and last until 10:00 a.m. and the oakland fire may be visible, mostly haze. >> keeping tabs on all of that. thank you for joining us as well. we're back at 7:25 with a live local news update. join us for nbc bay area news at 11:00. the "today" show is next. good morning. breaking news, olympic stunner. a member of the u.s. women's gymnastics team tests positive for covid. what we know and what it could mean for their chances in tokyo. savannah has the very latest from japan. summer spike. >> this surge is a lotaster and a lot meaner than last time. >> covid cases on the rise in every single state. president biden lashing out at social media for spreading misinformation. >> they're killing people. >> we are live with a new warning from health officials trying to slow the spread yet

again. swept away -- an inside look at the destruction caused by historic flooding in western europe. >> there is nothing to rebuild. >> entire towns gone, lives uprooted, and a desperate search under way for those still missing. we are live from germany. stadium scare. >> please remain calm. and remain inside the stadium. >> gunfire outside a major league baseball game sends panicked fans running for cover, some even rushing into the dugouts. >> i thought i knew what it was, then a whole storm of people started running. >> inside those chaotic moments that left one fan shot and thousands more terrified. all that, plus primed for takeoff. for the second time in a week, a billionaire is heading into space. we are talking with amazon founder jeff bezos and his crew about the historic launch and why this trip is very different

than the last one. today monday, july 19th, 2021. >> announcer: from nbc news, this is "today," with savannah guthrie from tokyo, japan, and hoda kotb, from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. >> hey, everybody. welcome to "today." it is a monday morning. craig is with me. savannah has made her way to japan. boy, do we have some big news out of tokyo. savannah, this is not what we wanted to hear with just four days to go until the opening ceremony. >> let's see what's the latest there. good morning. >> good morning. it is hard to imagine worse news for team usa and its marquis event. moments ago, we learned a team member here has tested positive for covid. the question is who and what it means for some of the most closely watched athletes at the games.

>> the breaking news this morning rocking team usa as an alternate member of the u.s. women's gymnastics team tests positive. we do know it's not superstar simone biles, but it's major news for the games. the all-star team just arriving in japan last week. and another hurdle for team usa, one of its biggest tennis stars is out, too. teen sensation coco gauff won't take part in the games after testing positive for covid. it's unclear if she had been vaccinated. in a tweet, gauff saying she is disappointed and that representing her country in the olympics had always been a dream. two south african athletes and one more athlete have tested positive in the athletes' village while six athletes from great britain are self-isolated, confined to their rooms after coming into contact with someone who tested positive. although they will still be able to compete if their tests are negative. meanwhile, competition continues. the u.s. men's basketball team cruising to a win over spain in their final exhibition match now headed to tokyo. our senior national correspondent tom llamas is also here.r o weeks in

quarantine. >> reporter: despite the covid state of emergency, tokyo remains very busy, almost everyone wearing a mask outside and that's because the vaccine rollout has been very slow. restaurants and bars asked not to serve alcohol at night, but not everyone is following those rules. >> around the games, the host country, which has seen a recent surge in cases, is taking no chances, banning fans and families from the games, strict rules in olympic village and even telling athletes they'll have to put the medals on themselves. so again the news out of tokyo not great for u.s. gymnastics. an alternate testing positive for covid. there are four alternates on team usa. the u.s. olympic committee is not revealing the identity of the person testing positive out of respect for her privacy. let's turn to done abramson,

covering sports and the olympics. first of all, this is potentially a game changer for usa gymnastics, put it in perspective for us. >> we all knew -- we all knew there were going to be positive covid tests. as you say, this is a game changer because to have a positive test on the u.s. gymnastics team, one of the marquee teams for the united states team, that is a big, big wow. a big wow. just no getting around it. a big wow. >> i don't want to put you on the spot, but the question arises, do you know if these members of the team are vaccinated or not? >> no. no one knows. out of respect for their privacy, they've had the chance, the choice to be vaccinated or not. we can't go around saying are you sakd, are you not? >> some athletes have said they didn't want to be vaccinated because they were concerned it might impact, inhibit their performance. >> that's their prerogative. they can have that belief. does it make more sense to be vaccinated, does it not? that's their choice.

>> this is a team that's been practicing together. what is the potential ripple effect here? you've got one person testing positive. if they're in close contact, that could make a big impact throughout the team. >> take a step back together. the idea here as the japanese government has explained it, is to test, trace, and isolate. that means it has to be within one meter, three feet, or 15 minutes or more without a facemask. gymnastics is not a sport that you can do readily with a facemask. do you think that team of young women is more or less likely to be around each other with or without facemasks for 15 minutes within three feet of each other? that's the question. >> i will say i read the statement from the japanese authorities pretty closely. it did identify another individual connected to the team as a close contact. it's early, but it's potentially a good sign that they haven't identified any others right now.

>> right now is the key. because right now, with the japanese government, what everybody is wondering is who is a close contact?amas been within a close range of that individual? that's what we all want to know, need taso ossible. >> thank you so much. >> my pleasure. >> here in tokyo, four days away from the games, it's a hard to imagine something to be more dramatic in terms of the development here. we will continue to watch it. the competition is four days away now. not only are we hearing this about the alternate at usa gymnastics, we've also learned that coco gauff tested positive herself. she will not be able to compete in tokyo. other athletes have tested positive. we'll continue to follow developments. back to you, hoda and craig. >> it was a real shocker and thank you, savannah, for trying

to find the silver lining there. we'll which can back with you in a bit. now let's move to the nationwide resurgence of covid spared right now. all 50 states are seeing a rise in cases. hospitalizations are up, as well. but the sickest patients remain those who are unvaccinated. meanwhile, president biden continues to take aim at facebook for its role in spreading vaccine disinformation. gabe gutierrez is live in florida where cases are up. good morning. >> reporter: craig, good morning. florida now accounts for about 20% of all new covid cases in the u.s. and this hospital in jacksonville is one of many scrambling to keep up as the cdc director points out that this is now becoming a pandemic of the unvaccinated. >> this morning, a troubling sense of covid deja vu. for the first time since january, new daily cases are rising in all 50 states fueled by the highly contagious delta variant.

doubling each week the u.s. is seeing younger and sicker patients. >> we're seeing overwhelming numbers. this time, this surge is a lot faster, and if i could use the word a lot meaner than last time things are worse >> reporter: nationwide, covid cases are up nearly 70% over the past week. hospitalizations are up nearly 36%. deaths, 26%. >> california is open again. >> reporter: a month after california essentially put covid in the rearview mirror, the pandemic has boomeranged in the state. los angeles, the nation's most populous county, just reimposed its indoor mask mandate even for vaccinated people as it deals with 1,000 new covid cases each day. >> i'm afraid this mask is going to start to adhere to my face. >> reporter: over the weekend, five texas democrats who travel to d.c. to stall their state's controversial voting rights legislation tested positive for been vaccinated.

today, illinois will announce the winners of its statewide lottery for frontline workers in an effort to encourage them to get the shot around the country, vaccination rates have dropped by more than 35% over the past week in part, the white house is blaming disinformation shared widely on social media platforms. >> on covid misinformation, what's your message to platforms like facebook? >> they're killing people. i mean, they really -- look, the only pandemic we have is among the unvaccinated and that's -- and they're killing people >> facebook firing back saying it will not be distracted by accusations which aren't supported by the facts the social media giant says it's removed more than 18 million pieces of covid misinformation now here in jacksonville, there are more than 100 covid patients at this hospital alone craig, we thought we were past this, but the covid testing positivity rate here in florida is about 10% >> all right, gabe gutierrez,

thank you. moving now to those deadly and devastating floods in western europe, the waters have finally receded the depth of the destruction, and now there is a desperate search for those still missing. meagan fitzgerald is on the ground in germany for us >> reporter: hoda, the destruction has devastated the region here. you can see cars flipped upside down, piles and piles of debris lining the streets neighbors tell us the flood waters came in quickly, swallowing entire neighborhoods. right now, the death toll stands at 196 and it's rising. the scale of the devastation in western europe this morning, catastrophic >> there is nothing to rebuild >> record flooding, the worst in already claiming hundreds of lives across hard-hit germany and belgium.

