>> have a great night. see you at 7:30. on this saturday night, nbc news exclusive. ryan lochte with matt lauer admitting his tale about being robbed in rio isn't the whole truth. golden moments. more olympic zika zone. growing worries after that virus is found in a popular destination for tourists. the measure some are taking to protect themselves in miami beach. faces of war. the symbol of an unending conflict. more on the desperate plight of so many syrian children with no way out. it's not just a vacation.

now. >> announcer: this is "nbc nightly news" reporting tonight from the olympic games in rio, peter alexander. >> good evening. after an exhilarating couple weeks of competition here in rio, it remains the biggest blemish on these games. an embarrassing episode involving ryan lochte and several teammates. tonight with the last of the four american home, lochte is opening up about the controversy in an exclusive interview with matt lauer. the 32-year-old calling his behavior that night immature and childish. lochte says he takes full responsibility for his actions and for not telling the full story from the start. >> you told me on the phone line, you said, we are victims here. we are victims, and

they're not victims, they're vandals. how do you feel about that? >> it's how you want to make it look like. whether you call it a robbery, whether you call it extortion or just us paying for the damages, we don't know. all we know is there was a gun pointed in our direction and we were demanded to give money. >> gunner in his statement to police said at some point someone who spoke english walked over and offered t translate this altercation, and he made it clear that the security guard was telling the four of you, you need to pay for that stuff, that damage, before you can leave here or i'm going to call the police. you understood that at that time, didn't you? >> yeah, so then we had to give the money. >> at that point, you're striking a deal. you're striking a deal to pay for what damage you've caused so he

become a bigger incident. isn't that fair? >> we just wanted to get out of there. there was a gun pointed in our direction. we were all frightened, and we wanted to get out of there as quick as possible. and the only way we knew is this guy saying you have to give him money. so we gave him money and we got out. >> the first version of the story you told was much more about the mean streets of rio, and the version we're hearing now is much more about an negotiated settlement to cover up some dumb behavior. >> and that's why i'm taing full responsibility for it because it overexaggerated that story. if i had never done that, we wouldn't be in this mess. those guys would never be in rio -- were in rio. none of this would have happened and it was my immature behavior.

lauer's exclusive conversation with ryan lochte. you can see more of matt's interview with lochte tonight in our primetime coverage and monday morning on "today." here in rio, team usa keeps dominating as these games come to a close. just consider this. if the american women formed their own team here, they would have the third most golds of any country, looking to their medal count tonight. >> usain bolt puts them away and charges to the lead. >> reporter: usain bolt won jamaican bragging rights once again after securing perfection for himself. three straight olympics, nine races, nine golds -- an extraordinary finale to his olympic career. >> the triple-triple is in the books. why would you want to stop now? >> because i'm tired.

were draped in red white and blue. >> it is just now starting to sink in they've been disqualified. >> reporter: but it was wiped out in an instant. it cost team usa's first trip to the medal stand since athens in 2004. >> what are they saying happened? >> they're saying we changed the path a little too early before the exchan appealed the violation without success, forfeiting the bronze to canada. after nearly dropping a golden opportunity in a qualifying heat, saved by an interference call, american women sprinted into glory, defending their london gold with a thrilling repeat in rio. allyson felix has more olympic gold than any other woman in track history. >> i think we felt

and you will you can do is keep fighting and that's what you did. >> there's your olympic gold medallist and for the first time ever she's from the united states. >> reporter: emotion rushing to the surface when it was over. similar sentiments in women's water polo. another u.s. gold. players honoring their coach whose brother died suddenly in california days before the games began. and no surprise on the hardwood. the united states women powered to a sixth straight gold medal. another big honor for gymnast simone biles tonight. she's been named the flag bearer for team usa for tomorrow night's closing ceremony. the u.s. could add to its lead. >> biles a perfect picture, a 4'9" giant. back home in the united states, the zika virus is sparking

disease has spread to one of the country's most popular tourist destinations. how people are responding to the health risk and the potential impact on the economy there. >> reporter: day or night, the rhythm of south beach is alive. outdoor caves, white sand beaches, and tourists everywhere, but now a portion of south beach is also a zika zone as five new cases of locally acquired zika emerge fo in nearby wynwood several weeks earlier. bill croft has managed sprees for 18 years and fears what word of its spread might mean for business and tourists like the allen family from ohio. >> viruses are more difficult to treat than bacterial infections. >> reporter: tourism drives miami's

