alone. the air force describing it as an anti aircraft battle. they are not ruling out that ports could have been targeted, but three people injured. looked like that the

host: calls at 202-748-8000 for eastern and central time zone, 202-748-8001, the mountain and pacific region. first to louisville, kentucky, and chris is on the line. caller: good morning, how are you doing? host: fine, thanks. caller: is it mawe? guest: my-ay, yes. caller: i'm torn on how you're going about this. but in my own life, i'm a 72-year-old american born african and in my lifetime, i'm a vietnam veteran and blah, blah, blah but in my lifetime i've been a homeowner the majority of my life because my grandfather instilled that in all his children and grandchildren and used to have a saying and the saying was, it's better to own the shack than rent a palace. he instilled in all of us the importance of ownership. but i'll be succinct with this, but myself i see where i've been a homeowner the majority of my life but as i'm sitting here now my home has been played off a long time and all that. but i can get -- i have a standing prequalified loan from chase bank of $25,000 any time i want it to buy a vehicle. but if i want to get a loan for some property, that's a whole other thing. and those are the type of disparit

eastern right here on msnbc. coming up next, the adjustments being made after a new a.i. powered bus route in kentuckythe community. we'll be right back. ight back. (fan #1) there ya go! that's what i'm talkin' about! (josh allen) is this your plan to watch the game today? (hero fan) uh, yea. i have to watch my neighbors' nfl sunday ticket. (josh allen) it's not your best plan. but you know what is? myplan from verizon. switch now and they'll give you nfl sunday ticket from youtubetv, on them. (hero fan) this plan is amazing! (josh allen) another amazing plan, backing away from here very slowly. (fan #1) that was josh allen. (fan #2) mmhm. (vo) for a limited time get nfl sunday ticket from youtubetv on us. a $449 value. plus, get a free samsung galaxy z flip5. only on verizon. (♪♪) rsv can be a dangerous virus... [sneeze] ...for those 60 and older. it's not just a cold. and if you're 60 or older... ...you may be at increased risk of hospitalization... [coughing] ...from this highly... ...contagious virus. not all dangers come with warning labels. talk to your pharmacist or doctor... ...about getting v

that is the phone line for the eastern and central time zones. (202) 748-8001, the mountain and pacific region. we will go first to louisville, kentuckythe line. caller: mr. maye, i see you and your name, and i am happy to see you. i am torn about how to go about this. i will go with what you are talking about, the economic policy. i am a 72-year-old american-born african and in my lifetime -- i am a vietnam veteran. in my lifetime i have been a homeowner the majority of my life because my grandfather, he used to have a saying. the saying was it is better to own the shack than to rent a palace. he instilled that indwell of us, the important -- into all of us, the importance of ownership. i have been a homeowner the majority of my life. my house has been paid off for a long time. i have a standing, prequalified loan from chase bank for $25,000 anytime i want it to buy a vehicle, but if i want to get a loan for a property, that is a whole different thing. those of the kinds of disparities we face all the time, even in our own community. i have lived here for 30-something years. most of the homes around me are either section eight or the

eastern as usual. daniel is in tennessee, democrat, good morning. caller: good morning, john. first of all, i'm sitting here in between the state line of tennessee and kentuckyi'm listening to the show, this program, and just think of this program was required listening for several days prior to the election. i think that would be a good thing. i listen to this program to inform myself, not just to affirm some belief i have as she was alluding to. she alluded to the demise of journalism and she was spot on on that. they are racial in texas, thank you, dear, for what you said. barbie in tennessee, thank you for making me feel like i'm not alone. let me tell you a short story i experienced a couple days ago in town. i was working with a local businessman for a few days and we were taking a break and has most people do they kind of looked down at the phone quite often and are doing this and that. the general discussion about the predicament we are in with china , and the gentleman said china owns 46% of our farmland. i kind of hesitated but i said that doesn't make sense, sir. i did not challenge him too much of the time. he challenged me to look it up. i did n