let us go back to new york.

savannah? >> we are still covering this raging wildfire in california that has grown even larger overnight that threatens even more homes now. how are crews going to get it under control? we'll take you there live when we give you the news in a couple minutes. back to you in rio. >> savannah, thank you very much. let us begin this morning with that alleged armed robbery targeting ryan lochte and three teammates. brazilian authorities investigate diskrepensy in their story. >> reporter: ryan lochte at home watching events unfold. two teammates pulled from the plane interrogated for hours. another teammate, jimmy feigen is in rio at an unknown location.

leaving a rio de janeiro police station now at the center of an embarrassing international incident surrounded by cameras refusing to answer questions. >> ryan lochte is sticking to his story. are you doing the same thing? >> reporter: hours earlier jack conger and gunnar bentz were removed from their flight. >> they are cooperating to the full extent they've been able to. >> are they protesting about the treated. >> not as far as i know. >> all three were with ryan lochte when he said they were robbed at gunpoint early sunday. lochte arriving back in north carolina on what was a prescheduled flight wednesday hours before a brazilian judge ordered him to say. lochte telling matt on the phone he's sticking by his story but some details have changed saying the taxi he was in was not forced off the road. they stopped at a gas station to

were robbed. the intense focus on this security footage showing men hours after the alleged crime. the brazilian judge says it looks like the swimmers are joking around. lochte now telling matt they were in shock. and he says the gun was pointed at him and not held to his head as he first told "today's" billy bush. >> the guy pulled out his gun. he cocked it. put it to my forehead. he said get down. i puty whatever. >> reporter: brazilian detectives want the swimmers to explain discrepancies in their earlier stories. that snapchat video was posted at 2:25 p.m. nearly five hours later the swimmers arrived here at the olympic village. the question is what happened in that time? the security footage is time stamped 6:56 a.m. lochte and feigen told police

at 4:00 a.m. court documents reveal but police believe it was later. >> is it really justified to pull olympic gold medal winning u.s. athletes from a plane? >> there was a court order. court orders have to be followed. >> and i asked the detective how long will this process take. he told me last night that is up to the court suggesting more will emerge in time saying, matt and hoda, we have got access to some more. >> all right, keir. thanks. >> it's a tricky legal situation. for more on that let's go to savannah in new york. >> i want to bring in nbc's chief legal correspondent. some questions here. first of all, is lochte in the clear just by virtue of not being in brazil anymore? is there anything that could bring him back to brazil to face these questions? >> for the investigation he's probably in the clear unless this actually got so much farther along that there were some kind of charges and then you could have international proceedings around that.

on the story line if this soup gets thicker, it won't be liquid. it's hard to follow exactly why the story has changed so much which doesn't mean they're lying. in investigations you have discrepancies but there are a lot here. >> major inconsistencies that's a red flag to the brazilian authorities. what about the two athletes yanked off the plane? what's the authority for brazilians to be able to do that and what are they facing now? >> they're subject to the laws the united states would be subject to our laws and they do have a strong investigative format here not unlike what we consider in the united states with subpoenas where you can pull people. the decision to do it within the context of the olympics and no greater public evidence that we're aware of does seem to be aggressive. having said that, they're subject to questioning and potential charges if there are false or misleading statements to authorities that could carry

under the 1986 brazilian constitution they have a right to remain silent. they could actually with good lawyering stay out of most of this. that would raise potentially more questions if you were the victim of the crime, why would you need to be silent by explaining exactly what happened to you. >> as you said legally the soup is getting thicker. thank you so much. we'll send it back to you in rio. >> savannah, thanks very much. as much as i respect ari, i don't think the story has there are a couple details that have changed. the basics of the story have remained the same. you talked to him first. >> one thing we're hearing that's different is that he told me that the car was sideswiped and pulled over to gas station. it was not sideswiped. car was standing still when

there was no gun to my head. he embellished when he told the guy, look, i'm not getting down on the ground. if you got a gun, you can use it. he told me that. he never had that dirty harry moment. >> what was his demeanor when he explained it all? >> he was tired and shocked that it happened. he talked about the surveillance tape of the athletes returning at 7:00. the judge said they were joking and casual. we weren't we were in shock. i asked him pointedly, i said there are skeptics who think this story was concocted to hide some kind of other embarrassing behavior. something you didn't want people to know about. were you with someone you shouldn't be with? he was adamant about that. he said, no, that didn't happen. we wouldn't make this story up. we were victims and we're lucky and happy to be safe. >> it's interesting to me. i spoke to ryan lochte four

village. they had been out all night long. he's not the kind that can weave a brilliant tale when he hasn't been out all night long. the fact he told this story makes me think he could not have invented the whole thing. >> it's not over. >> definitely isn't. billy, thanks. let's move on now to the competitive action here in rio. day 12 was another big one for team usa including history making performances on the track. natalie is here with all of the details. what a great -- >> u.s. women winning first gold medals in track. highlights from another busy night in rio. for team usa, an olympic first. a clean sweep in the women's 100 meter hurdles. three americans shutting out the

nia ali silver and kristi castlin, bronze. >> i'm so excited. we're blessed. we came out here and did our best and came out here and sweeped. >> on the other side of the track, american women took the top two spots in the long jump. the teammates ecstatic after their win. in women's 200 meter final, usa's start settling for bronze. >> thompson stride for stride. >> thompson won the 100 meters grabbed her second gold here in rio. at the same time on copacabana beach, the u.s. women's beach volleyball team was back in the spotlight. kerri walsh jennings and april ross defeating brazil for the bronze medal. >> it's over. >> just one night after their

for the gold. >> i'm so honored to have won this. as an athlete, i swear to god this is the hardest match i ever played in my life. >> in water polo, the usa team hungry. now they're preparing to face italy hoping to win their second consecutive gold medal. and silver in the steeplechase. first american to do that since 1984. sights on his second gold. taking first place in the long jump and finishing the night with 400 meters. he's now in the lead gearing up for the second day of competition. >> of course i'm trying to win. if a record is there, i'll try

