lester >> all right morgan chesky, thank you. also breaking tonight, the cdc changing its guidance on pregnant women and the vaccine. dr. john torres joins us now they're specifically recommending these shots to pregnant women now? >> lester, the big difference here is the cdc is shifting from saying they can to they should. right now about one in every four pregnant woman has received at least one dose of a vaccine. the new regulation is based on data from nearly 2500 women who got at least one dose of pfizer or moderna there was no increase risk of miscarriage before 20 weeks, and previous data also did not find any safety concerns for those vaccinated late in pregnancy. but getting covid during pregnancy does put women at an increased risk of severe illness or complications, including preterm birth. so the bottom line, lester, the cdc is saying the vaccine is safe for pregnant women. it could help them avoid those covid complications. >> dr. john, thank you. >>> in 60 seconds, the dangerous heat and tropics firing up. >>> plus

miguel almaguer, nbc news >>> i'm morgan chesky tracking a different front line in the covid fight. >> you will never be allowed in public again! >> reporter: in tennessee, angry parents taking on schools over mask mandates as the safety measures for classrooms play out in courtrooms. >> this is going to be heard on an expedited emergency basis. >> in texas and florida -- >> i'd rather wear it because i don't want to get covid. >> i have two, actually in school, and neither one will wear masks >> reporter: in one florida school district, more than 400 students are in quarantine after at least 30 tested positive the superintendent there says the district just implemented a mask policy despite the governor's threat to withhold certain administrators' salaries >> we believe that the price of a human life and the price of a salary, they're not equivalent in any way, shape or form. >> reporter: in california, where the state supports masking up in schools, a superintendent says one of her teachers ended up in a hospital after a parent attacked during an argument over masks. >> and we just

our teams on the ground tonight in two very hard hit places morgan chesky starts us off now from texas. >> reporter: tonight, as the delta variant wreaks havoc nationwide, covid cases now rising in every state, pushing many hospitals into crisis mode. >> we're at an emergency situation here, no doubt about it >> reporter: the virus causing the highest number of u.s. cases since february, hitting the south where vaccination rates remain low especially hard. in austin, texas, home to nearly a million people, only six icu beds remain open residents getting this robocall over the weekend. >> covid-19 situation in austin is dire. health care facilities are open, but researches are limited due to a surge in cases. >> the county's top doctor calling it an hour-by-hour situation. cases are rising so sharply, you could potentially send patients out of state? >> it's a -- it's a possibility. >> reporter: the surge now forcing worst case scenarios, like covid overflow tents in houston and pediatric units full as stephanie lopez watched crews fly her 11-month-old daughter eva to a hospital nearly

morgan chesky is there. >> reporter: tonight in louisiana, a summer-long sigh of relief is over. hurricane ida putting them on high alert. >> we know from katrina, you know something like this is not to be played with. >> reporter: the potential path covering nearly the entire coastline of louisiana. >> they see all of the conditions necessary for it to strengthen very, very rapidly. >> reporter: the governor declaring a state of emergency, and with hospitals already packed with covid patients, urging everyone to get vaccinated. >> the prospect of sheltering potentially thousands and thousands of people at the height of the fourth surge is very daunting. >> reporter: to the west of lake charles, daunting dÉjÀ vu. >> we don't need another form. >> reporter: she lost her home a year ago to laura. even a glancing blow from ida could be disaster for the trailer her family calls home. >> if it happens again, which i hope to god it does not, we'll definitely move out of the hurricane zone. >> that's that? >> that's that. it is stressful, it is tiring. it takes everything out of you. it

we begin tonight with morgan chesky in morgan city, louisiana. >> reporter: tonight, 24 hours to landfall and ida's impact, clear. alabama, mississippi and louisiana all issuing states of emergency ahead of the potential category 4 storm. >> when it hits the gulf and we feel it's serious, time to go. >> reporter: tough to get out of. evacuation routes packed for miles. manned tear for those living outside the levees. lining stretching from the gas station to rental car counters where customers waited to are hours. the airport tells desperate travelers, please, don't come here unless you have travel confirmed. >> your window of time is closing. by the time you go to bed tonight, you need to be where you intend to ride the storm out. >> reporter: when ida makes landfall sunday it will be 16 years to the day after katrina. the storm's similar in path but not size making katrina's storm surge so deadly. >> we lost a lot of good team. a hard storm. hopefully this one isn't at impactful. >> reporter: president biden acknowledging the anniversary. >> it's a stark reminder that we have to do ever

