and deaths are now occurring among the unvaccinated gabe gutierrez, nbc news, new york >>> i'm steve patterson in nevada, where tonight hospitals are back on high alert as the delta variant spreads, cases now on the rise in more than half the country a third of those new cases concentrated in five hot spots with low vaccination rates. in missouri, one hospital just opened up its sixth covid ward nationally hospitalizations up by at least 30% in 11 states including nevada, where just 39% of the population is fully vaccinated covid cases here up 89% in a month hospitalizations spiking to levels unseen since february. >> is there a possibility that the state may have opened up a little too early? >> people in the hospitals are not vaccinated, and that's why they're showing up we need to go into communities, talk to people about the benefits this vaccination. >> reporter: officials say disinformation and distrust in neighborhoods with heavy black and latino populations and limited access to health care are making people here more vulnerable >> what took you guys so long? >> we were just indecisive

here's steve patterson. >> reporter: no matter how much time you spend watching him launch his body intons, your mere mortal eyes never adjust to it. his motto is embrace the grind. . >> where are you going to be at the end, you'll be smiling. >> spectacular! >> reporter: the first-time olympian has a lot to grin about. >> for me, i am ready. like, i have dreamed about this for so long. >> reporter: but for all his accomplishments, he can't shake the feeling that he shouldn't be here. his biological mother struggled with drug addiction and he was adopted from south korea as a baby. >>> my parents now are giving me that lifestyle. >> reporter: but their new baby struggled. >> he was not a happy infant. we were waiting at the gate and i heard him screaming as he came down off the plane. >> reporter: he screamed constantly. he didn't speak until he was three and a half. in the gym and on his rural farm, he began to flourish. >> this little barn right here. i started scooping poop. >> reporter: what do you think that taught you? >> just when you're going to do a job, make sure you do it with

steve patterson now with the latest. >> reporter: tonight, wildfire season in full force way too earlyrbinger, northern california's dixie fire, now torching an area the size of new york city, ripping apart more than a dozen homes and structures, threatening 10,000 more. >> it's very stressful, scary at times. >> reporter: more than fife dozen firefighters on the front lines struggling to contain the flames after the rapidly expanding footprint merged with the nearby fly fire into an unpredictable mega blaze. >> it's almost beyond comprehension how fast these fires can move. >> reporter: crews across the west already stretched thin. right now 22,000 firefighters on the front lines of 85 major fires raging across 13 states. so far more than 2.7 million acres have burned this outpacing this n 2020, the worst year ever recorded by nearly a million acres. >> we still have to keep our head in the game because we still have the peak months ahead of us. >> reporter: in oregon, the massive bootleg fire, the nation's largest, is now burning more than 400,000 acres, and only 53% contained. >> it

with me now are nbc's steve patterson and the doctor.d of sense is vegas dealing with, especially with the concerns of a new strain. >> yasmin, there's little doubt. you look at the different rates and hospitalizations. we haven't seen numbers like these now since about mid-february. the worst part is official say it doesn't have to be like this. they estimate about 95% of the hospitalizations due to covid in the recent weeks have all been from unvaccinated people. there simply aren't enough people getting shots in their arms in this state. the state's about 45% or so totally vaccinated. it gets work when you look at clark county, the hard of vegas. there was a big fight last night. the strip was on fire, but moon while, you see several communities, 25% vaccinated. another zip code 30% vaccinated. we were there for a vaccination drive. it's so dire that senator cortez masko came. >> one of the things we have to continue doing is delivering accurate messaging, trying to get as many people vaccinated. the delta variant is a frightening con

joining me now from las vegas is nbc news correspondent steve patterson. munity about the surge of cases? >> it depends completely upon who you talk to and where. the two communities that appear to be doing the worst are on complete opposite worst are on complete opposite ends of the spectrum. you have affluent suburban communities and the inner city right here in las vegas that surrounds the vegas strip. you'll find communities that are 30% vaccinated, 25% vaccinated. i spoke to some ladies who just got the shot and said they were very happy to do so, they felt protected. i spoke to another woman in a barbershop who said she would never put anything that has to do with a vaccine in her arm full stop. standing next to her is robert taylor who owns the barbershop. he's been speaking about how much misinformation there is in these communities that have lower access to health care. he's been using his barber chair to try to spread positive information about the vaccine. here's what he told me after he says he had a near brush with death with covid. listen to t