>> the world's fastest man looking to add to his legacy. usain bolt finishing 200 meter semifinal. bolt holds the world record in the event and will go for third straight gold in the 200 finals tonight. >> got to love that shared smile. u.s. dominating the medal count. 93 through the first 12 days of china in second followed by great britain and russia right there. what should you look forward to today? more track and field action including usain bolt in men's 200 meter final. that's a big one. gold medal match in beach volleyball as well. >> signature smile. >> i love it. >> guess what? coming up we'll talk to the final five about their dominance in gnastics right here in rio. >> and don't forget natalie just

8:00, 7:00 central time on nbc. let's go back to savannah in new york. >> guys, thank you so much. in the news this morning, that massive out of control wildfire raging in southern california is only getting bigger this morning. more than 40 square miles have now been scorched. an untold number of homes destroyed. >> reporter: good morning. it's the blue cut fire that continues scorched and devastated including the summit inn behind me. it was a favorite of clint eastwood and elvis presley. overnight out of control flames fed by dry brush and whipping winds. fire crews unable to keep the fast moving blue cut fire in check. >> in my 40 years of fighting fire, i have never seen fire behavior so extreme. >> reporter: san bernardino county is just the latest

battling wildfires fueled by a brutal heat wave and five-year drought. firefighters attacking from the air and on the ground. more than 82,000 evacuees, many rushing to get out. >> scary. i just left. i got my pictures, my dogs and left. >> reporter: on wednesday we got a firsthand look at the devastation. >> unfortunately this fire came upon us so quickly with little to no warning that the possibility does exist that somebody was not able to this fire. >> reporter: there is some good news this morning. interstate 15, the main thoroughfare that connects southern california and nevada now reopened but only in one direction going northbound and this fire continues to burn. a lot of residents unsure of what comes next. the fire only 4% contained right now. >> tough times there. jo, thank you so much. we move to the presidential race. donald trump hitting the trail for the first time since the

this as hillary clinton takes aim at trump's new team. nbc's hallie jackson is at trump tower for us this morning. hallie, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. and this morning with that new team in place, it's a return to an old motto, let trump be trump after that de facto demotion for his former top aide, today trump heads to a swing state for the first time since the shake-up, north carolina, after installing a new ceo and campaign man to turn around trump's slipping poll numbers. senior adviser tells nbc news that means we'll see the notoriously off the cuff candidate on script more often, reading from a teleprompter more frequently. hillary clinton saying he can hire and fire whoever he wants, he's still in his words shown us who he is. she's taking aim at him this morning with a new ad looking at his taxes arguing he should release them as trump gets ready

he's got his first tv ad for the general election set to air starting tomorrow in four battleground states. >> hallie, thank you so much. it's 7:16. let's send it back to the guys in rio. >> all right, savannah. thank you very much. mr. roker, a little cooler here today. not so in parts of the u.s. >> especially where they don't need the heat. we're talking about out west where fire danger continues high. you can see we have red flag warnings and fire weather watches stretching from california all of the pacific northwest. over 25,000 acres burned. 1,300 people on that blue cut fire. look at these winds. gusting up to 40 miles an hour. southern california, 35 miles per hour. and the temperatures are going to be 5 to 20 degrees above average with record low humidity and we're looking at record heat not just in california but also up into the pacific northwest. it goes into the latter part of the weekend with temperatures into the 90s.

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>> that's your latest weather. >> al, thanks so much. coming up, kerri walsh jennings and april ross bouncing back to win bronze in women's beach volleyball. this morning they'll celebrate right here with us on copacabana beach. >> there they are. also the most dominant women's gymnastics team ever. what's next for the final five after

just ahead, the americans

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?? we're back now on a thursday morning. it's the 18th day of august, 2016. it's anotherat along copacabana beach. 13th day of the summer olympic games. a chant of usa in the background for good reason. >> every now and then we have gold, silver, bronze. >> we're going to tell you about this little setup here in the photo we're recreating in a second. let's look at headlines. ryan lochte's teammates expected to talk to brazilian police

group. two swimmers were taken off plane and detained at rio's airport before being released overnight. lochte is back in the u.s. we talked to him last night. his story that he told us is the same as the story he told on sunday. >> also we have american ashton eaton holding the lead heading into today's final events of the decathlon. he came in second in the gold from london. >> all right. and the u.s. trio, brianna rollins, nia ali and kristi castlin combined for the first sweep of the 100 meter hurdles in olympic history. all three hurdlers are with us. ladies, congratulations. >> wow.