morgan chesky, nbc news, new orleans. >>> there is breaking news from the white house tonight on new vaccine rules for travelers. the biden administration planning to mandate foreign nationals be vaccinated to enter the u.s. once international travel restrictions are lifted. there is no timeline set yet. >>> new york's governor andrew cuomo is digging in, ignoring calls to resign, and now faces possible impeachment after an independent inquiry found he sexually harassed 11 women. cuomo says it didn't happen. gabe gutierrez has more. >> governor cuomo's got to go -- >> reporter: from new york state to albany, today the calls for governor andrew cuomo to resign grew even louder. >> you've got to go. >> reporter: in a remarkable joint statement, democratic governors of neighboring states are urging cuomo to step down following president biden's earlier call for him to resign. independent investigators say cuomo sexually harassed 11 women, including nine state employees and a state trooper assigned to his security detail that he first met at this event in 2017. another accuser, charlotte

peter, morgan. >> morgan chesky for us in louisiana. morgan, thank you. >> new orleans unable to catch a break. the big question when and where will it hit. >>> good morning, peter. yes. right now the clock is on so ida has left cuba and is hitting open waters in the gulf of mexico. i know this is a cat 1 but we're about to experience some rapid intensification. this is going to happen very fast, my friends. sunday at 1:00 a.m. notice where it's located. still out at sea. you may be thinking, okay, overnight i've got a little time, maybe i should finish my preparations, leave as we head into tomorrow morning because it looks like it's making landfall tomorrow afternoon into tomorrow evening as a category 3 storm. however the effects will be far-reaching. it's going to feel like tropical storm conditions as we head through the overnight hours so i can't stress enough, sleep in your safe space by saturday night. tonight is where you need to be sleeping. beyond that as we head into the week ahead, the remnants will push through the tennesse

dasha burns and morgan chesky thank you, and dr.el, we always appreciate you on a day you are seeing patients. and now i want to bring in dr. osgood, the chairman of the broward county school board. thank you for being with us on this busy day, and you said that you had no choice but to defy the ban on mask mandates. and tragically you have lost two teachers and a assistant to complications of the covid-19. so take us inside of the decision making here. >> well, as a board, 8 of the 9 members of the board voted to protect the people of broward county. as you know, florida is becoming the epicenter for the coronavirus. in broward county, most of the hospital beds are filled to capacity, and i think that on saturday, we only had five pediatric beds left. it is a situation where it is running rampant, and we employ over 500,000 employees and we could not bring the students back without masks. we have to use all of the mitigation tools in the tool box. vaccinations, and we are encouraging the people to get vaccinated, and yesterday, we

morgan chesky has the latest. >> reporter: delta driving covid cases to dangerous highs. 93% of u.s. infections, the biggest spikes coming in texas, missouri, florida and arkansas, where monday brought its largest single-day increase in hospitalizations since the start of the pandemic. patients flowing into arkansas hospitals at double the national rate. >> it's worse than any of the prior surges for a whole host of reasons. >> reporter: there's only eight icu beds left in the entire state. this doctor has seen an increase in younger patients. >> young healthy people shouldn't be dieing from the virus, period. they shouldn't be dieing from covid-19. because this variant is so virulent and replicates pretty quickly, we're seeing rapid changes with the health of individuals infected with the virus. >> reporter: president biden speaking out despite the surge. >> i find that counterintuitive and quite frankly disingenuous. >> do you intend to intervene in states in florida where they don't oppose mask mandates. >> reporter: a standing judge issued an order allowing local scho

morgan chesky at a hospital in baton rouge, louisiana, and louisiana has one of the lowest vaccinationes in the country. new infections there spiking by 240% in just two weeks. more children are now among the sick. what can you tell us? >> an absolutely heartbreaking situation. we are at our lady of the lake health center and the largest hospital in the state and they've broken their all-time record for hospitalizations related to covid. they have the bed, but simply don't have the staff. they are get something help from federal team that was dispatched here over the weekend, but we're looking at these trends, andrea, that continue to rise and among those admissions here as you mentioned are younger patients. we know 50% under the age of 50. we just checked today and we know there are eight children here at the hospital being treated for covid and at least one in icu and the youngest patient recently admitted a 3 week old infant and that is why doctors here say vaccinations need to happen at a much more rapid clip so that this is just somehow contained spreadwise with this new delta va