>> there's so many people dead >> days of torrential rain turned into a surge of rushing water, flushing roadways, wiping out bridges and destroying homes. >> everything is broken. >> reporter: in germany, entire neighborhoods ravaged by rising water. you can see the devastation town after town and you really get a sense of just how powerful that water was. cars upended take a look over here. train tracks completely ripped from the ground. just behind me, that was a walk away completely washed away by the river. angela merkel viewing the devastation personally on sunday promising residents federal aid to help rebuild. >> calling help, help, i can't swim >> reporter: at this assisted care facility, 12 people were killed >> it was so high, the water >> reporter: now as the water recedes, a grim search is under

way for hundreds that could be missing, police scouring train tracks, residents trying to salvage what they can as they start to dig through the debris. mike lives in this building. he was lying in bed when he heard cars being thrown around by the raging waters, crashing into the wall of his home. a nightmare, he says, that still feels unreal now, the germans are working quickly here to try and clean up, to try to get back to some sense of normal life but it could take months, even years to try and rebuild this region >> thank you now we turn to the nation's capital where a scary chaotic scene played out at this weekend's major league baseball game the nationals and the padres were in play when gunfire sent fans and players running morgan radford sounds nationals park >> reporter: a lot happened saturday evening, but both the

d.c. mayor and the owner of the washington nationals team say that they believe -- and according to police -- that this shooting was not meant to target the fans, players and the ballpark during that game, a game that sent thousands into a thousand panic. >> this morning, police in washington, d.c., investigating a shoot-out just outside you a major league baseball game >> please remain calm and remain inside the stadium >> reporter: terrifying moments for fans inside nationals park and watching on tv saturda as the sound of gunshots echoed throughout the stadium and on the broadcast, many inside the ballpark scattering and ducking for cover. >> nobody knew what it was then a whole storm of people sounded running. it sounded like it was behind us >> reporter: at one point, players helping family and fans onto the field and into the dugout >> seeing fans and people in a

panic, they did right thing. >> reporter: but police say the shots came from outside. a people in two vehiclings fired on each other near the third base gate. a bullet grazing a fan who had stepped outside the stadium. the game ultimately postponed. >> it's scary when it happens. this close to us the city is my home. >> reporter: just a day before the incident at nats park, a drive-by in another d.c. neighborhood claimed the life of a 6-year-old girl and left five others wounded as gun violence and mass shootings nationwide continue to spike. crowds were back at the stadium sunday when the game resumed and the nationals thanking fans for handling themselves in a very admirable manner nats manager davey martinez emotional returning to the ballpark >> it can get crazy. we all know that and we all want to feel safe i can tell you that inside this ballpark, i feel safer than ever

>> reporter: that fan who was shot outside of the stadium is expected to survive. but police believe that two other people who were taken to the hospital were, in fact, involved in that shooting. and that's why d.c. authorities are asking anyone with additional information about this incident to please reach out to authorities craig. >> morgan radford outside nats park, thank you. it is 16 minutes past the hour looky looky, miss dylan dreyer how are you? >> i'm doing great did you guys see that storm saturday night >> rocking and rolling >> flashes like you've never seen before. it's all part of this system that will linger to the south. for the northeast, it was a cold front that helped to cool down temperatures, but for the south, it is a stationary front that is going to keep the thunderstorms around look at southern arkansas, look at central mississippi through central parts of alabama into northern georgia, too this is where we have our heavy rain we have our cloud to ground lightning. this is going to be the case throughout the day today we'll see those storms redevelop later this afternoon, perhaps farther to the south

same thing for tuesday, the same general area, although it should continue to shift a bit as this front moves ever so slightly expect a lot of rain and expect some of these storms to produce gusty winds, too we could see as much as 5 inches of rain in some areas that get stuck in those heavy downpours for a long period of time. elsewhere across the country, we have a good amount of sunshine here you see it right through the midwest. temperatures in the mid-80s, very hot across the northern plains with record high temperatures likely, and we still have that monsoonal moisture out in the desert southwest. that's a look at the weather across the country we'll get to your local forecast in the next 30 seconds [music stops] and release. [deep exhale] [fast upbeat music resumes] [music stops]

>> good morning. i'm meteorologist kari hall. taking a look at our temperatures today, headed up toward 90 degrees for the inland areas. it's going to be one of the warmer days we have this week as we start a cooling trend. we have the high humidity and the monsoonal moisture watching out for that chance of dry lightning, few isolated strikes will be possible especially this morning but cooling down by the middle to the end of the week. wednesday will be the coolest day with our inland temperatures in the low 90s and still some fog in san francisco with highs in the 60s. and that's your latest forecast >> dylan, thank you. coming up, we are talk, the next billionaire preparing to venture into space billionaire jeff with bezos, how he's feeling and why there's something special about that crew on board. we'll hear from all four of project taking place inside notre dame cathedral

two years after a devastating fire but first, this is "today" on

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serious allergic reactions can occur including anaphylaxis, which is severe. tell your doctor about new or worsening eye problems, such as eye pain or vision changes, or a parasitic infection. if you take asthma medicines don't change or stop them without talking to your doctor. talk to your doctor about dupixent. it is 7:26. i'm laura garcia. here's today's top stories including a positive covid-19 infection for team usa. >> i'm thom jensen in walnut creek. u.s. olympic team officials announcing this morning that one athlete, an alternate, on the u.s. women's gymnastics artistic team has tested positive for coronavirus. she and another athlete are being quarantined in a separate hotel and training at a separate facility in preparation for the olympics. i'm sharon katsuda in the south bay, one bay area county

says it will implement the mask mandate again. in alameda county it will be required to wear masks indoors at the courthouse. many of the courtrooms and jury selection rooms around the bay area don't have windows to allow fresh air from outside. los angeles county last week announced the indoor mask mandate would begin again. it went into effect over the weekend but the l.a. county sheriff won't enforce it because it goes against cdc guidelines. let's check the forecast with meteorologist kari hall. >> good morning. and we've been watching out for the potential that we could see a few isolated thunderstorms as well as some dry lightning and we're seeing that in parts of northern sonoma county this morning. so far seeing one lightning strike that could have made it to the ground, but overall some of the much bigger threat of the lightning has stayed off towards the east of the bay area with some of the parts of the southern sierra seeing some lightning and it also will increase the risk we could see new fire starts today. looking at our temperatures it

will be cooling down, especially as we head towards the middle of the week. >> thank you very much. thank you for joining us as well. another local news update in about a half hour. hope to see you then. have a great morning.