it was so exciting. you seem to get off to great start. >> i did. i tried to stay composed and just stay focused on my own 10 hurdles to make sure i got to the line. i am so grateful to god for getting us through. >> when you were watching the results come in, it was clear that there was a first. and then there was a collective breath. tell us about what it felt like when you knew w bronze. >> i actually was looking at the screen and it wasn't more so for myself but for the team. i did my job. please say i did my job. when my name came up, i immediately dropped down because i was, like, yes, i did it. i'm happy we were able to come out and make history. >> it seems like forever before your name came up. your name came up in second place right off the bat. you must have loved your race. >> i'm always in a position

get third or first. it's also close for me. this time i knew when i came across that i did my part. i really wanted us to get the sweep. we prayed for this. >> what about the historical significance of this. when you look up there and we got to see gold, silver, bronze, all usa flags. it made us feel so good. what was it like from your perspective? >> awesome and great moment. when women come together and just be together, it's like a sisterhood, we can accomplish great it was great opportunity to come out here and represent america in that way. >> if anybody got to see this, this is a glamorous event in the beginning. i can talk about your entrance into the stadium. you came out and you struck a pose. >> this is a once in a lifetime experience. i may never have it again. >> show me what you did. >> i did a little twirl. getting in formation. >> the other awesome thing you guys did was afterwards there was a beautiful picture of you

in the air. we're going to ask you for this moment on the "today" show if you could do that. >> i'll get out of the way. >> should we do it on three. ready? one, two, three. yes. >> brianna, nia, kristi, thank you. clean sweep for team usa. let's take a little look here. we have more to talk about. more good news. it happened last volleyball. i want to say hi to kerri walsh jennings and april ross. won a bronze medal in that event last night. good morning to both of you. you said this was the hardest match of your life to play. why? >> i have a new found respect for the bronze medal match. we were devastated the night before. we didn't sleep a wink. we had 24 hours to come to grips with what just happened and to

redemption, vindication at anything. >> you're not talking physically but emotionally to gather yourselves. >> mentally. >> and to have to fight in that bronze medal match. you either get a medal or go home empty handed. >> a lot of people predicted that would be the gold medal match right there. those two teams. you also not only had to gather yourself before the match, you had to gather yourselves during the you got down and you waged a comeback. >> i'm so proud of us. we always stick together. we got our butts kicked in the first game. i knew they weren't comfortable and a matter of time and april went on a digging spree. her defense last night was insanity. it got me going around and then once we joined forces it was magic. >> the most decorated beach volleyball player in history by the way. how does that feel?

that i truly love and respect and admire and they make me better and there's no shame in a bronze medal. i'm ashamed of thinking that. >> interesting to hear you say that. you thought there was shame in the bronze. >> that's my ego talking and ignorance to me. it's a terrible way to frame things. because it's like, we won this. we didn't lose. we won this. we lost our chance to win a gold >> in tokyo i'll be 80 years old. can you see this team back together in tokyo? i'll ask you? >> i'll look this way. >> i can totally see us together in tokyo. assuming she'll have to have one more shoulder surgery before. but she'll come back stronger than ever like she always does. that would be fun. >> congratulations on winning

kerri, always good to see you. let's get a check of the weather now from al. >> all right. let's show you what we've got. a great crowd first of all. but unfortunately we've seen more rain for our friends in louisiana and texas on into arkansas. yesterday parts of louisiana picking up another two to three inches of rain. we'll see that again today. to the north and you can see in fact up around dallas they could see 1.5 to 3 inches of rain but from houston, lakeha baton rouge, we're looking at more showers as well. the good news is it will start to dry out as we get on toward the weekend.

>> make sure you get that weather you need. go to the weather channel on cable. guys? >> all right, al. thank you very much. >> what's happening? look who took over our anchor desk. the five girls are with us. we're going to talk to the aces of gymnastics. the final five historic run in rio. what's in store for them next? how do you like the desk? we'll talk to them right after this. if you want to sell your car carmax will give you seven days to consider their offer. why seven days? science. join me as we walk through the seven stages of decisioning. 1. consideration. 2. questioning. 3. deciding. 4. queso. 5. nap. 6. sudoku.

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>> announcer: "today's" athlete to watch is sponsored by p&g. proud sponsor of moms. >> we're back with "today's" athlete to watch. this morning some of the biggest winners in rio. the final five will leave here as the most successful u.s. women's gymnastics team ever. we're going to talk to them in a moment. first, let's look at their

>> the final five rocked rio. >> that's what an olympic champion looks like. >> gold in team competition. >> one of the greatest dynasties in gymnastics history. >> gold in the all-around by simone biles. >> silver all around for team captain aly raisman. >> a return to the olympics has been worth it. >> a third gold for biles in vault. >> she's a >> silver in uneven bars for madison kocian. >> that's why they put madison kocian on this team. >> in beam, a rare stumble for biles who still took bronze. laurie hernandez took silver. >> this was a very routine. >> in floor, grandma raisman grabbed silver. while biles soared to her record fourth gold. >> once again obliterate.

weren't enough, zac efron, team of heart meeting their heartthrob. a perfect end to a near perfect run in rio. how happy are we? here they are. olympic champions. you can't wipe these miles can we start with zac. have you come down off that high yet? are we still floating a little? >> i still could see him again. >> so this is just so you see. i know you guys haven't seen this moment, right? by the way, i think one thing we left out of the piece that you said was that we're setting a

