> we are one week out from the democratic national convention. presidential nominee kamala harris continuing her battleground blitz over the weekend as former president trump remains on the attack.

israel ordering new evacuations in southern gaza as international mediators urge israel and hamas to return to ceasefire talks. but hamas may not show up. we have a live report with what that group is demanding. in maryland, the utility worker and an elderly man are dead after a house explosion. another person was hurt. we'll tell you what authorities believed sparked that tragedy. the torch is passed in paris. the 2024 summer olympics come to a close in spectacular fashion, handing the games off to los angeles for 2028. and the city of angels hoping to make it a no car olympics. how they plan to pull it off in a city that is notorious for traffic. it's monday, august 12th. "early today" starts right now. and a very good monday morning to you. i'm jessica layton. the city of lights' olympic flame has been extinguished. the games of the xxxiii olympiad came to an end sunday in a

spectacular closing ceremony. in after two weeks of competition, the united states stood alone at the top of the medal count. team usa taking home 126 total medals, tying china for the most golds with each earning 40. but that total is not without controversy this morning. the ioc said sunday that gymnast jordan chiles must return the bronze medal that she won in that floor exercise last week over what they said was a late appeal. now usa gymnastics said it will dispute that decision. nbc's stephanie gosk has more on how paris sent off a game to remember. >> reporter: in france's national stadium, the curtain went down on the olympics, and paris revelled in its success. ♪ after more than 300 events and over 1,000 medals won, this was the athletes' moment to celebrate. carrying the flag for team usa swimmer katie ledecky and rower

nick mead. both helped the u.s. tie china for the most gold medals. but on the basketball court -- >> oh, bulls-eye! >> reporter: there were moments when one of the medals looked like it might slip away. france's team energized by a raucous home crowd as the u.s. women struggled. in the final seconds, the u.s. was up by three. france hit a last-second shot, but it was just a two-pointer. >> that was a two. banks it in. a two ball, and the united states is going to claim gold for the eighth consecutive olympics. >> reporter: the game was over. u.s. securing a record eighth consecutive gold medal. a'ja wilson leading the team with 21 points, was named the tournament mvp. >> the team sailed to the finals, and then this game. were you surprised by how tough it was? >> not at all. this is a great gold medal game. it was great. we showed the resilience and came out on top.

>> reporter: as the final events wrapped up, there were tense moments at the eiffel tower. a man was arrested after he tried to scale the famous landmark. tourists were briefly evacuated, according to police, who provided few details about the arrest. but the disruption was short-lived. the final day of the olympics ending with the ceremonial passing of the torch. the olympic flag given to l.a. mayor karen bass. [ applause ] then a surprise drop-in by tom cruise, who escorted the flag in "mission impossible" to l.a. the olympics are coming back to the u.s. >> and our thanks to stephanie for that report. senator j.d. vance seems to be walking back his running mate's recent comments on abortion. in a new interview, vance said donald trump would not ban abortion medication, even the former president recently suggested that he would be open to that idea. during a press conference last week, mr. trump suggested to nbc

news that he would be open to having the fda revoke access to mifepristone, but vance and a trump campaign spokesperson said mr. trump stands by the supreme court decision that allowed the medication to stay on the market. well we will soon know a little more about vice president kamala harris' platform. the democratic national convention kicks off just week from today. in the meantime, the vice president has been focused on boosting momentum in those battleground states. here is nbc's vaughn hillyard. >> reporter: vice president kamala harris holding a sold out fundraiser in san francisco after she and her running mate, tim walz, gathered massive crowds this week in pennsylvania, wisconsin, michigan, arizona, and this weekend in nevada. >> so good to be back in las vegas. >> reporter: the crowds rivaling the republican's republican nominee donald trump, including at his event in montana. >> they said oh, she had a big crowd. >> reporter: trump accusing the vice president of faking her

crowd size at this michigan rally, posting on his social media platform "we caught her with a fake crowd. there was nobody there." that assertion definitively false. thousands appearing at each of her events. the harris campaign responding trump has still not campaigned in a swing state over a week. low energy? a new poll shows harris leading trump among likely voters in michigan, pennsylvania, and wisconsin, within the margin of error. on the trail, harris out thing a policy proposal. >> we'll continue our fight for working families of america. including to raise the minimum wage. and eliminate taxes on tips for service and hospitality workers. >> reporter: the taxes on tips first brought to the presidential campaign trail earlier this summer. >> we are going to not charge taxes on tips. people making tips. >> reporter: trump also posting online that harris just copied

