temperatures. stair with us for local news updates every 30 minutes. the "today" show is next. good morning. stunning loss. >> agatha puts it away! >> kerri walsh jennings and april ross defeated in beach volleyball semifinals, the first defeat of walsh jennings' career, as gymnastics wraps up with a bang for tesa >> oh, my! >> two silver medals for danell leyva, a record-setting fourth gold for simone biles, this time in the floor exercise. and aly raisman takes silver, but that was just one memorable moment for the final five. zac efron showing up in rio to surprise his biggest fans, and

copacabana beach today, wednesday, august 17th, 2016. don't know if i've seen him do quite that good ever! >> and that may there and then have been the gold medal jump. >> that one just about perfect! >> announcer: from nbc news, this is a special edition of "today at the olympic games" with matt lauer live from rio de janeiro, brazil, a guthrie live from rockefeller plaza. and good morning, everyone. welcome to a special split-edition of "today." [ cheers and applause ] hoda, we're here to covering the olympics, so it's all about the athletes. we're going to be talking about a lot of medalists this morning, but with we could give out an olympic gold medal for sportsmanship and supporting team usa, the guy standing down

he flew all the way from los angeles here to surprise the final five. >> he's been watching simone biles tweet. he was keeping up with all of it. he said, what am i doing at home? he got on a plane. there was a lot of cloak and dagger. we're going to show you the epic surprise in a little bit. we love this guy, huh? >> yeah, we do. so does the crowd. we'll talk to him in a little while. before that big moment, the big surprise hoda just talked about, we were in the arena watching we caught up with them moments after they received their medals. we'll have that for you as well. >> wow, that's also a great, great moment. plus, we mentioned that heartbreaking loss for kerri walsh jennings and april ross in beach volleyball. natalie, al and billy were all there and natalie's got kerri and april's reaction right after the match. all that is coming up from here in rio. back to you in new york. >> pretty exciting, guys. we've got some breaking news here out of california, a

raging out of control in san bernardino county. look at that. more than 82,000 people being told to evacuate today. we will be there live. and we're also going to have the latest on this historic flooding in louisiana. officials are now saying 40,000 homes have been damaged. and we could see new communities inundated today. the crisis is not close to being over there, guys. we'll send it back to you in rio for now. >> all right, savannah. we'll see you in a couple of minutes. natalie joins us now with your "olympics roundup." tough night for some americans. team usa racked up a slew of medals on tuesday. we're going to start, though, that showdown in the sand with kerri walsh jennings and april ross' disappointing loss. overnight, a shocking upset in women's beach volleyball. americans kerri walsh jennings and april ross knocked out in the semifinal match. >> brazil has upset the united states! >> reporter: after losing the first set, team usa struggled

the sport's most dominant players ever at one point serving into the net. >> very uncharacteristic. >> and every time the americans tried to rally, the quicker brazilian team had an answer. >> ross, blocked! >> the loss the first ever in olympic play for walsh jennings, who had won three consecutive golds. >> it's really disappointing. it's really heartbreaking, but the great thing is that we earned a right to fight tomorrow and to make it better. >> in gymnastics, team usa is back on top. simone biles delivering another near-perfect routine, this time in the floor exercise. winning gold for the fourth time during the games. her teammate, aly raisman, taking silver for her sixth career olympic medal. >> dismount. >> on the men's side, american

parallel bars before doing the same on the high bar. u.s. gymnastics team leaving rio with a combined 12 medals, the most since 1984. >> right now! ah! >> out on the track, american christian taylor leaping into the air and past the competition, winning his second consecutive gold in the men's triple jump. his teammate will claye came away with silver. >> and that' effort. >> moments later, claye had another reason to celebrate, proposing to his girlfriend, 2008 track and field olympian harrington. >> today was the day. i just knew today was going to be the best day of my life. >> in the women's 1500 meters, jenny simpson became the first american to medal in the event, taking bronze behind ethiopia's genevieve debaba and the gold medal winner faith of kenya.

her mother watching from the stands in disbelief. >> set. [ shot ] >> and earlier in the day, usain bolt advanced in the men's 200 meters. after winning his third gold medal in the 100-meter dash earlier this week, he's looking to do it again, aiming for his third gold in the 200 meters. all right, so, here's where the medal count stands. the u.s. up big after picking up nine more medals in all on great britain and russia. looking ahead to today, it's a busy day in track and field, including the start of the men's decathlon and the u.s. men's basketball team plays in the quarterfinals. of course, also beach volleyball, gold medal match tonight for the women, also the bronze for the u.s. women. >> wow. >> so, against the other brazilian team. it's going to be a tough one for them, yes. >> what do you say we turn back to gymnastics for a second? simone biles capping her historic run in rio with that

medal overall here. her teammate, aly raisman, taking silver. and we talked to both of them after the medals ceremony. >> it is the final event in women's gymnastics. >> the usa's women's gymnastics team dominated once again. >> this will be remembered as one of the greatest dynasties in gymnastics history. >> 19-year-old simone biles twisting and tumbling her way into olympic history. >> she sets herself apart because she makes everything medal, the most any american woman has ever won in a single olympic games. >> and once again, obliterates! >> did you have any fun at all today? >> yes, i had tons of fun. it was very exciting. >> biles was hoping to leave rio with five gold medals, but that ended on the balance beam monday night. >> oh, don't touch! >> you know the expression's it's not whether you get knocked down, it's whether you get back

>> well, it was pretty easy, because if you think about it, like, i fell on beam and still got a bronze, and how often do you see that? >> clearly, it did not stop the pint-sized powerhouse from making the most of her final golden opportunity. >> power and dynamics that take your breath away. >> cranking out a nearly flawless floor routine. her score a half point ahead of the rest of the field. >> aly being the reigning olympic champion is hoping to defend her title. >> aly raisman finishing a >> jam packed with difficulty. tremendous. >> the 22-year-old team captain and self-proclaimed grandma of the final five was all smiles after the one-two finish. congratulations, grandma. how do you feel? >> i feel very good. i feel very young. >> you do? >> yes, i do. i'm very happy. i lost my voice a little bit because i was cheering so loud for the other girls the other days. >> i was screaming. did you hear me? >> i did. i did hear you.

ever. >> wow. >> how does that feel? >> you're the only person to actually say that out loud. i hadn't thought about that, but it feels amazing. it's crazy. i can't believe i have six olympic medals. so it doesn't feel real. if you told me that when i was a little girl, i would have thought you were crazy. >> two athletes at the top of their game but leaving the future wide open. will you be in tokyo? your coach says you're as strong as ever. >> up until now, i hadn't been think being it, but i'm going to take a vacation, take some time off, and then never say never, you know. i'm definitely thinking about it. >> how do you improve for tokyo? >> i don't know. that's a really long ways away. we'll see. >> and just when you thought they left all their moves on the floor, they managed to save their best moves for last. every time hoda has interviewed you this week, she has gotten you two and the rest of you to dance. >> we looked for her in the stands. we couldn't find her. is she here? >> oh, they played her song

?? michelle pfiefer, that white gold ? >> well, i'm here and all i'm asking is do a happy dance for hoda. ?? >> oh. and by the way -- >> little did they know, the reason i was there in the mix zone doing the interviews is because you were setting up this huge surprise. >> the happy dances that we've had prior, this will not compare at all to the surprise. i want to check zac efron's hearing, because that scream was so loud, you could hear it thro can't wait. all right, as we mentioned, the u.s. beach volleyball team of kerri walsh jennings and april ross was defeated overnight by one of the teams from brazil. >> that's right. it is the first loss at the olympics for kerri after 26 straight wins and three gold medals. and natalie, you were there to talk to her afterwards. >> what an incredible career they've had. the crowd was so rowdy.

had, point for point. unfortunately, it wasn't their night. >> reporter: the trouble started out early. brazil coming out strong. leading the u.s. right out of the gate. >> and she smacks it on the line. >> reporter: walsh jennings and ross trying to hold on. >> and she puts it away. >> reporter: but brazil's agatha and barbara, the number two ranked team in the world, wouldn't let anything go. >> agatha puts >> reporter: it was a wild scene in the stands with billy, me and al. >> oh! >> reporter: the hometown crowd going crazy. the brazilians taking set one. >> the brazilians have taken the first set. >> reporter: and did not let up. brazil won the second set. >> they can win it here. >> reporter: ending walsh jennings' 26-match winning streak. >> that's it!

states! >> reporter: her first loss at an olympic event. >> and heartbreak for the americans. >> we just never had the mojo today, so it's really disappointing. it's really heartbreaking. but the great thing is that we earned a right to fight tomorrow and to make it better. >> reporter: it was about the fiercest fight i've ever seen. how would you characterize the brazilian girls? >> i mean, they're relentless. they're very sound and they're very scrappy. they made the digs and we didn't. >> reporter: did the booing rattle you guys at all here? >> it i thought it was great. you know, you come into brazil, they're passionate about the game, they want their team to win. >> reporter: despite the loss, the 38-year-old walsh jennings doing what she does best, setting her sights on the next match. you have "joy" written on your hand right there. is that a reminder to yourself to in these moments just keep what's important in mind? >> in all moments, for sure. when life is tough, absolutely. when life is great, absolutely, be grateful.

blessed. it makes me more determined. >> they're so determined, kerri and april. they'll be playing for bronze tonight against brazil's remaining team. will it be kerri's last olympic match? that's anyone's guess. so far, though, she hasn't ruled out tokyo in 2020. i've got to say, they are such a class act. after the game, they both went around, they were shaking everybody's hands in the stands. >> wow. >> like, all of the people that worked the sidelines. was amazing. >> how deep is brazil? the team they'll play tonight are incredible. >> very incredible. the brazilians are known for beach volleyball, too. >> thank you very much. along with that beach volleyball match, you can also see usain bolt's return to the track in the 200-meter semifinals. that's tonight, nbc prime time olympic coverage. let us go now for some breaking news to savannah in new york. >> that's right, guys. we have two big stories to follow this morning, including a raging wildfire in southern california that exploded overnight.

and in louisiana, that unprecedented flooding has now damaged 40,000 homes. curfews are now being enforced in several parishes. let's start with nbc's gabe gutierrez in sorrento, between baton rouge and new orleans. gabe, good morning to you. >> reporter: savannah, good morning. the magnitude of this disaster is staggering. at least 11 people are confirmed dead, thousands are in emergency shelters, and eight more parishes have been added to the federal dte while officials are warning that the threat is far from over. this morning, a desperate scramble. >> it is horrible. >> reporter: the toll of louisiana's historic flood growing by the hour, that record rainfall now rushing downstream, inundating new communities. how long have you lived here? >> all my life, 50 years. >> reporter: have you ever seen it flood like this? >> never. >> reporter: at least 30,000 people rescued, more than 40,000 homes damaged.

