Taylor swift winning big, Justin Bieber in tears, kanye west announcing a career change. I have decided in 2020 to run for president. And miley cyrus being miley cyrus. I mean, i will do almost anything. The moments you missed today, monday, august 31, 2015. Announcer from nbc news, this is today with matt lauer and savannah guthrie, live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. Good morning, everyone. Welcome to today on a monday morning. Weve got willie in for matt this week. How long before we say kanye west up six points in iowa . Not doing as well in new hampshire. It could happen. Clearly laying the groundwork for the run in 2020 by making good with taylor swift. The taylor swift constituency important to his political career. The vmas didnt disappoint. But the weather is the stop story. Soaking rains down south and extreme heat. Kerry sanders is in clearwater, florida. Good morning to you. Reporter good morning, savannah. We have had rain already here this morning. Its likely to get worse later today. Folks are preparing in the tampa bay region for what they know will be a lot of tropical moisture coming from the remnants of erika. Sandbagging is already under way in part because in the last 60 days they had 27 and a half inches of rain here. They have already experienced floods. The ground is saturated. They know erika will create more problems. There is already street flooding in tampa. Desoto county already cancelled school today in anticipation of flooding. Erika created a mess in the caribbean. On dominica, 20 people died and 24 are missing. In the dominican republic, the rains were so torrential they created mudslides and quite a mess there as well. Here, a lot of eyes and a lot of tension on what they know will be an ugly 24 or 48 hours. Back to you. Kerry, thank you so much. Dylan is here for al keeping an eye on the downpours and a building heat wave. Dylan, good morning there is a lot going on. Well start with the remnants of erika. Most of the heavy rain is through the carolinas. Off the west coast of florida this will fill back in. The storms are tropical in moisture and produce torrential downpours. We have flash flood watches across parts of Central Florida. This is the area that was hard hit a few weeks ago. We are looking at an additionaladditional one to three inches of rain through wednesday. It is going to continue with the rainy forecast for a couple of days and isolated higher amounts n. The pacific we are keeping on eye on three storms. This is ignacio, a category three storm. It will stay well north of hawaii but Hurricane Hunters have pictures from the center of the storm. We had some of those eye wall pictures of the storm. They were incredible. That storm will weaken. Here they are. This is right in the center. This is the eye where you can see the sky and the eye wall with the intense winds. Incredible stuff from the Hurricane Hunters. This is no threat to land. If anything well see 20foothigh seas in hawaii. Great for surfers but no wind or heavy rain. Just Tropical Stormlike rainshowers. In the rest of the country from the plains to the midwest, over to the east, we have a big area of high pressure, the ridge in the jet stream. Temperatures 5 to 20 above average. Upper 80s, low 90s. Today through wednesday in the northeast through possibly the middle of next week. Its muggy already. Thanks, dylan. Now to the president ial race and an eye opening poll in iowa. Donald trumps favorability is soaring while Bernie Sanders is closing the gap with Hillary Clinton. One of clintons aides is in the spotlight. Well have more in a moment. But first Peter Alexander breaking down the poll numbers for us. Good morning. Good morning. These days it is good to be a political outsider. In iowa Bernie Sanders within striking distance of Hillary Clinton whose support has dropped by 20 points over just the last few months. Donald trump is holding onto his lead but retired neurosurgeon ben carson is right behind him. Trump and carson are tied if you combine the second choices. Donald trump and selfle described socialist Bernie Sanders flying high with Hillary Clinton hitting a new low as her support in iowa drops below 50 . The Des Moines Register showing the gap down to seven points compared to more than 40 points three months ago. This is not antiHillary Clinton. This is pro Bernie Sanders and pro a message that says enough is enough. Like the candy bars last week at the dnc meeting, more democrats are ridin with biden. He showed up where his son would like attend. 14 would likely vote for him though hes not a candidate. With republicans trump is on top again. In second place ben carson. Farther behind ted cruz and scott walker who said on meet the press we are considering a wall with canada, too. Some people asked us about that in new hampshire. They raised legitimate concerns. It is an issue for us to look at. Reporter the bottom line democrats and republicans will both say they like the poll. Democrats like the republicans poll. Republicans like the democrats because it shows there is trouble for the establishment candidates on the opposite side now. So everyone is happy in politics. Peter, thank you very much. One of Hillary Clintons top aides is in the news with donald trump taking aim ott her position and her marriage. Kristen, good morningle. Reporter good morning to you. For nearly 20 years huma abedin has been one of Hillary Clintons closest confidants. Now