the harris campaign caps off a battleground blitz. the rally in five key states as

the trump team fires back. we're live with all the action from the campaign trail. then to the race for a ceasefire. negotiations from u.s., egypt, and qatar urging israel and hamas to strike a hostage release deal. we're live with the latest from negotiations and the new evacuation orders in gaza. a shocking house explosion rocks a maryland neighborhood, killing at least two people. what investigators believe sparked the blast. paris passes the torch to los angeles. the epic end to the summer games, and the nail-biting wins that sent team usa to the top of the medal rankings. and winning hearts of gold. the olympians who found love in the city of light. it is monday, august 12th. "early today" starts right now. good monday morning to you. i'm jessica layton. the olympic torch has officially gone out in paris. the 2024 summer games ending sunday in a star-studded closing

ceremony. team usa was led by swimmer katie ledecky and roar nick mead. in all, the americans earned the most medals of any country with 126. and tied with china for the most gold medals, 40 each. paris now hands off the summer games to los angeles for 2028. nbc's live mclaughlin has the highlights. >> reporter: it was an encore of sorts for a show that's captivated the world for more than two weeks. paris' closing ceremony saluted the successful completion of an olympics that ioc president thomas bachs described as sensational from start to finish. >> or, dare i say, seine-sational games. >> reporter: a theatrical cap on the day's competition. team usa celebrated the men's first water polo medal since

2008, a bronze shootout against hungary. jennifer valenti won the omni cycling event, her second gold of the game. but italy spiked golden dreams for the volleyball team. the americans settling for silver after a straight set loss. at the day's end, athletes, including american flag bearers katie ledecky and nick mead traded into a packed stadium, where los angeles mayor karen bass received a handoff of the olympic flag. and tom cruise descended from the stadium roof to retrieve it, hopped on a motorcycle and started a prerecorded journey to the host city of the 2028 games, where it faces the toll order of what's transpired in paris. liv mclaughlin, nbc news, paris. . now to the political olympics. the countdown is on for the next big event. in just one week, the democrats will hold their party convention where kamala harris will officially accept the nomination for president.

nbc's chris pollone joins us now live. chris, the vice president has been really busy on the campaign trail recently. >> she sure has, jessica. good morning to you. the vice president just hold a sold-out fundraiser in san francisco. that capped off a very busy week. she and her new running mate spoke to massive clouds in pennsylvania, wisconsin, michigan, arizona and nevada. and it appears that hard work is paying off. new polling shows paris leading donald trump among likely voters in michigan, pennsylvania, and wisconsin within the margin of error. but improvement from when president biden was still in the race. meanwhile, donald trump's running mate j.d. vance responded in a new interview after governor tim walz called the ohio senator weird. >> this is fundamentally schoolyard bully stuff. they can accuse me of whatever they want to accuse me of. i think that what it is, two people, kamala harris and tim walz who aren't comfortable in their own skin because they're not comfortable with their policy positions for the american people. so they're name-calling instead

of actually telling the american people how they're going to make their lives better. i think that's weird. >> and president biden did his first interview since leaving the race. he says he plans to start actively campaigning for vice president harris, perhaps starting with pennsylvania. he says he will do whatever the vice president thinks would help the most. meanwhile, donald trump is getting ready to join elon musk for a conversation that will stream live on x tonight. musk says that entertainment is guaranteed. jessica? >> all right, chris. we'll be watching. thank you. the israeli military has ordered new evacuations in gaza ahead of a renewed assault. thousands of palestinians are being sent out of areas previously declared to be humidity zones. the idf said rockets had been fired from those areas. it comes as ceasefire negotiations are entering a new critical phase. for more on this, let's go to claudio lavanga, who has been following these developments. first, a warning to our audience. the images coming out of gaza this morning are disturbing.