are destroyed. powerful before-and-after images of schools and neighborhoods are emerging. this baton rouge movie studio has now become a massive makeshift emergency shelter. today as some prepare for the worst, others are already living it. >> pictures of my daughters. we'll never get things like that back. >> reporter: bob gatley, a hurricane katrina victims, just returned home. >> it's all right. >> reporter: to a loss that can't be measured. just a heartbreaking loss. now, the waters have largely receded up near baton rouge, but as we mentioned, there is still plenty of waters in areas like this, in sorrento and communities to the south and to the west of here are bracing for even more flooding today. all that water not expected to clear out until later this week. savannah? >> all right, gabe.

and now to that massive out-of-control wildfire that's happening in southern california, consuming homes and forcing tens of thousands to evacuate. nbc's jolene kent has the latest for us this morning. hi, jo. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, savannah. hundreds of firefighters here fighting this blaze overnight as more plan to join them from across the state of california as this wildfire continues to spread. a devasng overnight, moving fast, tripling in size and engulfing more than 18,000 acres of land. more than 82,000 residents have evacuated. >> i looked outside and i saw the flames, and it's ready to go. >> reporter: as air workers worked tirelessly to douse the flames. >> oh my god, look at the flames. >> the blue fire started tuesday east of los angeles, close down a major interstate and roadways

declaring a state of emergency. >> 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. >> reporter: the fire is the result of a punishing heat wave and strong winds. it's still 0% contained as hundreds of firefighter crews battle the fast-moving flames. >> hopefully, we get to come back. this is the third time. so, hopefully, it will still be standing. >> reporter: now, two injured in this fire so far, but thankfully, they are doing okay and they are out of the hospital. but red flag alerts across the state of california right now, and that means imminent extreme fire danger over the next 24 hours, savannah. >> all right, jo. thank you so much. and now for the race to the white house. with less than three months to election day, donald trump's campaign undergoing a major staff shake-up this morning. nbc's hallie jackson is in milwaukee. trump had a rally there last

>> reporter: hey, savannah. good morning to you. yeah, this is serious stuff from the trump campaign, this shake-up now with less than three months to go before election day. we're talking about two new names added to the top of donald trump's team. one man once described as the most dangerous political operative in america. that's steven bannon. he's a top executive with the conservative breitbart news. he will be stepping into the role of campaign ceo. kelly ann conway, who's already been a senior adviser, will now these moves signal a shift that paul manafort may be losing some sway, no longer calling all the shots. i'm told this morning by a senior adviser that the decision-making came from donald trump himself, all of this meant to make him more comfortable, and he hopes stop him from sliding further to hillary clinton in the polls. savannah? >> all right, hallie jackson. thank you. one more note on the election -- we have an exclusive interview with hillary clinton's running mate, tim kaine and his wife, ann, airing in our next

efron? oh, no, it's al. >> not yet. >> sorry. sorry. >> you've got that heat out west. >> oh, my gosh, it's not going to help the firefighters out there. let's show you what we've got. a big dome of high pressure. red flag warnings stretching just to the east of san diego up into los angeles, and we are going to see temperatures that are going to be brutal, anywhere from 95 to 100 degrees in se and as you get into central california, that is repeated. in fact, this record-setting heat moving all the way up into the pacific northwest right on into the weekend. we're going to get to your local forecast coming up in the next 30 seconds. poor foster kid black immigrant

muslim the only label that matters is olympian. it's a warm morning. upper 70s out there from city island to floral park. in the city itself, 77. mid 70s to the north and west. spread f city and the coast. dryer air moving in. increasing amounts of sunshine. still some clouds upstream. a partly sunny afternoon, breezy, less humid. high temperatures in the upper 80s. clouds roll back in and a shower and storm throughout the morning. near 87 and 90 on friday and a few showers over the weekend. a weather. guys? >> all right, al. thanks so much. coming up, so excited, how we pulled off our big surprise

efron. >> and zac is here on copacabana beach live hanging with the crowd. but first, this is "today" on

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your "news 4 new york" live

good morning. 7:26. looking at the l.i.e. on a wednesday morning, august 17th. i'm darlene rodriguez. investigators are at the scene of a house fire that injured two people in little ferry, new jersey. it broke out at a home on washington avenue. officials believe it started with a gas explosion on the first floor. a police lieutenant heard the blast and raced to the scene to help. a total of six people were taken to the hospital. second and third-degree burns. take a look at the morning commute. here's lauren scala. thanks, darlene. we saw delays on downtown b and d trains. there's an accident on the belt parkway before francis lewis boulevard. two lanes are blocked. delanes go all the way back to the jfk expressway. that's in the eastbound weigh. on the goethals bridge. on the new york state through

parkway. that's in the left lane. >> thanks, lauren. we'll be right back with chris's forecast. looking at sunshine now. clouds departing. temperatures upper 60s to low upper 70s across long island, down the jersey shore. dryer air will win on out. temperatures will climb into the upper 80s though. a bit of a breeze, too. not a bad afternoon at all. 87 tomorrow. scattered showers and thunderstorms. muggy into friday, 90. warm, humid weather over the weekend. late day storm on friday. better chance for showers and thunderstorms on monday. next week, maybe some relief come tuesday, wednesday, and thursday. darlene?

actor zac efron pulls off a gold medal worthy surprise for simone biles and the rest of the final five. stay tuned. when people ask me what it's like to win an olympic medal, i tell them, "you already know." the medals you've earned are all around you. your bronze. your silver. your gold. and liberty mutual insures them all. liberty mutual is proud to insure every team usa medal won in rio, rty stands with you.

?? all right, we're back now, 7:30 on a wednesday morning. it's the 17th day of august 2016. can you believe that view? >> no, i cannot. >> that is a view from the helicopter looking down on copacabana beach on another olympics. >> yeah. there are a lot of reasons to love day 12, but we'll get to the other reason in a minute, won't we? >> why the beach just got better for you? >> yeah, just got better for all of us. >> let's talk headlines, shall we? here we go. the drive for the fourth gold medal for beach volleyball star kerri walsh jennings is over. she and her partner, april ross were defeated in straight sets late last night by a team from brazil. kerri and april will play in the bronze medal game against

little later. americans christian taylor and will claye take gold and silver in the triple jump. it marked a repeat of their appearance in london four years ago. we're going to talk to them in our next hour. and the final day of artistic gymnastics was a very good one for team usa. danell leyva won silver medals in both the parallel and horizontal bar, while simone biles and aly raisman finished one-two in the floor exercise and then had even women's competition, we were working on a big surprise for simone and the rest of the final five with zac efron. this is going to be so -- >> notice how her voice goes up like four octaves when she says that? >> this is part of our special real edition of "make your today." take a look. in rio's olympic arena, simone biles was getting ready for one

normally does, it's just fun. >> but little did she know just how good it was going to get, because just a stone throw's away, zac efron, her crush whose life-size likeness she has in her bedroom, is here to surprise here in rio. it's happening. you're here at the olympics, and you know who's going to totally freak out. >> simone. she's awesome. >> we're going to sneak in there, we'll watch her, then >> cool, cool, awesome. >> are you ready? we had to hide zac in a room in the national broadcast center near the venue where we watched simone perform in the floor exercise. >> now simone biles, floor exercise. she's been doing the same routine. >> come on, girl. >> she's good. >> holy shnikies.

you won't see them done like this, though. >> oh, my god. she gets so much air. what the heck is in her legs? she looks happy. look at that. >> look at that score. 15.9! >> oh, my gosh! she crushed it! >> she did! >> oh, man! >> high-five her. come on. okay, i think this might be time for our selfie. where's simone? >> there they are. >> okay. >> and here comes the gold. >> going to be kind of emotional. ?? >> so crazy. >> but moments later, things were about to get crazier. >> over here -- >> we heard your song at the arena. >> while zac was hidden away, the entire gymnastics team showed up thinking they were just doing another interview with me. they didn't have a clue.

time, you said that if a certain person showed up -- >> stop. >> -- you would need a defibrillator? >> yes, stop. >> do you remember that? >> yes. if you bring him out, i'm going to pass out. >> do you remember that? >> stop. >> wait, do you remember that? >> stop! >> do you remember that? [ screaming ] >> is that the final five? >> just realized. oh, my god, stop. >> wait, i want a hug, too. >> how are you? >> good. >> how did you do this? >> oh, my goodness! >> simone just said, can i ask you one question? what's going on right now? >> i'm shaking, i'm so scared! >> i'm the one with butterflies. >> how did you make this happen? pinch me, i'm not crazy.

monitor every move -- >> i didn't even do my signature move. >> will you do it time for him now because he's got time. >> when i found out you guys were fans, i was like, what am i doing sitting here on the couch? like, come see you, come hang out and support you guys. i immediately got on the plane and came out to see you guys. >> he's so much more gorgeous in person! >> you guys are like america's heroes right now. >> you need to put your arm around that little girl, because -- come here. you're the best. >> thank you. >> awesome. >> she's always like super calm, by the way. >> give me a high five. high fives. >> i was going to say, i've never seen -- you're super calm when the whole eyes of the world are on you, when you're about to perform a routine. and in this moment, you're totally dying! olympic gold medalist. but on this night, just teenagers at heart on top of the

>> are you ready? >> yeah. >> oh! >> whoo! [ applause ] >> you are awesome! that was great. >> that was great. >> that was really, really great. >> it was so fun to meet them. >> what was it like for you walking in the room? we kind of got to see it from their perspective, but what was it like for you? >> it was interesting. they just got off the world's biggest stage. they won gold meda. entire olympics. and i was, like, hiding in a closet waiting to come in, so i didn't know what to think. i was kind of getting nervous myself. but it ended up being amazing. they're so sweet. >> you had spent seven hours locked away with hoda waiting to do that. >> yes, we were. >> before you got to walk in. i loved what you said, zac. you said, i'm watching this unfold in rio, and i'm asking myself, why am i sitting on a couch at home? i've got to get there. >> yeah. i mean, i've been a fan of the

coming to see the world's best of the best come together and compete in their individual events is amazing. and then their story just blew my mind. when i found out simone and the team was a fan, i was like, what kind of guy am i if i don't show up? >> now, how did you first become aware, zac? she's not just a fan, simone, she's a crazy superfan. i know you had a twitter exchange, but how did you know the extent of it from her? >> i kind of various people started telling me she was a fan. so i started watching all the gymnastics. i typically wouldn't start watching gymnastics first, i'd say, in the olympics, but i was immediately captivated by these girls and what they were doing. >> one of the things he was worried about -- or she was worried about, simone was, is she kept saying she smelled bad. she kept going, oh, my god, i'm sweating! i'm so nervous! >> but they have such heart, and there was clearly something special that was going on. and so, i was really excited. >> i don't think you even

those young ladies. so i just want to say, from the "today" show, thank you so much. >> no, thank you guys. thank you. >> zac, we love you. >> i love you, too. >> we love you. >> thank you to the girls. >> all right, zac efron, guys. >> that was great. >> let us get a check of the weather from al. wow, that was terrific. >> that was awesome. >> that was great. wasn't that spectacular? >> that was really special. >> that was really great. all right, we've got all of our friends joining us here. let's show you what we've got going on, besides t west. we have the big story, again, flooding continuing through texas, gulf moisture, southeast texas, 11 million people under a flood watch or advisory. you can see the rain continues to train along this stationary front. rainfall amounts, we're still looking at anywhere from 3 to 5 inches from central texas into central arkansas and parts of northwestern louisiana. but locally, we could see upwards of 5 to 6 inches in some spots.

today will make it feel better. humidity is dropping. high temperature of 89. no thunderstorms to worry about for today either. put that comfort level up. nice day. clouds increase. showers and storms come up from the south after midnight. low temperature 75. few scattered and showers. more humid, back at 87. hot one on friday, muggy weather over the weekend. lay day scattered storms. more comfortable by the middle of next week. and that's your latest weather. now time to go to our new anchor, zac efron. >> that's right. we're not letting zac leave. >> i'm in the middle now. >> it was great until this moment right here. i was like, you can go, zac, it's time. >> it feels good. i've got all the notes. >> you'll take care of it. >> yeah, i'm loving it. coming up, a fall, a true

>> and next, danell leyva has two medals. we're going to talk to him right after this. >> very cool. poor foster kid black immigrant cancer patient small muslim the only label that matters is olympian. ??

