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By Dan Donahue, NBC Nightly News

Good Wednesday afternoon. Covid cases among children are hitting record levels during back-to-school season, one of the largest Confederate monuments in the nation has been taken down, and the trial of one-time tech star Elizabeth Holmes is now underway.

Here is what’s in our Nightly Rundown.

Largest spike in child Covid cases as millions return to school

Just as a new school year is beginning for millions of students this week, Covid cases are soaring among children and teens.

More than 250,000 child cases were added the past week, the largest number since the pandemic began, according to a report from the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Children also accounted for 26.8 percent of new Covid cases in the U.S. for the week ending Sept. 2, according to the AAP.

The spike in cases has many parents concerned about sending their children back into the classroom, especially those under 12 who can’t get the vaccine yet.

In Missouri — where fistfights broke out last night as one school board voted to reinstate its mask mandate — thousands of children have been diagnosed with Covid since the school year began, the Associated Press reported.

Adults face potential risks in schools too, especially if they are unvaccinated. In Miami-Dade, 13 unvaccinated staffers have died from Covid since Aug. 16, the school district and local teacher union told CNN.

More Covid headlines:

President Biden will announce a new six-prong strategy to combat the pandemic tomorrow, the White House said.
The head of the World Health Organization is calling for a moratorium on booster shots for the rest of the year.
Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade will return with full crowds and balloons this November, organizers announced. All volunteers and staff must be vaccinated.
The Supreme Court will return to in-person sessions in October, for the first time since the pandemic hit.
Three Vermont state troopers resigned following allegations related to fake Covid vaccination cards, authorities said.
Former NBA All-Star Cedric Ceballos says he is battling Covid. Ceballos tweeted a photo of himself after 10 days in the ICU, asking for prayers for his recovery.
A Waikiki resort will be the first in Hawaii to require proof of vaccination for both employees and guests.

Exactly one week after flash flooding from Ida killed dozens in the Northeast, the region is on alert again this afternoon for more flooding and severe storms.

Severe storms are threatening some 22 million people across the Northeast, with the risk of damaging, hail and a few tornadoes.

12 million people are under flash flood watches across portions of eastern Pennsylvania, northern New Jersey, and southern New York.

Cities at risk include Washington D.C., Philadelphia and Albany. New York City is activating its new storm alert system, put in place in Ida’s aftermath.

In New Orleans, where Ida made impact ten days ago, energy officials say power will be restored to 90 percent of the city by tonight — but more than 300,000 customers in Louisiana remain in the dark.

On Tuesday, the Louisiana Department of Health on Tuesday revoked the licenses of seven nursing homes that evacuated residents to a warehouse, where at least seven died.

One of the largest monuments to the Confederacy has been taken down.

Today workers removed a 131-year-old statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from its pedestal in Richmond, the capital of Virginia and one-time capital of the Confederacy.

A crowd cheered as the massive statue was hoisted down, and then the crew began cutting it into pieces.

Gov. Ralph Northam ordered the statue taken down last summer, in the wake of the national outrage over the death of George Floyd — though legal battles held up the removal until now.

“This was a long time coming, part of the healing process so Virginia can move forward and be a welcoming state with inclusiveness and diversity,” Northam said today.

The highly-anticipated criminal trial of Elizabeth Holmes, the one-time Silicon Valley tech star who is accused of defrauding investors, doctors and patients, got underway today.

Holmes is the founder and former CEO of Theranos, the now-defunct startup that claimed it would revolutionize blood testing with machines that could run over 1,000 separate diagnostic tests with just a finger prick.

Prosecutors say the technology didn’t work, but Holmes is accused of promoting it anyway, as well as misrepresenting Theranos’s financial condition and its future prospects.

“This is a case about fraud, about lying and cheating to get money,” Robert Leach, an assistant U.S. attorney, said in his opening statement.

Holmes is charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and nine counts of wire fraud. If convicted, she could be sentenced to 20 years in prison.

She has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

What else we’re watching:

The FBI has released new video of the suspect wanted for placing pipe bombs near the DNC and RNC headquarters the night before the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on the Taliban to let charter flights with Americans on board leave Afghanistan.
A 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck north of Acapulco, Mexico, killing at least one person, according to officials.
The Biden administration announced a plan to provide 45 percent of the nation’s electricity through solar power by 2050.
Britney Spears' father has filed a petition to end his conservatorship over her life after 13 years.
Actor Bob Odenkirk tweeted that he’s “back to work" on his show “Better Call Saul,” after suffering a heart attack in July.
Amazon will open two cashier-less Whole Foods stores next year, with cameras and sensors that track what customers take off shelves.

Watch us this evening at 6:30 p.m. ET / 5:30 p.m. CT on NBC, or check your local NBC station listing. After the broadcast, access Nightly News video on NBCNightlyNews.com or the NBC News app.

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