let's go to morgan chesky, about 60 miles west. just a short time ago, houma was in the western eyewall, how rough has it become now? >> richard, for the first time since about noon today, we're finally starting to see a little bit of relief. wind wise and rain wise, but i have to tell you, we're only getting a glimpse of the damage that this storm has left behind. the reason we're still standing under this parking garage is it's still gusting strong enough to throw debris, and it's still too dangerous to stand out in the open at this time. but what we have essentially witnessed is this stalling of the eyewall over houma and the surrounding area that resulted in an incredible lashing of buildings, of trees, of power lines. and we know that there are countless people in the dark right now, not knowing when their power is going to be restored. and what's even more frustrating is getting around town may be incredibly difficult. we're hearing reports that there may be some low-lying bridges that are either under water and/or collapsed

morgan chesky is in austin texas because they have activated the mrnl alert system. vaughn hilliard is in tallahassee, florida, because kids are going back to school now. and day four of that annual motorcycle rally is under way. there is roughly 700,000 people, and wes want to bring in dr. natalie azar. good to have you. morgan, let me start with you in texas. at last check a few hours ago you mentioned that just half a dozen icu beds were left in austin. what are officials there saying about how dire things have gotten in austin texas and beyond? >> they're saying things are reaching a crisis level. we have seen hospitals revert back to staffing levels, to operation modes, when texas was seening a real summer surge. social media, phone calls, any way they can to say please stay indoors, don't so go to mask gatherings, and please mask up. for another big part of the surge is the fact they are unable to issue a mask mandate. it has been prohibited with an executive order. six icu beds in the greater austin area. we have about eight million people there. at last check

nbc's morgan chesky is in hard-hit new orleans with more morgan, good morning. >> reporter: hey, hoda good morning to you. doctors say this final approval cannot come fast enough in the hard-hit south their hope is that more vaccinations can hopefully slow down record hospitalizations filling up these rooms here at children's hospital in new orleans, doctors are spotting a troubling new trend more children get seriously ill with covid this morning even with vaccinations now doubling in the biggest hot spots, most of the country seeing a dangerous spike in cases driven by the highly contagious delta variant promising news in the fight the fda could soon grant full approval for the pfizer vaccine by early september some experts are optimistic that could persuade some of the 90 million americans still unvaccinated to line up for shots. >> moving towards full approval will dramatically increase vaccine rates amongst the unvaccinated. >> reporter: across the country some are taking unprecedented steps to slow the surge. in san francisco, people who received the one-shot j&j vaccine can get

nbc's morgan chesky joins us from houston with the very latest morgan, good morning >> reporter: craig center is people are encouraged to get that shot who are currently unvaccinated because they are currently facing a surge of unvaccinated patients icu rooms are in short supply and in the greater houston area, covid cases have doubled in the last week alone. but the fda making it clear this pfizer vaccine is safe for anyone 16 years of age or older and this comes as pfizer's ceo says the news comes after they've already administered more than a billion doses of this vaccine worldwide and the fda released a statement saying they held this to the high standards they would any other u.s. vaccine and we're seeing the impact come in companies and businesses making the vaccine mandates. united airlines saying all employees must be vaccinated in the next five weeks and every active u.s. service member must be vaccinated, as well this comes as dr. fauci says he hopes this starts a new chapter in the fight against covid-19. >> it's going to totally be up to us. if we get the overwhelming major

nbc's morgan chesky is morgan chesky is joining us where hospitals are so full ambulances are waiting with covid patients. we had a chance to witness the consequences of that. the fire and paramedics took phone call after phone call from paramedics who in many cases were stuck outside of hospitals with patients unable to get inside or get a bed in the hospital which means that that paramedic has to wait with the patient on a stretcher. this trickle down is going from the current patient and on to the next. >> it's frustrating. you get a patient we're there to help somebody. and then we get them in the back of the ambulance and we think we're going to get them care quickly and we get to the hospital and they say wait, and wait, for hours. >> they tell me on a normal day, if there is such a thing they could drop a patient off and have him in for 30 to 45 minutes. and in a few cases, there is more than four hours before they can finally get someone, a hospital bed, and in one case with a paramedic that we spoke to yesterday, while he was waiting with that patient, he had to go out and re

