tunisia. >> that's what makes the olympics so special. . >> that's what i was about to say. in all the nations including the u.s. of a. >> "nightly news" is next. >> see you at 11:00. tonight new covid records as cases rise nationwide. hospitalizations reaching new highs in some areas. the extra covid units being quickly built, and the rush to hire more nurses. florida now the epicenter with more cases than they have ever had, and this warning from dr. fauci. >> things are going to get worse. >> the risk to the young, 62 children hospitalized last month in one hospital alone as lawmakers, teachers and parents square off over the issue of mask-wearing in class. one school just back has 15 cases already. and new concern over

the delta variant and nursing homes. more than 40% of the workers at them aren't vaccinated. gold rush in tokyo. u.s. swimmers shattering records and raking in medals, including bobby finke's second thrilling underdog win and the american gymnast triumphing after being thrust back no competition after simone biles pulled out. fighting eviction. millions now at risk of losing their homes after a ban on evictions lapsed. democrats fighting to reinstate it. going too far. customers lashing out at servers as restaurants struggle to staff up. what's behind the anger? and the true spirit of the games. two athletes sharing the gold. >> announcer: this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt. reporting tonight from tokyo. >> hello from japan. the olympics moving into a second week even as covid cases in the tokyo region set

new records just a day ago topping 4,000 cases for the first time of the while tonight more than 5,000 miles away the united states facing its own covid reckoning. a new wave, a new epicenter taxing hospital emergency rooms again. health officials warning things will get worse amid renewed concerns over children and classroom reopenings. we have full coverage tonight beginning with von hilliard in florida. >> reporter: the united states topping 100,000 new coronavirus cases just friday, a stunning fourth wave with a number of infections and seriousness of the moment rising each day. >> things are going to get worse. if you look at the acceleration of the number of cases, the seven-day average has gone up substantially. >> reporter: the virus surging in states from the west to the east, 5 hurricane. >> reporter: more tested positive for covid this weekend

than at any other point during the pandemic. hospitals in jacksonville and orlando are already breaking previous hospitalization records. in neighboring alabama, more than 1,200 people are currently hospitalized, and covid unit doctors say august will be even worse. >> the number of cases by labor day will be more than twice the number of cases we saw at the worst time in january. that's what we're about to face, and the public isn't ready for that. >> reporter: and in texas, overwhelmed hospitals struggling to hire additional nurses and staff. >> they are not finding the uptake even dramatically increasing the pay they pay. >> reporter: 40% of the country is still not fully vaccinated, and those individual are making up more than 90% of covid hospitalizations. forcing hospitals today to build out new covid units. this one in baton rouge. >> in the last 24 hours we opened up our fourth covid icu because of the surge of patients requiring critical care. the younger and sicker

quicker. they are just getting sick very quickly. >> reporter: among the 100 million unvaccinated, some encouraging news, vaccination rates doubling this week in several hot spots. >> this may be a tipping point for those who have been hesitant to say okay, it's time. >> reporter: all this while chicago's major music festival lap palooza continues on tonight as americans try to hold ton what the country hoped would be its renaissance summer. at this hospital alone there are 10065 covid patients inside. the florida hospital association say they expect to break the statewide record in the coming days. lester. >> vaughan hilliard in florida, thanks. top of mind for parents right now is what happens when school starts. it's a major concern as the delta variant hits a small but increasing number of kids, some too young to be vaccinated. steve patterson reports. >> reporter: on the

eve of school bells ushering in a return to the classroom, hospitals warn kids are far from immune to covid. >> spreading so quickly. the numbers are going up dramatically. >> reporter: in louisiana, at our lady of the lake's children's hospital in baton rouge said they just had one of their worst weeks since the beginning of the pandemic. at least 62 school-aged kid were hospitalized there in july alone compared to just 18 in june. >> about half of those have been in the intensive care unit requiring breathing tubes and mechanical ventilation. >> reporter: in northern california, a bay-area school district is already reporting 15 cases of covid among staff and students after just three days back to school. >> i think they are going to shut down again. >> reporter: still, the risk to children remains comparatively low. since the start of the pandemic kids have accounted for.02 of all stats. with the delta variant spiking right at the start of the school anxiety for parents is at an all-time high as they push through a tangled web of rules, guidelines and mixed messages. the cdc says it's safe

