Homes and a car in florida. Theres a sinkhole right next to our neighbors house and its literally eating the house like completely. This morning fears that the sinkhole will grow, as neighbors pack up and get out of the way, nervous that their homes will be next. All that plus brides in a panic after a popular bridal gown chain shuts down watt warning. Ryan lochte gets news from rio. And Venus Williams trying to become the oldest singles champion ever at wimbledon. Today, saturday july 15th, 2017. Announcer from nbc news, this is today live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. Good morning, welcome to today on this saturday morning. Im sheinelle jones. Glad to have you with us, im craig melvin. Dylan dreyer is here as well. Venus williams. All eyes are on her today for sure. 37 years old on the cusp of making history across the pond this morning. Well play in the championship just a few hours from now. Of course its been a trying few months for her. No secret its been a tough time which i think theres almost a story line building up here, can she do it. For now lets get right to the top story. A horrific fire at a highrise building in hawaii. Morgan radford is here with overnight details. Good morning. Good morning. In fact this is a tragic story and it all happened overnight. Three people trapped inside the complex were killed when that fire broke out. Hundreds of people were able to get out of the building as firefighters rushed in, all to try and fight those flames. Horror on the 26th floor. A massive fire sending thick, black smoke billowing into the sky at a honolulu high rise. I was inside sitting at my office desk looking at the computer, my back to the ocean. I smelled something burning, and i looked over my Left Shoulder and i saw black billowing smoke. Firefighters racing into the building to help as hundreds fled. The people who were racing to get out saying it was like a scene out of a horror movie. The building near the torrez hot spot of waikiki was built in 1971 before sprinklers were required. Without a doubt, if there were sprinklers in this apartment, the fire would be contained to the unit of origin. Some residents of the building trapped, high in the sky. I looked down, i could see the billowing smoke coming up. I heard three womens voices screaming, pleading, moaning, please help me. Overnight firefighters conducted roomtoroom searches looking for victims or survivors. This fire coming just one month after a tragic fire at a high rise in london that left around 80 people dead. In london, anger in the aftermath, and in hawaii this morning, a search for answers and the question, could this fire have been prevented. Lots of questions this morning as the cause of that fire remains under investigation. Morgan, thank you. Now to the questions that continue to dog President Trump about his campaigns alleged ties to russia. This morning were learning more about the russianamerican lobbyist who met with donald trump jr. Last year, a story that nbc news broke on friday. His presence at that meeting is turning up the heat on the investigation. Meanwhile this morning, President Trump is at his golf course in new jersey marking his 38th day at one of his own golf courses in the 175 days hes been in office, this time for a major golf event. Kelly odonnell is in new jersey with more. Kelly, good morning. Reporter good morning, craig. Long before donald trump became president , he knew he would be in new jersey this weekend because of that major Golf Tournament at one of his courses. What he could not predict is the political fallout from donald trump jr. s Campaign Meeting and the changing stories about it, from a discussion about russian adoptions to seeking dirt on hillary clinton. Back in new jersey, where President Trumps bedminster resort is hosting the womens u. S. Open Golf Tournament this weekend. The president and son, eric, watched from the clubhouse. A big event for the trump family business, while the Trump White House is in the rough over the russia investigation. Political pressure turned up. This has got another disturbing turn of events. Reporter its been one week since the revelation that donald trump jr. Met with a russian lawyer at trump tower during the campaign. He tried to control the damage himself. So as far as you know, as far as this incident is concerned, this is all of it . This is everything. This is everything. Reporter but that wasnt everything. The 2016 meeting brought donald trump jr. , Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort face to face with a former sergeant in a soviet military counterintelligence unit. Rinet akmetshin is now a d. C. Lobbyist known to work on russiarelated issues. Some u. S. Officials suspect he may still have russian intelligence ties. He denies that. Also there, lawyer natalia veselnitskaya. Trump jr. s attorney said there was also a translator present and theyre looking for any documentation to determine who entered trump tower that day. Trump junior says nothing came of the meeting. Friday on capitol hill, former Trump Campaign operative, Michael Caputo met with the House Intelligence Committee behind closed doors and then spoke to reporters. I had no contact with russians. I never heard of anyone in the Trump Campaign talking with russians. Reporter with growing demands for information, the Trump White House is expanding its internal legal team with washington lawyer ty cobb, who will tackle russiarelated requests from congress and the media. The only known person in that meeting during the Campaign Season who is now a Government Official is the president s soninlaw, Jared Kushner. Democrats are saying his