nbc's morgan chesky is in texas for us. he's in dallas outside a hospital there. morgan, talk about, too, some of these, what you're hearing about people who would be eligible for the third dose, why there's so much urgency around getting this approved. you have key contexts here. >> reporter: yes, hallie, it's interesting. you look at the specific group that would be helped by this booster shot, this third dose of either pfizer or moderna's vaccine, the cdc saying this is specifically keying in on about 3% of american adults nationwide, but this is what stood out to me, that 3% make up more than 40% of these breakthrough infections that we've been seeing all across the country. that's when you're reinfected with covid after getting the first or second dose of the vaccine, and those are the people, those cancer patients, those living with organ transplants, some living with hiv that doctors say are in desperate need of antibody reinforcements because studies have shown after the first shots, their bodies produce little to know antibodies. coupled with that informat

>> morgan chesky in new orleans. thank you. stick with louisiana.edical official at the louisiana department of health. yesterday i spoke with dr. o'neal out of baton rouge and she painted a bleak picture of not just running out of bed issue but staffing shortage, running out of nurses, running out of that situation. how bleak is the picture? >> thanks, chuck, nice to be with you. it is pretty bleak. these are the darkest days of the pandemic, i think she's correct. she joined governor edwards this past monday for a press conference to share that message along with another that spoke at children's hospital a moment ago. we added another hospitalized covid patients today and that number continues to go up. we have not yet seen any sign that it is abating. that's scary. 50 hospitals in louisiana reached out to us to can for help. 50 hospitals said they can't adequately care for all of the patients coming in. that's a remarkable number. as opposed to earlier in the pandemic, we have enough ppe and enough vents, it is staffing that's the crunch. >> and

morgan chesky is in austin texas because they have activated the mrnl alert system.

we want to turn to houma, louisiana, it's where we find morgan chesky. i see the rain falling. i saw your hit in the last hour. i thought you were going to have to retreat it got so bad. what are things like right now? >> it's continues to get worse. we know the eyewall of ida is continues to stay on that consistent track. the intensity of these winds only gets stronger. we're seeing property damage in every direction. as the winds stay strong, it's going to be an absolutely long night ahead for everyone who chose to stay here. mandatory evacuations established for terrebone parish, but the fire marshal estimates only about 60% of the people were able to get out. sorry, i'm watching some trees to make sure nothing blows down. the wind is going to be the main concern and power outages could last into the days, potentially weeks ahead. there are low-lying areas here in houma, also in morgan city just down the road. that's only seven feet above sea levels, so expect some storm surge issues there, about you the fires are saying their chain saws are out and as soon as it gets safe e

and now let's get west of new orleans, and that's where we see morgan chesky joining us live. >> reporter: yeah, janessa made a good point, and that's when the sun rises and that's going to be the first real look ida, and some of the wind gusts that were reported at 140 miles per hour, as it roared through this area, and part of the compounding problem joshua is the fact that the western side of ida's eyewall seemingly stalled over this area for a little bit, and that meant you didn't get that temporary break, but you continue to get massive winds, and we have watched roofs be ripped off and smaller structures outside collapse, and we have heard reports -- i'm seeing blue and red lights and that's a good sign because -- it's fortunately a good sign because it means police and fire trucks are able to go out and survey the damage. we will have a much clear sign tomorrow, but you can see the lights in the distance behind me, and that's the hospital, that might be one of the few structures left in the area that has the generators to keep that power up and going. the people that live close tha

. >> nbc news correspondent morgan chesky is there for us this morning. ing the emergency alerts there on your phone. you've been tweeting about it. we know the mayor has called on everyone outside the levy system to get out. president biden has approved a state of emergency. we're talking about a serious storm they're preparing for. >> reporter: you're absolutely right, a category 4 hurricane is incredibly serious. it's a life changing storm is what some experts are calling this. and for a lot of people that live up and down the l don't ha too far back t hurricane laura hurricane delta hit. katrina 16 years ago. as it stands right now, the landfall anticipated to hit around late sunday august 29th. the winds upwards of 140 miles an hour. we're talking about a potential storm surge in the hardest hit areas that could hit 20 feet high and that's why the evacuations are already under way. important to note that the mayor of new orleans has said that because this storm is approaching the louisiana coast so rapidly, it is -- they don't have enough time to issu