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tide. number 1 rated. >> announcer: "today's olympic start" is sponsored by kellogg's. what gets you started. and we're back now with "today's olympic start." this morning, the u.s. gymnast who went from an alternate to a star. >> yes, he certainly did. danny leyva scored two silver medals on tuesday, one for his nearly flawless routine on the parallel bars, the other on the horizontal bar. and he is with us now.

>> congratulations. >> how are you? congratulations, honey. >> i mean, you weren't even going to be here. you were an alternate, and you end up walking away with those two silver medals. who's going to play you in the movie? i mean, this is really, it's like a fantasy. >> hopefully, i play myself in the movie. that be cool. >> did you feel like you had something to prove, that you needed to prove, you deserve to be here? >> um, in a way, you know. i wasn't really -- that wasn't really my mind-set. i wasn't coming here trying to i was trying to just show my work as best as i could, you know, and enjoy it, like my friend and somebody that i admire a lot, and she's an amazing role model to me like simone biles. she's out there and you can tell how much she's enjoying what she's doing. and that's what i try and emulate. >> well, you're doing the parallel bars. there was a lot of hand-wringing, wasn't there, matt? you were at the match. >> he went first. he went first. he put up a great score, but then you had to sit there and

to see if you could hang on to a spot on the podium. >> yeah that was a little bit stressful. >> did you watch the other routines? you had a towel over your head for a little bit. >> i did. i did. i would put it over my head for a while because i was like, all right, all right, calm down. because i was reminding myself, i still have another event. >> and it wasn't long after you had that second event. did you have time to get your head in the right place? because you were probably on a high from this. >> yeah, absolutely. but we still had the girls competing on the floor, so i had gym and, like, rewarm up on high bar and get ready for the competition. >> your stepdad has been your coach for what, 20 years? >> yeah, basically. >> a long time. what was it like to share this moment with him? >> it was amazing, honestly. as soon as i was able to get back to the back gym, especially after the parallel bars, i grabbed my medal and i put it on him as well, because it's like just as much his medal as it is mine. >> well, danny, i lost hair

it wasn't much to lose! congratulations. >> we're so proud and happy for you. thank you, sweetie. >> appreciate it. all right, coming up, after the fall, a true display of olympic spirit during a race that has the world talking. but first, these messages. ? ? one jar; so many delicious possibilities. nutella - spread the happy! hi! hey! i've made plans for later in case this date doesn't go well. likewise! but, funny story. on top of that? my mom is my best friend. uh oh. yeah. oop! there's the rescue text from my roommate saying she needs me.

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your "news 4 new york" live update starts now. >> good morning. 7:56. 77 degrees. it's a wednesday morning, august 17th. i'm darlene rodriguez. an emergency community meeting will be held in queens to discuss the fatal shooting of an imam and his attorney.

says his client is innocent but in court yesterday prosecutors say a gun found behind a wall in his home is the murder weapon. he's being held without bail. the motive for this shooting still not known. police in queens are trying to track down two men accused of knocking a woman to the ground to steal her purse. happened last friday morning around 4:00 a.m. near main street and 37th avenue in flushing. police say the men used the woman's debit card at a nearby mcdonald's, a stop and shop and water main break in hoboken. it happened around 4:30 at first and harrison street. chopper 4 was the first on the scene. it appears as if the road there was badly damaged. no word on how long repairs are going to take, but part of first street remains closed for the time being. let's take a look at the morning commute with lauren scala. good morning. >> good morning, darlene. downtown 6 trains are running local. if you're getting on the roads

delays boosted to 40 minutes in bound at the lincoln. over on pulaski skyway, all lanes shut down southbound. avoid that area. we have a disabled vehicle in the hugh l.carey tunnel. and finally we have an accident on the belt parkway eastbound by francis lewis boulevard. >> lauren, thanks. check the weather. sun, clouds, breezy this afternoon with lower humidity. 89 is the high. tonight a chance forho after midnight. tomorrow showers on and off. more humid, high of 87. coming up on the "today" show, savannah's exclusive interview with vice presidential candidate

?? it's 8:00 on "today." and coming up, stunner on the sand. kerri walsh jennings and april ross beaten by a brazilian team in the beach volleyball semifinals. >> it's really disappointing. it's really heartbreaking. but the great thing is that we and to make it better. while in gymnastics, simone biles and aly raisman dominate on the floor. another gold for biles, as raisman takes the silver. and on the men's team, danny leyva wins silver in the parallel and horizontal bars. ? i'm gonna stand by you ? plus, true sportsmanship. heartbreaking fall during the 5000-meter race.

followed, warming hearts around the world. ?? and natural wonder. keir simmons goes inside brazil's spectacular iguazu falls, including an amazing look at the exotic birds that call it home, today, wednesday, august 17th, 2016. ? hey, that's what i like, i like about you ? >> family and husband in california! ? how you do, how you do, i like about you ? ? come on, now, hey ? >> qualified for team usa in wrestling! go, usa! >> christian taylor! go medal winner! >> going today, track and field.

all right, we are back now, 8:00 on this wednesday morning, 17th day of august 2016. grab your boogie board, come on down to copacabana and join the crowd. lots of red, white and blue on another great morning here during the olympics. >> a beautiful morning. if you guys are thinking about getting in shape after you've been watching all of these athletes do their thing, well, we have jill martin's "steals your alley. so you'll check all of that out. hey, savannah! >> hi, guys. good to see you. also ahead from here, politics. our exclusive interview with vice presidential candidate tim kaine and his wife, anne. kaine opening up about donald trump, hillary clinton's e-mail investigation and the perception among some voters that his running mate can't be trusted. our exclusive interview and all of the news just ahead, guys. >> all right, look forward to that, savannah. thank you very much. first, the olympic highlights of the morning. for that, we turn to peter

again. peter, good morning to you. >> reporter: hey, matt and hoda. good morning to you. what a bummer on the beach for team usa. kerri walsh jennings suffering her first loss after 26 straight olympic wins, including three golds. the americans have all sorts of things to celebrate today. the women's gymnastics team making history, winning its most medals, nine, in a single olympics. a stunner on the sand. >> that's it! brazil has states. >> reporter: u.s. beach volleyball superstar kerri walsh jennings and her teammate, april ross, falling to a tenacious brazilian duo. >> for kerri walsh jennings, her first match loss in olympic play. >> reporter: walsh jennings eyeing her fourth consecutive gold will now go up against another brazilian team for the bronze instead. in gymnastics, golden girl simone biles cementing her historic run. >> it's simone's party and everyone else is just a guest. >> reporter: pulling off a

seems like the right word. >> reporter: earning her fourth gold medal of these games. >> her first tumbling run jam-packed with difficulty. >> reporter: her teammate, aly raisman, adding to her medal count as well, tumbling her way to a silver. for the men, american danell leyva taking home two silver medals for the high bar and the parallel bars. >> dismount? oh, my! >> it really is a dream come true, man, honestly. >> ah! >> reporter: in track and field, american christian taylor taking gold again in the triple jump. his teammate, will claye, winning silver, then taking an even bigger leap. just moments after medaling, claye jumped into the stands, stunning his girlfriend, now fiancee, queen harrison. in women's basketball, team usa extended its undefeated streak with a blowout victory over japan. >> u.s. 6-0 after their 47th

competition. >> reporter: the spanish women with a breathtaking buzzer-beater over turkey. >> can she get it off? she does. >> oh! >> and it counts! it counts! game over! spain wins it! >> reporter: securing them a spot in the semifinals for the first time. finally, in women's soccer, brazil suffering a devastating loss in its semifinal showdown. >> and she scores! sweden are into the gold medal match! >> reporter: in front of a deafening hometown ow shutting down brazil in an intense shoot-out, advancing to friday's final against germany. after the game, an uplifting display of sportsmanship. the swedish players consoling their heartbroken brazilian rivals. for the final, sweden versus germany in women's soccer. this morning, here's your medal count. the americans dominating the games with china, great britain and russia, as you can see, trailing well behind. 16 more medals up for grabs

dash. the men's decathlon kicks off today. argentina tries to repeat its 2004 upset of team usa in men's hoops. then back on the beach, kerri walsh jennings and april ross will play for bronze. this one's going to be a battle. they will face the top-seeded brazilian team, matt and hoda. this is a match that most people expected would be the one for gold. back to you. >> actually, peter, you and i and a bunch of us, we've seen that top-seeded team play in person, and they are extremely tough. peter, thank you the headlines this morning, and for that, let's go all the way back to new york and check in with savannah. >> all right, guys. in the news this morning, more than 80,000 people in southern california have been ordered to leave their homes as a fierce, new wildfire spread quickly overnight in san bernardino county east of los angeles. the blue cut fire, named after the trail where it started, was first reported on tuesday morning. by nighttime, it had burned 28

and other buildings. governor jerry brown has declared a state of emergency. two firefighters suffered minor injuries. parts of louisiana are starting to recover from historic flooding this week that damaged 40,000 homes there, but other areas are just now being flooded as the runoff from heavy rainfall travels downstream. when floodwaters receded in baton rouge tuesday, searchers found several more victims, raising the level of fatalits about 8,000 people remain in emergency evacuation shelters. in politics, donald trump has announced a major shake-up in his campaign team. steven bannon, an executive at the conservative website breitbart news, is now being brought in as campaign ceo. and trump is promoting adviser and polster kellyanne conway to campaign manager. it's not clear what those changes will mean for campaign chairman paul manafort, but he is keeping the title. the campaign also confirmed its

purchase which should hit friday in ohio, florida, north carolina and pennsylvania. six children are recovering from an apparent electric shock they received from an amusement park ride tuesday in new london, connecticut. the most seriously injured was a boy who had minor burns on his hands. the riders and the operator all said they felt a tingling sensation. this is the fourth reported case of injuries at fairs, amusement and water parks in the u.s. in less than two weeks. and some moscow residents found a way to make the best check this out. the streets were flooded after 18 hours of torrential rains. so, as cars inched along through the water or plowed through the water, yes, a wet suit-clad ride rider towed by an suv displayed some wakeboarding skills. not a bad way to get through the commute. by the way, the rainfall levels broke a 130-year-old record

guess. back to rio. >> savannah, thank you very much. we'll check back with you in just a little while. well, the big tax bill that team usa athletes along with their medals are going to be having to deal with. does that need to change? we're going to talk about it. plus, how people are reacting to our big zac efron surprise for simone biles and the rest of the final five. and the inspirational moment after a midrace crash that captured whathe we'll talk about that right after i'm phil mickelson, pro golfer. my psoriatic arthritis caused joint pain. just like my moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis. and i was worried about joint damage. my doctor said joint pain from ra... can be a sign of existing joint damage... that could only get worse. he prescribed enbrel to help relieve pain and help stop further damage. enbrel may lower your ability to fight infections. serious, sometimes fatal, events including infections,