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breathe cleaner air, and even take on climate change... would you press it? back now, 7:30. it's a monday morning here, july 17th. and it's an evening look at tokyo. that's the skyline. four days to go until the opening ceremony of the summer games, but this morning, the big headline out of tokyo is covid. >> that's right. a member of the u.s. women's gymnastics team has tested positive. savannah on the ground in tokyo. i understand you have some new information on the breaking story. >> yeah. we just learned that the athlete who tested positive is actually an alternate on the team. we don't know who she is, but

this person is now quarantining at a hotel here in japan. this test that the women's team had been training actually somewhere in japan before traveling here to tokyo, so we don't know how this will impact the team, whether any team members will be deemed close contacts with this alternate. we'll continue to follow the story. you may remember the original statement that came out was from the japanese authorities. it also mentioned that one other individual had been deemed a close contact. we don't have any further information about that individual and this latest statement that came from the u.s. olympic committee that identifies the gymnast as an alternate makes no mention of that other close contact. so right now all we know for sure from the u.s. olympic committee is it's an alternate and she's quarantining right now. meanwhile, back here, we are just 24 hours away from part two of the billionaire space race.

amazon founder jeff bezos preparing to go lift off with three others from a site in the texas desert. >> while it's different in many ways from richard branson's flight eight days ago, he's also looking to make history. tom costello is in texas with all the action. tom, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. so the branson vehicle, you may recall, was a space plane. two astronauts on board, two pilots on board. they glide back down to earth. the bezos vehicle a rocket. no professional pilot on board, no professional astronauts. it is all controlled from the ground. liftoff set for 9:00 a.m. eastern time tomorrow. the launch pad in the west texas desert is set. the clock ticking down to blue origin's first human test flight. >> the vehicle is ready. the crew is ready. >> two, one. >> reporter: for an 11-minute round-trip ride to space. >> and we have liftoff. >> reporter: already, blue origin has flown 15 unmanned

test flights, but it's never carried humans until now. climbing aboard for the inaugural flight tuesday, billionaire founder jeff bezos and his brother, mark, and billionaire wally funk. >> we're going to fly you up into space for your very first flight. >> reporter: funk has dreamed of going to space since joining nasa's mercury program in the 1950s only to be grounded because of her gender. she'll be joined by damon. flunk and damon will be the youngest and oldest people ever to fly into space. climbing 62 miles high beyond the carbon line where space begins. >> that is where jeff bezos is going to sit, in seat next six. >> reporter: late tuesday, we took a look inside the simulator all four have been training in. >> there you go. you are buckling in and ready to

go to space. >> this is a big window. >> as you're ascending, essentially it feels like the earth is falling away from you. >> reporter: once in space, through to four minutes of weightlessness, floating free. >> this is unbelievable. >> reporter: tomorrow's launch comes just nine days after richard branson won the so-called billionaire space race with virgin galactic's first passenger test flight landing on a new mexico runway while bezos paying passengers are promised a soft landing in the west texas desert. and there's an awful lot of sand here in west texas. 9:00 a.m. eastern time tomorrow is the liftoff. they're not going into orbit. they're popping into space, lingering for a few minutes and parachuting back down to ground. hoda? >> thank you so much. joining us now is the inaugural blue origin crew, jeff and mark

bezos, wally funk and oliver damon. good morning, guys. >> good morning. >> jeff, it's the eve. are you ready? tell me how you're feeling on this day. >> tomorrow we're going to space and we're incredibly excited. i am so excited i can't wait to see what it's going to be like. people say they go into people say they go into space and come back changed. astronauts always talk about that, whether it's the thin earth's atmosphere, i can't wait to see what it's going to do to me >> i had a chance to interview richard branson and he went up he said he beat you by nine days, but you are going higher he says there's no competition between the two of you what say you >> i agree there is one person who is the first person in space and that happened a long time ago i think i'm going on be number 570 or something

that's where we're going to be in this list this isn't a competition this is about building the road to space so future generations can do incredible things in space. >> we're excited to join the club >> i am so excited for you wally, you're going to be the oldest person up in space. 82 years old long overdue you should have been there in the 60s, but because of your gender, that was not to be so here we are, you're going to be up in space for 11 minutes. describe how you see that in your mind's eye. >> i'm going to feel it. it's going to be absolutely not happy to touch or grab something. i can just float to it and do my turns and do my rolls. that's what i love to do because i've done everything on an outside world and i love it. by the way, i love seeing you

every day. >> oh, i love seeing you, too. >> hoda, can i just tell you that we have been -- when wally was part of the mercury 13, all of the testing she did, she outperformed all of the men. we can confirm at 82 years old she can still outperform all of the men. we've been doing training with wally. she can outrun all of us you should do a piece on her because she is incredible we're just trying to keep up >> we're going to stay on that, wally, i promise mark, i don't know how many nugis jeff gave you as a kid i'm sure he's made up for it what was it like when he asked you to go on this trip >> it was a thrill jeff and i have had the opportunity to have a lot of adventures together throughout our lifetimes. it's an honor for me to be able to tag along on this one and be there representing our mom and dad, our sister, christina, an celebrating a lifelong dream

>> what from the oldest, wally, to the youngest, oliver, oliver, you're 18 years old. i can't believe you get to do this how have you prepared for this moment >> i can't believe it, either. we have great training here, simulating the flight, expecting what to expect in space. because we have no idea and it's pretty hard to imagine i'm just super excited and not nervous at all >> it's going to be a really, really cool. there are critics who say, look, this is, again, richard branson and you, jeff bezos, rich guys on a joy ride. what will come out of this what concrete thing will come out of this trip >> in order for space travel to build the infrastructure so that maybe oliver, young people today, the next generation, how are they going to use space today, getting into space is so expensive that you can't do very many interesting things in

space. just a small number of things you can do they will invent new things to do it's the job of this generation to build that infrastructure and, of course, people said look, we have so many problems here on earth. they're right. we need to do both we've always done both we need to focus on the here and now and look to the future so we're building a pathway to space so oliver's generation can blow us away and make life better on earth. >> someone has to take a selfie up there and i nominate oliver he'll probably get the best one. >> no-brainer, you're right. >> have fun up in space. it's 11 minutes. we can't wait to hear all about it when you come back. jeff and mark bezos, wally funk, oliver damon, good luck. >> thanks. >> take care >> and how about that wally funk i love all the guys. she is super special she stood on the ground for 20, 30, 40 years and watched men go up in space when it should have been her and now it's wally's turn >> she has earned that trip, for

sure up next, we're going to head back to savannah on the ground in tokyo hey, sg. >> hey, guys competition is just four days away and coming up next i am going to introduce you to one member of team usa who is hoping her third olympics are golden. usa beach volleyball star april ross and her drive to cement her legacy and life in the olympic village right after these messages people everywhere living with type 2 diabetes are waking up to what's possible with rybelsus®. ♪ you are my sunshine ♪

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but even if your teen was vaccinated against meningitis in the past they may be missing vaccination for meningitis b. although uncommon, up to 1 in 5 survivors of meningitis will have long term consequences. now as you're thinking about all the vaccines your teen might need make sure you ask your doctor if your teen is missing meningitis b vaccination. back now, 7:44 with our countdown to tokyo savannah already there she has one athlete who is hoping to rule the sand in tokyo. morning, savannah. >> good morning. we know her well right behind our set, of course, is this beautiful tokyo bay. just across the water, you would see it's the home of beach volleyball the u.s. team is always a force in that event. one of the athletes we cannot wait to watch is april ross.