for most children to go back to school but now recommends everyone k-through 12 wear a mask, giving states the power to issue any mandates. >> floridians have been, are and will remain free to choose what's best for themselves and their families. >> reporter: florida governor ron desantis signed an executive order friday banning mask mandates in schools. illinois, too, making them optional. >> i'm extremely worried and anxious about back to school. >> reporter: shannon lynn juko is worried about sending her 10 and 7-year-old doubt nears packed classrooms and yesterday they protested the lack of a mandate. >> i shouldn't be in this position. we should be taking every single measure that we can take within our schools to give our kids the basic environment as possible. >> reporter: parents at a crossroads of an agonizing decision. risk the possibility of covid at schools or miss a crucial period of educational and want people to and every kid can go to school and do it safely.

>> reporter: lester, both pfizer and moderna both say they plan to have an emergency authorization for kid under the age of 12 by the end of the year. lester? >> steve patterson in los angeles, thank you. make a plan for where to get vaccinated. visit planyourvaccine.com for more. here in tokyo it's been another thrilling day for team usa with more medals in women's gymnastics and history-making moment in the pool. stephanie gosk now with the highlights. >> reporter: a week ago, mikaela skipper thought she was going home. to the she is a silver medalist. the pressure visible on her face moments before the first vault but she wouldn't be denied, not this time. >> mikaela skinner, your vault silver medalist, so cool. >> reporter: in a cheering section simone biles who withdrew creating a spot for skinner. bilds has the possibility of picking up a medal on

bars. in the pool team usa fireworks wrapped up with the perfect finale. three golds and a silver. calaeb dressel dominated from the start in the 50-meter freestyle. >> dressel will get it done again. another gold for dressel of the united states! >> the men won another gold when the u.s. broke the world record in the medley relay becoming only one of five american men to win five or more gold medals in a single olympics. >> i did everything i could. everything was left in that pool. i think my body might still be in the pool right now. i'm just a shell walking around right now. >> reporter: adding to the golden glory, bobby finke. >> took the medal in the 800 and he'll beat it all in the 15. >> the first 1,500 gold medal the u.s. men have won in 37 years. you hit that final turn, and it's like you're being shot out of a rocket. >> it's always a dog fight so we worked on that a lot this past year. >> it's the same way he won the 1 up-meter

as well, surprising everyone. the what were your expectations coming into this game? >> if i'm going to be honest, i was not really expecting to medal. >> in other words standing here with those around your neck was not really what you thought was going to happen? >> not at all, no. >> reporter: the wins no one expects are exactly the ones everyone remembers. >> stephanie, if we can talk about simone biles again. any sense as to whether she might compete on the beam? >> no, mikaela skinner was asked the exact question after the event yesterday, and she said there's a real possibility that her teammate and friend could compete and simone biles has said herself that when she suffers the so-called twisties, getting lost in the air, it doesn't often affect her beam performance though it seems like there's a possibility. >> one more shot. stephanie, thank you. back in the u.s., the fight over the elapsed eviction ban is ramping up. democrats now trying to get benefits extended for the millions who could be kicked out of their homes this week.

here's ali vitaly with that. >> i'm behind four months, and the landlord is at this point just waiting, i guess, for the sheriff. >> reporter: sierra is waiting for a knock on the door. >> to them i'm already evicted. >> reporter: she's behind on rent because of the pandemic. with the national eviction moratorium now lapsed she's among millions put out on the street but house lawmakers left up to for a six-week recess. >> we need to be brought back to the house to finish the work so people don't end up on the street while we go vacationing. >> reporter: house speaker nancy pelosi looking to the centers for disease control. >> we would like the cdc to expand the moratorium. that's where it can be done. >> reporter: the white house, meanwhile, looking to the states urging them to dole out billions in emergency rental funds that have been slow getting out the door. >> that money is there. they need to move that money to those renters and those landlords immediately. >> reporter: landlords

out $21 billion over the last year. in the mean phil, experts urging renters and landlords alike to work together. >> reporter: if you know that the dollars are going to be coming and the person is actually working with you cooperatively, it doesn't make any sense to evict. >> reporter: back in washington, a long-awaited delivery. the text of a 550 billion bipartisan infrastructure bill clocking in at more than 2,000 pages setting the stage for one of democrats' top policy priorities. the arrival of that text is just the first part of a multi-step process on capitol hill, but senate majority leader chuck schumer has insisted this bill will be passed before the end of the week. lester? >> ali vitali, thank you. coming up, the new fears for nursing homes as covid cases rise. why are so few of their workers vaccinated? and later how

