right now on "ana cabrera reports," breaking news, hamas's top political leader killed, targeted in an overnight raid in

iran. iran blaming israel. how israel is responding. donald trump returning to pennsylvania as kamala harris challenges him to debate. >> as the saying goes, if you got something to say, say it to my face. [ cheers and applause ] also ahead, an exclusive interview with j.d. vance, what he's saying about his rocky rollout as trump's running mate. and later, extremely alarming, attorney general merrick garland addressing the attempted assassination of former president trump in an nbc news interview. ♪♪ it's good to be with you, it is 10:00 eastern, i'm ana cabrera reporting from new york and we begin with the breaking news overseas. a top political leader for hamas

killed in iran. iran and hamas are blaming israel this morning for the overnight assassination of ismail haniyeh. this strike coming a day after the israeli military targeted a hezbollah leader in the suburb beirut, lebanon. let's get the latest from raf sanchez in tel aviv and gabe gutierrez at the white house for us. raf, what more can you tell us about the killing of this hamas leader? >> reporter: in the days after the october 7th terror attack, israel said it would hunt down all of hamas's top leaders, and early this morning around 1:45 a.m., 299 days into this war, it appears that israel has taken a major name off that list. apparently tracking down and killing hamas's political chief during a visit to tehran. this morning the war in the middle east spreading as a top hamas leader assassinated inside

iran. ismail haniyeh killed hours after meeting with iran's supreme leader. both hamas and iran blaming israel for the killing and vowing revenge. the israeli government refusing to comment. iran's revolutionary guard saying ismail haniyeh and one of his guards were killed in an attack on his residence in tehran. iranian media saying it was a missile strike. the war started by hamas's attack on october 7th also spilling into lebanon where israel says it took out a senior commander in hezbollah, the iranian-backed militant group. who was responsible for killing 12 children in a rocket attack on a soccer field over the weekend, but lebanon's health ministry says two children were also killed in the israeli strike. now after the attack in iran, hamas reeling from its leader's

death. the 61-year-old haniyeh was more a politician than a fighter. he left gaza five years ago and lived comfortay abroad while his people suffered, traveling the world, rallying support for hamas. on october 7th, he celebrated the terror attack, and while the idf says the real mastermind, sinwar is still hiding in gaza, israel vowed it would one day take revenge on hamas's most public face. now, we spoke a short while ago to daniel lif hits, his 84-year-old grandfather has been held in gaza for 299 days now, he tells us he is the only great grandfather held hostage anywhere on the planet, and he says he is deeply worried this killing could derail those cease fire negotiations. he's looking to the united states. he's looking to qatar to try to keep those talks on track. we have already heard from the

prime minister of qatar earlier on today. he's the main mediator in these negotiations, and he's asking, frankly, how can he be expected to mediate when one side of the negotiating table is killing the other? so expect in the coming hours, in the coming days, a major diplomatic effort from the united states to try, try to keep these cease fire negotiations on track. ana. >> let's go to gabe at the white house. what's the word there from this administration, gabe? >> reporter: hi there, ana, good morning. no official response from the white house just yet. as you just heard raf reference, the biden administration will try and push to keep this cease fire deal alive. just a short time ago, secretary of state antony blinken told an interviewer in asia that the u.s. was not involved in this assassination, nor did it get a heads-up. blinken's in singapore where reporters asked him for his reaction on this. let's take a listen to what he

had to say. >> we've been working from day one not only to try to get to a better place in gaza, but also to prevent the conflict from spreading, and a big key to trying to make sure that that doesn't happen and that we can move to a better place is getting the cease fire. >> given the events today, of course, ana, the likelihood of a cease fire deal in the near future, at least at this point seems very unlikely, but this all comes just a day or so after the idf targeted that hezbollah commander in lebanon. the u.s. and senior white house official telling me that that commander had american blood on his hands for a beirut bombing back in 1983 that killed scores of american service members. still, the biden administration is still maintaining that fears of a wider war have been exaggerated as the white house and the biden administration try to pub for a diplomatic solution to this really behind the

scenes, and still tries to stress that the administration's commitment to israel is ironclad, ana. >> raf sanchez and gabe gutierrez, thank you both. for more on this i want to bring in former cia director john brennan. good to have you here. how significant is this loss for hamas, and what does it signal to you about where israel's war effort stands now? >> well, ana, as you mentioned, ismail haniyeh was held head of the political office in doha. his killing is not going to affect hamas's capabilities inside of gaza. he was not in the command and control structure as far as military and terrorist operation there is, although he was part of the most senior hamas leadership, and what it indicates to me is that israel is going to continue to