she took home a silver medal in london, a bronze in rio, and this year, well, she has her eyes set on gold and she has a pretty good shot at it, too. hi, april, good morning. >> hi. how is it going? >> good. it's good to see you i know we're actually close yet so far i've got to ask you, april, i'm sure you've been hearing this news about the gymnastics alternate who tested positive for covid. i imagine that news is spreading like wildfire where you are at the olympic village. how concerned are you to hear that and how concerned are you for your own welfare and that of your fellow athletes >> yeah, i think leading up to the games, we thought the situation was really under control and i was feeling really confident for a long time. and then every time you hear of another person testing positive, you get a little bit more worried about it, and i, you know, feel so badly for the athletes who have tested positive they worked so hard to get here. and it's just really sad that

they're not going to be able to compete. and as the days go on, i am taking more and more precautions to keep my distance and try to stay safe for me and my team so that we get a chance to compete. >> it's so locked down here in tokyo. you're in the olympic village. tell me about your movements, what you're able to do, what you're able to see >> it's pretty -- it feels pretty normal. we're testing every day. we have apps on our phones we have to update, you know, with our health conditions. but we're allowed to go to the cafeteria whenever we want we wear gloves we use a lot of hand sanitizer all the time we can take buses out to the high performance center, to the venue, and it's pretty free flowing. you know, there's lots of guidelines, but, to be honest, it feels decently normal here in the village. >> let's talk volleyball

i went outside for about ten minutes today. it's hot here. it's really hot. i know you were prepared for that, but now that you've felt it and you've practiced in it, it has to feel a little different. >> it feels very hot i think today was hotter than yesterday when we got in and we've done a lot to try and prepare for this heat. we went to florida for a heat and humidity camp. we've done lots of sauna training it's hard to replicate, but we trained at 9:00 a.m. this morning, which is when we're supposed to be playing our full play matches, and it was hot i mean, i don't know what else to say it was tough out there >> yeah. but it's a wet heat. it's humid, too. april, let me talk about your new partner, alex kleiman. they call you the "a" team not just because of your initials, but because you have been a force since you came on the scene. gold is thurase. how do you feel about your

chances here >> it's going to be tough. the competition is so good, and over the past year the extra year everyone has had to train and compete, they've got -- everyone has gotten so much better so it's going be hard. but at the same time, i really believe in me and alex and i think we are capable of getting the gold we're going to have to have a good tournament. we're going to have to beat the heat but i believe that we can do it and it would mean so much to me in my third games to go home with a gold. >> oh, well, april, we'll be watching you and alex. best of luck to you. and a reminder to everybody, the olympic games in tokyo start friday you can catch all the action right here on nbc. hoda and craig, back to you. >> great interview go, april. come on, "a" team. we're rooting for you. let's get a check of the weather with miss dylan dreyer >> it's going to be another hot one, especially for the northern plains exceptional heat with temperatures about 20 degrees

above average. look at our heat warnings, heat advisories across montana and over into north dakota, too. we're looking for highs of about 105 degrees in billings today. that will likely tie the record. bismarck, north dakota, 100 degrees. minneapolis, 91. and the heat is going to stick around and it's also very dry. so you go a little farther to the west, and we have thunderstorms that don't have the rain so you get the lightning that could trigger some more fires. so we do have the potential for more fire weather for parts of oregon into california, also especially across montana and into northern wyoming, too so we could see gusts and the low humidity combined to help spread some of those fires out that's a look at the country. here's a peek out your window. >> good morning. i'm meteorologist kari hall. we're watching the chance for dry lightning this morning otherwise starting out nice on this monday morning and our temperatures have been nice and cool. we are headed towards 90 degrees today in our inland areas and it will be one of the warmest days of the week and we will continue

to cool off as we get the return of our natural air conditioning even in the valleys. we'll reach about 82 on wednesday and grasdsly start to warm up by the weekend while san francisco will stay in the 60s. >> and that's your latest forecast >> dylan , thank you. coming up, rebuilding history, an exclusive tour of notre dame cathedral and what's being done to bring it back after that devastating fire two years ago. that's right after this. ...on both ends. that can help build your house. and if need be, power that house. that feels like a bullet train. and works like a freight train. the fully electric f-150 lightning. frank is a fan of fast. he's a fast talker. a fast walker.

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a very good morning to you. i'm laura garcia. here's a look at what's happening now. >> i'm thom jensen in walnut creek. u.s. olympic team officials announcing this morning that one athlete an alternate on the u.s. gymnastics artistic team has tested positive for coronavirus. she and another athlete are being quarantined in a separate hotel and training at a separate facility in preparation for the olympics. i'm sharon katsuda in the south bay, one bay area county says it will implement the mask mandate again. in alameda county it will be required to wear masks indoors at the courthouse. many of the courtrooms and jury selection rooms around the bay area don't have windows to allow

fresh air from outside. los angeles county last week announced the indoor mask mandate would begin again and went into effect over the weekend but the l.a. county sheriff won't enforce it because it goes against cdc guidelines. let's check that forecast for this monday morning with meteorologist kari hall. >> yeah. we're starting out with some low clouds and fog near the coast and mostly clear inland. it's still going to feel humid today as we get the monsoonal moisture coming in and temperatures today headed towards 90 degrees. then we cool down as the week goes along and our highs will reach into the low 80s by wednesday and we gradually warm up by the weekend into early next week. as we check out san francisco, we are also going to see the fog linger here and that's keeping our temperatures down only some low 60s in the forecast for the rest of the week. some peeks of sunshine here and there, but we'll settle into this weather pattern. laura? >> thank you very much. thank you for joining us as well.

another local news update for you in about half an hour. hope to see you then and enjoy this monday morning. jason, did you know geico could save you hundreds on car insurance and a whole lot more?

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it is 8:00 on "today." come up, breaking news olympic shocker, a member of the u.s. women's gymnastics team tests positive for the coronavirus. what we're learning this morning. we'll have details as tokyo ramps up their safety protocols. then, born to ride we'll talk to the united states equestrian jumping team, including newcomer jessica springsteen, how they're gearing up for their own glory days. plus, return to notre dame

our exclusive look at the restoration efforts two years after that devastating fire. >> we are about to take an elevator up to 100 feet where the fire started >> just ahead, what we are learning about the new spire being created right now. then, the greatest a new documentary detailing how muhammad ali pulled off one of the greatest olympic surprises in history >> oh, my. >> we'll talk to the man behind the film, ken burns, live. plus, newlywed bliss, the new photos from blake and gwen's wedding as the husband and wife celebrate two weeks of marriage today, monday, july 19th, 2021 >> we are reporting from miami >> and today we're celebrating leah's birthday. >> hey, "today" show in albuquerque, new mexico,

celebrating a 13th birthday. >> we don't mind getting up early on this monday morning >> because i'm 9 today >> happy birthday, grace >> happy birthday, grace >> what a fun bunch of folks and we also have some fun people outside, too welcome to "today. monday morning, so happy that you're starting our day with us. >> it's the week that the olympics start but coming up, tomorrow on "today," how to have a memorable and safe summer. kids under 12 can't get that covid vaccine yet, but camps, vacations and play dates, all of those things are still happening. our experts are going to answer all the questions we have about how to do those things safely. and we have breaking news from tokyo where another u.s. olympic athlete has tested positive for covid just days before the games get under way this time, it's a member of the women's gymnastics team. tom llamas is in tokyo with the latest

tom, what do you know? >> hey, hoda, good morning to you from downtown tokyo. we are getting more information on that breaking headline you mentioned on that u.s. olympian that has tested positive for covid here in japan. team usa just confirming she is a member of the artistic gymnastics team. we know she's an alternate they're not revealing her name just yet as is protocol, she's quarantining in her hotel. city officials in the part of japan where this happened say another member of the team is considered a close contact so that person is quarantining in their room until they test negative this comes as more than 60 people across all different countries have tested positive in japan, including two players from the south african soccer team the entire team has been deemed close contacts, so they all have to get tested to make sure they're negative if they want to compete. now a new rule, any team they compete against has to be okay with it, so they have to approve that they'll play against the south african soccer team.