>> morgan chesky, as always, great reporting. being with us this morning. >>> big programming note. tomorrow on msnbc, answering your questions about going back to school. send us an email at talk @msnbc.com or on twitter #msnbcanswers. that's 11:00 eastern on msnbc reports. >>> so just how intense was donald trump's pressure on his own doj to overturn the results of a legitimate election? we're finding more about that with new details from the "new york times" overnight, a push to fire the former u.s. attorney in atlanta for supposedly not backing lies about georgia voter fraud in the 2020 election. from "the washington post" this morning, new details on what the former acting attorney general, jeffrey rosen, remember him, is telling congressional investigators. trying to pressure the department of justice to discredit election. donald trump's finances under scrutiny. democrats getting a partial win in their fight to get president trump's financial records. a federal judge ruled that the house oversight committee can subpoena a

morgan chesky is in texas, dasha burns and sam in florida. ter hotez, from texas children's hospital. morgan it was my reporting two weeks ago i heard from two different sources in texas that governor abbott hadn't just received his first two vaccine shots but he received a third booster two weeks ago and now testing positive. what can you tell us? >> reporter: steph, his office refusing to acknowledge that third shot as of this moment in time but what's very interesting is the governor's office did admit he is receiving regeneron the antibody treatment given to people who test positive for covid and given to those on the onset of symptoms, in hopes of preventing worse symptoms from covid-19 and/or hospitalization but you heard from the governor in a video statement yesterday that despite testing positive, he is asymptomatic at this point in time, exhibits no symptoms whatsoever. he did say that may be because he has been vaccinated, although we still don't know just exactly how many times the governor has, deprice sources saying he did indeed

morgan chesky, remarkable reporting and we thank you for bringing that to us. this hour. i'm chris jansing in for stephanie ruehl. yasmin vossoughian picks it up next as we wait for the update from the pentagon following the deadliest day for more than a decade for the military. keep it here on msnbc. mom: ahem ahem ahem we're out. men put their skin through a lot. day-in, day-out. that's why dove men body wash is new and improved with skin-strengthening nutrients and moisturizers... ...that help rebuild your skin with every shower. introducing xfinity rewards. our very own way of thanking you just for being with us. enjoy rewards like movie night specials. xfinity mobile benefits. ...and exclusive experiences, like the chance to win tickets to see watch what happens live. hey! it's me. the longer you've been with us... the more rewards you can get. like sharpening your cooking skills with a top chef. join for free on the xfinity app and watch all the rewards float in. our thanks. your rewards. hearing is important to living life to the fullest. that's why insi

here's nbc's morgan chesky reporting from new orleans with the latest on how americans are preparings left scrambling. >> like deja vu. >> new video from cuba offers a glimpse at the fast moving storm, lashing the island with high winds and heavy rain, as ida returns to the gulf where warmer waters could make it even stronger. >> we believe there's a strong likelihood that this will be a category 4 hurricane at landfall. that's how quickly the storm is developing. >> the weather crisis comes as louisiana hospitals face a flood of covid patients. with the governor urging everyone to get vaccinated. >> the fact that we're still in a pandemic makes this much more difficult for everyone, but the pandemic isn't going to leave just because it's more inconvenient! equally daunting, a storm churning towards the coast so fast, mandatory evacuations from new orleans are now out of the question. >> the city cannot issue a mandatory evacuation because we don't have the time. >> reporter: this weekend's pre-season saints versus cardinals game cancelled as the new orleans team makes plans to evacu

an ambulance because so many of them are left waiting out of hospitals like these >> reporter: morgan cheskyhouston. >> morgan, thanks. >>> some states are turning to monoclonal antibody treatments as a way to take pressure off health care systems. hot spots, including florida, texas, and mississippi have all opened clinics dr. fauci says the treatments can reduce hospitalizations and deaths by 85%. he stresses you have to get the drugs early on in the disease before any serious symptoms develop. cnbc's meg tirrell covers science and medicine for us. break down these drugs for us. what exactly are they? >> shep, you know, we talk a lot about antibodies when it comes to the vaccines. the vaccine's job is to stimulate our immune system to produce antibodies that can fight off the coronavirus, the monoclonal drugs, as u.s. department of health says orders are way up with more than 3/4 from areas of the country with low vaccination rates. between july 1st and august 22nd, almost 550,000 courses of treatment were ordered nationally, hhs says of those, almost half came from florida and neighboring

