so will audiences feel safe going back during a pandemic sam brock has our story. >> reporter: after months of delays tonight tenet as finally hit the big screen. >> it will open the right doors, some of the wrong ones too >> reporter: the new thriller from director christopher nolan providing a dose of theater escape to the real world drama of covid-19, that is if movie goers are ready. >> how do you feel >> with my mask on, and social distancing, i don't see why i wouldn't be comfortable with that. >> what would it take for you to feel comfortable? >> for the pandemic to be over. >> a vaccine. >> reporter: amc says more than 70% of its theaters will be open this weekend, one of several companies with strict new rules, mandatory masks for employees and customers, regular san recognizing of surfaces, push away from lines toward digital tickets, spacing inside the theater. how many people might be allowed to watch with you depends on where you live, some cities allowing 25% capacity, others 50% in new york and l.a. theaters aren't even open at all. >> it's the bigger cities that will

our team has the latest now from the storm zone, starting with sam brock >> reporter: after slowly creepingng the gulf coast for days hurricane sally barrelling onto land just before 5:00 a.m. >> my neighbor's school is under the bayou right now. >> reporter: unleashing hundred mile an hour winds ripping down trees and traffic lights blowing out walls. leaving homes and businesses destroyed. >> it just doesn't seem real. i can't believe this is happening. >> reporter: residents across the panhandle, now dealing with catastrophic flooding. >> it threw me completely i was not expecting this the all. >> reporter: wesley nielsen who lives on a boat quickly left when conditions deteriorated. >> never fool with mother nature and i did not expect to tangle with her today. when she was getting the better of me, i gave it to her she won, i left. >> reporter: coastal neighborhoods pummelled by rain. some getting more than 30 inches by mid-morning. there has been so much rain that's accumulated here in pensacola, it's basically become one giant lake there's actually a street over there. i'm standing i

sam brock, nbc news pensacola. >>> in the west, progress but also more setbacks in the battle against deadly wild fires. near los angeles a fire burning for weeks brought new evacuation orders. let's get more on that from miguel almaguer. >> reporter: just as firefighters were making progress, the bobcat fire near los angeles exploding again overnight, flames feeding on dr hills and hot temperatures with crews stretched dangerously thin new evacuations just triggered. >> i don't think i've gotten maybe three or four hours of sleep each night. >> reporter: at the center of the fire fight, saving mount wilson observatory the blaze coming within 500 feet of torching this historic landmark it is still threatening the billion dollar telecommunication towers providing broadcasting and cell service to los angeles. hundreds of air drops helping firefighters who are undermanned and overmatched. >> this one has the extreme challenge of terrain, very active fire behavior. >> time to move the hose line up >> reporter: even with 17,000 firefighters on the front lines in california, they are losing

here's sam brock. >> reporter: the last time america laid eyes on the nfl with kansas city chiefs weuperchampions. tonight foot bowl is back. a match-up pinning young super talents deshaun watson and shawn ma homes. >> reporter: the most dominant sports league going head to head. >> may god bless them>>eporter koe spoke to roger goodell. >> if we get that call there is an outbreak, we will do what's in the best interest of stopping that outbreak. >> reporter: the chiefs going from 75,000 fans to 17,000. because of the new rules, lifelong season ticketholder michael block will sit out tonight's game. what is the arrowhead experience typically like? >> you just feel the intensity in the crowd. everything is red. everyone is yelling. every seat is full. >> reporter: tailgating at arrowhead will be allowed with cones here and tailgaters being told to say in their own space. while the atmosphere might be more hushed, players voices on issues of social justice now louder than ever. >> we believe black lives matter. >> black lives matter. >> reporter: the nfl plunging back into play on a dramat

sam brock shows us what theaters are doing to keep you safe. >> tennant has hit the blue screen. thriller from director christopher nolan providing a dose the theater escape from covid-19, that is if movie-goers are ready. >> how would you feel about going to see a movie right now. >> with my mask on and social distanci distancing, i don't see why i wouldn't do that. >> what would it take for you to see a movie. >> the vaccine. >> covid-19 is over. >> mandatory masks for employees and customers and regular sanitizing and a push away from lines toward digital tickets and spacing inside of the theater. how many people might be allowed to watch with you depends on where you live. some cities offering 25% and others 50. in new york and l.a. theaters aren't open at all. >> it is the bigger cities that will take longer to get back online and it presented an interesting dynamic where some could see a movie right away and others have to wait but that will only build excitement. >> tennant is off to a solid start. this august just spenting $13 million, down 78%. an industry trying to buil

