making news in america this morning, breaking overnight, more than 80,000 people evacuated as a wildfire races through southern california. part of a major interstate now shut down. the struggle to get it under control right now. in louisiana, people are now returning to what's left of their homes. the water is receding in some areas following historic flooding. hear why it's being called the worst disaster since sandy. >> a preteen's pictures drawing death threats posing with her kills. the big game hunter defending herself this morning. simone biles soars to another gold medal as another american makes history winning the usa's first medal in her sport.

relationship for simone biles, of course. we'll get to it. >> she had a very exciting day. >> very busy morning. we'll start with the breaking news from southern california. a fashion moving wildfire forcing more than 80,000 people from their homes. >> it just started yesterday and already burned more than 18,000 acres and despite their best efforts firefighters say it's still zero percent contained. dry brush and wind gusts caused the flames to race through the hillsides and are making them very hard to control. just watch how quickly they engulfed this cross during that onslaught. >> look at that. >> destroying just about everything. >> you see how fast the winds were whipping up there. humidity very low. that cross is gone just like that the fire's burning along interstate 15 outside los angeles. people are familiar with this. it's the main route between southern california and las vegas. that route parts of it shut down. alex stone

overnight. good morning, alex. >> reporter: kendis and diane, good morning to you. the winds are still strong. around me they're pushing flames up hillsides. the mountains are glowing a fluorescent orange, the air thick with heavy smoke. every now and then the sound of ammunition exploding inside burning homes. ash raining down here. firefighters have now come in from around southern california but the flames are moving too quickly for them to gain any kind of containment and now the nearby mountain town of wrightwood sits eerily empty evacuated with that bright orange glow above it. kendis, diane. >> and this is just one of several major wildfires burning in the state right now. >> yeah, let's get more from abc's stephanie ramos. >> reporter: fire crews on the ground and in the air in california. battling this resilient brush fire in san bernardino county. >> i can't believe the planes that have flown

it's kind of scary. >> reporter: this blaze dubbed the blue cut fire exploding across at least 18,000 acres east of los angeles. leaving behind charred homes and cars, swing sweats melted forcing at least 82,000 out of their homes. the rising heat and high winds causing this firenado. this longtime chopper over the fire. >> moving faster than any i have seen in a long time. >> reporter: this is the latest in a rash of wildfires that consumed some california counties. this wildfire called the clayton fire scorched at least 4,000 acres and 175 structures since saturday. most of the area is still off-limits with thousands forced to evacuate. >> it's not as if we can just open the door and allow people to come home. >> reporter: but for one california community where they witnessed fiery blazes get way too close to their homes, a sigh of relief mixed with outrage. >> it is my p

the arrest of damin anthony pashlik on 17 counts of arson. >> reporter: police say damin pashlik sparked fires across this california town including the one that exploded over the weekend. stephanie ramos, abc news. to the other disaster unfolding in louisiana. thousands of homeowners are starting the heartbreaking task of trying to salvage what's left of their water damaged homes and they face an uncertain financial future since many don't have flood insurance. this morning, people returning to their water rife advantaged homes in southern louisiana. finding just about everything they own destroyed and ruined. >> don't know where to start. >> it's unbelievable. we're seeing the water line on the buildings and it looks to have been seven feet. >> when i looked out here was like up to my

in the flood zone with a woman returning to her home for the first time since evacuating. >> oh, my god. this is the first time this flooded. >> you don't have flood insurance. >> i don't. >> reporter: louisiana still 5 in a state of emergency. 40,000 properties and counting impacted. the water starting to recede in the hardest hit areas but the damage is done. some say it's unlike anything they've seen before. even those who survived hurricane katrina 11 years ago. >> everything i this is gone. everything. everything. >> it's like the end of your life, end of your world having to start over like that. we worked so hard for it. >> tough days for so many people and get this, the red cross says this is likely the worst natural disaster since superstorm sandy and damages could top a billion dollars. congress is now reviewing those from hillary clinton's interview with the fbi. republican lawmakers

the documents after no charges were filed over her use of a private e-mail server. her campaign is now calling for it to be public, that will stop them from leaking certain portions. it has been classified as secret and should not be disclosed without the fbi's permission. donald trump's campaign announced a major shake-up. the republican has named breitbart co-founder steven bannan and kellian conway to campaign manager. the news comes as surveys show he's trailing nationally. paul manafort will maintain his current role as campaign chair. and trump is making his biggest pitch yet for african-american votes speaking near milwaukee trump called for a law and order in the wake of violent protests over the fatal police shooting of a black man and asked all african-american voters to vote for him saying democrats have been taking them for granted. >> the democratic part

failed and betrayed the african-american community. democratic crime policies, education policies and economic policies have produced only more crime, more broken homes and more poverty. >> trump is expected to receive his first intelligence briefing in new york today. sources say he'll be accompanied by new jersey governor chris christie and retired lieutenant general michael flynn. now to the olympics and what could be better than winning your fourth gld? >> what could that be? >> how about a kiss from your celebrity crush? >> yes, simone biles made it four out of five taking the gold in the floor exercise. she's the only -- she's only the fourth woman to win four gymnastic golds. this is what happened next. what happened was zac efron made a surprise trip to rio and kissed her on the cheek. i think that is priceless for her. >> even when talking about the gld she was like, anyway, so about the zac

