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florida braces for hurricane debby. the storm strengthening to a category 1 overnight as it blows past tampa. meteorologist michelle grossman is tracking when the hurricane could make landfall as thousands of national guard members mobilize to help with the response. the veepstakes races towards the finish line. speculation reaching a fever pitch after the vice president met with several top contenders face-to-face over the weekend. plus, new polls show harris neck and neck with donald trump. is the clock running out for tiktok? the justice department suing the company over child privacy violations. what that could mean for the popular app. a golden weekend for team usa in paris, from a heart-poundling photo fish to a world record in the pool. and more from the summer olympics. that includes a team usa star who is a champ on and off the track. how gabby thomas makes a difference right here at home. it's monday, august 5th. "early today" starts right now.

and good morning. i'm richard lui. nearly all of florida is under a state of emergency this morning as hurricane debby now strengthening to a category 1 storm is expected to make landfall in just a few hours. the slow-moving storm has its sights set on the state's big bend area, already causing storm surges and dumping heavy rain across the gulf coast. overnight crews performed multiple high water rescues with more flooding expected. 3,000 national guard members are ready to assist emergency responders. residents hit hard by hurricane idalia now bracing for impact again one year later. >> this storm will not have winds that reach the level of hurricane idalia, but it is going to produce way more water throughout the northern part of the state of florida. >> nearly 90,000 are waking up without power, and dozens of school systems are closed today.

forecasters warning debby could bring historic rainfall totals across florida, georgia, and south carolina. let's go straight to nbc meteorologist michelle grossman, who is tracking the storm's path. how is debby looking and good morning to you. >> good morning, richard. we're looking at a lot of rain. that's going to be the big story the next couple years from the takeaway of debby. because we could see 20 to 30 inches of rain. here is the latest on debby. 40 miles west of cedar key. you can see lots of heavy rain falling right now. especially where you see the darker colors, the reds, the oranges, the yellows seeing really heavy downpours. 2 to 3 inches purchase hour. we're looking at winds 80 miles per hour. it's moving to the north at 12 miles per hour. we're going to see that as we go throughout time. we have tropical storm watches. tropical storm warnings, hurricane watches, also hurricane warnings. and we're not just talking about florida. we're talking about the carolinas as well. parts of the southeast, we'll see lots of rain over several days.

this morning by flood alerts. we have flash flood watches. we have flash flood warnings. that means flooding is happening now or it's imminent. be very, very careful as you head out today and the next several days. here is the path we'll see later on this morning, the big bend of florida, robol around 8:00, 9:00 a.m. we have no steering currents. we're going see this meander across the southeast and it's going to drop a lot of rain. tuesday still in portions of the carolinas. and then it's going to make landfall once again as we head towards the later part of this week. this is going to be a big story as we go throughout the entire week. richard. >> i'll talk to you later on the national weather forecast. appreciate that. now to the latest in the race for the white house. by the end of the day tomorrow, we expect to know who will be running mate, who will be the running mate, rather, for vice president kamala harris. as that decision comes closer, nbc news learning that meetings were held over the weekend with at least three of the top contenders. here is nbc's allie raffa.

>> reporter: vice president kamala harris is closing in on the most important decision of her presidential run so far. who will succeed her as vp if elected. harris holding separate in-person meetings at her washington home with three of her top contenders, arizona senator mark kelly, minnesota governor tim walz, and pennsylvania governor josh shapiro, according to a source familiar with the meetings. but shapiro mum when asked by nbc news saturday about his home about his weekend plans. are you headed to d.c.? >> i'm taking my dog for a walk. >> reporter: walz also avoiding speculation. >> that's not a decision that i'll make. the vice president herself will make that. >> reporter: an announcement expected very soon, with harris and her running mate kicking off a seven-state battleground tour with a rally in philadelphia on tuesday. >> we have a fight in front of us, and we are the underdogs in this race. >> reporter: polls show harris and former president trump

locked in a tight race. and in nearly all of the critical battleground states, the vice president virtually eliminating trump's lead from when president biden was still in the race. meanwhile, trump ramped up his attacks against harris at an atlanta rally. >> with our leadership, every disaster, kamala harris and joe biden have created can be fixed and it will be fixed very quickly. >> our thanks to allie raffa for that report. israel is bracing for a potential attack by iran now. tensions high after the assassinations of leaders of hamas and hezbollah. an israel official tells nbc news there are fears iran could launch waves of missiles and drones over several days. defense secretary lloyd austin spoke with israel's defense minister sunday. and president biden is expected to meet with his national security team this afternoon. dozens are dead after violent protests in bangladesh. police firing tear gas and lobbed stun grenades to disperse thousands of demonstrators, calling for the country's prime