notes on. >> we must defeat trump. >> reporter: meanwhile, president biden giving his first interview since stepping aside. >> my democratic colleagues in the house and senate thought that i was going hurt them in the races. >> and our thanks to vaughn for that report. the israeli military has ordered new evacuations in gaza ahead of an expected renewed assault. thousands of palestinians are being sent out of areas that were previously declared to be humanitarian zones. the idf said rockets had been fired from those areas. it comes as ceasefire negotiations are entering a new critical phase here. for more on this, let's go to claudio lavanga. he is following the developments. but first, a warning to our viewers. the images coming out of gaza are very disturbing. claudio, good morning to you. what is the latest on the ceasefire talks. >> good morning, jessica. well, mediators from the united states, qatar, and egypt have urged israel and hamas to take

part, to meet in the next round of negotiations, which will take place in cairo on thursday. but while israel has confirmed that it will be present, the same cannot be said about hamas, especially after they issued a statement yesterday in which they said, or they urged mediators to come up with -- to come with a plan that is based on a previous proposal and not a new proposal, but they say a new proposal, that a new round of negotiations, and i quote, will only offer an advantage or cover for israel's aggression. now the plan they're talking about, hamas, is the one that was presented by president biden at the beginning of july that sees a partial withdrawal of the idf, the israeli defense forces from populated areas and the release of women, the sick and elderly hostages in exchange of palestinian prisoners. now this is a plan that hasn't been accepted yet by netanyahu, which sees a lot of points of contention there. now on the war front, gaza still reeling from the israeli air

strike on saturday that has hit a school in gaza, which the gaza authorities say killed at least 100 people and injured dozens more. now the palestinians are saying that most, if not all of the victims were just civilians that were trying to find shelter. and that school, while the idf, the israelis are saying that they hit that school because it was used as a command center by hamas, even though they haven't provided real evidence to back that claim. and they said they killed 19 members of hamas and islamic jihad. but didn't say if or how many civilians were killed alongside them. jessica? >> all right, claudio, thank you. meanwhile, ukraine has taken the fight to russia for the first time, its forces are now fighting inside russian territory. local russian officials are calling for evacuations from the areas that are under assault. russian media says up to a thousand ukrainian troops are inside russia. moscow is now bombing its own land to try to stop the offensive. the unprecedented assault began

tuesday as ukrainian troops entered the kursk region. russian president vladimir putin has called it a, quote, major provocation. 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 reported gas leak, officials say. the dead are the homeowner and a utility worker. we learned the house was about to be put up for sale when the explosion happened. emergency services had been going door to door in that neighborhood to check for more leaks. an investigation into exactly what happened is ongoing. days after debby hit north carolina, parts of the state are still facing flood threats this morning. roads have finally opened back up in the eastern part of that state, but the high water levels are posing a danger. a river in tarboro could crest at a moderate flooding level later today. let's get an update from meteorologist ryan hanrahan who

is tracking all that and warmer temperatures in the south. >> good morning. >> good morning, jessica. it's hard to believe debby is long gone, but the impact still remain. all the little dots represent livers out of their banks. we have flooding going on from eastern north carolina and down through georgia and florida. even though we've got a little bit of rain out there this morning, it's not going to be enough to cause any flooding issues. a couple of showers and thunderstorms moving through. but the river level slowly should continue to recede over the next day or two. now in the tropics, things are getting a little interesting. hurricane season is heating up. we've got a potential tropical cyclone in the atlantic ocean right now. it's moving to the west, and it is expected to strengthen to a tropical storm or hurricane by the time it gets near puerto rico on wednesday, it's expected to be close to hurricane strength. right now the national hurricane center expects this storm to move to the north and curve out to sea, which would make it past far to the east. it looks like it may be a fairly

formidable hurrica nd storms across florida. and that's today's forecast. jessica, back over to you. >> all right, ryan, thanks. we'll see you in a bit. well, the large rock formation in utah known as the double arch collapsed on thursday. park rangers suspect it was caused by changing water levels and erosion from waves in lake powell. no injuries were reported in the collapse. the geological formation in glen canyon was also known as the hole in the roof, and sometimes the toilet bowl. up next on "early today," can los angeles win gold by clearing the ultimate hurdle? how the city notorious for e orfic plans to go car-free f th2028 summer games.

