story here. i'll see you again tomorrow. now it's time for the "last word" with lawrence o'donnel. the police have been running up and down the street and telling us that we need to get out, and i guess it's really moving fast. we just got told like probably about 15 minutes ago, you have to get out now. >> a state of emergency in california. more than 80,000 people have been forced from their homes, as the fast moving blue cut fire tears through southern california. >> plus a major overhaul for the trump campaign this morning. with just 83 days to go until the election the republican nominee is shaking things up in his campaign's leadership. >> and hillary clinton is hitting back over questions about her health. with her campaign claiming donald trump is pedaling conspiracy stories. it is 5:00 a.m. on the east coast. 2:00 a.m. out west.

good morning, it's wednesday, august 17th. good to be with you, i'm frances rivera alongside louis burgdorf. this morning we begin with a new and extremely fast-moving fire that's burning out of control in southern california. more than 82,000 people have been forced to evacuate, including the entire community of wrightwood. all 4500 residents. the blue cut fire started just yesterday morning and has already burned more than 28 square miles. governor jerry brown has declared a state of emergency for san bernardino county. roughly 700 fire personnel are on hand battling, and two firefighters have suffered minor injuries. a firenado was caught on camera. the winds whipping the flames into a spiralling frenzy. knbc reporter was on the scene of the fire overnight.

>> we're standing next to what used to be the summit inn dating back to the 1950s. a historic place, really an american landmark that sits along the i-15 and the pass. some of the biggest names in american history stopped here. everyone from elvis presley to john wayne, television shows were shot here like "i love lucy." movies were shot here as well. now you can see it is in ruins. it is just one of at least a does homes, and businesses, that have been destroyed or damaged in the blue cut fire. it started around 10:30 on tuesday morning. and has scorched thousands of acres. we can tell you that at least 80,000 people have been evacuated from their homes. at least two firefighters have been injured. we can tell you that this fire has been unique in the sense that according to firefighters, that it essentially created its own weather patterns in certain places. our cameras captured at least two fire tornadoes spawned in these conditions. and again, at least two people

firefighters, injured fighting this blaze. moving forward we can tell you that more hot conditions are expected later on this morning we're talking about temperatures in the 90s. we're also talking about winds, somewhere around 15 miles per hour. nbc news, back to you. >> tough conditions there. this fire comes as hundreds of firefighters are battling other wild fires throughout the state. officials say extreme heat and historic drought could provide enough fuel for the worst fire season in california's history. we're also following news of deadly flooding in louisiana and we'll bring you those details coming up in just a bit. >> let's go to some politics now this morning early this morning we learned republican nominee donald trump shook up his campaign's leadership. "the wall street journal" was first to report that trump is installing two new figures at the top of his campaign. they are steven bannen, the chairman of the conservative breitbart news and a former goldman sachs banker and pollster kelly ann conway who

joined the campaign earlier this summer. nbc news confirms bannen will serve as campaign chief executive while conway will serve as campaign manager. "washington post" reporter and nbc contributor robert costa reports that while paul manafort will remain campaign chairman, trump wanted to bring on someone like bannon who shares his populism and relishes combat. yesterday he told local wisconsin station that he won't be shifting from the strategy that won him the primaries. >> i am who i am. it's me. i don't want to change. everyone talks about, oh, you're going to pivot. i don't want to pivot. you have to be you. if you start pivoting, you're not being honest with people. because i've heard this over the years with politics, with general politics, also having to do with me. no, i am who i am. i have gotten here in a landslide and we'll see what happens. i mean in the end, don't forget when i lost wisconsin, it was over for trump.

except for one problem, i then went on a very good run. but, no. i am who i am. >> there was also reporting of another new face joining trump's campaign leadership according to "the new york times" roger ailes is advising trump in preparation for the upcoming presidential debates. now the former fox news chairman resigned in the wake of a sexual harassment allegations last month. now despite the "times" citing four unnamed sources the campaign immediately denied the report, saying in a statement, this is not accurate, he is not add advertising mr. trump or helping with debate prep. they are longtime friends. but he has no formal or informal role in the campaign. while donald trump says he won't be pivoting, he did leave behind twitter to spread a message beyond 140 characters. trump posted a message to facebook saying this, this is my pledge to the american people. as your president, i will be your greatest champion. i will fight to ensure that every american is treated equally, protected equally, and honored equally.