minister to resign. the country's leaders are now imposing a curfew and cracking down on internet access to try and stall that movement. well, the u.s. is setting its sights now on tiktok once again. the justice department suing the company, accusing it of illegally collecting personal data from children on the site. the lawsuit claims tiktok and its parent company bytedance violated the children's online privacy protection act. the lawsuit also accuses tiktok of allowing children under the age of 13 to interact with adult content. tiktok pushed back against those accusations saying they are based on old issues that have been fixed or reported incorrectly. the gold rush made its way to paris over the weekend. the united states has taken a commanding lead on the medal count. here you go. at the summer olympics, team usa earning 28 new medals, expanding their double-digit lead over second-place china. and after a week of trailing, the u.s. finally matches china's

19 gold medals. look at that, 71. now thanks all to historic performances in part in the pool and on the track. nbc's tom llamas has more on the record-setting weekend for u.s. olympians. >> there is an olympic gold medal waiting for somebody. >> reporter: look at this finish. it could have been any close. >> this is close! >> reporter: noah lyles has claimed the title of the fastest man alive, a race so tight, announcers first called the win for jamaica's kishane thompson. >> kishane thompson is a gold medalist! >> reporter: but a review determined it was lyles who came out on top, incredibly, by just 5000 of a second. he is first american to win the 100 meter at the olympics in two decades. do you feel like the fastest man in the world? >> i was always the fastest man in the world. now have i the medals to prove it. >> reporter: kerley won bronze. in tennis, novak djokovic also

chasing gold. in his 50 olympics, he finally got it. beating carlos alcaraz in a grueling match. djokovic overcome with emotion after achieving a career golden slam. >> novak djokovic gets gold for serbia. >> reporter: in the pool after nine days and 28 medals for usa, it's a wrap on swimming. but not before the americans broke two more world records and won two more golds. >> back to back golds in the 1500 for finke. >> hi flying move off the top. >> reporter: on a fierce day of competition on the uneven bars, suni lee pulled out bronze. >> how did you feel about your routine? >> oh, my gosh, i was so happy with it. in the routine i was what am i doing? get off the bar already. but i'm happy. >> reporter: the first medal for

an african company. it was also gold for scottie scheffler. kristen faulkner wasn't on any's radar for gold. she only started cycling seven years ago after trying it out in central park. powering through the streets of paris, she pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the game so far, winning gold in the road race. >> it feels very surreal. it's starting to sink in. it's really a dream come true. >> what a weekend. thank you for that update. now to kansas, where a man was sentenced to prison for stealing a statue of baseball legend jackie robinson. ricky aldoretti got 18 months along with 13 1/2 years for a separate burglary. the statue was found badly damaged in a trash can. the offender blamed it on fentanyl addiction and said was story. donations including one from mlb helped replace the statue. the league 42 youth baseball

league named after robinson's uniform number will unveil the new statue today in wichita park. let's get a quick check on the weather for the week ahead. michelle grossman, hey, michelle. >> we're look at debby all throughout this week. also a chance for strong to severe storms through the northern plains, parts of the ohio valley, the interior parts of northeast into new england. although we're going to be much cooler there. that's the good news there summer steam throughout the middle into the southern central states. still hot and dry in the west. by wednesday, spotty showers from portions of the enter mountain west. still really warm in parts of the central states, soaring into the 100th once again. dry throughout the ohio valley. the big story will still be debby. as were watching for flooding rains from florida throughout the carolinas into portions of the midatlantic. we'll see rain extending into the northeast as well debby

still lingering in parts of the east from new england throughout parts of the northeast, the midatlantic, into the southeast. you can see the expectation for heavy rain where you see the darker colors. and we're looking at looking at chance for very heavy rainfall. storm surge concerns as well. all right. that's your monday forecast. >> michelle, thank you. >> sure. >> coming up, why aerosmith is calling it quits for good. but first, we're back in a minute with the olympic ars st shining both on and off the track. (♪♪) [baby crying] (♪♪) (♪♪) [cheerful screams] (♪♪) (♪♪) [giggling] (♪♪)