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vaccinated. kathy park reports. >> reporter: tonight worries over a dangerous and deadly repeat of covid outbreaks and nursing homes and long-term care facilities as the delta variant tightens its grip. >> it's very scary. are we going to go through this all over again? >> reporter: in mississippi where infections are soaring, health officials say there have been outbreaks in 7 it nursing homes and according to a local health officer in indiana seven residents died from the virus and an unidentified facility where less than half of the staff was vaccinated. nationwide more than 80% of residents and nursing homes are now fully vaccinated. among staff the numbers around 58% and experts worry the unvaccinated group will contribute to the spread. >> and then, you know, we have an elderly patient that got vaccinated early and may have waning immunity and put all of that together and there's really large vulnerability for nursing homes.

tested twice a week before visiting her 83-year-old mother at a fl that was the most horrific year of my life. the isolation is the worst. >> reporter: but the trends we're seeing now is a major shift from last year. the "new york times" reporting that after vaccine rollouts from late december to early february cases in nursing homes fell more than 80% and the number of deaths dropped 65% and back in florida and growing challenges for people like jody caught in the vaccine divide. >> it's frustrating because they don't realize that their behaviors are keeping us from our family members. >> reporter: kathy park, nbc news. >> still to come, the angry customers crossing the line, and how restaurants are fighting back against rude and even violent behavior. and we're back fromokyo t woo! you are busy... working, parenting, problem solving.

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the pandemic was tough enough for restaurants, businesses forced to lay workers off or even close completely, but now that people are eating out again, there's been an apparent increase in andry, even violent behavior from customers. stephanie ruhle has that story. >> reporter: a violent altercation at a mcdonald's in indiana. a customer spitting on a hostess in san jose, even a brazen dine and dash attempt in new jersey. we're seeing it across the country, unruly customers acting out, and restaurant workers say they are fed up. >> this is the worst coffee ever. >> it's a verbal smack-down. >> took the food and dumped it out of the to go bag. >> reporter: at the cleat and anchor restaurant in cape cod drunk guests turned

abusive when the owner asked them to leave on the fourth of july. >> lots of really terrible words that you shouldn't say to a female. >> reporter: they later snuck through the kitchen door past security. >> by the time he got here, they were already ripping this entire pantry down here, throwing mustard on the ground. >> the run-in rattled her. >> we've definitely had circumstances where people are very unhappy. i've never had someone try and break into my restaurant like that before and actually do some damage. >> reporter: her server dana olette said people just don't understand the situation. >> we're understaffed and we're trying as hard as we can to make everyone happeny. >> nationwide customer satisfaction is hitting new lows. 43% reported being frustrated with staffing shortages. 66% were concerned about increasing prices, and 50% say masking wasn't being enforced. >> it's kind of this perfect storm of things that are happening. >> reporter: just down the street, apt cape cod closed their door for a day of kindness. >> there's still so

many people that are grateful to be back, but the ones that aren't, are like indignant about what they want and what they deserve. >> the solution, experts say, is an exercise in empathy. >> expect that you're going to have some waves. >> reporter: there's no reap to make someone cry because their burger took longer than they thought it should. >> just relax. can you remember what it was last year. >> try to show a little empathy. >> because tipping with gratitude is always free. stephanie ruhle, nbc news. back here in tokyo, just hours from now team usa track star kenny harrison will race for gold in the 100-meter hurdles, but as blayne alexander explains, kenny's path here to tokyo hasn't been easy. >> reporter: long before kenny harrison ever set foot on the track, she faced more than her share of hurdles. born two months premature she suffered from a heart murmur and as a baby was adopted, nestled right in the middle of 11 siblings.