here's sam brock. >> to the ground, man. >> reporter: frightening moments in fort lauderdale capturedolice body cam video and released just hours ago. former trump campaign chief brad pass skal tackled by officers yesterday following a suicide attempt according to police. a realtor showing a house nearby called 911. >> i have a really nice lady who just came out and she thinks her husband has shot himself inside their house. >> reporter: on display in the three-minute video edited by fort lauderdale police, his wife candace describing her husband's behavior as threatening to himself and others. >> he came out of his office, cocked his handgun and went back inside. >> reporter: candace told police after a verbal altercation, bradley manipulated his slide to the rear loading his firearm in front of her. candace immediately fled the residence and she stated she heard a long bang shortly thereafter. police say uncovered in his home, ten firearms, including handguns, rifles and shotguns legally owned. >> are you okay in there? okay. can you do us a favor? can you walk out with no weapons.

we want to try to go to pensacola, florida where we find sam brock. are trying to keep and establish a connection with sam. hopefully you can hear me this morning, sam, as bill was just talking through this you're experiencing the worst of this thing high winds lots of rain this thing at a walking pace and then there is that deadly storm surge. take us through this morning, sam, what you are experiencing on the ground. >> reporter: yasmine, good morning. bill was lock in step from what i was hearing from people on the ground in pensacola when they told me they weren't expecting this it's only a few days ago that new orleans was potentially dead center for hurricane sally and started to shift to biloxi and gulf port now on the panhandle of florida on the dirty side of this system right now. the first thing you notice is the wind speeds. if i talk to you long enough at some point i'm going to physically be moved while i'm talking with you i'm a big guy, yasmine the winds are that strong and continuing to build. the rain coming down heavily as well if yo

does expect there could be loss of life once all this recedes and once the smoke clears craig. >> sam brock for us still on duty in pensacola, florida, where the rain is clearly not letting up, wind not letting up. that's probably going to be the case for many more hours there sam, thank you >>> more than two feet of rain so far in pensacola, florida, as we bring in nbc meteorologist bill karins. bill, just a few minutes ago we got that 11:00 a.m. update on the storm from the national hurricane center any major changes? >> no. we were wondering if it would drop down to the tropical storm. it's still a hurricane at this point. maybe the next hour or two, probably going down to a tropical storm it's losing some of its punch with its winds, but still a huge rain event a lot of the damage has already been done overnight, incredible amount of rain when the storm was moving at two miles per hour look at the rainfall totals -- these all have to get verified to make sure the rain gauges were accurate -- 28 inch in ft.t walton beach, orange beach, 24 inches we were told life-threatening, historic ra

sam brock, let's go over to you. you are on a beach, it looks a little windy. what are you seeing there? how are people preparing? >> the wind is starting to pick up, no question, katy. a dual threat of storm surge, which michelle was just talking about. over my shoulder, you have, of course, the gulf right here. and then, down the way, raufrinl a major problem, especially if the system continues to slow down. what you're looking at is potentially 2 to 3 inches an hour for 10, 11, 12 hours which is where you get that 24-inch number. just had conversation with the emergency director of harrison county here in mississippi, which is where i am. i'm in gulfport. biloxi is right over my shoulder. he's telling me his number one concern right now is loss of life or lives, and if that were to happen, it would be because of water. now, we do know this, there's a sea wall that extends all the way down to where those casinos are. that's been built for more than half a century, since about 1950. a lot of the businesses around here, katy, are also elevated on stilts, homes

nbc's sam brock is in miami. he's following these new changes. orida saw more than 2,500 new cases on the same day that the governor lifted those restrictions. what are you hearing from folks there about that? >> reporter: look, we've been averaging between 2,000 and 3,000 new infections every single day. there's mixed reaction even within the business community. governor desantis has basically said, you know what's going on right now, businesses are twisting in the wind. we're just going to open everything from here on out. nightclubs, bars, restaurants, gentlemen clubs, all of that is opening up. now they don't have to be open at 100%, but the threshold is 50% which is to say if you're not a restaurant like this that has the capacity to move outside, you still have to be reaching that 50% number, figuring out a way to do so. you mentioned the 205,000 new cases today. florida just crossing 700,000 new infections since it started, one of three states that's hit that benchmark so far. i talked to a business owner who owns a restaurant in miami. she

that's sam brock. this is hurricane sally.an see storms are still brewing there in the area. we know it is a category 2 when it reached landfall this morning. causing a lot of flooding. you canin sam this morning. we'll continue to follow what's happening there, possible damage and, of course, everything that's happening with hurricane sally as we continue with the morning. >>> right now a look at what we can expect in the forecast here in the bay