we will reject bigotry and hatred and oppression in all its forms, and seek a new future built on our common culture and values as one american people. well this follows "the new york times" weekend report that trump's campaign polling showed too many voters described him in two words. those are unqualified, and racist. and last night before a mostly white audience in suburban wisconsin, trump made an appeal directly to black voters, stressing their desire for law and order. and the candidate also tried on a new tactic for one of his campaign rallies, reading from teleprompters. >> just like hillary clinton is against the miners, she is against the police. believe me. the war on our police must end and it must end now. our job is not to make life more comfortable for the rioter, or the robber, or the looter, or the violent disresulter of which there are many.

our job was to make life more comfortable for the african-american parent who wants their kids to be able to safely, safely walk the streets and walk to school. my opponent, hillary, would rather protect the offender than the victim. big problem in our society. we reject the bigotry of hillary clinton, which anders to and talks down to communities of color, and sees them only as votes. that's all they care about. not as individual human beings, worthy of a better future. they have taken advantage. >> an increasingly cautiously donald trump is beginning to win over converts in his own party. cory gardner, freshman senator in colorado didn't even go as far as other colleagues in backing the nominee. in a statement he said in part he would support the entire republican ticket in november. and kelly ayotte has always expressed her reservations on

trump. now she finds her seat in jeopardy in the latest polling and tried to thread a needle in her support of her party yesterday. >> i've actually said that i'm going to be voting for him. but i do have significant disagreements with him. which i've been very clear on. so i won't be endorsing him. so that's my position. >> but what's the distinction between endorsing and voting? >> there's actually a big distinction. because everyone gets a vote. i do, too. and you know, but an endorsement is one where i'm out campaigning with someone, and so, while he has my vote, he doesn't have my endorsement, and i'm going to continue to focus on really my race. >> kelly ayotte mincing words there. one other quick congressional race, liz cheney, daughter of dick cheney won her primary in wyoming. donald trump is scheduled to receive his first classified intelligence briefing, and he's bringing a few friends along with him. the briefing a tradition dating

back to former president harry truman will be conducted by staffers from the office of the director of national intelligence at a secure fbi facility in new yorcity later today. and trump won't be flying solo. he's planning to have both new jersey governor chris christie and also retired lieutenant general michael flynn attend the briefings with him. trump's briefings come as many of his critics have questioned whether he is fit to receive classified information, citing controversial statements that he's made on the campaign trail. however, director of national intelligence director james clapper has said that there is no concern in the united states intelligence community about providing classified information to either of the presidential candidacies. and on the democratic side here hillary clinton's meeting from the fbi are being given to a congressional committee to review according to the bureau the material from their july meeting contains classified and other sensitive content. with it came a warning, quote, the expectation it will not be disseminated or disclosed without fbi concurrence. now many democrats were skeptical congressman adam

schiff said he ees little legitimate reason to hand them over saying quote as the now discredited benghazi committee demonstrated their contents will simply be leaked for political purposes. and clinton's campaign said they should be released widely so that the public can see them for themselves, rather than allow republicans to mischaracterize them through selective partisan leaks. some house republicans are in search of perjury charges against the former secretary of state. >> the clinton campaign is hitting back at questions about her health and fitness to serve as president. rumors about hillary clinton's failing health have been circulating since her treatment for concussion after a fall in 2013. her doctors re-released a statement saying she is in excellent health and has since tried to clear up any confusion after fake medical records alleging clinton was in poor health started making the rounds online. last week donald trump said it would be, quote, inappropriate to ask for clinton's medical records, but he did have this to say on monday. >> hillary clinton lacks the

judgment, as said by bernie sanders, stability, and temperament, and the moral character to lead our nation. she also lacks the mental and physical stamina to take on isis and all of the many adversaries we face. >> yesterday the clion campaign released a statement saying while it is dismaying to see the republican nominee for president push deranged conspiracy theories in a foreign policy speech, it's no longer surprising. hillary clinton has released a detailed medical record showing her to be in excellent health, plus her personal tax returns since 1977. the campaign went on to criticize trump for refusing to release his tax returns, accusing him of, quote, using shameful distractions to hide his own record. still ahead here this morning, no steering wheel, no pedals? no problem says ford motors.

the car company has big plans for the future of driverless vehicles. plus the latest from louisiana where historic flooding has left thousands of uninsured homeowners facing a costly recovery. we'll bring you those stories and a check of the weather on this wednesday morning when we come back. ♪ ♪ isaac hou has mastered gravity defying moves to amaze his audience. great show. here you go.

