Images of herself on big game hunts taunting her critics. Well talk to her. And end of the road. The little robot on a Cross Country journey to San Francisco. Strangers supposed to get him all the way. But then this happened. How the happy little life of the robot came to a sad end today, monday, august 3rd, 2015. From nbc news this is today with matt lauer and Savannah Guthrie live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. And good morning, everyone. Welcome to today. 7 00 a. M. On the west coast on monday. Im Savannah Guthrie. Our big story is out west. Scary scene in california. Over 20 individual fires but a couple of them very, very alarming. Its our top story this morning. Thousands of homes now being threatened by this california wildfire. And overnight, emergency officials stepped up evacuation orders. Nbcs joe fryar is live in lake port, north of San Francisco this morning. Good morning to you, joe. Good morning, savannah. We have just learned this fire is now 60,000 acres burned, growing at a rate that is described as unprecedented. The flames have moved to a more remote area away from homes but in these conditions they know things can change in an instant. Reporter the rocky fire was an unpredictable monster that still growing this morning. Even veteran firefighters say theyve never seen anything like it and at one point the flames tore through 20,000 acres in just five hours. The challenges the firefighters have been getting is that erratic winds and wind shifts have been moving the fire in other directions. Reporter the single fire is consumed 84 square miles thats an area larger than the city of st. Louis. Two dozen homes are already gone and thousands more have been evacuated. This is alarming. Its a little surreal. And just kind of keeps you on your toes. Reporter crews are intentionally setting backfires, burning up dry brush before the fire can get to it. National guard helicopters and air tankers are now on the scene after the governor declared a state of emergency. We put retardant down so our firefighters can get in there and put the fire out. Reporter the air assault was key as a new brush fire moved through the national forest. Across california, more than 20 large fires are now burning, making things worse, Mother Nature keeps sending in storm clouds that produce lightning but little to no rain sparking hundreds of smaller fires. Its frightening but we can get through it. Temperatures are a bit cooler today which should help. We just learned this rocky fire is now 12 contained which means crews are making progress. About 2,000 firefighters are on the scene. It is a big effort. Savannah and carson . A lot of work to do this morning. Joe fryar, thank you. A fast and violent moving storm is blamed for a tent collapse in chicago. The storms are causing more problems as they roll east. John yang is in great lake, illinois. John, good morning. Good morning, carson. You can see the cleanup already under way here in grays lake, illinois. Across this community, big trees down at the high School Across town. Parts of the roof torn off. And the National WeatherService Launched a survey team to figure out if all this damage is due to a tornado. Reporter Severe Weather turned deadly over the weekend when high winds caused a tent to collapse at a small festival in suburban chicago. We had one fatality, three serious injuries and about 17 to 20 minor injuries. Reporter John Anderson said the band was just minutes away from performing at the prairie fest. 25 miles northwest of chicago. Wh the storm hit sending festival goers scrambling for cover. Basically, i was on stage left. I just walked away from the canopy and the poles started falling the other way. And then i see the whole tent had fallen over. And from there it was just ch s chaos. I was really scared. I saw all the ambulance coming and the thunder was so terrifying and the lightning and i was really, really afraid. And just all happened, flash before my eyes. Reporter the dangerous storm systems across the midwest brought tornadoes to the region. A huge twister touched down in iowa on sunday evening. Oh, wow reporter the tornado picked up debris and destroyed a few barns but no reports of injuries. And the suburb of grays lake, illinois, Officials Say another tornado may have touched down, high winds and hail littering streets with toppled trees and power lines. Severe weather extending to greenville, michigan, emergency crews working overnight to remove fallen debris. Meanwhile, back in chicagos grant park, the popular lalapalooza Music Festival shutting down briefly sunday afternoon due to the weather, resuming an hour later. Organizers ended the final day of the festival 30 minutes early when another storm hit the area. Officials in wooddale have just identified the fatality there as 35yearold stephen minsic. Across this region, theyre grateful that the death toll wasnt higher. Savannah . John yang in illinois, thank you for that. And politics, it is a big week in the president ial race. Republicans are holding their first debate thursday night. On the democratic side, a bombshell over the weekend. Reports that Vice President joe biden is seriously considering a run for the white house. Nbcs Andrea Mitchell has all the headlines this morning. Andrea, good morning to you. Good morning, savannah. Vice president bidens aides say he will decide by late summer amidst the new speculation he may run against Hillary Clinton in the democratic primary. It is a decision possibly born in tragedy, a dying wish from his son beau. My father, my hero, the next Vice President of the United States, joe biden. Reporter a wish also endorsed by bidens surviving son hunter. Their hope that their dad would challenge