she faces some of the same ethical questions plaguing clinton and donald trump is trying to capitalize on all of it. Shes a fixture by Hillary Clintons side and a high profile political mind. Top aide huma abedin who became the target of an attack usually saved for candidates. Donald trump taking aim. So huma is getting classified secrets. Shes married to Anthony Weiner who is a perv. I have known him for a long time. I knew before they caught him with the bing, bing, right . The Clinton Campaign said donald trump has spent the summer saying offensive things about women but there is no place for it. Trumps comments were about Anthony Wiener who ran for mayor. Abedin defending him. This is the first time i have spoken at a press conference. Im very nervous. Reporter shes largely stayed on the sidelines but republican lawmakers and conservative activist groups demanded documents related to her time at the state department when she also held a job with an outside private firm raising questions they say about potential conflicts of interest. All of that fodder for trump. Its coming through huma, she has a lot of information. For clinton its another ongoing political challenge. We have seen a perfect storm of bad news. Yes, for clinton, but also for huma. Reporter Clinton Campaign officials are defending abedins work at the state department and accusing republicans of trying to bully her. One saying the suggestion of wrongdoing is, quote, unfounded and from partisans with a clear agenda. As for trump, republicans and democrats criticized him for attacking abedin, many saying it is unusual for a president ial candidate to go after an adviser. Back to you. Few people closer to Hillary Clinton than huma abedin. Meantime more than a thousand people in houston last night to honor a sheriffs deputy shot and killed while filling up his patrol car at a gas station. The alleged gunman behind the ambush will be in court today. Janet shamlian has the latest. Good morning. Reporter savannah, good morning. Authorities are looking for a motive in what appears to be an unprovoked, executionstyle murder. The suspects mother said he was with her at the time and couldnt have done it. Detectives say ballistics evidence ties the man in custody to the event. He will be in court but Authorities Say shannon miless motive is a mystery. The sheriff said it may have been for one reason goforth was wearing an officers uniform. Witnesses say the shots kept coming as the deputy lay dying on the ground. He was already down. Keeps shooting him five, six times. Reporter a community steeped in heart break. Sunday night more than 1,000 people walked in quiet solidarity. Sharing support for Law Enforcement and the slain officers family. It breaks my heart to know they are going to be without a father. Reporter the senseless crime has drawn crowds to the gas station, now a memorial. This family trove 50 miles. As a peace officer, how did this touch you . I mean its something we do every day. Reporter traffic at a standstill nearby as drivers stopped to open their wallets for the deputys family. Thank you. Every penny goes to the family. Reporter almost 70,000 in two days. An online effort raised ten s o thousands more. Goforth was dad to a 5yearold son and 12yearold daughter and husband to a wife who in a statement called him a combination of toughness and gentility. This morning his wife has the heartbreaking task of planning his funeral. Thats tentatively set for friday. Back to you. Janet shamlian, thank you very much. Natalie is here with the fallout from the terrifying scene at a baseball game over the weekend. Good morning. There are growing calls to improve fan safety as Major League Baseball stadiums in the wake of the accident over the weekend in atlanta. A 60yearold man died after falling from the upper deck at turner field. Gabe gutierrez is there. Good morning. Reporter good morning. Greg murray was an Atlanta Braves season Ticket Holder for 23 years. This morning his death is raising questions yet again about rules regulating fan safety at ballparks, some of which havent been updated since the great depression. Quiet crowd here at turner field. Really still some sadness. There will be for a while. Reporter a somber moment at sundays Atlanta Braves game where turner field flags flew at half staff one day after the at the time of avid fan greg murrey inside this ballpark. A statement was read. Greg was a husband, a father and a grandfather who dearly loved his family, atlanta, and the braves. Please join the Atlanta Braves and the new york city yankees as we observe a moment of silence. Reporter the tragedy occurred in front of a sell out crowd. Murrey was stand up and booing Alex Rodriguez when he fell from the second floor of the section down two tiers to concrete steps behind home plate. Someone just fell over the upper deck right below us. Oh, my gosh. Reporter no one else was injured. His family now grieving their loss. The night greg passed away he was doing one of his favorite things, watching the braves play. Reporter with more than 20 fallrelated deaths at stadiums Safety Experts believe the minimum standard set 76 years ago may need to be looked at. The International Building code set the minimum railing height of just 26 inches which is roughly right above knee high on an average american. Thats not very high. Reporter this is the third death at turner field since 2008. One of those was ruled a