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welcome back. in rain battered louisiana the death toll has climbed to 11 and the federal disaster zone has grown as the disaster spreads downstream. the red cross is calling ithe country's worst flooding disaster since superstorm sandy. overnight curfews have been put into effect in more than a dozen cities and parishes. in the baton rouge area only about one in eight businesses and homes are covered by flood insurance. so far only at least 40,000 people have registered with fema for disaster assistance. >> it's tough. my mom lost her home. 50 years there. she lost everything.

>> it was my life. i grew up here all my life. >> so heartbreaking for them. and according to the national weather service, much of the state has seen more than a foot of rain since friday. and some parts have been swamped with as much as 30 inches. so let's get a check on what they can expect and we can expect in the rest of the country as well with nbc meteorologist bill karins. is the rain holding off for them? >> it did rain a little bit last night. i can show you that over here. they have a flash flood warning in effect for areas around just to the east of lake charles. but that has tapered off. they did have three to four inches of rain. flash flood warnings have been ceased now. they're not expecting a lot of rain during the day today. that is good there. as far as the fire weather went, we led the show with the blue cut fire. right now we have 27 large fires. you can see them from colorado, wyoming, northern rockies. these are all the fires burning in california. the red flag warnings for today, that's where conditions are ripe for fires to form.

that red flag warning does include the blue cut fire here about 18,000 acres burned now, 700 fire personnel on it, even nighttime helicopter drops going on and about 82, 640 people have been evacuated from this fire. and the forecast does not look great today or over the next couple days. today's going to be about 99 degrees in san bernardino. the fire is just to the north and northwest of there. wednesday 95, thursday 93. it's going to be very hot in the west. that's not going to help matters much. as far as the fires go in the northwest, we still have a heat wave that's building in this area. today's going to be 103 to 107 and the heat advisories in the pacific northwest heat watch even portland and seattle are going to get up there close to 100 degrees thursday and friday. all the heat is building in the west and the forecast for today, there will be some isolated showers and storms around washington, d.c. and through areas of virginia. those thunderstorms have cleared the northeast. a lot of people woke up around the new york city area and other areas of the northeast as the storms rolled on through.

today lower humidity, temperatures in the 80s, more typical summerlike day. scattered storms in the south. new orleans and louisiana could see a stray storm but it won't be a high concentration to cause additional flooding problems and a sneak peek at thursday's forecast shows finally washington, d.c. we break your heat wave with a high in the upper 80s. thunderstorms concentrated more in texas. the heat in the west will be the story as we head towards the weekend. looks like the heat wave could last through the weekend. >> let's turn now to business where yesterday ford motors announced that it will have driverless cars on the road in the next five years. that's a bold statement. cnbc's hadley gamble joins us live from london. what separates ford's driverless vehicles from competitors like google or tesla? >> well, louis, unlike other models like the tesla car for example, this ford model isn't going to have a steering wheel and it's not even going to have pedals, as well. it's not even going to be relying onensors along highways when it comes to judging speed and the proximity to other vehicles. this car is going to be fully

automated. of course they've already said that they're going to wait to market these cars to individuals and before that they're going to be trying to market them to ride sharing services like uber and lyft. now another story we're also watching is what's happening with gawker media. remember this troubled blog spot had to declare bankruptcy after billionaire peter thiel went after them in a lawsuit over hulk hogan's sex tape. univision has reportedly bought the company for $135 million. another story that we are keeping track of, as well, troubled book seller barnes & noble, this is the country's biggest retail book seller, they decided to dump their ceo. they say that he just wasn't measuring up he wasn't a good fit essentially what we've seen over the last year is this is a company that's really been struggling to maintain its sales over competition. they have a lot of competition from internet books, as well and of course the ceo now being shown the door. guys >> hadley gamble live from london. thanks so much. washington, d.c.'s top cop is stepping down and making a move to the sports world.