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we're back as los angeles is speeding ahead to the 2028 summer olympics. there is a twist. in a place with some of the worst traffic in the country, a new push to ban cars. steve patterson explains how l.a. hopes to pull it off. >> reporter: be honest. besides maybe the hollywood sign, this is probably what you think of when you picture l.a. and now the idea of a no-car olympics in just four short years is hard for many to imagine. but that's the plan. >> part of having a no-car olympics means getting people not to drive, but also using public transportation to get to the games. >> the 2028 committee is aiming for the city's most climate conscious olympics. >> what people are going to see is a really different city than maybe what they are expecting. >> reporter: plans are still in the works, but organizers say

part of the deal is making l.a.'s already preexisting olympic venues only accessible by public transportation. to pull it off, the county is borrowing nearly 3,000 buses to drive an estimated one million more trips a day, including venues spanning as far as 85 miles across the region, and asking people to keep the roads clear by working from home. local transportation officials say that would cost the l.a. metro system at least a billion dollars, and it's not clear who would foot the bill. safe to saw, many angelinos are a little bit skeptical. >> i don't think it's possible. >> i would opt to leave town. >> reporter: transportation professor jim moore says it's a bridge too far for a city that doesn't rely on public transportation, and safety is a big sticking point. >> the reason the transit system doesn't feel safe right now is because it's not. and there is a lot that we need to do to make it safe. >> reporter: but this isn't the city's first rodeo. >> no traffic, just wonderful.

everybody should take the bus. >> reporter: metro is hoping they can repeat the success of the '84 games when despite high volume, drivers reported little congestion thanks to flexible work hours. >> l.a. hosted the eras tour. that event really gave us a lot of encouragement. people really would be willing to get around differently. >> reporter: golden ambitions in a high stakes four-year heat where the judges will be tough. steve party son, nbc news, los angeles. still to come, it was a great weekend to be a member of ryan reynolds' family. "deadpool & wolverine" and "lady dead pool" take the top two spots at the box office. more on bank-breaking hauls, right after this. (♪♪) [baby crying] (♪♪) (♪♪) [cheerful screams] (♪♪) (♪♪) [giggling] (♪♪) (♪♪) [baby crying] this is not just a pharmacist.

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family of hollywood. marvel's "deadpool & wolverine" hold a 13 at the box office. the 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 battle at the box office. lively's new movie the romantic drama "it ends with us" scored one of the best debuts of the year, taking in $50 million on its first weekend. the book that this is based on by colleen hoover is so popular, everyone i know is racing to see this movie. >> really? >> oh, my gosh, it's huge. >> i was very excited to see the deadpool move. you're expanding my horizons. >> i figured. >> after this weekend, disney can no longer say it's a small world after all after this weekend's d-23 expo, they revealed long-awaited updates to theme parks. major updates to florida's magic kingdom, including a longer edition featuring iconic villain

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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 treatment can treat anaphylaxis in adults and children. spacex will launch after scrubbing a delivery yesterday. we might not know why it crossed the road, but an arizona dps

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nbc's mark barger explains. >> back to curry. dancing up a tune. a double-team. oh! >> stephen curry helped the u.s. secure olympic gold and added another milestone to his legendary resume. >> anything you sign up for, any mission that you take on, like you give everything you have. for me to get a gold medal is insane. >> now it's more resume building. >> holy cow, danny, what's going on, man? >> curry debuted his acting chops in a new peacock comedy "mr. throwback." he plays a fictionalized version of himself, reunited with a junior high team made named danny played by adam pally. >> i would say danny is a heart of gold. >> danny schemes to get curry's help erasing his debts. >> you're a great guy. >> no, i'm not. >> reporter: pali hit it off with curry on a game show

several years ago and was thrilled to work with him in the series. >> he is a professional at everything he does, no matter what it is, because he just brings this kind of -- he operates at a high frequency. >> especially on the basketball court. where pali says he did manage one bucket against the legend. >> yeah, he was not happy about that. things changed from joking around. i didn't get another shot off all day. >> reporter: but the pair established a bond that had pali paris-bound. >> oh, i'm going to be there. >> you are? >> oh, yeah. i'm on my way. gold medal game, baby. >> and pali got to see his new co-star get what he came for. mark barger, nbc news. and now to another star of team usa. katie ledecky became the most decorated american swimmer ever at these games,and she got a very special congratulations.

>> katie, katie, katie, how you doing? >> yes, mr. president. 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 his car with ledecky on sunday. the four-time olympian now has a total of 14 olympic medals, including the four that she earned in paris with nine golds in all. thank you so much for starting your week with "early today." i'm jessica layton. we hope you enjoyed the show, the games. thing

missing this year. even before students enter the classroom, we'll explain how the district is turning the page with its