nbc's morgan chesky rode along with paramedics and got an inside look at houston's covid crisis. >> reporteryeah, here in houston paramedics tell me they're frustrated and in a lot of cases when they pull up to a hospital, patient in the back, and there's nowhere to go. now that we have been reporting that hospitals have been filling up for weeks, we finally got a chance to witness the consequences firsthand. >> in houston, a dangerous new normal. >> they know you're going to come to work, transport a patient, you're going to be there several hours. >> at one hospital >> at one hospital. >> reporter: covid-19 leaving hospitals so packed, first responders and patients facing excruciating waits. >> you all have been there about two hours. >> reporter: we joined chris ponzica. as he took calls from ambulance crews with no place to go. >> they'll call me the middle of the night, captain, we're waiting for a bed. it's been 3.5 hours. what do you want us to do? >> reporter: three hours >> three hours, three and a half hours, we've had them up to 4 1/2 hours. >> reporter: this hospital the paramedi

morgan chesky is in new orleans for us this morning. morning. >> reporter: hey, hallie, good morning. you'll find a different type of disaster, depending upon where in louisiana you go to. you mentioned the hard-hit communities to the south of us, houma, grand isle, cut apart by the winds and powerful storm surge of ida. a lot of folks still cut off and in new orleans less of those winds but they still did incredible amounts of damage but you got about 1 million people without power and they don't know when the lights are going to come back on. inter-g, the largest state provider says it may take up to three days after ida before they're able to assess how much was hurt, damaged in the storm that brought 140-mile-an-hour wind gusts well inland. we're an hour away from oshner's campus. they're on generator. every hospital has a storm contingency plan hopefully take them a week up to ten days but after that, they are already discussing what they might have to do, should this outage last longer. we know that they have supplies on hand, and

nbc's morgan chesky is in houma, louisiana. ali velshi is in new orleans. miguel almaguer is in baton rouge. let's begin with you, morgan, just west of new orleans. a short time ago, ida has been passing through where you're standing. doesn't look quite as bad where you are right now. what's it look like? >> yeah, joshua, we haven't gotten a chance to really survey the extent of the damage here, simply because it was too dangerous to leave this concrete parking garage that we sought shelter in for the better part of this afternoon when ida made itself known, and the outer bands turned into the inner bands, and then that eyewall passed, incredibly close to us. we were looking at wind gusts well over 100 miles per hour here. and just before you toss to us here, i could hear debris being thrown around in the background still. that is the power that ida brought to this community. they knew they were right in the middle of the path. it stayed on track. we know about 60% of the people followed those mandatory evacuation orders. the fire chief here telling me that

joining us now for more is nbc's vaughan hillyard in florida, and also morgan chesky in louisiana, the state with the lowest vaccination rate in country, and kathy park in new york city which is taking a different approach than other big cities when it comes to that. and vaughan, we will start with you, and run through the numbers there in florida, and i heard you say something in coverage that stopped me cold. you said how much younger these unvaccinated patients are, and tell us about it. >> exactly. it is not just older folks here, and the average age in the state of florida and talking about the more than 10,000 individuals that are now hospitalized for covid, and that average age is 42 years old. we actually just left the inside of this jacksonville hospital, uf health jacksonville and i asked nurse sebrina and nurse debbie, who are the patients that you are seeing. take a listen. >> reporter: when you are talking about younger, what do you mean younger? >> 20s, and we had a patient that was 13, 14, 15. so, yes, definitely. >> reporter: sick enough to come to the hospital? >> sick

morgan chesky in dallas. there's still debate over masking in texas and no debate in hospitals and major cities are over capacity due to the variant. tell us what's the latest. >> reporter: yeah, andrea, hospitals all across the state are facing a shortage in staff while having to try to deal with this surge in patients that in some cases is closing down, at least temporarily some medical facilities. i know that here in parkland hospital they have one of the largest maternity wards in the entire country and they, unfortunately, have had to turn away some patients and hear what some of the doctors here had to say in their own words. >> i can't hire nurses fast enough. right now in this hospital i am 500 nurses down from where we need to be. >> 500. >> five, zero, zero. that's not an exaggeration. that's an exact number. i had to make a decision weeks ago to transfer pregnant patient away from parkland hospital. to have to make that decision, gut-wrenching. gut-wrenching. >> and even more frustrating for the do

