The little robot on a crosscountry journey to san francisco. The goodness of strangers supposed to get him all the way. Then this happens. How the happy little life of hitchbot came to such 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 on a monday morning. You look so different, matt with your glasses. Well thank you very much. Matt is off this morning. Weve got carson here and breaking news at the top this morning. Its our top story. The severe storms moving east now, after producing dangerous hail high winds and tornadoes across the midwest. Heres nbcs john yang with the latest. 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 injured and 17 to 20 minor injuries. Reporter John Anderson says his van, southern jack was just minutes away from performing at the wood dale prairie fest 25 miles northwest of chicago, when the storm hit, sending festivalgoers scrambling for cover. Basically, i was on stage left and just walked underneath the canopy and the poles started falling the other way. And then i saw the whole tent had fallen over. And from there, it was just chaos. I was really scared. I saw all these ambulance coming and the thunder was just so terrifying and the lightning. And i was really, really afraid. And then it just all happened flashed before my eyes. Reporter the dangerous storm systems across the midwest also brought tornadoes to the region. A huge twister touched down in iowa near nephewenville sunday evening. The tornado picked up debris and reportedly destroyed a few barns but no reports of injuries. In grays Lake Illinois another tornado may have touched down high winds and hail littering streets with toppled trees and power lines. The Severe Weather extending to greenville michigan. Emergency crews working overnight to remove fallen debris. Back in chicagos grant park the popular locala palooza festival shutting down. Organizers ended the final day of the festival 30 minutes early when another storm hit the area. Here in grays Lake Illinois a day of cleanup. Parts of this building across the street. You can see that truck turned over. Carson savannah back to you. What a night. Jong yang in grays Lake Illinois thank you. Meanwhile, in california thousands of homes are being threatened by a wildfire that nearly tripled in size over the weekend. Emergency officials stepped up evacuation orders. Joe fryer has the latest. Good morning. Reporter good morning, carson. This fire now at 54,000 acres, growing at a rate thats unprecedented. The flames have moved into a more remote area which is good news. But in these conditions they know things can change in an instant. The rocky fire is an unpredictable monster still growing this morning, even veteran firefighters say they have never seen anything like it. 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 shift have been moving the fire in other directions. Reporter this single fire has 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. The purpose behind using this aircraft is to put retardant down so our firefighters on the ground can get in there and actually put the fire out. Reporter a new brushfire moved quickly through Los Padres National forest. 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 a little frightening, but we can get through it. Reporter temperatures are a little bit cooler today, which should help. The rocky fire is still only 5 contained. That shows just how hard it is to get things under control. About 2,000 firefighters are now on the scene here. Carson and savannah . Scary stuff there. Joe fryer on the story for us in california. Thanks. Meantime this is a big weekend, the president ial race the Republicans Holding their first debate on thursday. And on the democratic side, a bit of a bombshell this weekend. Speculation and reports that the Vice President once again is seriously considering a run for president. Nbcs Andrea Mitchel he will has all of it from washington this morning. Good morning to you. Reporter good morning, savannah. Vice president joe bidens aides say he will decide by late summer. Amidst that new speculation, he might run against Hillary Clinton in the democratic primaries. It is a decision possibly born in tragedy. A dying wish from his son, bo. 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 front runner Hillary Clinton, for the democratic nomination. Hes been 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 biden aide steve rickety is sounding out democratic regulars including some who already signed on with clinton. Clinton has huge advantages. Almost all the biden donors have gone over to Hillary Clinton already. So i think its too late to man a Serious Campaign at this stage. Reporter biden has run for president twice before, and stumbled. And as Vice President , he has occasionally been prone to gaffes. We both have something in common. We both married up. Reporter and at times, excessive exuberance. But biden has proved his loyalty and become a key adviser to the president. While clinton, although pulling 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. Aides say costing 2 million. I believe that when families are Strong America is strong. Reporter a biden run would certainly put president obama in the awkward position of having to choose between his Vice President and his former secretary of state. Savannah . All right andrea thank you so much. David axelrod worked as a senior white house adviser and top strategist for both obamabiden campaigns. David, good morning. Good to see you. Good morning, savannah. Good to see you. All right. How real is this . Do you think the Vice President is seriously considering a run . 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 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 meme of this campaign has been 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 formidable opponent. And 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 white house top 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 the Vice President or those close to him have let this kind of float out into the ether to see what people think of it . Well someone let it out into the ether. The question is whether it was him. You know theres no doubt in my mind that he believes himself to be a peer of secretary clintons, and probably feels that he would be a stronger nominee. But whether he wanted it to come out in this way, i have some doubts. And he really has to measure, savannah a cost benefit analysis. He has attained a great stature as a senior statesman within the democratic party. And does he want to risk all of that in a battle that he would be very uphill. Its very personal. The Vice President has told close aides, Close Associates that his son, bo biden, from his hospital bed, urged him to run. In fact the New York Times wrote about it this weekend in some detail. Bo was losing his announce and the right side of his face was partially paralyzed, but he had a mission. He tried to make his