>> that was pretty big. >> let's look back at all of what happened. first of all, the fact that you guys have made history in gymnastics. you guys right now will go down in history books as the winningest gymnastics team. aly, what does that mean to you? >> it's special. it probably won't hit us for a long time. we're on cloud nine right now. feels like it's just it hasn't sunk in at all. it's just incredible. we all worked so hard to get to this moment. it's really special that it pd off. >> did you guys by chance see "people" magazine cover? >> yes. >> can we show it to people who haven't. you're on the cover of "people" magazine. what does it feel like? on the cover of "sports illustrated" and now the whole group on "people." >> it's still very crazy to see us all over america and all my friends i'm sure their friends are showing us magazine and it's

it's weird. >> you guys have not only have you made history, laurie, you just enjoyed yourself. you guys seemed to have such a wonderful time. what do you think is the memory you're going to take back from the olympics for you? >> i think probably two memories. one of them being the fact that we just were able to work so well as a team and get that team gold and just enjoy it all together and next would be just being able to room with all of the girls. there's so many memories. >> madiso it. madison, everyone has a million insta followers. madison needs to get there. you're close. i just want to show you what these girls are all about. can i show you my phone. matt and i are doing an interview minding our own business with these hurdlers. can you see my phone. right here.

down. right there. look. wait a minute. wait a minute. this is worth it. i'm telling you. hold on. it seriously is worth it. look. hold on. i'm wasting time. can you see anything. by the way, they clipped my phone and took a bunch of selfies. >> we took your glasses. your paperwork. >> minute. we're bummed this is the end for you when it comes to gymnastics. what does this team mean to you right here at the end? >> this is absolutely fantastic. this was my dream. it's like a dream came true to have the most successful team for the final of my very long gymnastics career. i'm so proud of these girls and i want to thank them for all of their dedication and hard work

we want to thank all of you guys. thank you for everything you've done for yourselves and for this country. >> did you seriously take 45 seconds when you couldn't get your phone to turn on? >> i know. look. they're great, right? >> they were worth the wait. you're right. by the way, i kept a secret. when i interviewed right after that floor exercise, you said where's hoda? everything okay. everything is fine. she's in the next room with efron. >> so worth it. so worth it. who wants somebody to come next? >> carrie underwood. >> jack franco. >> all right. >> we have billy bush here. >> i already gave him a hug. >> thank you so much. coming up -- >> give me your phone. >> that was so bad. we'll talk to an american runner from one of the most memorable

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some of the u-s men's swimming team might be staying in rio longer than they expected. the united es olympic committee says american swimmers jack conger and gunnar bentz were removed from their flight to the u-s by brazilian authorities. brazilian officials want to question the swimmers including, ryan lochte about a robbery the swimmers said took place at the rio olympics. lochte is already long gone and back in the states. the u-s-o-c says it's cooperating with brazilian authorities. looking ahead to the major events happening today-- team u-s-a's ashton eaton attempts to become only the third man to win back-to-back decathalon

looks to win gold in the men's 200 meter final against american lashawn merritt and in women's volleyball-- the u-s plays serbia for a spot in the gold medal match. today's tmj4 is your olympic station. you can get your olympic extras, local reaction-- and a rundown of all the major moments you may have missed ?tonight on the

it's 8:00 on "today." coming up, team sweep for team usa. americans capture gold, silver and bronze in the women's 100 meter hurdles. an olympic first as kerri walsh jennings and april ross fight back for the win taking home bronze in beach volleyball. meanwhile, drama in rio. two members of the u.s. swim team pulled off their plane and briefly detained over questions over their alleged robbery. ryan lochte sticks to his story telling us what he says happened but did he change the details? plus, homecoming. team usa athletes are welcomed

special moments. and beauties in brazil. the country known for sand and surf has a reputation for nicks and tucks. >> why do you think plastic surgery is so common in brazil? >> it's beautiful. it's very important to be proud. "today," thursday, august 18th, 2016. ?? >> say hi to mom in philadelphia. we're loving rio. >> celebrating my 10th birthday in rio. >> happy birthday! ?? >> we're from milwaukee, wisconsin. >> we would like to give a shout-out to team usa's final

>> all right. we're back now. 8:00 on a thursday morning. 18th day of august, 2016. we're back at the beach with a few hundred of our closest friends. so what happened yesterday? who saw some great events? what did you go >> u.s. women's water polo. >> i watched men's basketball on tv and went to bed. >> i slept in. >> i got a pedicure. i needed it badly. >> what did you do? >> men's soccer. i watched brazil take on honduras. i took billy bush. i took three of my kids. it was about 1,000 degrees in

can we bring yo do younowho ts bab belongs to? nia ali. >> he ran on to congratulate mom when she won her medal. everyone is talking about titus. titus wanted to say hi to everybody. can you do kisses. titus, do you want to give kisses for tv? okay. so cute. >> look at this hair. that's the best hair. >> beautiful. >> coming up, moments on wednesday. a true display of olympic spirit after two runners collided on the track. one of them was american abbey d'agostino. we can't wait to talk to her. she's here. first, let's go back to savannah. >> hi, guys. cute babies. let me one up you. i don't know if i can compete with cute babies. when you come back, we have a surprise for you. we're adding someone to the "today" family. a little puppy.