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sfx: "boop" ziploc? sandwich bags, 180 ct, easy-open with a strong, quality seal, $4.46 save money. live better. walmart ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? all right, we're back now in rio. it's time to trend and billy bush is trying a new tactic, new strategy.

the perspiration can be delayed a little bit. >> don't sweat. don't sweat. >> don't sweat. >> talk yourself through it. >> all right, do you guys want to know what it means to be a true olympian? >> yes. >> watch this next video. keep your eye on the far left of your screen, all right? that guy is hurdler jeffrey jemlis of haiti. he stumbles on the first hurdle, right? tumbling over, falls on the ground. he's clearly disappointed. so you know what he did? >> he won? >> no, he gets u going. jeffrey finished the race. >> you go, jeffrey! >> an impressive performance in london where he didn't make it beyond the heat. so, he was going to hit that finish line. >> he finished the race. >> number eight on the scoreboard, number one in your heart. >> there you go. i'm curious to hear what you guys think of this next story. >> okay. >> check out this image going viral. it's from the women's marathon. it shows twin sisters from germany holding hands as they

some calling it one of the most uplifting of these games. but you know who disagrees? the head of germany's athletic federation. >> what? >> he criticized the sisters, saying they were just trying to get attention. >> no. >> and since they finished the race 15 minutes behind their personal best, the official also said they weren't trying hard enough. >> oh, come on. >> they're training partners! they're sisters. come on, they wanted that moment together. >> what do we say, thumbs up or thumbs down for t >> thumbs down for germany. >> boo! >> get off the stage! all right, the folks at getty have just released their official portrait of michael phelps, the greatest of all times, wears all the medals he's won here in rio, five gold and one silver. like other medalists, michael also receives a cash bonus for all the hardware. guess what? he's going to have to pay taxes on every single medal -- >> what? >> -- and every single bonus. it's called the victory tax.

bonuses are considered income, you pay taxes. so michael could end up paying $55,000. >> what? >> that's crazy! >> big brazilian boo! >> thumbs up or thumbs down for the taxes? >> thumbs down! >> boo! >> thumbs down. but this morning, the "wall street journal" says there is a new move here to give olympians a tax break. >> come on. >> yes. yes on that. >> give them a break! all right, bill, are you ready for "pop start"? >> i am ready for "pop start. this man is a picture of cool. >> don't talk in third person. >> we've been talking about it all morning and so has the rest of the world. zac efron's surprise for the women of the final five. the moment was a top trender on google, facebook, instagram and twitter all night long. one tweeter said, "zac efron flew to rio and surprised simone biles. she's crying. i'm crying. everyone's crying."

. and we like the headline on "time" magazine's article, "see zac efron fulfill his olympic dream of meeting simone biles." >> i like that! that's a good line. >> right. get him a poster for his wall. >> that's the headline. >> the gold medal swimmer's getting in on the push-up challenge. we told you about this yesterday in the orange room. it's a social media campaign to raise awareness for vets. stars like pratt and scott eastwood have all participated. in his video, dwayne "the rock" johnson called out two-time olympic gold medalist simone manuel, and this morning shas ee responded. >> hi, the rock. thank you for the shout-out and challenging me to the push-up challenge. i have fellow swimmer ryan murphy here, gold medalist and world record-holder, and we're going to do 22 push-ups. >> all right. want to count them out? >> yes.

20, 21, 22. >> and now we challenge michael phelps with his 23 gold medals to do 23 push-ups. >> ooh! another one for michael. >> medals on? >> that's the challenge. >> a little harder. >> we'll take their word for it that they actually got to 23. all right, simone calls out phelps. will he respond? we'll find out. that is your "pop start." >> billy, you know, give us 22 i him -- >> three, four, five, six, seven. >> oh! he did the clap. >> 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22! >> billy bush! >> now you're sweating, right? >> perspiration. >> almost? almost. >> that's the way the pros do it! >> not sweating. >> that was good. >> can you end the segment right now? because i can feel it rushing. there's a rush going on.

weather. >> nice job, billy. >> no, i want to wait a minute. temperatures in the upper 80s. less of a sweat factor, humidity is down. mix of clouds and sunshine. no storms to worry about. clouds roll in after midnight. showers and thunderstorms are possible, low temperature is 75. tomorrow could be scattered showers and storms, then muggy at 87 steamy day fr muggy saturday and sunday, shower or thunderstorm late saturday. better chance sunday to monday. more comfortable middle of next week. and that's your latest weather. >> billy, breathe in, breathe out. let's go back to new york. savannah has more of her exclusive interview with hillary clinton's running mate, tim kaine, and his wife, anne. >> we caught up with him and talked about a number of topics

ticket's growing lead in the polls. i remember the president saying that democrats ought to run scared. >> yeah, we should. >> is there any danger of overconfidence here? >> none, because i see no complacency on the team. i have been in a lot of races. this is the ninth ballot i'll be on. and i've won every race, but barely, usually. and the way i win is say be an underdog until they call you the winner. >> do you expect it to tighten up? >> i do. look, this has been a season of surprises, so there will be twists and turns, and i think that's going to happen. call you the winner. >> donald trump gave a speech yesterday. one of the things he said is that hillary clinton lacks the mental and physical stamina to be commander in chief. what did you make of those remarks? how do you interpret that? >> i have no idea what he's talking about. i mean, did you see the incredible amount of work that hillary did around the world? her travel schedule as secretary of state. and look at the grueling nature of this campaign. >> what do you think is really going on, if he questions her physical stamina? >> he's trying to deflect

commander in chief and to be president. and voters see that. they sense that. >> trump is now calling for an ideological test and so-called extreme vetting of immigrants into this country. do you consider that a softening of his muslim ban, his previous position? >> you know, it might be. he might be trying to package it, make it prettier, but i mean, this is a guy who has proposed to treat muslims as second-class citizens, whether they're entering into the that muslims who are here should have to take some kind of a pledge that they're not going to follow sharia law. we do not need to go down a path where we treat people differently because of their religious beliefs. >> do you support the public release of the fbi notes and notes of interviews regarding the e-mail investigation? >> savannah, you asked the question really well, do you support public release. yes. anything that the fbi gives to congress they should give to the public, because what we've seen is this lengthy, multimillion

investigation that has been highly partisan, where they've wanted to leak out this or that to try to make their case against hillary clinton. let the public see what the fbi decides to let congress see. >> this is something that dodged hillary clinton, whether or not people trust her. if you look at what she said, i can count at least four statements that just turned out not to be true. has she earned that mistrust? >> savannah, if you ask somebody a question 150 t times, you're going to be able to find that they don't use exactly the same word every time, and there's going to be variations and then people are going to play on those, but -- >> she did use the same verbiage, it just happens to not be true. >> here's what i've heard her say. i've heard her say i've made a mistake and i've learned something from it, and i wouldn't do it again and i apologize. >> she has acknowledged mistakes with respect to the e-mail practices. she hasn't acknowledged a mistake with regard to what she has told the american people.

know, this is an area where she says i made a mistake and i've learned from it and i've improved and i'm going to do differently. when has donald trump during the course of this campaign or in his life said i've made a mistake and i'm going to do better and learn from it and grow it? >> secretary houlton, you up until recently were a secretary of education in virginia, a former judge and attorney. was it hard to leave your post as secretary of education? and why did you decide to do that? >> yes it was hard. i loved my job. i loved education better, to make better pathways for especially those who need them the most. and so, i love that work, but i'm having a great time on the campaign. i'm a huge hillary fan. you know, her whole career has been about helping children and families, and i like to think that mine has, too. >> well, if the democratic ticket is successful, your husband becomes vice president, there will be an opening in the senate. and the governor of virginia appoints the senator.

very much. you can make news with that. >> our conversation a little bit earlier with senator tim kaine and his wife, anne houlton. and we'll send it back to rio. >> announcer: "today's olympic moment" is sponsored by walmart. save money. live better. >> savannah, thank you very much. let's get to "today's olympic moment." we love these. the true spirit of these games qualifying heat for the women's 5000 meters. take a look. a sudden misstep taken in stride. >> oh, that looked really awkward. >> team usa's abbey d'agostino and new zealand's nikki hamblin tripping over each other in the women's 5000-meter prelim. >> abbey d'agostino clipped nikki hamblin from behind. >> an unexpected obstacle testing their athletic ability and their character.

helping nikki hamblin back up. >> without hesitation, d'agostino stopped to help hamblin back on her feet before collapsing herself to the ground. >> abbey d'agostino has clearly hurt herself badly there. >> hamblin then returned the favor as d'agostino urged her to catch up with the pack. >> heartbreaking sight. there's no other way of expressing it. >> then with her olympic dreams seemingly dashed, d'agostino somehow stood up. >> you see >> relying on her grit and determination to power through a mile of misery. >> valiant effort to cross the finish line. >> d'agostino finished the race last but still came out on top, alongside hamblin, who greeted her with a big hug. >> superhuman effort. >> two opponents, one inspirational moment, having nothing to do with country

okay, i may have just pushed zac efron to the second spot, silver medal. >> i think you might have. >> incredible. by the way, those two runners are going to join us live here on the beach tomorrow. we'll be back right after this.

good morning, everyone. 8:26. 77 degrees. looking at the tappan zee bridge, wednesday morning, i am darlene rodriguez. police are searching for two men who attacked a teenager in long wood section of the bronx. the two put the 19-year-old in a chokehold in the lobby of an apartment building on fox street. happened last wednesday morning. police just released surveillance video of the suspects last night. we are told through the teen's pockets, the other held him down. they took his debit card, iphone and $10. firefighters were called to a marina on long island for two boat fires. found several boats on fire around 7:00 last night. they were back 2:30 when another boat caught fire. no one was hurt but it is not clear how fires began.

for white plains mall. it has been a fixture since 1966. they want to replace it with an upscale development. several long time tenants fear they may be priced out of the new building because of a rent increase. let's look at the morning commute. here is lauren scala. >> thanks, darlene. delays and service changes on a, c, q lines. otherwise the rails look good. accident 495, t minutes. accident on out by queens boulevard. let's check the weather. sun, clouds, breezy with lower humidity. 89 is the high. tonight chance for showers after midnight. showers on and off tomorrow. more humid, high of 87. coming up on the "today" show. seafood recipe with brazilian twist. another local update in a half hour.