joining us is nbc news correspondent steve patterson.one of the states with a lower vaccination rate seeing an increase in cases and hospitalizations. how is the state expanding efforts to get more shots into people's arms? >> reporter: it's serious here. another 1600 cases over the weekend, hospitalizations unlike we've seen since february, a positivity rate now nearing 10%. this is expected to continue as we move forward with the vaccination rate now sub 40% in the state. officials are painfully aware of the numbers. they're painfully aware of what this variant is doing. they've been focusing on trying to get as much messaging as possible, but they're also relying on help from the federal government. fema is putting surge teams on the ground as early as today. the las vegas review journal reporting that's an 85-member strong team. they're going to be doing canvassing, phone banks and popup vaccinations so people can get an opportunity to put a shot in their arm. as we've been learning on the ground, and we've been here for quite a whil

nbc news correspondent steve patterson has the latest. >> reporter: wildfire season in full force wayifornia's dixie firing with ripping apart more than a dozen homes and structures, threatening a dozen more. >> it's stressful, scary at times. >> more than 5,000 firefighters on the front lines, struggling to maintain the firms after it merged with the fly fire into an unpredictable megablaze. >> it's beyond comprehension how fast the fires can move. >> reporter: crews across the west stretched thin, 22,000 firefighters on the front lines of 85 major fires raging across 13 states. so far more than 2.7 million acres have burned this year outpacing this time in 2020, the worst year ever recorded by nearly a million acres. >> we have to keep our head in the game because we still have the peak months ahead of us. >> reporter: in oregon, the bootleg fire, the nation's largest, the burning more than 450,000 acres and only 53% contained. >> it's so dry a lot of this is turning to dust. >> a sparks of a climate in chaos, igniting fears of an unprecedented year of devastation. >> thanks to nbc'

steve patterson live for us in vegas. thank you. >>> dr. black stock, to you now.and i am sure you have been talking to folks, some of whom may be vaccine hesitant. when you look at the places in the country where there are lower vaccination rates, they are largely places that trend politically red. this is something born out by the numbers. we've been talking about on this show, seeing that. i wonder, dr. blackstock, how you have those conversations. because dr. fauci, i found it interesting. he was asked a question by john dickerson on cbs about the communication. i'm paraphrasing, it is like they're almost insulted, you don't know enough, you don't know better. how do you communicate to people, perhaps in these more red politically minded communities, about getting the vaccination now, given the notion has been politicized, by other networks that are propagating misinformation about what the vaccine actually does? >> we have seen the politicization of this pandemic, masking, the vaccine, cause harm. it is costing lives. i think in terms of the areas that are unv

nbc's steve patterson is live in las vegas for us what are health officials doing to curb this spread? >> reporter: it's to the point where health officials are practically begging people to get vaccinated the delta variant here is pushing nearly every metric from case count to positive rate to, as you mentioned, hospitalization, which are at a point that we have not even since mid-february but the part that is so enraging for these health officials is that they say it doesn't have to be this way if more people would just get vaccinated. yet the state vaccination rate bu only at about 39%. but you could find communities near the strip that are less than 25% we visited some of these communities, went to a vaccination drive at a nearby apartment complex. i found some young women who say they wanted to wait to get the vaccine. i asked why. here's what happened next. what took you guys so longearp v >> they were indecisive. >> yeah, a little scared. >> wanted to see what would happen. >> reporter: they say they are now happy that they got the vaccine. what happens next is fema is in touch

steve patterson has more steve, good morning. >> reporter: hey, frances.or about a decade or so we've heard the virtues of medical marijuana, what it's done for people. certainly nobody is disputing that but there is a dark side specifically when it comes to this high potency thc. these products that are something like 90% thc teenagers and kids are getting their hands on them and it's causing a lot of problems. specifically in denver that state says they were the leaders in legalization and now they want to be the leaders in regulation as well here's what officials told us. colorado teenagers will brown and jasmine block are united by the all too common bond of addiction. >> my life is falling apart around me. >> i started using it just to feel like i could function >> reporter: the pair now sober, both say they got hooked on high-potency form of marijuana extract. it's sold as edibles or oils, known as wax or shatter, that contain as much as 90% of the psychoactive thc, the chemical that gets you high compare that to the hippie high you may have grown up

steve patterson is in phoenix, arizona, with the latest. i will start with you on this one, shannon. what more can you tell us about the president's appearance and what he has been saying about the former president? >> reporter: well, this was a little bit of a warm-up lap to what we'll be seeing a lot more of in 2022. he's out there campaigning for a democratic governor in what has really become a blue state, but democrats, they kind of face a heavy lift going into 2022. the party that controls the white house often does worse in those mid-term elections, so that's why we're seeing the president now out there campaigning in what should be a pretty safe governor's race. you know, i think, yasmin, you raised an interesting point here in noting the criticism of former president donald trump by current president joe biden. historically we really haven't seen a sitting president attack his predecessor until, of course, about five years ago when it was something that then-president donald trump did a lot of. but before then you wouldn't see obam