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

morgan chesky is in dallas with more >> reporter: tonight, hospitals running low on rooms, staff, and hope florida and texas now accounting for nearly 40% of new hospitalizations nationwide >> very, very tired and feeling defeated >> reporter: today federal officials announcing the next step in the fight against covid includes booster shots for the immunocompromised. >> an additional dose could help increase protections for these individuals, which is especially important as the delta variant spreads. >> reporter: the fda working with pfizer and moderna to provide an additional shot for the most vulnerable, such as cancer patients and transplant recipients who experts say produced few to no antibodies when first vaccinated with 90% of u.s. counties now experiencing high or substantial transmission rates, many hospitals at a breaking point, especially in the south, where vaccination rates remain low and morale runs thin. >> it's no longer a ppe crisis it's a caregiver crisis. >> we're not machines. we can't continue to do this forever at this capacity. >> our rate of increase of cases

our morgan chesky there tonight. >> reporter: tonight this is houma, a hurricane beaten, wind-battered shell of a city, one of the first to suffer a direct hit from ida. >> this is the worst i've ever been through. >> i'll never stay home again i'll tell you that i'll definitely going to evacuate. i'm never going chance this again. >> reporter: the storm pummelling the area with gusts topping 140 miles per hour, ripping off roofs in seconds. and leaving homes shredded for dale crocker, a total loss he spent today with his service dogs, salvaging whatever he could, recalling the moment ida turned his home inside out. >> i can't hear, but i heard that >> reporter: in nearby shelter, dozens try to figure out what comes next >> they're going to push me homeless, me and my family. seven people in the household. >> reporter: jerome and his dog rocky rescued by police when storm surge started rushing into their home >> the water was right here on me. >> reporter: they were lucky because help came the city's police chief says his officers couldn't immediately respond to so many of the desperat

morgan chesky is in hard-hit texas this evening. >> reporter: tonight delta driving covid cases to dangerous highs. the variant now tied to 93% of u.s. infections the biggest spikes coming in texas, missouri, florida and arkansas, where monday brought its largest single-day increase in hospitalizations since the start of the pandemic patients flowing into arkansas hospitals at double the national rate >> it's worse than any of the prior surges for a whole host of reasons. >> reporter: with only eight icu beds left in the entire state, dr. rawle seupaul says his hospital is seeing an increase in younger patients >> young, healthy people should not be dying from a viral illness, period. they shouldn't be dying from covid-19. but because this particular variant is so severe, virulent and replicates very, very quickly, we're seeing pretty rapid changes to the health of individuals that are infected with the virus. >> reporter: today president biden speaking out about states banning mask mandates despite the surge. >> i find that totally counterintuitive, and quite frankly, disingenuous >> do you

anthony fauci will weigh in on those topics and more with craig, but first nbc's morgan chesky is in dallas with our report. morgan, good morning. >> reporter: savannah, good morning. we are watching this delta-driven surge break records across the country. that includes here in texas where state officials have just announced more than 2,000 medical personnel will be sent to hospitals like this one simply overwhelmed with covid patients. now the push to get even more people vaccinated, more urgent than ever. this morning, as infections surge nationwide, new questions about the need for booster shots. today the fda's expected to authorize third doses for immunocompromised people who produce little to know antibodies after the first two shots. there is no plan yet for boosters for the general population. a new study by the mayo clinic still not peer reviewed found after six months, only 42% effective during the height of the delta variant. compared to moderna, 76 %. pfizer showed a minimal reduction in effectiveness. researches found both vaccines still offer robust protection against h

morgan chesky is in louisiana where the virus is surging. ing, savannah. lady of the lake hospital. staff simply cannot keep up with this tidal wave of new infections. in fact, it's getting so bad, the federal government is now sending in emergency medical teams to try and keep up with this ongoing surge. now, i had a chance to walk the floor of an icu yesterday where a week ago there were only one or two covid patients, but now every single room is full. the hospital telling me 50% of their patients under the age of 50, and that includes several to the east in florida, the state reported more than 21,000 new infections on saturday, marking the highest one-day total at any point since this pandemic began. we're also seeing hospitalizations break records, as well. and this comes as florida governor ron desantis issues new guidance that defies cdc guidance saying there will be no new mask mandates in place when florida kids go back to school next week. amidst the surge, there are signs of optimism. for three weeks now, here in louisiana, over t