nbc's sam brock spoke with some of those parents. sam, of course, a lot of players want to know when they want to get back. they're anxious to get back on the field, including the eight nebraska football players who filed a lawsuit against the big ten. how are parents responding? >> reporter: parents, families, chris, are all adamant about the fact that they would like some clarification here. they say how do we go from on august 5th the big ten set a schedule, started discussing safety protocols to six days later effectively freezing their season in perpetuitperpetuity. they look at the pac-12, big 12, all these major college football conferences giving this a shot right now and asking, why can't we do it. there's hundreds of millions of dollars at stake when you talk about a conference with a profile like the big ten. we're also discussing student athletes who have spent their entire lives working to get that point, to compete for a national championship. they're being told you have to at least hold on for the next few months, poten

nbc's sam brock puts our sunday focus on this unusual nfl season. >> the 2020 nfl season. zone. >> reporter: the biggest draw in american sports, the nfl roaring back with $500 million man patrick maholmes giving the chiefs a victory. stands on social justice sparking controversy. >> a moment of unity i thought was good. the booing was unfortunate during that moment. i don't fully understand that. >> reporter: minutes before, the texans leaving their side of the field empty during the "star spangles bann enebanner." >> we respect military and american and everything that the nfl want to do. we didn't want any confusion or any negative flashback on guys kneeling and standing for one and kneeling for others. >> reporter: outside the stadium, two retired marines protesting the protests, at least in this form. why is kneeling for the flag a disservice to those who have fought for the country's free m freedoms? >> they fought for this flag and died for it. a lot of young americans, soldiers went overseas and fought and did not make it back home. >> reporter: marches against rac

you mentioned pensacola where we find sam brock, they're dealing with a ton of water. sam, tell me what you're seeing where you are. >> reporter: hallie, good morning. right now we're getting slammed again with winds bill talking about the fact this ended up being a stronger storm from wind speed perspective than we had envisioned. went to bed, a lot of folks, it was 85 miles an hour sustained winds and then upticked to 105 this is basically a swimming pool of a parking lot where i'm standing whether we got out here at 4:00 this morning, hallie there was no water where i am. there was some in the street now it is a continuous lake. all these streets here are just covered in water we see some folks really over my shoulder, check this out, standing on the pool area of that hotel just overlooking the sea of water. they have nowhere where they can go people are trapped now, power is out, you're looking up and seeing no light posts on there were tens of thousands of power outages in pensacola and the storm surge at one point hit about 5 1/2 feet there is still high tide, it

but let's start our team coverage with sam brock. he is in the thick of it in pensacola this morning. hi, sam. good morning. >> reporter: savannah, hoda, good morning. we are getting slammed with wind and rain. we started reporting at 4:00 this morning. the parking lot was empty. it is now a swimming pool with streets nearby, rivers. pensacola underwater, storm surge of about five and a half feet. with more rain coming in hours ahead, lives are still at risk across the region. overnight hurricane sally grinding toward shore slamming the gulf with heavy rains and potentially devastating flooding. >> hope for the best and it's all we could do. >> reporter: sally's strong winds tearing down power lines plunging residents into darkness. flooding homes and roadways concerning officials. >> we are anticipating a historic flood event throughout the coast and throughout the county. >> down, rain totals pile up. with sally crawling at just 2 miles an hour, projections show many spots could get soaked by 20 inches and up to 30 in isolated areas

moving hurricane is creating the potential for dangerous storm surges and historic flooding nbc's sam brock joins us now from biloxi. sam, tell us what you're seeing and what you expect today. >> reporter: yeah, getting a sense now, hallie, good morning, of the wind speeds really starting to pick up. the fact of the matter is hurricane sally is grinding to a halt, two miles an hour. you and i walk faster than that going to work in the morning the issue there is if it just sits on the coast and starts dumping and dumping water for hours, if not days, you're going to be looking at potentially historic flooding levels and storm surge coming in. as we pull out, you see the parking lot is already flooded and sally doesn't make landfall until tomorrow morning it already looks like this granted, it is high tide but local officials have their hands full right now, trying to figure out how to respond. this is a marina, you would find boats docked here, you would be able to walk out on the dock that is submerged. the boats are long gone. and the concern now, how much storm surge are we going to see.