security clearance should be revoked. The president has told us via twitter that he will be at the Golf Tournament today and in very trump style he says there will be very big crowds. Craig. Kelly odonnell for us this morning. Kelly, thank you. Ashley parker is an msnbc political analyst and also White House Reporter for the washington post. Ken dilanian is an Investigative Reporter for nbc news. Good morning to both of you. Ken, you broke the story yesterday. Rinet akmetshin, that lobbyist with reported ties to russian intelligence in that june meeting last year with donald trump jr. And the russian attorney. What more do we know about akmetshin and what more do we know about his role in that meeting. Well, hes a political operator, hes a fixer, hes been called the gun for hire. He lobbies in the shadows which is probably not surprising that his role was the last to be unearthed in this meeting. Were not exactly sure whether he had a role in setting it up. We do know that he lobbied with this russian lawyer against sanctions called the magnitsky act and hes been doing that for years. That happens to be a cause thats near and dear to the heart of vladimir putin. Now, he is suspected by some american officials of having ties to russian intelligence. He hotly denies that and were really not sure what the state of the evidence is on that. But the fact that his role wasnt disclosed until yesterday is just another layer of intrigue to this meeting, which is already very significant, because dont forget the meeting was set up under the pretenses of the russian government directly offering aid to the Trump Campaign and don jr. Instead of calling the fbi accepted that overture and took the meeting. Ken, really quickly, are we confident at this point that we know everyone who was in the room for that meeting last summer . No, were not. Thats the other interesting thing here. The trump team presumably could tell us, but they havent yet. There may have been a translator, there may have been yet another person whos unnamed, so were really not sure. I think theres still things left to be learned about this meeting. Ken, can you put this into perspective for us. How does this meeting with the Trump Campaign staff figure into the larger investigation that special Counsel Robert Mueller is conducting . I think its very significant because for months donald trump and his defenders have been saying youre doing this russia investigation, but wheres the evidence of collusion. Theres no evidence of collusion. Well, here is some black and white evidence. Its not proof, but its a demonstration that according to Rob Goldstone who wrote this email, the russian government was helping the Trump Campaign. And the Trump Campaign didnt say donald trump jr. When he got that email didnt say what russian effort to help us, he just said love it, lets have a meeting. That raises a question of what other meetings happened, what other engagement happened between russians and the Trump Campaign. You can be sure thats exactly what bob mueller is looking at. Ashley, youre a White House Reporter with the washington post. Take us inside the white house. Whats the mood like right now there . The mood inside the white house is incredibly grim and nervous. Outside allies have described the mood and the situation as a category 5 hurricane. They have likened it to house of cards the netflix show, and people are incredibly worried. Some believe there could be real legal ramifications. Even those inside the white house who say this is a little overheated and overblown, they admit theres nothing legal there necessarily, they admit in a best Case Scenario this is basically a pr catastrophe. You talk about the legal ramifications. Weve been talking about the fact that trump appointed ty cobb. Talk about the challenges he faces. We have trump, we have donald trump jr. , we have Jared Kushner, they all have their own separate legal teams. Will he listen to his own Legal Advisor here or what are the challenges for ty cobb . Ty cobb faces the challenge every lawyer to the president has faced so far, which is donald trump is basically the worlds worst client. He doesnt listen to the advice of his legal team. His legal team will tell him no matter what you do dont talk about x and they will have literally just left his office and hell tweet about that very subject. The president also doesnt believe hes done anything wrong. His inclination is to fight. He sort of had trouble compartmentalizing the russia issue. You need to keep it separate from Everything Else and this president will bring it up in meetings totally not related to that. And the president when he gets frustrated and is having legal problem, his inclination is not to blame himself but to blame his lawyer and take out his frustration on his legal team whos trying to help him. Ashley, ten seconds here on another subject. How does it look for passage of the senates latest crack at repealing and replacing obamacare . Its not dead certainly, but its definitely an uphill climb. Already two senators, one conservative, one moderate, have said they are not going to vote for it, which means that Mitch Mcconnell and Senate Republicans cannot afford to lose one more vote. A big thanks to both of you this morning. Good to be with you, thanks. Some other news to get to this morning. Including this massive sinkhole in florida thats already swallowed two homes and threatening even more, people in the neighborhood are now evacuating for fear that the sinkhole will get even worse. Maya rodriguez is live with the latest. Reporter good morning, sheinelle. This is a neighborhood that is on edge and here is the reason