we have just completed our 14-day mandatory quarantine. we've been around tokyo. we got to go around tokyo to explore. the city is still very much alive. it is under a state of emergency. people are wearing masks everywhere you go outside, but that's because the vaccine rollout has been very slow but they are out, they are shopping, they're enjoying the city, they're dining there's no alcohol because of that state of emergency, but the city is very much alive. they're also going to athletic events they're going to baseball games, they're going to sumo matches, so the olympic rules clearly are a little different we're going to have much more on what tokyo is like we're going to take our viewers there in the next hour and show you how it looks, how it feels, as we get into the olympic games. >> tom llamas, thank you meanwhile, just weeks after covid restrictions were relaxed in many parts of the united states, new cases are rising in all 50 states. and that, that hasn't happened since january. the surge is being fueled by that highly contagious delta variant. nationwide, covid cases are up nearly 70% over the past week alone.

health officials are expressing alarm over the stalled vaccination program. the white house for its part is blaming vaccine myths sharing wide on social media facebook has responded that it has removed more than 18 million pieces of covid misinformation moving now to the new book about former president donald trump that claims his behavior before and after losing the election had the nation's military leaders concerned hallie jackson is here with more >> reporter: from two pulitzer prize winning reporters, this account donald trump's final year in office, part history book, part current events, detailing the actions of a former president who right now is considering another run for office, and the intense fears of some of those in the highest positions of power general mark milley, concerns of a coup felt so real he warned aides, they may try, but they're not going to bleeping succeed.

you can't do this without the military, adding, we're the guys with the guns. milley, so worried about donald trump's behavior before the election, he compared it to nazi era germany, quote, this is a reichstag moment the gospel of the fuhrer >> the general saw the way trump was trying to create chaos to try and capitalize on it afraid of what he might do >> that explosive reporting, the new book based on more than 140 sources. >> carol and i were both surprised overall in this reporting by how much worse things were behind the scenes than we new in realtime. >> reporter: new details about the president erupting and top military brass and vice resisted his suggestion to order matter protesters. you have all bleeped up. every one of you is bleeped up later telling his advisers his

only regret is not overruling his advisers to put troops on the streets. also the origin of the big lie, sparked by rudy giuliani on election night, demanding they declare victory even with ballots still being counted. >> a big theme in this book is how unnerved and unsettled even the most ardent supporters of president trump were privately, secretly, behind the scenes. >> people will want to know, then why didn't you say something at the time to these officials that were so close to the president? it's not a profile encouraged to come out after he lost an election and now talk about it >> they were afraid of this president and they wanted to cling to their own power >> reporter: milley, through a spokesperson, declining to comment. mr. trump has since denied any talk of a coup >> he has a big constituency out there and it's worthwhile for all americans, whether you support trump or not, to look back and study what he did, to understand the consequences of his decision making and of his actions in office. >> reporter: despite leaving

office with an approval rating in the low 40s, the former president apparently is feeling confident in his presidency. mr. trump suggested if george washington came back from the dead and chose abraham lincoln as his vice president, it would have been very hard, he says, for them to beat him craig. >> our senior washington correspondent hallie jackson, thank you. news is covered. 8:08 on a monday morning >> let's hit the boost some kids have a princess or a pony or a clown to entertain guests at their birthday parties, but 3-year-old camille, her grandfather dressed up as a unicorn. former nfl running back tony collins decided to surprise his granddaughter. he went all in on the costume. you see him galloping around, chasing the kids, letting them chase him. you know what? here is the thing. who needs a pony when you've got grandpa? that is brilliant. he better be careful because i think other people will say, hey, come to my party, too >> proving once again there's

nothing a grandfather won't do >> pretty cool coming up next, we're going to go live to paris, to molly hunter for an exclusive look inside notre dame cathedral. the painstaking work to restore it to its former glory and when it may open its doors to the world again. but first, these messages. s. families. businesses. in-laws. law firms. every customer. new 5g phones when you trade in your old ones. and if you're not a customer, we'll help cover the cost to switch. just ask wanda. she's been with us since... (gasps)... now. upgrade your phone. upgrade your network. i have moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. now, there's skyrizi. with skyrizi, 3 out of 4 people achieved 90% clearer skin at 4 months, after just 2 doses. skyrizi may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. before treatment, your doctor should check you

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[screaming] [music suddenly stops] back now, 8:13 carson is in the house by the way, it has been more than two years since a fire tore through the notre dame cathedral in paris the solemn sanctuary that stood for centuries was destroyed in a matter of hours. now, though, hope is rising from the rubble nbc's molly hunter received an exclusive tour inside the cathedral. molly, good morning. >> reporter: hey, guys, good morning from paris now, when you look at that facade, it's hard to tell exactly how damaged that cathedral is inside. then you see the scaffolding, the crane, it is a totally

different story inside and we got a rare tour of the ongoing restoration efforts, and they say it's all going according to planned take a look. returning notre dame to the faithful to its former splendor is a work in progress following the catastrophic fire april 15th, 2019 >> how long is it going to take to rebuild notre dame? >> the famous lead spire crashing down like an arrow into the heart of this sacred space because of all that lead, we suited up in protective gear all right. let's go nbc news was granted rare access, an exclusive look at the restoration efforts, the magnificent nave transformed a jungle of scaffolding. we are at ground in notre dame there are more than a thousand tons of scaffolding and me we are about to take an elevat

where the fire started and here at the top of the damaged bulk you can see the stain glassed windows right here take a look. we see the charred remains more than 800 years old. the chief architect explains each one is tailored individually using modern technology but medieval no-how one of the cathedral's most prized relics the rooster on top of the spire slammed through the roof right here. he said he had something symbolic, charged with emotion because notre dame is a mythical mystical place but the obvious damage is here and it's so much worse than it looks from the outside we are so high up. hope you're not afraid of heights. but this is where the ceiling was. this is this gaping hole and this right here is the focus of the reconstruction

despite the modern designs, in new spire will be true to its gothic history general jean louise pointing out the lead still streaked outside, gargoyles looking on you think you'll be able to open your doors in 20204 in some way? his singular priority, he says, is to open the cathedral in some capacity in three years. >> and thank you very much to the united states of america and god bless america. >> reporter: now, he is thanking americans because there were 17,000 u.s. donors who contributed. you guys, more than almost $1 150 countries and they say -- we kept asking them -- they say this is going to on open up in some capacity in 2024 just in time for the paris olympics. i'll send it back to you guys. >> that is perfect timing. i can't believe you were there >> i was only there for just over 24 hours and you went and parked because we were fairly convinced at the time that notre

dame was going to burn to the ground so to see how far it's come in that short period of time, it's remarkable how about we get a check of the weather and dylan dreyer is in for al. >> a lot of people seeing some nice weather into the great lakes areas, lots of sunshine. down south we have that stalled front that is going to keep the showers and the storms around. we could end up with about 5 inches of rain if you get stuck in some of those heavier downpours that are occurring temperaturewise, the records will be set across the northern plains, into montana, into north dakota, it's hot in the southwest but we have that monsoonal moisture continuing to go produce some of those heavier downpours. 80s and 70s in the northeast new england, it's cloudy and in the middle of the country, lots of sunshine and temperatures in the 80s. good morning. i am meteorologist kari hall. it is still going to be warm in the inland areas, and humid with

high clouds and monday soonal moisture moofg through. that moves out, cooler temperatures move in as we get natural air conditioning. strong ocean breeze, highs in the low 80s for some of the warmest spots in the valleys. through the week. not so many changes in san francisco. at times, fog rolling by, highs in the 60s. and that's your latest forecast. back to you guys. well, now more about countdown to tokyo, and this morning, the u.s. equestrian jumping team is joining us from germany, where they have been practicing before heading to japan. >> it's the only olympic event where both men and women are competing together. there is a well known name and that is springsteen. >> we're going to talk to them in just a sec, but first a little background on team usa. >> reporter: it's a sport that has been part of the olympic fabric since the 1900 games with dressage, eventing and jumping.