aggressively target the hamas leaders irrespective of where they might be. i believe it is a setback to the cease fire negotiations that did seem to hold promise in the last few days. i know it's hard to use the terms pragmatic and moderate when it comes to hamas, but certainly haniyeh was one of the less extremist leaders within the organization. as pointed out, he's a politician, dean of islamic university in gaza, but he is part of that hamas leadership infrastructure, and i think the strike against him certainly in tehran, it's an embarrassment to iran as well, unable to provide security to somebody like that who had just met with the supreme leader previously. >> hamas is an iranian proxy group of sort o's. iran's supreme leader is promising to avenge haniyeh's death. what kind of reaction are you expecting from hamas and iran? >> i think israel has demonstrated that it has very strong capabilities and

precision capability to attack its targets, whether it be in the outskirts beirut or in tehran, and so the responses so far from hezbollah and from iran have been through proxies or direct strikes against israel proper. at some point i worry that there may be some asymmetric attacks that the iranians and hezbollah may seek to take strikes against israel outside of israel proper. we know that there's been a many decades track record of terrorist attacks that have been sponsored by iran and hezbollah in many areas of the world. hezbollah does have a global infrastructure and so israeli and jewish targets, in fact, couldn't be the target of some type of iranian or hezbollah response to these most recent attacks. >> as we've discussed, qatar is already suggesting the cease fire and hostage release negotiations essentially stopped now because they're saying how can we negotiate without a negotiator? director, how do you answer that

question? what is the path forward when it comes to a hostage deal. >> it's a good question because haniyeh has been really the principal point of the negotiation, interacting with the hamas leadership in gaza strip, but also interacting with the various parties that have been participating in these negotiations. and so therefore, the turks, the egyptians, and others have been dealing with haniyeh, you take him away, it's going to be very disruptive to the cease fire talks, but also the hostage release. i think it demonstrates that, you know, this attack right now against haniyeh in tehran, it really does reflect the hard right wing part of the israeli war cabinet that is most interested in trying to remove not just hamas's capabilities inside of gaza but also its leadership, and they seem to be less interested in pursuing viable options for a cease fire and a near-term hostage release.

so it is a very worrisome development, and i think it has been a setback to the diplomatic efforts that have been underway over the last several weeks that have been spearheaded principally by the united states. >> former cia director john brennan, i appreciate your expertise. thank you for offering that analysis for us. and turning now to the latest clash in the 2024 campaign. vice president kamala harris now officially unopposed for the democratic presidential nomination and days away from announcing her running mate, held a rally in front of thousands of amped up supporters in atlanta last night, and she lobbed her most direct challenge yet to former president donald trump. >> i do hope you'll reconsider to meet me on the debate stage because as the saying goes, if you got something to say, say it to my face.

[ cheers and applause ] >> trump will have a chance to respond tonight and come to the defense of his running mate j.d. vance as well at a rally in pennsylvania. his first visit there since the assassination attempt in butler on july 13th. nbc's kelly o'donnell joins us now from washington, and dasha burns is in harrisburg ahead of trump's rally tonight. kelly, raucous energy in atlanta last night. georgia democrats saying the enthusiasm is at levels unseen in years. and remember, they won that state in 2020. is there a harris campaign blueprint emerging for how they'll approach these swing states? >> well, certainly the harris campaign is adjusting and making some new choices about how they are going forward with a different candidate, and part of that is the rally space and having this kind of energy that they want to harness and they want to convert it into action that would include getting people to volunteer, getting people to help with voter registration, all those sort of

things. it's not about just putting on a show and the excitement of the moment, but how they convert that to usable resources for the campaign. if people are energized, if they're taking a fresh look, they want them to commit to trying to help especially in those critical battleground states. so we're seeing that for sure. and vice president harris is working out in realtime work shopping her stump speech, her rhetoric, her way of interacting with donald trump, and of course on the trump side, there's a whole new adjustment that needs to con to take place on how they will respond to her. but one of the areas where the trump campaign has found harris to be a target is on the issue of immigration and the vice president wanted to change that narrative a bit by focusing not on some of her views over the years, but on her work as a part of the biden administration for a bipartisan plan to address immigration, one that donald trump through his relationships on capitol hill was able to

block by telling republicans not to go for it. she addressed that before the big crowd in georgia. >> donald trump on the other hand, has been talking a big game about securing our border, but he does not walk the walk. or as my friend cuevo would say, he does not walk it like he talks it. >> border issues, migration, that will be a heated issue for the remainder of the race, and there is always a lot coming from the trump side about calling kamala harris the border czar. her team disputes that and says she was responsible in the biden administration for examining diplomatic ties with central american countries and mexico that send migrants north to the southern border. >> she also talked about her role as an attorney general in california prosecuting members