?? ?? we're back now, 8:30 on this wednesday morning, 17th of august 2016, and we're back with

i'm going to get out of this young lady's way. >> pretty cool, right? >> they're fantastic. >> amazing! >> by the way, we're walking along the promenade. lauren, will you come over here? look who we have here, lauren fen drikz of u.s. beach volleyball. great competition. did you have fun? j it was amazing energy here in brazil. an honor to represent team usa. >> glad to have you here. >> we're happy to have you he the u.s. boxing sensation looking to make history here in the ring in rio. and then, a stunning sight. keir simmons visiting the remarkable natural wonder of the igauzie falls. and then, we are combining two loves. we've got food, we've got cocktails into one delicious brazilian-themed dinner. >> pretty cool. but first, let's bring in some more medal winners from team usa. >> why wouldn't we?

triple jump. christian 17.86 meters, earning him the gold just ahead of will. guys, good morning. >> good morning. >> good to see you. actually, they got mikes. you hold that. 17.86. when you made the jump, did you think it would hold up for gold? >> absolutely not. i thought this would be a special day. we talked about the world record all season and said this is the day. >> the two of you are buddies, but also fierce competitors. how did it feel being on the medals stand gettihe we've been competing against each other since '07 when we were in high school. so, this is something we're used to each year. christian said i've got to be on my "a" game. >> by the way, wasn't this your personal best? >> my personal best and best jump. christian and i just had a fire going into our competition. and the first jump was so big, we were thinking that the word rorld was in sight. >> you had something else in your sight, didn't you? >> yeah. >> after you got that medal, you

where is she? >> queen! >> come here. >> queen, come here. >> queen harrison. olympic athlete. >> wow! >> what do you think during that moment? >> i was stunned. i mean, my voice can tell it all. i was screaming. he jumped his personal best on his first jump, so i was going berserk in the stands. so then for him to do that, i was like, what are you -- wait, no, wait, you're not doing this. he did. and i mean, one of the best days >> well, we romantics want to know ha he said. how did he propose? >> you know, some things you've got to keep private, but he said all the right things and i was just blessed for him to share such a special moment. >> i like that you keep it personal. christian, what did he say, quick? congratulations, guys. gold and silver. >> thank you so much. >> and something -- >> and a diamond. >> -- to be proud of. oh, that's right, and a little ring there, too. >> a beautiful diamond! >> we know you're going to jump in -- do you want to jump in

>> should we take the medals so they don't get in the way? >> you might not get them back. >> all right, lauren come over here. ?? ?? ?? >> look at that! >> yes!

all right, temperatures this morning upper 70s to around 80 in and around the city. 80 in floral park. central park holding at 77 clouds and breaks of sunshine out there now. going through the next few hours, clouds are over the city in northern new jersey. dryer air moves in. sunshine during the afternoon. upper 80s, bit of a breeze, less humid. showers move in late tonight. storm or two tomorrow. mo 80s. >> announcer: "today's athlete to watch" is sponsored by citi, proud partner of team usa, proud sponsor of progress. >> did that really just happen? >> that happened. it was good! >> now to "today's athlete to watch." boxer claressa shields won gold at the london olympic games, and here in rio looking to become

champion. jenna bush haeger has her story. >> i just want to go down in history as one of the best woman fighters to ever live. >> reporter: olympic gold medalist claressa shields is on her way to reaching that ambitious goal. shields earned her first gold medal in london in 2012 when women's boxing was introduced to the olympic games. what was it like standing on that podium? >> i went crazy. i wanted to jump off the podium and run all over just like, this can't be real. >> reporter: shields is now looking to repeat that performance in rio. >> i have a record now of 74 wins with 1 loss. i'm just ready to, you know, break these records and become the first american boxer to win two olympic gold medals. >> reporter: shields has traveled a long way from her hometown in flint, michigan, saying her biggest fight began outside of the ring. >> my life before boxing, i was in a dark place. i had been raped at 5, molested

like my biggest thing i had to deal with was being neglected, but also, i was a protector of my family. in boxing, i did my biggest match ever to help deal with the anger i had, the sadness i had, just everything i had went through as a child to help me get over it. >> reporter: at the age of 11, she found refuge at the bursten fieldhouse, a neighborhood community center. >> then all of a sudden, god just snatched me into this place that's full of sunshine and great people, and you know, people getting hit and each other. my former coach, jason, took me in as one of his own kids and fed me and was like a father figure to me. >> i said show me what you've been working on. she showed me. i said, oh, you've got to come with me. i said you've got to come with me. >> reporter: their partnership was captured in a documentary released earlier this year. >> you've been listening better than everybody.

you're going to win. it's just a matter of time. >> reporter: do you think you were born a fighter? >> oh, yeah, of course. i always tell people i've lost enough in my life to lose in boxing. now it's time to win, win, win, you know, object a roller coaster of just wins. >> reporter: her family reunited to watch her win that first olympic gold, and her victory made her the pride of flint. >> i walked into this huge and i was like, what? i was speechless. but now i have a better speech prepared for after i win this one in rio. >> reporter: now at the age of 21, shields says she's ready for her next olympic moment and nothing will stand in her way. looking forward to it? >> oh, yeah, i'm definitely looking forward to it. there's a couple girls on my hit list, a couple of them. >> reporter: i hope i'm not! >> no, you're safe.

this tall, they're going to go down, every last one of them. so, i really look forward to it. >> i'll bet she does. >> awesome. coming up, the beauty and power of one of the world's natural wonders. keir simmons pays a visit to iguazu falls.

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moms know their kids need love, encouragement and milk. with 8 grams of protein, and 8 other nutrients. 9 out of 10 u.s. olympians grew up drinking milk. moms know kids grow strong when they milk life. ?? >> announcer: "today's rio" is sponsored by coca-cola. open a coke and enjoy the games. and we are back at 8:41 with "today's rio." our resident explorer, keir simmons, is here with his latest adventure. keir, where are you off to? >> hey, you guys. this is awesome. iguazu falls. legend has it that a god created

rival for his affections. and you know, he must have been pretty angry. before you see it, you hear it. iguazu, in native language, the name means big water, a waterfall twice as tall as niagara and miles wide. we take a boat across the rapids to one of the wonders of nature. this is the largest waterfall system in the world, so huge, it cuts across two nations. over there is brazil. this side, argentina. disgeorging the contents of five olympic swimming pools every second, the center of the falls, called bevel's float -- you can feel the sheer power of the falls! our little boat is getting buffeted around, and there is a

but we're still not wet enough for these guys. not even close. they're about to take me right under the falls. whoo! millions visit iguazu, but close by is another magical place many folks miss. 400 species of birds live in the national park that surrounds the yara helps run a local sanctionry. >> in brazil, most here we have around 5,200 animals. half of them came from conservation. >> reporter: endangered like this macao and parrot are confiscated from traffickers across brazil who sell them abroad, including in the u.s.

yara says part of changing that is reaching hearts and minds. >> we receive in this park 800,000 people all year. we'd love to think that most of them leave here. >> reporter: people come from all the world to experience the thrill of the wild and leave knowing a little more about how to protect nature. the power of nature. with the birds, you see its vulnerability. it's incredible. >> by the way, that was amazing. you've had quite the trip. hasn't he? >> going to have a hard time getting him out of brazil. keir, thank you. all right, coming up, jill martin's here with the perfect "steals and deals," if these games have inspired you to get first. but first, this is "today" on

??

and we're back with a special rio edition of "steals & deals." if the olympics are inspiring you to achieve your personal best, well, game on. "today" contributor jill martin brought some hot fitness deals to the copacabana beach. a lot of people want to work out. we're getting inspired. >> healthy here. i think we're all doing that, in addition to eating chocolate all morning. first, we have malia and katie. >> hi, katie. >> our ladies modeling our activewe. all kinds of pants and tops. go to today.com. >> what's the deal? >> the deal is up to 80% off. >> yes, nice! good job, kids. >> okay, you're going to be into this. >> what is this one? >> armbands and waistbands. the retail $49.98. it's a light-up. you can't see it, but these light up. >> yeah. >> a light-up phone holder and fitness belt waistband, which

keys. >> very efficient. >> you're a big runner. >> the deal is $15 for the two-piece set, 70% off. >> nice job, jill. all right, headphones. >> all right. ear buds, it's bluetooth, four colors with a built-in microphone. the retail $69.99. the deal $21, 70% off. >> they're great, and they're the kind that stay in, because that's muy importante. >> so, this is a everybody's been eyeing these. some are water-proof, some water-resistant. the retail $350 to $550. the deal $59. >> what? >> 89% off. >> that stha what we've got? >> that's what we've got. >> we'll run through the products one more time pap activewear, belts and arm bands, earbuds and watches. for more information, guys, head

brazil without the chow? but first, this is "today" on nbc. malia and katie! i had a wonderful time tonight. me too! call me tomorrow? i'm gonna send a vague text in a couple of days, that leaves you confused about my level of interest. i'll wait a full two days before responding. perfect! we're never gonna see each other again, will we? no-no. wouldn't it be great if everyone said what they meant?