i want to head to our colleague, sam brock, in pensacola, florida, where they've already gotten 30 inches of rain sam, you are 6'5". i want to see how deep this water is when i saw you earlier on "morning joe" thinking if i was standing there, i would be waist deep. >> i appreciate, clearly you're paying attention, yes. right now the water is at my knees. i want to be careful here, understandably as you mentioned a second ago, it's hard to tell exactly how fast it's moving if i move over here, it starts to rise above the knees and the lower part of my waist if i were to get to that stop sign these cars over my shoulder, the water is just below the windows. it's been at that level probably about an hour. one of those cars was rocking back and forth storm surge hit five feet but it's quickly escalating and high tide is coming at 11:00 this morning. as this wind continues to whip on through, it is trapping the storm surge with rain totals continuing to accumulate and the water has nowhere to go. that is how you end up with a visual, like what i am standing in right now, which is a parking lo

that's sam brock, formerly from nbc bay area, now with nbc news, doing live reports. it's been remarkable to see some of the photos coming out in the area. intense winds and just a massive storm there buckling that area. category 2 storm so far. let's check in with kari. nothing like that in our neighborhood this morning. >>> no, we've been so happy to see improved air quality. we're breathing some of the best air we've had in over a month now so it's nice to see all green here on the map. we'll talk about the forecast as we go throughout the day and what's ahead. cleaner air. mike, you've been tracking a couple of crashes this morning. >>> yeah, thankfully those all cleared up, kari. we have mostly green on my maps. green is good but we'll show you where it's not go, it's slow over in

sam brock joins us from pensacola this morning. hi, sam. good morning. >> reporter: savannah, good morning. with helicopters in the air and high-water vehicles on the ground, the state of florida stepping up its search and rescue efforts. right now folks have a massive cleanup on their hands when it could take months. after hurricane sally ripped through the region, residents are sweeping up and assessing their massive losses. >> this is gone. this is gone. this is gone. >> reporter: the powerful category 2 storm causing widespread destruction wrecking homes and businesses while claiming the life of at least one person and leaving several others missing. that's a boat right there. >> that's a boat. >> reporter: underneath your boat. >> that's correct. >> reporter: 500 members of florida's national guard called up going house to house to help those stranded by the flooding. all of that water also crushing local businesses. >> you could see here in the refrigeration, the flooding. >> reporter: they moved to florida after leaving washington, d

sam brock, nbc news. >>> this morning a full apology for a bay area assemblywoman who had to bring her newborn to work. [ baby crying] >> and ellie agrees that we absolutely need to pass this bill. >> that's buffy wicks and her 1-one-old ellie. ellie is making state history as the youngest person to speak, or in this case, cry, during session. they denied her request to vote by proxy. she said giving birth wasn't vd a valid reason to be considered high risk for covid-19 and allowed to vote by proxy. >> the bill came up and i was in the middle of breastfeeding and i thought i have to get to the floor. so i detached my daughter from me and put a blanket over her to try to protect her. >> the assembly speaker is in charge of deciding who gets to vote remotely during the pandemic. he released an apology to wicks that read, in was neverward her, her role as legislator or as a mother. i failed to make sure our process took into account the unique needs of our members. >>> all right. so one family gets help closing the digital divide and an nba super star meets his biggest fan. laura garcia h

are told to enjoy the last blast of summer but to be smart about coronavirus safety measures nbc's sam brock: hoda, good morning. look, this country has seen this story play out before, and it does not want to see a repeat of covid cases coming down only for a holiday to come sweep through and cause another spike. at the moment, the united states is registering more than 40,000 cases of covid-19 every single day. more than 900 deaths daily this week dr. fauci worried the labor day holiday could deepen the crisis. >> you don't need to lock yourself down, but don't be careless about things. such as, you know, crowds, in a bar, what have you make sure you wear your mask >> reporter: synonymous with the holiday, college football. right now, the debate over big ten football hitting a boiling point. the power five conference protes l open question, iowa state in the big 12 is and now a phone call from the president of the united states, personally to the big ten commissioner, imploring him to start play as soon as possible while that is an open question, iowa state in the big 12 is now backtrackin

there is a report of one death in alabama joining me from pensacola, florida is sam brock sam, what's the ground where you are >> reporter: ayman, good afternoon. some late breaking information on missing persons we've learned from the u.s. coast guard they're searching for a person here in pensacola, someone who lost his pontoon and went to look for it. they are actively searching for that individual. i'm at the marina in pensacola what it looks like now is not what it looked like earlier when there were boats stacked up. they were able to move some debris i was watching as docks were being tugged away that had been detached during hurricane sally. i had a conversation with the woman who owned the boat you don't see it because it's under water. that's the mast right there. they were thinking about moving this boat to gulf shore because figured they were safer here and now it's somewhere under this messy bay water. i would add it's not just the marina, ayman. i walked down the main streets and talked to business owners who have been devastated by this juan manual moved to pensacola an