keefe cathy lanier announced she's retiring from the department next month and joining the nfl as head of the security. lanier has worked with the d.c. police department for 26 years serving as the city's first female police chief since 2007. she says the department and city helped make her who she is. >> the city gave me an opportunity when many would not have. and when i started here in 1990, i had a ninth grade education, a g.e.d., and over the past 26 years, i was able to work hard, get promotion -- take promotional exams, get promoted and i now have two masters degrees. so i owe my life to the city, to the residents, and to the department. >> truly impressive, right? the league says lanier will supervise security for all 32 teams as well as for major events like the super bowl. >> still ahead, frances, the defending olympic diving champion ends up in last place, plus two athletes from team usa one gets the gold, the other gets the girl.

we have all the highlights from last night's games in rio when we're back in a moment. if legalzoom has your back.s, over the last 10 years we've helped one million business owners get started. visit legalzoom today for the legal help you need to start and run your business. legalzoom. legal help is here. hhis stellar notebooks will last through june. get back to great.

this week sharpie twelve-packs just three dollars. office depot officemax. gear up for school. gear up for great. at ally bank, no branches equals great rates. it's a fact. kind of like bill splitting equals nitpicking. but i only had a salad. it was a buffalo chicken salad. salad.

listerine® kills 99% of bad breath germs. this is 100% useful for a 100% fresh mouth. what's it like to not feel 100% fresh? we don't know. we swish listerine®. do listerine® users. the very people we studied in the study of bold. people who are statistically more likely to stand up to a bully. do a yoga handstand. and be in a magician's act. listerine® kills 99% of bad breath germs so you can feel 100% in life. bring out the bold™. welcome back. time now for sports. more olympic competition in rio after a day without a first place finish, the u.s. is golden again. americans christian taylor, and will claye successfully defended their titles, earning gold and silver in the men's triple jump. at second consecutive games.

taylor and claye both university of florida alums make it the fourth time that the u.s. athletes have claimed the top two triple jump spots since 1984. and after claiming his third olympic medal claye proposed to his girlfriend, queen harrison, a former olympian herself and the good news is there she said yes. and on the court the u.s. women's basketball team marches to the semifinals after defeating japan 110-64. now japan played competitive ball for much of the first half. trailing by just two points until an 8-0 run by the u.s. to end the second quarter. that momentum would grow as the game went on. with team usa's lead widening to 22 by the end of the third as they continued for the 46-point win with a 46 straight olympic win under their belt the u.s. advances to play france in the semis some great play there. now more medals for the united states yesterday as american sarah hammer took silver in the women's omnien finishing behind laura trott who easily earned

gold. hammer who entered the race in third place battled the belgian bronze medal finisher for the full 100 lap race it was pretty incredible but hammer lapped the field and won enough sprints to take her second silver medal of the rio games. check this week's cover of sports illustrated magazine featuring an american trio of some of the world's top athletes and biggest stars of the rio games swimmer's michael phelps who earned five golds and one silver and katie ledecky four golds and one silver along with gymnast simone biles who holds four golds and a bronze. so happy that usa is doing so well. and finally russia's alija czarkarov won the gold medal in the 3 meter springboard event at the 2012 olympics but after making it all the way to the semitimes in a quest for back-to-back golds in rio things did not go his way. on his fourth dive of the day, he belly flopped into the pool finishing with the worst score out of the 18 divers in the semis it was a huge shock there.

now let's return stateside for a second to major league baseball to the chicago cubs first baseman anthony rizzo breaks out the parkour skills in the fifth inning against the brewers going after a foul ball popped along the first base line rizzo jumps up balances on the narrow edge leans into the crowd and snags the ball for the out. the cubs go on to win it 4-1. i give him a 10 francis for that landing. >> and he wasn't even looking at where he was stepping. he could have fallen over the edge but just stod up, nailed it. >> that's the second time he's done that. he did it before. >> maybe there will be a third. thanks louis. still ahead this morning, more on donald trump's attempt to overhaul his struggling campaign after declaring he doesn't want to pivot. plus new polls are taking a look which candidate military families prefer can you guess? when my doctor told me i have age-related macular degeneration, amd we came up with a plan to help reduce my risk of progression.