1% when you buy and 1% as you pay. the citi double cash card. double means double. all right, we're back with "today food in rio." this morning, a quick and delicious dinner, what else, brazilian style. lifestyle and culinary expert

summer dish for us. laticia, good morning. >> good morning. >> thank you so much for having me, guys! >> we're already staring down the food. >> looks really good. >> what exactly are we making? >> we're making a grilled shrimp with a vinaigrette. it's kind of like a new take on a new brazilian cuisine, a fusion between brazilian flavors and american cuisine. >> oh, terrific! >> let's get cooking. >> all right, what should we do? >> i'll get you guys to help me. >> okay. >> okay, i've got the lime. al, what do you have? >> lime zest. cashatsa. >> that's the magic ingredient. >> and a bit of sugar. >> okay. >> and then drizzle some olive oil. and then we're going to create this vinaigrette that looks like this. >> okay. >> then i'm going to take actually a little bit of olive oil here, hit our grilling pan. >> you like that nice and hot. you want to sear these, right? >> exactly.

pepper. >> that's it, no other seasoning. i like that. >> that's it. very simple. then we grill this, and then we gather -- you cook the shrimp until they're, you know, opaque. >> yeah. >> about two minutes on each side. >> okay. >> then they look like this and we gather with the vinaigrette. >> ah. >> then. >> oh. >> this is it. i can see you guys cooking this on your barbecue. >> easy! >> so simple. >> right? >> easy. >> well, brazilian cuisine is very simple. i want you guys to >> that's actually a little myth about brazilian cuisine that, you know, you have to hunt for the ingredients. >> thank you. >> here, we're passing. >> have the shrimp. >> now, you have the side salad here, too. what is that? >> this is a side salad, which is a shallot with a creamy mustard vinaigrette. so easy, refreshing, you know? and shyot is a vegetable that's appearing more and more in the

>> good. >> you don't have to go hunting for the ingredients. you can shop local and eat global. >> i love that. >> you know whose mouth is watering right now. savannah's. she's back in new york. >> we miss you! >> we're almost done. you know the craziness we have in studio 1a followed us here to rio. you know bob yager, our cameraman with all the puns. >> of course. >> he said, i've been watching gymnastics so much it made me try the parallel bars. so i had a the roof, then i went down and had a drink at the bar in the lobby. >> my man! >> he hasn't changed a bit. >> i miss him. >> that's our boy. >> bob, i missed you most of all! >> savannah, just a couple days left and we're waiting to come home and see you. >> i cannot wait. >> we miss you, savannah, big time! >> please bring home a capadinya milkshake for me. without alcohol! without alcohol! >> how's val?

she misses you guys. >> oh, happy birthday. >> happy birthday. >> we love val. >> all right, savannah, we'll see you in a little while. >> all right, guys. >> tell me, you were born here? >> i was born and raised in rio, and i moved to the u.s. when i was 22. >> to where? >> to connecticut. >> really? >> what street? >> right next to kathie lee's house. >> i went to study cooking. and then when i got married and had kids, i went to connecticut. >> okay, wonderful. >> thank you so much. >> this is delicious. >> thank you so much, guys. so happy to be here. >> by the way, we have big things planned for our return to new york. next week we're going to keep the olympic energy going. in fact, you'll be able to go for gold right for yourself on the plaza. >> it's going to be great. plus, a special series called "today's originals," where we pick design and bring a product to market for good cause. and get ready, we're adding a new, special member to our family. >> hmm. >> is that a four-legged one? >> a little furry?

>> that's a little sweaty. >> oh, yeah. >> that's different. all right, we've got much more ahead from rio after your local news and weather. >> a silver day for danell leyva. ?? >> if we could give out a gold medal, an olympic gold medal for sportsmanship and supporting team usa, zac efron would get it

good morning. 8:57. 78 degrees out. it is wednesday morning, august 17th. i am darlene rodriguez. two children among six injured in a house fire in little ferry new jersey. this morning's fire destroyed the home on washington we are told a police lieutenant heard an explosion. when he got to the scene, residents were throwing children to safety. the two children are five and six years old and they suffered second and third degree burns. an emergency community meeting held in queens tonight to discuss the fatal shootings of an imam and his assistant. meanwhile, the man charged with killings is due back in court tomorrow and is now held without bail. police trying to figure out if this is the person stealing

new jersey. he was spotted by a surveillance camera outside a home where a wicker patio set was stolen monday night. police say 24 items have been stolen in the past year, including nine religious statues, four ups statues, a gas grill and milk can. let's look at the morning commute. >> the river line suspended both directions between florence and burlington town center because of a downed utility pole. on the subways, expect delays and service changes o r lines, an accident on the new jersey turnpike extension causing delays back to the turnpike as well. then reports of an accident westbound on the lie after the bqe. slow ride westbound on the bqe as well because of congestion. back to you. let's check the weather. sun and clouds, breezy this afternoon, lower humidity. 89 the high. tonight, chance for showers after midnight. tomorrow, showers on and off.

the "today" show coming back. coming up, olympic medallist talking about a big win in men's

>> announcer: from nbc news, this is a special edition of "today's take" with al roker, natalie morales and billy bush, live from the olympic games in rio de janeiro, brazil. welcome to "toda 2016. i'm billy bush with al and nat live in rio. boy, and this is natalie's morning. >> this is my song. >> she's thrilled? >> thrilled. especially the part where shawn paul says "more than diamond, more than gold." >> we hear that. hear that. >> it's coming up. sia and sean paul. when we were driving around, it was like every other song.

were like "more than diamond, more than gold," and they were talking about a lot of gold, and diamonds, too. >> my life never forgives me. i was listening to eminem in the car when the kids were little. >> oh, nice. >> and these girls would run around going, these trailer park goes go around the outside, around the outside. she's like, that is on you. >> right here. ? when i hit the dance floor, the dance floor ? >> ooh, that's a tight song. where does this take you? is this natalie going on a run? >> when i hit the dance floor, >> and she does hit the dance floor. >> she does. >> we hit beach volleyball last night. >> we did. >> sad loss for kerri walsh jennings and april ross, but we had a really fun time. >> we did. >> went out, had a little dinner together. >> we got our collector's cup. we were told these were like the pokemon go of these games, so we were like, we need these cups! good beer, of course. >> at that same restaurant, we saw the lovely lester holt and his beautiful wife, carol. >> what else did we see? a woman -- >> oh, a cat in a bag. >> yeah.

little bit. >> yeah, next half hour, you will see -- who takes their cat out to dinner? that's all i'm saying. >> it was in like a minion backpack. stand by for that. anyway, unbelievable action last night. we had so much fun. we went in -- roker got some incredible seats for us in this match. we were sitting -- it was almost like we were the king, the queen and the -- >> the prince. >> the princess? >> or something. it was incredible. we watched the whole match. but i think in the end -- >> oh, look atho who are those? >> natalie morales to the right, al roker is here -- >> billy in the middle. >> oh, we got a shout-out! did you -- isn't that interesting? >> we had no idea. >> i've got to tell you, though, it's sad to see, because they just, the brazilian team looked like they were just better prepared. >> yeah. >> they were just better. and i saw kerri was struggling a little bit. >> yeah, yeah. >> and that was hard. there was a couple of serves that came right to her that she missed.

>> first loss. >> never an olympic loss, the first for her. >> and the brazilian team is the number two in the world, so tonight the u.s. are competing against the number one ranked brazilian team in the world. >> that's tough. >> for bronze. it's going to be really tough. >> and the booing, the booing. >> the booing was something that got to all of us last night. we at one point were like, we feel like we should boo back, but we can't do that. that's not in our nature. >> we tried to actually boo when a brazilian girl was serving and couldn't -- >> i couldn't do that. >> it >> that's not what we do. >> roker was coming apart at the seams about the booing. >> enough of the booze! >> but how about that? that's one thing, booing in competition. because you know, you go to the states, go to a basketball game and they rattle those things underneath it. that's not really polite either. but how, how about the french pole vaulter who's standing on the medals stand and he's getting booed? he's not even in competition. this is his moment. his national anthem is playing and then they boo him. >> ridiculous.

>> come on. >> celebrate the gold. don't boo the other, the bronze medalist. >> they don't boo him as he's running, but they boo him on the stands. >> that's off limits. >> it's very much a cultural difference we will never understand. >> well, yesterday, of course, simone biles winning her fourth gold medal, an incredible floor routine, just unbelievable. first u.s. gymnast to win four gold medals in one olympic games. and of course, aly raisman winning silver. thein another surprise, however, a visit from the fantastic zac efron. now, this all started, as you probably remember, an appearance simone made on "ellen." she mentions her love for zac. "nightly news" going deep, discovering a life-size cutout of efron in simone's room. efron and biles sharing a sweet twitter exchange, building up to

right? and then magic happens. >> aw. >> do you remember that? >> stop. >> stop. >> do you remember it? wait, do you remember that? >> stop! >> do you remember that? >> oh, what, is that the final five? >> how cute is that? that was so sweet. >> oh, my gosh. >> and by zac in the makeup chair earlier, just rapping with him. he said he's taking them out for pizza later today. >> the girls have earned it. >> they've long been wanting pizza. >> right? >> that's not in their training. and the interesting thing is, even after -- he was here live this morning after he was done, stayed another 10, 15 minutes, took pictures, shook hands, signed autographs. just a really, really nice guy. >> he was great. and with hoda with that surprise, that was one of those moments. it was replayed over and over, went viral, everybody tweeting about it.

the orange room. it's on every social media platform. >> every platform. and by the way, her coach said simone is 85% great, but she is 15% teenage girl. >> she is! >> which is so cute. someone needs to get zac efron maybe a poster of simone biles in his room. >> i think so. he's got one of those fatheads for his room. >> yep, signed poster. yesterday we were talking about all the showings of olympic spirit, some questionable behavior during these games. two examples that we about, miller from the bahamas diving in front of allyson felix. it is a legal move, though, and it allowed her to win the gold at the women's 400 meters. then there was the one that you love so much, the french swimmer dunking her opponent at the end of the women's 10000-kilometer swim marathon, right? >> i understand. >> you understand it? >> i don't like it but i understand it. you swim 6.2 miles and you're like, this girl's a little bit in front of you. part of me is saying --

>> she got disqualified. >> she got disqualified because of that. all right, but we can celebrate a story that is truly the best of the olympic spirit. so you guys all saw this, right? during the women's 5000-meter race, american runner abbey d'agostino happened to clip the heels of new zealand's nikki hamblin, so they both go tumbling to the ground there right on the track. d'agostino helps hamblin to her feet, telling her, "we have to finish this," but you see that d'agostino's hobbling a little bit. >> hurting. >> she hurt her knee. didn't stop her from fin all together, encouraging each other. >> oh. >> look at her. she is just buckled in pain. and at the end of the race, they all met up at the finish for a hug. >> yes. yes. >> officials have since decided that both women will have a spot in the final as a result. but just incredible. look at this hug right here. that says it all. that says it all. that's what the olympics is about. >> yeah. >> the beauty of this, hamblin fell. >> yeah. >> the new zealander fell, and

into her. >> yes. >> and then abbey went over and helped up the woman who basically had caused her to fall. >> to fall. >> and she gets up, and then hamblin starts to run and looks back, feeling guilty, because now she realizes abbey's seriously injured and can't run, so she's torn. it's a question of do you go and finish the race or hang with your new buddy here? >> the olympic officials are going to let them compete in the final. i just hope she can do it with that knee. it does not look that good. >> are you guys pe we told you about canadian sprint canoeist mark oldershaw who races with a lucky penny in his boat. he's not the only athlete here with a superstition. kayla harrison has socks she wears from her grandma. rafael nadal takes alternating sips from two water bottles during olympic games. >> interesting.