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>> here comes gabby thomas! >> reporter: gabby thomas doesn't really know how to slow down. >> thomas is going to get another national title! >> reporter: she is one of the fastest women in the world, already a champion. she trains every day with other olympians and hopefuls in austin. but that's just part of her day. you train three to six hours a day, and you still find time to go to a clinic at night? >> exactly, right. >> reporter: at night gabby works at the volunteer health care clinic for people who lack insurance there is a lot about you that is a little different than the average olympian. you, you went to harvard. >> yeah. >> reporter: neurobiology. >> exactly. >> reporter: that's where she took a class about the disparities in the american health care system and the impact on people of color. after harvard, a masters in public health from the university of texas. she attributes her drive to her single mom. when she and her twin brother were young, their mom waitressed and took classes to become a professor. >> she showed me in realtime

growing up what it's like to go after your dreams and to achieve them and become successful. i watched her just achieve all of that by herself, and while raising us. >> reporter: gabby says her running was just a side hustle when she was younger. most olympians have been running their whole live, especially in high school. they were breaking state records. that wasn'tyou? >> no. i was pretty good in high school, but i wasn't looking ahead at running in college. >> reporter: but once she got to harvard, she caught fire, breaking the ncaa indoor collegiate record in the 200 meters. >> i was pushing myself in the classroom, in my extracurriculars and on the track. it forced me to get better at everything i was doing. >> reporter: she won two medals in tokyo. after a hamstring injury set her back, she built in time for recovery and rest. >> the way i became successful was n track and field was running track part time. i think for me that's important for my mental health. having other things in my life that make me feel fulfilled.

>> reporter: four years from now she'd love to be at the l.a. olympics. but one day she dreams of running a hospital or a nonprofit to expand access to health care. >> in five years i hope i'm doing the same thing i'm doing now, which is letting my passions drive me. >> reporter: trying to help people? >> exactly. >> reporter: kate snow, nbc news, boston. still to come, she is turning gold medals into red medals. taylor swift gives an olympic-sized sht t ououto simone biles and her fellow stars. fast and lasts a full 24 hours so dave can be the... deliverer of dance. ok, dave! let's be more than our allergies. zeize the day with zyrtec. [audience laughing] worried you'll laugh so hard you'll leak? well always discreet can hold your biggest gushes with up to zero leaks and odor. so you're not just dry. you're laugh until you cry dry. we've got you, always. always discreet. did you know that if you shave, 1/3rd of what you remove is skin? (♪♪)

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swiftie era now. over the weekend, taylor swift lent her talents to a new promo video, playing a little saluting three of the biggest stars of the olympics. the promo set to swift's 2015 hit style includes highlights of sha'carri richardson, katie ledecky and simone biles. she is everywhere. >> she is bigger than the olympics. >> she certainly would have like a whole bunch of gold medals. >> and just as popular as taylor swift, these chocolate muffins. i don't know if you've heard about them. the dark chocolate muffins being served to athletes a the olympic village have gone viral after norwegian swimmer henrik christiansen declared his love in a series of tiktoks. it has led to his fellow athletes seek them out for himselves, while others are trying to seek out the recipe to make sure christiansen doesn't go through withdrawals back home. the company responsible for supplying food to the olympic village tell "people" magazine

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it's pretty easy to get caught up in the excitement of the olympics, but beyond the fierce competition, athletes are setting a gold standard in sportsmanship. lester holt gives us all another reason to cheer. >> trying to hold on, it looks like it's going to be a one-two american finish. >> reporter: in these olympic games here in the city of light, it's moments like these that will shine brightest in our memories. the american gold medal winner inviting her competitor and teammate to the top of the stand, sharing her moment of glory. >> it's just amazing. i've had a long mode, but i've had a lot of support and i'm so thankful for all of it. >> and watch as australian molly invites her teammate alongside her, showing the world they won together. these olympics are about the

moments of victory. but also valor. a moroccan soccer player comforting team usa after their defeat. >> you see the despair of dejection. a world cup a serious sight. >> an improbable gold medal for alex wild. great britain's payne will claim the silver. >> racing to the bitter end, collapsing and then embracing. >> he pushed me every step of the way. he has made me wake up day and day out and really fight for that. >> reporter: haley batten makes history for team usa. >> and the american cyclist in an epic hug with her swedish rival, soon joined by their french competitor. and some moments defying borders, like south korea taking selfies with the north korean

team. it's a legacy olympian rowdy gaines says will last long after the games. >> that sportsmanship tag will be on much longer than your gold medal. people will remember that a lot longer than they will any kind of hardware that you win. >> reporter: at this moment in history, it's the very best of who we are. our thanks to lester holt with that. coming up on the "today" show, swimming superstar katie ledecky is live. she made more olympic history over the weekend, becoming the first swimmer to win four consecutive gold medals in the same event. the most decorated u.s. female olympian coming up on "today." thanks for starting your week with "early today." i'm richard lui. go and have a great monday