of the drug cartel and those who were violating laws coming across the border. kelly, we've gotten some additional insight i understand into the time line for a harris vp announcement. where do things stand on that? >> well, we know that now she will appear with her choice for running mate on tuesday. that will be in philadelphia, and there are a series of stops in key battleground locations where vice president harris and her choice to run with her to be a partner if they succeed in governing, and certainly a campaign partner, and we've seen a lot of auditioning, if you will, with prominent democrats like governors, like senator mark kelly of arizona. people with a skill set for campaigning, with a compatibility to kamala harris, and, of course, potential to try to bring along voters. so we'll see that beginning on tuesday with an appearance. the announcement could come in advance of that. >> dasha, let's talk about the trump campaign, as we understand

trump's going to be in pennsylvania tonight. his running mate j.d. vance is still being confronted with past comments about people who choose not to have kids. nbc news interviewed vance last night. what did he say? >> reporter: yeah, ana, our colleague henry gomez was on the plane with him on the way to one of the rallies he held last night, and he asked him if he felt that he had disappointed former president trump with that rocky rollout he's had over the last week or so. he said, no, he knew that the media would end up being pretty tough on him after those first couple of days. he defended those childless cat lady comments that have gotten him in hot water. he told henry, quote, what i was criticizing and continuing to criticize was a particular neurosis in american leadership that i think leads people to say crazy things, like you shouldn't have children because climate change is a threat to the future. climate change may very well be a problem, but it is not a problem that should motivate people to not have families, and i think that attitude is quite damaging. it's quite destructive, ana.

>> all right, dasha burns and kelly o'donnell, thank you both very much for the reporting. up next, we're breaking down some new battleground polling. just how tight is this race? plus, quote, alarming, an nbc news exclusive interview with attorney general merrick garland, what he's saying about the assassination attempt of donald trump. also, the intense battle to contain the fifth largest wildfire in california state history. and later, redemption in paris. the olympic history just made by the g.o.a.t., simone biles, and more highlights from the 2024 games. we're back in 90 seconds. spray going to kick in? -you need astepro. -astepro? it's faster, bro. 8x faster than flonase. it's faster, bro! it's faster, bro! it's faster, bro! it's mom to you. astepro starts working in 30 minutes. astepro and go! (vo) it's almost time! astepro starts working verizon small business days are coming. august 5th to the 11th. meet with our experts. get a free tech check.

and special offers. don't miss out. get started today. type 2 diabetes? discover the ozempic® tri-zone. ♪ ♪ i got the power of 3. i lowered my a1c, cv risk, and lost some weight. in studies, the majority of people reached an a1c under 7 and maintained it. i'm under 7. ozempic® lowers the risk of major cardiovascular events such as stroke, heart attack, or death in adults also with known heart disease. i'm lowering my risk. adults lost up to 14 pounds. i lost some weight. ozempic® isn't for people with type 1 diabetes. don't share needles or pens, or reuse needles. don't take ozempic® if you or your family ever had medullary thyroid cancer, or have multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2, or if allergic to it. stop ozempic® and get medical help right away if you get a lump or swelling in your neck, severe stomach pain, or an allergic reaction. serious side effects may include pancreatitis. gallbladder problems may occur. tell your provider about vision problems or changes. taking ozempic® with a sulfonylurea or insulin may increase low blood sugar risk. side effects like nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea may lead to dehydration,

which may worsen kidney problems. living with type 2 diabetes? ask about the power of 3 with ozempic®. strategies are now taking shape in the 2024 race with vice president harris and former president trump making clear plays for georgia and pennsylvania right now. and new polling shows why the focus on those two states is just getting started. take a look at this, harris is now on top in four of seven battleground states, mostly within the margin of error, but with a double-digit lead in michigan, and we're seeing those numbers flip-flop from where they were prior to this transition in the democratic ticket. let's discuss with former senior adviser to the 2020 biden campaign, alencia johnson and former republican congressman from florida, david jolly. so the harris campaign's coming off that huge rally in atlanta last night. let's just revisit her walk up to the stage just to show the level of enthusiasm.