claudio, good morning. what is the latest on those possible ceasefire talks? >> good morning, jessica. well, mediators from the united states, qatar and egypt have urged both hamas and israel to come to the table to meet in cairo this thursday where the next round of negotiations are scheduled. but as israel has confirmed so far, they will be present, but onot so much hamas. they haven't confirmed their presence, especially after they issued a statement just yesterday saying that we're urging mediators to come up with a plan that is based on a previous plan because they say, and i quote, that any new proposal and new round of negotiations will only provide cover for israel's aggression. well, now the plan they're talking about is the one that was presented by president biden at the beginning of july in which the first phase sees the partial withdrawal of israeli troops from populated areas in gaza, and the release of women and sick and elderly hostages in

exchange of palestinian prisoners. now this is a plan that hasn't been accepted by netanyahu yet because he sees a lot of points of contention there. now on the war front, gaza still reeling from the air strike on a school in gaza on saturday that according to palestinians that killed at least 100 people and injured dozens more. they say palestinians have most if not all of the victims are civilians. but the idf says they striked the school because it was used as a hamas compound, even though they haven't provided any evidence of that. jessica? >> all right, claudio, thank you. at least two people were killed and one person hurt in a house explosion in maryland. first responders initially went to the house for a report of a gas leak officials said. the dead are the homeowner and the utility worker. here is nbc's george solis. >> terrifying moments near baltimore, maryland. >> a house explosion with fire. >> reporter: after a house

explosion rattled this neighborhood. doorbell camera appearing to record the sound of the blast. contractors arrived on scene responding to reports of a possible gas leak. >> i legitimately thought it was a earthquake, a major earthquake. >> reporter: officials say they received some 60 calls about the explosion, some from as far as three miles away from where i'm standing. >> i've been on the job for nearly 18 years. this is one of the largest explosions i've seen. >> reporter: the blast killed two people, according to a maryland state fire marshal and the 73-year-old homeowner. official says a woman in a nearby home was also injured. >> confirmed there was a gas leak. however, it's going to remain under investigation whether it was on the interior or the exterior. >> reporter: megan weeks' daughter was at home with a baby-sitter when the blast occurred. i imagine getting that phone call was one of the worst in the world. >> it was. it was pretty scary. i could feel my heart drop. >> reporter: her daughter uninjured, but her bedroom damaged. weeks says the explosion left

this crack in the ceiling. >> it's very scary. i'm actually nervous about -- that are could very well happen to one of our homes as well. >> reporter: emergency services going door to door to check for additional leaks. investigators homing the debris, searching for answers about what caused this fatal explosion. >> our thanks to george for that report. well, the rain may have moved on finally, but some communities are still reeling from the effects of tropical storm system debby. parts of richmond hill, georgia are still under water this morning, completely cut off from main roads. residents say despite sunny skies, the waters continue to rise, and the only way out, as you can see here, is by boat. the cleanup effort also continues in north carolina. as of sunday, the state transportation department said more than 100 roads remain blocked. and a system dumped more than 5 inches in the city of norman, leading to flash flooding there.

officials are urging residents to stay off the roads until that water subsides. for more on this, and the regular forecast, let's get a look at nbc meteorologist ryan hanrahan. ryan, good morning. >> hey, good morning, jessica. good morning, everyone. many areas are getting a break. the carolinas, it's so hard by tropical storm debby. we'll see a little bit of relief over the coming days. we still have a stalled out front down south. and that will lead to some showers and thunderstorms. maybe minor additional flooding. but the trend overall is to continue to dry things out and the get the river levels to recede. down south, the heat continues. we've got 17 million people impacted by heat advisories today. we've got heat advisories in effect from oklahoma city through houston, all the way out east into florida. and the heat continues for the next couple of days down south. look at the numbers for today. houston 97. atlanta 93. tallahassee 97. but a nice dip in the jet stream is providing relief across the

midwest and the northeast. look at these temperatures for tomorrow. kansas city 75 degrees for the high that is a full 12 degrees below average. and across the midwest and the northeast, the next few days look pretty nice. temperatures in new york wednesday, thursday and friday the mid-80s. and that humidity a little bit and that's today's weather. jessica, back over the you. >> all right, ryan, thank you. well, say hello, everyone, to the new first family of hollywood. marvel's "deadpool & wolverine" pulled a three-peat at the weekend box office. the superhero mash-up with ryan reynolds and hugh jackman took in $54 million in its third week at number one. but it was reynolds' wife blake lively who may have really won the box office battle.