$24.4 billion. at this local gathering for expectant moms, the jitters were all too real. >> i'm confined to the indoors most of the time. >> reporter: zika can cause miscarriages and birth defects, with studies show trisemesters. >> you never know if you're safe or not. >> reporter: today insecticide spray continued. >> we think this is something that we can contain. >> reporter: south florida hoping this latest outbreak is stopped in its tracks soon with life returning to normal. some people are concerned while others are actually putting their lives on hold like those pregnant mothers you just met.

clear. peter? >> thanks. in politics, donald trump is campaigning in virginia tonight, trying to move beyond a week have turmoil. also trying to connect with a group of voters who have largely dismissed his campaign. jacob rascon with our report. >> reporter: donald trump trailing by double digits looking to reboot his campaign. >> and it is going to now on. >> reporter: under new management, scripted, even modest. >> it is encouraging to see him be a little bit more humble, be a little bit more on script. >> i think he probably needed this, yes, and i think it is working out for him real well. >> reporter: trump now courting african-americans, polling with that group at 1%. >> you're living in poverty. you're schools are no good. you have no jobs.

unemployed. what the hell do you have to lose? >> reporter: trump also reaching out to hispanics. >> welcome to the world of trump. >> reporter: today hosting a roundtable with hispanic leaders flanked by his third campaign chief in two months. meeting with law enforcement members. among those not impressed with trump's reboot, hillary clinton. her new web attacking trump's rare declaration of regret with his own words. >> do you regret saying that specifically? >> no, not at all. >> reporter: polls show hillary clinton with a nine-point lead nationally, but both candidates vulnerable. just 17% say trump has the personality and temperament to serve as president. only 11% say clinton is honest and trustworthy. a number not helped by clinton's ongoing

her to give written answers to a conservative law group that filed a lawsuit over the issue. 20 events planned in the next 11 days. some hosted by hollywood celebrities. trump just wrapped up a virginia rally here reading off a prompter for the fifth time this week. during the roundtable with hispanic leaders, about what to do with the 11 million estimated undocumented immigrants in the country. he expressed an openness to doing something other than deport all those immigrants. we turn to syria now. more tragic news this evening involving the family of that wounded boy whose image is igniing renewed

report tonight. >> reporter: three days after 5-year-old omran became the face of aleppo, his 10-year-old brother has died. he succumbed to wounds he received during the same air strike that destroyed his family's home earlier this week. there will be more. at least 100,000 children remain caught in aleppo's crossfire. the home of these three siblings air strike. british aide worker has spent the past four years helping syrians. he filmed these images in an aleppo hospital this last week. >> every time i close my eyes, i see the faces. i've seen a lot of death in my time here, but for me, one of the most difficult things to see is children. >> reporter: sharif is a father himself. he and doctors in this

food and medicine, but more than anything they need an end to the fighting. hospitals are regular targets. only a few dozen doctors are left in the city. >> we want the bombing and shelling to stop. that's the only thing that's left that we want. >> reporter: but it is the children that are carrying the burden of this expanding war. president assad's forces launched devastating air strikes on more news. still ahead tonight, above and beyond.

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sinking. >> i don't want to drown. >> reporter: a cameraman from tv station wafb captured the unfolding drama. they tried smashing the window with a pole. the car was disappearing. for david, there was only one thing left to do. >> i just didn't want to see this lady die in front of me and i couldn't do nothing. >> get my get my dog. get my dog now. >> i knew she wasn't going back to the boat without her dog. >> reporter: to this day, david doesn't know the woman's name or anything about her or the dog for that matter. >> i'm just doing what everybody else down here who has their own boat, good samaritan, would do. >> reporter: with all the misery piling up in louisiana after devastating flooding, people here look for the bright spots. and they may have

drama rescue by a stranger willing to help. charles hadlock, nbc news, baton rouge, louisiana. >> that guy is a real hero. when we come back, we're going to meet a world-class american athlete who has been i am totally blind. i lost my sight in afghanistan. if you're totally blind, you may also be struggling with non-24. calling 844-844-2424.