the. >> casey, bowe, young, cory, jojo, tasha, jacketor, gabby, kip, kyra. >> does your mom forgot the order? >> sometimes. >> the harrisons couldn't help but stand out especially in clayt alabama rolling around in the old shuttle burks the only thing her dad could find to hold them all. >> took out interior and put in different seats and had a time-out chair in front. >> reporter: we met kenni before the pandemic took hold. >> how are you doing? >> i'm good. >> reporter: this is just a warmup for you? >> just a warmup. >> reporter: working hard to make her olympic debut, finally. five years ago kenni walked into the olympic trials the hands down favorite but then came the starting gun. >> harrison is second. >> reporter: kenni finished sixth. in just 12.62 seconds her real olympic dreams were suddenly gone. >> i was kind of like shocked and numbed that i didn't make it. >> reporter: but it was even more baffling when two weeks later kenni did this.

>> she's broken the world record. kenni harrison. >> reporter: your face in that moment was priceless. >> yeah. >> reporter: you were just in disbelief. >> i just see wr and i thought oh, i did it. oh, my realized it was time body as well as her mind. >> my mental game was hindering me. >> reporter: she began working with a sports psychologist and by the start of 2020 she felt like a brand-new athlete and then came the pandemic. what was the hardest part of that for you? >> keeping the dream alive, you know. >> reporter: it meant getting creative. finding new spaces to run dodging everyone in sight and even facing her own covid battle. if you finally make it to the olympics, do you think it will make it sweeter in the end for you? >> yeah, of course. if you're able to put your mindset to be positive and you can do anything. the rest should be pretty easy. >> reporter: back on track with her long-delayed olympic dream finally coming true.

>> harrison. she is finally heading to the olympic games! >> blayne alexander, nbc news, austin. >> coming up, what winning real ly - i'm norm. - i'm szasz. [norm] and we live in columbia, missouri. we do consulting, but we also write. [szasz] we take care of ourselves constantly; it's important. we walk three to five times a week, a couple miles at a time. - we've both been taking prevagen for a little more than 11 years now. after about 30 days of taking it, we noticed clarity that we didn't notice before. - it's still helping me. i still notice a difference. prevagen. healthier brain. better life. your family is on the move, so keep up with t-mobile - america's largest 5g network. right now, new and existing customers can add lines to their family plan for half off! that's less than $10 a month for additional family lines! only at t-mobile - the leader in 5g. whoa, susan! ohhh... i'm looking for coupon codes. well, capital one shopping instantly searches for available coupon codes and automatically applies them.

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and there are nonsurgical treatment options. find a specialized urologist who can diagnose and treat pd. visit takeonpd.com today. . >> finally tonight, the olympics bring out the best in athletes, not just in whether they win or lose but in how they play the game. as the best in the world compete, we're seeing the best in us. in the final turn the qualifying race for the men's 800 meter, american isiah was primed for a top spot when botswana's nigel i'mons accidentally tripped him. >> jennifer love hewitt went down and

took the botswanan with him. >> their chance at a strong finish ruined. >> their dreams are in tatters. >> but they helped each other up, hugged and then crossed the finish line together. >> that's -- always finish when you start? they hugged on the top bend and they have just come across to complete their race. >> but it was at the high jump where sportsmanship reached new heights. the qatar's barshim and italy etamberi, both on a perfect streak of clean jumps, but after they both missed their final jump, the official brings them together and offers a jump-off. >> a jump-off. >> can we have two golds. >> barshim asks could we both have gold and before the official could answer a handshake, a hug and celebration. the. >> and the friends

decide they will share the celebration. >> both had bounced back from potentially career-ending injuries and both overcome with emotion. two elote athletes showing what it really means to be the best. >> oh, it's amazing man, to share it with my friends, gianmarco, an amazing feel. >> that's what it's all about here. that's nbc "nightly news" for our sunday. hope you'll stay tuned for our nbc primetime olympics coverage beginning just moments from now. i'll be back here tomorrow night from tokyo. i'm lester holt. thank you for watching, everyone. please take care of yourself and each other. good night.

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