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i'm fighting, all of us across the country are fighting, for peaceful regime change in our own country. the media donor political complex that's bled this country dry has to be replaced with a new government of, by, and for the people. >> breaking overnight, a major shake-up at the top of donald trump's campaign. with 83 days to election day, the big question is whether that's enough time to turn around his struggling campaign. and what started as a small brushfire yesterday has now become a fast moving inferno in southern california. now more than 80,000 residents

are being told to drop everything, and leave. and from fire to floods, new areas of louisiana are under water this morning, as those deadly floodwaters move downstream. good morning it's wednesday, august 17th. i'm louis burgdorf alongside frances rivera. we'll get to the fires and floods in just a moment. >> we want to begin this morning with politics. early this morning we learned republican nominee donald trump shook up his campaign's leadership. "the wall street journal" was first to report that trump is installing two new figures at the top of his campaign. they are stephen bannon, the chairman of conservative breitbart news and also a former goldman sachs banker. and pollster kellyanne conway who joined the trump campaign early this summer after leading a super pac for ted cruz. nbc news confirms that bannon will serve as campaign chief executive while conway will serve as campaign manager. "washington post" reporter and

nbc news contributor robert costa reports that while paul manafort will remain campaign chairman trump wanted to bring on someone like bannon who shares his populism and relishes combat. and trump seemed to confirm this approach yesterday when he told local wisconsin station wkbt that he won't be shifting from the strategy that won him the primaries. >> i am who i am. it's me. i don't want to change. everyone talks about, oh, you're going to pivot. i don't want to pivot. you have to be you. if you start pivoting, you're not being honest with people. because i've heard this over the years with politics, with general politics, also having to do with me. no, i am who i am. i have gotten here in a landslide and we'll see what happens. i mean in the end, don't forget when i lost wisconsin, it was over for trump. except for one problem, i then went on a very good run. but, no. i am who i am. >> there was also reporting of another new face joining trump's campaign leadership according to

"the new york times" roger ailes is advising trump in preparation for the upcoming presidential debates. now the former fox news chairman resigned in the wake of a sexual harassment allegations last month. now despite the "times" citing four sources the campaign immediately denied the report saying this in a statement. this is not accurate, he is not advising mr. trump or helping with debate prep. they are longtime friends. but he has no formal or informal role in the campaign. while donald trump says he won't be pivoting, he did leave behind twitter to spread a message beyond 140 characters. trump posted a message to facebook, this is my pledge to the american people. as your president, i will be your greatest champion. i will fight to ensure that every american is treated equally, protected equally, and honored equally. we will reject bigotry and hatred and oppression in all its forms, and seek a new future built on our common culture and values as one american people. well this follows "the new york times" weekend report that trump's campaign polling showed too many voters described him in

two words. unqualified around racist. and last night before a mostly white audience in suburban wisconsin, trump made an appeal directly to black voters, stressing their desire for law and order. and the candidate also tried on a new tactic for one of his campaign rallies, reading from teleprompters. >> just like hillary clinton is against the miners, she is against the police. believe me. the war on our police must end and it must end now. our job is not to make life more comfortable for the rioter, or the robber, or the looter, or the violent disruptor of which there are many. our job was to make life more comfortable for the african-american parent who wants their kids to be able to safely, safely walk the streets and walk to school. my opponent, hillary, would

rather protect the offender than the victim. big problem in our society. we reject the bigotry of hillary clinton, which anders to and talks down tcommunities of color, and sees them only as tes. the democratic party has failed thefrican-american community. democratic crime policies, education policies, and economic policies have produced only more crime, more broken homes, and more poverty. we reject the bigotry of hillary clinton which apanders to and talks down to communities of color and cease them only as votes that's all they care about. not as individual human beings, worthy of a better future. they have taken advantage. >> it's been a scorching hot

august but it has been a chilly month for donald trump's poll numbers. a new monmouth university poll in florida yesterday showed him down nine points with clinton at 48%, and trump at 39%. while in texas the democratic public policy polling fou trump's lead at just six points 44-38 in a statement romney won by 16. and in washington -- and "washington post" poll of virginia showed trump down eight points in a two-way race. another daunting margin for him in a state that george w. bush won comfortably twice. an analysis from "the post" finds that clinton is closer to winning red states than she is to losing swing states. >> hillary clinton's campaign has dominated the airwaves in the general election so far but that could be changing soon. over the last two months, her campaign has spent $61 million over the airwaves, while outside clinton groups have added an additional $43 million. now that's $104 million backing the democratic nominee. meanwhile, donald trump's campaign has yet to spend a single cent on the general