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concern tonight about the paralympics which begin in this city just 18 days from now. organizers are slashing their budget as a result of poor sponsorship and ticket sales. listen to this. at last count, just 12% of tickets have been sold. officials say that means some competition sites will be closed and staffing level lss will be reduced. still none of it is dampening the spirits of more than 4,000 athletes from more than 160 countries that are paralympics. one of them is michael brangan. he just happens to have autism. kate snow has his story. >> reporter: mikey brangan simply loves to run. have you had to train yourself to hold back

and his family, the road to rio goes all the way back to when he was a toddler and diagnosed with autism. >> he went from crawling to running and he would be running right into the walls. >> reporter: you were afraid he would be hurting himself? >> he had to hurt himself. >> reporter: his parents worried about his future, but when mikey was 7, his dad found a running program called rolling thunder and something just clicked. the running calmed him and with the support of his coaches mikey started to win. we first met mikey two years ago. do you think autism makes you a better runner? >> a better person. >> reporter: a better person? >> every time i brought him to a race or a practice, he was just a regular kid. knowing all the other stuff that goes on, everything goes away

high school he started training with olympians and paralympians in chula vista, california. >> he moves his body like classical music, effortless. >> mikey represents hope for so many people. >> reporter: last fall winning gold at the world championships. >> i'm in top shape. >> reporter: his family will be there cheering him on. >> now i see everything as a gift. mikey is perfect. through this journey and inspire other people. autistic people can be elite athletes. they can. >> reporter: and mikey's advice -- >> try your best, find what you love, and stick with it and fall in love with it. >> reporter: when you find that thing like you found running, it's magic, isn't it? >> yes, it's magic. >> reporter: magic that could turn to

east north port, new york. >> now everybody is going to be rooting for mikey. up next, we're for mikey. up next, we're go you don't know this yet for mikey. up next, we're go but in fifteen hundred miles, you'll see what you're really made of. after five hours of spinning and one unfortunate ride on the gravitron, your grandkids spot a 6 foot banana that you need to win. in that moment, you'll be happy you partnered with a humana care manager and got your health back on track. because that banana isn't coming home with you until that bell sings. your health is ready for them. at humana, we can help you with a personalized plan for your health for years to come. don't let dust and allergens get between you and life's beautiful moments.

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finally tonight from here in brazil, a journey into the amazon way north of this olympic park in rio. it is a stunning area

>> reporter: deep in the amazon is a family raising their children in the wild, learning about the jungles firsthand. like how to recognize the mark of a predator. that's where a jaguar climbed the tree. >> one year ago around. >> reporter: now their 9-year-old daughter kenna can call to monkeys. while her dad leo te natural insect repellant -- ants. they bite you. there are 390 billion trees in the amazon. we climbed one 180-feet high. don't look down, right? >> you can look if you want. >> reporter: anytime you're concerned about your daughter's safety, remember this

jungle. this tree has been here 200, maybe 300 years, and from our drone, you can see what i can see -- the vast, stunning canopy of the ancient amazon. but leo does worry about his forest. >> the forest is weakening. >> reporter: because of climate change? >> yeah, sure. >> reporter: last year was the driest he's ever seen, leo says. while deforestation has slowed, the amazon is still losing most folks worry about their family and home. the home this family worries about concerns us all. pierce simmons, nbc news, the amazon. >> who needs deet when you have got ants? that's "nightly news" for this saturday. i'm peter alexander in rio. for all of us here at nbc news, thanks for watching.

ashley roberts (voiceover): the eyes of the world are firmly fixed on rio. yes, in case you've been living under a rock, it's the 2016 summer olympic games. but tonight, we will be shining a spotlight on the sports and the athletes that are emerging from the olympic shadow. journey has been challenging. last season i dislocated my shoulder twice. wow. and my sport is all really dynamic in my shoulder. ashley roberts (voiceover): and at times heartbreaking, but they are returning stronger, inspiring the next generation of olympians along the way. professional. ashley roberts (voiceover): it's all about the comeback, tonight on 1st look.