Dont know if ive seen him do quite that good ever and that may there and then have been the gold medal jump. That one just about perfect announcer from nbc news, this is a special edition of today at the Olympic Games with matt lauer live from rio de janeiro, brazil, and Savannah Guthrie live from rockefeller plaza. And good morning, everyone. Welcome to a special splitedition of today. [ cheers and applause ] hoda, were here to covering the olympics, so its all about the athletes. Were going to be talking about a lot of medalists this morning, but with we could give out an olympic gold medal for sportsmanship and supporting team usa, the guy standing down on the deck, zac efron, would angeles here to surprise the final five. Hes been watching simone biles tweet. He was keeping up with all of it. He said, what am i doing at home . He got on a plane. There was a lot of cloak and dagger. Were going to show you the epic surprise in a little bit. We love this guy, huh . Yeah, we do. So does the crowd. Well talk to him in a little while. Surprise hoda just talked about, we were in the arena watching simone and aly compete. We caught up with them moments after they received their medals. Well have that for you as well. Wow, thats also a great, great moment. Plus, we mentioned that heartbreaking loss for Kerri Walsh Jennings and april ross in Beach Volleyball. Natalie, al and billy were all there and natalies got kerri and aprils reaction right after the match. All that is coming up from here in rio. Back to you in new york. Pretty exciting, guys. Weve got some breaking news here out of california, a massive wildfire, and it is bernardino county. Look at that. More than 82,000 people being told to evacuate today. We will be there live. And were also going to have the latest on this historic flooding in louisiana. Officials are now saying 40,000 homes have been damaged. And we could see new communities inundated today. The crisis is not close to being over there, guys. Well send it back to you in rio for now. All right, savannah. Well see you in a couple of minutes. Natalie joins us now with your olympics roundup. It was a busy day. Oh, a busy day and a long, tough night for some americans. Team usa racked up a slew of medals on tuesday. Were going to start, though, that showdown in the sand with Kerri Walsh Jennings and april ross disappointing loss. Overnight, a shocking upset in womens Beach Volleyball. Americans Kerri Walsh Jennings and april ross knocked out in the semifinal match. Brazil has upset the United States reporter after losing the first set, team usa struggled players ever, at one point serving into the net. Very uncharacteristic. And every time the americans tried to rally, the quicker Brazilian Team had an answer. Ross, blocked the loss the first ever in olympic play for Walsh Jennings, who had won three consecutive golds. Its really disappointing. Its really heartbreaking, but the great thing is that we earned a right to fight tomorrow and to make it better. In gymnastics, am simone biles delivering another nearperfect routine, this time in the floor exercise. Winning gold for the fourth time during the games. Her teammate, aly raisman, taking silver for her sixth career olympic medal. Dismount. On the mens side, american danell leyva won silver in the same on the high bar. U. S. Gymnastics team leaving rio with a combined 12 medals, the most since 1984. Right now ah out on the track, American Christian taylor leaping into the air and past the competition, winning his second consecutive gold in the mens triple jump. His teammate will claye came away with silver. And thats another big effort. Moments later, claye had another reason to celebrate, proposing to his girlfriend, 2008 track and field olympian queen harrington. Today was the day. I just knew today was going to be the best day of my life. In the womens 1500 meters, Jenny Simpson became the First American to medal in the event, taking bronze behind ethiopias Genzebe Dibaba and the gold medal winner faith kipyegon of simpson falling to the ground after crossing the finish line, her mother watching from the stands in disbelief. Set. [ shot ] and earlier in the day, usain bolt advanced in the mens 200 meters. After winning his third gold medal in the 100meter dash earlier this week, hes looking to do it again, aiming for his third gold in the 200 meters. All right, so, heres where the medal count stands. The u. S. Up big after picking up nine more medals in all on tuesday, followed by china, looking ahead to today, its a busy day in track and field, including the start of the mens decathlon and the u. S. Mens Basketball Team plays in the quarterfinals. Of course, also Beach Volleyball, gold medal match tonight for the women, also the bronze for the u. S. Women. Wow. So, against the other Brazilian Team. Its going to be a tough one for them, yes. What do you say we turn back to gymnastics for a second . Simone biles capping her historic run in rio with that gold medal in the floor exercise, her fourth gold, fifth taking silver. And we talked to both of them after the medals ceremony. It is the final event in womens gymnastics. The usas womens Gymnastics Team dominated once again. This will be remembered as one of the greatest dynasties in gymnastics history. 