>> she says just call me mrs. ephron already. jenny simpson has a place in u.s. olympic history, the first american to medal in the women's 1500. simpson took the bronze finishing behind runners from kenya and ethiopia and sent out a tweet that said thank you for believing. kerri walsh jennings suffered her first ever loss in olympic beach volleyball. she and april ross lost their match to the world champs from brazil. it ends her bid for a fourth straight gld. >> hard fought match. in the medal count the united states is up to 84 overall. 28 of those gold. >> 28 is the magic number. 28 gold, 28 silver, 28 bronze. still ahead, done deal. hugh hefner is no longer the owner of the playboy mansion but not quite moving out. a 12-year-old posing with

threats but this morning defending her actions. a cement truck hitting a car and tipping over. the dramatic crash and fate of

so, this is in china. a terrible accident at a busy intersection. somehow the people inside that minivan managed to survive being rolled over by that tanker truck. the man and woman are recovering from their injuries. in oklahoma many are raising questions about whether a murder could have been prevented. tulsa resident khalid jabara was allegedly killed by his neighbor. he called and said that neighbor had a gun. officered responded but didn't make any arrests. the accused

from jail despite objections by the prosecutor. >> how did this man get out of jail? we want to make hour it doesn't happen again. this guy is not out walking the streets. >> the family says this is a hate crime that the suspect had a history of ethnic harassment. there are fears this morning of a new drug war in mexico now that el chapo's son has been identified as a kidnapping victim. jesus guzman was one of six taken from a restaurant in puerta vallarta by a rival drug gang. his father is serving time in prison after being recaptured following an escape. the famed playboy mansion has a new owner. hugh hefner's five-acre estate sold for $100 million. the guy who bought it, hefner's next-door neighbor, daren metropoulos is not kicking hefner out. the deal allows him to stay for the rest of his life. it might seem counterintuitive but

the fast food giant giving away activity trackers in its happy meals for the next few weeks an the wristbands are part of its effort to get kids active. when we come back, what's wiping owl the world's banana supply and hear when scientists think the fruit could be completely extinct. and real-life treasure hunters. where searchers are digging for world war ii train that's been buried with gold. which might be some people's goal. but not mine. when you dare to move forward... so much is possible. and what helps me do it? new oikos greek nonfat yogurt. now with all-natural ingredients with vitamin d, 25% less sugar than before and 12 grams of protein to help keep me going. i'm misty copeland. and i am unstoppably myself. be unstoppably you.

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please tell me you got that. >> they did, indeed. some kayakers got a front row seat to a playful humpback whale and started breaching jumping high out of the water. sometimes even swirling around slashing back down, even a little hello with his tail. >> just as the tour guide promised they would see. for a look at morning road conditions fire closed interstate 15 around san bernardino in the l.a. area. heavy rain is a threat in eastern and north central texas. if you're flying you can expect airport delays in houston, dallas, memphis and washington, d.c. a 12-year-old girl is at the center of a social media firestorm because what she did over her summer vacation. >> she is a skilled big game hunter. despite a flood of criticism they are unapologetic

>> reporter: a 12-year-old hunter from utah under fire after posting these images on social media posing with a giraffe, zebra killed while hunting with her dad in africa. >> it's something i cherish and enjoy and want other people to see what i've experienced. >> reporter: they took the hunting trip last week. one of many over the past five years. they say all hunts were legal. but online outrage, some calling arya aryanna sick and an animal hater. some are defending the father/daughter duo writing let the haters hate, hunt away, ariana. >> we'll never apologize for being a hunter. >> reporter: gio benitez, abc news, new york. >> there's new details on the armed robbery of ryan lochte and three u.s. swimming teammates in rio. lochte says he didn't initially tell the u.s. olympic committee officials about the

sunday because the swimmers all thought they would get in trouble. the delay caused confusion between the u.s. and international olympic committees. his attorney says lochte cooperated fully. a pair of treasure hunters are back at it in southwest poland and started digging in search of the nazi gold train. no evidence such a train exists but rumors about it have circulated since the end of world war ii. it is said to have dispeered in a complex of tunnels. some new research shows it could be the end for bananas. >> what? >> pretty soon. scientists say a fungal disease reduced the worldwide crop by 40% and claim the fruit could be ex-ticket in just five to ten years. the researchers say farmers need to apply fungicide 50 times a year to fight that disease. >> that's like when we heard there was going to be a guacamole shortage before the super bowl. >> well. what event is coming up that everyone needs bananas for?