father promise to run. How much of this renewed consideration do you think stems from that from the emotion of the loss of beau biden and his request that his father run . I spent some time with the Vice President and i think anybody who has knows just how hard that loss 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 him, this is a guy who has been a president ial candidate or touted as one since 1972. Hes run twice. He knows what it takes. And i think that discussion has to be had yet. The emotion is powerful but its not enough to make a decision to run for president. Ill put you on the spot before we go here. Youre a strategist. Would you advise him to run . I would not. Because 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 self inflicted, 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 you know i really have such a high regard for joe biden. I think he has been a great Vice President , great public official. I would 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. Okay good to be with you. Meantime police in memphis are stepping up the manhunt for a suspect accused of killing an officer during a traffic stop. Lets get more from nbcs Kerry Sanders in memphis. Good morning. Reporter good morning. Police say that officer sean bolton was shot and killed by a man who is a convicted bank robber. Why did he allegedly shoot the officer . Well that is unclear. But detectives believe that the officer was approaching a car where the suspect had less than two grams of marijuana. Of thats about enough to make three joints. This morning in memphis, a manhunt is under way for the killer of officer sean 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 u. S. Marshals are combing the city looking for this man, tremaine willbourn who they say shot officer bolton at a traffic stop saturday night, apparently police say, after he interrupted a drug deal. To show how senseless this is were talking about less than two grams of marijuana. Reporter as the officer lay more totally wounded, a bystander grabbed his police radio. Please please hurry up. Reporter taking the desperate measure, because neighbors say the 911 lines were busy. Shot several times call an Ambulance Ambulance is already en route. Reporter officer bolton 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 Must come together and remember that all lives matter. Not just black lives. Not just white lives. But all lives matter. Reporter there is a reward being offered of 10,000 leading to the capture of the suspect. Meantime the other man who was in the car turned himself in spoke to police and was released. Carson . Kerry sanders, thank you. Such a sad story. Natalie is here with the top stories of the morning, including a bad accident overnight. Terrible story in new jersey. Several people were injured, including a Police Officer after a Chain Reaction crash that sent a car flying on to the sidewalk. This happened in jersey city. And witnesses say a speeding minivan lost control and slammed into other vehicle, sending that car into a group of pedestrians. Multiple people were taken to the hospital including the officer who is expected to be okay. The driver of the minivan was arrested but there is no word on what charges he faces. Investigators in new mexico say explosions at two churches sunday morning were deliberate and meant to harm. A mailbox at a Baptist Church in las cruise he is exploded and another one about three miles away near a catholic church. No one was injured, fortunately. Authorities are now following several leads but cannot link the attacks to any one group at this time. This morning, a Kansas Community is remembering a 9yearold bat boy who died overnight. Kaiser carlile was accidentally struck in the head by a baseball bat during a weekend game. Reporter the liberal bee jays announced that their bat boy, kaiser carlile, passed away after being struck in the head during a 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. Reporter pairramedics 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 caden simmons, 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 easton johnson, wrote, you are a special, amazing boy, and heaven has opened its loving arms for you. Well be seeing you up there, buddy. Meanwhile, the bee jays honored kaiser during their game sunday writing his initials on their hats and even on the scoreboard. They credited their 80 win to their beloved bat boy. Such a sad story. A pilot was killed sunday after a helicopter made a crash landing during an air show in russia. Four military helicopters were performing a maneuver when you see the one chopper started spinning out of control. It went down quickly and then burst into flames when it hit the ground. The cause of the crash is now under investigation. Well 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 raceway. Driver Brad Keselowski came in just a bit too fast and he hit two of his crew members, one of them, as you saw, went flying. So did that tire. The two crew members both got up and finished their jobs. They are both okay. Apparently hes come in a little too hot before when he comes into the pit. So thats a tough one all right. Glad everybody is okay. Yeah. Went right for the jack to continue his job. They went right back at it. Everything matters, right . Seconds count. Exactly. Natalie, thank you so much. Weve dot got dylan here for al this morning. The line of severe storms that moved through illinois yesterday is now moving into the eastern part of the great lakes. This storm system produced six reported tornadoes yesterday, most across illinois. Also 97 reports of wind damage. Now its bringing some heavy rain lots of lightning through southwestern ohio. The good news is as this front moves east its not going to be as powerful as it was yesterday. Now we do still have a threat of stronger storms from louisville kentucky all the way up into northern new england. Large hail damaging winds a possibility. We might see a tornado or two, and then tomorrow were going to see this push a little bit farther to the east mainly affecting right along the coast from northeastern North Carolina all the way up into eastern maine. So something well keep an eye on this afternoon and again tomorrow afternoon too. Thats a look at the weather across the country. Your local forecast is c. Im first alert meteorologist Brittney Shipp. You can already see the flags moving. Breezy conditions expected for us as we head into the rest of today. Another round of hot weather ranging between 91 and 94. Day seven of this heat wave with isolated thunderstorms expected towards the evening. Wind speeds out of the south 5 to 12 Miles Per Hour. Sevenday forecast shows another round of 90 degree weather tomorrow. We dont drop back down into the 80s until thursday. Have a great day. And thats your latest forecast. All right, dylan, thank you so much. Coming up a second american hunter accused of killing a lion in africa while a