had her story here tonight from nbc's stephanie gosk. >> reporter: watching the u.s. women's soccer team, it's hard to miss megan rapinoe's shock of blonde hair. especially when she does this. >> drives it! a magnificent goal by megan rapinoe! >> reporter: of the clutch goal in the barnburner of a semifinal against canada. one of the team's newest additions, rapinoe is playing like a star here in london, three goals and three assists. thanks her team says to a signature style and razor-sharp technical skills. >> she's different, you know. she marches to the beat of a different drum, but we know she's a special talent. >> reporter: even though at times she faces off against players with more power and speed. >> i think that you can be creative and you can understand a game in a way that allows you to beat someone that is stronger and faster than you. >> reporter: she's not just creative. she's a character, both on and off the field. >> she is one of the funniest teammates, one of the funniest girls i know. >> we have so much time together in airports, in hotels. i want

stephanie gosk, nbc news, london. >> that's our broadcast on a thursday night.hank you for being here with us. i'm brian williams. we of course hope to see you back here tomorrow evening and later this evening for "rock center." later this evening for "rock center." good night. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

let's go to stephanie gosk. good morning to you. with all the competition under way today, what are you keeping an eye on today for us? >> well, alex, it's going to be super exciting day today here in london. kicking off really this afternoon, a first for the olympics. women's boxing. you have queen underwood for the u.s. entering the ring for the first time ever as an olympic athlete for the united states. the u.s. team is heavily favored in boxing. at least in the women's. later on today you have a very familiar showdown on centre court in wimbledon. roger federer and andy murray. they faced off in the finals in wimbledon last month. now they're going for gold. and andy murray was the first british tennis player to reach the finals of wimbledon in a generation. he lost that match to federer. he has a chance to redeem himself in front of his home crowd today. and then probably the most anticipated event of the olympics, the 100 meters in the men's 100 meters that is, usain bolt who won back in beijing, the world record holder. he's

stephanie gosk has more for us. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. all of this has triggered an issue here, above and beyond whether or not harry behaved appropriatie appropriately or not, there are two key questions, where was his security and what should or shouldn't the press do with these photos? >> reporter: las vegas may have seemed like a good idea after a summer of demanding royal duties. some harmless pool partying and a swim-off with u.s. gold medal winner ryan lochte. but the prince may have some regrets after these naked photos turned up online, secretly taken late at night in harry's hotel suite. an embarrassing reminder that he can never escape the public eye. the palace has gone to the press complaints who argue the photos taken in harry's hotel room are an invasion of privacy. but the press has done everything but run them. this is the cover of "the sun." look closely. it's a recreation. for some the real issue has been the prince's security detail. were they responsible for making sure this didn't happen? not necessarily. >> it's not

stephanie gosk in london for us. steph, thanks so much. >>> up next, make of the most popular travel websites accused of price fixing hotel room rates. we'll tell you more about that right after this. dum ♪ ♪ look out baby 'cause here i come ♪ ♪ and i'm bringing you a love that's true ♪ ♪ so get ready ♪ so get ready ♪ gonna try to make you love me too ♪ ♪ so get ready ♪ so get ready ♪ 'cause here i come ♪ get ready 'cause here i come ♪ i'm on my way ♪ get ready 'cause here i come ♪ every day ♪ get ready [ male announcer ] to hold a patent that has changed the modern world... would define you as an innovator. to hold more than one patent of this caliber... would define you as a true leader. to hold over 80,000... well, that would make you... the creators of the 2012 mercedes-benz e-class... quite possibly the most advanced luxury sedan ever. ♪ join mercedes-benz usa on facebook for the best summer sweepstakes. [ female announcer ] new lipton tea & honey. sweetened with honey, made from real tea leaves and real fruit f

stephanie gosk with more.r: it's been a summer packed with royal responsibilities for prince harry. not surprisingly the 27-year-old looking for a break from it all. so he went to the city of sin, girls, parties, even a race with ryan lochte in a hotel pool. he's also found some trouble. >> his royal highness. >> he stood in for the queen, highest ranking royal to mark the end of the most important event this country has staged in a generation. less than a week later these naked images of prince harry and a woman were secretly taken in his hotel suite in las vegas after a night of partying. there appears to be one other person in the room. in the statement the palace confirmed the pictures are of harry but would not comment any further saying the 27-year-old is taking some private time off in the u.s. so soon after his high-profile role in the olympic games, some royal insiders are questioning the prince's judgment. >> there's no question harry should have been more wary of the people around him. he is, after

nbc's stephanie gosk has her story. >> reporter: roughly translated, judo means the gentle way. but gentle is not the first word that springs to mind when watching american, kayla harrison, compete. >> this is a time in my life. this is going to be the highlight of my life. >> reporter: confident, strong and driven. a far cry from the young woman coach jimmy pedro met six years ago. >> somebody who went from the lowest of low, who hated life, who had no self-esteem and no confidence, to somebody who's been on the top of the world hoed yum. >> reporter: harrison grew up in ohio and started judo as a little girl. at the age of 13, her coach, daniel doyle, started sexually abusing her. it took three years for her to finally tell somebody. >> i thought that it didn't matter because i thought he loved me. and i thought that it was okay because of that. and it took me a long time and a lot of therapy to realize that, you know, it's not okay. >> reporter: doyle went to jail and harrison's parents moved her to boston, so she could train with the best coaches in the country, jimmy pedro