19yearold simone biles twisting and tumbling her way into olympic history. She sets herself apart because she makes everything look so easy. With a record fougo woman has ever won in a single Olympic Games. And once again, obliterates did you have any fun at all today . Yes, i had tons of fun. It was very exciting. Biles was hoping to leave rio with five gold medals, but that ended on the balance beam monday night. Oh, dont touch down, its whether you get back up. You didnt have your best day yesterday. How did you gather yourself . Well, it was pretty easy, because if you think about it, like, i fell on beam and still got a bronze, and how often do you see that . Clearly, it did not stop the pintsized powerhouse from making the most of her final golden opportunity. Power and dynamics that take your breath away. Cranking out a nearly flawless floor routine. Her score a half point ahead of the rest of the field. Aly being the reigning olympic champion is hoping to defend her title. Aly raisman finishing a strong second. Jam packed with difficulty. Tremendous. The 22yearold team captain and selfproclaimed grandma of the final five was all smiles after the 12 finish. Congratulations, grandma. How do you feel . I feel very good. I feel very young. You do . Yes, i do. Im very happy. I lost my voice a little bit because i was cheering so loud for the other girls the other days. I was screaming. Did you hear me . I did. I did hear you. You just captained the most successful u. S. Womens team ever. How does that feel . Youre the only person to actually say that out loud. I hadnt thought about that, but it feels amazing. Its crazy. I cant believe i have six olympic medals. So it doesnt feel real. If you told me that when i was a little girl, i would have thought you were crazy. Two athletes at the top of their game but leaving the future wide open. Will you be in tokyo . Your coach says youre as strong as ever. Up until now, i hadnt been thinking about it, but im going to take a vacation, take some time never say never, you know. Im definitely thinking about it. How do you improve for tokyo . I dont know. Thats a really long ways away. Well see. And just when you thought they left all their moves on the floor, they managed to save their best moves for last. Every time hoda has interviewed you this week, she has gotten you two and the rest of you to dance. We looked for her in the stands. We couldnt find her. Is she here . Oh, they played her song whenever we finished. . Michelle pfiefer, that white gold . Asking is do a happy dance for hoda. . Oh. And by the way little did they know, the reason i was there in the mix zone doing the interviews is because you were setting up this huge surprise. The happy dances that weve had prior, this will not compare at all to the surprise. I want to check zac efrons hearing, because that scream was so loud, you could hear it cant wait. All right, as we mentioned, the u. S. Beach Volleyball Team of Kerri Walsh Jennings and april ross was defeated overnight by one of the teams from brazil. Thats right. It is the first loss at the olympics for kerri after 26 straight wins and three gold medals. And natalie, you were there to talk to her afterwards. What an incredible career theyve had. The crowd was so rowdy. Hard to compete in the stands, night. Reporter the trouble started brazil coming out strong. Leading the u. S. Right out of the gate. And she smacks it on the line. Reporter Walsh Jennings and ross trying to hold on. And she puts it away. Reporter but brazils agatha and barbara, the number two ranked team in the world, wouldnt let anything go. Agatha puts it away reporter it was a in the stands with billy, me and al. Oh reporter the hometown crowd going crazy. The brazilians taking set one. The brazilians have taken the first set. Reporter and did not let up. Brazil won the second set. They can win it here. Reporter ending Walsh Jennings 26match winning streak. Thats it brazil has upset the united reporter her first loss at an olympic event. And heartbreak for the americans. We just never had the mojo today, so its really disappointing. Its really heartbreaking. But the great thing is that we earned a right to fight tomorrow and to make it better. Reporter it was about the fiercest fight ive ever seen. How would you characterize the brazilian girls . I mean, theyre relentless. Theyre very sound and theyre very scrappy. They made the digs and we didnt. Reporter did the booing rattle you guys at all here . It was, it was i loved it. You know, you come into brazil, theyre passionate about the game, they want their team to win. Reporter despite the loss, the 38yearold Walsh Jennings doing what she does best, setting her sights on the next match. You have joy written on your hand right there. Is that a reminder to yourself to in these moments just keep whats important in mind . In all moments, for sure. When life is tough, absolutely. When life is great, absolutely, be grateful. Yeah, im a blessed woman and today doesnt make me any less blessed. And april. Theyll be playing for bronze tonight against brazils other remaining team. Will it be kerris last olympic match . Thats anyones guess. So far, though, she hasnt ruled out tokyo in 2020. Ive got to say, they are such a class act. After the game, they both went around, they were shaking everybodys hands in the stands. Wow. Like, all of the people that worked the sidelines. It was amazing. How deep is brazil . The team theyll play tonight are incredible. Very incredible. The brazilians awn thank you very much. Along with that Beach Volleyball match, you can also see usain bolts return to the track in the 200meter semifinals. Thats tonight, nbc prime time olympic coverage. Let us go now for some breaking news to savannah in new york. Thats right, guys. We have two big stories to follow this morning, including a raging wildfire in Southern California that exploded overnight. Unprecedented flooding has now damaged 40,000 homes. Curfews are now being enforced in several parishes. Lets start with nbcs Gabe Gutierrez in sorrento, between baton rouge and new orleans. Gabe, good morning to you. Reporter savannah, good morning. The magnitude of