[ cheers and applause ] >> good evening, good evening, georgia. >> alencia, the cheers, the celebrity there, the energy at that rally in atlanta, and now this new battleground polling. what does all that tell you about where this race stands right now? >> listen, there were so many people that were in that room last night that were texting me and saying that the crowd got so -- got close to capacity so early that they shut the doors early, and there were lines outside for hours. the energy in the room, they hadn't felt that since president obama first ran in 2008, and then at the same time -- as democrats are very clear on what they were voting against as well

as now also having someone to vote for, president harris reps the future. and she spoke directly to donald trump. she literally said, if you have something to say, say it to my face. speaking directly to him, knocking down a bully and the crowd was really energized. and i also appreciated that she went through his rap sheet, right, that she does as a prosecutor, and he is a convicted felon. she also went directly for the attacks that they're laying on her around immigration. she hit it right on the head and said, listen, we had a border deal but donald trump and his cronies said they wanted it to be a political issue and they killed the bill. she was also able to talk about the freedoms folks will be voting for. democrats have a lot of energy right now because it's more than just defeating donald trump. it is building an america for the future generations, and she is encapsulating that with all of the fanfare last night including meg the stallion and

a morehouse student who introduced her. >> what do you make of how vice president harris is focusing on immigration, she has an ad hitting trump on immigration going on offense on what maybe trump would see as his strongest issue. is it smart? is it risky? >> it's necessary, and i think the harris campaign understands this is a real vulnerability for her because with all of the renewed enthusiasm -- and it is real, it is measurable, enthusiasm hitting about 30 points higher among democrats than it was when joe biden was at the top of the ticket, this enthusiasm that's been unleashed for a harris ticket is real and remarkable and now this is a very competitive race, but it's an even up race, and the vulnerability for the vice president will be in the coming weeks as kind of the air in the room softens a little bit, and they focus in on policy, she does have to answer questions and the most important line and

alencia saw that and kelly o. in the last segment saw it as well, the most important thing outside of the optics of yesterday, which were real, was when she said i would sign that bipartisan immigration package and donald trump would not. it is hard for donald trump to pin kamala harris as being weak on the border when she's the candidate that would sign the most aggressive immigration bill we've seen in decades. so she is on offense. donald trump has to respond to it, but this issue and the way she's playing it is a thread she can now pull through the debates if there is one and also into november. >> alencia, arizona senator mark kelly is a very credible immigration voice for democrats. he's on the vp short list. he was asked about his standing in the veep stakes earlier right here on msnbc. >> you've been in contact with the harris campaign. have they said to you we'd like you to be the choice? >> jonathan, i'm not going to get into any of that, i am going to be focused on making sure

that kamala is the next president. i'm going to work as hard as i can. next week my plans right now are to be in arizona. >> not really giving any clues there. what would mark kelly bring to the ticket that the other choices wouldn't, alencia? >> listen, as you led in, right, he is in arizona, a border state, so there is a piece of immigration policy that he can bring. he also is a staunch supporter of gun violence prevention, obviously, what has happened to his wife, congresswoman gabby giffords and so he is able to bring some of that energy to the ticket. the reality is all of the quote, unquote front runners, the surrogates that have been out there that are on the short list will bring so much to the vice presidential piece of the ticket. you know, someone that's ready day one and someone that's ready to be a partner. someone that can also make up for some of the places where vice president harris might need some extra support, whether it's immigration or whether it's with veterans, whatever it may be with their experience, and so i

actually don't envy the harris campaign right now because we have such a great pitch of folks who would be great partners to her, including senator kelly as well as so many of the other voices that have been out there talking about their record and the positions they have to support her. so whether or not they're picked as her vice president pick will be a staunch surrogate for the campaign and helping us to get the win in november. >> david, we heard mark kelly say my plan right now is to be in arizona next week. that's notable because we are reporting that harris will campaign with her running mate on tuesday in philadelphia. she had said yesterday, she still hadn't made a decision yet on who that would be. the list includes several leaders from these battleground states. how much do you think the map will factor into her decision? >> well, it certainly looks like that is the number one decision. i mean, you can make a case for all of these candidates. democrats have believed for years they have a bench of superstars and arguably they do. this is lining up like a new

generation clinton/gore type ticket, fast forward to 2024, but if you put yourself with five days to go in the race, and you're the harris campaign who has to win the popular vote by five points to win the electoral college, if you're in that frame of mind, you really are looking at a shapiro or a kelly you're looking at somebody, but honestly, pennsylvania seems to be where all roads are running. look, they have stars to be their vp. i would also suggest democrats know this, the harris camp certainly does, all of these stars were the democratic party are still unknown to the american people, as unknown as j.d. vance was so the vetting they're doing now is serious. they want a vice president that will help carry this momentum and ensure vice president harris gets enough electoral votes in november. >> former congressman david jolly and alencia johnson, thanks so much. good to see you both. up next here on "ana cabrera reports," the fiery hearing with the new acting chief of the

secret service, and the accountability that could be coming after the attempted assassination of donald trump. plus, what attorney general merrick garland is saying about that incident in a new nbc news exclusive interview. interview. c. august 5th to the 11th. meet with our experts. get a free tech check. and special offers. don't miss out. get started today. [coughing] copd isn't pretty. i'm out of breath, and often out of the picture. but this is my story. ( ♪♪ ) and with once-daily trelegy, it can still be beautiful. because with 3 medicines in 1 inhaler,