matt, i want to say, he's just about house trained. i put some newspaper down in your office. and there have only been one or two little accidents. >> that's good. all right. savannah, thanks very much. let's talk about here in rio new twists of the alleged armed robbery of four u.s. swimmers police detaining two americans for a brief time overnight. lochte is back in the u.s. we spoke to him exclusively last night. nbc's keir simmons has the rest of this story. keir? >> ryan lochte spoke to you and was sticking with his account. the questions are mounting this morning over ryan lochte and his teammates' story. the detective running the investigation telling me he's gathering more evidence, evidence that led brazilian police to pull u.s. olympians from plane as they were about to

medal swimmers are stranded in brazil. overnight gunnar bentz and jack conger leaving a rio police station tight lipped and swarmed by news cameras. hours earlier, they have been pulled from their flight before it took off from rio's airport. their passports temporarily confiscated and according to the olympic committee, jimmy feigen is now in communication with the authorities. ryan lochte is reaffirming his side lauer in a phone conversation they were in shock after they say they were robbed at gun point early sunday but a brazilian judge said it shows them appearing unfazed by the brush with an armed robber and saying it looks like they're joking around. police say they believe the athletes left club france at 5:45 a.m. ryan lochte says they were robbed while in a taxi returning

he first told billy bush the taxi was forced from the road. >> we got pulled over in our taxi. and these guys came out with a badge, police badge. >> now he says they stopped to use the men's room in gas station. lochte told matt that a gun was pointed in his direction not as he first said held to his head. >> a guy pulled out his gun. he cocked it. put it to m he said get down. i put my hands up. whatever. >> according to the documents, lochte telling police there was one robber. feigen said there was more. lochte says authorities never asked him to stay in brazil. not the case for lochte's olympic teammates, now stuck in rio until detectives here get to

happened. i think you can expect an announcement today and at some stage we're likely to see jimmy feigen meet with brazilian police to answer their questions. >> thank you very much. while all that drama was playing out, the olympic action was heating up. u.s. adding to its big league in the olympic medal count. peter alexander is just up the road at olympic park. good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you. team usa with another impressive performance in prime hurdles. olympic first for the american women in track. on the beach, a silver lining for u.s. in women's bronze medal match. >> blocked. can't get there. point for the united states. >> facing fierce opponents from yet another brazilian beach basketball team- >> the americans are back in business. >> reporter: america sensation in the sand kerri walsh jennings

back to medal. >> it's over. the united states has won the bronze. >> giving walsh jennings a fourth straight olympic medal. on the track a team of american trailblazers sweeping all three medals in the 100 meter hurdles. >> it's a u.s. sweep. the first sweep in this event in olympic history. >> brianna rollins getting the gold. nia ali the silver and kristi castlin the bronze. >> thompson has >> elaine thompson racing into the record books winning the women's 200 meter just days after capturing gold in the 100 meter race. >> bolt comes away flying out of the blocks. >> reporter: thompson's fellow countryman set to win the 200 meter tonight.

-- consecutive 200 meter final. >> running the 200 meter in under 19 seconds. sub 19? is that attainable? >> it's possible. i said if i run sub 19, is it legal to take my shirt off? i'll go crazy. >> going over the water jump now. >> evan jager winning silver. the first u.s. medal in that event in mth decades. in the same race, a runner crashing headfirst into a hurdle forcing him to withdraw. called the most athletic man in the world, american ashton eaton leading the decathlon after five events. going for back-to-back olympic gold in the competition. >> you have to try to be smooth and treat each attempt like with 90% effort in a way.

celebrating a win. the host nation scoring the fastest goal in olympic history, just 15 seconds into the game. in the end, your final brazil trouncing it honduras, 6-0. now heading to the gold medal match against germany. that soccer player is a huge star in this country. the americans crushing the competition. britain and russia. 25 more golds up for grabs today that includes the men's 200 meter as we told you. ashton eaton in the decathlon. and women's indoor volleyball, u.s. versus serbia for a trip to the gold medal games. when we were back in jamaica, bolt told me at the end of the games which he said will be the last he wanted headlines around the world to read immortal.

back to you. >> sounds about right. peter, thanks so much. >> let us go back to new york. savannah has the rest of the top stories of the morning. savannah? >> good morning again. we'll start with this devastating wildfire burning out of control in southern california. officials still can't say how many homes have been destroyed by the blue cut fire in san bernardino county but they warn that the number will be large. firefighters are being hampered by the dry rug gusting winds there. homeland security secretary jeh johnson will tour louisiana today after a week of flooding that killed 13 people and damaged tens of thousands of homes. officials fear the state could face its worst housing crisis since hurricane katrina 11 years ago. fema says it's looking into lining up rental properties and temporary housing units.

disaster assistance. in politics, donald trump is campaigning in the swing state of north carolina today. his first campaign trip since a staff shake-up. trump's new team insists there is time to turn the race around by having him focus more on the issues. trump had his first classified intelligence briefing held at an fbi office in new york city. in the meantime, hillary clinton's campaign is out with a new ad today attacking trump for not releasing his tax returns. camera. we'll mention here everybody turns out okay. take a look at this. an oklahoma boy trying to cross a busy highway when a truck hauling a mobile home drives past. the boy is hit and then dragged about 70 feet but amazingly, he springs back to his feet. friends come to see if he's okay. the driver was not charged. and finally, go big or float home. the world's largest aircraft had

field near london on wednesday. it can stay up for five days at a time. perhaps a future in military surveillance but in the meantime it's been nicknamed the flying bum. no idea why they call it that. i don't see it myself. >> okay. >> looks like the human backside. >> oh man. >> savannah, thank youy >> up next, how team usa's medal winners, like katie ledecky are celebrated when they return home from rio. >> plus, the one olympian who bruce springsteen follows on twitter. >>ed a the american sprinter will join us.