why. Take a look from the air. This is a massive, massive sinkhole about, 200 feet wide, 50 feet deep. Its already caused two homes to collapse. Nine others needed to evacuate. Overnight there were Emergency Managers and sheriffs deputies out here trying to keep watch and make neighbors feel safer. This morning, the landscape on this land o lakes neighborhood changed. For our citizens out here, our heart breaks for you. Reporter panicked neighbors called 911 as the sinkhole quickly grew on friday. Theres a sinkhole right next to our neighbors house and its literally eating the house, like completely. Reporter earth and water would swallow two homes. We heard the cracking noise. It was like the noise of a tree falling down, like a big tree. Reporter families forced to flee, taking what they could. Jose rodriguez wont be able to go back to his home. Right now we dont have nothing to pack. We dont know where were going to stay at this moment. Reporter but sink hoholes arent unique to florida. Parts of other states are also susceptible, including texas, alabama, kentucky, missouri, tennessee and pennsylvania. We see them all the time, but something of this magnitude is rare. Reporter taylor, also known as the sinkhole guy, works to reinforce homes and prevent situations like these. He says there is one Silver Lining to all of this. No one was hurt. If this would have happened in the middle of the night when a family was sleeping, we would probably be dealing with a much different issue today. Reporter right now officials are watching to see whether the sinkhole will get any bigger, but they say it could be several weeks before they know if the worst is over. Sheinelle. All right, maya, thank you. Now to some other stories making headlines this morning, beginning with the new legal battle brewing over the Trump Administrations travel ban. Last night the administration appealed to the supreme court, asking it to block a federal judges ruling expanding the list of people from six mostly muslim people allowed into the country. If the ruling stands, grandparents, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, who have relatives in the u. S. Would be allowed in. The Trump Administration wants a limited group of people to be in the ban. A court in brazil has dropped the criminal case against ryan lochte. He was facing charged of providing false information to police during last summers rio games. It all started when lochte and several teammates were questioned about vandalizing a gas station. Lochte in an interview with today claimed that the swimmers were robbed. He later retracted that statement, but it stirred up an International Incident and also led to his suspension from competition. Its been a Long Time Coming but the air force is honoring one of its heroes. The solemn ceremony was held friday for 94yearold Second Lieutenant john pettabelliano. He was shot down and taken prisoner in world war ii. For more than 70 years he never sought any recognition for his sacrifice. But now thanks to the efforts of his daughter, he has been awarded a purple heart. All eyes will be on Venus Williams this morning as the tennis champ hits the grass courts at wimbledon for the ladies singles final. She is aiming to make history at the most famous arena in tennis just weeks after she was involved in a fatal car crash. Nbcs joe fryer is at wimbledon this morning. Joe, good to see you, buddy. Reporter craig, good morning. When Venus Williams takes center court today shell be looking for her sixth wimbledon title. It will be her first since 2008. Despite a number of ups and down, she hopes to win and make history. Her career is iconic, yet when it comes to winning major titles, Venus Williams is stuck in a nineyear drought, one she hopes to end today. Id like to take courage in the fact that ive been playing well this tournament and this year and all these moments have led to this. Reporter venus opponent, Garbine Muguruza was just 3 when williams made her debut. Now williams is the oldest finalist since martina n navratilo navratilova. If she does win, shell be the oldest womens grand slam champ in modern history, an impressive feat because of her battles caused by an immune disease and a crash that she was involved in which led to an emotional News Conference at the beginning of the tournament. Maybe i should go. Most people counted her out in terms of competing at the top echelons of the game. Once again it speaks to her resiliency and also speaks to how much she loves the sport. Reporter justin was williams mixed doubles partner back in 1998. Her and her sister have that x factor that in the biggest moments, theyre capable of blocking everything away and playing their best tennis. Reporter with california native sam querrey beaten friday in the semifinals, williams is now americas last hope, serving notice shes far from done. On the mens side, Roger Federer has advanced to the finals. Hes 35 years old, turns 36 next month. He is now looking for his record eighth wimbledon title. It would be his first since 2012. Despite their ages, both federer and williams have been playing great tennis as of late looking to build upon their already impressive legacies. Craig, to many here at wimbledon, it sort of feels like a flashback this year. Yeah, it does. Joe fryer for us there. Joe, thank you. All right, dylan, how about a check of the weather . Its been pretty wet back through the midwest. Some areas in northern missouri weve picked up 9 inches of rainfall since monday, and there are several areas where flooding has been an issue. We are going to dry things out a bit, but more storms will redevelop later on this afternoon and