good tuesday morning. i m erica hill. the united states passing another covid milestone. 40 million cases in the united states and there is currently no sign of that number slowing down. and just to put it in perspective, more than 4 million of those cases were reported in just the last four weeks. the seven-day average of new coronavirus cases, 300% higher than it was at this same time labor day. after last year. tomorrow president biden we are learning is set to deliver a major speech in the next phase of the pandemic recovery. according to sources, he ll layout key steps on what the white house and the federal government can take, key steps that can be taken next in the fight against the virus. the speech will also contain multiple components related to schools, private companies and federal employees. let s get straight to the white house, cnn correspondent phil mattingly is standing by. phil, the president set to tour damage in the northeast. what more do we know, though
the seven-day average of new cases for 100,000 residents is 300% higher than it was on labor day of last year. the cdc also said children s hospitals across the country are filling up with covid cases and community transmission is dangerously high. we ll have much more on this in a moment. let s begin with our senior medical correspondent elizabeth cohen. good morning to you. why is there such a lack of clarity here on the booster? the way i understand is the white house said we got them and we bought them and now we need the green light from the fda. they thought they would get that by the 20th of september? i want to cut through all of this and say i don t like using sports metaphors but i m going to use one now. this is an unforced error by the biden administration. back on august 18th, they said we ll be ready. president biden said we ll be ready by around september 20th to do this booster rollout. they never should have named a specific date. they should have said back
hey, everybody. good morning again, and welcome to way too early, the show that knows some of the fire crews here in california that could use a lot of that east coast rain. i m jacob soboroff on this thursday, september 2nd. we re going to start right now with the news. the reinformants of hurricane ida is hitting the northeast with flash flood warnings and tornadoes hitting new york, new jersey, and philadelphia. the gronks declared states of emergency, calling on residents to stay inside. fire and rescue crews across the region have responded to numerous water rescues and evacuations because of the high water levels. there have been at least five weather-related fatalities, four in new york city and one in passaic, new jersey. the national weather advisory cle claired a flash flood emergencying for new jersey, first ever last night. it shattered a record set just last week. this is video of water rushed into an apartment on east 22nd street in manhattan. most subway line
america is not done with you yet. president biden vowing to maintain america s fight against terror as he forcefully defended his decision to end the war on afghanistan. let me say clearly to those who wish america harm, to those who engage in terrorism against us or our allies, know this, the united states will never rest. we will not forgive. we will not forget. we ll hunt you down to the ends of the earth and you will pay the ultimate price. president on defense. those forceful words because he is on defense. he s saying he will no go after terror where it is today. he explicitly says terror is not where it was two decades ago when al qaeda, of course, launched the 9/11 attacks from afghanistan. the war in afghanistan is now over. i m the fourth president who has faced the issue of whether and when to end this war. when i was running for president, i made a commitment to the american people that i would end this war. today i ve honored that commitment. biden says t
announcement this afternoon which came suddenly and sooner than expected with the last c-17 transport lifting off just one minute before the president s self-imposed august 31st deadline arrived in kabul. he ll be addressing the nation tomorrow. the secretary of state spoke just a short time ago and addressed the issue of americans remaining in afghanistan. we believe there are still a small number of americans, under 200, and likely closer to 100, who remain in afghanistan and want to leave. we re trying to determine exactly how many. we re going through manifests and calling and texting through our lists. and we ll have more details to share as soon as possible. our commitment to them and to all americans in afghanistan and everywhere in the world continues. the protection and welfare of americans abroad remains the state department s most vital and enduring mission. he said the state department would help americans leave no matter when they decide that they wish to dep