"it ends with us" scored one of the best debuts of the year, taking in 50 million on its first weekend. coming up, the nail-biting gold medal win for the u.s. women's basketball team. and we're back in a minute with what caused this collapse. zyrtec allergy relief works 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. swiffer duster traps 4x more dust for a clean even mom approves of. that reach! ♪♪ making hard to reach. so easy! swiffer, [wow!] the mother of all cleans! ♪♪ skincare can start in the laundry room. that's why i always recommend all free clear for sensitive skin. it's free of dyes and perfumes. it's a key part of my self care routine. it's a clean that's gentle on my skin. for an effective clean that's gentle on skin, all you need is all free clear™

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the geological formation in glen canyon was known as the hole in the roof and sometimes the toilet bowl. now to a team usa star during the paris olympics. katie ledecky became the most decorated american female swimmer ever at these games. and she got a very special congratulations. >> katie, katie, katie, god love you. how you doing? >> yes, mr. president. hello. how you? >> i'm better because of you. you make us so damn proud, katie. i really mean it. >> thank you so much. >> well, it's an honor to watch you. it really is. >> president joe biden tweeted that video of that call with ledecky on sunday. she has a total of 14 olympic medals, including the four she earned in paris with nine golds in all. still to come on "early today," you cannot stop destiny. the u.s. women's basketball team overcomes a big scare from the french to claim their ultimate prize on the last day of the olympics. isomg rhtft g aer th. ♪♪)

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women's basketball found itself on the verge of what you might call a frenchrevolution sunday. olympic host nation france had the juggernaut team usa on the ropes in the gold medal women's basketball team. the french led by as much as ten, and they were looking to deny the u.s. geld for the first time in nearly three decades. the u.s. managed to claw the lead back in final minutes with stellar play by a'ja wilson and khalia copper. that's when gabby williams stepped up to the line for her country. >> no time-out here. up ahead. it's williams. that was a two. banks it in. a two-ball. and the united states is going to claim gold for the eighth consecutive olympics. >> so that shot at the buzzer was only for two, which meant no overtime. team usa maintains their unprecedented olympic streak in dramatic fashion, taking home

their eighth consecutive gold. congrats to our fantastic ladies. i was freaking out. >> that was a nail-biter. >> i was like pulling my hair out. >> that was tough to watch. but they pulled it out. won like 68 games in a row. incredible, right? >> they're just amazing. i hope that a lot of young girls are watching thee ladies know thanksgiving could do the same thing one day. >> absolutely. the women's basketball team aren't the only ballers breaking records. an average of 19.5 million viewers tuned in on saturday to see the u.s. men's team take their gold medal match over france. viewership peaked around 5:00 p.m. around the time steph curry closed out the game with his remarkable three-point run. it now stands as the most watched gold medal game since the 1996 atlanta olympics. and jessica, could steph curry be any more fun to watch? >> oh, my gosh. >> crazy. >> i just love him. i love him. i don't know what i'm going to do now that the games are over. >> i am so depressed.

it's been the best two weeks of tv. i can watch the olympics at two income the morning. >> all day long. and this is also a bit depressing. the games may be over, but the chatter over one particular medal isn't going away just yet. on sunday, the ioc said that gymnast jordan chiles has the return the bronze medal that she won in last week's floor exercise event. chiles initially placed fifth in the event, bury then was bumped up to third after a successful inquiry to those judges. the committee now says the inquiry was submitted four seconds after the allotted one-minute deadline, giving the bronze back to romania. now usa gymnastics is fighting for chiles to keep her medal. the organization says they have submitted a time stamped video showing that the inquiry buzz filed within 47 seconds of that one-minute video. just let them both have bronze. i'm going on record. don't take it away from anybody. it was a judge's error. >> it was.