frontrunner Hillary Clinton for the democratic nomination. Hes a heartbeat away from the presidency for eight years. I think he thinks hes qualified and anybody in that position would be thinking about it. Reporter the biden aide is getting regulars, including some that signed on with clinton. Almost all the biden donors have gone over to Hillary Clinton already. So i think its too late to mount a Serious Campaign at this stage. Reporter biden has run for president twice before and stumbled. And as Vice President , he had been prone to gaps. And at times excessive exuberance. But biden proved his loyalty and become a key adviser to the president. While clinton, although polling way ahead of the other democrats, has recently suffered a sharp uptick in people saying they dont trust her. Possibly a reaction to controversies like her private emails. The Campaign Says its not concerned. Theres a lot of views in the Democratic Party and, you know, well be prepared to handle whatever comes our way. Reporter in fact tomorrow, clinton starts airing her first tv ads in iowa and New Hampshire costing 2 million. I believe that when families are strong, america is strong. Reporter a biden run would put president obama in the awkward position of having to choose between his Vice President and his former secretary of state. Savannah . All right. An andrea, thank you so much. David axelrod worked with the senior white house advice adviser, david, good morning. Good morning. How real is this . Do you think the Vice President is seriously considering a run . Well, well look at it through his eyes. He was a United States senator for 36 years. Very distinguished career there. He was one of the most hes been one of the most constructive Vice President s in history. Very close relationship with the president. The middle class issue that is now the name of this campaign is the theme of his whole political career and so hes probably looking at this and saying why not me . But then there is the other side of the equation which is what it takes to put a president ial Campaign Together against a very foremidable opponent. I think that is a real big reality check here. So im a little skeptical about the bombshell of the weekend. Sometimes the speculation is just that. Its out of thin air, comes from nowhere. Sometimes as you well know as a former Top White House adviser, it is deliberately planted in the press. Its a trial balloon to see if the support is there. Do you think thats what were seeing here . Do you think Vice President or those close to him have left this kind of float out into the eejer to see what people think of it . Well, someone let it out into the ether. The question is whether it was him. There is no doubt in my mind that he believes himself to be a peer of secretary clintons and probably feels he would be a stronger nominee. But whether he wanted to come out in this way, i have some doubts. He really has to measure is a cost benefit analysis. He has obtained great stature as a senior statesman within the Democratic Party. Does he want to risk all that in a battle that he would be very uphill. Its very personal. The Vice President told close aides, Close Associates that his son beau biden from his hospital bed urged him to run. In fact, the New York Times talked about it this weekend in detake. Beau was losing the nouns and right side of his face was paralyzed. He tried to make his father promise to run. How much do you think this stems from that . From the emotion of the loss of beau biden and his request that his father run . Well, i spent some time with the Vice President. I think anybody who has knows just how hard that was, has hit him and how close he was to his son. And what a loss this has been. But again, i think the other side of it this is a guys that been a president ial candidate or tout the as one since 1972. He has run twice and knows what takes. I think that discussion has to be had yet. The emotion is powerful but not enough to make a decision to run for president. Ill put you on the spot before we go here. Youre a strategist. You would advice him to run . I would not. I know what it takes to put a president ial Campaign Together. And it is late in the game. Secretary clinton for all her problems, some of them selfinflicted, still has a very high rating among democrats. And that, of course, is what determines who the nominee will be. And a big head start. So i you know, i really have such a high regard for joe biden. I think hes been a great Vice President and great public official. Id hate to see him risk it all on a campaign that likely wouldnt succeed. David axelrod, always good to get your perspective. Thank you very much. Good to be with you. Police in memphis are stepping up the manhunt for a suspect accused of killing an officer during a traffic stop. Lets get more from kerry sanders. Good morning. Well good morning. Police here say the man who shot officer bolton shot and killed him should be considered armed and dangerous. That he is convicted of armed robbery. Why did he shoot officer bolton . That remains unclear. It may be fears that the officer would come upon him and he would have two grams or less than two grams of marijuana in his possession. Thats about two or three marijuana cigarettes or joints. Reporter this morning in memphis, a manhunt is under way for the killer of officer shawn bolton. Sunday night, friends and colleagues in tears brought flowers to the street where he was gunned down. When you look at this individual, youre looking at a coward. Reporter Memphis Police and marshals are combing the city looking for this man, t rechrem willborn who shot the officer after he interrupted a drug deal. To show you how sense thls, is youre talking about