nbc's kerry sanders reports. >> reporter: from the midwest to the mid-atlantic, and parts of the south, this morning, hazy horizons brought on by smoke from those massive wildfires out west. the largest one, the boot leg blaze in oregon, less than 40% contained. so big and hot, it is creating its own weather, including wind and dry storms. >> sending that smoke into the northern plains and then right down through the middle part of country and over toward the east coast, where we've been seeing it for days. >> reporter: all that smoke creatingary quality warnings for millions, in pennsylvania and new jersey. people with respiratory conditions advised to stay inside. on the national mall in washington, a blanket of haze, amplifying d.c.'s notoriously humid summer days. >> i was having a little trouble with trying catch my breath and breathing, and i just thought i was overheated. but now i can really see that it is not just the heat. but it is from the haze as well. >> makes it more humid. the air is very sticky. >> reporter: scientists say these extreme fires are another example of our

kerry sanders, nbc news, surfside, florida. >> a remarkable group, and we thank them. >>> up next fortonight. >>> up next for us tonight. thethletes to watch a certain hpv-related cancers? you're not welcome here! get out of my face! hpv can cause certain cancers when your child grows up. get in its way. hpv can affect males and females. and there's no way to predict who will or won't clear the virus. the cdc recommends hpv vaccination at age 11 or 12 to help protect against certain cancers. hey... cancer! not... my... child. don't wait. talk to your child's doctor about hpv vaccination today. nicorette knows, quitting smoking is freaking hard. talyou get advice like:ctor try hypnosis... or... quit cold turkey. kidding me?! instead, start small. with nicorette. which can lead to something big. start stopping with nicorette what makes new salonpas arthritis gel so good for arthritis pain? salonpas contains the most prescribed topical pain relief ingredient. it's clinically proven, reduces inflammation and comes in original prescription strength. salonpas. it's good medicine. liberty mu

nbc's kerry sanders is in miami.ts there. >> the law was brought into effect in response to black lives matter. and it said in the 60 pages really clearly that if people went on to a major thorough fair, street, a highway and closed it down, they would be subject to arrest and it would be a felony arrest. so now let's take a look at the pictures this week on the palmetto highway in miami. major thorough fair which was shut down for more than six hours by those cuban-americans in support of those on the island. what was not applied was this anti-riot law. and so the question then came up among those who are aligned with black lives matter were those who are just civil rights leaders that felt that, well, when that law was passed, we were suspect about why it is passed. now we don't see it 5:00 plied evenly. listen to what ben crump had to say. >> in completely contradicts what they said when they passed this law that it wasn't about black lives matter. but it was a public safety issue. and now we look at what's going

nbc news correspondent kerry sanders in charlotte, north carolina, with more. >> reporter: jeff, thegather here only goes to confirm what folks in the midwest and to the east already know when they go outside, take a deep breath and look up. take a look here this morning, this was the sun trying to breakthrough the haze, the air feels really heavy. the air quality index should be in the green zone this time of year, but right now, the realtime data shows it's yellow and it's fast approaching an alert of red. from the midwest to the mid atlantic and parts of the south, this morning, hazy horizons brought on by smoke from those massive wild fires out west. the largest one, the bootleg blaze in oregon, less than 40% contained. so big and hot it's creating its own weather, including wind and dry storms. sending that smoke in parts of the northern plains and right down in through the middle part of the country and eventually over towards the east coast where we've been seeing it for days. >> reporter: all that smoke creating air quality warnings for millions. in pennsylvania and new jerse

joining me now is kerry sanders in orlando, florida, celebrating your 30th anniversary with nbc today26 years with the network and before that, with our miami station. so proud. so happy for you to be our colleague. >> thank you. >> under water, over water. >> it means a lot coming from you, andrea. thank you. >> you have been a superstar and amazing. but today, you know, again you're reporting on this covid emergency, orlando, declaring a local state of emergency and with disney's new policy to follow suit and then you've got florida's governor, so bring us up to speed. >> well, i'm at advent health which is the major health center in this part of the state. they have more than 20 hospitals. right you in they have more than a thousand patients with covid in the icu, in the covid wards. this is the most they have had since this pandemic began on tuesday, just in orange county which is where i am here in orlando, they had a record 1371 positive cases. the mayor says this is a state of emergency and they are in a crisis. disney world not needing any sort of government push to do this, f