alex dancin spins her stick 15 times before each game. >> that's interesting. >> getting closer to -- >> so, what's the reasoning behind all this? does it give them more of a competitive edge, allow them to be more focused? >> according to psychologists, superstitions and rituals give players an advantage. it keeps them focused and in the zone, also a way of fending off anxiety. do you have any superstitions, things you do before -- >> i think before i travel sometimes, i always take something from home just so that i can, you so sometimes it's their blankie or just something that, but no superstitions, really. >> that's sweet. >> yeah. what about you, al? >> i usually take a leprechaun with me. >> wherever you go? >> wherever i go, you know. he's always after me lucky charms. so, it's -- >> i knew you were going there. >> magically delicious. so there you go. >> what do you take with you? >> i don't take anything with me. i find it helps me when ooyz i'm playing tennis against somebody

they serve. brings you good luck on the point. >> all of a sudden, this whole brazilian thing is not so foreign to you. >> it's not a boo -- >> it's just yelling. >> it's grunting! >> wildly. that's fantastic. >> you're breaking into a sweat, billy. >> can we just get to break so i can change my shirt? >> it's happening. >> they're like lucky charms. >> fortune cookies. all right, let's show you what's going on as far as your weather's concerned. and we are taking the heat out those wildfires that have been going on, the evacuations have been happening. and unfortunately, that big high pressure system, you can see we've got red flag warnings from just east of san diego, just north of los angeles. 10,000 acres burned, evacuations in effect. look at the heat we're talking about right through the weekend. temperatures will be in the 80s, 90s and 100s. you get into central california, we're into the upper 90s to the 100s. and even as we move into the pacific northwest going into the

well into the mid-to-upper 90s to near 100 degrees. that's what's going on around nice break in heat and humidity. humidity comes down, breezy at times. feel better to be out there. temperatures in the 80s, less humidity, more comfortable. doesn't last long. showers and thunderstorms return tonight, unsettled tomorrow. then plenty of sunshine. a scorcher by id near 90 friday. thunderstorm possible, muggy saturday. scattered storms sunday, 87 reading some notes. >> turn around! a lot of sweat. >> wow! you don't realize how hot it is. why aren't you sweating? you're in a sweater. >> i know. i am sweating, deep inside.

a ring. after golds for u.s. in triple jump, the surprise proposal seen around the world. >> very cute. >> it's romantic, it's cute. and here to talk to us about tuesday's big event, after this. tuesday's big event, after this. >> billy a clean food. words you don't often hear. 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. every bite will be food as it should be. ?? i have been working for the last 12 years. there is a perception amongst dentists that whitening toothpastes are not good for people with sensitive teeth. some are quite abrasive.

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small muslim the only label that matters is olympian. . . ?? we are back in rio with the stars of tuesday's games at one of them wasn't even competing. that's right. team usa's christian taylor took hold the gold until the men's triple jump. >> and look who's next to him, his teammate, will claye took the silver. but after that, claye climbed into the stands and proposed to that beautiful woman sitting right there, his girlfriend, queen harrison, a former olympian herself who's also bringing home an engagement ring. >> wow. >> fellas, welcome! who got the better hardware, you or queen? i think queen might --

me beat. >> this is a repeat of london, right? you guys did gold, silver, same order in london. here we are in the triple jump, you did it again here. you're like the duo in the pool, like lochte and phelps of the triple jump. what's your relationship like? >> obviously, university of florida. >> gators! >> go, gators. >> gators, yes! >> but it's an opportunity that we can go out there and represent u.s. and we just compete day in and day out at practice, so this is just another day training. had an injury with your lead leg. >> yeah, correct. >> and so, you had to change your jumping leg, which is like changing the way you do everything. >> yeah, yeah. >> how were you able to get over that? >> it seemed a bit foolish, yeah, because to win the olympics doing something, why change it? >> yeah. >> but i was having so much pain and i wasn't able to compete at my highest level. and god is so good and i feel like i can be a living testimony

noorks a positive. and yeah, now i'm sitting in front of you, yeah. >> that's amazing. and will, 17.6 meters -- 7.6 meters, on your first attempt, personal best. when you do something like that, what goes through your mind? >> the first thing that went through my mind is the world record is going down today. i was like, christian and i are going to break the world record several times today. and i think that got me a little too juiced, because we never opened up that and christian and i have been competing against each other since '07 and we never opened up that big in a meet. and i think that put nice a mind-set that we're going to take johnson edwards' record down today and we started to tighten up and press a little bit. so you know, we ended up getting our best jump on the first one. >> i heard you woke up in the morning -- as we bring queen in -- and you said it's going to be the best day of my life. it lived up to that. >> look at that!

are now going to be soon making your wife. >> this is my best friend. you know, we've gone through so much together, you know, since 2011. even with her getting fourth place and barely missing the team, she was supposed to be running here as well. and at the time of her event, the 100 hurdles, was at the same time where i proposed. and that kind of took her mind off of that a little bit. >> i'll say. >> how du backpack you've got a ring sitting right there. that's a lot to think about while you're trying to plant all the feet at the right place at the right time. >> yeah, but when you're competing against this guy, you've got to really stay focused. so i was just trying to stay focused on the task at hand. and i knew she'd be in the stands waiting for me when i finished up. >> that's awesome. >> that's great. hey, is your girlfriend here, by the way? >> yeah. >> oh, boy. >> she's backstage. >> a little pressure on you.

>> i just changed my planting leg. i've got to do one thing at a time. >> queen, congratulations, too. it's amazing. we're so proud of you guys. coming up, she packs quite a punch. the boxer whose inspirational story could soon be hitting the big i'm home. hey, it's dinner. a lot happens on your wooden surfaces. luckily, no one cleans and kills germs better

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that's so interesting honey because i'm going to share a photo of my eggo waffle when it pops up. (whispers) l'eggo my eggo anncr: golden crispy, warm and fluffy eggo waffles. l'eggo my eggo. ?? wow, look at that beach. that looks fantastic. wouldn't you like to be out on there right now, billy? >> yeah. in that water. here's a little -- look at this, turn around. billy's got -- they've got sea breeze now on his neck. >> you smell like my teenage years. >> oh, i didn't realize that was still there! >> smells good. as today's events kick off, let's look at where the medal count stands now. >> how are we doing? >> the u.s. beatdown continues. >> ooh! >> another -- >> total domination. >> -- full day of competition ahead of us. we've got some good times. here, though -- >> yes, billy?

china/great britain race. 51 and 50. >> all right, well, here are some of the olympians you need to know about. >> want to hear? i'll start right now. >> you got it. >> check her out. a woman on a team of her own, 25-year-old long jumper daria klushina. she is the only russian track and field athlete allowed to compete in these games. >> she is gorgeous. >> stop and talk about how gorgeous she is. the rest of the russian track and field team was suspended due to doping allegations. the court of arbitration for because she's been living in the united states and took u.s.-supervised drug tests. >> ah. >> daria said on facebook "with the appeal now behind me, i can thankfully focus my time and attention on competing tomorrow night and continue to enjoy my olympic experience which i've dreamed of since i started jumping as a young girl." tonight she hopes to bring a medal home with the women's long jump. >> she must be lonely. i feel bad for her. >> well she's got other

are competing for different countries. ashton competing for team usa, brianne for team canada. so, it might seem like a house divided, but they train together and motivate each other to stay on track, even calling themselves team north america. >> nice. >> i like the sound of that. they met at the university of oregon, they tied the knot in 2013. with they are coach officiating the wedding. and on sunday, brianne won the bronze in the heptathlon, becomi event. and ashton there was seen sporting a team canada hat. but tonight, it's his, it's b brianne's turn to support him maybe with a team usa hat. >> and claressa shields was born in flint, michigan. her father was in and out of prison most of her childhood while her mom struggled with

her dad taught her about boxing, telling her that out of muhammad ali's kids, only laila became a boxer. she wanted to do the same. boxing gave her purpose and helped channel her anger. tonight the 21-year-old defends her olympic title, hoping to become the first female boxer to win gold twice. and still ahead, at safelite, we know how busy life can be. these kids were headed to their first dance recital... ...when their windshield got cracked... ...but they couldn't miss the show. and in just a few clicks, he scheduled a replacement... ...before the girls even took the stage. safelite-dot-com is the fast, easy way to schedule service anywhere in america! so you don't have to miss a thing. y'all did wonderful! that's another safelite advantage. (girls sing) safelite repair, safelite replace. general mills is removing artificial flavors

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. lincoln inbound tunnel moving nicely, 9:27 on august 17th. i am michael gargiulo. a water main b streets in hoboken at 4:30 this morning near first and harrison. chopper 4 first on the scene. appears the water since has been turned off. the road shows signs of damage. no word how long repairs will take. it is closed between harrison and marshall. hundreds of utility customers in the area are still without power. most outages due to yesterday's powerful storms. some families had to rely on generators.

and sparked a fire there. last check, 300 outages are scattered in westchester. just over 100 in the five boroughs. investigators trying to figure out if strong winds caused scaffolding to collapse, came down on clinton avenue last night. left the sidewalk covered with pieces of wood and metal. let's check the weather. here is chris cimino. >> little bit of a break coming our way today. mix of clouds and sunshine, miles per hour. making it comfortable. humidity is down for awhile. high temperature is 89. tonight, clouding over, after midnight and morning, couple of showers and thunderstorms possible. evening is dry with low of 75. tomorrow has a couple of showers and thunderstorms. 90 with sunshine. muggier weekend, late day storm saturday. better chance for storms sunday, lingering into monday as well. coming up on the "today" show, al sits down with members

they take on hungary in the semifinals. see you in a half hour. have a great day. maybe almond breeze tastes so good because it's the only almondmilk made with california blue diamond almonds. but if you ask our almond growers... there's no maybe about it. almond breeze. the best almonds make the best almondmilk.

taking a look at the headlines, a southern california wildfire that spread quickly overnight has forced more than 80,000 people from their homes. the fire broke out early tuesday in the hills and canyons of san bernardino county, east of los angeles. it has already burned 28 square unknown number of homes. in louisiana, about 8,000 people remained in emergency shelters overnight as they waited for floodwaters to recede. about 40,000 homes have been damaged by heavy rain and flooding that started last weekend. at least 11 deaths are blamed on the high water, most of them in baton rouge. more proof this morning that a healthy lifestyle can help prevent memory loss and alzheimer's disease. researchers at ucla studied 44

dementia. brain scans showed that a healthy bmi, physical activity and a mediterranean diet were each linked to fewer of the plaques and tangles associated with alzheimer's disease. experts say this is the first study to show how lifestyle affects the brain before serious memory problems develop. if you're hopping a flight this labor day weekend, you're not alone. travel insiders are predicting a 4% boost over last year. they point to expanded flight schedules and cheaper airfare for the ticket costs about 5% less than in 2015. and a happy ending tuesday for six adorable puppies that got trapped in a hole underneath a home in oklahoma city. firefighters pulled each puppy to safety, one by one. the dogs were later reunited with their owners and all appear to be doing just fine. now let's head back to rio and get a check of the weather from al with some special guests. good morning.