a misdemeanor citation. Reporter as the officer was mortally wounded, a bystander grabbed his police radio. Please, please hurry up. Reporter taking the desperate measure because the 911 lines were busy. Shot several times. Call an ambulance call an ambulance reporter he was rushed to the hospital, a bulletproof vest he was wearing unable to save him. Sunday police recovered a gun in a nearby field which they believe could be the murder weapon. We as a Community New come together and remember that all lives matter. Not just black lives. Not just white lives, but all lives matter. Theres now a 10,000 reward for any information that leads to the capture of the suspect. Meantime, the other person in the car went to police, spoke to police and has been released and is not charged with any crime at all. Back to you. All right. Kerry sanders, thank you. Lets turn to natalie. She has the top stories of the morning. Good morning. Good morning, everyone. Investigators in new mexico say explosions at two churches on sunday morning were deliberate and meant to harm. A male box at a Baptist Church in new mexico exploded just after 8 00 a. M. On sunday. 20 minutes later, another explosion went off in a trash can about three miles away near a catholic church. No one was injured. Authorities say theyre now following up on several leads. They cannot link the attacks to any one group at this time. This morning a Kansas Community is remembering a 9yearold boy who died overnight. He was descentally struck in the head by a baseball bat during a weekend game. Their bat boi, 9yearold Kaiser Carlisle passed away after being struck in the head during the game saturday. Witnesses say kaiser who was wearing a helmet ran on to the field to retrieve a bat when he was accidentally hit by a player taking practice swings. He was swinging and it hit him in the helmet. Knocked him down. He got back up but he went right back down again and everybody came out and helped him. Paramedics responded immediately but kaiser remained in Critical Condition over the weekend before passing away. Tributes flooded social media overnight. One photo showing the team kneeling together in prayer after learning the tragic news. One player posted online, knowing your last moments were on the baseball field makes it easier through this whole process because you were doing what you loved. Another teammate wrote, you are a special, amazing boy and heaven has opened its loving arms for you. Well be seeing you up there, buddy. Just heartbreaking. The bjs honored him writing initials on their hats and even on the scoreboard and they credited their 80 win to their beloved bat boy. A pilot was killed sunday after a helicopter made a crash landing during an air show in russia. Four military helicopters we are performing a maneuver when one chopper started spinning out of control. It went down quickly and burst into flames whether it hit the ground. The cause of the crash is under investigation. If you thought it was dangerous to be a nascar driver speeding around the track at 190 miles per hour, try being part of the pit crew. Take a look at what happened sunday at the pocono race ray. Driver Brad Kozlowski came in a bit too fast at the pit and hit two of his crew members. They sent a tire flying. The two crew members did get up though right away. They finished their jobs even. Amazingly, they are both okay. And i think brad said sorry, man. Yeah. Didnt mean to do that. All right. Natalie, thank you so much. Weve got dylan here for al this morning. What is the weather story . Out west, hot, dry, breezy. Because of that, conditions are rite for the fires to spread. We had a lot of thunderstorms out in california with the lightning and not the rain. So that triggers a lot of those fires. But temperatures will fortunately start to drop over the course of the next couple of days. Seattle, its going to be 83 degrees. Were finally losing that extreme heat. Its still hot in eugene, oregon. 91 degrees. 104 near tucson. You see a couple of heavier downpours up near salt lake city. These are part of the system that producing some of those isolated thunderstorms in northern california. Also the threat exists in the Southern Oregon and into southern idaho, too. So well keep an eye out in that area. Otherwise, hot and dry. Elsewhere across the country, things are improving heatwise. Well start to lose humidity in the northeast and see scattered storms in the eastern great lakes. Thats a look good monday morning. Im meteorologist kari hall. Well have a nice, mild start to the week today in los gatos. Expect a high of 82 degrees. Pacifica, 70 degrees. And the embarcadero will be at 68 degrees after some morning low clouds. Well get a few peeks of sunshine and a lot of sun for the north bay. Santa rosa, 77 degrees. Brentwood, 90 today. Mrezen t pleasanton tops out at 78 degrees. And thats your latest forecast. All right. Thank you so much. Coming up, a second american hunter now accused of illegally killing a lion in africa. While a woman from idaho is sparking outrage online with pictures of her controversial kills. Well talk to her. And on an exclusive report, a new crackdown on toy guns that look very real. Could you tell the difference . Could police . The demonstration is on today. Hey there fellow californians i know youre staying golden by managing your energy use. Which means managing water too, sfx rawr especially during a drought. Learn to save water, energy and money at energyupgradeca. Org coming up, try it before you buy it. The newest advances from the world of cosmetic surgery. And how does he do that . Meet the daredevil using his dirt bike to surf massive waves. Check that out. Well explain coming up. But first, your local news and weather