trelegy keeps my airways open for a full 24 hours and prevents future flare-ups. trelegy also improves lung function, so i can breathe more freely all day and night. trelegy won't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking it. do not take trelegy more than prescribed. trelegy may increase your risk of thrush, pneumonia, and osteoporosis. call your doctor if worsened breathing, chest pain, mouth or tongue swelling, problems urinating, vision changes, or eye pain occur. ♪ what a wonderful world ♪ [laughing] ask your doctor about once-daily trelegy for copd because breathing should be beautiful, all day and night. with the freestyle libre 3 system know your glucose levels. no fingersticks needed. all with the world's smallest and thinnest sensor. manage your diabetes with more confidence and lower your a1c. try it for free at freestylelibre.us ♪

and lower your a1c. (man) oh, come on. (woman) ugh. (vo) trade in any phone, in any condition. guaranteed. and get the new galaxy s24 on us. only on verizon.

welcome back. donald trump returns to pennsylvania today for the first time since the assassination attempt. this just one day after the acting secret service director testified about that attack in a contentious senate hearing saying agents could be fired, and in an exclusive nbc news interview, attorney general merrick garland called the secure failures around the attack, quote, not acceptable. joining us nbc news justice and intelligence correspondent ken dilanian, and former secret service special agent evy pom evy pom porous. this is the first time merrick garland had spoken out in the

wake of the assassination. he said this was a horrific attack and the result of a massive security failure he said was unacceptable and should not happen in america. he placed it in the larger context. he said that threats of violence to public officials have increased dramatically over the last two years, and he revealed that the justice department prosecuted 700 of those cases, and we're talking about threats to legislators, to judges, even to election workers. he called that scary. here's more about what he said. >> how alarmed are you that a 20-year-old was able to get a clear shot 150 yards from a former president? >> so this is extremely alarming. our democracy will not survive if people decide that the way in which they're going to get whatever outcomes they want or whatever other motive he might have is by killing someone. that's why we have to find out what happened here, why it happened, and make sure it doesn't happen again. >> ana, attorney general garland also confirmed that he and the fbi believe that donald trump

definitely was hit by a bullet or fragments of a bullet dispelling that controversy. >> evy, what's your reaction to ken's reporting and what we heard there from the attorney general? >> you know, when you look at what's transpired, and he's correct in saying that this is an ultimate, you know, issue as to how we have somebody with such a primitive plan breakthrough the security barriers, and i think we're looking at a more systemic issue. it's not really a personnel issue, and i saw it and listened to the testimony of the acting director for the u.s. secret service because there's so many problems that have had happened. we know that nobody was put on the rooftop, but with that, although that was a sign to locals, nobody from the u.s. secret service checked that. they also had issues with their radios. not only were they not working or functioning properly, cell phone service, and even something as simple as the shooter had a drone that was able to go up and the u.s.

secret service weren't able to use their drone because they had other connectivity issues. the fact that the counter sniper on shift did not know anything or any issues that was not communicated. and the other thing they might want to re-examine is working with locals. it's not to blame locals, but when you are an agent, the psyche and the training you have when it comes to protection it's very different. so re-examining the things that you put in place. but you had so many issues, one after the other after the other, and so i think overall what we're going to see is that there were many holes here that were not handled properly. >> you were listening in there with the acting secret service director, ronald rowe testifying, and i want to play a part of his exchange with missouri senator josh hawley specifically about accountability. >> i acknowledge this was a failure of the secret service. >> is it not prima fascia that

someone failed, a former president was shot. >> this could have been our texas school book depository. i have lost sleep over that the last ten days, i will tell you senator, that i will not rush to judgment, that people will be held accountable and i will do so with integrity and not rush to judgment and put people unfairly persecuted. >> evy, i mean, objectively it was night and day his testimony compared to now the former secret service director who ultimately resigned after her testimony. what does that exchange we heard tell you about his leadership, now that he's at the helm, and what does accountability look like? >> well, first, i think the first testimony that we had from director cheatle, i think the damage and repercussions is that all these theories and all these conspiracies and trying to figure out what happened had been put out there and a lot of damage happened. and they did come up in a hearing saying you've allowed this story to kind of circulate

and take this force and that causes damage. being upfront, being transparent from the beginning, which i do believe the acting director did. as far as personnel issues, i do agree with the acting director. you can't fire anybody because you don't know what happened, and i don't believe based on what he said, it's not a personnel issue. it's not going to be somebody made the wrong call. what's going to come out is going to be the processes that are put in place, the mechanisms that are put in place that are not functioning. all the things we broke down. why weren't your phones working. why weren't your radios working? why aren't you on your radios? why are you using texting? these are processes that people have been using probably over a period of time. they've been doing it, nothing's happened, and then we have a situation which something did happen. you cannot have somebody permeate all these security barriers that are supposed to be