joining me now, "today" show cohost al roker, from alabama, mooe chris jansing, and sam brock sam, we're going to begin with you and cross our fingers your signal holds i see you're taking some hits. what can you tell us about what you're experiencing right now in florida? >> yeah, katy, it was brutal this morning, but for the people of pensacola right now, it is literally conditions, on my left side is a reminder of what we're looking at the wind surges, this entire parking lot was covered. you can still see several feet of water here. some cars that were swallowed up earlier, but then, as you start to move away, you couldn't even distinguish parking lot from streets. now, i walk over here and it's like life has resumed seminormally people driving, people walking with their families and dogs and some semblance of normalcy returning, but with complete devastation. parts of this area received 30 to 33 inches of rain by midmorning so now as the tide has come down, as waters are starting to recede, public safety officials here are just getting their first glimpse of the extent of the damage

nbc's sam brock joins us from arrowhead stadium. sam, good morning. >> reporter: craig, good morning. this iconic and right now darkened football stadium typically hosts about 76,000 fans. but for this socially distant event, the attendance was under 16,000. entire rows in sections empty. also empty at one point, half the football field during the national anthem. >> big hole. edwards-helaire. >> reporter: back with a bang. a night featuring breakaway runs, dazzling touchdown passes, and an unexpected start. the visiting houston texans were nowhere to be seen during the national anthem. ♪ and the rockets red glare >> reporter: all of chiefs stood expect for okafor who took a knee. and raised a fist. moments later, both teams came together in a moment of unity which some fans appeared to boo. >> we wanted to show we're unified as a league. we're not going to distract from making change in this world. >> reporter: on the field, two of the league's top teams didn't disappoint. houston struck first. >> johnson looking for the end zone an

but we're going to start with nbc's sam brock in biloxi, mississippi. hey, sam.d morning. >> reporter: hoda and savannah, that's right. the wind right now picking up, so is the rain. under normal circumstances there would be a dock behind me with boats all over the marina in ba luxsy. the boats are long since gone. the docks are submerged in water. the question is how much of a rain total are we going to see, perhaps historic levels as salary is moving at 2 miles an hour. slower than you and i would walk paving the way for potentially deadly flood waters all throughout the region. this morning the gulf has only gotten a glimpse of the life-threatening deluge sitting on the horizon. >> retired gulf port firefighter. i was on duty the day katrina hit. so i know the magnitude and the scope of what these things can do. >> reporter: hurricane sally clocking sustained wind speeds around 85 miles an hour and inching its way to shore. the storm's slow speed driving massive rain totals. >> flooding. that's what i'm more concerned about is the water. >> reporter: officials

bringing with it flooding rain and potentially life-threatening storm surge nbc news correspondent sam brock is live for us in pensacola, florida. sam, what have you got >> reporter: mika, good morning. right now i'm standing in a parking lot in pensacola 30 or 45 minutes ago, there was no standing water here now it's already risen to a foot, maybe even higher than that and check this out over my shoulder, let me give you a picture of what i'm looking at right now there was a dumpster that must weigh a ton that's been pushed by the floodwaters through this parking lot. you can also see all the way in the distance there, perhaps, some lights on cars. they're not on because someone's inside that car. they're on because the floodwaters have triggered car alarms and lights. looks like it's blinking right now. there is the potential, mika and joe, for somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 to 30 inches of rainfall down here as the wind speeds have also picked up. we're looking at a situation right now where you might have gone to bed, it was sustained winds of 85 miles an hour. now it's more like 10

nbc's sam brock is in miami beach. sam, good morning. >> reporter: craig, good morning. cases are up in half the states over the course of the past couple of weeks. we just crossed 700,000 total infections. the green light has been given here to fully reopen bars and restaurants. checked somewhat by local restrictions. despite the push to contain covid, there are alarming signs the country is headed in the wrong direction. 25 states have seen a bump in the cases with wyoming, utah, and wisconsin having a spike of 100% or more colorado, dakotas, montana not far behind florida also crossing several scary benchmarks 700,000 total covid cases and 14,000 deaths. just as the state announced a full phase three reopening restaurants, bars, and nightclubs now operating largely without restrictions vista restaurant's owner says some customers are refusing to wear masks or social distance. >> the perception is now that he has opened the businesses in general, they can pretty much go to pre-pandemic era. that's not the case. >> reporter: another wakeup call in new york once the epic