morgan chesky has details. >> reporter: as the delta variant reeks havoc nationwide, hospitals in crisis mode. >> we're in an emergency situation. >> reporter: the virus causing the highest numbers since february. hitting the south especially hard. in austin, texas home to nearly a million people. only 6 icu beds remain open. residents getting this robocall over the weekend. covid-19 situation in austin is dire. health care facilities are open, but resources are limited due to a surge in cases. the county's top doctor calling it an hour by hour situation. >> cases are rising so sharply you could potentially send patients out of state? >> it's a possibility. >> reporter: the surge forcing worse case scenarios like covid overflow tents in houston and pediatric units full. as stephanie watched crews fall her daughter to a hospital nearly 150 miles away. >> it's overwhelming, heartbreaking experience. >> reporter: many states including new jersey and arizona haven't reissued mask mandates while in arkansas, the governor regretting a prior ban. >> it was an error to sign that law. >> reporter

. >>> let's go to morgan chesky now. >> the numbers are incredibly concerning in not just the state of text, but here in austin. six icu beds are available. go up the road just a few hours, and you're touching able eight million people there. and that is why doctors, nurses, and hospitals are concerned across the state about the spread of the delta variant and they're wondering what to do. local leaders sharing that concern. they are unable to issue any mask mandates and one of the most heartbreaking is a mother who took her daughter to the hospital with covid, and the daughter had to be flown 150 miles before she could finally get care. >> it was around 4:00 a.m. when they told me there was no room in houston, no pediatric beds. that's when they told me the closest pediatric hospital was in temple, texas and they said they would have to aerolift the baby over there. >> a lot of people wondering how this will be handled. they made it clear they don't have the power to enact their own mask rules. but we have seen dallas decide on their own that they will defy that. >> morgan, thank you.

morgan chesky spoke earlier this morning about the damage. >> this is definite i the worst hurricaner hit. and we know it flooded 11,000 homes in '05, but this is by far more devastating than any hurricane but ever had. we'll clean up and we have a long job ahead of us and we'll start clearing up the roads. >> a long road ahead. i want to go now to brock long. brock, good to have you back. thank you for your time right now. as you know more than a million customers, millions of people, don't have power in louisiana. how concerned are you to see that. >> any time you have a major hurricane impact, anything greater than a cat 3, it is typical that the power goes out. the question is how long. so being able to restore power, you have to keep in mind that most power grids and fuel lines and different things are owned by the private sector. so fema, the state of louisiana's emergency management are working closely with the power partners to make sure they're removing debris away. they are trying to restore this as quickly as possible. >> how did they prioritize who gets power first? >> it

our report tonight from nbc news correspondent morgan chesky. >> well in tennessee, angry parents takingn schools over mask mandates. we as the safety measures for classrooms play out in court rooms. >> this is going to be heard on expedited emergency basis. >> in texas and florida. >> i'd rather wear it because i do want to get covid. >> i have to, the and we don't wear masks -- >> and one florida school districts more than 400 the students are in quarantine. they just implemented a mask. policy despite the governor's threat to withhold certain administrator salaries. >> we believe that the price of a human life and the price of a salary and paycheck are not equivalent in any way shape, or form. and >> in california where the state supports masking unscrews, one of the teachers ended up in the hospital after apparent attack them over an argument. >> we don't know what is gonna happen day-to-day. >> schools and families are now caught in the middle. >> the this is we are sons. life it's unacceptable. >> and be. seniors >> coming, up a warning from republicans that a new mccarthy -- mccar

joining us to discuss is morgan chesky and ellison barber and dr. hotez. evel. i don't know what that means. >> reporter: steph, covid cases have increased. hospital cases quadrupled. now we are seeing more than 300 people coming through these lines every day. there are positivity rate at the site alone is 18%. here is what north texas doctors have to say about the latest surge. >> i would call it our fourth surge. we are having a big increase in hospitalizations every day. >> my expectation is it will get worse before it gets better. our vaccination rate is too low. >> it's very alarming the direction and how quickly these numbers are going up. plus, with the presence of the delta variant, that changes the game here. >> reporter: and local leaders in north texas are encouraging people to not go to any big gatherings indoors, especially. to please mask up. the governor of texas greg abbott issued an executive order to prohibit mask mandates going forward. steph. >> ellison, it sounds like they are not getting that memo in missouri. you are at lake of the oz