there so easily. >> evy palm por rus, thank you for your analysis. i encourage our viewers to go to nbcnews.com to see ken's interview. lot thes of ground cover there, thank you both. up next on "ana cabrera reports," the wildfire out west that's grown to half the size of rhode island and the urgent race to try to slow it down. plus, more from the middle east including the concerns of a wider conflict after a hamas political leader was killed in iran. was killed in iran hi. i use febreze fade defy plug. and i use this. febreze has a microchip to control scent release so it smells first-day fresh for 50 days. 50 days!? and its refill reminder light means i'll never miss a day of freshness. ♪

dealdash.com, online auctions since 2009. this playstation 5 sold for only 50 cents. this ipad pro sold for less than $34. and this nintendo switch,

sold for less than $20. go to dealdash.com and see how much you can save. we'r

extreme weather from coast to coast this morning, the park fire in northern california is now the fifth larges wildfire in state history scorching more than 387,000 acres. this fire and others prompting air quality alerts all along the west coast. meantime, on the east coast we're talking about flooding, and take a look at this, vermont is dealing with the aftermath of catastrophic flash flooding. the water caving in roads and pushing homes right off their foundations. let's start out west in cohasset, california, with nbc's steve patterson. steve, tremendous destruction there. are firefighters making any real headway against the park fire? >> this fire is unbelievable, ana. it just keeps growing larger, now the fifth largest wildfire

in california's history. it's larger than the size of the city of los angeles. but yes, firefighters are making progress. it's very big, but they've pushed it into a wilderness area that doesn't mean there isn't still danger, and that includes what's in the forecast. we spoke to firefighters about it. here's what they told us. listen to this. the park fire scorching its way into the record books, inundating the region with a week-long barrage of flames and smoke. >> accessibility is a huge issue with the fuels, with the winds that we've been having, and of course the temperatures that we've been having. >> reporter: high temperatures impacting firefighters across the west, from oregon where hot shot crews are working in steep terrain to san diego county. >> it wasn't too bad, and then it just kind of turned on to unusual levels of wind. >> reporter: according to cal fire, this year's activity is 2816% higher than last year, with more than 750,000 acres already burned. >> the challenge is the hot's

get ago lot hotter. the drier is getting a lot drier. >> reporter: from fires on one side of the country to flooding on the other. in vermont residents cleaning up after more than 8 inches of rain fell in just six hours, washing out roads and damaging homes and businesses. >> woke up to boulders rolling down the road more or less, barely able to get these people out before the house broke off. >> reporter: the same area was hit hard just two weeks ago when the remnants of hurricane beryl passed through. many in northern california also experiencing repeat disasters. rick peril lost him home to the camp fire in paradise and thought this time his family was safe. his cat kathmandu survived the first time but this time perished in the flames. >> we couldn't help him. >> reporter: this fire now 18% contained. firefighters are making progress. again, the big concern is what is this forecast going to do? it's going to bring hotter temperatures, hotter, drier,

windier. we could hit triple digits by friday, which would of course increase the fire danger, and nobody wants more of that here. ana. >> steve patterson, thank you. stay safe, my friend. up ahead, popular deli meat company boar's head is recalling an additional 7 million pounds of products tied to a deadly listeria outbreak. it's killed two people already, made dozens sick. the new recall includes 71 products made at the company's jarrett, virginia, plant made between july 10th and july 29th. this includes both packaged store bought products and meat intended to be sliced at delis. they recalled 2,000 pounds of products last week. people who have already bought these products should throw them out and thoroughly clean refrigerators to prevent cross contamination. another 7 million pounds. back to our breaking news, and after a violent couple of days in the middle east between

israel and lebanon's hezbollah and now with the death of a top hamas leader inside iran, we're digging into the fears of a wider regional conflict. that's next on "ana cabrera reports." that's next on "ana ca reports. coming. august 5th to the 11th. meet with our experts. get a free tech check. and special offers. don't miss out. get started today. here's why you should switch fo to duckduckgo on all your devie duckduckgo comes with a built-n engine, like google, but it's r and doesn't spy on your searchs and duckduckgo lets you browsel but it blocks cookies and creepy ads that follow youa and other companies. and there's no catch. it's fre. we make money from ads, but they don't follow you aroud join the millions of people taking back their privacy by downloading duckduckgo on all your devices today. (♪♪)

is he? claritin clear? yeah. fast relief of allergies with nasal congestion, so you can breathe better. claritin plus decongestant. live claritin clear®. you know what's brilliant? boring. think about it. boring is the unsung catalyst for bold. what straps bold to a rocket and hurtles it into space? boring does. boring makes vacations happen, early retirements possible, and startups start up. because it's smart, dependable, and steady. all words you want from your bank. for nearly 160 years, pnc bank has been brilliantly boring so you can be happily fulfilled... which is pretty un-boring if you think about it. we all need fiber for our digestive health, but less than 10% of us get enough each day. good thing metamucil gummies are an easy way to get prebiotic, plant-based fiber. with the same amount of fiber as 2 cups of broccoli. metamucil gummies. the easy way to get your daily fiber.

