Photos now surfacing taken moments before the deadliest hot air balloon crash in history. More on the 16 people who lost their lives and how it happened. Olympic athletes and fans arriving in rio. Final preparations in full swing. Will the city be ready to host its Biggest Party ever . We headed to copacabana beach to find out, today, august 1st, 2016. Announcer from nbc news this is a special edition of today, countdown to rio with matt lauer live from Rio De Janeiro, brazil, and Savannah Guthrie live from rockefeller plaza. Good morning, everyone. Welcome to a special split edition of today on a monday morning. The 2016 Olympic Games almost at hand. We made our way to rios copacabana beach. Savannah, sometimes a picture truly is worth a thousand words. Take a look at that. Copacabana is beautiful on a perfect day and by the way, lets get something straight off the bat. In the United States, some people say Rio De Janeiro. Here they call it Rio De Janeiro. Tomato, tomato. Its freaking beautiful. It really is. You win the battle of the back drops this morning. May i say to you, two years of college portuguese. Well catch with you in a moment. Looking forward to your tour of the venues and your live interview with the mayor. We start with politics here. The dust up between donald trump and the parents of a Muslim American soldier killed in the iraq war. Nbcs Hallie Jackson is with us this morning from washington d. C. Reporter donald trump and his running mate praised humayun khan for his service but trump is questioning why his parents have a right to criticize him. This controversy pitting the gop nominee against gold star parents going nowhere and now putting some republicans in the uncomfortable position again of supporting their candidate but not some of what hes saying. New fallout for donald trump as he questions why hes not allowed to respond to the khans, the parents of a muslimamerican army captain killed in iraq continuing their Public Campaign against the gop nominee. Hes a black soul and this is totally unfit for the leadership of this beautiful country. Reporter after khizr khan delivered a fiery convention speech. You have sacrificed nothing and no one. Reporter trump is now under fire for insinuating why khans wife stayed silent on stage. Maybe she wasnt allowed to have anything to say. You tell me. Plenty of people have written that. Reporter ghazala khan said she was asked to speak but could not overcome by grief adding in a the Washington Post oped, trump doesnt know what the word sacrifice means. I think i made a lot of sacrifices. I work very, very hard. Reporter trump called humayun khan a hero and tried to turn the conversation instead to terrorism. Democrats arent letting up. To have trump do what he did, i dont know where the bottom is. Reporter Hillary Clintons criticism echoed by former republican rivals. Jeb bush calling trumps comments disrespectful but while Mitch Mcconnell and paul ryan are releasing statements supporting the khans, they arent mentioning trumps name. The lapse of moral courage will hold them and remain burdened on their souls. Reporter the controversy now putting trumps temporary proposed muslim ban back in the spotlight even as his team has tried to walk it back in recent weeks. Now with visiting khans grave site in arlington, his fathers speech still resonating. Have you read the United States constitution . Reporter the 1 pocket constitution a bestseller on amazon. And more reaction this morning with senator Lindsey Graham telling nbc news unacceptable doesnt even begin to describe trumps comments but remember similar controversies have not hurt the gop nominee in the past. Remember what he said about john mccain possibly not being a war hero . In the meantime, savannah, were getting a look at a new postconvention poll showing Hillary Clinton getting a bit of a bounce after philadelphia up four points now and total up seven over donald trump. Savannah . Hallie jackson, thank you. Khizr and ghazala khan are with us this morning. Mr. And mrs. Khan, good morning. It is good to have you here. Good morning. I can only imagine what the last few days have been like for you. Mr. Khan, did you accept this kind of reaction to your speech and how did you think mr. Trump himself would respond . I did not expect that but the good thing out of all of this has come that there had been so much love, so much courtesy, so much support. I am just amazed. My belief in the goodness of america is reaffirmed. Every street corner, we came into this building, everywhere people are supporting our message, people are hugging, holding hands, wanting to get pictures, that is the goodness of america that i was speaking about so the candidate had really, really not been cognizant of the goodness of this country. Mrs. Khan, one of the things donald trump suggested after your husband spoke at the convention is that you were not allowed to speak. He didnt get into details about who he thought might be preventing you. What is the truth of it . Why didnt you speak at the convention . I didnt talk because i dont have the heart. My words were not that strong or i would start crying. And my religion or my culture is very strong. They dont let me down. They dont bring me that i am second to my husband. I am first for him. I am first in my house. I am first in my community. Im very, very strong. In my community also. Mr. Khan, trump said that you viciously attacked him and that he had to respond. What do you think of that . That proves the point that showing him the constitution, the first amendment, freedom of speech, this candidate amazes me. His ignorance. He can get up and malign the entire