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through what we call a cheater which is a t-shirt under the shirt. >> good for you, billy. >> an extra protective layer. way to go. >> you are going to be very hot later. >> arming up. >> the flies are circling. be careful. >> i haven't washed it in three weeks. >> all right. on trending, do you remember those selfies that hoda tried to bring up with the final five, they never worked out. news flash, they are in. now you get to see what you were missing back then. >> they picked up didn't know what was going on, they said you might want to check your phone out so i did and i was scrolling through, they were sitting they desk, they were wearing my glasses, there is a close-up of somebody's lips. there's laurie wearing my glasses. >> cute. >> i love the picture of them breaking into your credit card information there. that's great. >> all right. so a lot of the olympic athletes are heading home and it's fun to see what happens

come. sim even manuel arrived back at houston on wednesday. at the airport she was greeted by mom, cheering fans, a dance team, a marching band. for katie ledecky she was swarmed at dulles airport, the fans and classmates and friends gave her a hero's welcome. that looks like such fun. >> that is cool. how did michael phelps the most decorated olympian in history retirement? >> how? >> in the pool. take a look. he got home and that's niccole and their cute little baby boomer. he said there's nothing like being back home. that's time for fun. >> i think he's getting boomer ready for the competition. >> maybe. >> we got a call from boomer phelps a little while ago he

>> we have pop start? >> i think we do. the battle for the affections of simone biles, people are still talking about zac efron's epic surprise for the gymnasts. a couple weeks ago the guy jokingly dubbed simone's brazilian boyfriend his name is arthur and he and simone shared playful photos together. arthur posted this photo on instagram saying, hey, zac, saw her first. >> i think arthur -- >> listen to me, my friend. she is my girl, and you back off. >> anyway -- >> that's spanish. >> go, brazil. >> but it's not brazil, it's brazil. >> they don't say the l. >> bruce springstein has a twitter account with nearly 900,000 followers but he only follows 35 accounts including

fallon and "rolling stone" magazine, but again who else is on string steen's list, katie ledecky. >> nice. >> yeah, big fan of the gold medalist and vice versa. in an interview last year katie talked about her favorite musical acts and she said my dad is a big bruce springstein fan and i have caught on, too. her dad matt lauer, matt lauer a huge bruce springstein fan. >> and katie ledecky fan. >> and now >> want a t-shirt, matt? >> my head is about to spontaneously combust. >> look at them all. >> they will dry. >> i'm still dry, too. >> stand up and turn around. >> still dry. >> mr. roker checking the weather. >> you don't want to see that? >> no. >> we are looking at some more wet weather down through texas on into parts of louisiana, arkansas. so we are going to have to key an eye on that.

we have more hot weather and in the east it is going to stay hot and humid, that bermuda high keeping those temperatures pumped up. atlanta, georgia, new record, 95 plus days in 2016, 21. washington has had eight straight days of 95 plus days. that will come to an end today but the toastiness continues. feels like temperatures are going to continue to feel awful

my sight is just returning, guys. >> i'm glad yours is. i will tell you that. by the way, check us out on sirius. >> we will be there, too. >> there are always surprises that pop up at the olympic games and everybody loves to wait for those surprises. right? >> yeah, this he embody the spirit of those games and we showed you this one unforgettable one on wednesday, it started when new zealand's nikki hamblin and american abbey d'agostino collided with just qualifying heat. d'agostino stopped to help hamblin up. hamblin returned the favor seconds later when d'agostino's leg gave out. guess who is with us now, abbey is here. >> how are you, abbey? >> i'm doing well. yeah. >> are you? we will talk about how you're feeling in a second because that doesn't look so good. was this just -- i mean, i think most people's instinct after colliding with another runner would be get up, get back in the

was to turn around and lend a helping hand. where does that come from? >> you know, that's a good question. i've been asked that quite a bit in the last few days and the thing about that moment was everything happened so fast and it's just -- kind of all i know is that i got up and my first instinct was, okay, turn around, we have to finish this. i don't think that was me. i think there was -- i mean, i think that was literally like the spirit of god in me, like let's go. like this is -- because, i mean, my acl is torn. >> and a meniscus tear. >> yeah, exactly. >> and then to return the favor, too. you guys had not met before this moment, right? >> no. >> you guys helped each other out. what did you say afterwards because it was a beautiful embrace after. >> yeah, we just thanked each other. we were both just speechless at, you know, the fact that we were able to share a moment like that and a we both realized it was

>> you ran basically a mile with a torn acl and torn meniscus. you're going to have -- is this a surgery situation? >> yeah, i will schedule surgery when i get home. >> i'm so sorry. what will you take away from these games? >> i mean, i think just it's encouraging that a simple act of kindness just resonates with people and we see it and we know that like that's what this is about and that's what the games is about and what can happen. >> beautiful. >> all right, abbey, thank you very much. we are back in a moment, but first more memorable images getty. ? ?