this summer, the u.s. has qualified in teams and individuals in all three areas. 12 men and women will compete in tokyo. backed by a strong history of success, the u.s. ranked second for all-time olympic medals in the sport. and this year's overall team will consistent of some of the oldest athletes competing for the u.s. meet the four equestrian jumpers. 55-year-old laura kraut is ranked 24th in the world and is making her third trip to the olympics, earning gold in 2008. >> first around for the united states of america. >> reporter: returning to the games for a fifth time is 45-year-old mclain ward, a two-time gold medalist. 40-year-old kent farrington is back for his second consecutive he was parof winning team in rio. and making her olympic debut is 29-year-old jessica springsteen. you may recognize that last night. she is the daughter of music

royalty bruce springsteen and patti scialfa. ranked 14th in the world in show jumping, jessica served as an alternate in 2012. during the jumping competition, every obstacle on the course must be cleared in a set time without any faults. and that includes water jumps, parallel rails, and triple bars reaching more than five feet high. we've got kent farrington, jessica springsteen, laura kraut and mclain ward. team usa! we're rooting for you. good morning. jessica, i have to tell you, just to start off with this, but i did interview your dad a couple of weeks ago and i asked him about you at the olympics. he said i don't want to jinx it. she's not in yet. but when you finally made the team, what did your mom and dad think about that? how did they react? >> oh, my gosh, they were so excited. they've supported me since i was little and it's been a huge dream of mine ever since i can remember. the sport has become such a

passion for them, as well. they were so proud of me. >> it was cool to read a couple of days ago that your teammates actually travel on what is i guess called horse force one to get there. jessica, you're the youngest. what have you learned from those folks who are sitting next to you there, from laura, from kent, from mclain? >> oh, my gosh, i've admired these riders throughout my career. to be named to the team with them is a huge honor. they have so much experience. they all have medals at the games. so i'm just really looking forward to it. >> laura, equestrian is an interesting sport. you can play. you're 55. you've won gold before. it's been ten years. what is it like for you this time around? >> you know, it's funny because, yeah, i was the youngest member of the team in 1992. i was the alternate. this year i'm the oldest member of the team. but i think, you know, it's

still the same. it's such an honor and it's exciting and we just can't wait to get there. i think this is the pinnacle of our sport. and, yeah, i'm very lucky to be surrounded by two teammates who i've had many times before and then the newest one who i've had a relationship training for a few years. this is just a great opportunity. >> we are pumped up. i think it's so cool that this is the only olympic sport where men and women compete against each other. kent, you're going to the olympics again. this is going to be a beautiful experience. i was cracking up because i didn't realize that the horses actually needed passports to get to tokyo. is that a real thing? >> yeah. all of our horses have passports. i think my horse has the most stamps of any horse on our team. she's the oldest horse on the team and she's been around the world a couple times and been to something like 50 different countries. so hoping that experience helps

us in the games. >> how do you feel about your chances? >> i think this team is very strong. i think our chances are good. >> we've got to ask you about the news of the morning here, of course. there's an athlete that has tested positive on one of the gymnastics teams, there have been one or two other athletes that have tested positive, as well. are you guys at all nervous heading into tokyo? >> i think there's been incredible procedure, precautions trying to be put into place, and i think all the athletes and the people around us are trying to follow that as closely as possible. you know, you'd be remiss to say there's no concerns. but i think every effort is being made to safeguard us and safeguard everyone around the olympics. obviously we all hope that it comes off with as few issues as possible. and we have some great sporting events. >> let's talk about your horses. your horses are your teammates. i think i've seen on instagram

you posting pictures of dawn. what has the training gone into with your horse and what is that bond like? >> with him, we've been building our partnership over the last couple of years. he's everything i would want in a championship horse. we have so much trust in our relationship, and he is so powerful and it does everything so effortlessly. so for me, i can really rely on him. >> mcclain, is this your fifth olympic games? am i right about that? did i read that right? >> yes. i'm proud to say five times consecutively now. >> that has to be some kind of record. tell me what you think going in. what are your hopes for your team? >> as laura said, i'm very honored to ride with this group. laura and kent have been great teammates of mine. we've had olympic success before. jess has been a great talent

coming up through the ranks. top olympic-level athlete. proud to be by her side and having her on the team with us. i think we have high hopes and i think we're well prepared. you need things to come together in the right moments. everybody has to do their job, and that's what the competition is about. but i think all the boxes are checked for a great performance. so we need a little good fortune, a little good rooting from home. >> you'll get that. >> you'll get that. >> to have another successful games. >> you're going to hear us. some of us will be in tokyo. i don't know how close we'll get to you. you'll desm definitely feel our presence. jessica, laura, kent, mclain. best of luck. we're cheering you on. catch the opening ceremonies this friday on nbc. >> to his point, by the way, the five games, only eight athletes on the squad have been to five olympics. coming up, reliving a special moment in olympic history when muhammad ali raised that torch and shocked the world. filmmaker ken burns is going to join us to take a look back at

that surprise appearance that no one knew was happening. first, your local news and weather. good morning. it is 8:26. we begin with a fire sending flames and smoke in oakland. three buildings were damaged. this is new video of chester and 9th, two blocks from west oakland b.a.r.t. station. the fire department posted this to twitter. you can see crews continuing to put water on the building. no one was hurt in the fire. we have been talking about dry lightning strikes. meteorologist kari hall is here to talk about what some communities in the bay area could see.

good morning. >> we are seeing low clouds and potential that some showers could drop to lightning. looking at the north bay, cloverdale we have seen isolated showers. rain may not make it to the ground. a lot of lightning strikes over the southern cierra, could spark new fires today. we'll be monitoring all this with a surge of monsoonal moisture, high humidity, temperatures reaching the low 90s for inland areas. after that moves out, we cool off and we'll clear out for the next few days, highs in the low 80s by mid week. i will have another local update in about a half hour.

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back now, 8:30 on this mid back now, 8:30 on this midsummer morning, 19th of july. we have a whole half hour of fun coming up. >> who doesn't need a vacation wref some must-haves to make traveling a breeze our shop today team has assembled the summer's best sellers. this is for the boys, really portable power there's a couple of things for you. but first, carson, you have

a special popstart >> we sure do. we're going to have a first look at the "sports illustrated" swimsuit issue >> plus it's been five years since muhammad ali lit the flames in atlanta. ken burns is here to talk about how that moment impacted ali's legacy and his new film about the greatest we have some new music coming up. from tones and i first song - "dance monkey" racked up 1.6 billion views on youtube now she's performing her newest hit for us so let's give you a look at what you can expect this week. it does start off rainy with a significant flood threat, up to 5 inches of rain possible in the deep south. extreme heat likely across the northern plains where records are forecast to be hit today or at least tied in the northeast it's a little unsettled. we'll see clouds up around new england. showers and thunderstorms for the middle of the week across

new england. more wet weather for the gulf coast. that summer monsoon season is in effect so occasional downpours in the southwest the heat continues across the northern plains through the middle of the week even as we finish off the week. we're still going to see those temperatures well above average by about 15 to 20 degrees. cools off a bit in the northeast. highs in the upper 70s by friday and it still stays muggy with those unsettled showers and thunderstorms down along the gulf coast and the monsoon good morning. i am meteorologist kari hall. we have been watching the monsoon and potential, could have a couple of lightning strikes close by the bay area. temperatures today head up to 90 degrees. it feels humid with lying clouds moving by, cooling off. san francisco seeing times of sunshine and also fog near the bay. we're going to see temperatures reach into the mid-60s, and a little cooler as the ocean breeze increases by middle of the week. and that's your latest forecast.