including a big blow-out in the city of brotherly love. >> here with the highlights our guys at espn. >> good morning, it's "sportscenter" from los angeles. stan verrett, neil everett here. big night in baseball for a couple of guys we'll show you. >> yeah. roll it. one of the guys is chase utley. if you're familiar with the back of his baseball card, he played like almost 800 games or something like that in a phillies uniform. and so this is his first time back to philadelphia since he became a dodger. and so he welcomed himself back with two home runs including a grand slam. welcome back. dodgers won by a lot. mookie betts doing his thing, red sox/orioles. just torched baltimore. five home run, eight rbi in his last series off

top of eighth. betts again, so 28 on the season now. and the red sox win it 5-3 behind his two homers and five rbi. >> he's powered by vita coco. >> now back to you. up next in "the pulse," olympic spirit. two runners helped each other in the middle of a race. michael phelps giving some advice to katie ledecky about wearing all those medals. words we at panera live by. because clean food is food as it should be. with no artificial flavors, preservatives, sweeteners, and no colors from artificial sources. we think clean food tastes better, feels better, does better. 100% of our food will be clean by year's end.

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semifinal. nicky hamlin fell then d'agostino tripped over her and urged hamlin to get up saying this is the olympic game, we have to finish. >> only comes once every four years. hamlin finished next to last and d'agostino was last but officials allowed both to advance to the final. >> i like that. >> that's nice. next to the golden magazine cover. >> so you have olympic superstars katie ledecky, michael phelps and simone biles there all gracing the cover, of course, of "s.i." wearing their medals from rio. 14 in all. >> so "sports illustrated" showed a picture of it and phelps was giving advice to ledecky about how to wear all those medals. >> i put them on one by one then tuck behind. you'll learn, don't worry about it.

>> she put them on one by one. it looks better according to phelps. >> this is the 11th "sports illustrated cover" who made his first debut before the 2004 athens games. a texas college student giving herself an "f" for her tinder ability. >> take a look at this post from sabrina salazar offering a screen grab of her brief conversation with gold medal swimmer joseph schooling representing singapore and captions it my tinder match just won the 100-meter butterfly final and beat michael phelps. this is my greatest accomplishment and later added and not replying to his message was my greatest failure. >> sabrina, she did swipe right. she just didn't do a message. >> no gold medal for sabrina. >>

it's wednesday, august 17th and get ready for day 8 of the d-m-v heat wave. good morning washington. toss to eileen retention policy: 2 year delete (2 years) expires: 8/17/2018 - day 8 of our heat wave (no heat advisories today) - pm storms likely - less humid by next tuesday today: hot and humid. pm thunderstorms likely. highs: 89-95 feels: 98-101 tonight: thunderstorms early. then warm and muggy. patchy fog. lows: 71-76 thursday: partly cloudy. a tad less humid. highs: 88-91 feels: 93-96

breaking overnight.. a brief disturbance

gaithersburg.. around 1:30 this morning, a delivery truck struck a gas meter and a wall between the marriott courtyard and a movie theater. the gas company shut off the gas line. the marriott hotel was briefly evacuated.. but people were allowed back in a short time later. more breaking news.. a man and two women rushed to the hospital just a short time ago after getting shot in southwest d.c. it happened on first street, between "oh" and "p" streets - that's basically right across from nats park. all the injuries are non-life-threatenin g. police are looking for a cream or tan colored vehicle. now to a tragic update in silver spr

found dead in the rubble of last week's apartment explosion. the victims have not been identified at this time. no one else is believed to be missing. dozens remain displaced - as investigators try to pinpoint the exact cause. despite the latest discovery.. search and recovery efforts are set to resume this morning at the flower branch apartments. yesterday.. maryland senator ben cardin and montgomery county executive ike leggett visited a shelter and met with displaced residents. people who were in the building at the time of the explosion expressed their concerns. source: tu nc8 10p n pkg ss explosion fo cardin and leggett say they're now focused on finding transitional and permanent housing for those displaced residents. people in flood-ravaged ellicott city are getting some help in applying for loans. the u-s small business administration disaster loan outreach cent

fifty-plus center in ellicott city. the center is open on weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to five p.m., and saturdays and sundays from eight a.m. until four p.m. meanwhile, residents and business owners will have access to main street from dawn to dusk, through monday. after that, main street will be closed for three weeks. happening today.. the search resumes at eight a.m. in the potomac river.. for a missing swimmer. authorities say a man went under water yesterday evening near the old angler's inn in potomac, and did not resurface. search and rescue crews and a u.s. police helicopter quickly responded. crews suspended their search for the night when the sun went down. developing now.. sprint says it's fully restored 9-1-1 service in d.c., after monday night's transformer fire. but it's still working to restore 9-1-1 service in nearby areas. flames and smoke shot out of an underground transformer at 18th and "l" streets in downtown washington. because of the fire, sprint customers all throughout the d.c. metro area couldn't call 9-1-1. among the impacted areas: arlington, prince

montgomery, and prince william counties. source: tu 11p n pkg 911 outage officials say until the issue is fully resolved, sprint customers can use a landline to call 9-1-1. or they can call from another provider, or call their community's non-emergency line. it's xx and we're just getting started. the district is in search of a new top cop after cathy lanier makes a surprising announcement to resign. good morning washington. i'm larry smith.