sam brock joins us with the latest y, morning. >> reporter: hoda, good morning.cted to attend that event. it was a series of events that included rides and concerts. this coming on the heels of another motorcycle rally in sturgis, south dakota, that appears to have led to a spike in cases right now health experts watching the fallout closely in missouri, motorcycles rumble. and packed performances pulsated through the lake of the ozarks with few masks and social distancing. >> if we get it, we get it >> reporter: the 14th annual bike fest happening despite the global pandemic. this vacation area giving 100,000 people the green light to ride on through about a month ago, nearly a half million bikers descended on sturgis, south dakota. nbc news has confirmed hundreds of cases in and out of state have been tied to that rally it comes as new audio has been released of president trump talking to bob woodward back in july grading his performance of how he's handling the pandemic >> i'd give ourselves an "a. but the grade is incomplete and i'll tell you why. if we come

sam brock joins us now from miami with the latest. reporter: hoda, craig, good morning. thankfully the titans' last opponent the minnesota vikings have reported zero positive s dp up contact tracing nonetheless, the game scheduled for this sunday featuring the titans and the steelers for the time being is still on for three weeks in the nfl, the action on the field carried the headlines. now with coronavirus fluster on the tennessee titans has halted the momentum roger goodell writing a memo to all 32 teams saying three players and five staffers on the team tested positive to remain diligent in implementing all of our health and safety protocols the nfl says they immediately isolated those who tested positive, contact traced for possible exposures, and temporarily suspended in-person for the titans the titans set to play the steelers on sunday can't return to their facility until saturday at the earliest. >> as of right now, the game is still on that could happen. >> reporter: ian rapaport with the nfl network says the league has been

that's sam brock. this is hurricane sally. of course you can see storms are still brewing there in the area. we know it is a category 2 when it reached landfall this morning. causing a lot of flooding. you canin sam this morning. we'll continue to follow what's happening there, possible damage and, of course, everything that's happening with hurricane sally as we continue with the morning. >>> right now a look at what we can expect in the forecast here in the bay area. meteorologist kari hall has been monitoring that. kari, of course something good behind you there this morning, the air quality looking good. >>> this is the best air quality we've had in about a month here. we're starting out with a lot of good air quality. we'll talk about what we're expecting as we continue the forecast coming up. mike, how is it looking for the morning commute? >>> kari, we may have issues for the tri-valley and that may ripple out. the live picture from our dublin camera. headlights in the middle of the screen heading west to the clock wher

. >>> i want to bring in ron ailen in new york city, sam brock in miami, and monica alba outside theouse. ron, in new york, a lot of tension over the school reopenings tomorrow. what are you hearing about the likelihoods of those plans changing in the country's biggest school district? >> reporter: we should hear more from the governor who just announced he'll do a conference call in an hour or so, hallie. this is the only big city school system in the country trying it start in person learning this month and already delayed it twice because of the disputes about whether it was safe or not with teachers and administrators. it is a huge issue that everybody is wrestling with. i have a 7th grader myself, trying to figure out what is safe, what is not safe for them. a lot of kids are dependent on school for lunch and meals, parents want to get out and work. but the bottom line is that, yes, we still think that elementary schools are going to open tomorrow. hundreds of thousands of kids. yesterday, however, a union that represents principals and administrators voted no confidence in the

sam brock is there in kansas city.00 fans in the stadium tonight. that is about 22% of its total capacity. talk to us about what this is going to look like. >> reporter: it's a major adjustment from the norm. arrow head stadium is one of the most excitable, roundiest venues in the nfl with you one-fifth capacity. tailgating will still be going on, blocked off every other space in terms of arrangements inside the stadium, the chiefs are calling it pods of four to six people, either friends or family members that know one another, that's how they're congregating it two perot row everyone can get outside of the aisle. we talked to a fan, john shoe shoemaker thinks it will work. >> even if it's not quite as loud as we expect, with live fans unlike the nba. >> reporter: there were 44,000 covid-19 tests administered between august 30th and september 5th. only eight new positives, one player and seven non-player personnel. very good and encouraging numbers as the league tries to get the season kicked off tonight an nbc, 8:20

. >> and nbc's sam brock is live and we'll start with you.g at a map and i think it's about halfway betweentbetween s and if republicans go forward and put this nomination through, he's saying, all options on the table next year. you have a lot of democratic aligned groups that want a very aggressive posture from the party here. what is biden? what is the candidate himself trying to project in this? what is his message here? >> well, steve, vice president biden will land and i have been practicing all morning manitowoc. we heard from vice president biden in that speech yesterday in philadelphia when he wanted to cool the flames and he had the appeal and allow the next president whoever is elected in november to allow that president to be the one to appoint and fill this vacant seat and that's what the vice president has been focused on. he has notably avoided the suggestion that you have seen from some more of the activists in the party and the left than the base of the party, i should say, that have been calling for more drastic measures or