nation, the religions, the communities, the minorities, the judges, and yet a private citizen in this political process in his candidacy for stewardship of this country i cannot say what i feel . That proves the point. He has not read the constitution of this country. Had he read that, his behavior would be different. Finally, i know that speaker ryan and majority leader mcconnell have praised your son as a hero now and reiterated they do not support the socalled muslim ban, does that go far enough for you . Are you satisfied with their response . That is im grateful. They are as patriotic as we are or as anyone else is, both senator mcconnell, speaker ryan, but i tell you, there had been outpouring support and rebuke of trump. I have email inbox full of assurances that i am right, we are right, and he needs to mend his way. I receive from a prominent republican a written email saying this would be first time that he will not vote. Similar emails had been pouring in stating that they are republican all of their lives and yet in this election for the office of president , they will not vote for this candidate. This candidate has not qualified in their judgment to be deserving of their support. Mr. And mrs. Khan, thank you so much for your time this morning. Again, thank you for the service of your son. We appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you very much. Another major story this morning, floodwaters ripping a path of death and destruction in a city in baltimore, maryland. It will be a difficult clean up. We have tammi with the latest. Good morning, tammy leitner. Reporter good morning. You know, the residents of Howard County say theyve never seen anything like this. The worst flash flood to come through this area in more than half of a century. A state of emergency has been declared and thats because this area got pummeled with 6 inches of rain in less than two hours. People desperately clinging to their cars when flash floodwaters went through the center of town catching many by surprise. Residents watching helplessly as their town gets destroyed. Two people reported dead in separate incidents swept away by rushing water. Over 100 rescues. This video shows residents creating a human chain to save a woman trapped in her car. The floodwaters receded quickly but the damage in the town of ellicott city, grim. Cars stacked on top of one another. Streets ripped apart. It looks like a set from a disaster movie. Reporter businesses on main street completely destroyed. Its devastating to see the businesses that are totally gone. Totally gone. I dont even know where to start. Reporter the governor declaring a state of emergency. I just want to come and hug people and let them know that were all going to be with them and help them get back to normal. Reporter this Historic Town was built in 1772 and it was built on top of a river that runs through the center of town. That river rose 14 feet in just 90 minutes. Savannah . All right. Tammy, thank you so much. Lets turn to dylan in for al this morning. It seems like it caught people off guard. It did. The rain came down so heavily. In two hours, 6 inches of rain in ellicott city. Thats the same situation were seeing this morning. We do still have flash flood watches across southern new jersey and pennsylvania because of this round of heavier rain right here. Its going to exacerbate flooding that occurred. If you get a heavy pocket of rain, that could lead to more flooding. Well see showers and thunderstorms continue to develop through this morning and more storms later this afternoon and evening. The flash flood watches are in effect this morning. Through st. Louis, stronger storms this morning occurring for the last several hours and more of that heavier rain could fall across the rest of missouri. Its all because of this frontal system. Were waiting for it to make its way offshore. More scattered showers and storms firing up later this afternoon and some of those heavier pockets of rain could cause another one to two inches of rain and if they occur where other heavy rain occurred, that could lead to more flooding. Dylan, well check in with you in a minute. From flooding to fires now. Crews are struggling overnight to protect homes from a wildfire that started sunday in the canyons of central montana. It quickly grew to at least 2,000 acres. 500 homes are under evacuation orders now. The red cross has set up emergency shelters. Also this morning, the fight against zika is taking on new urgency in the wake of the recent cases in florida that Authorities Say are most likely from local mosquitos. Nbcs sarah dallof is in miami with this story. Good morning. Reporter as Senate Democrats push for congress to end its recess and approve emergency zika funding, officials in miami are wasting no time focusing on the possibility of more undiagnosed cases. A door to door battle against zika being waged miami. Health officials collecting urine samples from residents in a one square mile north of the citys downtown where four people were believed to be infected by mosquitos. Boots on the ground is the only way you deal with Mosquito Control illnesses. Reporter the cdc is expecting more cases to pop up. The question is where . The mosquitos suspected of carrying zika have been found across large section of the u. S. Scientists looking at a number of factors have identified cities most at risk including miami, new orleans, savannah, charleston and mobile, alabama. Its hard to deal with. As a parent, its concerning. I think there are a lot more things i should be worrying about. Reporter other than zika . For sure. Like crime. Reporter crowds are not staying away from