this disaster is staggering. At least 11 people are confirmed dead, thousands are in emergency shelters, and eight more parishes have been added to the federal disasterla while officials are warning that the threat is far from over. This morning, a desperate scramble. It is horrible. Reporter the toll of louisianas historic flood growing by the hour, that record rainfall now rushing downstream, inundating new communities. How long have you lived here . All my life, 50 years. Reporter have you ever seen it flood like this . Never. Reporter at least 30,000 people rescued, more than 40,000 homes damaged. In Livingston Parish alone, are destroyed. Powerful beforeandafter images of schools and neighborhoods are emerging. This baton rouge movie studio has now become a massive makeshift emergency shelter. Today as some prepare for the worst, others are already living it. Pictures of my daughters. Well never get things like that back. Reporter bob gatley, a retired firefighter who he Hurricane Katrina victims, just returned home. Its all right. Reporter to a loss that cant be measured. Just a heartbreaking loss. Now, the waters have largely receded up near baton rouge, but as we mentioned, there is still plenty of waters in areas like this, in sorrento and communities to the south and to the west of here are bracing for even more flooding today. All that water not expected to clear out until later this week. Savannah . All right, gabe. A foggy morning there as well. Thank you. Outofcontrol wildfire thats happening in Southern California, consuming homes and forcing tens of thousands to evacuate. Nbcs jo ling kent has the latest for us this morning. Hi, jo. Good morning. Reporter good morning, savannah. Hundreds of firefighters here fighting this blaze overnight as more plan to join them from across the state of california as this wildfire continues to spread. A Devastating Blaze tearing through southern californi overnight, moving fast, tripling in size and engulfing more than 18,000 acres of land. More than 82,000 residents have evacuated. I looked outside and i saw the flames, and its ready to go. Reporter as air workers worked tirelessly to douse the flames. Oh my god, look at the flames. The blue cut fire started tuesday east of los angeles, close down a major interstate and roadways as it tore through, and down the street and telling us that we need to get out. And i guess its really moving fast. Reporter the fire is the result of a punishing heat wave and strong winds. Its still 0 contained as hundreds of firefighter crews battle the fastmoving flames. Hopefully, we get to come ti. So, hopefully, it will still be standing. Reporter now, two firefighters have been minorly injured in this fire so far, but thankfully, they are doing okay and they are out of the hospital. But red flag alerts across the state of california right now, and that means imminent extreme fire danger over the next 24 hours, savannah. All right, jo. Thank you so much. And now for the race to the white house. With less than three months to election day, Donald Trumps campaign undergoing a major staff shakeup this morning. Trump had a rally there last night. Hallie, good morning. Tell us about it. Reporter hey, savannah. Good morning to you. Yeah, this is serious stuff from the trump campaign, this shakeup now with less than three months to go before election day. Were talking about two new names added to the top of Donald Trumps team. One man once described as the most dangerous political operative in america. Thats steven bannon. Hes a Top Executive with the conservative breitbart news. He will be stepping into the role of campaign ceo. Kellyanne conway, whos already been a Senior Adviser, will now become campaign manager. These moves signal a shift that Paul Manafort may be losing some sway, no longer calling all the shots. Im told this morning by a Senior Adviser that the decisionmaking came from donald trump himself, all of this meant to make him more comfortable, and he hopes stop him from sliding further to Hillary Clinton in the polls. Savannah . All right, hallie jackson. Thank you. One more note on the election we have an exclusive interview with Hillary Clintons running mate, tim kaine and his wife, anne, airing in our next to rio to hoda, matt, and zac efron . Oh, no, its al. Not yet. Sorry. Sorry. Youve got that heat out west. Oh, my gosh, its not going to help the firefighters out there. Lets show you what weve got. A big dome of high pressure. You see all the active fires. Red flag warnings stretching just to the east of san diego up into los angeles, and we are going to see temperatures that are going to be brutal, anywhere from 95 to 100 degrees in some sens california, that is repeated. In fact, this recordsetting heat moving all the way up into the Pacific Northwest right on into the weekend. Were going to get to your local forecast coming up in the next 30 seconds. Poor foster kid black immigrant the only label that matters is olympian. And thats your latest weather. Guys . All right, al. Thanks so much. Coming up, so excited, how we pulled off our big surprise efron. And zac is here on copacabana beach live hanging with the crowd. Coming up, a collision on the track putting the olympic im batman im batman im batman im batman sfx boop 24 designs available, 6. 97 each save money. Live better. Walmart. I work as professional mountain guide and the surface pro 4 allows me to actually operate my business from everest. I help clients achieve their dreams. Being able to go between having a laptop and having a tablet is really important to me. I couldnt do that with my mac. I love that we as humans can go to the top of the world. . . . 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