let's bring in kerry sanders in orlando, shaquille brewster in chicago, we're also joined by dr. stant dean of brown university school of public health. good to see all of you. so kerry, talktuse about what's going on in the orlando area. i think there's been a huge jump in both cases and the positivity rate there. >> a huge jump. i'm at advent health, the major health system here in this part of the state. 20 hospitals, and they have 1,000 actual covid cases right now in their hospitals. which is a new record. let's take a look at the actual numbers that sort of tell you how dramatic things are. on tuesday, orange county had a record number of new covid cases. 1371. and when you take a look at the positivity rate, we're more that 15%. just six weeks ago, it was slightly -- just about 3.7%. in other words, they have seen this incredible spike. joining us here is dr. rebecca gomez, and she is just coming out of the ward with those who have covid. still have your mask on. just sort of curious, first of all, tell me, as you see the numbers increasing, what does it tell you and what's

kerry sanders, nbc news, surfside, florida. >> all right. thank you.p also for those search and rescue teams. >> it's sad to think that there's one person still unaccounted for. hope for some closure there for that family. >>> elon musk's private rocket company, spacex, has been awarded a $178 million contract from nasa. spacex will provide launch services for nasa's first mission focusing on jupiter's icy move europa and the search for signs of life. it will launch in october of 2024. we talked about branson and beez bezos and you knew musk would get in there somewhere. >> john stroot did a spoof, r. not necessarily all politically correct, but did a spoof about this. the space race is on for the billionaires. >> thank you very much for watching msnbc reports. >> we'll be back tomorrow morning at 6:00 a.m. eastern time. velshi starts right now. >>> good morning. it's saturday, july 24th. i'm ali velshi. right now the united states is in a continued moment of crisis. my right, your right and the fundamental right of every american to vote is in peril.

are getting in on the trend, searching for shark's teeth on beaches all over the country nbc's kerry sanders, good morning, sir >> reporter: good morning, guys. they call florida the shark tooth capital of the world sharks lose their teeth the way a 5-year-old loses their teeth they're constantly dropping out. finding shark's teeth like thi is like finding shells at the beach. they're everywhere but imagine coming upon a shark's tooth like this, which you can do here or in many part of the country, actually this is the granddaddy of al sharks, the megalodon, and it's the stuff of hollywood movies. tights making of hair-raising movies apex predators lurking in the ocean, waiting for that precise moment to make a move, to attack the megalodon, one of the largest predators to ever rome the depth of the oceans. >> what was a megalodon? >> they were the tough guys of the ocean. >> reporter: and although some people think they've seen one, today this species is extinct. zach franaka has been searching for the past on the seabed for over 40 years. >> you're holding a piece of history. and if you're

nbc's kerry sanders is in miami's little havana where many cuban-american, calling for change kerry,d morning. >> reporter: so good morning you know, after blaming the united states and it's embargo for the unrest in cuba, this morning cuba president miguel diaz canal is acknowledging his own government shortcomings that resulted in soaring prices and shortages of food and medicine, but it is unclear this morning if the communist government's admission of some culpability will be enough to quell the largest protest on that island in more than 30 years. in a national address over night, cuba's president admitting for the first time his government's failings, saying, i accept that we have responsibility in much of this adding, they need to learn from their mistakes, and analyze cuba's problems in order to act and overcome and avoid their repetition. cuba now quiet. but over the weekend, thousands taking to the streets. [ chanting ] angry over shortages of food and medicine a lack of covid vaccines, and repeated electricity outages many want political change, too. calling for an end to