election. a fact that could soon change as well. starting at the end of the week his campaign is set to begin airing his first television ads of the general election. beginning with the battleground states of florida, ohio, north carolina and pennsylvania. "the wall street journal" reports that the decision was flagged in a conference call with about 50 members of congress yesterday and that advertising would expand to other states in september. and here's a look at the breakdown of spending in battleground states. it shows that donald trump has an uphill road to climb. clinton has outspent trump by $20 million in florida, $14 million in ohio and $5 million in colorado. all tolled clinton has outspent trump by $76 million so far in key states. donald trump's recent spat with the gold star family of a fallen iraq soldier doesn't seem to be hurting his standing with military families. a new nbc news survey monkey online tracking poll shows donald trump has a double digit lead over hillary clinton among military households, 51% to 41%. the results are in line with

past republican presidential candidates who've also won veteran support by a similar margin. meanwhile former governor rick perry is hitting back at khizr khan's criticism of trump. the republican defended his party's nominee yesterday saying khan should have known he'd get a reaction with his speech at the democratic national convention. >> mr. khan is the one that went out and struck the first blow. and in a -- in a campaign, if you're going to go out and think that you can take a shot at somebody, and not have incoming coming back at you, shame on you. i think the democrats used him in a way that quite frankly i'm not sure that i approve of. we love our veterans. we love our gold star families, but the fact of the matter is, mr. khan politically used his time on that stage to go after donald trump. why in the world he thought that he was going to get a free ride with that is beyond me. he shouldn't get a free ride

when he's going to inject himself into the political arena. >> and in north carolina yesterday democratic vice presidential candidate tim kaine stepped up his attacks on trump's dustup with the khans and past comments on the military. >> how about the way he took after that virginia family, the khan family, who got up at the convention in a very powerful moment, challenged him for turning his back on some values like freedom of religion, and then he started to go after them? going after a gold star family. i got to believe in north carolina, that's viewed the same way it's viewed in virginia. that is not the kind of person that we need in office. donald trump repeatedly during the republican debates and since has said, quote, the american military is a disaster. the american military is a disaster. this is the guy who wants to be commander in chief. i don't think in the history of the united states there has been a major party nominee who has

talked with such disrespect about the military. >> a new and extremely fast moving fire is burning out of control in southern california. more than 82,000 people have been forced to evacuate, including the entire community of wrightwood. all 4500 residents there. now the blue cut fire started just yesterday morning and has already burned more than 28 square miles. governor jerry brown has declared a state of emergency for san bernardino county. roughly 700 fire personnel are on hand battling, and two fighter fires -- firefighters, excuse me, have been injured in the blaze. a firenado was even caught on camera raging near one roadway the winds whipping the flames into a spiralling frenzy there. this comes as hundreds of firefighters also battle other wild fires throughout the state. officials say extreme heat, and historic drought could provide enough fuel for the worst fire season in california's history. just terrible images there.

>> hope that won't be the case. still to come, we have the flooding to tell you about from louisiana. the water is receding in some places, but rising in others. bill karins joins us with the latest. and later catastrophe on the track shows us the essence of sportsmanship. and the olympics chris jansing joins us live the highlights from rio de janeiro when we come back in just a moment.

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in rain battered louisiana the death toll has climbed to 11 and the federal disaster zone has grown as the disaster spreads downstream. the red cross is calling it the country's worst flooding since superstorm sandy. overnight crews have been put into effect in more than a dozen cities and parishes. and in the baton rouge area only one in eight businesses and homes are covered by flood insurance. so far at least 40,000 people have registered with fema for

disaster assistance. >> it's tough. my mom lost her home. 50 years there. she lost everything. that was my life. i grew up here all my life. >> according to the national weather service, much of the state has seen more than a foot of rain since friday. and some parts have been swamped with as much as 30 inches. want to bring in now nbc meteorologist bill karins. you have this region around louisiana that doesn't want any more rain bill but then you have out west where they're having those wild fires in california. can certainly use it. >> doesn't seem fair, does it? >> i think you just touched on the story that's going to come out of this in the days ahead, this is such an unprecedented flood. the records were like 41 feet and the water went up to 46. i mean it's unheard of to break the all-time record highest recorded by five to six feet. and fema puts these different areas and these floods mandatory flood insurance programs but when you have a river that goes this high, this far out of its banks, many people that are flooded are not going to have flood insurance. that same thing happened in sandy and people lose everything