miamis popular art district which is considered an active transmission area for zika. Local Business Owners already in the low season slump are grateful. Only store we have. Reporter expectant mothers are taking precautions. If i was in my first trimester, yes, i would stay home the whole time. Reporter and tests from the doortodoor samples could be back as early as today providing a clearer picture of what Health Officials are up against and the risks residents face. Savannah . Thank you. Coming up, well show you how drones are now being used to keep zika carrying mosquitos at bay. Lets go to matt on copacabana beach. Hey, matt. Savannah, thanks. Well talk about zika concerns here in rio in a little while. This morning, the primary focus getting ready for fridays Opening Ceremony. Lastminute preparations well under way everywhere you look for what will be the first Olympic Games ever held in south america. Nbcs keir simmons has drawn the long straw. Hes here with us on copacabana beach. Home away from home for the next couple weeks. Keir, good to see you. Matt, good to be here. For games eventful before they started, weve seen a doping scandal, a huge political crisis here in brazil and still this morning fears the games wont be ready. In rio this morning, many anxious hours lie ahead. Just four days until the olympic Opening Ceremony. Hundreds of millions watching the worlds biggest sporting event get under way. But at the athletes village, competitors underwhelmed. Organizers rushing to make repairs. Complaints including water running down walls. The Australian Team tweeting as they were evacuated for a fire, one robbed and posting pictures of unfinished venues. And along rios stunning coastline, the polluted waters needed lastminute cleaning. Authorities even finding dead bodies in recent weeks. Olympic organizers facing security challenges from the citys rising murder rate to rough seas as high tides and big waves on saturday were to blame for the partial collapse of the marina, the main sailing venue of the games. The ioc saying its confident damage will not affect the preparations for the sailing competition, a 25person work crew now hoping to finish repairs by friday. They built a dune to stop copacabanas waves from flooding Beach Volleyball while the military is already standing guard. Construction workers are racing to be ready. But close by protesters. Brazil in the grip of a severe recession and political crisis. We have a lot of people without jobs. Reporter in may, its president rousef was suspended from office accused in a scandal. Brazils new leader accused, too. Ironically, fears over zika are fading. The World Health Organization now calling the risk for infection low and manageable. The International Olympic committee u. S. Representative remaining confident. Im certain they will be ready. They are ready. I was at olympic village. Athletes were there using the facilities. Reporter excitement is building. U. S. Gymnast simone biles tweeting, the dream is real. One olympic spokesperson says this always happens. There are fears until the opening and its forgotten as games are under way. Youve seen it in london and athens. Been to a lot of venues over the last couple days. Lights on 24 hours a day continuing to hammer and sawing. Keir, thank you very much. Ill have a tour of some of those olympic venues later in the show and well talk to the mayor of rio and ask if his city will be ready. Lets go back to savannah in studio 1a. Well be ready for it, matt. Thank you very much. Dylan and i stuck in the city. Whats happening with the weather . Not going to be the best morning here in new york city or most of the east coast for that matter. We do have heavier pockets of rain this morning. We also have a chance of stronger storms through the Northern Plains and upper midwest and monsoonal moisture bringing a lot of rain perhaps up to three inches across the southwest. Thats a look at the weather across the country. Your local forecast is coming up in just 30 seconds. Good morning. Im meteorologist kari hall. We have a lot of clouds heading out for most of the bay area. Its now 60 degrees in San Francisco and 53 degrees with coastal clouds in the north bay heist reach 78 in the peninsula but very warm in the trivalley with a high of 90. 87 in the south bay with upper 60s in San Francisco and 82 for the north bay. Our temperatures go up slightly over the next couple of days. Thats your latest forecast. All right, dylan. Thank you. Just ahead, what caused the deadliest hot air balloon crash in u. S. History . Were live at that scene with what vinvestigators are now learning. A world cup in 2014, olympics in 2016. Who would want to take on a challenge like that . Well talk live to the citys mayor. First, this is today on nbc. Come on. You can do it dogs just wont quit. Neither does frontline. Introducing new frontline gold. With its new easy applicator frontline gold delivers powerful protection that doesnt quit for a full 30 days. Its new triple action formula is relentless at killing fleas and ticks. Frontline gold. The latest innovation from the maker of frontline plus. For persistent protection you can trust. Good boy go for the gold. New frontline gold. Available at your vet. Coming up on trending proof that Mother Nature has a sense of humor. From rio well take you on tour of some of the amazing venues youll see during it the 2016 games and well talk to the mayor, a guy getting zero sleep these days. Breyers natural vanilla. Milk and fresh cream and only sustainably farmed vanilla. Breyers has fresh cream, sugar and milk. Breyers. The good vanilla. 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