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18th of august, 2016. say hi to the new kids on the bloco. a rio based boy band here famous for mixing '90s hits and chart toppers with the sound of samba and rhythms of carnival. >> they were at the beach volleyball venue. we thank them for coming d a thursday morning. >> they came straight from beach volleyball. >> that's very nice. >> coming up, savannah couldn't be here in rio. that didn't stop us from hitting the town with her. we'll show you and savannah what happened. it was fun. >> don't say she's two dimensional. really. and don't forget next week when we get back to the plaza, we're letting you go for the gold. in this case, a chance to win $25,000. >> this is amazing.

plaza. show us all of your olympic spirit and we're going to pick one lucky contestant each day to hunt for gold in a special ball pit. you find it, you get the 25,000. we'll keep it going every day through thursday until someone finds it. >> to get us in the spirit, al will start monday in one of the diver's swimsuits. >> ball pit goes in >> to find out more, go to today.com. meanwhile, a quick hello to some proud members of team usa. evan jager won silver in the steeplechase. good morning to both of you. all right. this was a pretty great achievement. one-two for the americans. how did you feel? >> felt great going in getting back on the podium again and bring something home for usa is a blessing.

first medal in the steeplechase since 1984. congratulations to you. how did it feel earning some medal there? >> it was pretty incredible. it's been a life-long dream of mine and something i thought about every day for the last few years. being able to actually enjoy that moment and have it come true was pretty huge. >> is so dangerous. it's a hard thing to do. the uganda runner took a spill on the track. did you know that was happening? was that in the back of your mind? >> i think he was right behind me when he fell. i heard him hit the barrier hard. i came off that and took a look back just to see if there was a huge pile up. i didn't see the replay of it until just now.

>> to get a silver medal, weren't you thinking about quitting? >> we heard that rumor. >> i had surgery two years ago and last year i got left off the podium and 11 months ago i was considering retiring and started talking to a psychologist and got myself back. >> we're so glad you didn't retire. >> i'm really, really glad. >> thank you. >> congrats on everything. >> way to go. are you ready for the lesson of the day? >> natalie's i'm giving up on this. our track and field athletes of course involved. they both won silver. how do you say i'm a silver medalist. >> a lot of the track and field athletes making history so how would you say that? [ speaking portuguese ] >> no idea if she's telling the truth or not.

and we talk about female hurdlers sweeping the podium. how do you say i swept the podium. [ speaking portuguese ] >> that's impressive. and that's natalie's portuguese class for today. all right. let's show you what's going on as far as your weather is concerned. we're looking at for the weekend outlook friday, it's going to be wet throughout two-thirds of the the new england area is looking pretty good and the heat continues out west unfortunately. saturday, man, more wet weather in the east. out west the sunshine continues. they could use the rain and then sunday, sunday, rain finally starts to continue to shift east down into the gulf and into the southwest as well. northern plains into the pacific northwest looking a little on the toasty side.

>> announcer: "today's" olympic moment is sponsored by walmart, save money, live better. >> all right. now to "today's" olympic moment. our country's first medal of these games won in dramatic fashion. a rumble in rio so momentous it was felt halfway around the world. >> going for it in the last few seconds here.

india after sakshi malik rallied from a five-point deficit to defeat her opponent with a last-second score. >> she can't believe she won that right at the very end. >> an epic comeback followed by a joyful victory lap on the mat. malik capturing gold and her spot in history. >> representing india. >> the india's first medal in women's wrestling but the first medal in rio despite the largest delegation of athletes ever. out of india's 124 athletes, one woman becoming a point of pride for an entire country replacing the weight of the nation on her shoulders with a bronze medal

india has so many people and such a big population. nice to see they got their first one. >> up next, the doctor behind a lot of the beauty you see here in brazil.

. "today" rio is sponsored by coca-cola. open a coke and enjoy the games. >> back with today's rio. when it comes to plastic surge rirks ten percent is done. >> we spent some time with the most face of plastic surgery that told her this. beauty is pain. >> with beautiful beaches and

best. >> brazil is the surgery. i love it. >> when it comes to brazilian bodies, it's no different. over the course of his 45 year career, he says that he has done over 40,000 plastic surgeries and half of which are on men. the most well known and controversial client happens to be his very she has the most cosmetic surgeries angela. >> i know that plastic surgery has been a big part of your rise to fame? how come? >> well, i started to share a beautiful body. i increased my lips, breast implants, lynn aleppo suction. i have surgery every year to change things in my body. a lot of people think that it's

it's necessary to maintain my body. >> more than 10 percent of the world's total plastic surgical procedures occur in brazil. when it comes to butt impants and lifts, the country leads the way. >> why do you think plastic surgery is so common in brazil? >> because it's good. it's beautiful. >> obviously there are risks. >> of course. all the plastic surgery is carefully because that occurs. >> is there a stigma? >> no, there's not a stigma. it's important to be proud. >> magazine plastica and in this year's game they respect brazil carrying the olympic torch just days before passing way. >> why do you give the surgeries?

>> yeah, that's what it does. it makes you feel beautiful. it makes you file better and gives you the self-esteem and that's what i like about it, and what i like. >> i don't know. >> wow. >> we're wondering where the scars are. >> yeah, the butt lift. >> where do they hide them. >> yeah and they wore thongs on >> harry connick jr. hits the >> harry connick jr. hits the break, but first nbc new when the oil billionaire koch brothers call senator johnson... [ cellphone ringing ] ...what do you think they talk about?

or how they spent millions to support johnson as he voted their way 90% of the time and supported special tax breaks for big oil polluters? whatever senator johnson and the koch brothers talk about, it probably isn't you. edf action is responsible for the content of this advertising.

you live life your way. we can help you retire your way, too. financial guidance while you're mastering life. from chase. so you can. okay. we're back and it's 8:45 harry connick has a new gig and what's it called? >> harry.