. >> nbc's sam brock joins us from the hard-hit city of pensacola in florida give us a sense of what people are waking up to today >> reporter: hallie, good morning. there is a wide spectrum in terms of the type of damage of what we've seen, roofs that have been sheared off of houses, trees uprooted, aluminum and vinyl siding wrapped around objects downtown the marine may be the most jaw-dropping a couple owners are assessing the damage of this shed, they run a sailing academy. the said of it ripped off and nine different boats, some of them are submerged underwater at a 40-degree angle with different boats piled on top of one another. you see a mast over my shoulder here there's a boat underneath submerged, tens of millions of dollars of damage it not more. folks remember ivan and this is worse. it claimed 100-plus lives, caused all sorts of damage in pensacola. in terms of what they're looking at the day after, they're telling me this is worse roughly 210,000 customers in the state of florida that have no power. the issue yesterday the wind was howling so fast it was too dangerous

news meteorologist bill karins is standing by with the latest forecast, but first, i want to go to sam brockloxi, mississippi. we know the governor tate reeves declared a state of emergency and said he's expecting a direct hit. how are the folks where you are preparing on the ground? >> yeah, we've seen evacuations that have happened sandbags when mother nature dials up the moch, there's not a lot you can do we're seeing wind speeds pick up the rain is starting to hit. this is going to be like a spigot once the rain starts, it's not going to stop and it's that combination of storm surge and heavy rainfall that has officials here worried about potential loss of life as you look around, it is high tide so keep that in mind but this was a marina with lots of boats and a dock underneath there. the dock is submerged. the boats long since gone. you can see the trees blowing in the breeze overnigh shoulder, walk this way, i'm in a parking lot flooded at the moment. sally moving at 2 miles an hour doesn't even make landfall until tomorrow that bridge right there is the biloxi bay bridge. ocean sprin

i want to start with sam brock in pensacola pensacola got nearly six feet of water after sally made landfallat is the third highest on record how are people dealing with this >> steph, good morning with great difficulty right now, they are going from the weathering the storm phase now to damage assessment they are showing up at businesses and homes and personal property and not liking what they are finding. over my shoulder at the marina here in pensacola, all of these boats stacked together they started hundreds of yards away those triple-digit wind speeds you just mentioned and powerful storm surge pulled them up off of the dock and yanked them over here you can see there's a mast over my shoulder. that's from a boat submerged underneath this water. i talked to a man living on one of these boats was there until 5:00 a.m. yesterday and finally at that point decided i've had enough and moved to the hotel next door he's okay now but a lot of these owners are seeing their boats for the first time as we drive around pensacola, we see plenty of signs of wind damage trees uprooted aluminum siding

perspective. 20,000 flags one each representing 10 victims were placed near the washington monument sam brock timeline for a vaccine hey, sam good morning >> reporter: hoda, good morning. our number right now are looking at an increase in covid-19 cases in the last couple of weeks in florida, the positivity rate has jumped above 5% for the first time in 11 days. is that a blip on the radar or a trend? that comes as approval for a possible vaccine now looks farther out on the horizon as the covid crisis moves from summer into fall, health officials are pleading with the public to be aware of the cold weather presents, when it comes to a virus that readily spreads indoors. >> the fact is, we know we could get into serious trouble if we don't do certain things. we are entering into a risk period and we've got to act accordingly as we enter into that risk period >> reporter: dr. anthony fauci predicting a vaccine could be available reasonably soon. but that timeline may have just taken a major hit. according to "the washington post," the fda is announcing stricter standards for approving emergenc

sam brock is at the university of miami which is taking a different approach sam, good morning. >> reporteron campus where they can be monitored. with mounting cases across the country now, some are choosing to clear their campuses and go entirely online. after starting the school year with high hopes, the persistent threat of a highly infectious virus shattering the plans of calling it quits for on campus classes sending all of the students home fo many calling it quits here for on-campus classes sending all the students home for the semester with more than 500 cases of covid the college needs to take action to contain the virus and prevent further community spread temple university coming to a similar conclusion after hundreds of infections there >> really hoped that this would be able to work, but the data just was too obvious for us. >> reporter: turning a recent two-week pause period into a near total jump into online learning >> it was kind of a general consensus between my family and i that, like, i'm going home >> reporter: but the wisdom of students going home being questioned by p