and that's your latest forecast. if mr. roker were here, he would say it. best time of the morning. >> we're kicking off popstart with a big reveal. not one, two, but three cover stars for the "sports illustrated" swimsuit edition. naomi osaka, megan thee stallion and leyna bloom. megan thee stallion, first rapper to be featured on the cover. leyna bloom, the first transgender model on the cover. and naomi osaka. first time featured in the magazine. she sat down with "sports illustrated" to talk about what it's like venturing out of her comfort zone for that cover shoot and the one piece of advice that she would like to tell her younger self. >> if i could give a piece of advice to my younger self, i would just tell myself to trust the process and not compare yourself to other people. that's sort of what i try to do. >> there you have it.

find the issue on stands july 22nd. head over to today.com for more information. next up, gwen stefani and blake shelton, it has been a couple of weeks since the couple said "i do." they're still married. is that the news? they did it. defying the odds. they're still together. they're celebrating by giving fans a look. there's plenty of pictures to go around from that beautiful day. gwen shared this beautiful black and white photo. that's from the ceremony there. happy two-week anniversary of blake shelton, the couple surrounded by flowers and standing underneath there at that chapel in the middle of nowhere. >> and there you are right there. >> is that his mom on the -- >> i didn't see that. >> okay. >> probably. >> both moms were there. next up, jennifer hudson stepping into the shoes of the legendary aretha franklin for the upcoming bio pic "respect." the film is treating fans to the first song of the sound track "you make me feel like a natural

woman," which was famously co-written by carol sing. landed on the 1968 album "soul." here is j. hud as the queen of soul herself with her spin on that classic. ♪ if i make you happy i don't need to do ♪ ♪ because you make me feel you make me feel ♪ ♪ you make me feel like a natural woman ♪ >> one of my favorite things about having jennifer hudson as a coach on "the voice," when a singer would get up there and kill it, crush it like that, she would take off her shoe and she would throw her shoe. >> what? >> yeah. it's a term of endearment. >> wow. >> like a southern thing. so i want to take my shoe off and throw it at the monitor hearing j. hud. that's how excited she gets. and she looks mad. like oh, no, you're not doing that right now. and she chucks her shoe. >> ducking down.

>> she's the best. she's going to be so good in this role "respect" along with the full sound track. and it comes out on august 13th. finally, jenna fischer is revealing why that beloved character cost her another role she was telling angela kenzie on the latest podcast that she was fired from matt leblanc's show called "man with a plan" after shay shot the pilot and showed it to focus groups. they couldn't get past her former persona. >> they liked me, but they said this is a literal quote. they said i don't believe pam would marry joey. the chemistry doesn't work between these two. that was the feedback they got. >> they could only see you as pam and joey. >> there you have it. two of the most beloved shows in tv history turns out to be both a blessing and a curse. >> typecast. coming up next, looking back at an unforgettable moment 25

years ago. muhammad ali appeared in one of the greatest olympic surprises of all time. master storyteller ken burns is here to share how the greatest pulled it off. but first, this is "today" on i'm morgan, and there's more to me than hiv. more love, more adventure, more community. but with my hiv treatment, there's not more medicines in my pill. i talked to my doctor and switched to fewer medicines with dovato. dovato is for some adults who are starting hiv-1 treatment or replacing their current hiv-1 regimen. with just 2 medicines in 1 pill, dovato is as effective as a 3-drug regimen... to help you reach and stay undetectable. research shows people who take hiv treatment as prescribed and get to and stay undetectable can no longer transmit hiv through sex. don't take dovato if you're allergic to its ingredients

or if you take dofetilide. taking dovato with dofetilide can cause serious or life-threatening side effects. hepatitis b can become harder to treat while on dovato. don't stop dovato without talking to your doctor, as your hepatitis b may worsen or become life-threatening. serious or life-threatening side effects can occur, including allergic reactions, lactic acid buildup, and liver problems. if you have a rash and other symptoms of an allergic reaction, stop dovato and get medical help right away. tell your doctor if you have kidney or liver problems, or if you are, may be, or plan to be pregnant. dovato may harm your unborn baby. use effective birth control while on dovato. do not breastfeed while taking dovato. most common side effects are headache, nausea, diarrhea, trouble sleeping, tiredness, and anxiety. so much goes into who i am. hiv medicine is one part of it. ask your doctor about dovato-i did. ♪♪ oroweat small slice. i wonder if this has the same quality ingredients as the original whole grains bread?

great question, dad. and it does. it has all the same nutritious deliciousness as the original slice but only a little bit smaller. just like timmy here. my name's lucas. it sure is bobby. still exuding nobility and stature and the response part affection, part excitement, but especially respect what a moment. >> and what a moment it really was. in fact, all these years later, it still gives us chills the greatest, muhammad ali, making that surprise appearance to light the olympic cauldron and kick off those games back in 1996 in atlanta. >> that happened 25 years ago today. ali shocked the world putting his spirit and will on display and now that iconic moment he is documented in ken burns' ali. >> janet evans

the greatest female distance swimmer of all times >> and it was planned brilliantly. people thought the swimmer, janet evans, was going to be the person who was going to light that torch but instead, out of nowhere comes muhammad ali ♪ ♪ >> ken burns joins us now. ken, we were all sitting here reminiscing of where we were that was 25 years ago today. where were you when that moment happened and what was going through you? >> i was right here at home in new hampshire. my big girls, now grown with kids of their own, were on the couch with me. i was crying i had accompanied his whole story. he caused so much division in america with his stance against the vietnam war, obviously with his changing of faith to the

muslim faith, and here he was completely -- we forgave him this is a great human moment for him, but it's a great moment for humanity billions of people are sharing the same emotion and it had a kind of healing power for all of us. and the emotion was extremely powerful this man was the lightning rod for all of the last half of the issues of the 20th century and speaks to today in ways that are flabbergasting now that we've finished our film. it will be on exactly two months from today on pbs. and tonight, right after lester, we're going to have a conversation, if you go to pbs.org/alievents, you can register for conversation with undefeated. janet evans and with todd boyd and with jenae o'neal from "the undefeated." and we're going to have a great conversation about just this moment and how special and wonderful it is. >> here is the thing

you mentioned ali. he was a scapegoat for so many things, as well. but it was a moment that almost didn't happen. apparently when they approached him initially, he said no. why did he say no initially, ken? >> well, you guys should all be very proud the president of nbc sports dick ebersoll came up with this idea. he fought a lot of internal resistance to it, but he knew it was the right thing to do. we had asked this guy to perform for us for years and years and years and look what it had done to him all of those tens of thousands of blows that he had absorbed, had helped promote the parkinson's that now was debilitating him and so it was -- he didn't want to do it because he didn't want the world to see this infirmity. and his friend, howard bingham, said you have to do it there are going be billions of people and they're going to love you and you're going to love you back his daughter said boxing, with this extraordinary human being, and you know as well as anybody, what an amazing human being.