. >> our shark correspondent, kerry sanders, he follows the journey of a pregnant tiger shark as scientists could affect the number of shark attacks. that's right after this. cue rachael ray. hey friends! today we're whipping up some delicious recipes. so? who's hungry? pets love rachael ray" nutrish® and its kitchen-inspired recipes. with real meat, poultry or fish. rachael ray" nutrish®. real recipes. real ingredients. real good.® america's best tasting original oatmilk silk ♪♪ my nunormal? fewer asthma attacks with nucala. a once-monthly add-on injection for severe eosinophilic asthma. nucala reduces eosinophils, a key cause of severe asthma. nucala is not for sudden breathing problems. allergic reactions can occur. get help right away for swelling of face, mouth, tongue or trouble breathing. infections that can cause shingles have occurred. don't stop steroids unless told by your doctor. tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection. may cause headache, injection site reactions, back pain, and fatigue. ask your doctor about nucala. find your nunormal with nucala. most bladder leak

nbc's kerry sanders is in charlotte, north carolina, with more. >> reporter: good morning, hoda. air quality data gathered here only goes to confirm what folks in the midwest and to the east already know when they step outside, take a deep breath and look up. the skies are somewhat hazy. the air feels somewhat heavy you know, the realtime air quality index data gathered by this equipment should be green instead, it's showing up as yellow, and it's fast approaching a warning level of red. from the midwest to the mid-atlantic and parts of the south, this morning, hazy horizons brought on by smoke from those massive wildfires out west. the largest one, the bootleg blaze in oregon, less than 40% contained. so big and hot, it's creating its own weather, including wind and dry storms >> sending that smoke in towards the northern plains and right down in through the middle part of the country eventually creating air quality warnings for millions in pennsylvania and new jersey, people with respiratory conditions advised to stay inside on the national mall in washington, a blanket of haze

nbc's kerry sanders takes us along his ride with the u.s. communist government of cuba. "morning joe" is coming right back. ment of cuba. "morning joe" is coming right back your mission: stand up to moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis. and take. it. on... with rinvoq. rinvoq a once-daily pill can dramatically improve symptoms... rinvoq helps tame pain, stiffness, swelling. and for some, rinvoq can even significantly reduce ra fatigue. that's rinvoq relief. with ra, your overactive immune system attacks your joints. rinvoq regulates it to help stop the attack. rinvoq can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious infections and blood clots, sometimes fatal, have occurred as have certain cancers, including lymphoma, and tears in the stomach or intestines, and changes in lab results. your doctor should monitor your bloodwork. tell your doctor about any infections... and if you are or may become pregnant while taking rinvoq. take on ra. talk to your rheumatologist about rinvoq relief. rinvoq. make it your mission

shaquille brewster, kerry sanders, and dr. richard besser, former cdc director with us as well. monica, what are we expecting to hear from president biden to increase vaccinations that we haven't heard said already. >> reporter: there may be a new sense of urgency, given they did underestimate the risk delta posed so far, not just with the unvaccinated population but given the unknowns of break through cases. you're going to hear the president come out and unveil a new policy for the more than 2 million federal civilian workers. that's across all agencies where he is going to say you need to show proof of vaccination or submit to rigorous testing. now, we don't know what that means exactly. will it be weekly, will it be up to individual agencies, something the employees have to do on their own as an honor system, or is it going to be required on site. what happens if you're someone that doesn't do either of those things. those are the outstanding questions that we simply don't have answers to. you're going to see the white house shift to a new phase. it was a month ago that the

always been not just fascinating, but fun >> and she's talking about her remarkable life with nbc's kerry sandersusual this morning. kerry, good morning. hope you got a pedi. >> reporter: good morning. that's right australian valerie taylor is a legend more than 10,000 dives in her life, and that is the basis now for a new nat geo documentary. and during those dives she was in almost every one face-to-face with sharks. she has concluded that it is us, we're the threat to sharks we're the threat to sharks, the oceans and the planet. >> i'd never seen anybody hand feeding a great white shark off the back of a boat i wanted to give that nice shark -- it was a boy shark. >> valerie taylor is a pioneer in the 1950s, swimming with sharks just wasn't done. but a young female scientist, it was just unheard of. famed oceanographer jean-michel cousteau say when everybody else was swimming away, valerie was swimming towards danger she and her husband with their underwater cameras brought the world the first close up under water views of great white sharks ever filmed >> they wanted dangerous marine animals