the women's gymnastics team was so incredible. >> let her have it. jordan, we're all in your corner. >> totally. coming up, the olympians who found love at the paris games. but first, piranahs spotted in central london, a new banksy turning heads and sparking speculation about the graffiti artist. - anyone else? fine... jake....from state farm.... - ok.... alright! it's the personal price plan theorem. if you bundle your home and auto, that can equal an affordable price, just for you. bundling. just another way to save with the personal price plan. like a good neighbor, state farm is there. sometimes your work shirt needs to be for more than just work. like when it needs to be a big, soft shoulder to cry on. which is why downy does more to make clothes softer, fresher, and better. downy. breathe life into your laundry.

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here's what's making headlines this morning. the fda has approved the first needle-free treatment for potentially deadly allergic reactions. the new nasal spray can treat anaphylaxis in adults and kids. it's an alternative to injectors like an epipen. spacex will try to launch an array of starlink satellites early this morning after scrubbing a planned delivery yesterday. the company called off the launch with less than a minute left on the countdown, but did not give an exact reason for the scrub. we might not ever know why it crossed the road, but an arizona dps trooper helped save

a dessert tortoise. stitch the tort tase escaped from an ostrich ranch. and in central banksy showed his teeth transforming a glass booth into a tank of piranahs. he confirmed it was his work on instagram. it's the latest in a series of animal artwork across that city. "early today" will be right back after this. [♪♪] did you know there's away to cut your dishwashing time by 50%? try dawn powerwash dish spray. it removes 99% of grease and grime in half the time. dawn powerwash has 3 cleaning boosters not found in traditional dish soaps that remove food and grease 5x times faster. and, because it cleans so well... you can replace multiple cleaning products for counters, stoves, and even laundry stains. try dawn powerwash dish spray. brand power, helping you buy better. you are bountiful. your skeleton can support two times your weight.

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>> reporter: the city of love. >> alexander miroslav. >> living up to that name these past two weeks at the olympics. athletes running into each other's arms, sharing the joy of victory. like pole vaulter armand duplantis. head over heels literally and figuratively, making a beeline for his beloved after breaking his own world record. >> let's go, baby! >> reporter: then there is hunter woodhall in tears, cheering on his wife, team usa long jumper tara davis woodhall. >> you're the olympic champion! >> reporter: and when she got the gold -- >> i'm so excited! >> reporter: the love here more than just the magic of romance. >> i'm incredibly proud of her. just sheer emotion coming

through me. >> reporter: it's a celebration of the partners who have been by their side every step of the way. olympic rowing champ justin beth. >> oh my god. >> you are the love of my life. >> reporter: popping the question to his long-time girlfriend lainey in front of the eiffel tower. >> i said to you i want to go to the olympics, and you said without question, yes, absolutely, go for it. lainey, will you marry me? >> yes! [ cheering ] >> reporter: and in a day to remember, china's mixed doubles badminton champs getting a gold, then a diamond. these proposals, one after another promises to go the distance together. and as these games come to a

close, no matter what path those olympic athletes take, they'll always have paris. >> and our thanks to hallie jackson. coming up on "today," a new countdown is on four years until the next summer games in los angeles. jacob soboroff has a look ahead at how that city is preparing and a peek inside the venues with some of the key figures planning the event. it's will be the ninth olympic games hosted by the u.s. and the third in l.a. it's all coming up later on "today." for now, thanks for watching "early today." i'm jessica layton. have a great monday.

paris biz a final farewell to the olympic games, the golden closing ceremony and how team usa pulled off an epic