and get this, they've signed bubba wallace to drive nbc's sam brock has more on this one. is this for a power combination? six-time nba finals mvp michael jordan teaming up with denny hamlin to form a brand new racing team for 2021 it makes the jordan the first majority black team owner in decades right now and it also puts bubba wallace, the sports only full time black driver behind the wheel those two trying to leave their mark on and off the track. this morning nba legend michael jordan is ushering in a new era for nascar with rising star bubba wallace in the driver's seat >> obviously i'm a big nascar fan. >> reporter: the charlotte hornets owner partnering with three-time daytona 500 winner denny hamlin to form a new nascar team for the 2021 season. the move makes jordan nascar's first full-time black team owner of a full-time race team for over 50 years. overnight, jordan providing historically nascar has struggled with diversity and there have been few black owners i see this as a chance to educate a new audience and open more opportunities for black people in racin

more than a half million contracted coronavirus sam brock looks at a learn as you go process >> reporterady seen some of the successing and perils of trying to resume in-person instruction. now college campuses trying a combination of testing and quarantining exposed students in separate housing and dorms hoping that stops the spread >> welcome back. >> reporter: this morning more covid-conscious classrooms ushering in students. >> happy they're coming back they need to be with their teachers, their friends. >> reporter: welcoming with spaced out desks and markers >> our classroom today probably has about eight or nine r: whil, they're kick starting instruction virtually. >> the expectation for my son is still the same he still has to go to bed on time, get up on time, and he has to study >> reporter: but even with controlled environments, some schools have already experienced outbreaks magnifying concerns they could be overwhelmed like many colleges. >> they want them to close down to prevent any further harm to students >> reporter: at the university activities >> reporter: "the new yo

first, nbc's sam brock is in kansas city. hey, sam.r: hoda, savannah, craig, good morning. i get the impression you all are a little bit pumped up right now about the start of football season. it feels like football. it is 50 degrees outside, a little rainy. what a matchup tonight. desawn watson and patrick mahomes squaring off, two of the truly talented, young players in the nfl. right now with this nation reeling from covid-19 and racial injustice, the nfl looking to tackle both in a big way. in just hours, duelling nfl superstars will take the field. chiefs super bowl mvp quarterback patrick mahomes. >> people haven't had football in forever. suddenly, it'll be like -- >> touchdown. look out. >> reporter: the electric signal caller desawn watson. >> no, i think it'll be more like. >> deep down field. >> reporter: they're about to light up the nfl universe. >> go chiefs! da-da-da-da. >> chiefs! >> i'm super excited for the game. yeah, i kind of tear up a little bit just thinking about it. >> reporter: but in the age of covid, potenti

sam brock has more. hey, sam. >> reporter: hoda, willie, good morning. walmart, though, has a distinct advantage. the largest network of grocery stores. but there's a catch the's a catd cost you if you're not paying attention. at a time many customers are concerned about covid-19 and looking to avoid crowds at all costs. >> see that line i had house, i'd do it in a minute >> reporter: retail behemoth walmart is stepping up its e-commerce game. leveraging its 4,700-plus stores across the continue more than half of which can drop off goods the same day from food and toys to electronics, a basket of more than 160,000 items >> we've seen a massive uptick in people wanting delivery some people wanting two day delivery, same day, or seven days in advance. >> reporter: a major perk in the pandemic but the new program comes with a caveat unlike amazon who has no minimum order price except for amazon and same day fresh deliveries, walmart requires a minimum $35 order. >> you're getting a cardboard box with amazon. you can get one item for five bucks. from walmart

first, let's turn now to sam brock. he's in hard-hit pensacola. m, good morning. >> reporter: hoda, savannah, good morning. some of the boats you see behind me right now started hundreds of yards away with wind speeds approaching triple digits with power. storm surge. the docks were ripped from the pylons in the water and carried down here, where they're in clusters. that's a mast. there is a boat underneath the water. now in the state of florida, 220,000 customers still have no power. amazingly, guys, not a single storm-related fatality reported in this state so far. this morning, the clean-up and the heartbreak. florida residents reeling after sally slammed the coast as a powerful category 2 hurricane. >> it looks like a war zone to me. >> reporter: the storm dishing out a trifecta of strong winds, historic rain, and a scary storm surge. >> yeah, this is the bedroom. >> reporter: the hurricane toppling trees onto homes, leaving many streets impassable, and even ripping apart this bridge. sally stalled over pensacola for hours, dumping nearly 30 i