. >> stephanie gosk, thank you very much for the wrap from london. have a good one. later on this hour, we're going to hear from the american gold medal in judo kayla harrison. we spoke with her just before she left for london. she was here in the studio with us and i said to her, come on back when you win gold. she's going to make good on that and we're going to talk about what it took for her to get that gold medal. now for the weather across the pond. here in the states with the drought. the tropics are also making headlines. let's go right to the weather channel's erich fischer for the wrap-up. >> good morning, alex. hello, everybody. talking about some weather that will be unsettled across the uk for today. that's already affecting things. the marathon, rather wet this morning. also talking about wimbledon with the roof closed because of those rain showers moving through. even some thunderstorms crossing the island nation right now. closer look at london, you can see some of the heavier rain moving just east of the city. going to be not ideal for a lot of the ev

stephanie gosk, thanks so much.e street" will have much more on this story coming up at the top of the hour. >> okay. when we come back, our health care summit continues with dr. scott gottlieb of the american enterprise institute. he'll talk to us today about the hidden cost he sees in president obama's health care plan and what he is telling the romney campaign. >>> and then former surgeon general richard carmona is calling the affordable health care act a good first step but he wants to lower health costs with the focus on prevention. "squawk" will be right back. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 when i'm trading, i'm totally focused. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 and the streetsmart edge trading platform from charles schwab... tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 gives me tools that help me find opportunities more easily. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 i can even access it from the cloud and trade on any computer. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 and with schwab mobile, tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 i can focus on trading anyplace, anytime... tdd#: 1-800-345-

stephanie gosk has more on that. >> the olympic motto higher, stronger doesn't leave a lot of room for athletes throwing a competition. today the coach for the chinese badminton team apologized on chinese state tv. saying his team did not fully demonstrate the fighting spirit of chinese badminton when they did this on tuesday night. it became clear early on to the fans that they wanted to lose, especially when the south korean team joined in. >> just served it almost like a 90 degree angle, straight down the court. >> and you realized they were actually trying to throw it? >> that was just not right at all. >> because of new rules, a chinese win in a disqualifying match could have resulted in a semifinal between two chinese teams, something the chinese wanted to avoid. if the chinese team won tuesday, china's two favorites would not have been able to win both gold and silver. the judges gave the players a warning and eventually the south koreans started playing again but the damage was done. like a virus, it spread to other matches. an indonesian pair and south korean pair also did the

i'm sure harry will be glad this vacation is finally over. >> stephanie gosk, thank you. >>> still ahead>> and we'll catch up with america's favorite and largest family, the duggars, all 24 of them. family, the duggars, all 24 of them. but first, theseally use... messages shame on you. now he's stuck in a miniature nightmare. oh, thank you. but, with the capital one venture card... you can fly any airline, any flight, any time. double miles you can actually use. what's in your wallet? alec jr? it was a gift. alec jr? ksmiley face - with sunglasses. her new balance shoes? new balance 750s in an exclusive color are here. (in her head) that's wassup. famous brands. famously easy. famous footwear. victory is yours. [ boy ] i used to hate eating healthy stuff. but badger likes it, so i do too. i used to have bad dreams, but not anymore. [ barks ] i used to be scared of the basement. but when badger's with me, it's not so bad. [ barking ] [ announcer ] we know how important your dog is to your whole family. so help keep him strong and healthy with purina dog chow. because you're not just a fam

stephanie gosk is here with that story. good morning. >> for most olympic athletes winning a medal, any color medal is a dream that comes true. why the angst over silver, the one medal's worth depends on the eye of the beholder. some say olympic athletes win silver medals, some say they settle for silver. some say a silver medal makes you the second best in the world. others say it means you're the first loser. athletes themselves go through a whole range of emotions. australian swimmer missed a gold medal by hundredths of a second. these are not tears of joy. >> i feel like i disappointed my parents. >> mikayla maroney wound up with a silver and her face says it all. >> she is not a happy girl. >> when dora won silver in the equestrian event -- the australian team has been runner up 12 times in these games with little gold. people back home have started to complain. even if famous australian news anchor made a point of it in an interview with ryan seacrest. >> a lot of silver, more silver than anyone else. that's what we c