with chewy, it's never been easier to get their favorite toy delivered again, come on, let go. and again, and again.

good luck. get whatever they love delivered right on time. save 35% on your first autoship order with chewy. while i am a paid actor, and this is not a real company, there is no way to fake how upwork can help your business. upwork is half the cost of our old recruiter and they have top-tier talent and everything from pr to project management because this is how we work now. [street noise] [car door shuts] [paparazzi cameras] introducing, ned's plaque psoriasis. ned, ned, who are you wearing? he thinks his flaky red patches are all people see. otezla is the #1 prescribed pill to treat plaque psoriasis. ned? otezla can help you get clearer skin, and reduce itching and flaking. with no routine blood tests required. doctors have been prescribing otezla for over a decade. otezla is also approved to treat psoriatic arthritis. don't use otezla if you're allergic to it. serious allergic reactions can happen.

otezla may cause severe diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting. some people taking otezla had depression, suicidal thoughts, or weight loss. upper respiratory tract infection and headache may occur. audience: ohhh... with clearer skin, movie night is a groovy night. (♪♪) live in the moment. ask your doctor about otezla. we're back with more on the breaking news in the middle east this morning, a top hamas leader assassinated overnight in iran. the iranians and hamas are blaming israel. israel refusing comment, and there's new reaction from qatar's prime minister whose

country has served as mediator in cease fire negotiations. well, he asked how can mediations succeed when one party assassinates the negotiator on the other side? last night's assassination just hours after israel said it had killed a top hezbollah commander in lebanon. nbc's matt bradley's following developments in beirut. matt. >> reporter: this snarl of concrete and rebar behind me is what's left of israel's assassination yesterday here in a neighborhood that's a hezbollah stronghold outside of lebanon's capital beirut. now, there's also the casualties that were left, at least four people were killed, dozens more were injured, and while the crowds that were thronging here last night have mostly dissipated and now we're seeing a lot more calm here, the full political implications of what happened here haven't yet been felt. and in fact, they've already been eclipsed by yet another assassination, this time in tehran, the capital of iran. now, this is a situation that could cause complications,

there's already more negotiations that were attempting to free remaining hostages in the gaza strip and bring some measure of peace there. now that looks more elusive than it did for the past ten months, despite the fact that the u.s. government and the administration has poured so much effort into that diplomacy, it now looks even more complicated. but the situation here is evolving very fast, and we don't know how hezbollah intends to respond. it sounds as though the israelis have already been moving on from this situation. they called it retribution for an attack on a soccer field in the golan heights over the weekend, that they blamed on hezbollah. hezbollah denied this. now it looks as though the ball is in hezbollah's court. they can decide whether they're going to escalate or step back from the brink. >> matt bradley, thank you for that reporting. joining us now jamil jaffer, founder and executive director at the national security institute and former senior adviser to the senate foreign

relations committee. two of israel's biggest enemies from iranian proxy groups killed back-to-back in less than 24 hours. how concerned are you about this regional conflict escalating? >> the regional conflict is already in play. the reality is that iran has long been backing groups that have attacked israel, attacked americans, killed americans, held americans hostage, and so that conflict's already ongoing. these are obviously big moves. israel has made clear in the past it's going to take out leaders when attacks are conducted. they've done it before. they've done it again, and i think everyone should expect them to be killed at some point, and it's now just happened in iran, which does raise the temperature somewhat. >> iran is already promising to retaliate. just how vulnerable is israel right happened in iran which raises the temperature somewhat. >> iran is promising to retaliate. how vulnerable is israel right now? >> iran attacked israel, tried to attack israel a few months back in april when they took out an iranian consulate in syria.

