Program will start. Well with, that was the president on august 18th. And that qualification about fda and cdc approval being needed has been part of the message ever since as a spokes person reminded reporters today. And al and it s been a stream of sound bites like this. I will not be surprised if a full program of vaccinations will be three shots. The boosts that are being done and contemplated here, support strongly the rationale for such an approach. Well, now, even as that message was going out, federal officials were warning the white house that there may not enough data on the moderna vaccine to recommend anything but the pfizer shot as a booster. It s a sign that is the administration is taking the wrong approach with the public. You can t make an announcement and then say, we will wait to see what the fda and cdc says, it s not the right way to do it. Meantime, cases and deaths from the delta variant are rising. The country now averaging more than 166,000 new cases and upward
Along the gulf coast we expected from such a storm. It ripped the roof off the lady of the sea hospital in galliano which is south of new orleans. You can see the damage in louisiana there. Tonight, as we mentioned, the power is out for hundreds of thousands of people. Louisiana governor john bell edwards says his state s entire national guard is activated. More than 4,000 are out in support of the emergency effort, but officials are warning residents to prepare for at least three days of sheltering in place. This historic hurricane comes on the 16th anniversary of another historic hurricane, katrina. Thankfully, officials expect the levees in the new orleans area to hold this time. From nbc news world headquarters in new york, i m joshua johnson continuing our special coverage of hurricane ida. Welcome to the week. Let us begin with the latest on hurricane ida s path. Meteorologist bill karins joins us now after a very long day, and bill, we just got the latest update from the nationa
Louisiana, expected to slam ashore tomorrow. It adds insult to injury for hospitals across the coast already at a breaking point with covid patients. This is american voices. Lots of news today. We ll begin this hour with the fight for voting rights. Today thousands marched through the streets of d. C. And other american cities like phoenix, miami, and atlanta. The protesters united against the gop s sustained attacks on voting rights made possible by state legislatures and gop control. Today the new president of the aflcio, the largest federation of unions in the united states, spoke to nbc news on the sidelines of a rally in phoenix. We are concerned about what we re seeing in terms of voter suppression all across this country and really in my opinion the action is out in the community and on the ground. That s why i wanted to be here in phoenix today because these activists are ready to march, ready to mobilize, educate, register voters. We want to be good partners on the ground and
Matters. Plus as covid cases soar, johnson johnson sends a booster vaccine. Just like other vaccines, the question is how long will the protection last. And serena williams and roger with draw from the u. S. Tennis open. It s way, way, way too early for this. Good morning and welcome to way too early, the show that s wondering who s left to play in the ugs open. I m sam stein on this thursday, august 26th, and we ll start with the news. With just days left before the united states is scheduled to with draw troops from afghanistan, the state department is trying to track down any remaining american citizens. Despite the deadline, secretary antony blinken says the u. S. Will stay for as long as it takes to finish the evacuations. Let me be crystal clear about this. There is no deadline on our work to help any remaining american citizens who want to leave who decide do so along with the many afghans who stood by us for many years and want to leave and have been unable to do so. That effor
Deadline to withdraw u. S. Troops from afghanistan. Speaking from the white house yesterday jfafternoon,xd bidenñ reaffirmed his intent to get all americans out by next tuesday, but seem toñi a+owledge that the date is flexible. We are currently on a pace to finish by august the 31st. ñr the sooner we canxd finish the better. Each day of operations brings added risk to our troops. But thee1 completion of august 31st depends upon the taliban continuing to cooperate. And allow access to the airport for those who are transporting out and no disruption to our operation. In addition, i ve asked the penoqdon and the state department forñi contingency pl to adjuste1 the timetable shoul that become necessary. I m determined to make sure we complete our gi$m% 91ñ this mission. During a news conference in kabul yesterday, a taliban spokesperson said the u. S. Must stick to the august 31st deadline and warns that the group won t lete1 afghans being taken out on evacuation flights after that.