who have stopped by. jenny simpson taking home bronze in the women's 1500-meter. kayla took bronze in sailing, add weg two more silver medals to her election. thank you so much for being here. jenny, first of all, first american woman ever to win a medal in the 1500 meters. how does that feel? >> it feels incredible. to have a moment in sport that tr the country, i feel so honored to be the woman to do it. >> and sarah, you quit cycling at one point, you sold your equipment, but then you got inspired watching the olympics in athens and you never looked back. you really are the epitome of never giving up. >> yeah, absolutely, and the power that the olympics has on people. so it was the olympics that made me realize that, you know, everything i've been dreaming of that i just threw it away and that was my inspiration to come back. and now i've got these.

had this been a dream of yours as well? >> yeah, absolutely. and it's just great to have it all come true in the end and what a great place to go sailing as well, scenery. >> well, guys, congratulations. we're all so very proud. >> thank you. >> thank you very much. it's really terrific. all right. well, we've got more, but sunshine out there. mixed with a few clouds. it is still quite warm. high of 89. no storms to worry about. first half of tonight quiet. showers and thunderstorms come up from the south, low temperature 75. humidity back tomorrow with varying amounts of clouds and sun, possible thunderstorm, high of 87 near 90 for friday, lots of sunshine. upper 80s on the weekend. more humidity. scattered showers and storms late sunday lasting into monday. and that is your latest weather, guys.

guessed it but al is actually a superfan of one of the mosts aggressive and physical competitions at the games. >> amazing for someone who swims with floaties. the american's water polo team won gold at the london games and won against brazil in the quarterfinals. this afternoon they'll meet hungary in the semis. >> that's right, and they are hungry for gold. i got to spend time with this team and their goalke ashleigh johnson, the first african-american woman to suit up, block and save at the net for this team. >> wow. >> the united states controls from start to finish. >> on monday, the u.s. women's water polo team defeated brazil in their quest for gold in the semifinals. >> they were fortunate enough to play in that gold medal game, then it would be a great opportunity for us. >> the teams got an impressive record here in rio. defeated hungary, spain, and china --

>> with a strong offense -- >> easily just bats that one away. >> -- and defense in goalkeeper ashleigh johnson, who's changing the face of this sport. you're the first black goalie. >> yes. >> for olympic women's water polo. do you think about that? >> i know that's what people think about when they see me. now it's a big part of me as a player. >> there could be a young, black girl or hispanic girl o who's watching, and think i could do that. >> for sure. i know that me being at this level in this sport is opening a door for other kids. it's really cool to be able to be that person that little girls can look up to. >> how many of you are from california? ashleigh, i didn't see your hand go up. unlike her teammates, johnson grew up in miami. >> i have four siblings, and we all needed something to do during the summer, so my mom was

included in the cost, so we all did it and we loved it. >> look at that wingspan there, just a fingertip on it, just enough. that's her fifth save. >> reporter: the 21-year-old princeton student is also setting a new standard as goalkeeper. >> ashleigh johnson is one of the greatest athletes i've ever seen play water polo. coach kerkorian for the u.s. team says she's one of the most athletically gifted goalkeepers. >> many people call you one of the best water polo goalies in the bit different than it's been played before. like, i'm very active. and just being a part of the best team in the world makes me look better. >> at her recent practice here in rio, we saw johnson in action. >> people don't realize how mentally engaging it is. you just have to work with your teammates and work by yourself to make the game happen. >> ashleigh johnson played that

>> who's most late for practice? [ laughter ] >> wow! nobody even hesitated! part of this strategy? just have fun. >> we can make fun of almost anything on our team and jokes go on for forever. >> this team's ready and set to strike gold. >> we represent the usa and we're inspiring little boys, little girls, adults, people from the other side of the world. that i think would really be >> i never imagined that i'd be here today. i have my team behind me and i have my family behind me, and i just want to make everyone proud. >> usa! >> well, as the u.s. women's water polo team defends its medal, ashleigh johnson goes into the record books. and by the way, look who became

team, olympic tweeter leslie jones, receiving a robe courtesy of american water polo, just like the one the players wear. this is like rugby in the water. >> incredible. >> i've never seen anything like it. >> it's four quarters -- >> 8-minute quarters. >> treading water, fighting in the pool. >> treading, fighting -- >> it's like the butter churner. >> unbelievable. >> i can't imagine anything more physical. it's so hard. >> man! >> coming up next --

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?? oh, cannot wait for this! time for "today food in rio." the art of churrasco! don't you want to be closer to the grill? >> i'm just fine where i am. brazilians take great pride in their hearty, flavorful cuisine. one meal really stands out, the barbecued meet.

chef goucho is here to show us the authentic way to make a churrasco. good morning. >> absolutely. good morning. >> we've got lots of meat here, too. >> a lot of meat here and of course a great churrasco should always start at the market table, fresh salads, cheeses, hearts of palm. but today we're going to focus on the meats, and i'm going to be making some lamb chops. >> al's favorite. al's a big lamb guy. >> love it. >> help me out here. >> you bet. >> first we get lamb and we cut in two, all two bones like that. >> okay. >> then we skewer that. want to skewer one? >> don't poke your hand, al. >> nice and easy. want to do it? >> now, if people want to do this at home, how can they approximate what you guys do? >> well, it's a good -- just get the lamb like a good source and a nice rack of lamb. then we're going to teach you

you can make it at home. and it's really quick. we're using lemon pepper. so a couple spoonfuls right there. and we also use sea salt, like all of the meats. very traditional salt in brazil. the only thing pretty much we use. like on the red meats, it would be sea salt. then we have mint leaves. >> oh, that's good. >> mint leaves. >> a little bit of lime juice. there we go. >> yeah, mm-hmm. then, of course, some wine. >> ah. just white wine? >> yeah, just white wine. >> nice. >> just like that. >> and how long are you going to let it marinade for? >> actually, what we do is it's -- and i'll show you. we're going to just -- just before we put the lamb on the grill, we kind of sprinkle that marinade over the top. >> ah. >> so, it's actually very salty -- >> and you look at what's going on over there.

that's on the grill? >> that's the famous one, right? >> al's done with the preparation. >> oh, that's what we're looking for. >> more of the lamb. that's perfection. >> i cooked them right here for you. it's actually fresh. >> excellent. >> you can help yourself right there. >> i'm going to wait for the picana. that's my thing. i love that. the best. >> let's go for the picana then. >> thank you. >> thank you very much. appreciate it. >> for these recipes and more, head to our website at today.com/food. coming up next, game, set, match! with a night of dinner and beach

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?? last night it was u.s. and april ross. they took on the hometown heroes from brazil during the semifinals round for the women's beach volleyball. >> that's right. well, this time, i wasn't alone cheering on our ladies. billy and natalie joined me in the stands for the midnight showdown. it was definitely a game for the record books. >> first off, we had a little nap. >> yeah. >> because it was a late-night game, midnight game, then a little brazilian food, and of course, a cocktail or two, or three in his case. then we headed to the stadium to

>> all right, night out, whoo! >> i'm calling hoda one last time to see where our dinner date is. hello, hoda. >> your loss, hoda! i will do a -- >> what's it called? [ speaking foreign language ] >> the bull! i'll have that. >> who doesn't bring their cat to the restaurant? >> that is like a baby cat >> no, no, no, the cat -- >> going in the bag? >> it's got little window! >> what? >> it's in its onielow submarine! >> can you let the cat out of the bag? ?? [ speaking foreign language ] >> what's that? >> here's to the late night. >> whoo! >> yeah! >> we're going all night, kids! all right, gentlemen.

>> i'm going to steal roker's fries. >> go ahead. >> these are fantastic. >> you're one of the cheerleaders, aren't you? >> are you a cheerleader? >> you're a cheerleader, right? >> yes. >> here comes a boom! here comes a boom, boom, boom, boom! >> ooh, ooh, ooh! >> we've got the best seats in the house. yay! >> i have an interview question for both of you. how did we get these seats? >> it's called the roker. >> oh! explosive in here tonight! >> i think we're a little outnumbered tonight. >> here we go! it's on, boys. it's on. oh! beware of the lefty! beware of the lefty! >> oh! >> monster block! >> come on, everybody, it's

>> ah! ?? >> waiting on a miracle. >> they can win it here. agatha puts it away! >> that was amazing. >> amazing. >> that was the fiercest fight i've ever seen on beach volleyball. >> amazing. >> oh, but it was sad. we were heartbroken for kerri and also for april, but they gave it their best. >> she hugged everybody. >> she was such a class act, they were great. >> hugged every staff member afterwards. >> 10:00. >> 10:00 for the bronze medal match. >> kerri and april battle it out with the other brazilian team for bronze tonight. >> going to be another hard one. >> let's do the brazilian tan.

this is "today" on nbc!

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?? before we go, an update. we told you about abbey d'agostino running behind nikki hamblin from new zealand -- >> that little trip in the 5000-meter race. >> they were going to let them both run. >> both were allowed to run in the final on friday night in the 5000-meter. sadly, we find out abbey d'agostino has a career-ending knee injury. >> so sad. >> so, after doing the right thing, she will not be able to race. bless her heart. >> well, we are certainly thinking about her, wish her the best. meantime, don't miss our prime time coverage. >> and of course, we have our daytime olympic coverage hosted daytime olympic coverage hosted by my when people ask me what it's like

your bronze. your silver. your gold. and liberty mutual insures them all. liberty mutual is proud to insure every team usa medal won in rio, just like we protect the medals you've earned in life. liberty stands with you.

9:57. august 17th. i am michael gargiulo. learning new information about the house fire in new jersey. officials say seven had to go to the hospital, several had to jump out of windows after the only staircase in the home went up in flames. a five-year-old girl trapped on the top floor in critical condition. her grandmother critically

entire body, hanging out a window when rescued. more spraying for mosquitos in manhattan and queens. zika hasn't been found in new york city. yesterday officials confirm nearly 500 cases are here, including 49 pregnant women. for a look at the weather, chris cimino. >> a little break coming our way today. we have mix of clouds and sunshine, breezy afternoon. winds out of the west 15 to 20 miles per hour. making it comfortable. humidity down. high temperature 89. tonight clouding over. after midnight and morning, couple of showers and thunderstorms possible. evening is dry, low of 75. tomorrow features showers and thunderstorms. more humidity. 8790 with sunshine friday. muggy weekend, late day storm saturday, better chance sunday, lingering into monday as well. coming up next, live coverage of the rio olympics. join us again for news 4 new

on "today" in new york. have a great day everyone. ??? ??? ??? ???

usain bolt, still invincible. >> first man in history to win three 100 meter olympic crowns in a row. ?? beautiful weather is no surprise in this olympic city. and today temperatures are headed for the upper 80s here in rio during a very busy day on the track at olympic stadium. from our studio on copacabana beach, good morning. it is day 12 of the rio games. we have seven hours of daytime coverage ahead. we take you straight to track and field today.