that attack essentially failed because the u.s. and israel were able to strike down the missiles. we'll see what iran does. iran is on the offensive. they're the ones funding hezbollah and hamas which is killing hundreds of thousands of americans and israelis for years. >> what do you think israel's strategy is at this point? the timing of this back to back, why now? >> well, look, obviously the hezbollah attack was in response to the killing in the golan heights, where children lost their lives on the soccer field. the hamas attack, of course, was about the october attack that killed 1100, and has a few hundred kidnapped and some of whom remain hostages in the gaza strip today. so, i think this is not the timing isn't really the key, the question is, you know what about the next hezbollah leader, the next hamas leader and if israel responds, how? >> we're awaiting more answers and reporting on all of that. you worked in national security for the white house, for top

congressional committees. what advice would you give to leaders in washington today to avoid greater conflict? what action would you like to see in these next 24 hours? >> well, look, i think the -- just like we took the fight to osama bin laden, al zawahiri, the attack on october 7th, we defend the right for them to defend themselves. for iran to understand that and not retaliate because this is an expected outcome of conducted terrorist attacks that is the safest path. telling israelis to back off or iranians not to respond because of this attack happened, that's unlikely to succeed. >> thank you very much for offering that analysis, your insights as always. up next on "ana cabrera reports," an olympic revolution in paris. how simone biles just made history. and after being pooh-poohed, is

swimming in a sense safe for competition? swimming in a sense safe for competition? i asked myself, ws pilates exist in harlem? so i started my own studio. getting a brick and mortar in new york is not easy. chase ink has supported us from studio one to studio three. when you start small, you need some big help. and chase ink was that for me. earn up to 5% cash back on business essentials with the chase ink business cash card from chase for business. make more of what's yours. ah, these bills are crazy. she

has no idea she's sitting on a goldmine. well she doesn't know that if she owns a life insurance policy of $100,000 or more she can sell all or part of it to coventry for cash. even a term policy. even a term policy? even a term policy! find out if you're sitting on a goldmine. call coventry direct today at the number on your screen, or visit coventrydirect.com. if you have generalized myasthenia gravis, picture what life could look like with vyvgart hytrulo, a subcutaneous injection that takes about 30 to 90 seconds. for one thing, could it mean more time for you? vyvgart hytrulo can improve daily abilities and reduce muscle weakness with a treatment plan that's personalized to you. do not use vyvgart hytrulo if you have a serious allergy to any of its ingredients. it can cause serious allergic reactions like trouble breathing and decrease in blood pressure leading to fainting,

and allergic reactions such as rashes, swelling under the skin, shortness of breath, and hives. the most common side effects are respiratory and urinary tract infections, headache, and injection site reactions. it may increase the risk of infusion-related reactions and infection. tell your doctor if you have a history of infections or symptoms of an infection. talk to your neurologist about vyvgart hytrulo for gmg and picture your life in motion. with bugs, the struggle-is-real. that's why you need zevo traps. zevo works 24/7 to attract and trap flying insects. for effortless protection. zevo. people-friendly. bug-deadly.

welcome back. turning now to the olympics in paris. simone biles leading team usa to gold in the women's gymnastics team all around competition. so it was redemption from silver in tokyo. we're also following an upset in women's rugby. team usa defeating australia to

take home bronze. the first medal for the usa in that sport. also right now, the u.s., you can see, is leading with the overall medal count. but is trailing behind for gold. we got more chances today. let's go to paris and nbc news chief international correspondent keir simmons. what can we look forward to today from team usa? >> reporter: an update on the news that we had yesterday, that the triathlon took place today. the men and women's competition, swimming in the seine, finally happened, after that $1.5 billion spent by paris. that was good news. to answer your question, look for katie ledecky in the 1500 today. if she wins any medal at all, she will become the most decorated team usa woman in history, a tied position for her. so, potentially history-making for her.

we'll see. the bmx freestyle today, again, after it made its debut in tokyo. the basketball is on again with team usa playing south sudan. anyone who follows that will remember it was really, really tight in a match just before the olympics, so, south sudan are pretty good. that's going to be pretty interesting. and then the men's gymnastics team will compete in the all around tonight, having as you say watched the women get that gold in the team gymnastics yesterday. they watched and cheered every moment, we're hoping for more from them after they got that bronze medal just this week. >> i just love watching the gymnastics. i think my favorite is going to be the track and field that i'm anticipating. i'm curious what you're excited about most, keir. >> reporter: well, i mean, that's a great question. i guess the breaking, i think is

pretty cool. because that's in -- i like the culture of it, it is part of paris with so much history and then you have a sport that is so new. those kind of contrasts are really fun. but, you know, ana, really the most pleasurable thing about this olympics is the way that it is happening in the city, the beach volleyball underneath the eiffel tower, they're really bringing home this idea of an olympics in the city itself. >> keir simmons, i didn't expect the break dancing to be top of mind for you. i'll save you from showing us your own moves since we're close to the top of the hour. but, thank you. that was great reporting from paris. and that's going to do it for us today. see you back here tomorrow, same time, same place. don't forget, you can always catch our show online, around the clock, on youtube and other platforms. i'm ana cabrera reporting from new york. jose diaz-balart picks up our coverage right now.