>> yeah. >> you did some olympics? >> yeah, we went to the time warn er center and i got a chance to talk to some people about the olympics, and we shot a nice piece on it. can we go to it? >> let's do it. >> can i see your best phelps face. ?? ?? >> do you know the olympics theme? >> i don't. >> yeah, katie perry. >> yeah, welcome to rio. i don't know. i'm out. i'm sorry. >> we found somebody that knows the theme ladies and gentlemen. the youngest of all of them and she knows the olympics theme. what's the favorite track and field event. >> well, i ran hurdles in high school. >> you still got the old -- >> we will see.

?? >> yes. >> a lot of athletes are doing cupping. want to try it? >> sure. >> how does it, it feel? >> it hurts. >> where are you from? >> spain. >> would you like to participate in the olympic caddie s race? >> sure. >> go! usa! usa! they're peddling. they lead by two wheels and a banana seat. usa wins. usa wins. back to me in the studio. i've never said that before. >> i got chills.

pretty strong stuff. >> what is your show going to be about? >> it's going to have comedy, music and talk. i wanted to give people a break from the day. there's a lot of stuff going on in the world as you know better than anyone else. i wanted to do a fun and entertaining show that was different than some of the other things on the tv and unscripted and give people a party right in the middle of the day. >> d >> i don't know. >> who are you thinking snabt. >> i don't know. i'm available. >> yeah, i think that's a great pleasure for all of us. >> yeah. when does the show start? >> septembe 12. >> okay. check your local listings for the show coming september 12. back to hoda.

people here. wait what. wait what. we're going to talk about that. first it's on nbc. is "today" o. what? we asked u.s. cellular customers to show us all the beautiful places they get coverage with our strong signal. you posted from the seashore. you shared from your hike. you showed us this sunset. you posted from the farm. and you adventured way out there... a lot of amazing places. ?? u.s. cellular put towers where the other guys don't. so join our network, and start sharing your moments

>> announcer: "today's" today's gold is sponsored by

glog forthe first time after 14 years of service. harry connick getting up early to help a stranger with the lawn. and when the daughter graduates from the college. sharing your memorable moments toda a guys. >> thank you very much. we're in rio and we missed savannah every step of the way. >> every step of the way is not without you. we thought that we would find a past and going to be miss it like crazy. we bought a life size version and this is good. it's the question.

>> we're bog to go biking. i got one too. we're going to be going back. savannah it's time for the selfie. >> go. this is savannah guthrie. >> hi. >> bye. >> bye. >> savannah, i don't know if you it but we miss you. i just like strolling down the sidewalk. ??

>> is that alcohol? >> yeah, exactly. >> hello. >> all right. so time to put your toes in the water and this is it baby. soon we will be >> going for the number or anything. >> all of them. >> by the way the one that came up to me and said can i kiss it. go on and do them. get a wet one. >> savannah, we have been compiling a rio swag bag for

there's some items in here. >> it's for the baby. >> it's so cute and i'm so who mono yule. >> it's a nonalcoholic version and said no such thing. >> all right. all right. new kids on the block. >> by the way tomorrow is a huge show here and all of the athletes are still in rio and going to join us. we're going to recap the time in the two weeks here. >> we're back with more from rio

the u-s-a continues to

history at the rio summer games. during the final of last night's women's 100 meter hurdles-- the u-s took home gold, silver and bronze.one nation sweeping this specific olympic event has never happened, until this trio came along.along with making history, they also earned their first ever olympic medals. the most decorated olympian in history is once again back in the pool, but it's a little different to the pool you're used to seeing him in.michael phelps recently posted this photo on his instagram account with his fiance and son in the pool.he wrote, " there's nothing like ba way to spend my first day in retirement." looking at the medal count in rio, the u-s continues to lead with 93 total medals.china remains in a distant second with 54.great britain in third with 50.fourth place russia has 41.and japan back in the top five with 33. and here's a live look at the olympic flame.. as day 13 of

that i was on the icelandic game show. and everyone knows me for discounts, like safe driver and paperless billing. but nobody knows the box behind the discounts. oh, it's like my father always told me -- "put that down. that's expensive." of course i save people an average of nearly $600, but who's gonna save me? [ voice breaking ] and that's when i realized... i'm allergic to wasabi. well, i feel better. it's been five minutes. talk about progress. [ chuckles ] okay. talk about progress. [ chuckles ] we upped the ante at culver's to create the new crispy southwest chicken sandwich. all-natural, whole white meat chicken breast. topped with spicy pepper jack cheese and jalape?o ranch. on a lightly buttered, toasted ciabatta roll. the perfect cheese for pepper jack is going to be creamy and mild, and it's really going to tone down the spiciness of the peppers. you're going to taste the cheese first, and then you're going to get just a little bit of warmth from the peppers. it's really good.

welcome to delicious. she is a 4'8" giant and they're going to play the star-spangled banner again. ?? a busy thursday is under way in rio. and as the day of competition begins we turn our attention to the track on olympic stadium on day 13 of the 2016 games. from our home on copacabana beach. later tonight usain bolt will