let's go to steve patterson standing by in phoenix, arizona.ead of tonight's rally? >> reporter: well, i've recently heard from a political commentator who essentially said that as long as the former president essentially draws breath and continues public speaking that he sets the tone and the agenda for the republican party. and that is what this event is about, even more than questioning the integrity of our elections in this country, it is an event to pledge to donald trump, especially for people who are running for office across the country. and there are people here running for senate, house, secretary of state, all across -- again, all across the country, here to be in his orbit. in doing so, they are essentially glomming onto this idea that there is widespread voter fraud and the election was somehow stolen from donald trump. nowhere is that more poignant than right here in phoenix with the audit that has been going on more months that has caused 2.4 million votes, and cost taxpayers $150,000 so far and has found no evidence of voter fra

steve patterson with more on the state's bold move. >> reporter: colorado teenagers will and jasmine are united by the all too common bond of addiction. >> my life is falling apart around me. >> i started using it just to feel like i could function. >> reporter: the pair now sober say they got hooked on a high potency form of marijuana extract. it's sold as edibles or oils known as wax or shatter that contain as much as 90% of the psychoactive thc, the chemical that gets you high compare to the hippy high you may have grown up with that pot had 2% to 5% thc. while millions do benefit from medical marijuana, in some cases researchers have linked these new, more powerful concentrates to physical dependence, psychosis, and anxiety >> when these patients come in and they have like reported vomiting or acute psychosis, they tell us it's super hard to stop, which says to me it is addictive. >> reporter: how do you know that these are directly thc reactions? >> so we track it by urine drug screens, and that tells us thc >> reporter: the rising cases like these are such a cause for concern t

steve patterson in las vegas, nevada, where covid is an absolute monster. and dr. peter hotez. steve, nevada has the highest covid rate in the country and among the lowest for vaccinations. as i am talking through this, i am thinking back to the connor magregor fight. what is going on with americans, vaccines are available. >> reporter: you see health officials are begging people to get vaccinated. it pushed every metric from positivity rate to case count to hospitalizations which are at levels we have not seen since mid february. the most mind numbing thing is that they say it doesn't have to be this way. they looked at the metrics. they've seen that 95% of the current people in the hospital for covid in the past few weeks have been there unvaccinated. we have seen the vaccination rate in far lower than it should be, 43%. far worse in communities like las vegas, communities that surround the strip, often with hospitality workers working on the strip. there we found a community over the weekend 25% vaccinated. another one 30% vaccinated, where they were holding a vaccination dri

here's nbc steve patterson with more. >> yes, kendis, lindsey. the former presidents former trump speaking for about two hours. before that we saw a train of trump supporters in the form of candidates running for office for governor, for secretary of state. for congress. here in arizona. really across the country. all wanting to really be in his light, to sort of pledge fealty to the former president as he still controls much of the party. meanwhile, the president speaking on a wide range of topics. not being shy about the southern border. about critical race theory. about political opponents. also digging into things like the cleveland indians achieving their name to the cleveland guardians. about the olympic soccer team. there was no topic really out of bounds. we expect that from the president. the real forklifts though, was of course on widespread voter fraud. which he alleges is happening. and a course on the america will be county audit which has been ongoing for months, with no proof of widespread voter fraud, both here and in other states

let's go to nbc's steve patterson once again in phoenix ahead of that rally.e lined up outside. tell me what all you are seeing there today. >> reporter: you know, alex, as somebody who has covered a number of the trump rallies in the lead-up to the mid-terms, in the lead-up to the general election, you can't help but feel the wave of familiarity, the red hats, all of the enthusiasm, none of the masks it it is all here. it is a classic trump campaign stop, almost a throwback. that's essentially what it is for gop candidates running in their districts across the country. people are here that running for governor, for congress, for secretary of state. specifically, of course, in arizona but, again, across the country. all here to essentially pay fealty to donald trump but also have a platform them to be seen in his orbit making speeches on stage. of course, the theme here is the steal, this idea that there has been some sort of widespread, you know, campaign or voting fraud across the country, which we've seen no evidence of both here and, again, across the coun

patterson, available on fox nation. have a great independence day holiday. god bless america and we'll see you next fox news sunday. ♪ steveday welcome to the next revolution, i am steve hilton, the home of popular populism, no america, my first fourth as an american, i could not be more proud, as you know, a couple of months ago, i became a u.s. citizen, i am so happy to celebrate this special day with you, my fellow americans. it still n