he goes boxing was just this much, which means he could have been a simple carpenter if you know what my analogy is. his message was of love. so what happened was he went out there and was taken completely by surprise by the love of the world, a kind of love that he'd always given and would always give, but had felt in this sort of the shadow of parkinson's and the decline, he wasn't in the public eye as much he would sometimes attend these signings and it would be kind of just a handful of people but here, he was muhammad ali again. the greatest it's one of the most moving moments. people who were recalling it on film for us began to cry just remembering it hoda, that was my experience sitting on my coach here in new hampshire just going oh, my god, i've followed this guy since the '60 olympics when he won, surprisingly, gold, and then the sonny liston fight and through

all the ups and downs, the denying his title, the 3 1/2 years of exile, his comeback, winning the title yet again and then again, the losses, the family, all of that stuff that was so complicated malcolm x, the nation of islam and there, here he was i just finished a film on earnest hemingway and it doesn't end very well. this man died not too many years ago the most beloved person on the planet that ought to be what any of us wish for or tilt toward or hope for. it's that four-letter word that is so hard to talk about, but the fcc permits us to say, which is love. this man is filled with it and gave it to us. >> ken, you're known for being so detailed and getting so thorough into the subjects to which you cover, you and your team, whether it's the war or baseball, obviously here it's muhammad ali there's been a lot of documentaries on muhammad ali. what were you guys able to bring to this particular documentary on arguably the greatest athlete

of the 20th century from birth to death >> that's exactly it there are really a great number of documentaries, but they focus on a particular fight. like the rumble in the jungle or the thrill in manila or his fight with the u.s. government over refusing induction into th. but nobody had done it from boyhood draft to go to vietnam but nobody had done it soup to nuts, from boyhood in louisville, kentucky, jim crow louisville, kentucky, up to the very end it's about the fights, it's about the religion, it's about the faith, it's about the politics, it's about race, of course, it's even because we're, warts and all, we have to deal with the less pleasant features of him so it speaks to us today about "me too," about black lives matter we're extremely excited. it's four parts, it's eight hours. you know, i've done a lot of biographies, carson. i think if somebody said, okay, you can have three people to dinner that you've done, who would you do it?

and i would say, you know, i'd want abraham lincoln, i'd want louis armstrong and i definitely want muhammad ali. they are americans of a mythic dimension. they give us things. they've given us more than we've taken from them. and i hope that we can return. >> good dinner >> beautiful >> thank you so much for joining us >> great to see you guys >> out of all the works you've done, this is the one i am most looking forward to "muhammad ali," it premiers september 19th on pbs. >> i can't wait for you to see it bye, you guys. >> we'll be watching after lester tonight, as well. coming up, summer travel doesn't have to be difficult we have some must-have items, including the pillow of your including the pillow of your dreams

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if you're itching to get away on a summer vacation, we can all relate. but before you go, adrianna brock and her team have selected the best travel essentials. don't forget, if you see something you like, scan that qr code right there on your smartphone and you'll get instant access to these deals. e good morning opinion how are you? >> okay. so one of the must-haves, we put our boarding pass on our phone, everything we need is on our phone. it has to be fully charged. and you have the answer. >> yes bhp you're traveling, whether it's by yourself or your family, keeping all of your gadgets charge sd a must have. we found a battery pack. this one is so small, it's actually smaller than three inches. that's about smaller than a credit card. so it's really awesome. it's 90% lighter than so it's really awesome it's 90% lighter than a lot of

other battery packs out there. and with one charge to this, it's going juice up your devices up so to five times. so this is a really awesome small one. also, guys could carry it in their pocket i don't know about you, but every time i'm traveling, my husband always throws the battery pack in my purse and it with gets so heavy. this is not going to be the case with this one. >> the other thing i think that is important to have is a wallet that holds everything, it's real clean and easy what do you have >> you have to stay organized. and now that people are traveling again, you want to make sure everyone is in one place. so once you have your boarding pass on your phone, you have this wallet that's going to keep all your credit cards, all your travel documents, your luggage tags, you can also fit your passport in here and it's especially designed for this you can even put your vaccine card in here that's rally nice. keep everything together and it comes in a bunch of beautiful colors, so under $15 and let me tell you, you would

think this would get big and bulky, but i have one here filled out it's serum slip, super sleek >> i still can't believe it's $13.99 okay the guys in the studio want to know about the neck pillow what is that >> yes so this is actually a shop today editor discovery one of the editors found this. we are all obsessed. it actually moves into different positions so you can fold it, customized support for your head, your back, your shoulders, your legs. it's really awesome. it's made with memory foam so it's super soft. great for naps but if you're taking a road trip this summer, it's great for lumbar support i mean, it folds in every way you want it to and the cover is machine washable so this is a really great one. you're going want to keep by your side all summer long. >> and easy to carry around. you can smush it down. >> it's so light, you can smush

it down. you can see i have it hanging here from my duffle bag. >> a weekend bag what is the perfect weekend bag? >> this is really interesting. i picked it up from my mother-in-law. it is awesome. when you're traveling, you need a duffle bag, this is great because it actually folds up flat, which is incredible. and the hack here is you carry it in your luggage bag so whenever it's overweight or you can't fit stuff in quite the same way as when you packed it, you unzip this guy and put all your heavy stuff in it and you're good to go. what is great, though, is there's a lot of packable duffel bags out there a lot of them are made with flimsy material. this one is made with sturdy water and tear-resistant fabric. and it has all the bells and whistles of your go-to duffel bag. it has the laundry compartment or shoe compartment, the shoulder strap, everything you need to go on a vacation this summer, whether it's a weekend or a week trip

>> $27.99. it sounds like a good deal, too. okay we know it can be a little rainy in tokyo where we're headed, but you've got the perfect rain jackets? >> yes hoda, you're going to have to take one of these pillows and one of these packable jackets to tokyo. you can predict the weather, but sometimes it's very unpredictable at the same time and this packable rain jacket is a wardrobe must-have it folds up into a tiny little bag so you can take it on the go it's not going the take up too much space and you can have it handy for when it's rainy or it's windy, sometimes when it gets chilly in the night whatever it is, you're going to want to keep this one with you it's matter with water-resistant material so you don't have to worry about anything it's sort of like your one and done piece that you need when you're on the go >> and, again, that's the deal, too. >> yes he to take them all with us to tokyo when we get on the plane this weekend.

we appreciate you. and a reminder, for more on today's best sellers, scan the qr code or head to today.com/shop amazon has an affiliate related relationship with "today." whenever you buy a product, we receive a small amount back. all right. we will be back in and there you have it - wireless on the fastest, most reliable network. wow! big deal! we get unlimited for just $30 bucks. i get that too and mine has 5g included. impressive. impressive is saving four hundred bucks a year. four bucks? that's tough to beat. relax people, my wireless is crushing it. okay, that's because you all have xfinity mobile. it's wireless so good, it keeps one upping itself.

eight-time grammy winner coming up. >> oh, my gosh on the fourth good morning. it is 8:56. cierra johnson. a live look at san francisco. the mayor expected among city leaders in chinatown, shining a spotlight on impact of crime on tourism. san francisco police chief is expected to outline a plan aimed

at keeping tourists safe as the city continues to reopen. the news conference comes as the city announced plans to redeploy officers to tourism hot spots. it begins at 11:00 this morning. shocking news from tokyo, a member of the gymnastics team for team usa tested positive. tom jenson is following the information from overseas. an update is coming during the midday newscast. red flag warnings expire overnight. on nbcbayarea.com, the steps some fire stations are taking to combat danger this fire season. a local update in about an hour.

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live center trooud studio 1a in rockefeller plaza, this is the third hour of "today." >> good morning, everybody. and then there were two. ♪ just the two of us s eel bad