and have no way of recouping all their losses. that's going to be a story going forward. today we're not watching louisiana so much as we're into texas with flood watches from san antonio to houston. we have one little area of rain and some flash flood warnings overnight in louisiana. but that has since dried up and now we're okay throughout that region. in all as far as the flooding goes, we are going to watch it mostly isolated scattered hit and miss thunderstorms in areas from houston to san antonio, even some rain in dallas. louisiana we've got a couple dots, those are a few storms. but the louisiana storms for the most part will stay in the northern portion of the state and the western portion of the state. even as we go through tomorrow hit and miss showers out there but nothing concentrated. the rivers are going to start significantly coming down even in the southern half of the state. right now we've seen the rivers go down about ten feet compared to where they peaked through the weekend and into monday. locally we could see about one to two inches of rain in the areas of blue and purple. locally up to three with some downpours. the areas hit hardest by baton rouge, that's only a quarter or half an inch. let me take you to the forecast

for today. again scattered showers and storms in the southeast. the northeast has cleared it out. maybe a stray storm around chicago, i do think washington, d.c., carry that umbrella today, virginia to d.c. areas. and as far as louisiana goes, we have to remember we also louis we have about a couple thousands of people still without power and it's middle of the summer down there. it will feel like 100 degrees. imagine going louis into your house that was flooded, it's all swampy. it's going to start getting moldy and going to feel like 100 degrees in those houses. it's not fun times down there. almost like a hurricane went through now and the cleanup is beginning. >> just really feel for those people in louisiana. bill, thanks so much. time now for sports, and joining us from the summer games in rio is nbc news senior white house correspondent chris jansing. the stories just keep on coming. >> yeah, we had a day without a first place finish in rio. but the united states is golden once again. american gymnast simone biles put her mistake on the balance beam the day before behind her and earned gold in her final olympic event. she was dazzling in last night's floor final.

earning her fifth rio olympic medal fourth gold, now tied for the most medals by a u.s. female gymnast at a single olympics. reigning olympic champion on the floor, aly raisman took silver becoming just the second american woman to win sick olympic gymnastics medals. the u.s. women's team breaks the previous record of seven for most medals in a single olympics and big surprise on the men's side, american daniel leyva did not disappoint. he was named to the five-man olympic squad as a replacement to fill in for an injured athlete. that gymnast claiming two silver medals for the united states yesterday, in both parallel bars and high bars. good for leyva. and american jenny simpson had an historic performness in the women's 1500 meter final. earning bronze and becoming the first u.s. woman ever to win an olympic medal in that event. she finished behind the gold medalist from kenya, who passed the world record holder, and silver medal finisher from ethiopia on the final lap of the race. that was a thriller. and finally, an astounding show

of sportsmanship in the women's 5,000 meter qualifier. american libby d'agostino collided with new zealand's nikki hamblin, spending both runners to the ground. instead of getting up and chasing after the field, d'agostino turned to help hamblin up. both went on to run about a mile to the finish, and louis, one of my colleagues actually spoke to the runner and said, what did you say out on that track? and she said, i told her, we have to finish. it's the olympics. >> what a story of sportsmanship there, chris. thank you so much live from rio. one more story here simone biles, not only is shattering records, she's also breaking hearts. after exchanging a series of tweets with him throughout the olympics, she met her longtime crush zac efron. the actor tweeting a photo surrounded by the final five adding my olympic dream came true. the love fest did not end there with biles soon tweeting a video of kissing efron on the cheek and it was supposed to be a selfie the heartthrob kissed

here with biles nearly fainting. dreams really i guess do come true for simone biles and we want to congratulate the entire final five on their extraordinary accomplishments frances. >> that's so cool. like five gold medals. zac efron kiss, life is good. life is complete. all right. thank you. when we come back an alarming question regarding national security. was the nsa hacked? plus russia is using bases in iran for a new wave of air strikes in syria. isaac hou has mastered gravity defying moves to amaze his audience. great show. here you go. now he's added a new routine. making depositing a check seem so effortless. easy to use chase technology, for whatever you're trying to master. isaac, are you ready? yeah. chase. so you can.