suicide. Police are investigating the latest case. It is not clear if railing height had anything to do with this. Right now it appears to be a tragic accident. Gabe gutierrez in atlanta for us. Thank you. Today, president obama becomes the first sitting president to visit the Alaskan Arctic when he closes an International Conference on global leadership. This just one day after the white house announcement that the name of north americas tallest mountain has officially been changed. Alaskas Mount Mckinley is now denali, the traditional native american name. Denali stands for the high one or the great one. A Security Breach at Newark Airport forced part of a terminale to be evacuated. A man made into it a secure hall way going through an exit door instead of passing through a checkpoint. That portion of the airport was closed for nearly two hours while officials performed a security sweep. Another airport scare, this one in oakland, california, where two southwest airplanes bumped as one was pushing back from the gate. As you can see, some damage to the wing tip. No one was injured fortunately. Congratulations in order to japan after making a record comeback to win the Little League world series. Tokyo was down by eight runs in the first inning to the team from pennsylvania, but they rallied for a sevenrun next iing on their way to the 1811 win. Japan has won four titles in the last six years. Tough loss for pennsylvania but well played overall. Good to have you backle. Thank you. Ti lan is here for al this morning. Its all about the heat. Its all about the heat. Your local f its intelligent enough to warn of danger from virtually anywhere. Its all about the heat. Your local f its been smashed, dropped and driven. Its perceptive enough to detect other vehicles on the road. Its been shaken, rattled and pummeled. Its innovative enough to brake by itself, park itself and help you steer. Its been in the rain. The cold. And dragged through the mud. Introducing the allnew mercedesbenz gle. Its where brains meet brawn. Its going to be a hot afternoon. Lateday sunshine, afternoon temperatures in the upper 80s and low 90s. Plenty of humidity that will stick around into tomorrow. Look at tomorrow afternoon, 94 degrees with sunshine tuesday, even hotter wednesday and thursday. Middle 90s after morning lows in the lower 70s. Finally, a break of sorts on friday, with a chance of showers, just short of the 90 degree mark. Less humid this weekend. Have a great day. Thats your latest forecast. Dylan, thank you very much. Tributes are pouring in for a true visionary in hollywood. Horror movie maestro wes craven died sunday. Carson . Many of us were scared out of our minds the first time we saw a nightmare on elm street. It was a movie he struggled to make before turning things around in a big way. Legendary film maker wes craven died sunday following a long fight with brain cancer. The man behind villains Freddie Kreuger and screams ghostface. Oh, you want to play psycho killer . Reporter passed away surroundedly family in his los angeles home. He was 76. His family saying in part, our hearts are broken. Craven made his name writing and directing the last house on the left and the hills have eyes. Nothing back there but animals. Reporter before introducing the character that launched a thousand nightmares and almost as many sequels. Come to freddie. Reporter in a nightmare on elm street. Whatever you do, dont fall asleep. Reporter over a decade later he entertained a new generation with equal parts scares and selfawareness in scream. There are rules one must abide by in order to survive a horror movie. Reporter raising the bar on horror film making in the process. Craven helped invent a genre in the 80s and essentially turned it on its head and poked fun at the genre while also exploiting that genre in the scream films. Reporter courtney cox tweeted, today the world lost a great man, my friend and mentor. It wasnt all horror for craven. He directed music of the heart about a teacher in harlem that earned meryl streep an oscar nomination. Im getting chills seeing those clips. I remember it as a kid and then totally flipping it in scream. He redefined a genre and completely deconstructed it. Thats what well remember. One of the all time greats. Carson, thank you very much. Coming up, the california surfer who narrowly escaped a shark attack with a huge bite out of her board to prove it. Shell tell us about it. And nicki minaj ending one feud and starting another. And why was Justin Bieber in tears. Highlights from last nights vmas. First, this is today on nbc. My name is phil zietlow, and ive been an engineer on the Cheerios Team for 51 years. About five years ago, i found out that if my daughterinlaw, joyce, eats anything with gluten in it she feels pretty darn terrible. So my team and i came up with a way to remove the grains that contain gluten, from the naturally gluten free oats that cheerios are made of. So now joyce and i can have cheerios together anytime we want. And if you love someone with celiac, or gluten sensitivity, you can too. Coming up its free money monday on our summer of secrets. How to find unclaimed cash that could have your name on it. On trending get ready for the most adorable game of peekaboo you have ever seen. Babies, animals, where can we go wrong . First your local news and weather. Buying a used car can be a scary proposition. 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