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welcome back. turning now to concerns within the national security agency. this week a group called shadow brokers released what purports to be top secret computer code that the nsa has reportedly used to break into foreign government systems. "the new york times" david sanger speculated that whoever obtained the codes said to be outdated apparently broke into the nsa's top secret servers or remote servers around the world. and it looks like it might not be a coincidence that all of this occurring just weeks after russia was said to mark the dnc servers. edward snowden suggests russia was behind the hack in a series of tweets adding quote circumstantial evidence and conventional wisdom indicates russian responsibility here's why that's significant. following with this may be an effort to influence the calculus of decision makers wondering somehow harply to respond to the dnc hacks. concluding this leak looks like

somebody sending a message that an escalation in attributions gained could get messy fast. russian bombers are raiding targets in syria this morning. yesterday they used a base in iran as a launching point for airstrikes against isis in syria yesterday it marks the first time russia has used another middle eastern country for its operations in syria joining us from london is nbc news correspondent kelly cobiella. and kelly, another wave of bombings under way this morning but do we know more what specifically was targeted and also the u.s. response? >> we do have an idea. at least according to the russians, frances. this is really unheard of in the modern era for iran to allow a foreign power to launch air strikes from iranian soil yet it has happened yet again this morning the second time in as many days. the russian defense ministry claiming that russian bombers destroyed two isis command posts, and two training camps in eastern syria today. the first wave of russian raids

from iran into syria happened tuesday morning from a base near hamadan in western iran. the russian defense ministry said they hit isis targets in three syrian provinces including aleppo and id lib. nbc cannot independently verify that those were in fact the targets struck. the bombers did have to fly over iraqi air space and this morning, a spokesman from the iraqi prime minister's office told nbc news that iraq did give permission but did not receive an official request. the u.s. defense department saying it was also notified in advance but the question now, is this a new normal for russia, will it be permanently staging in iran? frances? >> we'll see. we'll get answers to that if at all. nbc's kelly cobiella for us in london thank you. still ahead, remembering one of the titans of political tv who paved the way for many. we'll be right back. slept... you're not you. tylenol® pm relieves pain and helps you fall fast asleep and stay asleep.

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hhis stellar notebooks will last through june. get back to great. this week sharpie twelve-packs just three dollars. office depot officemax. gear up for school. gear up for great. hey there, starting your search for the ri am!used car? you got it. just say show me millions of used cars for sale at the all new carfax.com. but, i don' want one that's had a bunch of owners just say, show me cars with only one owner pretty cool it's perfect. that's the power of carfax®

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yesterday morning. he pioneered combative political punditry on television and was a fixture of the weekend talk shows with his name sake show on the air for 34 years, in fact last week his episode was the first one he missed since its debut in 1982. the show's roundtable discussions featured a who's who of d.c. journalists who at times jockeyed to shout over each other with mclaughlin always in command. last week he issued a statement saying while his voice was weaker, his dedication to the show remained absolute. his death was announced on the show's facebook page. no cause was mentioned. john mclaughlin was 89 years old. >> just remarkable what he brought to the world of politics. before we toss it over to "morning joe" want to get a check of the day ahead. donald trump is expected to receive his first classified briefing today. it will be conducted by the office of national director of national intelligence at the fbi's field office in lower manhattan. officials say the information he receives will be fairly general in scope. hillary clinton will also be

briefed at some point. as for what's happening on the campaign trail today, clinton stumps in battleground states of ohio. that's where she's expected to talk about her tax plan. and her running mate tim kaine campaigns in battleground states. as for the republican vice presidential nominee, mike pence, he stumps in nevada, expected to hold a town hall in the city of henderson. another busy day on the campaign trail. we'll cover it all throughout the day on msnbc. that does it for us "morning joe" starts right now. >> i am who i am. it's me. i don't want to change. everyone talks about you're going to pivot. i don't want to mpivot. you have to be you. if you're not pivoting, you have to be honest with people. i heard this over the years with general politics also having to do with me. no, i am who i am. i have gotten here a landslide and we'll see what happens. don't forget, when i lost